Therapy

As usual, I had to create a mess to clean up a mess.  I've been focusing most of my energies on The Other House but I just couldn't resist a little TLC on the home front.  All this stuff is now at the bottom of the attic stairs waiting to be hauled up that last flight.  I wonder how long I can put it off?  :-)

I also took a break to do a bit of gluten-free baking.  The banana chocolate chip muffins came out a bit like rubber balls, but this cinnamon raisin bread out of a new cookbook is pretty good.  I took this picture in a dark kitchen at 5:30 this morning.  For some reason I've been on a "wake up way too early" sleep schedule.

All day Thursday I was down at The Other House giving it a final cleaning.    Friday and Saturday are usually my Project FeederWatch days but we were so busy I missed last week.  The Friday morning, it was so nice to just sit at the big front window and count birds for a while.  Yes, we have a couple of equal opportunity feeders.  And yes those are Ivy's ears.

I've set up a third feeding station in an attempt to draw the aggressive mockingbirds farther away.  Here he/she is guarding the suet.  Sigh.

There were robins everywhere yesterday.  They are everywhere on the ground and in the trees but they don't come to the feeders.  So I was surprised when several were hanging around with the feeding birds.

There are at least three robins in this picture (yes that's Ngaire's ear), one in particular is watching the goings on.

I was so surprised when he came to the feeder!

He hopped around a minute or two examining it from every angle.  I was amazed.

It was cold out!  Think Woodstock and Snoopy playing hockey in their birdbath.  :-)  On his way to work The Tramp stopped for a moment to pour some hot water over the ice in the birdbath.  It looks like snow on the baffle but that's frozen suet bits.  I was pleased to identify a few different warblers.  This is a yellow-rumped warbler.

Frosty!

When not being harassed by the mockingbird the suet cakes are very popular with a variety of birds.

No ducks today, but the geese are hanging around.  Last year they would walk up into our yard every morning for a breakfast of persimmons.  Those trees are gone now and I have to say we and the neighbors are pleased not to have to deal with the goose poop or the messy persimmons.  If you ever got persimmon all up in the treads of your sneakers you'd know what I mean!

Geese all in a row.  Is that anything like ducks all in a row?  :-)

Today we spent a long day down at The Other House doing yard work and emptying the last piles of stuff out of the sheds.  Our wonderful neighbors loaned us their truck and after two trips to the dump Convenience Center we are almost all cleaned out.  There are just a few things left, waiting to be taken to the thrift shop.  Yay!

So this evening I decided I needed some fabric therapy and got the last two blocks of this BOM cut, fused and ready for stitching.

I couldn't resist pinning it all up on the design wall to see the effect.  Woot!  I like!  I haven't chosen a color for the sashing strips.  Suggestions are welcome.  :-)  I want to add a few touches of my own to the applique too.

Therapy indeed!