Life Around here Lately..

Life has been pretty eventful around here lately. I turned another year older at the beginning of the month, and DNephew did, too. We had a sweet little birthday party together - he got to take home the bulk of the haul. But, he turned 2, so it makes sense :)

I didn't manage to get his quilt done for the party. In fact, it's still not done yet, but I am working on it every day. And yesterday I learned that my sewing machine is designed to save my life in the case of a catastrophe! Yay! I replaced a blunt needle when I sat down at the machine yesterday, and apparently I didn't tighten the screw that holds the needle in place well enough. About 2 lines of sewing later, the machine blew up at me - well, that's what it seemed like anyway - because the needle fell out of it's assigned place and the machine made a lot of nasty sounds before I could get my foot of the peddle. So, after I settled myself and the dog down a bit, I started looking things over. Apparently, when something like this happens, the button to disengage the needle arm (you know, you hit this when you're winding bobbins) flicks automatically! Yay Singer! I was so impressed with this little detail and how they saved my life - or at least an eye ;)

So, I replaced that needle to find that the new needle was a dull one to begin with. Ugh. That was enough excitement at the machine for me. Time to go back to my hand work :)

And what have I been working on lately, you might ask? Well, 2 things, actually. One is a new knitted afghan that I've fallen in love with. You can see a pic of it here (it's episode 219 and is the green afghan). It's a challenging pattern for me, being a new knitter and all, but I love it. I can do all the stitches, which is a major hurdle for me, and I'm loving watching the pattern develop. I also love the feel of the knitted fabric. I grew up with crocheted afghans all over the house (Mom is a master crocheter) and this is a very different feel. DH has proclaimed he likes it, too :)

The other project is a hexagon quilt I started about 6 years ago. I had just finished a queen-sized hexagon quilt that was scrappy, (I'm still quilting that one, by the way) and wanted to downsize the size of the hexagons drastically. The first quilt has hexagons that are about 4 inches on a side. This new quilt has hexagons that are 1 inch on a side. I spent months designing the layout of the quilt and have the bottom border done at this point. This is one of those projects that I work on like crazy for a month or so, then don't touch it for a year - which explains why I have only a bottom border done in 6 years. Well, anyway, I've been working on it again and loving it. It's especially good to work on while listening to a book on tape. I'll get pics for you next time I post about it.

The last thing I'm going to talk about today is the new arrival to our yard yesterday. Two of our five cats are indoor/outdoor cats. One is allowed to be this way, the other is an escape artist. So, yesterday they are both outside (it was gorgeous and sunny) and when DH got home from work, we notice Felix is stalking something across the road (he's not allowed across the road), so we start yelling and hollering at him to stop whatever he's doing and get back in the yard. He complies, and we then notice that there is a baby bunny across the street from our house - so cute and so tiny! He wasn't even tall enough to have his ears top the curb. Ok, so all is well, we go inside and proceed with our evening of dinner and TV and knitting ;)

Fast forward to 11:00 and we start to hear this screaming outside. Well, Mookie, the other kitty, is still outside. Guess what she found? The baby bunny was in our backyard and Mookie was playing with it. Luckily, I got out there fast enough to break them up, but that bunny was petrified. Mookie went back inside and the bunny hopped over to the neighbor's yard...but now I have to contend with kitties that want to go outside and can't so we can save a baby bunnies life. Ahhh, life in the city. The things you never expect to see. It reminds me of the possum we saw waddling down the street a couple of weeks ago...

Cicadas!!

Sunday, dear Sis and her family (hubby and nephew) came over for a visit. We spent some time outside and enjoyed the sunshine and cooler temps. When they decided it was time to go, I noticed a large insect on Sis's shirt. It was a live cicada! I've only seen a live one one other time in my life. Thank goodness she isn't queasy about insects! We got him off her and let nephew investigate him a little bit - he wanted to pick it up!

After they left, I went back outside and was chatting with DH when I noticed another cicada! So, I got the first one in the same place and grabbed the camera. 2 in one shot!

I then noticed a shell on the ground beneath the chair I was using to pose the 2 live ones...so I had to get a shot of that as well. What a day :)

And yes, I do think they are terribly ugly, but they're so elusive, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity! I think they were hiding underneath the hosta that's next to this chair - I had just dusted it with something to get rid of the japanese beetles and these guys showed up.

Oh - and a Summer Days update: I have about 11 half leaves left on the last border - almost there!!

Bullfrogs!!!

When I was newly married, my DH and I lived in an apartment that backed onto a pond. This pond was very active with wildlife, with everything from fish to swans. There were lots of mallard ducks there, and occassionally we'd have some Canadian geese decide to stop by, but that always got Gus (the male swan) so upset, he'd spend all day chasing them from one end of the pond to the other until the geese finally decided to leave, with much honking accompanying them! I remember one evening looking out the patio doors to see 2 deer drinking from the pond - it was such a serene sight. Another night, I saw a fox trotting over the frozen pond on his way to the field on the other side (to hunt mice maybe?).

Through all this, there was the constant sound of crickets and bullfrogs in the background. It was a constant sound in the summers and one I came to enjoy very much. Since we moved from our apartment into our house in the middle of a small town 8 years ago, I've missed the sound of those frogs singing me to sleep. Apparently, my sweet DH knew how much I missed them, because one day a couple of weeks ago, I got a call while at work from him, telling me that there was a bullfrog in our back yard!

When I got home, we sat outside for a bit, waiting for the bullfrog to announce himself. It wasn't very long before he did! He was against the cement wall that backs our property, under a lot of weeds, near our woodpile. Well, immediately, Mookie, our outdoor kitty decided to investigate - which caused Pips, our Australian Shepherd dog to wonder what the fuss was about, too. So, DH and I had to play rescue the wildlife and try to find this bullfrog before he got eaten!

After a bit of weeding, DH spied the guy. He was huge!!! When I picked him up, he filled my hand! And he was perfectly content to sit there - even when I let Pips get a sniff of him...maybe he was in shock, I don't know. Well, anyway, DH put a bit of water in a bucket, and I decided to take him down the street to the creek that runs under our road. He sat very contentedly in that bucket until he heard the sound of the water, then he tried to jump out! His second attempt took him 6 feet into the air and landed him about 3 feet from the water's edge. When I stepped up to him, he took one hop, landed directly into the middle of the creek and sat there like he'd been there all day! It was hilarious! I only wish I had remembered to bring my camera.