Quilt show entries

I haven't gotten many blocks marked this week.  I've spent a couple of my mornings entering quilts in the Austin show.  I'm going to try to enter one more after this. 

Of course, I entered Radiate.  This quilt was made for this show.  It's 43.5" square.  I used a pattern for a queen sized quilt and cut all the pieces at half the pattern size. 

 

 

 

I renamed this one to Half Size.  Making things in half size is apparently a thing with me.  The center block of this quilt is the Star Spangled Banner block from Marsha McCloskey's Feathered Star Quilts.  She said not to try making it smaller than 28" because it has 629 pieces.  So, of course, I cut it to half size.  To see if I could.  It's not perfect and I don't expect it to ribbon against the competition at this show.  But it is worth showing off in a show where lots of people will see it. 

 

And, I'm going to enter this one in the "kit quilt" category.  This is one that a friend of Linda's shared with me and Linda was so excited when I finished it and entered it in a show and she got to see it hanging. 

 

Linda used to go to every quilt show with us and it was very hard for me to enter my quilts in this show, knowing she wouldn't be there with us.  But, a couple days ago, I realized how disappointed she would be if I didn't enter quilts in the show and used being too focused on her as my excuse.  She would be livid!  So, I cried a little bit and started filling out paperwork. 

Cuz heaven knows I can't afford a haunting!

Linda is in and out.  On Tuesday, they had decreased her pain medication and she was as lucid as could be and wanted to talk about her hallucinations and while she knew they weren't real, she could remember them as if they were.  Unfortunately, she was in a little pain, so it wasn't a good trade-off.  We chatted and laughed and I fed her cottage cheese and fruit from her tray.  I was so afraid I'd stab her in the tongue with the fork.  Two days later, I thought about the spoon on the tray.  D'oh!  I dropped a little on her before I thought to put a napkin under her chin and she said I was out of practice feeding people.  I told her she was even more out of practice being fed and we had a good laugh about it. 

Right now, her greatest challenge is neglect.  Her son is not stepping up.  He had not contacted hospice.  And, the nurses didn't have the time she needed, even though they were doing their best to check on her often.  The nurses talked to Rob and Rob called the son and told him he had to reach out to hospice and get their help.  The nurses talked to Rob because one of us is there every day for at least an hour and they've noticed.  Every nurse asks Rob if he is her son. 

Rob is a good son, even to people that didn't give birth to him.

I am too, but he's better at interacting with...well, everybody, so gets extra credit.

Everybody has been very excited over my hearing aid strap.  Linda designed it and I made it.  Linda's pair of hearing aids have two parts, one about the size of a pea, the other larger and fits behind the ear.  They're joined by a thin wire.  When she gets them too close to the pillow, she gets feedback so she likes to slip them out of her ear, but she can't get out of bed if one drops to the floor, so needed something to keep them on the pillow.  It has eyeglass loops from my beading supplies in the ends, but I also sent a couple of lengths of yarn in case those were too small and the hearing aids needed to be tied in. 

 

One of the nurses had the hearing aids when Rob got there and helped him put them in the loops.  All the nurses came over and oohed and aahed over them and what a great idea they are and suggested we take them to Shark Tank and make a fortune. 

 

The first one was cast on 52 (it's not called casting in crochet is it?  but you know what I mean), at the turn at the end, pull the yarn through the eyeglass loop and then triple crochet back to the beginning.  Tie the other loop on with the yarn ends and bury the ends in the work.  Linda's feedback was that was a little short, but functional.  So, I made this blue one casting on 67. 

When I offered her the desert off her tray on Tuesday, she turned it down and gave me a sly smile and suggested she wouldn't need that desert because there was probably a new cookie flavor, right?  "No.  I made home made scones for you yesterday.  I grated and squeezed the orange and kneaded the dough by hand.  There are no new cookies today."  And, we had a big laugh. 

And, I came home and made cookies.

Chocolate kiss thumbprints.  She sent Rob out for a diet Coke and while he was gone, she broke into the dish and was popping one in her mouth, chocolate kiss first, when he got back.  These were so soft, she didn't even need her teeth.  She commented that I am making all her cookie recipes, so she remembers that.

