The birds have been giving choral performances every morning and most of the day now that spring is here. The bluebird has decided this is a great perch and sits here often enough for me to get his picture. That branch may fall off the tree soon, as it appears to be dead, but the rest of the tree is still thriving. It is covered in lichen.
On the ground, Gracie has not been by very often. I think the local red tail hawk has been hanging around. I saw it swoop through the yard a few times last week, so Gracie needs to stay hidden.
While we were out of town, this Carolina Wren decided to begin his annual assault on the veranda. I really thought he wouldn’t try to build here this year because we went all of April without seeing him. But we came back to find two nests, both in flower pots. I had put up a container high on a nail to hopefully get him to choose that instead of my plants, but of course, he ignored it. Thankfully, it appears the female has rejected both of them as there are no eggs. For those not familiar with Carolina Wrens, the male will build several nests for the female to choose from. He is a quick builder, and can construct several nests in a day.
The bluebird has been busy, and it may be that we have hatchlings.
I had given up on the Lady Slippers, as I could not find the leaves for the little plants before now. I would check regularly, as I cleaned out some of the dead leaves and detritus last fall, and I was afraid that would upset the balance of soil and bacteria they need to grow. As we were leaving for our last trip, I noticed the flowers. We stopped for a moment to get some photos.
I often say that the fairies have touched the ground here. Lady Slippers cannot be cultivated, grow wild in forest areas, and it is very rare to have them in a garden.
I have two this year, and I hope that they will spread and give more in the coming years.
Along the edge of the forest at our driveway, the mountain laurel is in full bloom. Lovely small white flowers bloom in clusters, with red in the center. These along with the honeysuckle give the air a sweet fragrance. This photo is from a while ago, but they look like this in bright sunshine.
We had to go see my mother in law a couple of weeks ago, and we have begun to clear out some things from her apartment that she just doesn’t need or use. This quilt was among those things. I made it for her a few years ago, and she just never used it. It was in a closet most of the time. She would get it out when we would visit, and lay it at the bottom of her bed, but I am pretty sure it would get put away again.
It is a churn dash pattern with three borders, quilted with a pantograph, binding finished by hand. It is a twin size at 54-inches x 77-inches. I washed it to be sure it was free of dust, then pressed it. The fabrics are soft and cuddly.
The back is a bird toile-style print in green and cream. I do not need it, so l am offering it for sale. Asking $100 plus shipping. Let me know if you are interested.
Dinner earlier this week was a sushi-lover’s delight. Our friends got this beautiful platter to share. Even if you don’t do sushi, you have to admit the presentation is wonderful.
My dinner was the two rolls on the right of this plate. My Sweet Babboo will only eat sushi made with cooked ingredients, so his Boston Roll on the left was shrimp and avocado, wrapped in soy paper instead of the seaweed sheets called nori.
Friday was more prep for the show next week. Our guild area has made a bunch of items for the Quilt Shoppe, and the committee got together to be sure we had everything priced, inventoried, and ready to go.
I have one last task to finish before tomorrow, and that is to be sure all my labels are covered for the judging. The quilts have been laying flat on the guest bed for over a month now, to keep them from creasing too much. Turn in day is tomorrow. Then I’ll be back at the venue on Wednesday for set up, Thursday for the live broadcast and Quilt Shoppe turn in and set up, Friday and Saturday for the show days and tallying viewer’s choice ballots along with working my shifts, and then clean up Saturday evening. I plan to collapse next Sunday.
What is on your agenda for this week?
From My Carolina Home 
We have a carolina wren who braves the cold & stays all winter. He’s always building nests in the wreath on the door, silly fellow. My old fashioned garden is in full bloom; violets, lily of the valley, forget me nots – grandma flowers LOL. I start set up for our quilt show on Wednesday too. I agreed to put my bog coat in the fashion show this year so I made another yesterday; one for the show & one to wear at the show. It’s going to be a busy week.
Good morning Carole! I love seeing the Lady Slippers and that quilt is beautiful!
Carole, I, too, have had 2 quilts laid out on my guest bed for a while now so they won’t be wrinkled. I’m not entering my amaryllis, yet now I’m wishing I had. Medical appointments are on my calendar until Friday when I’ll be working a shift at the show. On Saturday, I’ll be there working several shifts. Next Sunday is a me day!
I need to get some weed killer together to get rid of the poison ivy at the back of our yard. I’ve been paying the price this past week for not getting rid of it earlier. I’d also like to get my herbs planted and some pots filled with flowers. Then I want to sew, sew, sew! Lol! Have a great weekend!
