Drink your tea!

A lot of smiling faces around here!

We've settled into a more "typical" Southern weather pattern - temperatures in the 40s and 50s.  This is perfect hiking weather, so we've been able to get out quite a bit.  Some nice discoveries, like this white-tailed deer jawbone...

...and many signs of spring.  Not only did the Eastern Towhees start singing their spring song this week, I see shoots coming up everywhere. 

I love going to the Botanical Garden this time of year to get ideas for "winter interest" plants, both those with color and those with interesting seed pods.

I've been moving along nicely on indoor projects.  I started a cross stitch weeks ago and have been slowly plugging away at it evenings.  I stitched on a water-soluble grid.

It washes away, leaving only the stitched image.

I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with it...make it into a pillow?  Frame it?  No rush.  I'll fold it away until I figure it out.

I finished my Farm Girl Sampler quilt!  It's hard to take a photo of the whole quilt, but...

Some pictures of the various sections:

I quilted 1" horizontal lines.  Since it's a little less densely quilted than my other quilts, it's wonderfully soft.  I absolutely love it and I'm so glad I went the extra mile to add those 100+ red gingham flying geese around the body of the quilt.  It really makes a difference! 

I've already picked out my next quilt and am just waiting for the fabric to arrive.

Meanwhile, I'm working on other little projects and enjoying the nice weather.  We all are, even though the cats pretend that it's still cold by curling up on quilts and hot water bottles.  They're a little bit spoiled.  :)

Have a great week!

winter wonderland

It got cold!  Frosty windows, frozen ground.

Then, the unbelievable.  We had snow!  Just an inch, but...snow!!

Birds swarmed the feeders...

...and called from tree branches, seemingly impervious to the snow.

Our turkeys came out to play.

They left perfectly-formed arrow tracks in the snow.

Squirrels were out, digging up caches...

...and leaving their marks as well.

Some not-so-wild animals had fun, too!

The snow only lasted a day, but the cold persisted for a little while.  We saw beautiful ice at Lake Conestee this past weekend.

It really reflected the blue of the sky in places.

Air bubbles trapped under the ice!  A rare sight in South Carolina. 

The snow was melted by then, except in a few deep shady places, where heavy frost could also be seen.  I love it!

And, in keeping with the 'snow' theme, I made a simple chocolate loaf cake for a friend passing through town, covered only with a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

It's Smitten Kitchen's Everyday Chocolate Cake and so good...one bowl, no fuss, and lovely velvety texture and deep chocolate flavor.  Perfect for a chilly January day.

Have a great week! 

nine patch and squirrel thatch

I've had great progress on projects this week!  I finished the quilting on my Farm Girl Sampler quilt.  Now all I have to do is bind it, which means adding a tidy red gingham border strip around the edge to cover the raw ends.  Binding strips are sewn on with the sewing machine, folded over the raw edge, and whip-stitched on the back.  I'm waiting for my additional red gingham fabric to arrive.  In the meantime, I started another quilt.  It's made with 1930s reproduction fabric, although some of it looks a lot more modern to me.

These are 2.5" squares that are sewn together in a Nine Patch pattern, which just means stacks of three, like a tic-tac-toe game.  They come together quickly and easily.  I plowed through almost 50 in my free time last week/weekend!

I'm not a fan of pink, so I'm a little apprehensive about the profusion of it in this pattern.  I'm just going to press on, though.  Hopefully the other brighter colors will even it out.  If I continue at this rate, I could possibly have the whole quilt completely pieced within 2 weeks!  I know that the cats will be especially happy.  ;)  They can't get enough quilt time!

Bosewichte in particular loves quilt cuddling.  Whenever I curl up under a quilt to read, he's on my lap in a flash.  He's basically the best cat ever! 

Cuddly cats or no, I don't like to spend too much of my free time indoors, especially during these brief cold periods in South Carolina.  There's a lot going on just within the boundaries of our property!

Lots and lots of deer.

Squirrels are very active right now...

...especially at our feeders.

This is a really busy time for birds, much busier than November and December.  Finches, cardinals, bluebirds, jays, phoebes...they're daily visitors here!

We had several days of rain and even with the weather, birds were constantly flitting from branch to branch.  I'm glad the rain didn't suppress their activities.  I feel the same way about rain.  It's quite a dry climate here, and when it does rain, it tends to be a torrential downpour (or "gully washer," as they say).  I miss long, dark rainy days, so I really enjoyed the two we had.

The squirrels stayed nice and dry in their nests...

...and Clotilde was cozy in our carport, although she napped under the gardenia bushes whenever the sun came out.

I'm looking forward to another week of chilly temperatures and hopefully, a loooong, cool spring.

Have a great week!