Yesterday, the hallucinations were back.  She's being robbed and kidnapped and needs to be rescued.  Can she hide out at our place for a while?  That's a hard one.  Feeds all our need to rescue the princess like we were taught, right?  I had a lunch meeting and didn't get to visit yesterday.  I'll be going today for lunch. 

Everybody have a great weekend!  Celebrate it.  It's strange, I can't remember which of my parents used to say this all the time, but I remember it being said, so maybe it was both of them.  This too shall pass.  Unfortunately, that includes the good and the bad.  If you're too young to have learned this, relish every moment of the good because those memories come in handy during the bad. 

If you're old as me, life has probably taught you that already.  But, if you weren't listening, this is a reminder.  Relish every moment of the good! 

Even when the good isn't all smiles and laughing because smiles and laughing aren't the only signs that you're in the good. 

Lane

 



One day at a time

Everybody has a coping mechanism.  Mine is to stay busy.  So, imagine a weekend when I didn't stop working until I fell asleep at night.  I got so many things accomplished.  I sorted through my stuff to make room for the things Linda gave us, packing up things I didn't have a particular affinity for, other than the fact I'd had them for most of my life.  Things that had little value to begin with, except for the collecting of them and less after I'd used them.  And, we very quickly loaded those boxes into the truck and off to Goodwill before I could get back into them and take anything out. 

I also got that KitchenAid mixer apart and got all the old grease out of it.  As expected, it had started to separate into an oil and a sludge.  I don't know if that was the only thing making that awful noise, but I'm pretty sure it was part of it.  The grease that was left was mostly packed into a corner of the head and wasn't greasing the gears.  But, there was still plenty of grease on the gears, believe me.  That was a nasty project.  But, the smell of it reminded me of working on cars with my Dad when I was young. 

A couple weeks ago, I made a cover for my serger.  It's a very fun cover and I am very happy with the fabric I chose.  I needed a cover because of my cat.  I have a cat that loves the sensation of things in her mouth.  She would walk by the serger, grab the outer thread and walk around with it in her mouth, chewing on it and dragging and playing with it.  One day, I came home from work and picked up what I thought was a snip of thread in the dining room.  It tracked all the way back to the serger in the studio, all the way across the house.  And, while that was the worst time, it wasn't the only time.  I needed a cover that she couldn't get under. 

I love marbles.  I bought this marble fabric years ago and never did anything with it because it is so colorful.  This was the perfect project.  It has 45* mitered corners like a shopping bag without handles and it's the perfect width.  It slides on and off with ease, which is important because when I make things like this, they usually come out a little bit too tight.  And, it's snug enough that the can't couldn't get to the thread, even if she could remember it's there. 

I wanted to share this, too.  This is a little wicker sewing basket I got from Linda. 

 

This is NOT what it looked like when I got it.  It also had 35 yards of needlepoint wool and 14 skeins of embroidery floss and two broken pocket watches and several pair of clip on earrings and some necklaces and the buttons were loose instead of in that pretty little bag.  And, there were a handful of rusty pins and needles that I tossed, even though I recently had a tetanus shot.  The little needlepoint pin cushion is one of two.  There's the green one and a blue one as well.

Look at these thimbles.

Guess which one is mine and which one came in that cute little sewing box.

 We are nearing the end with Linda.  The dead are visiting.  Yesterday, she tried to introduce me to her Grandmother that she had told me so much about.  And, when I cried, she seemed so confused that I should be upset to meet a person that is so important to her.  So, I won't be doing that again.  I can buck up. 

We left Sydney to visit while we picked up a few things her son had found and wanted us to have at the apartment.  We haven't shielded Sydney from what is happening and we've let her have her cries and let her deal with it in her own way.  There's a line in the movie,  I Remember Mama where they are going to an Uncle's bedside and the mother says something like "I want that you should see death so that when it is your time, you will not be afraid of it."  And, I can't think of a better person for her to learn about death from.  Linda is happy and laughing and high as a kite and feeling no pain and getting to visit with her favorite people, past and present.  All at the same time. 

And, I am preparing to say goodbye, any day. 

And, staying busy while I wait. 

Yesterday, she told us an orange cat had been in the room.  It's actually possible.  The hospital she's in does pet visitations.  We didn't ask the nurse.  Let's let that one be a mystery. 

