Lackluster Day

Good morning, my friends. Today will be a more productive day. I got plenty of sleep last night, and even slept in until nearly 7:00 this morning. That's unusual for this early riser. When I got home from getting my haircut yesterday, I went to work finishing off the binding for Mr. MacGregor's Garden. And that makes a finish. It's washed and packaged up and ready to be on its way to Dominic.

Here's how it looks from the back. Aside from being a quilt to honor the Easter Bunny and Peter Rabbit, it'll remind him to eat his vegetables.

We're into the kind of weather when we can get everything in a single day. Before I left the house, snow was falling, although it wasn't sticking. It rained while I was out. I'm pretty sure we got some hail later in the day. But for a sparkling hour or so, we had sunshine. I went out to fill the birdfeeders, and I took my friends with me. They were in search of some of that tall fat-bladed grass. Every cat knows that's the best kind. Smitty found a little patch near the cherry trees.

Sadie preferred this patch closer to the blueberries.

I could hear a woodpecker pecking furiously at one of our trees. Scanning the woods, I spotted his red and white head. It was a pileated woodpecker pecking a very deep hole in one of our trees.

His head moved so fast, there was no way I could get an in-focus picture. He paused at times, and that was my best chance of capturing him.

You can see how far he's reaching into that hole with his long beak. I hope he's making a meal of those dastardly annoying boxelder beetles. 

Eventually, I took a little stroll around the house, beckoning the kitties to follow, which they did.

There's still nothing open in our yard, but a few things are showing their petals. I expect the star magnolia will be the first thing to bloom.

In my Facebook memories today, this next photo came up from two years ago when it first opened. It's interesting to me how different things are from year to year.

The rhododendrons are still in tight buds, but they'll be opening within the next few weeks.

If I walk down to the driveway we share with our neighbors, an elevation change of maybe 50 feet, the daffodils are blooming there. Ours are still in buds, even though they get the same amount of sunshine.

My money's on them to be the first flowers to open up in our yard.

Okay, so I needed a nap then, but it was nice to take advantage of the sunshine for a little while. I know the kitties enjoyed the opportunity to get outside. Mike was at the dentist, and so the house was quiet. I felt better when I woke up.

The only machine sewing I did yesterday was to make the six Broken Dishes blocks.

Today I'll be making five Churn Dash blocks, and then I'll have them finished and ready to be sewn into borders for Calendula Patterdrip's Cottage. I imagine I'll get to work finishing that off today. On the other hand, there's still another Tiny House to build, and so I'll let my conscience by my guide. Should I work on a finish? Or should I work on frustration? It's a hard choice, as you might imagine. 

Okay, well, maybe the answers will come to me as I sit and take the first stitches on my newest embroidery piece. I'm calling this piece "Humble Beauty." It has some different stitches, and so it should be fun to stitch. As I'm looking at this, I'm thinking I might even do some bullion stitches. We'll see how brave I am when I reach those spots.

Okay, and so that's where I'm headed next. It's going to be a wonderful Wednesday, don't you think? Let's just say so, even if we don't believe it.