Time off and the war on squirrels

This week I have been off from work and accomplishing a list of things I haven't had the time and energy to do between work and church. Alfie was gone all weekend for a men's retreat, so I had a sleepover with Elin like the old days. I re-potted a plant, did some garden planning, tried some recipes, worked on our taxes, and wrote letters to my sponsor kids. Yesterday and today have been nice out, so I've gotten outside for walks. Dottie and I have watched the birds and the squirrels. Alfie gave me my Valentine flowers early so that I could enjoy them while I'm home this week, and today I baked almond bars (with a big heart carved into it!) that will be his surprise when he gets home from work.


It's that hilarious time of the year - squirrel mating season. At one point yesterday there were five (or possibly six) squirrels all chasing each other around in the tree in front of our house. One squirrel the other day decided to master the art of jumping diagonally from halfway up our bird feeder post to get past the baffle and grab onto the house-shaped bird feeder. He was on there munching away and was so focused that he didn't hear me walking up behind him. Usually squirrels dash for the tree as soon as I so much as open the front door! So I whacked him in the tail and he jumped straight up like a startled cat, landing on the top of the feeder post. I pounded on the post until he ran away. That took care of him for one day. Yesterday he was back at it again and I ended up needing to move the feeder. Turns out he can't pull off his diagonal jump move if the feeder isn't in just the right spot, but he kept trying anyway and put on quite the show for part of the day.