Yellow today

 Today's post is about yellow.  I put my hummer feeder out a couple of days ago and within 10 minutes, the little guys had found it and the yellow finches arrived at the feeder out front at the same time. They are such a brilliant yellow.

 Our row exchange was yesterday and this is the quilt I had to work with this month.  The top row was the quilter's row and the rest were added by consecutive quilters with mine at the bottom.

Since the yellow is such a bright yellow in all rows (each row is actually 60 inches approx) I felt that the little finch was a perfect addition to the blog. We had a large group for the exchange yesterday and for lunch and we all are always excited to see what each of the 12 quilters had added to the previous rows.  I have a new series of rows now with which to add my personal touch.  This has been a great group of gals and we have developed a sense of community among the "clan".

Spring?

 These are old pictures I pulled from the computer as I have had "stuff" on my plate this week or so and actually have no other excuse except that I have worked outside mostly.  Those pics later.  Also next Monday is our row exchange and I just finished mine.  Post will come this week.  So above is a small Dresden plate square which is only 6 " from yellow side to side.  Below is a sampling of some of the garden "totems" we have made.  These were made in Cheyenne several years ago, but we are still constructing these for the gardens.  A conversation came up last week about these and so in searching for something to post, I found these.  We have already begun to look for treasures for this year's craft week and my buddy and I went to Laramie last week and discovered a couple of thrift shops.  These and garage sales are the best places to find affordable junk.

As you can see, we use a myriad of pieces...vases, lamp parts, candy dishes, bowls etc.  So if you are in a winter funk....go for it!!!  It may bring spring or even summer to our gardens.

Winter in Wy

 It is hard to believe that two weeks have passed since the last post, but it is also hard to believe that we have had so much snow this past week.  Roads closed for two whole days for the most part and we were headed south to a quilt show and weekend with a friend.  NOT POSSIBLE!  Crazy weather.  It snowed for two days constantly, but the snow was so wet and we need the moisture so maybe next year we will make it.  Above, the quilt made from my scrap stash for the bed.  This is where my furbabies sleep when they nap during the day.  Now the furbaby below is a small breed of the critter which lives mostly under the pine tree out front and munches on the lawn.  He doesn't eat much.

We did make it in to Rawlins Saturday for our health fair results, but the interstate was closed and since we were local, we were allowed to go through to come home.  Our intent was to see a movie but our better judgement told us to come home.  Another movie now playing is The Diviner.  Probably most don't really know what one is today, but I remember my grandmother was a diviner.
I saw her more than once with a forked branch trying to locate water.  I have mentioned it before, but I felt doubt from those I told.  She was born in the late 1800's and before modern methods of locating water for wells, it was common for one to divine for water. Apparently not just anyone had this skill, but from old newspaper clippings and stories retold, my grandmother was a remarkable woman.  I remember my uncles telling me that she knew when she would get a letter from a son who was overseas during WWII and send someone for the mail. Although she was a "lefty" she could do anything equally with both hands. I remember her singing the alphabet back words to me and she was a tiny lady, wearing a size 4 shoe. She died when I was only about 10, but every once in a while I hear something that stirs up an old memory of this wonderful pioneer woman.

Cute and cuddly..NOT!

 This is a side window next to my front door and this critter was taking refuge from the cold and wind one morning this week.  As I came downstairs, I came face to face with this strange looking creature.
Now I have lived most of my life in rural Colorado and Wyoming, but had actually never encountered this large rodent.  It is a pack-rat, or wood rat as they are sometimes called.  This window sits about 3 feet up from the ground and is about 12 inches wide to give you perspective. The Mr., with assistance from the dogs was able to do away with it and it became Magpie food, but this rat could jump.  He or she even jumped into the living room window sill outside before meeting his end.  They are terribly destructive and carry lice, fleas etc.  UGLY!

On the other hand, these are cute and cuddly. Although the little grey guy is not much bigger than Coalette, together they keep the mice away as much as possible.  (Don't think they would be much of a match for the rat though). She catches them and if he can get out to help her, he paws at them and "helps" her keep her prey. Understand that where we live, on 4.5 acres of prairie and sagebrush and near the river, we share our turf with all kinds of nature's critters.  We have bear, elk, moose, antelope and deer as well as the cuter but destructive rabbits, prairie dogs, ground squirrels, weasels, and the uglier badger, mice, rats, moles, and we have osprey, cranes and the bald and golden eagles.  We also have most of the other birds..the doves, robins, swallows, bluebirds, red-winged back bird, chickadees, and the hummers of course.  We just don't choose to live with some like the pack-rat above.  We have not seen another here and have no idea from whence he came, but he did not bring an Easter Basket so....gone, gone, gone.

