And Away We Go

Mere days after returning from the Jekyll Island birding trip I headed off to Houston for the International Quilt Festival for the first time.  That's one of the holy grail type events for quilters world over.  My friend and I stayed at the Hotel Icon in downtown Houston.  It is an old bank converted to a hotel and only blocks from Minute Maid Field where the last game of the world series took place the night we arrived.  

I had my first experience of using Uber to get from IAH to the hotel and it was a good experience.  So was the return trip.  Both vehicles were nice and clean and the drivers were very careful. 

As any quilter knows, the Houston show is a humongous vendor mall with a quilt show attached!  Not really, but it does seem that way at times.  We started our visit by heading to the vendors and spent hours working our way up one aisle and down the other, contributing to the economy as we went.  It is amazing to see so many quilting tools and supplies in one place.  It's also a good way to see new products and  how they are used.  As we headed out for the day, we stopped at the parcel desk and had them pack up and ship a box home for us.  Next day we were considerably more restrained and simply took those purchases back with us to the hotel.  Of course, I had stuffed another bag into my suitcase "just in case", you know.  It did come in handy when we were packing up to come home.  I wound up with some of my friend's clothing in the extra space in my suitcase and we split our purchases between our carry on bags.  We began our viewing of the quilts that day as well and returned on Saturday to spend the day looking at quilts.  I truly did enjoy the trip but its one of those things that once done doesn't appeal to me much any more.  We'll see. 

First Place -- Alphabet quilt & quilter

There was an exhibit on endangered species that I adored.  

One of the major displays was Sapphire meaning all things blue.  There were dozens of quilts in blue and white from tiny to huge. 

This pig quilt was totally fascinating due to all the beads and other embellishments that truly make this quilt what it is.  

One of my favorite moments came when we visited the  Material Obsessions booth and met Australian designer Wendy Williams.  I love her patterns and have several.  I'm actually working on one of them right now.  What a treat to see the designers themselves in the booth interacting with the customers rather than someone hired to do it for them.  Wendy, Kathy Doughty and John Doughty were a refreshing treat.  

Needless to say, we walked our legs off every day and returned to the hotel totally beat.  Thankfully our hotel shuttle picked us up and delivered us right back to the hotel door whenever we wanted them.  The next order of business after delivering our packages to our room was a tall glass of wine.  I found and enjoyed a cabernet sauvignon which I believe was called Stonybrook.  I'm still on the trail trying to track it down sufficiently that I can have a local beverage supply house order it for me.  I plan to call the hotel bar and ask since the admin offices haven't responded to my email inquiry.  

Enough for now.  There's more to be shared  soon.   Y'all take care. 

Spring is Trying to Arrive

I can't believe this weather.  One week its above 70 degrees and the next it's 50 degrees.  I'm hauling my deck plants in and out of the house still in order to avoid frost damage.  Sheesh! 

From last summer

The goldfinches are donning their breeding plumage, at least some of them are.  I've had a lot of them all winter long and they all seem to have stuck around.   There's a pair of Eastern Towhees that appear to be about to nest in the area, too.  The Eastern Phoebes are working on a nest right now. 

Had a great trip to Florida for hubby to play in a bridge tournament and for me to spend time with my quilty friends.  We had our own mini retreat for a couple of days.  It was fabulous.

View from the coffee porch

Little guys trying to not be blown away 

I've been making some progress in my quilting studio but nothing to show you for it just yet.   Hopefully soon I'll have some pictures for you. 

Meanwhile, hope all of you are handling pollen season well.

Y'all take care

There have been feathers and flowers in my life

I've been so remiss about posting.  I've certainly enjoyed everyone else's blogging but I've been missing in action. 

I did make my annual trip to the south Texas coast during the spring bird migration.  It took a while longer to get there because we drove through rain for about 90% of the trip.   I think we had thunderstorms every night of the week we were there and our house was rockin' and rollin'.  Since Hurricane Ike, all houses rebuilt on the Bolivar Peninsula are raised on pilings.    Days included some rain but we were able to be out and about most of the time.