Everybody have a great week.  Keep us in your thoughts.  Hug somebody.  Smile at everybody. 

Lane

Beginnings

I've been quilt marking.  I don't really enjoy quilt marking, that's why I learned to free hand quilt.  But sometimes, nothing will do but marked quilting. 

It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do in this quilt.  I've studied and deliberated on it.  And, then I started to draw.  I've used a damp cloth to blot out a couple blocks as I figured out what works.  And, this pattern that radiates out from the center toward the corners was what I liked best. 

I hope that shows up better when it's in the machine.  I'm going to quilt lines in the print fabrics and then FMQ in the white backgrounds.  I'll fill the borders with something curvy and non-directional.  I just need to get motivated to do some marking.  And, then find the time to do it. 

The baby birds have hatched.  I keep trying to get a good picture, but so far, they are just a dark smudge in the nest.  They started as a pink smudge, now a dark smudge.  I look for those changes to make sure everything is okay.  Like it's any of my business, right? 

And, sometimes I catch the mother sparrow in the nest.  Thankfully, she is not bothered by me. 

 

This moonflower bloomed the other day.  I thought we had lost track of our seeds last year and would need to buy a new one.  Rob did buy a new purple one.  But, this little volunteer showed up and this is the second bloom.  I'm pretty sure I lost the third bloom to the heavy rain we had a day or two ago.  But, that's nature, right?  There will be more.  This little plant seems hearty, so I'm hoping for great things.  But, I do need to find the time to get it in a bigger pot. 

 

My great grandmother grew Moonflowers like these on the back corner of her house.  They're not the vining ones that grow like morning glories.  These are an annual stemmed plant that gets about 3" tall and round.  My grandparents would take me to help in the vegetable garden and we would drive up to the back of the house and there they would be.  I don't remember there being many flowers in that yard, other than these.  I come from very practical people who grew things for food.  When I was young, maybe 12 or 13, she gave me a seed and I asked my Mom for a place to grow it.  I grew a nice plant, and then like young boys are supposed to do with things that just sit there, I lost interest and didn't harvest seed for the next year.  When I moved here, I started to see them in the nurseries again and I've tried to keep one ever since.  I grow the solid white ones from my memories and Rob grows the purple. 

I scrolled back through the pictures on my phone and that's really all the new fun stuff happening around here.  There's plenty needs doing, just not much of it getting done.  And, I started a new piece of needlepoint for TV time...because I needed something new and distracting.  Sometimes nothing will do but a breath of fresh air to make me feel motivated.  And, I'm going to start taking a kitchenaid mixer apart soon to see if it needs lubricant or a new worm gear.  Yeah, listen to me, right?  Like I know from a worm gear.  But, I've been studying and watching videos and it doesn't look all that different than the inside of my Bernina sewing machine, except there are less gears in the mixer. 

Have a wonderful weekend!!!  We are staying strong and holding together as a family.  Everyone sharing the load.  My next feat of cookery magic is orange-cranberry scones.  I just need an orange.  And, some cranberries.  And, a recipe. 

And, some time.

Lane

Excavations

I wrote this yesterday and it did not come out right.  So, here's another try. 

There was hardly a minute to sew this weekend.  The only stitches I put in were to baste some hexies in the truck as we drove back and forth to Georgetown.  Linda's son decided to move at lightening speed on breaking down her apartment, so it was time to get the things she had given us.  Some nice artwork, some glassware, some silver, some jewelry for Syd.  Things she knew we would appreciate and that would remind us of her. 

When we got there Saturday, she was pretty sad, knowing her apartment was being disassembled.  Rob and I went in like we do, talking and smiling and laughing and bearing oatmeal cookies.  It was the first time Sydney had seen her.  I watched out of the corner of my eye as she processed what she was seeing.  Linda is still in high spirits and there were hugs for us all and some laughter.  The nurse had to come close the door.  Oops!  First, Syd withdrew.  Hid in a corner where she could not see Linda and Linda couldn't see her.  And, I worried, but I didn't interfere.  And, then she came around in front of the bed and she and Linda had a nice chat while I puttered around the room and Rob checked his phone for the shortest route to the apartment and let them talk.  I was very proud of Sydney.  She showed courage and compassion and understanding.  And, I saw a couple of the early stages of grief pass over her face as we visited  We got to Linda's a few minutes before her son and were puttering around, gathering things she wanted at the hospital.  Sydney picked up the cat and had a nice cry.  She visited with the cat while we packed things up.  She asked if she could go through Linda's extensive costume jewelry and picked out some things she liked.  She needed to talk to Linda's son while he went through it, deciding if she could have it, and she did that.  I was worried that she'd be too shy to even try, but she did good. 

