The purple squirrel

My daughter was complaining she was having trouble finding the purple squirrel. Neither Rick or I understood until she explained as an HR Person it was a future employee with an impossible combination of skills to find.

As I write this, she is at Dublin airport waiting for the next leg to visit us for nine days.

On Tuesday we went to Spain with Swedish friends Rolf and Eva for lunch.

"Wouldn't it be nice if we could find a purple squirrel for Llara?" Rick asked.

After lunch he and Rolf headed for a toy store on a squirrel hunt, although they did spend more time in the drone and model section. No luck.

On the drive back was stopped at woodworker's atelier, filled with hand-carved toys, baskets, furniture and more. As Eva and I puttered around, I noticed Rick and Rolf smiling and talking animatedly.

They had found a carving board with the outline of a squirrel burned into the wood.

"We can paint it purple," Rick said.

"I can give you paint if you don't have any," Eva, who is an artist, said.

We stopped at their house and went into her studio. She took dabs of blue, red and white, put them on a piece of paper, dropped the paper in a plastic bag and handed me a brush.

Once home, I painted the squirrel.

I know she will be surprised.