Happy 2017

Family Christmas traditions. Do you still follow them?

I have a cousin who posts blog style posts, almost daily, on Facebook. I look forward to her posts. Her style of writing is just like the way friends would visit over coffee. Just everyday musings. How her night went, her plans for the day, the weather etc. Today she asked her readers what they remember about their Christmas holidays.

I don't remember any real Christmas Eve traditions other then we always went to Midnight mass and it was so cold. I always loved the smell of all the real Christmas trees and the huge Nativity set. Being in church when it was dark was so magical.

Christmas morning we opened presents and we always went to Babcia after dinner. Spent the afternoon with aunts, uncles and cousins.

I remember the New Eve parties at Babcia's. We always had a "feast" before Midnight so we could start the New Year off with Mass and communion the next day. And the fireworks. There was always fireworks saved from the 4th to welcome in the New Year. I image that the hugs and kisses and shouts of “Happy Year” outside in the cold made the neighbors wonder. But one tradition that I still do, even now that it is just the two of us, I stay up to greet the New Year with the front door open to let him in. And the cold.

My kids will say they remember 7:00 p.m. Mass, stopping for a bottle of wine and a big bottle of pop (special treat in our house) and then Jerry making homemade fudge from scratch. Which by the way he still makes for the whole family, all 30+. Then there was the usual begging to open just one present. And I never gave in. LOL fun memories.

What memories do you have of Christmas’ past? Hope your memories are happy ones, too

Enjoy the season,

Rose

Less Stressful Christmas

This article got me thinking about how Christmas can be so stressful for a lot of us. I have always tried to get the Christmas shopping done early. I found that once that is done the rest can be fun or at least not so stressful. I use to shop by phone or mail in. Always looked forward to the Sears and Penny’s Christmas catalogs. And so did the girls. Circling everything on most pages. Deciding what they wanted most was the hard part. But at least I did that from my easy chair with a cup of coffee. Needless to say, I was a prime candidate for online shopping. This year, I think the only thing I have bought in a store was some decorated gift boxes at the local Dollar General to make wrapping a breeze (just need some Scotch tape and I am good to go) and four grab bag gifts under five dollar (two of which had to be snack items), two for each of us, for the pony games we play at our family Christmas. I was amazed at all the different worthwhile looking items you can find at Wal-Mart. Especially since they had to be unisex items.

I do very little Christmas baking any more. All the girls and their families bake enough for the whole neighborhood. Hubby makes enough homemade, from scratch, fudge for the whole family and a few friends as gifts. He usually goes through 10 lbs. of sugar. I make the peanut clusters using a giant can of peanuts. We give those as gifts too. Card list has been paired down a lot over the years. Just close family and friends. So I send most day the week before finishing up loose ends and enjoying my favorite Christmas songs. Definitely less stressful than the past. Thanks to online shopping.

You can read the article below. She listed some very good ideas.

Take time to enjoy the season and your families.

But most of all remember "the reason for the season".

Rose.

                          10 Things To Not Give A Crap About This Christmas

We do our best.

I found this article so true. I think all of us have had doubts about our parenting from time to time. And even yet, we look back and wonder if we could have or should have done things different.

"Chances are you are probably sitting in a house thinking that you haven’t done enough. Or that you’re messing up your kids. Or you’re worrying that you should have done that. Or you’re kicking yourself for responding too short. Or you’re just feeling overwhelmed. Or stuck. Or like you’re failing.

But, chances are that you, just like me have done some pretty profound motherhood things." 

                                                        Read more by clicking on this link.                      

                                                                                   A mom that shows up

Have a great weekend and stay warm.
Rose.

From our house to yours.

Good morning, everyone.

Kind of a cloudy, dreary day here. But it will be a fun one. We are having Thanksgiving Supper with Daughter number 1 today. And then on Saturday is our whole Family Thanksgiving at Daughter number 2. As of now it looks like we will be minus only one granddaughter and spouse. Depending on how many significant others come there will be between 25 to 30 of us. Always a fun time. Looking forward to lots of laughs and lots of good food. Hope your days ahead are full of family and friends, too

Say What? Lilacs blooming in November!

