They're Baaaccck!

The hummingbirds, that is! :D (They arrived "home" last Sunday! I was so excited to see them!) This little fella was just hilarious! He would perch there are on the crook for the longest time, and chase off any other hummingbird that dared to come near. There's a feeder hanging on the crook that you can't see in the picture. He's done this on and off every day this week. Just too cute. :D

It's been raining a slow, steady rain all afternoon. The best kind of rain. The forecast was for strong storms but we've been blessed with a good, soaking rain. :) And since it's been raining, I've been inside. I have done NO sewing, none, nada! Some day I'll get back to that. :( I put the pieced borders on a tablerunner, oh, I don't know, what? a week ago, maybe?, and realized that I put one on wrong so I just quit and haven't been back in the sewing room since. :P Instead, I've spent every minute, from the time I've rolled out of bed :D until time to get back in the bed! outside. I haven't planted the first veggie seed this spring, and I can't decide if it's too late to fool with it or not. Every Spring I have visions of this huge veggie garden with abundant produce all summer long, and enough to can for the Winter, too, ROFL but I haven't managed to actually get that dream to come true yet. :) I won't be satisfied, tho, until I put at least a few seeds in the ground, even if it's just a couple of squash, tomatoe, and cucumber seeds. :)

We have a storage building that I had been wanting moved closer to the house, and that was finally accomplished, so I've been playing in it, moving in flower pots and dirt and tools and all those fun, outside things that I had piled up on the back porch. I must say, the porch really looks much better without all of my clutter on it, and Randy is soooo happy to have it cleared off. LOL

Thanks to all of you who shared your friendship, concern and hugs with me over the tragedy at VA Tech. I still reel from the shock of it, and I know that the town and school will never be quite the same, but hopefully will become even better and stronger over time.

In Shock

On Monday a friend called. Randy answered the phone and came to find me, saying we need to turn the TV on. There's something going on in Blacksburg. I sat here in stunned disbelief as I watched the horrific scene taking place in my hometown. As someone else put it, I can't stand to watch it on TV and yet I can't stand NOT to. I'm just heartbroken for everyone involved.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! Hope everyone has a lovely Easter, and that the Easter Bunny stopped by your house. :D

Brrrr Somebody Build a Fire!

Man, these 20 and 30 deg temps are hard on a body after having such unseasonably warm days for the last 3 weeks!! It's an absolutely GORGEOUS morning but cold! So we do have a fire going in the woodstove, and I would imagine we WILL have one for the next several days. Thank goodness we decided to get this stove; the wood heat just cannot be beat when you need something to snuggle up to. LOL

Here's a picture of my birdbath that I treated myself to with my birthday money from Lilie (one of my seesters *g*). Isn't it just the cat's meow??? I LOVE it!! I just have to remember to dump the water out of it tonight so it won't freeze and crack over the next few nights. There goes the Weatherbug buzzing to tell me there's a freeze warning for tonight. :) And our apple tree has been beautiful. Den (one of my brothers) told me last night that his cherry tree has been loaded with beautiful blooms, and now there's a freeze on the way and it will most likely get frostbitten. Such a shame...I would imagine that there are a lot of people that will be either out covering plants with blankets and rugs or will suffer losses.

We had the most ferocious storm night before last that we've had here yet. And I thought I had gone through several that were really bad. They always come right at bedtime too which makes it even worse. But we are the fortunate ones, so far we really haven't sustained any damage. I know there were lots of people that did suffer a lot of damage from this storm.

I plan on working on 'belated' (yes, I'm getting worse and worse about getting cards in the mail on time :( ) birthday greetings today, and I'm going to FINALLY work on the second block of the Whig Rose today. That's my plan and I'm sticking to it...well, after I make us an almond pound cake, of course :D, which I'm going to do right now. Oh, and I'm going to make a loaf of homemade bread to go with the stew that I cooked yesterday. THEN I'm settling in by the stove and sewing some.

