What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

What a bloody wasted week. Getting covid was not in the plan. Two days lost to fever and feeling awful, then two more days of sitting in my chair binge watching Yellowstone, with no energy to do much. Since I have nothing new from this week to share, today’s post will be a catch up on a few things I was doing before our trip. The bluebirds were working hard to feed their chicks before we left. Here are a couple of those photos that I didn’t have a chance to share before. The female was bringing fat ...

I finished reading an ebook of Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishigura, his first novel since being awarded The Nobel Prize for Literature.

Rainy days do not get me down. That's good because we have had rain warnings with constant downpours for the last five days. Ned and I have gotten in our walks, me in raincoat and boots, Ned in his birthday suit.  Rainy days make me want to curl up and get cosy inside. How do they affect you?

Mary Anne created this sweet card below for a friend. She used paper scraps! How clever! She shows it in this Magpies Mumblings post where she also shares the reason why she doesn't sew clothes. Her story from high school ...

 Inside too there is more green and also white growth. I like how the white Polka Dot plant is becoming more dotty with the longer minutes of light. Like its true self is emerging.  It makes such a difference!

Yes, it is April and I wish you all a wonderful month whether it be spring or autumn where you are. I love both seasons! 

Here underfoot is changing. Every walk outside and the ground is different ranging from soft snow to bare earth emerging underneath trees. This morning it was -17 C wind chill so the snow banks were quite frozen and firm enough to walk on which made the walking very smooth. It was brisk but with bright sunshine very beautiful. And an added bonus was being accompanied by many bird songs. The cardinals were singing so sweetly ...

Settle in for a long post about a lot going on, things to see and read, and projects where you can participate. Around the feeder we have a lot of pretty birds, and hungry birds! This week there has been a variety of avian friends chowing down on the seed and suet, including some newcomers. When two new species showed up for the first time this year, I had to do another bird count and send it in. Here, a red bellied woodpecker shares the seed with a two goldfinches and two titmouses (hanging off the backside).

The bluebirds are ...

I’ve been doing counts for the Cornell Feeder Watch, and also tracking my species counts in eBird. It was exciting to see ten bluebirds visit on Christmas Day, and six of them have stayed on. At least I have only seen six at once for the past few days. After the pair took a look at our birdhouse, there is no evidence it has been chosen as a nesting site, but it is still early. It has been warmer than normal, so maybe the birds were house hunting early. But then we got a dusting of snow yesterday.

This ...

I didn’t get a tablescape done in time for this post, so here is my Japanese Inspired Tablescape from my New Year post in 2020, along with recipes. Everything on the table except the flowers and napkins came from my thrift store and estate sale excursions. I love these lacquer dishes and they blend nicely with the black stoneware with the gold embellishments I use mostly around the New Year weekend. This year I am planning to donate more dishes and tablescaping stuff, and just have less stuff all around.

Most years, I put out an all white table ...

Another week and September is moving along. Early morning walks in noticeably cooler temperatures.  Darkness also closing in earlier in the evenings. I don't mind this and Ned says he loves it. I too love the changing of the seasons.

Autumn brings pinks and mauves to the garden...hardy sedum bearing heavy blooms these days.

 So what do you think? Lining one of the tunnels for a nest perhaps? Update...I've been told he/she is probably storing food for the winter.

I've also enjoyed a few calm early mornings laying stitches ...

In the garden this week, the apricot gladiolas have come into full bloom. There are a bunch of them dotted over the mountainside behind our home. Some, I think, were planted by the previous owners of this house, but some must be squirrel planted as there are more of them every year. I have dug some up and transferred them to the front flower bed, but they still persist in the back. The first blooms on the bottom of the stalk have faded, but there are more buds to come.

Lovely color, aren’t they? Some years they bloom at ...

We are still in the middle of a heat wave. Temperatures are reaching to the 30's every day and the heat alone without humidity doesn't bother me happily.  I'm just thankful we seem to be stuck at a tolerance level and not breaking records(yet!) like in England and parts of the U.S. 

The tiny peepers have given way to the green frogs and brown toads. I'm now hearing the distinctive rumble of a couple of bull frogs at the pond. 

 I seem to be taking my sweet time to unpack everything from the retreat. It's SUMMER, and I'm in summer mode -- slow, and I'm OK with that. 

They are making progress in leaps and bounds in the front yard, and the girls and I christened the patio last night. 

The new front patio

They still have some stuff to plant, but the three "big" trees are in. Let's not forget my little patch of grass has to go in. I don't want it; the landscaper does. I'll let him win, but then, I might ...

 The first week of July

and we are finally getting summer weather

here in Western Oregon

We are back in the first hay field today...

No stitching for me today...

One of my favorite ...

Work before Play

We've had some glorious spring days; those days when one longs to be outside potting up pretty plants and flowers. We made our annual pilgrimage down east to our favorite nursery last week and brought home a carload of lush loveliness for that very purpose.The weather cooperated and I accomplished much but, alas, I'll be covering everything up tonight as the temps are dipping dangerously close to