Scissor-tail flycatcher

I did all the driving on this trip as we were on my vehicle, although my buddy Larry would have helped out had I asked.   The three of us have birded together so much that we all know how to move along or linger so that we're all happy.  We did trek through a lot of mud and puddles on some days.  My hiking shoes weren't the waterproof ones so my feet got wet.  I always wear wool socks with those shoes anyway so my feet didn't get cold.

Because I was driving and the drippy woods, I didn't take many pictures. 

Purple Gallinule 

Here on the homefront, I arranged for a local nursery to put in a new flower bed and a new raised bed.  Took for-ev-er to get it all done. 

New perennial bed newly planted

One month later

Of course, it looks differently now.  All in all, I'm pleased with it.  I thought there would be less weeds but I'm finding that we have to crawl up that hill every so often to pull grass or weeds.  Not fun, at least to me. 

The new raised bed at the end of the house is still a work in progress.  I have a few plants waiting to go in here and it'll need mulch once that's done.  

New raised bed

I can see this bed from my sewing room downstairs.  That was a primary reason for having it put in, so that I would be able to see flowers from there.  Although, I can see the other perennial bed through the side window.  I have a bird feeder out there and some days there are so many birds flitting around it looks like yellow snow.  Goldfinches.  And lots of other things too. 

Hope everybody has been well and is having a good summer, even with the weird weather all around. 

Y'all take care. 

And here she is.........at last.

Hey, everybody. 

I've been fussing about my landscaping the last few week.  There are things I want done and the folks I've called are s-l-o-o-o-o-ow in getting back to me.  Finally, the nursery guy came today and started on the new raised bed I want.  

Please forgive the pictures.  It was dusk when I took these. 

I'm also going to have creeping phlox put on this bank near the mailbox. 

This'll serve as my before shot.  The hostas there along the wall are coming up nicely.  They were gorgeous last year and I'm hoping they'll be the same this year. 

I had a hard time holding off so long, but over the weekend I finally broke down and planted my garden.  A whole three tomato plants!!! 

They're in a narrow bed right beside where my husband parks his car but they get full sun there. 

We're seeing more buds and some leaves but we're still waiting for the big burst. 

Winter view 

I noticed tonight that the azaleas have buds and will be bursting out in a few days.  There are a few rogue clumps of creeping phlox around the yard and they're looking good. 

I've been sewing a bit but nothing I can show you at the moment.  I've been slow getting back in the groove.  The month of April is a very busy one for me and I'm in and out of town the whole time.  Poor hubby has to stay home.

I'll be doing fun stuff the next while and I'll try my best to take lots of pictures so I can share them with you. 

Y'all take care. 

More Maui

I fell in love with the island of Maui when we were there.  Can't really explain why I like it so much, but I do.  We stayed in a lovely little free standing cottage just about a block and a half from the beach.   We could actually sit on the lanai out back and see the ocean in the distance.  We spent a lot of time out there looking at the birds and whale watching. 

High stress living

You could walk to the beach easily if you didn't want to drag along your chairs and stuff.  As it was, we drove down and parked in a PUBLIC parking lot next to a PUBLIC beach park.  What a surprise that was.   The other lovely surprise was there were trees along the beach and beachwalk.  If you wanted sun you had it.  If you wanted shade, you had that too.  Couldn't ask for better. 

I sat in the shade most of the time and watched the whales.  Never a dull moment for me. 

We took a day to drive the Road to Hana.  The actual distance is something like 60 miles but it took us more than four hours to drive it.  We stopped frequently along the way and due to the curves, we could only travel at maybe 20-25 mph most of the way.  

While there were breathtaking sights along the way as these photos attest, there were also long stretches when you saw only the curves of the road and the dense jungle like foliage on each side.

We did stop for fresh banana bread at one place and it was still warm.  I think that was a highlight of the road trip.  Now that we've made this trek, I don't think it is something I'd repeat.    We left our cottage at 7:30 a.m. and we got back home around 5 p.m.  

We couldn't go to Maui and not take a whale watching trip.  We booked an outing with the Pacific Whale Foundation on a rigid bottomed raft.  The raft held a maximum of 31 people and we were down near water level for the trip.   There were humpback whales everywhere!!  The strait between the islands of Maui, Lanai and Molokai is a primary breeding and calving location for humpbacks.  Thousands of them come there every winter.  In the summer they travel back to Alaska to feed.  They do not feed at all while in the Hawaiian waters.  