Today was our church dinner and what a beautiful day for it, 64 and sunny. I remember some of our Fall dinners of the past and there was snow on the ground. What a crazy, strange fall we are having. The weather, until the last couple of nights, has been more like spring than fall. I noticed on our way back from our walk that one of our lilac bushes is blooming and there is new growth showing. Amazing. It is November 13. There even was a Monarch butterfly flying around. Tried to get his picture but he was not having anything to do with that. What a crazy, strange fall we are having; Lilacs and dandelions blooming, Monarch and those little yellow butterflies fluttering around and I still have begonias blooming. Sure hope we don’t pay for this beautiful fall weather in January.

Hope you are able to get out and enjoy the weather while we can.

Take care, Rose

Lilacs in November!

New growth in November? wonder if this bush will bloom in the spring.

White bark of the trees make the sky look so blue.

Large squirrel nest.

Is it spring? nope it is November.

These leaves are ready to fall just yet.

Thank a Veteran today.

Than a Veteran not just today but every day. We owe them a  lot.

Have a great weekend, Rose

Colorado in the Fall

A couple of weeks ago hubby and I went to one of our favorite vacation places, Colorado. We were hoping we weren't too late to see some fall color but we sure didn't plan on seeing so much snow. The morning we got to Colorado, the Eisenhower tunnel was closed because of heavy snow. Thankfully snow this early in Colorado melts off fast. We had a beautiful view of Fall and Winter on our way to Estes Park. Had a great time but glad to be home where I have a fireplace. It was a bit chilly in the mountains

View on our way to Estes Park Colorado

River Walk Estes Park Colorado

Beautiful view of fresh snow on the mountains

The mountains are so awe inspiring.



                                                              

Have a  relaxing day,

Rose

Starling Migration in my backyard.

Unbelievable. We have lived here for over 50 years and we have never witnessed a Starling migration . There must be thousands of them. They are everywhere. The starlings seem to especially love the water tower that is almost in our backyard. Amazing. And starlings are very verbal. They didn't stay very long. And boy are we glad. Sure wouldn't want them at our bird feeders.

"Did you know both males and females can mimic human speech. (Some people keep   starlings as pets." Interesting. you can read more here:

Facts on Starlings.

Have a good weekend. Rose

Love living in the Monarchs flight path!!

It is Monarch migrating season here in my part of the world. We see monarch doing the summer but in fall they arrive in abundance. There are Monarchs everywhere. We are on their flight path as they make their way to Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico. They stop here year after year. Amazing. The Monarchs are one of the many reasons Fall is my favorite time of the year.

                      They love the zinnias out my kitchen window during the day. 

                                     And roost at night in our Lilac bushes.

The Monarchs are one of the many reasons Fall is my favorite time of the year.

Enjoy this beautiful time of the year,

Rose

Oh, You are just a stay at home mom?

 A post came across my Facebook page today that kind of pushed my buttons. I have heard a thousand times how lucky I was to be a “stay at home mom and not have to go to work”. It was a far cry from “not go to work”. I didn’t have to go OUT to work until the kids were either in bed or just about ready for bed. We owed the local bar, the Corner Tavern. Many evenings hubby would call and say, “I am busy, I need help, call a sitter” and off I would go. Sometimes till closing time which was 2 a.m. And I had to get up with the four girls around 7. All of this after a very busy day at home. I made most all of my daughters and mine clothes, usually sewing at nap time or in the evening after the girls were in bed. We had a big garden and I did a lot of canning. Was a bit OCD back then, too. Thought I had to have a house as clean as the Brady Bunch. Except I had no Alice. One benefit of that was I stayed thin. Many a day I ate a peanut butter sandwich while I vacuumed. Don’t get me wrong. It was nice to be able to be with the girls when they were little. And I wouldn’t change that for anything. Besides, I didn’t realize how busy I was till years later. You know the old saying “You do what you have to do”. We sold the corner when the girls got involved with school activates and our regular bartender had kids and needed the same time off for the same reasons. And about that same time we gave up coaching little league softball. Yes, we did that, too, during the summer. Very busy life. After we sold the Corner and hubby went to work for REM, a residential home for the mentally handicapped, I thought life would be slower. But I was wrong. I took on around 8–10 daycare kids to make up for the difference in income. Now you talk about busy. Had most kids from 7:30-5:00, 5 days a week. And then people would say, “you just babysit?” Never sat on a baby in my life was my usual response. And now? Daycare experience would make a coupe two or three posts. Will save that for another time when I am on my soap box. For now, I am loving retirement.

