It is Never Enough

The other morning, while I was taking photographs on Sweetbriar, a woman I know said something like, "you must have hundreds of photographs." Laughing I replied, make that more like 50,000, give or take a few. And yet, it is never enough, according to Kim whom I saw this morning out with her camera! I could not agree more!

So, does this look like a doggie trying to tell me, "please take me to the vet?"

I'd lain the finished (!!!) quilt down on the kitchen floor trying to find an open space large enough to accommodate it for a photograph. Baxie thought he might give it a test drive instead! I opted to use a green that I thought was nice for the binding, and instead of spending five more hours hand sewing it, I used the machine instead, and I think it turned out just fine.

After washing and drying, I took it the guild meeting on Wednesday for donation. Oh my goodness, the meeting was filled with inspiration. One of last month's challenges was to make a new name tag, however, I never got around to that. Pam, on the other hand, had a great idea a few hours before the meeting, and look how cute it is, pinned to her waist!

 Picking her up for the drive there, she said she was working like mad to finish before I came! There were wonderful quilts shown as part of show and tell, my favorite part of the meetin as I think it is for most members. I am constantly amazed at the talent on display. Imagine this one...

I have not the slightest idea how she made those circles, but they sure look neat, don't they? Marge, our treasurer, made this super cute owl one.

A fabric sale of donated fabric!! The tables in the back room were laden with fabric! Groups were called and they had three minutes to shop before the next group. As part of the final group, I still was able to come home with some goodies. I am so dying over the orange little girl fabric!

The pictured can belonged to Bruce's Grandmother, and it is filled with buttons, all sizes and colors, many of them removed from worn out clothing. I never know when I might need some of them so I keep it handy!

Baxter may not have looked sick, but good grief! After peeing on the floor THREE times Tuesday, even when he'd been out an hour before, I decided it just could not be chalked up to old age as they told me the last time I went to the vet. I made an appointment for 3:00, and when the time came to leave, I discovered Bruce had Baxter's leash in his car. Fortunately they gave me one to use because it is mighty hard to do any paperwork while holding a dog. About 3:15, Lovey came to get us, and she took his temperature. So far, so good. Then she came back and said the vet wanted a urine specimen which she proceeded to get. And then we waited, and waited. Baxter, as you can see, was about ready to throw in the towel. It was both cold and boring in there.

When 4:00 rolled around, I stuck my head out the door, asking if they had forgotten us. Nope, they hadn't, but still we waited. Finally she arrived and told me he has a bad bladder infection!!!! 14 days of an antibiotic, and maybe there will be an end to this! By the time we left it was 4:45. So glad I made that appointment, right?

When I got the new tube for my bicycle tire, the odometer wasn't working for a week or so, but now it is. I once heard on Growing Bolder about a woman who kept track of her treadmill "mileage" and by the time she was 94 she'd done 36,000 miles!! I've got a long way to go...

I don't think the half moon gets enough love, do you? I saw it up in the sky around 4:30 yesterday afternoon, and I was struck by how cool it looked.

Nothing but blue skies yesterday, however, it is clouding up now, so perhaps some rain will fall. After raving in my last post about finally having rain, while there was some, it was a very little some!

There are some good photographs upcoming, and then there are some not so good ones. Ready?

The above is one of the good ones, taken in perfect light. Mostly the bird just sits up there cleaning those feathers, at least until such time as a small bird comes around, bugging it to death until it flies off. I was talking to yet another woman about the birds, when the scenario described occurred. Knowing it would eventually circle back, I positioned myself underneath the branch, albeit 60 feet or more above my head, and indeed it did fly back, however, what I was hoping would be a fantastic shot, did not pan out. That said, I'll show it nevertheless.

Had that turned out, wouldn't it have been something?? Folks around those streets know me by now, and most are friendly enough to chat, especially when I point out what they have not even noticed. They, of course, have other things on their mind, that is until I get all enthusiastic about the subject!

This morning I rode over bright and early, finding most of the family together in one tree!

This tree, btw, is the very one where "Tree Hugger" happened. For those of you new to this blog, two years ago, I was fortunate enough to get a once-in-a-lifetime shot of an owlet, literally hugging the trunk of this tree. Maybe it is because I've found these owlets more as juveniles, but really, all they want to do is roost; none of the playfulness I saw last year. They are still cute though....look at the fluffy tummy!

