Denton & Taylor

Denton & Taylor came down from Rexburg Sunday afternoon to visit - We appreciated getting to know Taylor better, and also enjoyed Denton's happy spirit. One of our friends had baked me a birthday cake, so we got to share that with them - Very appropriate, since my birthday was Saturday and Denton's on the 30th. Denton & Taylor are making all kinds of adjustments as they are in their 3rd month of wedded bliss. Being full-time students and learning the ropes of married life keeps them very busy. We were pleased to hear that they have planted a garden. They seem to have their priorities in a very good place. There is joy in seeing young people who have set their feet on a positive path in life.

The Baby Robin Quandry

Our dining table is situated near a patio door that gives us a great view of the back yard and all that lies beyond. As we were eating our Sunday afternoon meal, we were interested to see that a baby robin was running back and forth on the top step just beyond the windows. His cries seemed to tell us that he was a fledgling too soon out of the nest. His baby markings were bright and he appeared to be big enough to be on his own; when he disappeared after a while, we figured that he had found a way to leave and get back to his proper environment.

However, the next morning when I went outside to plant some of the planters on the patio, what did I discover, but the little bird carefully perched on the edge of a pot saucer atop a planter waiting for posies, looking just a little miserable, with colors not quite so bright and eyes a little dull. I thought he was ready to die, so I found Ron and asked him to take care of it. And so he did. Ron, being true to himself, went uptown (5 minutes) to Bob's Mart, which carries everything from cameras, clocks, Boy Scout paraphernalia, kitchen appliances, plumbing supplies, electrical supplies, sewing supplies, gardening supplies, etc. all in one small store, (put in a new watch battery for the cost of the battery), bought a container of worms (night crawlers - fish bait). Now came the fun part. When he got home, the little bird who had looked like it was ready to expire, had disappeared. First job, to find him. He had made it quite a distance - around the corner of the house on the north side, and, plop, into a window well. Ron found a cardboard box of medium size, and proceeded to lower himself into the window well, pick up the bird, place it in the box, and then levitate himself out. The little fellow wasn't too happy about his new home,, and he used up excess energy trying to climb the sides. Now came the challenging part - how to feed the worms to the obviously starving baby robin. Ron tried the fingers technique, holding the giant night crawler between the index finger and the thumb. The beak hopefully opened wide, obliterating any sight of the bird's head and neck, but the worm decided to wriggle itself across the beak, resulting in a failed attempt. Not to be outdone, Ron then decided to break the worm up in smaller pieces (no time for empathy for night crawlers when a baby bird is starving). He managed to get one tiny piece down the hatch, but couldn't hang onto the other pieces long enough. I conceived the idea of using a pair of long tweezers, so I ran up to the sewing room to retrieve my long tweezers, and, viola, it semi worked. Worms are really squirmy, and it is a delicate procedure to hold the worm securely in the tweezers without either mashing it completely and letting the leftovers fall to the ground, or not holding it securely enough and losing it. Somehow, the baby got the idea, and Ron managed to work down about 2/3 of a long night crawler. Then, we looked at each other and decided this was enough nonsense, and laid the box on it's side. By now, we were noticing a male and a female robin beginning to hover around anxiously with worms in beak, making funny little cries. (Where were they when this poor thing obviously fell out of the nest? Off playing around?) So, we backed completely off, waiting for further developments, and thinking this would be taken care of.

NOT SO! I waited a reasonable amount of time, and then went out to the patio again, where, behold, the pestilent nuisance was back - perching on his original perch on the pot saucer that was resting on top of an unplanted pot. Gritting my teeth, I tried to think of a solution. Aha, if the night crawlers were too big, go into the garden, dig up a few of the regular earthly inhabitants, which are much smaller in circumfrence, as well as length, and try the tweezer method to get them down the hatch. After a frustrating few minutes of non-coordination between the opening and closing of the beak, I managed to get half a worm down him. This was too much. Again, I went to find where Ron was toiling, reported my failure, and went to work some place else. Frustration was compete. After a while, we were both in the house, and lo and behold, the bird was gone. Ron said that he threw it out into the middle of the lawn. We watched it as it ran through the grass, flapped his wings a few times, and ran some more. We'd like to think that maybe he had a little sustenance, and so managed to work up enough steam to fly? Maybe his lost parents found him? We do not know the end of the saga, but the lawn got mowed on Tuesday afternoon, and there are no little bird bodies to be found, so we want to hope that he endured his tribulations, and is finding shelter somewhere in all of the trees that surround our home. Do you suppose? Dream on. (By the way, this was only funny in retrospect - we should have gone to the internet and discovered how one treats lost baby birds - I just know this, that he didn't have the bird instinct to find his mother like the little bird in the beloved children's book, "Are You My Mother?")

