Sunday, April 14, 2013

Here and There

Hello my dear friends.  I'm going to be all over the place here, so hold on. 

I have always accepted comments from anyone since I do comment moderation.  However, I'm getting very frustrated here of late with someone attempting to comment anonymously and it is very obviously spam.  I've marked it as spam, I've just deleted them as they come in and yet it continues.  I don't want to change my settings to block legitimate readers from commenting but if this doesn't end I may be left with no other choice.
Previously there have been a few instances where someone did not want to post a name and commented anonymously.  I allowed those because the content told me who they were from.  So be forewarned that henceforth I will not publish any anonymous comments.  

Being spring time, that means strawberries are ripe.  My hubby would be appalled at the thought of eating anything but my homemade jam.  How in the world did I ever  wind up creating that monster?   Anyway, 27 pints of jam were made and now he's a happy boy. 
Strawberry Jam 
He's already wondering about the blueberries.  He eats those EVERY day on his breakfast cereal.

My squirrel population has increased since the neighbors behind me moved away.  There's no one there now to feed the squirrels --  uh, the birds -- so they've simply decamped to my yard.  They can be a pest for sure, but I've rearranged feeders so that they can't bother them so much and are reduced to ground feeding, which is fine.  They help the doves clean up the leavings from the other birds on the feeders. 
Five furry friends 

We've also had a ton of birds visiting our yard this spring.  The chipping sparrows are still here, as are goldfinches.  I'm surprised that goldfinches sticking around this long, but I'm sure they'll be out of here any day now. 
The normal backyard birds are busy picking nesting sites and defending territories.   They include Carolina wrens, blue jays, cardinals, chickadees, doves, titmice, mockingbirds and brown thrashers.  Oh, we also have bluebirds.  And who knows what else stops by on any given day.

My poor yard has been neglected for years but  I decided it was time to get started on it.  We called on the muscles of our lawn/yard guy last fall to remove these really overgrown plants. 
Overgrown monsters 
We wanted lower growing plants that would not hide the 4 foot hydrangea that's behind that sago! 
All planted

I got all the plants in the afternoon before we got some really good rain, so they should be settled nicely.  With the warm temperatures, they should be happy.  We'll see how they look in a week. 

The quilt top for my granddaughter's quilt is finished and now needs to be sandwiched and quilted.  That is my least favorite thing to do. I guess that's because I'm still intimidated by machine quilting.  But it must be done and I need to just suck it up and get on with it!! 
Under construction

Y'all take care.  







10 comments:

  1. Can't wait to see the finished quilt. Isn't it funny how we plant things so they can grow & then find they are blocking something that we like better? It used to be azaleas that were overgrown in our yard.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, your new garden is going to be beautiful. Hydrangeas are my favorite!

    Your jam looks amazing! I made strawberry jam once, wrote about it on the blog, but it was a bit of a disaster. I had a terrible allergic reaction to picking the strawberries and things all went a bit downhill from there. The jam was delicious though. Perhaps I'll make my kids do all the picking this year and I'll just do the cooking.

    ~FringeGirl

    ReplyDelete
  3. You have been busy!

    I know what you mean about comments. I had some that got caught as spam, so I was able to delete, then I've had some from my sister that get marked and held as spam until I release them. Crazy.

    I love that you get so much bird activity. I don't know if its because I'm in a subdivision, but I don't see that big variety. Of course it would probably help if I put seeds out for them. :)

    I too am working on a small quilt, and I'm about 2/3 through quilting. I don't have a skill level for FAQ-ing, so it's pretty much straight lines. At least it will be done.

    Have a good week!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I get that spam too and just have to make sure I delete it. It is a pain. I hope you will post some photos of the finished quilt!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I hate basting quilts more than anything. Ugh. And I usually hand-quilt because I don't like machine quilting/wrestling....but if you put on some good music, that helps to inspire yourself to move along with the quilting. Turn it up loud and go to town!!

    I usually like the squirrels, but one of them dug up my crocus bulbs and ate them. Ugh. And to think I have a feeder full of nuts for them!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Well, we still have winter here! Six inches new snow and more coming! I know what you mean about anonymous...I'm not a fan either. Lovely photos from you today!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Rats! So I guess I have to start signing in from now on. ;) LOL You know it's not me. :) At least you hope it isn't.

    When DH and I married and I moved to his home, he had a sago palm in the backyard that looked like a tree! At least it was in the corner with nothing behind it. When the highline wire tree people were cutting tree limbs, DH cautioned them about the sago - they wouldn't cut anything that might fall on top of it. As impressive as it looked - I hated the sticky prickly thing though.

    That's going to be a pretty quilt - great colors! I'm hand quilting one now that will be MINE ALL MINE! LOL But for the kids, I machine quilt. Just get to it.

    Oh - I'm salivating for the strawberry preserves. They were my dad's favorites.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm not going to say anything about the squirrels, no, really!

    You ~have~ been a busy girl, the garden looks great. Have you considered a Trailcam to catch stills and movies of your garden visitors? I'm currently researching them and SpyPoint seems to get good reviews.

    Comments - I have mine set to 'Registered User' and as yet haven't had to turn on moderation. Of course, I may just have jinxed myself!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Garden re-creating, jam making, quilt creating, photograph taking, Oh My!
    WHERE do you get so much energy!?? lol Garden looks great (I too love hydrangeas - just a few years back put in a climbing hydrangea alongside the barn - it seems quite happy there). Jam, oh yum! Beautiful colors on the quilt, she's going to cherish it. And as always I so enjoy your photos.....

    Squirrels - harump. I just say somewhere that a fellow gardener installed a battery operated device that goes over a bird feeder and is weight activated, so when the squirrel climbs down the lead to the feeder and puts his weight on the cap it fings him off, lol. I see if I can remember where I saw it mentioned and send you the link. I'm more pestered by chipmunks (dastardly little diggers, lol)

    As for spam - what a headache - lately I get a lot comment wise that at a glance seems legit but always has a link to some product for sale... Like you I hate to complicate comments (I love them!) but sure do see how it can/may be a necessity for you to tighten up comment process. For myself I'll work with whatever is best for you :-)

    Hugs
    Issy

    ReplyDelete
  10. this post kind of made me.... tired. LOL

    So how many hours in the day DO YOU get? I think I must have stood in the wrong line when they handed out hours...

    ReplyDelete