Feline Friday - 5/28/21

I've taken on a side hustle! I suppose it's the least I can do for eating the neighbor cat's food.

I'm now inspecting the neighbor's flower gardens, especially the blackberry bushes!!!! 

Momma says I have to tell you the following as a full disclosure kind of thing:

• This picture was taken a month ago. Not only are the plants all much bigger but please don't confuse it with today's weather which is rain and 38F. Yes, a "blue day" at the end of May! Brrrrr.
• I like to rub my face against anything that's mine and I often come home with short lacerations to my nose. Momma thinks it might be from rubbing against the spiky berry bushes. I ain't admitting to nothing!

Happy Memorial Day!!

Wednesday Weather Report #206 - 4/28/21

I think I heard some thunder this afternoon = now it's officially spring :)

Hopefully I remembered to unplug my sewing machine as I had planned to do last night...

April 21 - 27, 2021
34 - 34 - 52 - 61 - 50 - 47 - 69 F

The plant in the tiny greenhouse is a String of Turtles. It's a succulent where, when properly hydrated, each petal is puffed up to resemble a turtle shell. The "flowers" are really white/green spikes at the end of each string and mine appears to be in full "bloom". It's meant to be a hanging plant but it always seemed to dry out too quickly (I nearly killed it last year) so it now sits in the greenhouse on a tray of water/rocks and it's happy as can be.

Good Feline Friday - 4/10/20

Hello my furry friends!! And a Good Friday to you!!!

It's always a good Friday for a nap!

However, I  might suggest you don't let your Momma snap a photo for evidence. Especially when your feets are all stretched out.

I’m not so sure it’s ever a good Friday for more of this:

And that neighbor mowed their lawn just two days ago!

Momma had to put together her own Easter Basket this year - two purple grocery store violets and a bag of "purple rain" jelly beans. I think the Bunny would approve, altho it appears to be lacking in kitty treats...

 Do you think she will share?

Happy Passover!
Happy Friday!
Happy Caturday!
Happy Easter!

Everything Day!!!

It's hard to know where to start today - so many things to share - and there are lots of pictures so I'll just make a photo roll to share everything. Enjoy!!

Several of the trees in the village where I work have been
yarn bombed. They are all adorable but this snowman shows the snow
storm that arrived yesterday, just in time for my birthday. Woot!

"My" highway guys took me out for breakfast this morning!

There was even cake! Thankfully it was only 1 candle when
this is one of the bigger "9" birthdays.

But wait - later there was more cake from another coworker!

Have you ever seen a Birthday cactus?
This also blossomed for Halloween

It's been a while since I posted anything for HeLP but I have been
making progress on my Underground Rail Road blocks for hexie
club. This is birds in the air. 

In this basket is nearly 40 shoofly blocks waiting to be
pressed and trimmed with my bloc loc ruler. In the back
you can see 2 very important items for any quilting space.
Which 2 would you pick?

And what fun is time in the quilt lab if the Quality Control Officer is not
there sleeping on the job in his very own quilt lined plastic bin?

And last but not least is my favorite but injured feline. Due to fur matting and Z not wanting me to investigate, I'm not sure what caused the initial injury but he has now stopped limping and the matted fur is gone, leaving just a scab. The funny thing is the app my local vet uses sent Z a birthday wish this week. They used the first time he came to the office as a birthdate so in  reality, it's the anniversary of his first visit for an abscess. Boys will be boys, huh?!

And now it's your turn to share...do you have a furry friend to share for Feliine Friday? Or maybe you have a hexie project to share for HeLP?

Have an excellent weekend! It's sunny and cold here, the ground is covered in snow, my little old man is on the mend and I can't ask for much more...

Feline Friday - 11/29/19

This is why Momma leaves a space on the end of her plant table!!

Woulda been a better picture if Momma had washed my window...or if the sun was actually shining.

Violet & the Prince

Yesterday's violet was such a hit, I thought I would share another today.

This violet lives at my work desk and could be my favorite color/pattern. It had a bit of a rough patch this summer, hence the yellow leaves on the outside but I'll get them trimmed once the flowers fade. This one needs repotting as it has a big sucker plant on the side but, while I can make them bloom like gang busters, my violets always struggle after I repot them. It's quite frustrating so I would love to hear any hints you have.

I have 2 Christmas Cacti in blossom if anyone wants to see those. They really should be called Halloween/Christmas/Valentines Cacti as they blossom 2 to 3 times a year.

I also wanted to share Zorro's Halloween costume for this year. It's hard to see but the crown has 3 large diamonds that sparkle in the light and the cape is purple velvet. In my dreams, I know.