If you want to read the article that put me on my soapbox you can read it by following this link;

4BoysMother- Melissa Fenton, Writer

Have a good day and take care,

Rose

No homework?? WOW! Just a thought.

Hope all of you had a good weekend. It was the last weekend before School starts. Today is the first day of school for most the schools in our area of Iowa. By the end of the week, school will be in session in the whole state. A lot of kids will be happy to get back into a routine and to see friends they haven’t seen during the summer. And most parents will be glad, too.

Most colleges started the fall semester, too. We have grandsons returning and a granddaughter just starting her college days. Where has the time gone? Not only the summer but the years. Seems like only yesterday they were all in elementary school. In a couple of years our youngest grandchild, our baby, will be in college, too.

We spent the weekend with one of our daughters and her family. All but one of their kids were able to join us for dinner on Sunday. It was nice to spend time with them and catching up on their lives. Anyway, I was catching up with social media this morning while having my coffee and came across this article. I thought it was something a lot of teachers should read. I know a lot of parents and students will like the idea. After all the kids spend a lot of time in school each day, seven hours usually and that isn’t counting travel time, and homework can be overkill. Definitely something to think about.

We are having beautiful fall like weather. Hope you are, too. Enjoy.

Rose

Second-grade teacher's unique homework policy goes viral

"But How Do They Learn To Read?"

This came across my screen this morning. I found it to be a very interesting article. Decided to share it with you. Just click on the link below the picture.

"But How Do They Learn To Read? 

Rainy August morning, love it or leave it.

Good morning. It is a rainy day here in my little corner of the world. A nice beautiful rain. I have my coffee, my morning music, life is good. I love when the weather starts getting fall like. Autumn is my favorite time of the year. I would guess we will have some hot days yet before it is officially fall. But the next 10 day sure sounds like fall. Highs in the lower 70’s and lowers in the upper 50”s. I think it would be nice to live somewhere with those temps year round. Wonder where that might be?

Another thing about rainy days for me, I get motivated. I don’t know if it is the cooler weather that comes with rain or what, but I get very ambitious. I have a friend who is the exact opposite, she gets moody and depressed. She thinks I am crazy and I in return thinks she is. To each their own.

I will enjoy the rain while it falls then I think I will dust our bedroom and do the bedding. Oh, and defrost the freezer.

Hope you are able to enjoy your day, too.

Rose

View out my sunroom this morning.,

Perfect weather for Corn not so much for humans.

Has it been hot where you are? It has been awful here in Iowa. And where from 100 to 110 heat index. Sounds like it has been this hot almost all over our country. I guess it is to be expected for July but that doesn’t mean we have to like it.  Today has been pretty nice. We are going to have a few days break before it heats back up. Anyway, we had some bushes that needed trimmed to make lawn mowing easier and cut back on some of the weed eating.  We couldn’t believe how tall the corn had gotten in the past week. This heat and humidity is just what corn likes. We have been getting a half an inch to an inch of rain every 10 days or so. Perfect weather for corn. I would say the farmer who owns the corn will be having a bumper crop again this year.

I decided to take a picture of the field with my hubby in front of it for height reference. He is 5’8”. Of course he claims he is 5’10’’. Can’t convince him two back surgeries and aging has taken a couple of inches from him. Oh well. But getting him to be serious for pictures is almost impossible. When we did a family picture and pictures at two granddaughters’ weddings, I “preached” to him for days to be serious. Or as serious as possible for him. Never a dull moment with him. Got to love him.

Stay cool, if you can.

