News From The Nest

Memorial Day Weekend

Saturday, May 29th, found Susan, Debbie, and I heading north to Wooster, OH. Destination - Great Lakes  
Fiber Show.    

It was a gorgeous day! Too hot for my liking - upper 80's - but gorgeous nonetheless.  

We saw sheep and alpaca aplenty.  I succumbed to a beautiful alpaca blanket and handed it off to Ohio Valley Fiber Mill for processing.  I can't wait to see what they do with it.  Wanting to compare the two, I asked for half roving and half batts.  The color was too pretty to resist - a reddish tan and cream.  

I also purchased an interesting shawl pin from Waters Edge Jewelry.  Then, there was Susan Preuss with some very interesting baskets.  I couldn't resist this spindle basket.  You place your roving inside the basket and can holster your spindle on the outside.  With the basket hanging from your shoulder, you can walk and spindle.  Very clever design!!!  (If interested, email her and ask about this basket.  I believe she had to take the pictures of it down from her site as someone was copying it.  Pity.)

Briar Rose Fibers was there with their beautiful yarns and patterns.  They feature their own patterns, as well as, those of Anne Hanson of knitspot.  I purchased several patterns from each designer and just drooled over the yarns.

Susan picked up her new Lendrum double treadle wheel from Mary and Gary Scott of Serendipity Farm in Virginia.  Susan wants to learn to spin and asked me which wheel I would recommend.  I told her hands-down - a Lendrum Double Treadle.  She looked around but couldn't find anyone with one in stock.  I told her about Mary.  She called them and sure 'nuf, she had several in stock and would deliver one to her at the show in Wooster.  Mary also carries parts for Lendrums so I   purchased a couple of bobbins and extra drive cords.  

Yesterday, Andy and I went to the antique fair in Waynesville. The town shut down a block and had antique vendors on both sides of the street.  It was HOT!  90 degrees.  We looked at stuff and decided we had enough antiques that we need to get rid of ourselves.  Andy is always on the look-out for old tools but didn't find anything he couldn't live without yesterday.

We grabbed sandwiches at the Der Dutchman corner shop and ate outside in the shade.  Then, we headed to check out the shops at Scioto Square.  I spotted a new one - Wombat Art Gallery(web site in the works). The gallery is housed in the front end of a wonderful large building with a porch all across the front of the long building.  Well-lit with art and fine crafts, the gallery was a delight and one-of-a-kind for Waynesville.   

The Waynesville Garden Club was selling plants and flower vases at the gazebo.  

The highlight of the gallery was Sugar - an 8 year old Cockatoo.  SO SWEET!!!!  I held her for a long time and she just laid her head against my chest and would raise her wings for me to rub underneath them.  As we were leaving, her owner had her out on the porch railing by the flag.  She was giving a speech as if she was running for office!  Too cute!  The owner said that Cockatoos can live to be 75 years of age.  She added that someone is going to get a surprise from her will!

On the way home, we drove down every road of Caesar Creek State Park.  We passed campgrounds, beaches, equine camping spots, youth fishing pond, picnic shelters, etc.  What a beautiful area!!!!!  People were out in droves enjoying the day.  We live on the east side of the park - across from the largest boat ramps.  Boat traffic has been busy going in and out all weekend.

Knitty News - I'm up to the leaf border of my market bag.  You can see the base of the leaves being formed.  

Spinning News - Susan will be here shortly for a spinning lesson.  This will be great because it will make me spin!!!

**********  ***********  **********  ***********  **********  ***********  **********  

Happy Memorial Day to everyone!!!!  Bless the US of A and all our service people who work to keep us safe and free.

**********  ***********  **********  ***********  **********  ***********  **********  

Gone Too Soon

We had such a nice visit with Brian and Eryn.  Only wish they could have stayed longer.  Maybe next time.

