My Insanity Quilt

Well, I am down to binding my Insanity Quilt. It is made from one Jelly Roll, one and a half mini Charm Packs, the borders are from a Layer Cake of all different polka dotted fabrics, and the back and the binding are pink and white polka dot fabric. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to how the strips of the Jelly Roll are sewn together with the solids in between, so I think of the front as the insane part of life and the back as the sane part.I couldn’t call it my Crazy Quilt, so I opted for my Insanity Quilt. It is very colorful and soft, but I tend to lean toward the more traditional patterns for my pieces. I will repost when the binding is finished being hand sewn, and it is washed and fluffy.

This post is linked with WiP Wednesday over at Lee’s blog, Freshly Pieced.

Gardens of Many Colors

This post is linked with:

Floral Friday Fotos

Today’s Flowers

Spring Skies and Shadows

I have posted pictures of our Kerrs Creek Baptist Church, but they have been taken in the winter and not from this perspective. Today the sky was magical. The creek is carrying lots of water because we have had lots of rain. More coming tonight.

This post is linked with:

Skywatch Friday

Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Inspired Sunday

Northside Gas

When Bud and I were coming home from a mountain/woods race two months ago, we stopped at this crossroads country store near Bedford, VA. Bud needed coffee badly. They did NOT have any coffee, but the signs were great. The man told him he only made coffee early in the morning, and we were mid-afternnoon.I really like the way the red stood out.

This post is linked with Lesley’s Signs2.

Blue Jay Invasion

This is the first year we have been inundated by Blue Jays. Good Golly Miss Molly.....do these guys make bombing raids of my yard! They eat any bird seed I put out, and they appear to have scared off my lovely Gold Finches. Any ideas? They are beautiful, but they can certainly be one big pain in the neck. Here’s hoping they get tired of this spot and fly away to another. I remember one dive bombing my mother when I was a little girl in Florida, ad it was awful. Trust me,I am staying a safe distance.

This post is linked with:

Wild Bird Wednesday

Bird D'Pot

Hiding between Fence Posts

 I was out taking one of my “flat land” walks while in Richmond last week. My trusty little Canon Point and Shoot always accompanies me in hopes I will spot something pretty. If I had not sneezed from all the pollen, I would have missed this beauty hidden away in some fencing. It was so delicate and pretty dressed up in lavender.

"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul 

and sings the tune without music."

~Emily Dickenson

This post is linked with:

Our World Tuesday
Macro Monday 2

NF Blo-Ma

Today’s Flowers

Good Fences

Shadows in Town and on the Trail

Eloise flipping her hair like little girls love to do.

 Buddy running one of his races. Picture compliments of Mountain Junkies 

of Roanoke. They sponsor many of the runs Bud likes so much, and they allow us any of their photos free of charge. They are just the BEST and take the BEST pictures during their races!

This post is linked with:

Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Poor Little Ralph

Meet Ralph. He has been living up in our attic and walls and making all kinds of disturbing noises at night.  Lately, Buddy noticed some of our plants had been used for a diner meal by some unknown animal. He came up with an idea for protection: the grill, two rise trays removed from the grill, plexiglass, some beaded board and the propane tank. Only something small would be able to break the barrier. Well, one did and nibbled off the tops of two of his little flowers. Well, that did it, and of I went to Lowes for a friendly trap that you bait with food, and when the animal gets in it and the door slams shut, you have pick up the cage and release him far, far away.Well, we got him and it oh, so quiet now. Bud calls it a Wood Rat. He’s so cute with his little pink eyes. By the time Bud got him up in the woods of North Mt., he was scared to death. Finally, he tilted the cage and Ralph scampered off into the woods. The house is certainly quite these days :-)

I am not sure which bird this is, but he surely was enjoying the food left at the entrance/exit from a part of the Appalachian Trail. Please let me know what it is. While I was waiting for my two hikers to return from their 10 day hike (I shuttle hikers to and from the trail), I spotted this hungry guy. He would get the food into his mouth and then fly off with it. I did not ever see him actually eating the food in front of me, and I was not able to get a frontal shot.

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Camera Critters

Saturday's Critters

Our Hummers Have Returned

It was an exciting day yesterday when I got these photos. I haven’t been at home much in the last six weeks because one of my children has not been well and I have been helping out around their house...one of those things grandmothers do so well. Every year I fret and stew that the hummingbirds will bypass us and not return, but my faith is still there. I was sitting out on our front porch looking this way and that when the missing hummers decided to come in for din-din. Somehow, I managed to get the lens on the correct setting and captured these pictures. Hope you enjoy them. It tickles me to death to get captures like these, and it makes me happy to get up a post these days. Just, please bear with me on the commenting on all of your wonderful pictures. Soon, I hope things will get back to normal, I will be at home more, and I will have time to spend on the computer. Happy Birding.

I just had to try a bit of texture.

This post is linked with:
Wild Bird Wednesday
Bird D’Pot
I Heart Macro
Reconnect with Nature

Mother’s Day Bikers in Richmond

Richmond’s  20 Year Mother’s Day Bicycle Tradition

This morning I saw lots of police motorcycles with blinking headlights roaring down Brook Road here in Richmond, VA. It was then that all the racer bikers started pedaling at a rapid pace in front of me. What a thrill to hear them yelling Happy Mother’s Day to me. It was such a festive a smile provoking activity. My Eloise and her pal, Georgia, yelled “Great Job...Keep on Pedaling” back at them. Here are a few of the pictures I managed to take with the old Point and Shoot.

Shadow Shot Sunday 2