Last week I showed you my Thanksgiving cactus, and it continued to put out more blooms. Several more golden yellow ones appeared, along with many more pink and red.

These flowers are just so interesting in their forms. Here’s a look at the underside.

I do marvel at the intensity of the colors.

Near the cactus, the amaryllis put up a new leaf. It should have gone dormant by now, but I think it will do so soon.

It turned chilly this week, and it was a good time to finish off the latest book. I had mixed feelings about this first one. Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen – On one hand, it was a deceptive story, where the heroine who seems to be meek and easily duped, turns into a mastermind about halfway through the novel. We discover she is spinning a tale of lies to the detective investigating her, and her accomplice is also not what she seems. On the other hand, I did not like how it seemed to glorify counterfeiting and criminal activity without any remorse on the part of the protagonists. I found the writing off-putting in its stereotypes. It might be one that others would like, but I am ambivalent as to whether or not to recommend.

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel – Interesting sci-fi story with a time travel theme, as a man from the 25th century is sent back in time to investigate an anomaly in time occurring over three different moments in different centuries. More than just a story, the book explores themes of isolation and connection between individuals amid the isolation of moon colonies or a pandemic, the constraints of an Edwardian society or a lonely farm life of the future. How are the anomalies connected? Which leads to the question, what is real? And what makes a paradox? This is an easy read with certain lines that will stay with you for some time after.

Watching the bird feeder this week to begin my Feeder Watch counts, this Red Bellied Woodpecker was a frequent visitor.

I was able to count his mate as well, as there was a moment when I saw the two of them together. Her head is more grey, with just touches of red. You don’t enter the gender of the birds, only the number. But you have to see them together to count as two, as many bird species have no distinct gender markings.

Then a fun surprise, a robin was hopping around the base of the feeder, and posed for the camera.

These guys travel in flocks, and there were dozens of them! They were hopping around the meadow en masse. There are at least a dozen in this photo.

They were in the trees too. I took a bunch of photos, and did several counts using a grid technique to estimate how many there were. I reported 48 in the flock, but there could have been even more hiding in the upper branches of the trees.

Later, I spotted a house finch at the feeder. I know there are more of these, but I could only report one on this day’s count.

There was a Quilt of Valor ceremony yesterday, and I had the honor of presenting three of the eight quilts awarded to these veterans. They were Vietnam and WWII vets, and we held the ceremony at our local library. It was very well attended, with lots of family and friends honoring the service of these brave men, along with some family of our presenters. The veterans honored were David Fox. Marvin Huchzermeier, Noe McHone, Jr., Gerald Moran, Jack Sutton, Alan Bruce, Dennis Taylor, and R.J. Del Vecchio. That is not the order they are shown here. I pieced and quilted the quilt for Mr McHone seated on the left, and I quilted the one for Mr Sutton seated next to him. It is always a privilege to participate in a QOV ceremony.

I got quite a bit of sewing done this past week, and will share all that with you soon. I finished the Christmas Moose quilt, and made good progress on the wearable art ensemble. I’ll have a bit of sewing time Monday and Tuesday, then Wednesday will be a cooking prep day for the big turkey day feast and nibbles, breakfast and dessert. The prep cook day is as much fun for me as the holiday.

What are your plans for this week?

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