Friday Finish!

 

This has been quite a week. We had the solar put in, so they were here on 4 different days to install equipment and today the panels went up, so it is finally done. When I had a few quiet days, I worked on a project and watched tv, it was nice to make something new and not hear banging all day.

This design is by Julie Porter and offered on Facebook as part of a free chicken series.  You can find the group page at Primitive Quilts .....

It is a stitchery and I decided to do the large chicken in applique. I also made the mistake of trying to add red marker to enhance the red and forgot it was still wet, so I messed up the comb on the large chicken. Luckily I was able to take out the original stitching and enlarge the comb to cover my mistake.

Last weekend we had the boys for the day and since I didn't have the pool set up, we got a better slip and slide with sprinklers, for them. They had a ball and I enjoyed watching them play. I also had them tonight, while my son took Ivy and Bill out for dinner, for their birthday. This weekend I will have a party for the boys to give them their gifts, lots of birthdays in one weekend.

Lots of activity this week, more babies are coming out and one hummingbird is coming to the feeder. She is the only one for now, and I hope I get to see more later on.

And ones I rather not see, they tend to demolish the food, a Common Grackle.

And today the yard was full of birds, the majority of them were crows and a lot of Starlings. The young were hungry and wanted to be fed. It got to the point where I had to chase more away, they were eating all the suet and attacking the regulars who come to visit. 

I hope everyone had a good week and enjoy the long weekend. 

Friday Finish and Feathered Friends!

 

This week got away from me, I thought it was Thursday, lol. I have been working on a couple of projects and finished one. I say finished, but it needs some fixes and a finish. A friend sent me the pattern as a gift and I think it will be a nice gift to give back to her. I am not sure if I want to mount it on wood as a hanging or make a storage bag for knitting needles, will think on it.

It is a bit of a mess now, I need to trim a bit and redo the areas that got snagged into each other. The design is by Yvonne Buus. It is a bit skewed in the photo, but the design is a bit over 6" x 8".

We got a bit of snow this week, looks like winter is here to stay for the month, more snow coming this weekend and during the week. This is my back yard at nightfall, last weekend.

The birds didn't seem to mind and were extra hungry, so lots of visitors. This female, Black Eyed Junco was nice enough to sit for a photo.

The Starlings are always trying to eat all the food, so I let one have some while I took photos, but I usually chase them away. And the Bluejays are always eating up all the food, but I allow them to have a bit. I do have feeders in the yard that I fill, so they are welcome to that, but they know the good food is on the porch.

This weekend is Bird count weekend. If you have birds in your area, you can join in by signing up at Cornells Bird Lab. They have a lot of information on birding and a site where you can list the birds you see in your area. It helps them to keep track of bird populations.

I really wasn't going to do it, but today I saw a new bird and decided to list what I saw, in a half hour. I had quite the list, it was very busy today. And this guy, he is a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker. I saw him yesterday and thought he was a bit large and different than the Downy Woodpeckers. I was able to catch a few photos and was happy to see I had a new feathered friend.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and maybe you can enjoy birding in your own backyard. A suet feeder is the cheapest and easiest way to start. One thing that most of the birds love is peanuts, a great way to attract a variety of birds.