We didn't do much.  Andy took two days off which was nice - for him and for Brian.  The kids just said they needed a break.  Eryn works full time as a pediatric intensive care nurse and just graduated a week ago with her masters in Nursing Administration.  Brian works part time for his employer, the United States Geological Survey, and is working to finish his masters in Environmental Science.  

We did a lot of just hanging around the house.  I think Brian and Eryn really liked the house - the open floor plan and the sunroom where you can sit and watch the birds feed.  They also enjoyed the pond and dock. The patio was another favorite spot.  It was so nice to be able to sit out and relax.

Brian exercised the fish in our pond.  He started small (see photo in the previous post) but ended with a bang!  He caught two catfish that we didn't   even know were in the pond.  One of them was huge!  He didn't let them go -- we really don't care to have them in the pond.  Eryn took some great pictures while Brian was fishing.

We all went to the Caesar Creek Visitor Center one day and picked up a fossil permit.  We had fun hunting fossils in the spillway.  Brian was determined to find a trilobite but he didn't.  We found plenty of other cool stuff, though.  Lots of brachiopods and horn tooth coral.    

The spillway area almost looks like a foreign land.  The gray clay is dried and cracked.  Lots of potato bugs under the rocks you pick up and/or turn over.

We also went to the gorge to see the area and take some photos. These pictures turned out really cute.  It was just SO good to see them!

The weather was hot -- in the mid to upper 80's the whole time there were here.

Darby (white) and Bailey (black and white) enjoyed it when we all sat outside on the patio with them after dinner each night.  We had to throw the tennis ball continuously for Darby.  Seriously, that dog just doesn't stop --- not for long, at least.  Bailey has terrible separation anxiety and didn't do well crated in the basement.  After listening to her bark, cry, howl, etc. for about 5 hours, Brian finally went down to the basement, made a bed, and slept there beside their crates. He had to sleep there each night they were here so Bailey would be quiet. Bailey was find as long as she could see him.  I bet Darby wished Bailey would just be quiet!

Both Darby and Bailey came from the SPCA.  Darby is smart as a whip and Brian has trained her on all sorts of hand commands.  She can do so  many agility tricks.  She just watches him to see what he's going to tell her to do next.  A very alert pup.  

Bailey --- not so much!  No talents to speak of - just lopes around. But, she's super sweet!  She was fixated on Earl.  Here's a picture of one of the staring contests they had.  Earl had started to walk towards me and Bailey crept along still staring at him.  Earl is used to big dogs -- he used to rub all over Annie's face and let her lick him until he was soggy.  I don't think Earl knew quite what all this intent staring was about.  He only got scared when Darby joined in and things got a little too frantic with two dogs to one cat.  Bailey did the same thing with a Red-Winged Blackbird in the pond.  She's definitely got some bird dog in her. She got in the water and was about 12 inches from the bird who was just sitting in the cattails.  Bailey just stared and    
stared.  

I finished the felted bag for Eryn.  I love how it turned out and hope she does, too. I used Lamb's Pride held single strand and then Cascade 220 and Noro Kuryeon held together for the stripes.  Eryn had to take it home wet but at least I got it finished for her.  I really like this style bag and have really enjoyed my Bobble & Weave one I made.  

It was a short visit but a wonderful one! It was SO good to spend quality time with both of them.  Time to talk and time to find out where they are in their lives.  I missed them terribly before they even made it to the end of the driveway!  I hope they'll visit again soon!!!!!

*************************************************

Tomorrow and Sunday -- Great Lakes Fiber Show in Wooster, OH.  Susan, fiber friend who went with me to the Upper Valley Fiber Fest the other weekend, and I are going tomorrow.  I'll report back!!!

Guests

We have special goings-on here!  We have company!  

Our older son, Brian and our daughter-in-law, Eryn, arrived late Monday afternoon from Virginia.  We hadn't seen Brian since August 2009 and it had been longer than that since last we saw Eryn.  I can't tell you how good it was / is to see them and spend time with them. It's a very short visit as Eryn has to be back to work this weekend.  They'll be leaving tomorrow morning. Again, my heart wishes Virginia just wasn't so darn far away and air travel wasn't so daggone expensive.

