Birdie Snacks

It is starting to get warm in our part of the world again.  After suffering through two winters back to back, it was a great sight to see the cherry blossoms blooming and to wake up this morning to the birds singing in distant trees.   It is actually warm enough in the morning that the dog will venture out before 9 am, instead of looking at you like "Have you seen the frost on the grass?  These paws deserve more than that".  And it isn't just the warmth I welcome (although I didn't know that even when you heat a concrete house, it just never loses it's chill), I love the sounds and smells of Spring too.  From the sweet fragrance of the baby cherry blossoms to the sounds of the birds constant chatter, I fill up my senses with the wonder of new life sprouting everywhere.  I swear, if you listen closely enough, you can even hear the new leaves budding on the bare limbs of the trees.  And MadHatter and Stinkerbell are not immune, even at their young ages.  They are suddenly a bit less cranky and a lot less bored.  They are able to go outside without sweaters and coats weighing them down.  There is no need to carry a paraguas (umbrella), which is a necessity here in the winter.  It's been a long damp and chilly 3 months and we are really enjoying the advent of Spring.  MadHatter and I discussed a couple of ideas of how we would like to celebrate the new season.  We talked of painting pictures for the birds because who doesn't love a picture drawn especially for them.  We discussed going and getting McDonalds (readily seconded by her sister) but decided that was more of a treat for us, than a celebration of Spring.  She suggested that we could now play with our Play-Doh outside and make the birdies some snacks out of Doh...which we did...but we didn't let them eat any of it.  But in keeping with that line of thinking, I suggested we make birdfeeders to welcome the birdies back home after their long trips.  MadHatter thought that would be great because "they will be hungry after flying for so long.  I would be if I had to flap my wings all day".  And she proceeded to run around flapping her arms, showing me how quickly she would get tired.  About 90 seconds.  She would not be a good migratory bird.

Yesterday, we gathered all of our store bought ingredients, searched the ground for pine cones (not available, but there is something very similar), and set it all up on the back table, we proceeded to build "Birdie Snacks" (well, Stinkerbell snacks too).  They had so much fun, but I think I had more.  

I love days like this.

She tried so hard to string the Cheerios but just got frustrated instead.  So, she had a snack.