Rose

First Dutch Elm, now Emerald Ash Borer

Emerald Ash Borer has been found in our area of Iowa. Over time all the ash trees will be gone. Years ago (1969) another disease got all our trees. We had only lived in our house about three years when the Dutch Elm took all our trees. Our whole town was hit hard. I am guessing just about 85% of the trees in town were Elm. The shady yard that was a draw for us to this house was gone. Every tree on our property was an Elm. Over the years, little by little, I replanted 12 plus trees. Twelve are still here and only two of them are ash. When my shade disappeared I took advantage of the all the sun and got busy planting perennials that loved sun. I was new at gardening and didn’t even consider what would happen when all my trees grew. Besides that was years down the road. I couldn’t afford big trees so the ones I planted were mere sticks. Well those “sticks” grew and I had to do something with all my sun loving perennials. I moved them to the lone sunny area in our yard. When you plants too many trees, you find plants that you can grow in the shade. For me that was Begonias and Hostas. I have Hostas around the house. I love their easy care but I needed something that blooms all summer and is easy to care for. To the rescue Begonias.

My sunny perennial garden.

Some of my Begonias.

Some of my Begonias

I hope your days are full of sunshine and flowers, too.

Rose

Finland's way of stopping bullying with great success.

Here it is almost the middle of July. School will be starting soon. Where has the summer gone? Stopped in our local Walmart and was greeting by shelves of back to school things, backpacks, notebooks, pencils, folders, crayons and on and on. All the usual things needed for a great school year.

Came across this article and I think it is one everyone; students, teacher, parents should read and think about. I was teased as a kid because I was so skinny. Olive Oil, you know Popeye’s honey, was the name I was called the most. It was a different time and I just ignored it or was not with it enough to know it was a form of bullying. Anyway it is different in this day and age. Everything is more complicated now. And it seems a lot of people, not all, are either not caring enough or afraid to get involved. I am thinking afraid of speaking up for fear of being the next target. Maybe all of our schools should check out Finland’s way of dealing with it.

                Finland is really good at stopping bullying. Here's how they're doing it.


Something to think about.

Take care,
Rose

RED Flags:Signs That Your Child May Have A Vision Problem

Summer would be a good time to have your child's vision checked. School will be starting before we know it. Three of our four daughters had vision problems at an early age. In fact, one daughter  is legally blind due to being born prematurely. Take it from me and have your child's vision checked.

Signs That Your Child May Have A Vision Problem

Take care,

Rose

Photos by Rosebud, My updated Zazzle store.

One of my passions is photography. I love taking photos of everything and anything in my little corner of the world; flowers, birds, sunsets, nature in general. Living in rural Iowa gives me many opportunities to grab my Canon and try to catch that special moment or object. It is great fun and I find it rewarding.

I opened a Zazzle store a few years ago but never did much with it. Well, I have this one pushy daughter (love you) and she had convinced me to start using some of my photos on greeting cards, note cards and calendars. Maybe on more items as I figure out the process to create them in my store

The name of my store is Photos By Rosebud

http://www.zazzle.com/photosbyrosebud

Check it out when you have time, 

Thanks, Rose

Growing up a tomboy.

My hubby and I have four daughters. All grown and very successful adults. When they were little they were "tomboys". I didn't think much of it as I was a tomboy growing up, too. Of course everyone thought it was a natural thing since I was a middle child with four brothers; two older and two younger. Oh and a whole lot of boys in the neighborhood. There were only two other girls and they definitely weren't tomboys. And didn't want anything to do with the things I liked. In fact, one was over trying to play with me and the boys, stepped on a bumble bee barefooted, got stung and was mad at me forever. Said it was my fault. Geez.

Who knew being a tomboy could be inherited. My girls could run, climb trees, catch bugs and get very dirty with the best of them. We have a big yard with lots of landscaping and it was the place to go to for a game of kick the can on a summer evening. No one worried about mosquitoes or heat stroke or falling and skinning a knee. And I think this made them strong and not just in the physical sense. They learned to hold their own no matter what the situation.  

I found this article very interesting. It reminded me of my four girls and the fun time they had growing up in small town Iowa.

