Bluebird of Happiness

 My Bluebird of Happiness and just one thing that I did accomplish from my list last week.  It was really quite quick to knit as there aren't very many stitches in each row but there were short rows and wrap and turns with k2tog or p2tog in the next row which makes for some very bulky stitches.  It was a lot easier when I switched to knitting with a single yarn rather than the double that the pattern suggested and I used sock yarn on smaller needdles, the belly yarn was self striping and the color changes were just right.  The designer does some very delightful woodland creatures.  I'm going to try a 4 legged one next.  --Ann--

War is over

I won the first battle but then the pair decided their nest would look good on top of the down spout about 10 feet away.  They worked all day, when it was cooled off in the evening hubby knocked it down and hung monfiliment  line on both sides of the down spout.  The little birds were cautious the first time then boldly went through it with mud and grass.  I watched them while I drank my coffee I thought they just brought mud in their beak but they swallow it and regurgitate it, their little bodies convulse as it comes up.  We were gone all day so they  worked uninterrupted.  Hubby took it down again.  Who is more stubborn me or them?  What else can I put up there so they will leave?  aha   I cut a plastic grocery bag into strips more like a long fringe and left the seam intact so hubby could tape it right above the down spout.  They haven't been back.    --Ann--

Mud on the door

Mud on the door, mud on the screen, mud on the steps and mud above the door is a big disgrace!
Barn swallows have been trying to build a nest above my front door for the last week and a half.  Last week hubby and I hung strips of fabric thinking that would deter them, no such luck they just flew in underneath, then I cut the loops so they were longer still they fly under and up.  I have knocked the mud down 4 or 5 times a day.  They are persistent little birds.  One day it was just the pair trying to build the nest the next day they enlisted three more birds to help.  Fortunately for me the construction crew wanted to see progress on their efforts and I was a hindrance so they flew off the job.  The pair is still trying.  I finally consulted google because they have an answer for everything. 1. Keep knocking the mud down and they should give up after 3 weeks.  Three Weeks!!!! 2. Let them have their nest they do eat lots of bugs.  3. Clean up the mess and put petroleum gel where they are building,  really?  like I want a grease spot above the door that will eventually be covered with bugs.  4.  Buy a bunch of stuff not that different from what I hung on the porch.  5. Hang a plastic owl on the porch.  6.  Keep knocking it down only a week and a half to go.
He couldn't curse me because he had a beak full of mud but I knew what he was thinking.    They are really quite ingenious to build a nest out of mud and grass hauling the mud from the storm pond a couple blocks away and to only be able to bring about a 1/2 teaspoon on mud each trip and to make it stick to the siding.  We have way too much mud this year.  Where did they build their nests before the homesteaders came to the prairie?  The battle continues..............--Ann--

sketching and coffee

 I was enjoying my morning coffee while looking out the window yesterday morning and a robin hopped up on the neighbors pile for recycling.  It tried very hard to pull something out of the box but it was stuck fast, it tried from every angle but could not free the contents.  Just enough time for me to make a quick sketch.  My little bird just plays dead unless I have a knitting needle poked in it belly.  I could use it for sketching practice.  I could knit another one to look like a bluebird.  A couple of my favorite sketchbooks.  --Ann--

A little bird

 I knit this little bird just for fun, a little English Robin pattern designer is Claire Garland she is on ravelry.  She has patterns for lots of little birds and animals.  I thought the bird looked easiest  and it really was just follow the directions one row at a time and it all makes sense.  I just needed some time with no distractions.  The beads I had for eyes were too small and the buttons were too big.
--Ann--

Kaleidoscopes

I gathered up all my kaleidoscope toys for quilting and never realized how different they are from each other. The two mirrors that are taped together are a great tool for choosing fabrics for a stack and whack quilt. The angle can be changed to see how many segments in a block.   It also reveals fabrics that might be a poor choice.  My original plan was to use the bird fabric but as you can see with the large areas of spruce green background there would be some blocks that were lacking in interest and probably very few blocks with whole birds unless I fussy cut and then I would have needed a lot more yardage. So I bought the coordinating flower fabric because the motifs were closer together.
The dragon fly eyes will repeat a motif in a side by side setting or turn it a little for an on point setting but they do not reflect the design like a kaleidoscope.  The red is a child's toy with six sided facets in the lens, the dark one has high quality glass with four sided facets.  The brass spy glass has a clear marble in the other end,  it miniaturizes the designs into hexagon repeats.  They are all fun to look through.  Sometimes I'm so easily amused.  --Ann--

Morning strut

 The beautiful feathers of our state bird always take my breath away.  He always looks so proper with his white collar. I usually see him walking on the other side of the fence. --Ann--

journals

 It was warm and sunny here today the snow is melting. The robins are back, the silly birds were here 2 weeks ago but today it seems real that they are back and spring might not be far behind. There have been dozens of robins in the backyard today.

  It was warm enough to use the spray adhesive outside and cover some composition books.  All you need are composition books or plain journals, spray adhesive and decorative paper, I'm using old calender pages. Trim paper to about 1/2 inch larger than book on 3 sides. Spray the paper and let adhesive set for a minute or two, I overlap the edge with the black spine covering. Then trim off excess paper. And you have a pretty journal for planning your blog posts or your big book of lists. My thoughts are always more profound going into a beautiful journal and its not so expensive that I am afraid to use it.

 Those silly birds, what do the eat this time of year? here!??!  No strawberries that's for sure. --Ann--

Birds in my backyard

I had to look twice when I saw the bird with the red breast, it didn't quite look like a robin and oh my gosh it had the most beautiful blue jacket. I had never seen a bluebird before I didn't think they came this far west. So of course I grabbed the camera, I bought a new camera last week a Fujifilm HS 25 EXR and am learning how to use it.  More new material to cram into my head. Sometimes I wish I could delete things from my head so I don't confuse the new stuff with the old stuff. The top 2 pics were taken through the window, I'm amazed that the dandelions are identifiable and can you see the goldfinch at 11:00 in the second pic and 10:00 in the 3rd pic? The bluebird didn't stay long after I went outside but the pictures are better.

-- Ann --

On the Wall

 I made this little birdhouse quilt over ten years ago. It was a Thimbleberries pattern, I still love the fabrics I chose. I mitered (sewed the Y seam) instead of using all the HST used in the pattern for the roofs and base of the birdhouse. The morning glories and leaves are button hole stitched, there is a button in the center of each flower attached with embroidery floss, the 4 hole buttons are stitched in a square. I remember how sore my fingers were from pulling a large needle with floss through the quilt.
A red winged blackbird, killdeer and killdeer and pheasant tracks in the mud. The killdeer had a nest close by because they were not happy that I was near. The killdeer chicks look just like the adults only small. It must be that birds that nest on the ground have chicks that as soon as they are dry are fuzzy and cute and can walk or run as opposed to the birds that nest high up and have homely babies.
Another book I found in the elementary school library when I was there last week was The Boy Who Drew Birds a story about John James Audubon, written by Jacqueline Davis and illustrated by Melissa Sweet. Audubon was fascinated by birds from when he was a small boy in France. He came to America in the early 1800's when he was 18 years old. He would sit in the woods and sketch and watch until the birds thought he was part of the forest. He tied a thread to a birds leg hoping to find out if birds return to the same nest every spring. The bird picked the thread loose so he tried a silver thread, the bird couldn't pick it off so the next spring the bird with the silver thread returned to the same area. The scientific theories of where birds go in the winter was hilarious. The story and illustrations are delightful.

-- Ann --