I met this little guy sitting in the middle of the road on a rainy day. We called him Toadie (surprise?). He was about six inches long but stretched to a foot when he jumped! I gave him a little nudge with my shoe to help him on his way. It took only three jumps to clear the road and disappear into the hedge. Maybe I will see him again some day.
At first I couldn't remember very much about this project even though I made four bunnies as Easter presents for family members back in the 1990's. But as I began to think it all came back to me. I used a favorite soft toy bunny called Binky as inspiration, after more than twenty years he is still a favorite. I sketched his likeness onto paper then cut it out to use as a template for the craft felt. I made a front and a back stuffing him with polyfill and sealing it up with a blanket stitch. His cotton tail is a yoyo and button and the eggs were filled with chocolate. I used dark brown felt for my Auntie Christine as if it were a real chocolate bunny.
The rocks come alive.
This beauties sleep was disturbed.
Off into the water for safety.
"Boys will be boys"
"Waiting for a human hand out"
"Long Island Ducks"
"Swan Goose"
This quilt is going to it's new home very soon, birthday boy Gavin turned one on St.Patricks day and is having his party tomorrow. The quilt is 39"x55", a little longer than I wanted but I let the piece of batting I had dictate the size.
I chain stitched the letters with the pearl cotton thread I got for Christmas, I marked with a pencil where I was going to stitch helping to keep everything neat and even.
I did the binding a little differently than I usually do so I was a bit nervous at the corners, hence some puckering. My brother Jonathan bought me a leather thimble for my birthday, it is fantastic, miles better than my layering on band aids for some protection against hand quilting.
The backing was one large piece of coordinating fabric that had enough overlap to use as the binding. I've never worked with such bright colors before so this quilt was a huge departure. Not long into my project I began to really enjoy playing with all the primary colors. Sam says Gavin loves monkeys so I'm hoping he likes this quilt and will one day find the letters spell out his name.
This is the same spot as last years "Signs Of Spring" Snow Drops. They are in a shady and protected area undisturbed by deer and rabbits who don't like to eat them. The Tulips however are a different story, even though they are growing quickly every morning I see new evidence of nighttime snacking. Everything is still so brown that these little patches of green are like treasures!
The Brad Pitt of Turkeys
His girls checking out the new digs
I went for a bike ride today for the first time since last summer and it was awesome. I loved how the GPS sports watch I took with me said I burned four times as many calories as on my walks, making my cadbury creme egg feast obsolete! I brought my camera with me for "Signs Of Spring".
The new bird feeder is up and running, it is especially popular with the Cardinals.
The wind is very strong today but surprisingly not too cold. Willa for some reason became a youthful 15 year old bouncing around on the sand. It was wonderful seeing her so playful again. That's painters tape holding her coat together.
Red winged black birds gathering in the same trees every year as my "Signs Of Spring".
These are my new babies Lulu and Bella, they were a Birthday present from my friend, she bought them in China Town. Hopefully they stay alive a wee bit longer than the last two I had. These two are not lazy, they love to run around when I take them out of the tank and believe me they are not slow pokes. If I turn around they are gone in a flash, naughty wee girls!
I usually buy them in A&P , sometimes there's a choice of colours, this time they only had red. Very easy to grow, you put the bulb in the pot and surround it with the soil they provide. Water it then wait for it to grow. It takes about two weeks for it to get to about 2 inches (it seems like forever). But after that it seems like it grows every night, you can see the changes. One day you see the red bud pop out, the next night it pops out even more and within a couple of days it is in full bloom and it is beautiful. I love them and would love to have a window sill full of them.
Mmmmm shepards pie, I love it, one of my favourites and very easy to make. I just brown some onions, toss in the meat (ground beef) and brown it all together, I add a little water and let it simmer a while. I add some gravy, from a packet I'm afraid, the lazy way, let all that simmer again for a while. I then add some carrots, peas, worchester sauce, a bit of ketchup and simmer again. While it is cooking I boil some potatoes, mash them with a wee bit of butter, or a lot, whatever floats your boat. I put the meat mixture in an oven proof dish then top with the mashed potatoes, put in the oven to cook more and Bobs your uncle, yummy dinner. In Scotland we call it mince and tatties.
This was Arts/Crafts day with the children I take care of. We made pies out of playdough, all kinds, blueberry, apple and even some bread and rolls etc. When we were done we pretended we had a little bakery, two of the children owned the bakery while me and the other child shopped for pies and bread. They were very cheap to buy, haha, it was a lot of fun!