When we got home, we all thought we'd want a nap and some time alone.  But, we didn't.  We gathered in the kitchen and unpacked boxes and tubs of glassware.  And, we laughed and joked and speculated on why someone needed 60 salt cellars, or 35 sherry glasses, most of which were one of a kind.  We unwrapped until we had made a mountain of wrapping paper, and we sorted.  Long term storage for things that we just weren't ready to deal with.  And, a box of things Sydney wanted.  And, things I need to make room for.  And, we laughed.  And, we joked.  And, we talked about Linda.  And, we shared the stories we had heard about Linda's things, many of which we had never seen, so we would unwrap it, and tell the story, and unwrap something else and tell another story or have another laugh.  And, we celebrated our friendship with Linda and cemented the memories in our minds with these treasures of her life. 

Sunday, I opened the box with her needlepoint kits and supplies.  Some of it was so old that the plastic bags had become icky, so I matched yarns with canvases and ended up with a very large bag of leftover yarn in many colors.  And, I threw things away.  Slips of paper, receipts from stores, small patterns that had come loose from their projects.  Unicorns, both finished and unfinished.  The thread tail of every piece of yarn she ever used to needlepoint, I think.  I'll share more about that when I can.  Some things I will finish.  Some, I will share.  But, I'll never need a needlepoint frame or embroidery hoop again. 

But, mostly, it's been about the memories.  And, the sharing.  And, the laughter.  And, the sense of family that we have enjoyed.  And, the cookies.  The cookies I took on Saturday were too hard for her to enjoy, so Sunday I baked her cookies from a recipe I found in the apartment.  Apparently, even though I had never tasted one, and even though it's a very unusual recipe, using cool whip as the liquid part of the cookies, I got them just right and they were very soft and fluffy.  And, from what I heard, she was making good progress at trying to find the bottom of the tin.

But, today, I have a special task.  Today, I have to talk to her about what she's going to do, because right now, she's watching the clock and waiting.  And, I need to get a book in her hand at the very least, maybe some crochet.  Find something that's interesting.  I'll only have to nudge her.  She's just in a funk and needs a start.  Needs somebody to show they care about how much she enjoys what's left.  And, maybe needs to know someone noticed. 

And, that's what we do for family.  We nudge gently where we need to.

I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to take this baby for a test drive.  She thought it was lost, but I found it in a box.  (With what may be her wedding dress...not sure what to do with that.)

Or, talk about the Instant Pot that Rob brought home from his trip to his Mom's.  His sister bought it, tried it once, remembered she doesn't like to cook, and packed it away.  She was moving when Rob was there, and she gave it to him to bring to me.  I've used it once and "instant" might be a bit of a misnomer, but I could definitely see uses for it and will try some other things.  I made Tikka Masala in it, using the pressure cooker feature and the saute feature.  It was delicious, but it wasn't any faster than my regular recipe.  Do you have an electric pressure cooker?  Do you love it?  What's your favorite recipe?  I'm collecting.

Everybody have a great Tuesday.  I'm winding up several projects that are all due at the same time.  I'm working diligently to focus on one thing at a time, wrap it up, and then move calmly on to the next thing.

Deliberatively.

Lane

Returns and departures

☺☺☺I am returned from Cleveland.  Someone asked if I cringe when someone mentions icebreaker.  Yes.  And, this time, I left the room.  I'd been trying to run into an old friend the whole time I was there.  This was the second day of the meeting, and I was running out of chances.  So, I left the meeting, found her, got my hug, chatted, and made it back to the meeting at the time that the icebreaker was scheduled to end and the first speaker begin.  (I am a 56 year old man and I refuse to stack plastic cups into a triangle in competition with some millennial in front of everybody that's supposed to look at me seriously the next time we're in a meeting together.  I am not doing that.)  Other than that, I was who we all know me to be.  I was charming.  I was casual.  I talked to people.  I talked about things other than work with them like how are you and how are your children and how's that new house, because I was amazed at how many things I remembered when I got there and got warmed up to the whole thing.  I got there early the first day and was surprised that people chose to sit next to me.  And, not the friends I would have expected.  Upper management of my group kind of people.  And, the second day was the same.  A different group of people.  But, when they sat down, there were empty chairs they could have chosen.  And, they chose to sit next to me.  And, we visited.  And, I found out new things to talk to them about the next time I see them. Funny how that works.