Just follow the link below the picture to read the article.

Why I Let My Daughter Get Her Hands Dirty

Enjoy this beautiful day,

Rose

Summertime and boy is it HOT.

Summertime. Summer is actually a few weeks away but one wouldn’t know it by today’s weather. Here in Iowa the high today was 93. That is 10 to 15 degrees higher than normal. Sure glad the A.C. is working. Hot weather this early sure makes it hard to keep children safe as they start their summer break. Not all of us have easy access to a pool. But kids do seem to like the cold water coming from a sprinkler. A water balloon fight is always a fun way to cool down. And after cooling down with water play, reading a book under a shape tree (or indoors with A.C.) is always good. Just remember to supply plenty of water to drink too. And that goes for our pets, too.

Stay safe and stay cool.

Rose

Should I Plan an Educational Summer?

Why Fewer Toys Will Benefit Your Child.

Looks like we are going to finally have a beautiful weekend. Forecast is for a sunny day with highs in the 70’s, There are lots of graduation parties going on in our area so I am sure there are a lot of parents happy with this forecast. Tomorrow is both college and high school graduation day. We have two grandkids graduating tomorrow. One from high school and one from college. Plus the party of the son of a very good friend of ours. Busy weekend. But great fun.

Enjoy this beautiful weekend. Watch a child play or better yet, if possible, play with a child.

Rose.

Why Fewer Toys Will Benefit Your Child

Is that snow??? in May?????

Here it is the 12^th of May and we have had only a couple of mornings where it was comfortable to sit on the deck for our morning Dr. Pepper. It has either been cold, raining or windy or we weren’t home.

Been a really different spring. So far, we have lucked out and haven’t had the really nasty storms that seem to be happening everywhere. Omaha, less than fifty miles from us has a couple of tornadoes and just the other early morning hail where they had to bring out the snowplows. The news showed people shoveling hail. We have had lots of rain here but thank the Lord nothing else. The weather forecast is calling for temperatures in lower 30s Saturday morning. Brrrr. Will be running the fireplace to take the chill off on Saturday. This Saturday is our city wide garage sale day. We were planning on getting up and out early. But we might just have to change our plans a bit. I am not into garage sales in the cold.

Here is a picture of the hail storm in Omaha posted on Facebook yesterday. Amazing.

This is not snow!! This is hail! Omaha,Nebraska 5-11-16 
This does not look fun. @chrismachian photo from#hail in Omaha. 
Full Coverage:Hail Storm

Hope the weather calms down soon and we all have a wonderful spring.

Take care,

Rose

Isn't this the truth.

     Happy Mother's day. Hope this is a wonderful and happy day for all you Mothers.

Isn't this the truth.



Enjoy your day.
Rose

Why It Might Be Important To Let Our Kids Play Their Way.

Came across this article today. I so totally agree with it. It talks about how we adults sometimes micro manage our kids. Sometimes called helicopter parenting.  Hubby and I raised four wonderful daughters. They all became successful adults. I were very busy parent helping my hubby run a business, taking care of four kids, keeping what I thought at the time was important, a very clean house (since have learned a very clean house is nice but not that important) had a huge garden and sewed most of the girls and mine clothes. I didn't know at the time that I was so busy it was just the way life was. And I sure didn't have the time to be a helicopter parent. But I think that was a good thing. In all my years of daycare, I usually didn't step in unless it got physical. Most times the kids would work it out themselves.

My kids learned work ethic, how to think for themselves figuring out life on their own. All four girls went off to college, got a Master in Education and one daughter has her Doctorate. Very productive, responsible adults. Maybe this is why I liked this article. It is so true in my book.

Enjoy and have a good day,
Rose

P.S. You can read the article by following the link below.

Maybe it's time to stop controlling our kids in Play.

Make life easier, stay organized.

