Monday, June 12, 2017

MOSQUITO!!!!!!!!!

Sorry.  Just had to get that out of my system.  I'm just sitting here at the keyboard MINDING MY OWN BUSINESS and a mosquito was working it's way up my arm.  Grrrrrrr.

Anyway.....   I will type in spite of the intense itching.  ARRRGGGGHHHH   (What did we do before Benadryl Spray??)

The Viking and I have been spending most of our time together out of the house it seems.  Finally we've been able to relax and enjoy a few days at home.  He's getting quite good with scissors.  We dig through the paper recycle bin and my fabric scrap bin and he cuts and cuts.


He's getting quite creative with the shapes that appear.  This day turned out to be all about horns.  He wouldn't rest until I taped horns on his head.


Then he taped horns, beak, wings and tail to his sippy cup and proceeded to give it "horn cuts" instead of a haircut.  Too funny.


A fun photo of Stardust ready for a field day at school.


And a first photo of grand #8, as yet ungendered and unnamed.  :-)


In my last post I complained a bit about my selection of quilting presser feet and had just altered one to be non-hopping.  With fingers crossed, I ordered another Janome foot in hopes it would fit my Juki.  Some do and some don't.
 

Also that day, came the forget-me-not fabric.  Now I have several fabrics from the same line for the Quilting Babes challenge quilt.


Much to my relief and excitement....it fits!!!


The needle is perfectly centered.  Yay!  It works like a dream.  Yesssssss.


So I finished the quilting and then constructed the second tote bag.  This one is for the guild swap.  My partner likes blue and green so I hope she likes it.


 I came so close to running out of the quilting thread.  (King Tut, Mint Julep)  I just squeaked in some stitching on the handles.  Phew.


I also finished another rosette for La Passacaglia.  I'm trying to get away from the purple stars I started with.  I decided it would be much more fun to just go crazy with color.  We shall see.



 Last Wednesday The Tramp and I went to a concert.  Yep.  That's Paul Simon!!  The show was fabulous.  I consider it a testament to his greatness that he and his sound people realize you don't have to make peoples' ears bleed with the volume.  I didn't even have to put on my ear plugs.  It was a joy to listen quietly, sing along with the crowd, and even dance a bit.  Almost 2 1/2 hours.  Wow.


Everyone was prepared for rain, but it didn't happen.  Instead we were treated to a sideshow of the almost full moon dancing with the fast moving clouds.  Pretty neat.


Along with all the usual weekend errands, on both Saturday and Sunday morning, before the days heated up too much, we did some heavy gardening.  At least these days I find it heavy going.  ;-)  I've been wanting to plant something on this bare slope beside the driveway.  In the backyard there is a patch of mondo grass which the dogs haven't managed to kill.  I figure if it's that hardy, it might survive in this somewhat shady spot.  The "soil" is rock hard clay.  Like cement!  We planted plugs until our backs gave out, mulched, and installed a soaker hose above them on the slope.  We shall see.  If it works, maybe I'll try some hostas and possibly a shrub or two.  Living in hope.  :-)



We picked up some rosebushes, blueberry bushes and a nandina from the clearance racks at the back of Lowes' garden section.  We planted three roses bushes in the spot I tried to grow tomatoes last year.  Fingers crossed they are more successful.  Amazingly, buried up against the garden border was this enormous goose egg!  I suppose the thief who raided the first nest buried it here for safekeeping.  What a surprise!  I wondered why we didn't see broken shells all over the place when the nest was raided.  Now I know.  The eggs were cached.


In the backyard we planted the blueberry bushes and pegged down and mulched over soaker hoses in the three gardens.


No more eggs I'm afraid, though I did run across this interesting spider with an unusual web, settled in the clump of daylilies up against the deck.  A little research tells me it's most probably a female banded garden spider, Argiope trifasciata.

"Females are large, silvery spiders with legs banded in black and yellow. Look for this species in late summer and fall in fields, prairies, gardens, and meadows. The circular webs are built close to the ground amid tall grasses and weeds, often with a zigzag band of silk running through the center."
After such a busy weekend I think we earned a little rest time on the porch.  :-)


2 comments:

Jenny said...

Another very busy week for you - no wonder you need to have a rest with your feet up. I'm sure your friend will love the embroidered denim bag - and as for those La Casa blocks - wow indeed!

Heera said...

Love the blocks of your La Passacaglia quilt. Its in my to-do list. I might get to sometime in life. ;-)

Thanks for your encouraging comments on my blog. Its you who introduced me to Dear Jane quilt. It was at the back of my mind for a long time and I am happy that I took it up as a challenge two years ago.