Tiny turtle, quilts, and strange lyrics...

tiny Box Turtle

Found this little fella in our backyard the other day. He's one of the smallest Box Turtles we've seen and we see quite a few. They come to feed on the feral cat food in both the front and back yards. Most are 2-3 times this one's size. (Of course they must be small at some point, but we've just never seen them??) We figured a lot may be eaten by the raccoons and other wild critters by the creek. I wanted to take him in and keep him safe, but DH said to let him be as he made it this far.

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I have been working on my crazy scrap pandemic quilt. Just finished the 2 borders. Now I need to decide on a backing so I can put it all together and start quilting.

scrap quilt

And then I've also finished another jungle theme quilt... made with strips of fabric. I haven't decided on the borders for this one yet.

jungle quilt

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Going to mention something bizarre here. I woke up this morning with the lyrics to a song going through my head. Don't know why, but thinking maybe my subconscious is more concerned about the DIVISION in our country than I realize.  The lyrics were:

"America, America, God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with BROTHERHOOD

from sea to shining sea."

Isn't that the strangest thing?

I wrote this yesterday, but didn't post it. Now it's Friday morning and we just got back from running an errand. Don't have anything interesting to add, so I guess I'll close for now. Hope you all have a fun-filled safe healthy weekend. Thanks so much for taking the time to read my scribbles. 

BTW, I spoke with my daughter  (who has yet not taken the Covid vaccine) about my concern (a mother worries). She explained how her doctor doesn't recommend she take the vaccine due to her Hashimoto disorder. She is more fearful of the vaccine and what it might do than Covid. And I can understand that. But she is careful, wears a mask, and takes all the necessary precautions (... but still I worry).

 

Hugs (virtual),

Rian

a few unrelated things...

Tux sitting in sunlit window

Today's post is totally random... just a few pics taken recently that are unrelated. This one at the top I shot of Tux finding a little place in the sun while I worked on the computer.

box turtle on lawn

This one DH took of one of the larger box turtles walking across the lawn this morning.

Night Blooming Cereus

And this pic DH's brother sent us from Houston. His Night Bloomer actually had 17 -20 of these beauties blooming at the same time. This is my very favorite plant! We used to have one that bloomed (never that many at once)... and the aroma is heavenly.  

Even the cats would gather round it when it opened and released it's distinctive fragrance . It's especially wonderful because the plant itself is not that attractive. Most bloom only once a year, at night... and don't last very long. If you've never actually witnessed one of these bloom, it's amazing... (there are some time-lapse photography on google if interested). 

That's about it. Weather is gorgeous (sunny and 67 F), bought 2 new kitty beds (on sale for $6.99) for outside cats (since the weather will be getting cold soon), and made 2 rum cakes and a batch of whiskey balls to send to my son for his birthday next week!  So, yes, I'm feeling better...

Have a wonderful rest of the week!

(Oh, a funny story - although Ghost may not think it was funny.  Yesterday I sat on Ghost (poor baby). She is a dark gray and our sofa is a dark blue. Well, she's taken to sitting in my spot lately - and I walked into the den with my coffee without paying attention and sat! At first I thought I'd sat on one of the sofa pillows until she wiggled free. Poor baby, I apologized profusely and she is such a good cat that she doesn't hold a grudge (Tux does). Anyway, I gave up my spot to her... and she didn't hesitate to re-take it.)

This is a picture of Ghost when she was young...
 and sitting in the window next to our Night Blooming Cereus...

Hugs,

Rian

B. W. O.

                                                 

Saw this on someones site recently and thought it pretty cute. Most of you probably know what it means, but I didn't.  For those of you who may be clueless (like myself) , it means "blogging without obligation" and I got it here.  I didn't know how to copy the whole message, so I did it my way and linked it.  Anyway, I thought it an original idea... kind of a waiver saying "I'll blog when and if feel like it!"

Today is a quiet Monday. I won't have many of them in the Fall when Pottery takes over again, so am trying to enjoy them now.  I did a little more 'clearing out' of my computer room... just in case grand daughter decides to come spend some time with us.  She usually does for a week or so each summer, but this summer I have had some health probs that interfered.  But it may still happen.  We have a guest room upstairs, but she prefers to stay in her mom's old room which is adjacent to ours and is now my computer/study (it does have a daybed in it). Unfortunately it is also used as a 'store it all' throughout the year... so it gets a bit cluttered.  In some places there are attics or basements that accommodate this problem, but here we don't have basements and the attics are too friggin hot to even attempt putting much up there. So here I sit with a Santa Claus and old wooden sign saying "Merry Christmas!" on the side of my desk... not to mention boxes of files and old papers that need going through. Oh well, such is life.

This afternoon DH and I plan to visit the town of McKinney.  It's only 15- 20 minutes from us, but has a quaint little town square with shops and eating places.  His brother and wife are coming in a few weeks to visit and we thought we'd take them to a restaurant that I went to with friends a while back.  DH wasn't with us, so I thought we'd go today and have some pie and coffee... and let him check it out.  We need to take the back roads as the highway is being worked on and a real pain to navigate at times.

This is one of our male box turtles that come by to eat the cat chow we feed the ferals (they should call it 'cat, turtle, raccoon, & possum' chow). I marked his shell with a bit of nail polish to distinguish him from some of the others that live in our yard. He's a nice size, but not as large as some of the females. He also likes strawberries, figs, and apples (the figs and apples grow in our yard, the strawberries we get at Central Market and share with him on occasion). We live on a creek and the box turtles and red sliders seem to be abundant... (we also keep our area as organic as possible - no insecticides).

Happy 4th 2012!



Happy 4th of July!

Sitting here drinking my sweet tea... neighborhood parade just went by... and parade music is still ringing in my ears.  Everyone has their flags out.  This picture is an old one from a previous 4th.  We no longer have that flag pole.  It was taken down and never replaced when we had the wood painted.  But we did have 2 smaller flags out.  Guess we need to get around to replacing that pole.

Parade music reminds me of Mardi Gras at home (in New Orleans). I was never a big fan of the parades, but loved the music.  It made you feel happy... and carefree.  Unfortunately I've never liked crowds... and believe me, it gets crowded ! 

If I had to think of what I miss most not living at home (besides family, I mean), it would be the food.  I do love red beans and rice, po-boys, gumbo, and good seafood... like fried catfish and boiled crabs (I especially love soft shell crabs).  But we try to get our 'fix' when we go down for a visit. 

It should be a quiet day.  We don't have anything planned.  The kids may come over, but may not.  We never know.  I plan to bake a chocolate pie later this afternoon... just in case.  Besides, DH and I love dark chocolate cream pie!

Oh, just a tidbit of info here: Grand daughter called this morning at 7 am (we were still asleep) to tell us the exciting news...  the box turtle we gave her a few weeks ago just laid eggs in its pen!  So hopefully (with a lot of luck and nothing weird happening) we'll have baby turtles in about 50 weeks (I think?).

Again - HAPPY 4TH!