We did a skills assessment online test that was spot on for me.  Like the most spot on test like that I've ever done.  I feel into a group called Deliberative.  We're careful and we think through things and we bring others in to answer questions, and we anticipate obstacles.  Yeah, dat's me.  Even in my quilting, I sit and look at a quilt for a long time before I decide what to quilt in it. 

While I was there, I took time to resolve a conflict in a face to face meeting with my boss (despite a little stammering and sweating).  It was really eating me up.  And, he didn't tell me the truth.  And, that's okay, because he knows I know and I'm pretty sure that's enough to solve the problem.  And, I offered him a way out that lets him save face.  And, I shook a bunch of hands and met more of the people that I sit in meetings with face to face.  I've been on a team that was rewriting a booklet.  I've made sure to meet everybody on that team and shake their hand.  Some pretty important people were assigned to that project to make sure it ended up the way it was intended.  I was one of the driving forces on the team and now that we are being published, I'm receiving some pretty high praise.    And being noticed feels good. 

The rest of this is going to be extremely personal, so if you're not into that, you might want to look at the pretty picture and check out the next blog.  Y'all know this is a chronicle of my life, and I'm going to talk about part of my life. 

This is a quilt I made for our friend Linda, who I've always referred to as LD here.  She has been our friend and quilt show companion and one year I bought these fat quarters at a show and she liked them, so she got the quilt.  Around quilters, you have to be careful what you admire.  You may end up owning it.  I had forgotten how cute it is.  I think the pattern is called Kleenex Box and I got it from a blogger I followed.  I cannot remember who, so if it was you, Thank you!  Linda loves it.  It's been laundered and is being returned today, which I think will be a surprise. 

Over the last year or so, we've watched our friend Linda fade.  That's the only way I can describe it.  She once was vibrant.  And, now is faded.  And, she's done so while maintaining the highest of spirits.  You cannot be with her and avoid laughter.  Even when you can tell she is in pain, there is laughter.  And, we have spent as much time with her as we could and done as many things with her as we could, even going to the Georgetown quilt show together in early April.  But, now it's June and things have compounded to the point that our friend Linda is nearing her transition to someplace else...that place of memory. 

It takes a village to raise a child and Linda is a part of our village.  I remember the day we met.  We had invited her to go with us to the Round Rock quilt show.  She met us there and Sydney and I met her for the first time.  Since then, we've become great friends.  She's shared her history and her family stories and her stories about a bygone time and given Sydney a perspective neither Rob nor I could bring.  A unique opportunity to know a proud Texan in the tradition of Giant.  And, she has been a friend to Rob and I.  And, we have been a friend to her.  Helping where we could.  Stepping up where we needed to.  Making sure that when got here, it could be this way for us. 

They say that what we are taught about death when we are young is how we are with death all our lives.  That's not true for Rob and me.  I think that we were exposed to so much death in the 80's and 90's that we developed a different appreciation for how the transition should go.  We've learned not to have regrets where they can be avoided.  We've learned to appreciate those we love.  That way, in the end, you can celebrate what you had together. 

Unfortunately, I think we are going to be dealing with Linda's other family, which has taken a different approach and now has different feelings. 

The facts are that Linda has cancer.  It has attacked her spine and taken out a vertebra.  She has feeling down to her toes, but cannot move her legs.  She's in a neck brace, but can take it off to eat and visit.  No doctor can help and she is moving into hospice very soon.  Maybe today.  That is what I knew when I got home Wednesday night. 