We haven't done must exciting.  We ate lunch at Heather's Coffee & Cafe in Springboro yesterday and then took them to Dorothy Lane Market to pick out dinner stuff.  Brian is a passionate fisherman and so we checked out the fish section. We ended up buying Walleye and cooked it up last night.  It was yummy!!!!

Andy is taking off two days - the first vacation he's had in I can't remember when.  He and Brian spent some time yesterday checking out the inhabitants of our pond with Brian's fly rod and Andy's old fishing rod. This boy would fish in a mud puddle if he thought he could get a nibble.  He's been passionate about fishing since we first adopted him.  By his account, his biological father worked on a large fishing boat in South Korea and Brian   remembers fishing with bait and a string when he was very little.  

This picture shows Brian's first catch. Impressive, huh?!???  A Hybrid Blue Gill. They spotted at least one massive catfish in the pond along with tons of bullfrogs. 

The pond looks nice -- Andy worked hard cleaning out all the shrubs and trees, etc. around the edges.  Attacking the overwhelming number of cattails is next.  We need to wait until the Red-Winged Blackbirds have finished nesting in them.   

Brian and Eryn brought their canine children with them -- Darby and Bailey.  Today, I think we're going to check out the fossil hunting with the dogs and maybe do a little hiking on some of the trails around the Caesar Creek gorge just around the corner from us.  I'll take lots more pictures of Brian and Eryn today.    

Knitty News - I'm knitting a bag to felt for Eryn.  I intended to get this done before she arrive -- but best laid plans.....  I hope to get this finished today and felt it.  She'll probably have to take it home but oh well. I've also reached the border of my market bag and am still knitting on Citron, and the black felted bag with the polka dots.  

Earl Gray Update - Earl's eye is better. He's still on antibiotics and he is okay with the warm compresses.  I think he knows that they help him and he'll tolerate just about anything as long as your other hand is delivering head scritches!  

Gotta run!  I'm trying to eek out some reports for work before the company wakes up.

More later!!!

Bad Start

Saturday didn't start very well.  

Earl Gray has lost three collars with a name tag on each of them over the course of just a few weeks.  I have noticed some scratches on his head and neck recently.  I haven't seen or heard a stray cat and Earl stays in the garage at night.  I thought maybe he's just getting caught in the brush resulting in his kitty collars breaking away and getting scratched.  Last night, I thought the area right above his left eye looked a little puffy so I decided to call the vet and get an appointment this morning.  Well, when i went out to feed Earl and Gracie this morning, Earl was a mess!  The area had abscessed and burst.  Bless his little kitty heart!  I had him at the vet at 7:50 AM.  Before he knew what hit him!  Since I didn't have an appointment, I had to leave him and they just called me to come and get him.  Four hours later which totally messed up my plans for the day.

Oh well!  Earl Gray is worth it.  Now, he's to be in the garage for at least a week, on antibiotics twice daily for 10 days, and warm compresses to the area twice daily.  Warm compresses on a cat's face???  Yeah, right!

I ended up missing the Panera knitting group this morning but did manage to make it to the Springboro group by 2:00 PM.  We had a good crowd - about 10 of us were there.  I worked on a new bag I'm knitting to felt.  Need to finish it ASAP - you'll find out why later.

I've reached the point in my current knitting projects that I have to concentrate, count rows, etc. on all of them. So, I have quite a few that can (or rather, should) only be knit at home.  I'm still working on Citron. I've reached the border portion of my market bag which has a leaf motif.  

I've also started knitting a new bag to felt for ME!  I love this pattern but dealing with multiple skeins of yarn drives me nuts!  Alice Starmore, I'm NOT!  I'm carrying the yarns behind my work and hope this doesn't make the polka dots too thick.  This picture is of Side One.  Can't wait to do more for you to see!!!

