Holiday Weekend!

I guess you could say I have been busy and enjoying my company, since I didn't get many photos. We had a house full and everyone doing their thing, especially the kids, so it was hard to get anyone to stay still for too long.

I rearranged the dining area and made room for everyone at the table, a bit snug, but we all fit.

Today was a nice day, a bit cool, but a nice day to get out for a walk. I wanted an easy day, and no stress, so we went to the bird sanctuary. I love the paths and the beautiful views of the pond and ocean.

Coming through the back path, I almost bumped into this deer. She was standing at the edge of the path and seemed used to people. I also noticed when I looked at the photo that she has a large hole on her back left leg, so I will send it to them, not sure if she caught it on something or a coyote tried to get her.

On another path I hurt a racket and discovered two squirrels, running up and down a tree to gather more leaves for their nest. Hard to catch them, they run at top speed, back and forth.

Back at the center, they have a little porch with a bench. A great place to sit and relax, while the critters enjoy the feeders and bird baths. It was a nice way to spend the day and we stopped at some small local gift shops, but nothing worth bringing home.

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and a fun weekend planned. I am working on my stitchery and decided on what projects to make for me, for Christmas.

Vote Now!

The voting has started for the patriotic challenge at This-n-That Fabrics. Please take the time to cast you vote for your favorite quilt piece.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. We had a cookout with my new grandson and my DIL's sister, so it was a nice day. I wish I had taken photos, but I was too busy holding my grandson to pick up the camera;)

Today was hot but windy, so too hot to be on a pond or river and too windy for the open waters, so we went for a ride to check out a paddling spot and then a short visit to see the new baby. We planned on taking a trail along the river, but it seems that people had built homes all along it, so no where to hike now.

I will definitely be back with the kayak, perfect place to paddle.

Spring is here!

Today it was too nice to stay inside, so we took our first walk around the pond. Then I crashed for the rest of the day, lol. I am out of shape and a 3 mile hike was more than I am used to, but well worth it.

The ducks and swans were out on the pond and the trees were full of birds. I spied this egret as we walked down the path.

My flower mat is done, but it is drying, had to wash off the blue ink, so tomorrow I will have a photo. I also messed up on my wool quilt. I added the applique to the new block and then realized it sticks out more, than the other blocks below it. So, I have to add more wool pieces to the side to even it out.

All Creatures Great and Small!

I think the word has gotten out, my yard is the place to be, lol.
I went out onto my porch and looked out and this is what I saw, they usually never come out during the day, isn't she a beauty.

I sat down and watched her and as I was looking around the yard, I saw a brown spot under the tree. Someone was enjoying a rest in the shade, he is my new bunny buddy and visits me during the day and night.

And if that wasn't enough, a bird was squawking at me. She wanted to add onto her nest and her nest is under my porch. I guess she is adding water proofing to her nest, but doesn't look like it will be too comfy.

Hand quilting!

I finally finished all of the outline stitchings in the blocks and strips and now I am stitching around the appliqués. I decided it needed it and as you can see on this piece, it needs something else in the empty spaces? I was thinking of adding some scattered words, of encouragement?

It is not as cockeyed as it looks, it is lying on the couch.Yes, I forgot to take out the pins. I used iron on batting, but added some pins to the middle of the block to keep it from shifting.

And this is my red buddy, he knows I want to take a nice photo of him and he sits on the branches and looks at me, all the time, but the minute I get the camera out, he hides. I guess he is camera shy.

Two new visitors came today. They were shy too, but I was able to get a shot of them while they rested in the neighbor's tree. With the warmer weather, it seems our area is filled with birds and today it was a cacophony of songs.

Tripods

My Brother in law loves photography, so over the years, I have been gifted with some of his equipment that he didn't want.
This month he dropped his camera and decided to have it fixed and give it to me, and he is getting himself a new one.
Not sure why he doesn't want his, it will be brand new when they replace the lens, but I will not look a gift horse in the mouth;)
I guess I am going to have to learn how to use a real camera.

Yesterday he sent me his tripod, he never uses it and I really need one, since I shake too much.
It will be great to use when I take photos of my pieces, and when I get the new camera, hopefully better colors.

Today I tried it with my camera, not sure if mine fits right, but it did keep me steadier. Of course nothing interesting came by, just the usual group of birds who spent the afternoon sitting and fighting over the bird feeders.

When I get the new camera, I will find out if it is the camera or me, lol. I will definitely have to ask santa for a larger zoom this year;)

This is a scrub bush, perfect place for a bird feeder. The long thorns keep the other critters from climbing up and getting into the feeders.



These are on full zoom, I don't think my camera has true zoom, at it's highest point. Most digital cameras have true distance, up to the halfway point, but past that, they go digital, so pictures look blurry. Even with a tripod, I still had to use the sharpen tool. But for those of you who have a problem with shake and want to use a zoom, which is a heavier lens, a tripod is a great item to have.

I am working on a new piece, a possible pattern for sewing, but not sure if I like what I did, and might do another with the original idea I had, so you can see when I finish.

Sunday's Stroll and Contest coming!

First of all, I made a decision on the hexagons. I am adding a the dark green from the middle for one more row around.
I think that will balance it out more. There are some bad edges, so I had to sew deeper on those areas, and that throws it off a bit, but I will do some fixes after, to make it look better, if I can.

Tomorrow looks for my Birthday Giveaway! It starts tomorrow and will end on my birthday, the following Sunday.
So if you are not a follower, now is a good time to sign up. I finally hit the 100 followers mark! I think I will have to add to the original goodies in celebration;)

Today we went for a walk. It is so nice to have a beautiful, semi warm day this late in the season, and it was so good to get out.
We ended up going to the bird sanctuary again. It is a beautiful walk through woods and fields with views of the salt water pond and the ocean, you just can't find a more beautiful spot.

Today was spectacular day for views, the sun was out and the pond lived up to it's name as a bird sanctuary.
You can see the waves crashing against the breakers in the distance.



Flocks were flying in and out of the pond. You can see the lighthouse in the distance. That is another area we love to visit.



This group was taking off for another area of the pond. You can see a few of them running across the water to get some lift.



Take off accomplished



Flying and soaring with the winds



As you can see, it was a beautiful day to just enjoy the view, the cool ocean breezes and the variety of birds who make their home at the pond.

Comfort quilt

One of the projects I worked on that I couldn't show, was quilt blocks.
They were made as part of a quilt, we made for a fellow quilter who is going through some tough times.
I made two blocks for the quilt and we all sent them to another girl who pieced the quilt and then it went onto another, who did the quilting and binding. They did a beautiful job on putting it all together and today it arrived to it's destination. If you would like to see the whole quilt, you can visit Nancy's Blog to see all the other wonderful blocks in the quilt.

The theme of the quilt was nature and wildlife, so each block in the quilt depicts various pictures of things Nancy and Jim love.
This block I made from a photo she had. She lives outside of Yellowstone park and has frequent visitors. The photo was of her cat and a deer, kissing. I just had to make it into a block. I added the rainbow from something I read about her loving the rainbow poem.



The second block was from my memory of a picture I had seen of her husband Jim, who was standing in the yard watching something and the kitty was sitting beside him. He also loves the outdoors and outdoor activity and even though he cannot do these things now, I had him hiking with the kitty.