Yesterday, I went to see her.  I took lunch.  I was expecting the worst.  I paused for a deep breath at the door, pulled my big boy boxer shorts up around my chin and I went in with my biggest smile...you know the one where my cheeks rise up and make my eyes close...the smile I got from my Dad.  Her oncologist was there saying goodbye.  That kind of made it real, but I am not to be deterred when food is involved.  We laughed.  We cried.  We held hands.  We ate chicken and dumplings.  And, we talked.  For a couple hours.  And, then I programmed her new phone,  which I would have bet money I could not do (and I'm pretty sure I said more than once I could not do while doing it) but needs, must, right?  And, I soldiered through. 

Unless they are moving her to hospice today, I plan to try to take lunch again.  And, will as often as I can and she can eat it.  Because cooking was her thing and she will not eat hospital food.  (in an earlier hospitalization the nurses learned to withhold her diet Cokes until she agreed to eat something...yeah, we might have suggested that a little bit, but it worked)  And, because of the enthusiasm she showed while attacking that bowl of dumplings yesterday.  Like a kid with a spoon.  And, a delighted twinkle in her eye.  Who gives a crap if it's a 35 minute drive both ways, right?  I'm only missing work.  Wadevvah. 

I believe, when it's all over, only two things will count.  How many times you reach out to help.  And, how many times you laugh.  And, as soon as I get done crying, I'm going to laugh.  (and reach out when I can.)

Have a wonderful day!  Extend your hand.  Laugh.  Because that's what will make today count.  And, if you laugh at something really funny (especially if it's just the tiniest bit naughty or has a thoughtful double entendre) think of my friend Linda.  She probly would love it. 

But mostly she'd appreciate that you thought of her when you laughed. 

Lane

Now, that's started

My traveling husband has returned.  He had a very nice visit with his Mom and got home and now I'm flying off to Cleveland for a team building meeting.  I wonder if I'll feel more like a member of the team when I return.

Last week, between my chores and Rob's, I didn't get any sewing done except work on the hexie quilt in the evenings.  Sydney and I binge watched a sci-fi series in the evenings together and I sewed.  I got the whole center together and have started to baste hexies for the borders.  This was a test photo to see if I was still liking what I had designed.  I think I do. 

On Friday, before Rob got home, I went to the LQS and picked up the setting fabric for the tree quilt.  Viridian asked if I was using scraps to make these.  A lot of it came as a class kit from Edyta Sitar.  But, I needed to add some of my own fabrics to finish the treetops off.  It was a great class kit.  Almost all the fabric to make this, except for the setting fabric were included.  But, I was as random as I could be in putting them together.  It's sewn into diagonal rows, but I ran out of steam before I got all the rows sewn together.  

The rest are just garden pics.  Even when there's no time to sew, there's always time to walk around the garden.  It's at its peak now and is a riot of warm colors.  But, the heat will soon cause the garden to need to rest a bit, so I get out there and enjoy it all I can. 

 
But, as the seasons change, so do our activities.  Now, I'll be moving back into the cool sewing room to try to get some things accomplished. 

The neighbor asked about plants that come back year after year and make flowers the other day, so I gave her a gardening book over the fence.  Just a little something that the city gives away to help people choose drought and heat tolerant plants to conserve water.  Almost everything in my garden is included in that book.  There are a few things I grow because I grew up with them and am willing to go to extra work to keep them watered.  But most of it is native or adapted to this region.  And, because of that, it's easier to maintain.  So, a win/win.

Okay, time to go get everything ready for a trip.  My bags are packed, but I need to work for a few minutes and have some last minute organizing in my backpack.

Everybody have a great week.  It's challenging for me to participate in these meetings.  I am, to my core, a true introvert.  They make me uncomfortable and anxious, like many social situations do.  I let that get to me on Saturday.  I let it take me to a dark place where I was afraid I would be awkward; forget how to speak or something.  I was afraid and anxious and not very good company for a couple hours.  But, by Sunday morning, I had remembered the hundred times I've done this successfully, charming, calm, always in the background, shaking hands and asking people how they've been.  Making small talk, even when we have nothing in common.  Interacting successfully. 

So, here I go! 

Lane

The Bachelor

No, not that silly TV show where unhappy people pretend that you can pick the love of your life, if you're confined with a small enough group of people that you're required to choose from to get your money.  No wonder divorce rates are so high, if that's what people expect courting to be like.  But, who am I to have an opinion.  I've never watched it.  Just judged it a whole lot.