We have finally got a rainy day here in Iowa. Good day to start a bit of spring cleaning. I am told I am a organize freak. I guess I am. I like a place for everything and everything in it's place. For me it makes life easier. I hate wasting time looking for something. It is just easier and faster to know where things are and go get them when needed. Hubby doesn't always see things my way. And nothing is more irritating when I am in a hurry then to waste minutes looking for something he didn't put back where it is suppose to be. This mainly happens in the kitchen. Oh he puts things away because he knows I hate cluttered counters. But it usually is a guessing game as to where he shoved the object. His usual answer when I comment on it is " that darn Ghost" is messing with us again. That same "Ghost" forgets to close closet doors and turn off lights. Fun to live in a haunted house. Oh well, it does keep things interesting around here. But if you are like me and like things organized check out this site. I used a lot of these tips in my daycare for years. They work. And it make life easier.

                                                Staying organized made easy.

Enjoy the day.

Rose

Who knew that cheese sticks could be dangerous to little ones.

All those years I did daycare, I always cut grapes in half, hot dogs were spit the long way and then sliced but I never ever came cheese sticks a thought. The kids loved them. I did too. I figured it was a healthy snack along with a some crackers and a glass of milk. But after reading this, I guess they were right up there with grapes and hot dogs.

" just read a terribly sad story about a 2 year old child who died because of a choking accident. He was eating a cheese stick when it lodged in his throat. To be honest, it never occurred to me that cheese sticks could be choking hazards. But we all know that hot dogs are a no-no for a child unless they are cut up, and cheese sticks are similar in shape to hot dogs. The cheese tends to soften once in the mouth and throat and can completely block the airway. The Hemlich maneuver is not generally effective to force the cheese out, and pulling on the cheese will just cause it to break apart or soften enough to expand even more.

From the Consumer Protection Agency: Other forbidden foods for those under 3 years of age: small pieces of hot dogs, cheese sticks/chunks, hard candy, nuts, grapes and popcorn, raw vegetables, jellybeans, raw unpeeled fruit slices, dried fruits, grapes or chunks of meat. For infants, give them soft foods that do not require chewing. Also very important is that you not let your child eat or suck on foods while lying down or playing; they should always be sitting upright when there is food in their mouth".

What you know about cheese sticks might save your child’s life.

Keep our little ones safe.
Rose

Wearing off the stink"

In the winter months, when I was a kid and my brothers and I were getting antsy, my dad would say, " Get your coats on outside and run around the house and wear off that stink". These activities would be great to use up some of that excess energy and more fun then running around the house. And they help build gross motor skills.

                              7 Super Brain-building Gross Motor Activities for Kids


Fun for adults to do with the kids, too.

Enjoy,
Rose

Getting your kids to help with chores.

Came across this article this morning. Found it interesting. In my daycare, I found that counting to see how fast the kids could pick up worked really great. They loved racing to see who was the fastest. And another thing I would recommend is starting them at a very early age. When the kids in my daycare were older enough to join the others in the " playroom" they were older enough to start learning how to pick up. By the time they were "big kids" all I had to say, "Time to pick up, go wash and eat".

                   5 Foolproof Tips for Getting Your Children to do Their Chores

Another thing they loved doing, was taking turns washing the breakfast bowls, unbreakable breakfast  bowls. It would take them a "long time". They always thought they were big stuff. 

Do you have fun ways to get your kids to help?

Rose.

My Memories of Holy Week in the ‘50’s.

There was a post on my Facebook page this morning titled “How My Polish Family Celebrates Easter” Brought back memories of our Holy Week and Easter  in the 50’s.

How My Polish Family Celebrates Easter.

My family didn’t have quite that elaborate Easter dinner talked about in the article but we sure did have a lot of the other traditions. Lent was a really big thing in my family, too. Lots of fasting and church going. And Holy Week was mostly spent in church or at least it seemed like to me as a kid.

There was the Holy Thursday Mass. at 8:00 a.m. It was a High Mass. You could tell when you entered church if it was a high Mass or a low Mass by the number of candles lit.

Low Mass -Mass parts are read, not chanted. No incense. Usually shorter because of no chanting.
High Mass -Various parts of the Mass are chanted and incense may be used. Usually longer.