Welcoming Committee

I arrive home tonight and this is what I see -----  

furry hood ornaments.

Upper Valley Fiber Fun, Etc.

[Note: When I publish my post, my photos aren't necessarily beside the text they illustrate.  This makes reading and checking out the pictures a little challenging.]

Saturday was a gorgeous day!  Not too warm and plenty of sunshine.  A perfect day to attend the Upper Vally Fiber Fest in Troy, OH.

I headed to Springboro to pick up Susan.  She was standing on the sidewalk across from Wooly Bully waiting for me.  I didn't know Susan from Adam's house cat until she got in my car to go to the fiber fest.  I thoroughly enjoyed her company and will see her again soon - I hope - as she is a knitter and a soon-to-be spinner.  A new fiber friend!

We met up with Trish. Trish is from Maryland and we met years ago when she attended my rug camps.  It was so good to see her again.  Just so happened that her husband had a amateur radio operator's convention in the Dayton area and she got to come to the fiber festival!  Great timing! 

As we were walking around, I ran into Karen (from the Saturday Springboro knitting group) and her friend, Jan. It was great seeing Karen and meeting Jan. 

The festival opened at 9:00 AM and we arrived just a little before.  The Upper Valley Fiber Fest was small - contained in a single building at the Miami County Fairgrounds.  The web site listed thirty-six vendors. Among the vendors were two of my favorite yarn shops - Fiberworks and Yarns & Fabrications.  It's so cool going to these events in this area of the country -- all the
vendors are new to me and I enjoy seeing what they carry and where they're from.

There's a lot to be said about the small size of this show.  It was so pleasant to be able to walk right into a booth and talk with the vendor.  It was also nice not having to wait in line for anything - to pay, to use the bathroom, or to get something to eat/drink.  As Trish pointed out, this show has a lot of room to grow.  

I fully intended to buy very little - if anything at all.  In the end, I caved.  

Some roving from Valhalla Acres Fiber Farm in Hopewell, OH kept yelling my name.  I plan to spin the deep red, olive, gold, and turquoise together and then spin the 8 oz. of the green/purple wool.  These fibers were CVM Cross, Blue Face Leicester and one 4 oz. batch had Angora blended in.

The Trading Post for Fiber Arts offered a good variety of fiber. They even had some on display from Spirit Trail Fiberworks in Virginia.  I couldn't pass up the lace weight Mountain Colors in two colorways - two skeins each of Chinook and Spring Eclipse.  At 600 yards each, I see two shawls coming out of these. They also had 2 oz. bags of Tussah Cashmere blends. GORGEOUS!!!!  I purchased a bag  each of Chantefleur and Aster and can hardly wait to get them around a bobbin.  

The Felted Soap Lady was there and I had to try her soap.  I got one bar of Cherry Almond.  I can't wait to try it and see how the wool does around it.  I also can hardly wait to get my own soap pot going again.

One booth that really got my creative juices going was Paper Alice.  I have always been interested in making handmade paper but thought it too complicated with lots of stuff I would need, etc.  Alice was doing demonstrations and made a sheet of paper in about 3 minutes flat!!!  She  stated she uses trash - old envelopes, bills, fast-food bags, etc. She also throws in fruit, seeds, grasses, flowers, glitter, strands of yarn, etc.  She also sold a large (makes two sheets) and a small kit.  Alice also had different templates - for gift tags with envelopes, note cards, etc. - and embellishments, such as glitter, Angel Wings, and more.

I bought one of each of Alice's kits and had to make a sheet of paper last night as soon as I got home.  I used the small kit and made one sheet in no time flat!  It was as easy as her demonstration.  The pink paper is a piece that Alice made during her demonstration for Susan and me.  The white one is the one I made when I got back home.  I used a bill envelope, a scented geranium leaf, the core of an apple, and some flower petals.  Too cool!