Z tolerates the crown as long as it's over one ear instead of between his ears. I always knew he was a little off kilter. He also doesn't mind the cape as it merely velcros around his neck and he enjoys (?) collars but the cape is long enough to slide around to his chest. Mom suggested velcro in his fur to attach to the velvet but I don't think it would go over well. The costume clearly needs some adjustments. He's worn it a couple times as practice for tonight but he has never held still long enough for a decent photo. Sorry.

Sadly, Halloween is Z's least favorite day of the entire year. It's not due to any costume drama but because it's the only day/night out of 365 that I absolutely will not allow him outside. Free roaming (partly) black cats and Halloween night shenanigans are not a good combination. I'm sure I'll be forgiven eventually...but it could take a while.

Happy Halloween from Z and Me!

Wednesday Weather Report #128 - 10/30/19

Not the world's best photo but I wanted to share my new violet...

You can see the leaves are still in the yard. I had time to rake last night but wasn't sure the village would be picking up leaves today/tomorrow and with the wind storm (45-60 mph) coming tomorrow night I didn't want them blown back into my yard to be raked again. See - I'm just being logical. That and it's supposedly good for the environment not to rake.

You can also see little paw prints on the glass. Generally I leave this end of the table open so that His Highness can sit here to gaze out upon his kingdom when the weather prevents him going out in purrson. Don't worry - the violet was quickly moved back to it's end of the table for it's own personal protection.

October 23-29, 2019
54 - 59 - 53 - 54 - 58 - 60 - 67 F

Just in case you were wondering...Friday's high is supposed to be 41F and that means were are leaning heavily for a "blue" day - a new color for this fall. That also means that October started 3 colors warmer than last year and November will start 1 color colder than last year. There is just no rhyme or reason to the weather...

Rhodies and Hexies

First I thought I would share the rhodies as they are particularly full and vibrant this year. I've heard that they don't transplant well so when the foundation finally gets fixed these are going to go bye bye.

And then I thought I would share just how close I am to "finishing" Mr Serious!!!

Finished is kind of a vague term. 

Is it finished when I baste the last hexie and whipstitch it to one of the half moons I've been making to create columns? Is it finished when all the columns are complete (lots of half moons to stitch into columns, as seen above)? Is it finished when this quadrant is complete? Is it finished when the half plus 2 quarters become one piece?

As you will recall from me saying it over and over and over - I wanted to complete the top in 9 months. It was a goal that I worked towards but never expected to meet so this was left pretty vague as well because is it a strict 270 days (30/month), which is this Thursday or by the calendar which is next Tuesday (9/9 to 6/9)???

Considering that I only have ***THIRTY SEVEN*** hexies left to go, I will:

(a) Ignore everything else tonight to get as many hexies stitched as possible. It could take solid 3 hours to get all 37 stitched. Unless I fall asleep first from all the extra stitching over the weekend...

(b) Spend my free time (and there isn't much this week) to get the half moons into columns and hopefully even get this quadrant together by Thursday.

(c) Cry, when I didn't get the thing truly done and dusted as one completed top by Tuesday due to an overextended schedule this week into next.

(d) Rejoice when I bend the definitions of finished and 9 months to make it sound like I did it in time!

Woohoo!!

Feline Friday - 4/12/19

On Saturday Momma took me to the Vet in the P.T.U. to make sure I'm a healthy old man. Eghads!

I didn't much like the smelly office so I snuggled in to Momma's arm like never before. The Vet was nice but he poked and prodded a lot.

In the end he said I was "normal". Momma laughed a lot but my report has all but one of the boxes checked as normal. I even lost half a pound!

On the drive home I didn't have to ride in the P.T.U. I enjoyed exploring the car and watching things go by but I have to say the best view was from Momma's lap, which is hard cuz she sits so close to the steering wheel.

On Sunday Momma did some yard work. I had my own questions as to HER normalcy cuz the day started in the low 40s but she kept at it for many hours until we got into the high 60s. When she couldn't stand up straight any more she cried Uncle and went inside.

Of course I snoopervised every move she made whether from the back porch hidden among  the rhodies...

Or from the top of her dirty car.

She did a good job if I say so myself.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Turkey & Mystery Clue #1

I own 5 Christmas cactuses (cacti?) between home and work. Don't ask! Each one is a different color and they all blossom 2 to 3 times per year. We've had our first blossoming but this one is my favorite:

We went to my brother's house for Thanksgiving. There was just enough space amongst all the serving dishes for our plates and drinks!

Tom, Rex, Ron, Denise, Tyler, Kristie, Ryan

And what does one do after supper when the triptophan coma starts to kick in?
Spoon with your favorite dog of course!!