Coming back into Lahaina Harbor 

This was our second trip to Hawaii and I loved it.  The trip itself is a real bummer due to the length of it, though.   If you've never been, I'd highly recommend saving the pennies and going there at least once in your life. 

Y'all take care. 

Sun and Surf

I'm back!! 

We were fortunate to spend a couple of weeks in Hawaii and missed the whole winter storm affliction for our area!  We've had a very mild winter, actually, and it was merely a fluke that we were gone when the only bad weather of the winter came to town. 

Instead, we spend a lot of time in the sunshine.  It sure felt funny to put on sandals and capris instead of jeans and sweatshirts.   But, after a day or two it felt just right. 

Hubby in the surf

The first week, we were on the big island of Hawaii and stayed in a condo.  It was nice enough but it did not have air conditioning.  Since it faced due west and the daily temperatures were in the high 80's, it got hot in there every afternoon.  Thankfully, it did cool off at night and we slept with the windows and sliders open every night.  Loved that. 

We had wonderful birds come right to the edge of our patio and I added a couple to my life list. 

Saffron Finch

These guys are truly this bright and there were lots of them around.  I also saw Java Sparrows but could not get a picture of them.    In addition to these two, I saw Pacific Golden Plovers on several occasions. 

Pacific Golden Plover

I also saw Gray Francolins but, again, no pictures.  That made four life birds for me on this trip.

I'll be back with more.   Y'all take care. 

Feathered Friends

Happy New Year, dear friends. 

I've been watching all kinds of little birds busily fluttering around the feeders this morning.  I think they are stocking up ahead of the bitter cold that is expected to hit us tonight and the next couple of days.    This is my first experience with dark eyed juncos and pine siskins at my feeders.  White breasted nuthatches, too. 

 Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to show you but believe me when I say that its a joy to watch them.   I'm sticking some in here trying to give you something warm to imagine during this winter. 

Cedar Waxwings 

I'm supposed to go birding at Lake Chatuge on Saturday morning but we'll see.  There IS a limit as to when I'll venture out in cold weather.  We're having wonderfully sunny weather, so that helps tremendously during the day.  Temps drop like a rock at night, though. 

On top of Diamondhead

Y'all take care.  

New Digs

Hello dear blogger pals.  It has been a whirlwind, let me tell you. 

From June 25 to July 26, we went under contract on a new house, negotiated the sale of our old house, closed on the purchase of the new place, packed up our 15 years of accumulation and MOVED 450 miles.

Needless to say, this has consumed all our time and energy. 

Somehow, the pile of boxes doesn't look so big in this picture.  Maybe that's because we were busy unpacking the ones in the kitchen at the time. 

On Friday we finally got all the boxes out of the living room and got the furniture arranged.  My great niece and her family were stopping in for a short visit yesterday, so it was a great incentive to get it done.  

I know that as time goes by I will be rearranging things all over the house.  I haven't even begun the process of putting the downstairs half of the house in order.  

My stepdaughter and her husband (who helped us move) started the repainting project down there but just didn't have time to finish it before they had to leave.  Hubby will be finishing it up this week. 

When the company was here, I snared the two young men to move some of the furniture around downstairs and give me a head start when I finally get to the unpacking down there. 

I'm sitting on my front porch right now listening to the raindrops dripping from the many trees nearby.  The clouds are forming, changing and disappearing over the mountains in a never ending dance.  Try as I might, I haven't gotten a good shot of the view.   Yet. 

cloud/fog layer in the distance

There are tons of ruby-throated hummingbirds coming to the feeders.  The other small birds are around but haven't quite gotten used to the feeders yet.  The prior owners left in October for the winter and due to circumstances, never came back, so the birds have to learn the routine again.

I have longed to live with hardwood trees, rolling hills and four seasons for nearly twenty years.  Even when we built the house in Florida, it was a stopgap measure until a later date  Then, when the agreed upon date came and went, health issues for hubby cropped up and delayed the move for a few more years.  Finally, it was just time to do it or forever relinquish that dream.  I couldn't give it up, so here we are.  

I sure hope all of you are having a wonderful summer.

Y'all take care