Is there a moral to this story? Perhaps. Sometimes our fledglings leave the nest too soon and do not have all of the survival methods they need to thrive in this difficult world. Sometimes when sustenance of all kinds is offered them, they can't accept it, and wish to go their own way. Sometimes, they end up in places that are not the best environment for their growth and development, and do not prosper as we would wish. Sometimes the mothers and fathers hover in the background, wishing to aid the offspring, and are unsuccessful at making contact. Somehow, I think that there is much to be learned from this little saga - and we really don't know the end, just as we don't know the end of the story our children and grandchildren will write. Hope springs eternal, and we always hope for the best!

Finally Spring?

At last we have tulips - and daffodils, and grape hyacinths, and plants growing in the flower beds. This has been an unbelievably cold, rainy spring. It reminds us of our western Washington springs, when a sunny sky is a special gift. We had such a gift this morning. I managed to plant the potatoes (late), peas (late), radishes, (also late), and other things such as lettuce, beets, and carrots. Sprinkle around a few marigold seeds, and the other warm weather crops will have to wait. We luxuriated in some blue sky and sunshine this morning, but all was gone by a little after noon, and it's again raining. Maybe there will be a day next week to sneak in the tomato and melon plants, the cucumber, squash and bean seeds. I guess if we were really desperate, we'd go out and plant in the sog and mud, but that does nothing for me right now.

Is Imitation the Sincerest Form of Flattery? - or The New Quilt Cabinet

On May 6th, some quilting friends picked me up and we went to the Home Machine Sewing Quilt Show in Salt Lake. (Perhaps that name is correct, or maybe I just made it up.) Anyway, the show was tremendously inspiring, and we came home with aching feet and wishes to expand our quilting experiences. On the way to Salt Lake, we stopped in at sister Louise's house to see her and avail ourselves of her facilities. I was smitten with a new quilting storage cabinet that she had in her living room, with her quilts neatly stacked and draped to great advantage. In fact, all three of us looked on it with envy. (Big mistake - thou shalt not covet, right?) We entered the big quilt show in south Salt Lake, met another two members of our party, and were overwhelmed at the number of quilts, vendors, etc. After enjoying the first two rows + of quilts, one of our group spotted the vendor who had these cabinets for sale, so we all moved over to a shopping mode. Louise should have been given a commission, because two of us bought the larger models, one bought a smaller one, and two bought coffee tables that were like a glassed-in chest to hold the quilts. Some of the cabinets had leaded glass - I decided to forego that temptation. (Louise's is plain, too, with rounded glass at the top.) The picture above is my first attempt, and, although the village quilt looks charming on the table or wall, there is no way to hang it so that the buildings are right side up. The top picture shows the final setting, although that could quickly change.

Now, thank goodness, I have lessened the number of quilts in piles all over the upstairs bedrooms. There are fewer piles, and are where I can see them. It is convenient to have both a birthday and Mother's Day in the same month.

Mariner's Compass and Bargello Tablerunner

Finally, I learned how to make a Mariner's Compass, using freezer paper, with inspiration from a quilt artist named Judy Mathieson. The flying geese do fly, and the points are pointed. This was so satisfying to sew. It is just the center of the quilt - There is more to come, but this was like a great first step. And, this is the bargello table runner that we began at our quilting retreat up Cub River in April. The original was a Christmas theme; I chose the 4th of July, and some chose spring themes and some autumn. Sometimes constructing a quilt is mind-bending, and for those of us who had never done bargello, this one certainly was. I will post another picture of these two projects when they are completed and quilted. The weather is getting warmer at last, so the neglected yard will get some attention in the next few weeks, so the sewing production will probably slow way down.