The most impressive work at the fiber fest was undoubtedly Boyd Hasting's needle felting. I have never seen such detail and the lighting / shading in his work was phenomenal. PLEASE click on these pictures to get a closer look.  The pictures just don't do his work justice.  Unbelievable!

In addition to shopping, Trish, Susan, and I watched John Allred's Border Collie herd the ducks around, over the bridge, and into and out of the wading pool.  Such a smart breed!  

We visited the small arts/craft show, Art In Bloom before getting some lunch and sitting a long time at the picnic table talking.

Susan and I visited the llamas before getting in the car and heading home.

A very relaxing and fun day!

Today, Andy was off.  He has been waiting all day for a phone call from someone who is coming to work on a machine.  He'll have to go let the guy in, stay with him while he works, and then lock the plant up. We went to the Caesar Creek Flea Market.  I finally found a place with more junk that I have.  I've never seen so much junk!  They had EVERYTHING from deodorant to guns to plants to funnel cakes.  We did get some bags for our vacuum cleaner since I haven't been able to find them anywhere else.  I also bought two slips of buttercrisp (also called butterhead and buttercrunch) lettuce.  I hope the deer don't find them!

The Pioneer Village at Caesar Creek State Park (practically right across the road from us) was having its Spring Gathering today.  I always enjoy going over there.  It's like going back in time. Today, there were camps set up with everyone in period costume.  I love walking around checking out the different camps -- I always see such cool stuff people have made to make their tent space more comfortable.  One tent today even had a wrought iron chandelier with candles over the dining table.  That was the blacksmith's site and he had lots of other neat stuff.  I sat/knitted and talked with his wife while Andy visited with him and watched him forge a hook.  There was a weaver with rag rugs, shawls, and scarves for sale.  We learned about the Quaker Meeting House that's on the site. We also listened to and learned about the making of wooden flutes by a young man that helps his father make them.  There were fires everywhere and we came back smelling of wood smoke.  The village blacksmith was in today - first time we've caught him working since we've been going over there.  Andy enjoyed that.  

Now, we're back home.  I've planted my lettuce and Andy has worked a little cutting saplings and stuff down around the pond.  I think we're going to have to get the pond people to come and clean out the cattails once the Red-Winged Blackbirds stop nesting.  There are so many and they're really taking over.

This week, hopefully, will fly by.  Our oldest son, Brian, and his wife, Eryn, are coming for a short visit on the 24th.  We haven't seen Brian since before we moved  last September and it's been longer than that since we last saw Eryn.  I can hardly wait to their visit.  I sure hope the weather will be pleasant while they're here.

Well, that's all the news that's fit to report!

On the road again tomorrow for work.  The sooner the week gets started, the sooner next weekend can come!

Have a good one!

And, thanks so much for reading!

Edible Works Of Art

I have to show you some tasty looking stuff that my son, Taylor, made recently.  He sent me these pictures and MAN! everything looks terrific - very artistic and delicious! Good enough to eat as my Dad would say!

I remember when Taylor was in high school and I worked at the health department.  The health department was in the same building as the school board office and social services.  To make extra money, Taylor made tart size pies and I would take them to work with me and sell them for $1.25 each.  He made coconut, chocolate fudge, and chocolate pecan.  The name of his "business" --- TaylorMade Pies.

As most of you know, Taylor graduated from culinary school and LOVES to cook!  For a 20-something young man, he has had some pretty cool jobs.  He was employed by a steakhouse and a fine dining restaurant while in high school and college.  But, since graduation, he hasn't worked for restaurants.  

In the last five years, Taylor has worked for two leading food service companies at large venues.  He has managed culinary staff and concession stands within The Bobcat Arena in Charlotte, NC where there were all kinds of events - from The Rolling Stones to the Lippizaner Stallions to Cirque du Soleil to basketball games.  