Dad happened to be right out in the open yesterday.

Kim, who I mentioned in the first paragraph, is a bird nut too, so while we were chatting, the subject came up about another street where there were possibly some large birds, as both of us abide by the birders mantra...follow the poop. We'd both seen the evidence but not bird.  Anyway, she was on foot, so I took off on my bicycle to once again scan the area where I'd seen quite a lot of droppings. Lo and behold,  this time was the charm...a hawk's nest! Seeing movement only, I wasn't sure at first until the hawk flew in to drop off some food. The hawklets, really, I don't know what you call them, but that sounds good, are not visible in the slightest, however, after I saw the described action, I rode back over to present the news to Kim. She then got on her bike, and met me there. Well, that was fun. We attracted the attention of a woman with a stroller, and we all stared upwards, as the smaller birds harassed the hawk above our heads. There is not merely screeching, there is actual flying into the hawk, who was not easily perturbed. By now the sun was smack dab in our face, plus my neck hurt, plus, I was supposed to be exercising, so I took off, riding up one street after another, then doubling back, and I ended up back at the nest when I saw this happen.

Now, if only I could find the Swallowtail nest...

My garden is making me happy. The salvias I dug up along Pershing have returned, the purple flowers are from last year, only now just perking up, and those Snapdragons..oh my!

I was so hoping this one would have been better, because it is not often I see a bumblebee coated with pollen. Flying in and out of the blooms, it was neat to watch nature in action.

While on the subject of pollen, here's one, not from my garden, and actually I don't know the folks, but when I'm driving along Bumby, I generally stop, even when the light is horrible, as is the case here.

Imagine if I were good at macro...those tiny bits of pollen would be huge!

Woo hoo....Mr. Peck returns this evening, if only for three days. Be still my heart.

yours truly,

Gail

p.s. Kudos to Bev, who actually clicked on one of the links in my last post. She was aghast at the Julia Pastrana story, as you would have been too had you done the same. And maybe you did....

Ladies and Gentleman, We Have a Family!

As you know, I've been searching for at least the last six weeks for the owls with no success, although I had heard rumors that people were hearing them, just not seeing them. Ever the optimist, back I went, hoping this trip would not be in vain. At first, I saw no owls, however, the Swallowtail Kite was once again on the perch! What is going on?

 I was standing in the street in front of Victor's house, watching this fascinating bird, when Victor's wife was leaving the house and stopped to tell me all about how she saw the owls feeding their young frogs in front of their house. Nice! Then Victor came out, and I showed him the Kite, which he found nearly as exciting as I did. We began hearing some uproar from nearby birds, and he said one of the owls must be around, and sure enough, right there in the Magnolia tree between his house and Nell's, I saw one of the juveniles! Woo hoo...then I saw they were both there!!

Before long, the one on the lower branch hopped up to join his sibling. She was wet, probably from being in Victor's birdbath, which you can bet, I wish I'd seen for myself! They were grooming each other, and it was just awesome. That said, the light was horrible, thus a little weirdness in this shot.

I was torn between the owls and the kite....so much action all at once!!

I left a very happy camper indeed! Had I not work to do at home, no telling how long I would have stayed there. I watched as one of the owls flew off, quite expertly I might add, in the direction of the next street. I filed that information away.

Before Bruce left for Dallas he remarked, "wouldn't it be easier to just buy some fabric for the backing?" My response was, "yes, but where's the fun in that?" Thus, here is the back of the charity quilt I've made,

using up nearly all of my solid fabrics. The assignment was for a twin sized quilt that is gender neutral, not an easy thing to sort out, but here's what I took it to mean.

Because it is so large, and because the only open space I have is on the patio, I've learned to become a little creative when it comes to the basting part, which in laymen's terms means putting lots of pins in to keep all three layers together, and flat, for quilting. Instead of doing it all at once, I do it in sections on my sewing table.

The back is clamped tight, followed by the batting...

and finally the top. I do one section, then I pull the next section onto the table and so on.

