It's a BOO-tiful morning!

IT'S COOL OUTSIDE!  I felt like pulling a Julie Andrews this morning as I took in deep, chilly breaths.  True, we're supposed to be back in the upper 70s in a few days, but this morning it was in the thirties.  At last, at long last!  The hills are alive!!

The leaves, too!  I'm loving the colors that we're finally, finally starting to see.

Our dogwoods are showing the most change...

...but most trees are just barely tipped in color.

Todd and I were finally able to sit comfortably by the pond and watch the rain.  Yes, it rained (insert another Julie Andrews spin here)!

It's so nice to be outside again, checking out interesting fungus...

...and watching the insects!  Here is a syphid fly, a bee mimic.

Acorns are falling like crazy...maybe even more than last year! 

I'm keeping a very close eye on our camellias.  They've got some beautiful buds...maybe we're within a couple of weeks of full bloom!

Our early bloomers are already popping!

Meanwhile, our cats are falling into their regular cooler-weather rhythm.  Seeking out sunbeams...

...and, when the heat is on, sleeping on the registers under the couch to maximize their comfort.

It's nearly Halloween!  I ordered our cards...

...and baked Oreos.

Our scary movie marathon has already begun!  Hooray!

I have been trying to knit, but it is just killing my hands.  I finally switched back to Portuguese mid-sock, but it's slow going.  I think I should finally have these socks done within 2 weeks.  I've been doing my usual sampler quilt project, trying to complete one block per day.

And, I started a new quilt.  I know, I know.  I have a queen-sized quilt waiting to be sandwiched and quilted, plus this sampler quilt.  But here's how the rabbit hole of quilting goes.  I got an email from a fabric store, indicating that the fabric I bought recently...

...had gone on sale.  Hmmm.  I'd bought a pre-cut lot (half yard, I think) and had no idea what I was going to do with it, but maybe I ought to take advantage of this sale?  What if I needed sashing?  Binding? Quick, pick a quilt design, just to see if I had enough fabric or might need a little more.

This is perfect.   Four fabric patterns per 12 inch block.  I have 20 different fabrics in my pre-cut bundle, which equals out to five different color combinations.  The block is simple enough, and would show off the fabric well.

Maybe I ought to just make one to see how it looks...

Before I knew it, the whole first row was done and I was cutting up the fabric for the second row!  It will be mix-and-match...seven blocks of each color combination of four, plus there's enough leftover fabric from each color combo to create a few random ones.  I didn't intend to start another quilt, but I did, and now I'm alternating one sampler block with one welcome block.  I never did take advantage of that sale, either.  I'll just see how it looks once all the blocks are completed.  I LOVE the peach, navy, and cream color combination, and this fabric has birds, feathers, and flowers.  Love!!  It will be a great winter project. 

Happy Halloween!

Flying creatures and positive features

The monarchs are out in force right now!  With temperatures still in the 80s and the milkweed in full bloom, butterflies are really happy.

Positively giddy!

Here are the milkweed flowers they love, looking like tiny ballerinas.

Halloween is just around the corner, and it certainly felt like orange and black were the colors of the day on our recent hike.  First you have those brightly-colored monarch butterflies...and then, the spiky-backed ladybug nymphs...

...and finally, the milkweed bug, keeping the color theme going strong.

Does yellow and black count?

I also noticed another theme...babies!  Here's a group of eggs that I think belong to the southern stink bug...

...and if you can handle it...a huge spider egg sac!

If you look closely, you can see all the babies!

I think these two are going to be producing some of those babies really soon!

He's not an ostrich, but this anole was pretty sure that we couldn't see him.

We did catch a glimpse of a bolder fellow.

Here's another unseen creature...a slug.  He left a silvery trail on our cobblestones, but I have yet to catch him in the act!

And another cagey fellow - this spittlebug, hiding under his clever protection.

Here at home, I've been doing a little baking.  Spicy pumpkin whoopie pies!  The recipe is in the Sally's Cookie Adventure cookbook and they are the most delicious whoopie pies I've ever had. 