PS I’ve been loving our bluebirds this spring too! This is a first for us. I hope they stick around.
cooked only for me! Spring has sprung all looks beautiful. Some people think quilts are gifts to make sure they don’t get ruined and don’t use – I’m not sure why that is.
I always love seeing the variety of birds you get, Carole! We’ve had a bunch of visitors to our yard and feeders this week, too – cedar waxwings, pine siskins, and a western tanager. Beautiful birds! Your week definitely sounds busy with the quilt show and sale. Mine is quieter, but I do have my book club tomorrow, and I always look forward to that!
Love seeng the photos of all the “wild life” they are so adorable! Had Mother’s Day celebration yesterday at a local Japanese restaurant – I might not eat for a week! Everything was wonderful…… I’m starting a tradition – on Mother’s Day instead of the kids giving me something – they TAKE something. This year was a photo album. This way I should have a house cleaned out in about…..40 years! HA Thanks!
I downloaded the Merlin app two weeks ago and one day last week had it recording for about 30 minutes. It identified 17 birds during that time, which amazed me. Now I didn’t actually see most of those birds, but there were some that I didn’t even realize were around here. A few days earlier it heard an Eastern Bluebird which I haven’t seen this year yet. So intriguing. Now if I could only see most of them. I don’t do bird feeders because of the squirrels, deer and chipmunks.
Putting a rubber snake in your flower pot will sometimes deter birds from building nests,
You’ve been busy! That sushi looks terrific. I love it and haven’t had any for a bit. I love seeing your pile of quilts for the show. You’ve got busy times in store! My week (so far) has a cataract consultation, PT and a birthday dinner for a friend. I think Rick is going north to open the cottage. I have a load of things for him to take up! I haven’t seen my wren this year. But our squirrels are plentiful and I think you may have seen my post on Mother Goose’s new family! There’s always plenty to see! Happy week.
sushi is off my cardiac diet but the shrimp rolls look good….oh and by the way, made the milk street chicken skillet dish….it was deeelish! definitely in my regular repertoire now!
It’s nice that your MIL thought enough of you to get the quilt out so you know she appreciated it even if she didn’t use it. I made a quilt from my SIL and I’ve never seen it again! But she’s very serious about her decorating and, I admit, my quilt doesn’t go. She’s homebound so her home needs to be exactly as she likes it. Now I make things for her grandkids instead and that works out.
Beautiful flowers and a sushi dinner that looks delightful. I am hoping to get some good sewing done this week. More back to normal here, although there is plenty to unpack and put away!
I love all your wildlife photos. The lady slippers are so pretty. My daughter gets several in her wooded lot/yard.I hope you have a wonderful quilt show week. Pace yourself, don’t forget to take care of YOU in the midst of it all. Good luck on your entries too.
Thank you for posting your lady slipper. I lived over 40 years on Cape Cod and had them in the areas around our house that were left natural, along with mayflowers. Both liked to hide, so sometimes when I was very busy I’d forget to go look for them and have to wait another year! Now, in Florida we have much different flowers. But I do miss my lilac and forsythia most.
I just finished 12 patriotic table toppers for our church dining room using a pattern of yours that I found several years ago. I love using this pattern! I backed the toppers with Christmas fabric so they can be used for more than one season. Thanks for sharing it with us! [image: 20240514_124819.jpg][image: 49584.jpeg]
Hi Diane,
Thanks so much! Which pattern was it? The blog doesn’t show photos on comments (so I haven’t seen them), but I’d love for you to post them in our facebook group.
Carole
I found it! The Christmas Hexagonal table topper from Dec. 2014. 😁
That is my number one downloaded pattern, after being on my blog and several other websites. It looks great in just about any seasonal colors.
Your churn dash quilt is lovely. It is a shame your mother-in-law didn’t use it! I’ve had a busy week so far: unpacking from a scrapbooking retreat, alterations on granddaughters prom dress, delivery of said dress. I have a few minor details to add, fix, etc on the scrapbook project from last weekend’s retreat, then that project will be done. I’ll finish out the week working on that, then will switch gears to quilting. I have two quilts to finish, plus a variety of smaller quick projects. I have a goal to be ahead of the stashbuster’s count when we check in again in June. Good luck at the quilt show, and have FUN!
Carole,
So nice to meet you in person at the show. We drove 4 hours to the show and we had such fun. We especially enjoyed the book/magazine sale. We had an interesting conversation with a lovely lady who reminisced about the old days/old ways of quilting – it was priceless. Kudos to your guild for their efforts and beautiful quilts. Thank you!
Jax