There you have it...ready for quilting! Because it is 70 inches wide and 90 inches long that is a lot of lines spaced 1/2 inch apart. I've completed maybe a quarter of it, and the sewing continues, in between trips to see my birds. But, you knew that didn't you?

So, the rain continues to stay away, causing brown lawns, and low lake levels across our region. There are only a handful of things that Bruce and I have had for our entire married life, and our Staghorn fern is one of those things, having purchased it as a tiny pup from a neighbor 43 years ago. It is huge! Not to mention very difficult to water, but I did what I could the other day because it was looking just dreadful. You might note the dead tree, along with a little growing grass from our neighbor's car fire in the background.

I read in today's newspaper that there are only two Aprils in the last 100 years when we've not had a drop of rain but that is what it is looking like with only a few days remaining. May 1 is just around the corner, and it is Jonathan's birthday. Boo hoo...another birthday, and he is in Austin and not with his Momma and Daddy.

Looking at this hibiscus in the back yard, I got to thinking about how a person need look no further than nature when putting colors together for a quilt.

That said, I wonder if I would have thought of putting yellow and red together? How about you?

Bruce returned from Dallas while I was sleeping last night, however, he got up almost the same time I did. After making him some coffee I told him I needed to go check on my birds and I'd be right back to make breakfast. Now some of you might be thinking, "why doesn't he make his own breakfast?" which is a fair question. To answer that, I would say that he'd be more than happy to do so, but he knows I like to take care of him, and that's the God's honest truth! I do like to take care of him in that way because he takes care of me in so many other ways. In other words, it is my pleasure.

Right around daylight, I rode over to see if I'd have any luck finding the owls again because that would be considered feeding time. The Kite was there! The owls were not! Once again Victor's wife described the previous evenings antics that I missed. Then another woman, whom I've become friendly with over the owls, told me a shocking story...in a nutshell, one of the owl parents swooped down, grazing her head when she was getting too close to one of the owlets sitting on her fence!! She even had me look at her scalp!! Holy Cow...that's a first! Pointing out the Kite to her, that took a little bit of the sting away. Following our conversation, back on my bicycle, I rode around the corner, noticing bird poop in the street....hmmm...I know what this means. Plus, I'd seen the youngster fly that way the day before.

First I found, what I'm guessing, is the Papa..

and then what to my wondering eyes should appear, but the owlets who were soon joined by their Mama.

I'm including this shot because it gives you a little perspective on how these shots are somewhat hard to get. One thing that was kind of crazy is the woman who lives in the house where the tree stands, came out to walk her dog. Asking her if she wanted to see them, naturally, she said yes! Pointing them out, she was thinking of using her phone camera to get a shot, and I wished her luck with that. As we were talking, I was moving around, trying to somehow get better lighting when....wooosh....Mama flew right at me, landing in the tree where you see her down low! I forgot to mention the woman who was grazed by the owl said it felt like someone hit her with a baseball bat! Most days when Bruce is home he advises me to be careful on my bike ride, however, I suspect he never thought of an owl grazing as one of the things to be careful about. :)

More folks came along and were happy to have them pointed out with me acting as the tour guide. Ha ha...Just before I left, Mama must have been telling me to mind my p's and q's, as my late Mother would say.

That mouth is seriously pink, isn't it?

I can't tell you how thrilled I am that at last they have been found even though the owlets are much older than I've seen in years past, I'm still tickled pink.

What is on some of your minds is, what is happening with the move? Am I right? Last week something unexpected happened; the condo where we were going to live was sold to a buyer who made them an offer they could not refuse. Oh my goodness!!! Steve, Bruce's boss, says he's got it all figured out, so hopefully I'll know more fairly soon. It is still two months away, making it not crazy urgent, but still something to take a girl by surprise, that's for sure. No doubt the next place will be absolutely perfect. That is, if I have a place to sew, and of course, photograph birds.

yours truly,

Gail

p.s. You probably never notice the tags I put at the end of my posts, but they help me find stuff later. Many tags are repeats and come up after typing only a few letters. In more than 10 years of those tags, this is only the second post that has a Swallowtail Kite tag and you can safely bet I would have posted a photo before because, they are indeed, very cool birds. :)