I'll Be Away...

Yes, we're going on a road trip!  We'll be spending a long weekend at the lake.  And the dogs will be coming with us.  Here are some pic's of Prince the last time we went, a couple of years ago.  He loved the car ride, as you can see.  But the funniest thing was how he reacted to the lake.  Prince does not like baths, by the way - CAN'T STAND THEM!  But he walked right into the lake, stuck his head under water, and retrieved rocks, one at time.  Then he took each rock and deposited it on the shore.  It seemed he made it his responsibility to rid the lake bed of rocks.

Isn't this odd?  It certainly entertained him for hours, though.  Mickey has never been to the lake, so we'll see if he copies Prince.  And big Oliver (the Dalmation mix) hasn't been since he was a puppy.  I hope you all have a great weekend, too, and I'll be back next week.

Little Bouquet Update

I'm having so much fun making this little quilt.  Here are my first five flowers; they are just pinned to the background at this point.  I took this photo yesterday.  This morning I made several additional flowers and cut some leaves (while I waited for the girls to wake up).  I'll take some more pic's later.

The flowers can be attached simply by free motion stitching, giving the edges a chance to fray a bit.  I'm thinking I'll layer the top onto the batting and backing first, and then free motion stitch the flowers and leaves in place.  That way I can take care of much of the quilting at the same time.

A Gifty for Me!

Whew!!  We've gotten both girls moved back home.  Yay!  We have lots to do while they're home.  Shopping.  Haircuts.  Eye appointments.  Laundry.  And fun, of course!!!

Meanwhile, look at the fun stuff I got in the mail from Wendy!  Wendy lives in Alaska where both blueberries and poppies are plentiful.  She sent these beautiful fabric squares depicting both!

She also sent some cool info about her state.
And YES!!!  She sent me Alaskan beer bottle caps!!!  She read in one of my earlier posts that I collect bottle caps.  I drill holes in them and sew them to funky art quilts.
These are certainly different than anything I have.  The colors and graphics are WONDERFUL! Thank you, Wendy!

Low-Down Dirty Snake in the Grass

Or:  Why We Have Snakes in Our Yard

According to what I've learned in the last two weeks (since our Mickey snakebite trauma), there are two main reasons we have snakes here at Chez Wood.

Reason 1:  Plethora of chipmunks

Reason 2:  Plethora of drainpipes

This little guy in munching on a fallen tomato in the backyard.
I didn't know chipmunks liked tomatoes.
But they obviously do.  And apparently, many snakes like chipmunks.  And chipmunks like to hide in drainpipes.  The solution?  There are vented caps available which fit on the end of the black drain pipes, keeping chipmunks out, but allowing water to flow through.  Hubby will go to the hardware store soon and cap off all the drainpipes.

We're hoping the chipmunks will then find another yard in which to hide, and then the snakes will follow.  It's certainly not a foolproof solution, but maybe it will help a bit.  Meanwhile, Mickey seems to be totally back to normal.  He eats well, drinks well, and is perky again.  Yesterday he accompanied us to move Daughter 2 home from college.  Tomorrow we move Daughter 1 home from college.  In two weeks we move them both back again.  Lots of MOVING going on around here!

But I've had a bit time to sew, too.  I'm still working on my Little Bouquet quilt.  Plus I've been playing with some yo-yo's.  Don't you just LOVE yo-yo's?

Sewing Again

I'm sewing again!  YAY!  I still need to sort a pile of fabric in my studio and go through some magazines, but the rest of the work is done.  Above are the background blocks I made for the Little Bouquet Sew Along at Cherry House Quilts.
And I've made a few more Winding Ways blocks.

 

Mickey seems so much better.  He woke me up at 5:30 this morning and led me to the kitchen. He wanted his chicken!  He'd finished the last of it yesterday though, so now he'll have to make do with dog food.

Finding Lost Stuff

One of the benefits of thoroughly cleaning out my studio has been finding important things that have been missing for some time.  The TV remote turned up yesterday.
Today I found my container of yo-yo's that I've made from Cherrywood scraps.  I also found a missing electrical cord to a sewing machine.  Yay!  I'm almost done, too.  I can move around the room easily, no tripping, no stepping on fabric and pins.  And I know where everything is!  How nice is that!

Mickey Update:

He's drinking on his own now.  I can get him to eat, but not just anything.  He won't eat his dog food, but he'll eat chicken.  So, chicken he gets, until he's better.  His energy level is improving slowly.   His confidence is slow to come back; he's a bit skittish now, but hopefully that will pass over time.

M-TV

Mickey TV, that is.  The local CBS station wanted to do a story about the abundance of snakes this summer.  Our vet clinic told them our story.  So last night a reporter and camera man came by to interview Mickey.  Hubby did most of the talking for him.

The guy in the green shirt is with a reptile relocation society.  He poked around the yard, hoping to find a snake to relocate.  He said if we see one to give him a call so he can come take it away.