Then, he moved on to another company.  Taylor has been the executive chef at the Charlotte Knights Baseball Stadium where he was in charge of the concession stands and the Home Run Cafe but also did weddings, parties, etc. held at the ball field.

Presently, Taylor is with the same company but is now the executive sous chef at a large convention center in SC.  He prepares food for all kinds of events - parties, weddings, meetings, etc.  Sometimes there are several different events going on simultaneously.  On any given day or night, he could be preparing for 100 or 1500 people. Sometime the parties request a menu or have some kind of idea what they want.  Other times, Taylor designs the menus.  

These pictures are ones he took of some dishes he fixed for a black-tie event at a local facility.  

Taylor was always a hands-on child ---- loved playing with toys, drawing, making stuff, etc.  Very busy.  

I'm so glad he's found his passion.  

His work is -------- Definitely artful.  Definitely creative.  Definitely YUMMMMMMY!  

Please click on these pictures (trays of fruit and cheese, vegetables, and sushi) to taste them --- oh, I mean see them better!!

Citron And Gardening News

Hope you stay with me until the end of this long post!  Didn't know I had so much to tell you.

I'll open with a knitting update today.  I'm starting the fifth section on Citron.  This is the last section of the set pattern.  It's awfully small so I'm going to keep on going - adding sections to make it larger.  Can't remember where I got the chart - maybe Ravelry - but there is a chart that gives the numbers for repeats to double it in size.  Drop Stitch Knitter 

Lots of people are knitting Citron.  Drop Stitch Knitter pictured her finished Citron in this post. She mentioned that she managed to do one extra repeat before wanting to poke her eyes out with her knitting needles.  I can empathize.  To do the ruching section, you knit in the front and back of   EVERY stitch thus DOUBLING the stitches.  Then, you work in pattern.  That's When finished with the ruching section, you knit two stitches together all the way across the row.  This doubling and halving creates the puckered sections in the shawl.  Very pretty and interesting but a whole heck of a lot of stitches.

Here's another Citron - knit by Quiddity. I love seeing the pattern in different colorways.

The garden is looking good.  We had a storm this morning and the plants have weathered the rain and wind well - so far.  I need to decide what to do re: the pathway.  Do I use lots of little rocks from the front of the house or just go buy bigger stepping stones at Lowe's???  I hate not to use what I have but there are mostly medium and small size rocks left.    

You can see my garden helpers in the photo on the right above -- Earl Gray holding down those bags of composted manure and Gracie guarding the bird bath.

I bought two more large bags of potting soil yesterday and repotted and potted a ton of stuff.  I ran out of potting mix AGAIN!  I've gone through five bags so far.  I had lots of houseplants, as well as, outside stuff to pot. Just have three more things (Wax Ivy, ZeeZee (or ZZ) plant (purchased a small one because the other one got so sunburned when we moved that I thought it wouldn't make it - now have a huge one and a smaller one), and Hoya (a cutting from Mom) to do and will then - hopefully - be done! 

For in the house, I've transplanted or potted the following: Norfolk Island Pine, Schefflera, Spathiphyllum, ZeeZee (if you can't grow anything, this plant is for you!), Hibiscus, Tuberose, Plumeria, Purple Waffle, Aloe (and, yes, it REALLY works on burns), Scented Geranium (love to dry and crush this and use my soap- scroll down to near the bottom of this page for  interesting tidbits), and a Ponytail Palm (got this when I was in high school and the base was about as big around as a quarter).  A lot of these plants were going from smaller into big pots!  I have rolling dollies for all of them.  Great invention!

For outside, I fixed the following: herbs (Basil, Lemon Thyme (and here), Chives, Italian Parsley, and Rosemary (in a separate pot), two pots of two varieties of Geraniums (one variegated and one solid) where I used fillers of Goldilocks (or Creeping Jenny), Diamond Frost, and white Alyssum, Gallery Dahlia Vincent, yellow Calla Lilies, Lemon Verbena (also use this dried and crushed in my soap).  Lemon Verbena has the best lemon fragrance in the world!  I love it!  Check out this site for recipes  using Lemon Verbena.