Scooby, Shaggy, Ryan

Friday was all about the new Quiltville Mystery Quilt!! Woohoo for Clue #1. Once again I'll be making abut half of each clue until we get to the big reveal when I see if I need more or less units. Half also equates to "this is close enuf because I have used all the scraps currently available" in that size which is what happened with this clue.

Two of the above are not like the others! Guess I didn't finish quite as many as I thought...I set them aside for now and I'll fix them if I need them.

Clue 1 is done and dusted!!

Linking to the Mystery Monday Linky...

It's the little things...

...that are entertaining me today....

I love the dark bluegray skies of fall against the fall leaves.
These storm clouds were replaced with perfect blue skies in just 15 minutes.

Yesterday I discovered at least 6 blossoms open on my azalea...
the same azalea that was less than dazzling this past spring.

This morning Z and I awoke to graupel (a soft hail, reminds me of Dippin' Dots).
It wasn't there when I got home from a rescue call at 3am so it was a nice surprise.

It's a new color day!!
Welcome Blue!

Mr Serious is cruising right along...
I estimate that I'm now 1/8 done after just 5 weeks.

Thursday Weather Report #51 - 5/10/18

It was a good conference yesterday - the last one for the season. Of course I had my hexies with me, completing 16 jewel hearts, in addition to the 17 completed at the last conference. I still need to make a bazillion more but it was nice to make some progress..

This is the view from my bed. LOL.

The weather has been amazing lately. I can only guess that the delayed spring weather is the reason for my pear tree to finally bloom 100%. I've probably had the tree 10 years and blooms have been spotty at best.

Just Sunday I was noticing the buds starting to form and yet 3 days later it was completely in bloom as are the pear trees lining Main Street. Not great for allergies but it's gorgeous.

An awful 10X photo for your viewing pleasure

And this morning I finally spotted the Baltimore Oriole!!! I've tried for years to get the Orioles to come to my yard and finally gave up a few years ago. After thinking I heard one on Sunday and seeing at least 2 this morning I stopped at the hardware store for an Oriole feeder and I'll get grape jelly on the way home. Please - oh Please - let them still be around when I get the feeder set up!!

80 - 75 - 75 - 71 - 69 - 59 - 69 F

And, finally, the penultimate weather rosette. It's hard to imagine that just a year ago, this project was just a twinkle in my eye and now I have friends around the world joining in. I do hope that some of you will be willing to continue for a second year. Everyone is also welcome to join in at any time.

An InLinkz Link-up

Wednesday Weather Report #18, HeLP, Squishies & Christmas

Did all y'all miss me Sunday? Did you remember there should have been a HeLP post? I remembered way too late and then forgot again and then remembered again yet this is the first I've had time to post all week. I am sooooo ready for the "weekend" to get here...

77 - 73 - 77 - 79 - 81 - 82 - 77F

Squishy from Sharon with scraps for my secret-for-now project

Squishy from Chantal for my hexie fabric stash

Squishy from Julie with scraps for my secret-for-now project

Woohoo!! The top is done and I've opened out all the outside seam allowances.
It will be trimmed straight after I figure out how to quilt it.

This backing matched better in the store but I still kinda like it.
If I don't find anything better at the 2 stores I'll be going to this weekend
or in early October I'll go ahead with this one.

Yipp - my Christmas Cactus is getting ready for an early show.
This plant often blossoms three times a year if I ignore it properly.

Feel free to link your temperature quilt or any hexie project to our linky party today!

An InLinkz Link-up

Wednesday Weather Report, a squishy and flowers!

It's been a red hot week.

Yesterday there was a house fire a few streets from where I work. Those poor fire(wo)men with all their gear on in that bright afternoon sun were just sweating buckets. I'm sure they got tired of me pushing bottles of water and Gatorade at them but they needed it. They did jokingly ask for a portajohn but I couldn't help them with that. LOL. Now if only I had had some sunscreen with me...

Thankfully today is much, much cooler.
Today is an orange day, since you asked. Barely an orange day.

Earlier this week I received a squishy from Denise!!! Every other month we send each other a squishy based on a predetermined theme. This month was cats & birds. We were supposed to send one bird FQ, one cat FQ and either a cat or bird related gift. Neither of us follows the rules explicitly, as you already noticed.

I tried to get the approval of my new cat socks from the resident approver of all things here at Casa Grande but he was more interested in attacking my Sketchers.

And last but not least, I raided my garden this morning! Pink and white peonies, yellow iris and 2 kinds of hosta leaves. My office smells divine!

Linking to Midweek Makers #76.