2.6.13

See our wonderful little car? I am so glad we chose that one. It is a PEACH!


Press the play button. Saturday, Quilty Friend (the ORIGINAL) thought we could squeeze in a little fabric shopping before the weather turned, but we did NOT. Q (AKA Thelma) was driving and we slid back down the very first hill in the neighborhood before we even came to any of the steeper ones. My husband came to the rescue so we did not have to walk up the hills to get home.

Now look at some pictures I took that very morning when the temps were in the mid 40s.

I don't even remember what kind of bird this is, but he was very, very busy. He was here with five or six of his friends. I think they must have known something was about to happen.

 Here it is, Monday morning, and after a full day of temperatures in the forties, there is still a lot of snow on the ground in places, and the roof below my studio window is mostly covered and has about an inch of snow. I hope this little bird found enough to eat and a warm place to go.

2.2.13

I kind of like birds. To photograph, anyway. (You knew I liked chickens as ART) Here are some recent birds added to my photographic collection. This one is from a recent trip to Florida. 




It is some sort of heron, I think. It may be an anhinga but it did not "shoulder" the way they do.

I took these pictures at Lake Eola, Orlando. The lake has a few swans and a lot of birds who have joined the swans. We saw a large variety who had no hesitation about walking amongst the throng of people visiting the lake that Sunday.

Come back tomorrow and see some local birds that live up here in the hills with us.

1.31.13

Poor cold raven. Can you see the ice crystals?

Are you wondering where I am today? I and my strawberry batik notebook are at Sharpe Memorial Methodist Church, Young Harris, Georgia, taking a quilt class!

 

6.23.12

Will I need a retreat from the RETREAT? Today is my second full day. 

See this speckle-chested little delight? From his perch on the trunk of the pine tree, you can not tell that this is a blue bird. In the picture below, you can just barely see the blue in the tail a little to the left. Actually, I am not at all sure this is a male. It could be the female or a juvenile. The males have a very rosy belly and are a miraculous shade of blue over more of their bodies.

6.22.12

What a fine fellow! We have seen beautiful orange and black orioles but they are too fast for me and my camera.

This is my first full day at the 2012 Pieceful Mountain Quilt Retreat. I am probably having lots of fun and am glad I wrote these posts ahead of time! I do not know if internet is available at the Hinton Retreat Center but you can email me if you want and find out. I will take my iPad along so I do not get out of touch with unreality (games!)

3.25.11

What do you think? More of my art photo experiments. Almost quilt-like, right? The bird is a fat little robin spotted Florida not long ago. There was a huge flock of them that day. I will try to clean up some photos for you to enjoy. I did not turn them all into art shots!

Do you see the profile of the woman's face? The bird is like a little hair-barrette. Her jaw and chin are made by the branch that is almost parallel to the bottom of the picture. Her face points to the left. Do you see it?

7.27.09

Why they call it the Smoky Mountains... Yes, I live here as often as I can. Usually a week around Thanksgiving {USA--4th Thursday November, etc.}, Christmas, "Spring" Break {March/April}. That is the view I see every morning I am here. Sometimes less cloud cover, sometimes more.

American Goldfinch. Just outside my window. I love it here.

7.24.09

Is that not the goofiest thing you have ever seen? I LOVED it the minute I found it and ordered two of them; one for me and one for HMHC. Since we both knit, I thought they would be fun conversation pieces at weekly gatherings. Unfortunately, the zipper is {*WAS*} so small, our hands were barely able to fit in.


There, that is a better size zipper! I cut out the attached acetate lining, gave the chickens episiotomies...

Here they are before I color the stitching on the black feathers. Due to the delicacy of the operation, I chose to sew by hand. I should have changed thread color when the chicken changed color but permanent marker is so much easier.


If you want one, too, be careful when you visit this site that you don't order the coin purse. I can't even imagine how small THAT zipper is, even with the pictured coin purse!

7.21.09

I watch a pair of woodpeckers from my window. Above is one I saw just before it rained one day. Look at his wing tips. He is huge, appearing to be about two feet from pileated head to tail tip.

Here are two more pictures from another day. When they fly, it is easy to see the black and white markings.