At the Cincinnati Flower Show, Mom and I both bought kits for a Flip Flop Flower Pot arrangement.  Very cool!  The picture in the kit even shows it in a baby nursery with white  baskets flip flopped holding toys and other baby stuff.  I think it would great in a craft room with baskets of yarn, fabric, or whatever.  I filled mine with white, purple, and reddish-orange Petunias.  It is going to look gorgeous IF everything goes well.  Note to self for next year --- don't fill the pots all the way to the brim with soil.  My worry is that with rain or watering, the soil is  going to wash or spill over the edges of the pots.  I also hope it withstands the winds we get here.  I placed it by the steps into the sunroom where it will kind of be protected.  Hopefully, it will do just fine.  Now, let's talk about Earl Gray.  He is the sweetest kitty!  And, like I've said before --- I'm his person.  He loves me!  He's so jealous, though --- when I'm outside and he sees Gracie near me or the house, he chases her off into the bushes along the property line.  He won't let her near me.   

Sunday was the first day Andy has had off in months. He mowed all day and did some trimming yesterday. Earl loves the heaps of grass clippings!  He jumps in them, rolls around in them, runs from one to another. He plays in and with them like he's a kitten.

These pictures of Earl in the grass were taken just minutes before he realized that Gracie had come out of the bushes to the house to play, also.  Once he realized that she was there - with me - he chased her back to the bushes.  See in the photo - he is getting ready to pounce at her and chase her off. Poor Gracie!

Earl loves the new garden.  I noticed the birds - especially these Cardinals - acting a little funny yesterday. They were looking downward - cocking their heads from one side to the other.  They're like -- "What's that down there??  You see it?  That gray furry thing?  IS THAT A CAT????!!!!!"  

I peeked out the window, looked down, and there was Earl --- just lying in wait.  See that furry gray hunk in the lower part of the bottom two pictures??  That's Earl.  Earl loves the garden because now there are plants to hide behind when he's on the hunt.  Like I said before, I hope he catches all the Sparrows.  

I peeped in on the Tree Swallow nest Sunday and the bird was in the nest cup on the eggs.  I so hope the Sparrow won't bother her or the eggs.  They are just so aggressive and plain MEAN!

One more thing before I go --- Laure Ferlita (blog - Painted Thoughts) is offering Artful Journaling classes starting in June.  She's the one who offers the Imaginary Trips that I "went on" - Walk Through Autumn and Trip To The Beach.  The classes are great!!!  And, so is the camaraderie between the participants.  It's an online format. She's has posted a video on her blog and on the Artful Journaling site on painting a white birdhouse.  If you watch this, it will give you kind of an idea of how the class format is set up.  Hope you check these links out -- a lot of fun for all experience levels.

 

Nesting - Take 2

Another kind of nesting ---   

Earl Gray and Gracie last night looking awfully cozy. (This was after the bird feather incident.)

It was chilly last night and I bet it felt good to cuddle like this in the kitty bed.

This Mother's Day was the first one in I don't know how long - maybe forever - that I didn't see my mother. This long distance stuff is the pits!  I've already talked with you today but again --- Happy Mother's Day, Momma!

Hope all of you Moms out there also had a great day!

My Mother's Day should have been called Labor Day because that's what I did ALL day long!  I shoveled out a whole pick-up truck load of mulch and spread it all!  The garden looks great.  I'll show more pictures soon.  I want to get some stepping stones for my pathway.  I was going to use the fossil rocks from in front of the house but they're   kind of small.

I also repotted and potted a gazillion plants.  Went through three LARGE bags of Miracle Grow Potting Soil and one bag of Perlite.  

My back is KILLING me!  Shoveling and then carrying all those big pots back inside.   

