Looking out the window one morning this past week, I spotted a deer crossing the driveway. This one is obviously pregnant, so I am looking forward to seeing a little spotted fawn in a few weeks.

Sitting on the veranda one day, I was enjoying the cool mountain air, reading a book while sitting in one of the rocking chairs. I almost missed the wild turkey mom crossing the meadow towards the driveway with 7 baby turkeys. I quickly jumped up to get the camera with a long lens, and waited for her to bring them out of the azaleas. A few minutes later, one little one skittered across the road, with her following. Another baby was under her feet.

Two more came running as she reached the edge of the forest next to the driveway.

Then the last three came running after. So cute. All of them were making tiny little cheeping sounds.

This bird landed on a pole nearby while I still had the camera ready. I have no idea what it is. If you know, put it in the comments.

The female cardinal has been a regular visitor to the bird feeder.

A blue jay pokes around on the ground for seeds.

The lobelia continues to bloom profusely. I just adore this plant.

The pregnant deer came back a few days later, this time with another one. The second one seems younger, and not pregnant.

The bear came back again, shaking the pole with the bird feeder to get it to spill seeds on the ground. This is the third time in a week, so we took the feeder down. The birds are unhappy, but it will stay down for at least 2 weeks. Hopefully, the bear will decide there is no more food here and move on.

The quilt show was Friday and Saturday. In the spirit of not buying fabric, I spent my shopping budget on magazines and buttons. Lately I have been interested in learning new techniques and doing more art style quilts and smaller pieces. I hope these quilting magazines will inspire me.

I got three books on art quilting, too. I looked through these on Saturday, and I will definitely be trying the techniques in Threadplay by Libby Lehman (Amazon link to see the whole synopsis). Art Quilts at Play and the Art Quilt Workbook are both by by Jane Davila and Elin Waterston. All of these are older books, readily available on used book sites.

I have this Stonehenge ombre piece of fabric that looks like pale blue sky with deeper blue mountains. I think doing some quilting to define the mountains and adding some thread painting might be interesting. The idea isn’t fully developed in my mind yet, but it’s a place to start.

This coming week will be light on obligations and meetings, so I am hoping for some quality sewing and crafting time. What are your plans for the week?

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