Spring?

 It is still a few weeks until spring arrives, but it is so very sunny today that it appears encouraging.  The weather person has indicated rain again for the weekend and at nearly 11:00 this morning now, there is still frost on the shaded areas of my front lawn.  We have the most amazing looking mushroom species here.  This pretty little spotted one is in the backyard and is about 3 inches across. there have been so many other species, but this one is a fairyland type.  (probably poisonous)  I am not educated in Mushroomology.

I guess that we have a lot of critters here also, as we are in a wooded area, but there is an abundance of squirrels and these are grey, not brown like we had at home.  They are noisy and are constantly digging in our lawn.  The Mr. has always been around animals, mostly for hunting, but has relatives with some unusual pets also.  My dad had a pet prairie dog as a pet when he was a child which slept at the foot of his bed under the covers and later after we were grown, he had two in a fenced yard.  He had buried an old small refrigerator for them to use as bedding and fed them and called them "Pete and Repeat".  He also had a black bird as a child.  Someone had split it's tongue and it could talk a little.  Don't judge, and I only heard him tell the story.  My grandmother had some of the first hamsters introduced into the country and I remember that she had them in an enclosure of sorts in her dining room.  As children, we had every critter that my dad could feed, as pets and it taught us a lot of responsibility required to take care of things.  The Mr. had an uncle who had two pet skunks.  Call us rednecks if you wish, but this little guy above has become a frequent visitor on our back deck and is patiently waiting for peanuts. The Mr. puts 4 out in a tree for him to eat and he also buries them in holes in our backyard.  All of our lines are buried and we are aware that they can cause damage, but we haven't heard of any neighbors having had issues with then.  I think they are well fed with lots of pine cones and green veggies. (and peanuts)  There are so many trees and bushes that they don't have to fear much.

I am ready to quilt the Farmer's Wife quilt now and my Quilt of Valor is finished except for the label.
I have a lot of 2 1/2" squares with which I need to do something.  Scrap quilt coming?

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." ~ Anatole France