A Gorgeous Sunset,

Homer Kitty on top of Sug's van , and Tree Swallows billing (kissing ;0)

Happy Birthday to 3 Seesters, One Brother and One Niece

My Mom got carried away when it came to April babies...so I'm sending a very special happy birthday greeting to Nita, Den, Flan, Glorie and Sug!! Hope this is the most wonderful birthday for each of you! :D

I just have to share a couple of outside pictures. The first one is of a pair of eagles that were on our lake bank Sunday a.m. Absolutely awesome!!! The next one is a pair of swallows. I thought it was the one of them 'kissing', which they actually do, and it's called 'billing'. Alas, I chose the wrong one...they are so small in photo file that I often can't tell if I have chose "THE ONE" from the group. :( I'll find it tho and put it up later. I also bought a birdbath as my birthday gift from my seester, Lilie, since she told me NOT to buy any more fabric or thread with my gift from her. LOL So I bought a birdbath! :D I'll post a pic of it later too. :)

Sug, the next picture is of the swallow flying from the nesting box. Fifth Avenue is officially rented! :D All rental properties have been snapped up now. :) I think we have our first batch of baby bluebirds already in one of them. :D

I'm headed back outside...all of the pictures enlarge if you click on them. :)

How Can It Be Thursday Already?

I have been outside every day this week, and the week has flown by! I only took a break this afternoon to run in and get a drink of water, and decided to post just a quick note to let everyone know I'm okay. I've still got TONS of yard work to do, and I keep getting distracted watching the Swallows and the Goldfinches. :D Randy helped me put up two new bluebird houses day before yesterday, and the Swallows are going to rent them out first. :) The redbud trees are just gorgeous right now...and, just a tiny quilting note, a pillow that I made last year (I think LOL). Gotta go dig some more weeds up. :)

Another Day Outside

and these are a couple of pictures from last year...things that we are looking forward to again in the near future. :D That is Randy with Dewey and Badger on our lake bank. The lake usually is completely filled up, but obviously it was still quite low when I snapped this picture. I'm debating on hanging my hummingbird feeder, even tho I haven't seen a hummer yet. I know it can't be long now before they are buzzing around out there demanding that I fill their feeder for them. :) I do have some pictures that I've taken recently that I want to post, but I haven't uploaded them from the camera yet. Soon! (they aren't quilt-related tho :( )

Sug (my sister) came for a visit yesterday afternoon, and we hung around outside on the porch watching the birds. :D Oh, we did have coffee and a piece of almond pound cake that was still warm from my oven. Yummy. :D It was a great visit. We even mixed up a batch of Martha Stewart's homemade deer repellant and sprayed my hostas (that are just starting to emerge), daylillies, and lilac bush. I haven't tried this before, but heck, I think I've tried everything else and the deer still win out. :D I love watching the deer, but I would love for them to munch on something besides my flowers. :) The weather for the last week has just been toooo gorgeous for me to stay inside. I do have hand-applique that I want to get done, but I've been so whipped by dark that I haven't even been doing that. And I really, really want to make one of Darlene's tabletoppers. I may have to drag myself into my fabric closet tonight and pull out some fabrics for one of those.

I'm going to go swing the maddock a while longer. I really haven't gotten that much accomplished today. The phone has rung off the hook for mediation scheduling, so I have been carrying my phones and calendar outside with me. Some days are busier than others (on the phone), and today is one of them.

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend, and that your week is off to a great start. I'll let you know how the digging goes. :D (Oh, I almost forgot...yeah, I have to admit to Darlene that I'm a blog 'stalker' too. LOL)

Beautiful Week

I've been outside digging in the dirt all week. It's been such gorgeous weather, that I just couldn't stay inside. So I haven't sewn a stitch all week. :( I think it actually got to 80 deg. today. I haven't even put the borders on the runner that I worked on last Sunday. Maybe if it rains (?) (LOL) next week I'll be forced to stay inside, do so much needed dusting, and turn the sewing machine on again. :) Darlene, over at 'quilting daze' wrote up instructions to her toppers that she's been making, and I really, really want one of them too. :D Meanwhile, I'm just popping in here to let you know that I'm still kicking. :D Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.