I was hoping to finish all the garden stuff today but I ran out of potting mix and need to buy two more bags. Hopefully, will finish tomorrow.  

This morning, there was a new visitor at the bird feeder. A female Rose-Breasted Grosbeak.  I don't recall ever seeing one before.  Here's a link.  Scroll down to see a picture of the female.  She looks so much different than the male.  

Here's a picture of Ms. Grosbeak looking at me as I'm looking at her.  Not sure what Mr. Cardinal is doing. Maybe trying to get better footing on the perch.

Nesting

The birds here have been very busy.   

There was a Robin's nest in one of the white pine trees along our property line.  I'm so used to looking at Bluebird eggs that these seemed HUGE!  They've all left the nest now.  Being named Robin --- I'm kind of partial to this nest and eggs. 

There are four Red-Winged Blackbird nests in the cattails surrounding the pond.  Very interesting construction.  I wish I could see down in them so I can get a peek at their eggs. 

Then, there's that funny little nest perched up on top of my Portulaca hanging basket on the front porch.

We put up three Bluebird houses along one edge of the property. I haven't seen a single Bluebird go near them!  At first, the Tree Swallows were all over those houses.  If I so much as walked out to check on them, they'd go nuts! Swooping, diving, clicking at me.  More recently, I've seen tons of Sparrows in the yard and around the boxes.

Last week, I checked the boxes.  One looked like it had a Tree Swallow nest in it. Their nests are so pretty - they use feathers from larger birds for their lining.  I left that box alone.

The other two had Sparrow nests in them.  Sparrows use anything and everything to build their nests it seems.  This one had horsehair, grasses, nylon rope, feathers, etc.  One had three white eggs with brown speckles (I'm guessing House Sparrow) and the other had four kind of light bluish-green eggs with brown speckles.  I think those were Sparrow eggs, too, but I'm not 100% sure.  I took the eggs and dumped both nests.  Sparrows are MEAN birds and I don't want them nesting in the boxes if I can help it.  They take over other birds' nests sometimes killing the mother bird and destroying the eggs.

The eggs in the picture to the left are what I believe are House Sparrow eggs. The ones in the picture on the right - I'm not sure but I think they're some kind of Sparrow. Anyone out there know?????

Today, I went out to check on the boxes.  The first one had four beautiful unmarked white eggs in a feathered nest.  Tree Swallows.

The third box had nothing.

The second box had a Sparrow nest and a dead Tree Swallow in it.  Looked as if the Tree Swallow had been pecked in the head. That's a Sparrow's doing.  I tell you they're MEAN.

Andy makes Sparrow traps and I should start using them. Trick is, you need to use it when you're going to be around to watch and catch it when it trips.  You place the trap on the inside of the box door.  When the bird flies through the hole in the nest box, he trips the spring-loaded trap and a flap covers the hole so he can't get back out.  I then go out with a plastic grocery bag, hold it over the door of the box, and open the box.  The trapped bird flies into my plastic bag.  If it's a Sparrow, I kill it.  I promise I never kill any other kind of creature - except for ticks and mosquitoes - but Sparrows are MEAN.

I worked this morning and then took off for knitting.  There were only three of us there today at Heather's Cafe & Coffee.  We had a great time!  Anna had stuff to do today but dropped off some Black-Eyed Susans and a couple pieces of Bee Balm for me.  All are now planted in the new garden along with some Dusty Miller I picked up today at K-Mart.  Mulch is going in tomorrow!  YEAH!!!   

After knitting, I went to Kroger's and got groceries.  Andy met me there.  When we got home -- both of us loaded down with grocery bags -- walked into the garage to go into the house.  It looked like an aviary had exploded! Bird feathers EVERYWHERE!  EVERYWHERE!

And, look who I blame -----

Earl Gray.

I don't have to be a detective to see that feather hanging out of your mouth!

I hope it was a Sparrow!