Today our quilt group meets to exchange our 2nd rows.  It has been so much fun to do these and we all get so many good ideas from each exchange.  Although we have had some sunny days with more of it each day, the wind has blown so much and we are in for another batch of snow later this week, so it will be a good time to huddle up and quilt I think! 

Row by row

 Life gets in the way of things sometimes as it did this past week.  Some events interfered with ours and everything got put on hold, but we are back to the same ol' same ol' stuff again so here goes.
The top row above is the row I added to the quilt.  Fortunately this quilter put fabric in for each of us to use in her quilt if we chose to do so.  Hers is the appliqued dimensional flowers below and the stars were done by her mother who happened to be the quilter who will follow her rows.  I chose the churn dash or monkey wrench as it goes by both names, which is the pattern I put on the first row I received and added the appliqued flowers to carry her theme forward.  There are absolutely no rules in this round robin so each quilter chooses fabric and pattern.

We have had a lot of fun with this and in this small  community, we have an even dozen quilters participating.

So in the news this week, Bankrate has listed the top places and the bottom places to retire and our state came in as the number one top place to retire. This was based on a number of things including cost of living, (housing, gas, taxes), medical, recreation and others.  However, a trade off is snow and for us the isolation.  (if you can't drive, you can't get anywhere from here)  We have been here for almost 45 years and the Mr. has always had his feet firmly planted here, however the lack of public transportation and the fact that our two children are on the west coast has become an issue that as we age, we must consider.  We have wonderful friends and know that we can depend on them now, but they too are aging and have families of their own. Something also to consider for those wishing to settle here.  We are hoping to get to go camping this summer and our proximity to the mountains is wonderful, but we are also hoping to get a little traveling in also.

"Friendship is a union of spirits, a marriage of hearts, and the bond thereof virtue." ~ William Penn

Spring in Wy

 Even though we have switched to DL savings time, and spring is only a few days away, (officially),
my camera tells me...not so!  Last week this is what our prairie looked like with the wind blown snow piled up against the sagebrush and below, these two waiting to go out and face the inevitable. 

After they came in, they settled down for a long winter's nap.  The white dog was asleep in another chair leaving me one to sit in to read.  If I didn't love them so much and if they weren't so spoiled, I would be sacked out on the couch.

This week has been so busy.....on Monday I quilted all day with my buddies, Tuesday I got to go to Laramie and had lunch with a nephew and his wife and their 3 beautiful daughters who were here from Texas.  The middle child is graduating from school and on to college in the fall and they were here to look at schools.  She has gotten accepted at many schools and has made a decision I believe. 
She spent a week with us when we lived in Cheyenne and we are happy that she will be closer next year, but really all three are making their parents proud!!! Then on Wednesday, my quilting partner and I trekked across the mountain again to purchase goodies from the quilt stores and have lunch again. Yesterday my car needed an oil change and a tire fixed...(no lunch out then and probably a good thing) and I hope that today will be a day for some down time.  I haven't had time for any sewing or crafting, so no news is good news perhaps, even if it is dull reading.

  The bluebirds and red winged blackbirds are arriving and the antelope are beginning to come back
 and oh my, the prairie dogs are chattering and those are all signs of spring.  In fact, the Mr. cleaned out the bird boxes yesterday after we saw a female bluebird taking a bath in the birdbath out front. I haven't been out to the flower beds but my friend tells me stuff if peeking through the snow.

"There is no time like Spring, when life's alive in everything." ~ Christina Rosetti

Winter blue(s) sky

 Oh my gosh, am I tired of winter.  Thank goodness for the ability to sew and the friendships of the ladies who live here in Siberia...no I mean Wyo.  However, we do not have it as bad as those back east I guess.  One difference is that we do not live in suburbia or metropolis.  We have no traffic so we do not have to deal with most of the crazies who have to drive in the stuff.  Our freezers are well stocked with food and the sun does shine!!  So above is my portable sewing surface, and converted from a wooden TV tray, it works quite well.  I am so pleased with the results! It moves easily from one machine to another and is perfect for quilt squares.  Thanks goes to my buddy here who donated it to me.  This past Monday was the first exchange of quilt rows.  We all got to see what the next person in line completed from their stash or choice of quilt patterns for our next row.  Then we went to lunch and the first Monday of April, we will again see what the next quilter added to our future quilt!!  We are having fun with this.  I will go and take a picture right now of the quilt rows I received to post at a later date.

 While my daughter is planning her garden, we are shoveling snow and dealing with icy walks and snow boots and hats and gloves if we do venture out on those rare occasions.

Can you see the little face peeking out from beneath my pillows?  Both little boys got haircuts this week (I did not plan to leave them bald in this cold weather, but the weatherman doesn't confer with me). He is staying warm though don't you think?  I have also searched for my black cat, Coalette and found her also snuggled in a bed tucked down under the pillows. It's hard to see a black critter in a dark place.