Belated Happy St. Patrick's Day

I know, I know, it's time to get the bunnies out. But you see, I'm always several days late and a whole bunch of dollars short. LOL And since I have NO, yes, I'm sad to say you read that right--NO pictures from the quilt show to share, I wanted you to see my little shamrock that I made last year. It's actually on the wall now, and off of my photo 'stage' :). I did take my camera to the show, but left it in the car. It was frigid cold, and when I realized I needed the camera, I just COULDN'T go get it. We had to park way up on the hill and ride the golf cart down LOL. Anyway, there were lots of quilts, and even more people at the show, and we didn't even get to the other building that they also had a quilt exhibit in. They are really going to have to do something about a larger building. Their space and parking are waaaay outgrown.

Glorie and I had a good time, even tho I was still dragging a bit from the sinus infection. She actually started cutting out a king-size bed quilt on Saturday evening, and by the time she was ready to head for home on Sunday at 2:00, she already has quite a bit sewn. I got to test drive her Bernina 200 which has the stitch regulator on it. I was no better with it than I am on my regular Bernina. :D I need LOTS of practice at this machine quilting, I can tell you! LOL After she left on Sunday, I started piecing a new spring tablerunner. It has 3 16-piece blocks on point in the center that Glorie had already cut and brought to me. :) Got those pieced and stitched with their setting triangles. Now I'm ready to put the borders on. Thought I would work on that today, but I've been outside most of the day digging weeds out of the flowerbed. Guess who won't be able to move tomorrow??? LOL

The rest of the week is supposed to be in the 70s so I'll be outside more than in. Hope everyone had a fantastic St. Patrick's Day!

Spring Fever

Yesterday we had a high of 71, today it's supposed to be 75---then Sat. night a low of 28. Is that crazy or what!! :D Friday is supposed to be in the 50s. Glorie (my niece) is coming for a weekend visit, and we're planning on going to the Pigeon Forge Quilt Show on Friday. The first year we went it snowed. Last year was so warm we were in shirtsleeves. We may be going full circle here with the weather. :)

I have to make a path through the house and pick up a few groceries before Friday morning. Shoveling out the sewing room again will take more time than anything. I'm just completely out of room for storing quilt books and magazines, yet there are always new ones that I want. I have piles of them in the sewing room floor that have to be moved in order for the two of us to be able to get in there and play. :D

The little wallhanging that I've posted is one that I did last year. It's wool applique on cotton background, and I hand-quilting this one. It's one of my favorites. :)

Spring Ahead

Here you go, Meggie, the Johnny Jumpup. Isn't it adorable? They are soooo teeny tiny. They hide, all nestled in the grass, and sometimes I only get a glimpse of them. :D I remember as a child picking these tiny little flowers, and most springs I end up picking a few to float in a clear glass bowl or brandy snifter. Hmmmm, wonder what I did with that snifter. Haven't seen it in several years. Guess that's why I end up putting them in a small, clear dessert bowl. :) You can't tell it by the picture, but it's actually the palest of pale yellows, creamy may be a better color description. :) Where I grew up, they were purple, and sometimes here I find pale lavender ones. So far this season, all I've seen are this color.

The wallhanging was made and given to me several years ago by Glorie (my niece). I always have it out for March since I associate the Sunbonnet Sues flying kites in the March winds. And Lord knows, we have had some wicked winds this March. :D

I happened to glance out my kitchen window yesterday evening and saw these two big turkeys having their evening snack. I, quick, grabbed the camera to get a picture of them. Ooooh, I DO love this tripod! :) As long as the camera is still attached to it, it really does make it soooo much easier to snap pictures without having to worry about trying to hold the camera completely still. Of course, I still managed to get a bit of a blur LOL but I'm definitely getting better photos with it.

Badger did really well last night, and so far this morning he seems to be improving too. He will be on the steroid and muscle relaxer through the rest of the weekend, and hopefully by Monday he will be feeling much better. :) Of course, I have done very little of what I had planned to do with my days alone due to running back and forth to the doctor for me on Wed, taking Badger to the vet on Thurs., going to bring him back home yesterday, and each of these trips take between an hour and an 1-1/2 one way. Since bringing him back home yesterday evening, I've been playing doggie nurse and trying to keep him from wandering around when I put him down for drinks (the pred makes them really thirsty) and to go potty.

So, there you have it, folks! LOL That pretty well sums up most of this past week. Gone in a flash! Now, maybe I can do a bit of sewing, do ya think? LOL