Of course as kids, we preferred the Low Mass version. Today there is no real difference in time. So Mass on Holy Thursday morning. Then in the evening after supper, back to the church for an hour of Adoration. In my home parish, families signed up for an hour. Adoration went on till Good Friday afternoon services. This 24 hour adoration depicted the time that Jesus spent awaiting his death on the cross.

Good Friday services started at 1:00 and lasted till 3:00 the hour of Jesus’ death on the cross. I sang in the choir and had to stay for all of it. Of course, even if I didn’t sing in the choir, I would have been there for all of it.  My parents would not have had it any other way. I remember people coming and going some. I suppose they came when they could because of work etc. The part I hated the most was that starting about 2:00 people would line up and walk down the church aisle (in our church that was a LONG aisle) and when they got to about six pews or so away from the altar, they would get down on their knees and go the rest of the way in a sort of a crawl. At the foot of the altar propped on the floor, was a large crucifix. When you got there you kissed the wounds of Jesus. I can remember hating that because all I could think of was all of the germs. Mother taught us well in that respect, too. Same reason I don’t do wine now. Of course, not liking the taste does play a part in that, too.

Holy Saturday was a fun day. No Easter egg hunt for us. Instead we took baskets of food to be blessed for Easter Sunday. Our baskets usually had dyed eggs, ham, homemade polish sausage (my Uncle Walt made the best) homemade bread, salt and pepper, horseradish. Fasting didn’t end till Easter morning. So the smell of all that food in church for the blessing was almost overwhelming. It was wonderful. And I can tell you, nothing has ever tasted as good as that blessed food after Easter Mass on Easter Sunday.

Easter Sunday was always spent at Babcia’s (grandmother in Polish) house. All of my mother’s siblings would be there and all of my cousins. A house full and a small two bedroom house at that.

What a fun time it was.

Rose.

Sure hope The Groundhog knows what he is doing.

Snowdrifts are kind of cool. But I still will be glad when they are replaced with nice green grass. I am so ready for warm weather and Dr. Pepper time on the deck.

View our our kitchen window.

Stay warm,

Rose
Stay smile emoticonVieS

Trying to Conquer the squirrel guard

We have had a time with squirrels this winter. They are fat and sassy because they are well fed. Hubby goes out and feeds the birds most every morning.  He won't be back in the house five minutes and one of them will be in the big feeder eating all he wants. At first hubby pounding on the window would scare them off. But soon that didn't work. Opening the window and yelling would for a while too. But hubby was out of things to try so he had me search homemade squirrel guards. A friend of our was kind enough to make it up for us. And here are the photo results.

Okay, what is this?

Hmm. I am hungry, I want breakfast.

Yep, right house. There is the feeder. Now let me see.

Maybe I can jump to it. Nope, that is a pretty long jump.

I got it. Just watch me. One more try.

Success. I forgot I can jump straight up to it. Of course the snow cover helps.

P.S. I went out and raised the feeder. Will see if that helps. At least he couldn't climb the pole. 

P.S. 2 It has been a few days and various squirrels have tried to go up the pole without success. The homemade squirrel guard works great and it was cheap to make.

Here is a link on how to make one.

/http://www.todayshomeowner.com/how-to-make-a-squirrel-and-raccoon-bird-feeder-baffle/

We are in blizzard warning till Tuesday evening. Stay safe and warm.

Rose

Surrounded by a sky on fire.

I would guess all of us living in the Midwest have heard a major snowstorm named Kayla is heading our way. Blizzard conditions are possible. The weathermen are predicting anywhere from 2-16 inches of snow for our particular area along with super strong winds, 30-50 mph gusts. I am praying for the 2 inches I image the grocery stores will be very busy this weekend. We have plenty of food and if the power doesn't go out we will be fine. 

But right now, it is more like spring out there. The Calm before the storm.  And the sunsets have been amazing. Last night, in particular, was breathing taking. The sun setting reflected off the clouds making the sky aglow in all directions. I stood on deck and did a complete circle taking pictures of the glow in the sky all around me, south, then east, then north and then back to the west. Just awesome.

Looking South 

Looking East

Looking North

Looking West

Have a relaxing weekend and pray the snowstorm Kayla fizzles out.

Rose