Sugar cookie bars with cinnamon chips and buttercream frosting, also from the same cookbook.

Official Halloween baking begins TOMORROW!

Speaking of Halloween, I just finished a quick quilting project.  I had the idea to make quilted Halloween banner flags to hang up this week.  I used Hocus Pocus fabric from Moda and a pattern from my Farm Girl Vintage book.  The squares were 6.5" x 6.5".

I was just winging the flag design and made several mistakes before deciding to sew banner jags onto the bottoms.  So, they look a bit like little teeth...

...but they sure feel festive!

Another project is a positivity plan I started about a month ago.  I started writing positive sayings on a white board in the kitchen, but they soon devolved into corny jokes, puns, and cartoons.

Some I make up (SNARK-EOLOGIST!!) and some I crib from the internet.  It's so much fun...I think I get a bigger kick out of them than Todd does!  Hopefully I have enough material to keep the white board humerus humorous for at least another month!

Have a great week!

quilting zen and woodchuck den

My Farm Girl Vintage Sampler quilt is coming along nicely!

I'm nearly halfway done.  I organized my scraps into "rainbow order" and the bright, bright, bright is now coming more naturally! 

I'm not sure how I will feel about the finished quilt.  There's a part of me that wants to order a few mixed fabric bundles in the beautiful muted, earthy colors I love from Fig Tree and make another version of this quilt which is more suited to my color preference.  I have enjoyed making this so much, though, that I don't think I'll mind making another. 

I've also been knitting, although not nearly as much, since knitting still hurts my hands.  I'm making a pair of gingham-checkered socks and I've just started the second one.

Another fun project!  I heard about "half birthdays" earlier this year - celebrating the halfway point between your last birthday and your next one.  I definitely don't need a real reason to have a celebration, so I scheduled it on Google Calendar.  When it popped up this weekend for Todd, I had a great idea.  I didn't want to make a whole cake (to be cut in half), and a half cupcake seemed like a bit of a stretch for a celebration.  I decided to take a small-batch chocolate cookie recipe (which made 12 cookies) and press the dough into half of an 8" cake pan.  I made a foil "wall" and used pie weights as a buttress. 

The resulting cookie was a perfect half-cookie cake size.  Livened up with a little almond-tinted frosting and festooned with sprinkles, it made a very cheerful half birthday surprise!

Around the house this week we've had a lot of interesting creatures.  A wheel bug was resting in one of our ferns.  They're pretty aggressive and have a nasty bite (said to be much more painful than a bee sting), but I've found that the general wildlife rule applies:  leave them alone and they'll leave you alone.

Check out that spiky wheel!  Both males and females have them and its general purpose is unknown...perhaps an intimidation tactic?

Can you see that long, pointy rostrum?  They're in the assassin bug family.

I saw some wood ducks a week or so ago, but they're very flighty (no pun intended) and I've been unable to get close.  These ducks, though, don't seem to mind. 

I was gratified to see the growing flock.  Last year, we only had four!

Our little woodchuck has been very active too.

He's got a den under a fallen tree stump in our back yard.

I don't see him very much, but I'm always keeping an eye out!

For weeks, spiders everywhere.  Then, boom!  Nothing.  I did find a nice web in the back yard, where this yellow jacket had just been tidily wrapped up for later consumption.

I couldn't catch the spider, though...he was too fast for me!

Lots of flowers still blooming.

Our orange ginger lilies, which I transplanted around the front of the house, are blooming.  I wouldn't plant them again, though. The flowers are too short-lived and the plants themselves remind me of corn stalks.  While they last, though...

A few random gardenias are still opening up, and the japonica bushes are starting to sprout the funny 'puffballs' that will eventually become bright black berries.

Some leaves are falling...

...but I miss the bold, varied displays of the Midwest.  At least it's a little cooler this week.  Last week we hit 90 degrees again!  I dreamed about a snow storm last night.  I think it's back to winter-scene puzzles for me!

Have a great week!