I'm a bachelor this week.  Rob is visiting his Mom.  Bachelor here means one person doing all the chores for us both.  Rob's chores are a lot of work.  And, they all happen when I'm used to my slow awakening in the morning and when I first walk in after work and am used to spending a few minutes winding down. 

The birdie must like the nest I rebuilt for her.  She has laid a fourth egg in it.  Yesterday, I turned the pot and watered and lowered it a little so it would get a bit more sun.  They parents came back soon as I walked away and she crawled down in the nest and stayed there.  The dad darted around a bit threateningly (like a two and a half inch bird can be a threat), but then he flew off to sit in a tree somewhere. 

I spent time in the yard, moving pots around and watering.  My new favorite thing is these flower pot risers.  They come in packs of three and they lift the flower pots off that expensive new deck and keep the soil that leaks out of them from staining the deck.  And, they make the pots look nicer.

On Saturday, I pin basted this 30's reproduction quilt.  I added borders to another one, but I'll show that another day.  I got this one all ready to quilt, but I can't find a thread that makes me happy.  So, I'm going to keep looking for that and move on to try quilting something else.  I want a very pale shade of that "special" 30's green.  Something that will barely show up in the white background.  We'll see if I end up settling for white. 

These moonflowers bloomed for Rob yesterday.  But, he left before the sun came up and didn't get to see them. 

When Rob was talking to his Mom on Friday night, he found out that the handle broke off her sauce pan.  So, on Saturday, we went to Sydney's store and picked up a new matching set of red pots and pans.  We weren't sure if that was too intrusive or not, so we left the price tags on them.  They're very bright red.  But, she loved them.  Which is a good thing, since I accidentally threw away the receipt.

Oops! 

Everybody have a great Monday!  It's time to go do my morning chores now.  Chores, chores, chores.  Even the chore of getting Syd to do her chores.  She thinks no one will notice til Rob gets back.  But, he warned me about that. 

Mwahahaha!

She went with me to the grocery yesterday so she could pick up food for herself for the week.  She takes her lunch to work every day now that she's working full time.  I guess she got that from me.  I watched her pack her lunch yesterday.  That girl knows how to eat!  Grilled chicken salad and a few sensible snacks.  Good for her, giving up on high calorie carbs.  Finally!

Lane

A little birdie told me so

We bought a fuschia in a hanging basket off the discount rack the other day.  We brought it home and hung it from an eave.  This weekend, I decided it needed more morning sun and took it down.  I looked in the basket and saw all this litter, twigs and plastic and feathers and grass, so I started pulling it out and tossing it into the yard.  Until I saw an egg fly through the air.  Then, I looked down and saw another. 

Doo-doo!

So, I picked up the egg, which remarkably wasn't cracked and I picked up the trash and I rebuilt a nest and put both eggs into it.  And, I hung the basket back up. 

The sparrows came back.  She climbed on the nest, and she looked around critically (yes, I'm sure she was being critical of my nest building skills).  And, then they flew away and we didn't see them the rest of the day. 

I felt terrible. 

The next morning, I held my camera up over the basket and took a picture.

And, there was a third egg. 

But, no parents.  And, I didn't see them all day. 

The next morning, I held my camera up and took a picture and the sparrow was sitting on the nest.  So, either I'm a better nest builder than I thought I was.  Or, she was really desperate. 

I have white daylilies in bloom.

And, a lot more peaches. 

Now that the common yellow and orange are fading, the hybrids are starting to put up more scapes, so I'm looking forward to lots more bloom. 

I've been secretly working on this. 

It's part of this pattern that I drew to take advantage of a lot of hexies I already had. 

When I drew it, I didn't realize how many hexies it was going to take that I didn't already have. 

D'oh!

Everybody have a great weekend.  Rob is off to see his Mom, so it will just be me and Syd next week.  Then, the week after that, I'm in Cleveland, so it's going to be a lonely June.

But, I'll have hexies to keep me company??? 

Or, not.

Lane

Footnote:  The other day, someone posted that blogger wasn't notifying them when people commented.  Then, a couple days later, I stopped receiving comments.  Well, I didn't really.  Blogger stopped telling me about them.  So, this morning, I found them and published them all.  And, thanks, y'all!! 

lw