Ten days of Easter Eggs 04-04-20

The neighborhood children are now looking for Easter egg images in our windows.  And drawing bunnies and Easter eggs on the sidewalk.  This scavenger search will last for about ten days.  Don't know if we need to change the eggs, guess I will just add more as the time goes by. 

Rather a scary bunny with a baby bunny on his head. 

Here is an egg for one of the panes in our front window.  Looks more like a hot air balloon, maybe I need to trim it a bit.  Oh, well, they will know it is supposed to be an egg. 

It is made with fused scraps on printer paper.  Disposable. 

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Checking in with friends 04-03-20

Today the group I belong to in SDiego had a meeting - online with ZOOM.  It was great fun, how wonderful to see my friends again after missing several meetings.  We visited, did Show & Tell, asked and gave advice - just like a regular meeting.  And we were able to meet our dogs and cats - such nice furry babies.  I hope we can do it again next week.  

I showed the unending yellow strip quilt I have been working on as the mood strikes me. 

Yellow Strip quilt - basically a jelly roll quilt only I cut the yellow strips from my fabric library.  The mostly red separators are from a bag of fabric pieces from a lady who cleaned out her sewing supplies.  They were sewn as prairie points and I just ripped out the stitching and evened them up. This is a sort of autumn in New England color scheme.  It is currently 65" long (why didn't I make it 70"?) and 56" wide.  I'll be figuring out some borders..  

All of the quilts I make have a bird in them somewhere.  In this quilt they are on one of the printed fabrics.  Yellow fabric with birds?  How could I not buy it?

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Thursday Thoughts 04-02-20

Here are some treasures that dwell on the bottom of the kitchen utensil drawer.  I don't use any of them any more, but they don't take up much room and I will probably keep them until I die. They are just there. Can you guess what they are?

On the top is a spoon holder that goes on the side of a pot, the spoon fits in the spring looking thing.  On the left are two keys to open flat cans (like sardines) and a bottle opener from Lucky Lager beer which is "age dated", for whatever that is worth.   On the right are tools to get things out of tall, skinny bottles;  a spear for something like olives, a spring loaded fork for removing heavier items like sausages, a spoon from Tupperware, circa 1962. I'm sure there is a "church key" somewhere in the house, maybe in a tackle box.  This is the kind with which I am most familiar (picture from Wikipedia) and I am surprised that they are still available on a lot of sites.   

All this old stuff I just hang onto.  I'm certainly not in the mood to clean out drawers and closets, or the garage.  Doesn't fit with my idea of isolation.  Sewing and reading are better. 

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Wordless Wednesday 04-01-20

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In the neighborhood 03-31-20

Many more people walking, riding bikes, pushing strollers, etc., in our neighborhood.  Last Sunday, as I reported, they had the kids looking for shamrocks in the windows.  I understand the highest count was 50, not bad.  So, this weekend they put up signs to put teddy bears in windows and I did, cutting out a red teddy for the front hall window and putting my handmade bear back up in the front bedroom window.   And this time, people used chalk to put both bears and bear paws on the sidewalk.  Pretty cool.    

Big boy KoKo walking on a bear!

This bear paw is about the same size at the bear. 

Cute KoKo standing on his chair.  

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Looking to the future 03-30-20

Now that we have another month of isolation I am thinking I need to get myself on a schedule.  Of course, we have a daily schedule for KoKo and, therefore, for me.  Out for our walk sometime between 7am and 10am, breakfast, play with Froggy, sometime between 1pm and 2pm out to backyard to piddle and look for dogs in the park behind us, 5pm dinner, 7pm out for our evening walk.  In between we have Froggy on demand and lots of petting, brushing, and massaging.  

Guess I don't really have time to do anything else, eh?  

Today I hauled the step ladder in to change the light bulb over the sink, which I use a lot.  I don't do ladders any more, but I felt more secure on it than on a step stool with nothing much to hold on to.  It worked okay and I was glad I had a new bulb I could put up there.  

I also finished reading "The Pelican Brief" (John Grisham's third book published in 1992) which I had not read before, but I remember the movie very well, it was a great one.  It is interesting to see what changes were made in the plot and I wonder why they were necessary.  One thing that isn't in the book is the chase and explosion in the parking garage.  Those scenes have stayed with me and I am always a little apprehensive when I park in one of those structures.  Of course, the characters in the movie give faces to the characters, even if they do not resemble the descriptions in the book.   I have been borrowing books from my friend Carol's little library structure on the sidewalk in front of her house.  There are half a dozen of these handy libraries around my area, offering a selection of books that you can borrow and return, or replace with a book donation of your own, or just borrow.  In a pinch I could visit them in the middle of the night when I have an attack of insomnia. 

In keeping with everyone's recommendation I talk to someone everyday; today the girl in the window at Starbucks and my friend Liz on the phone.  A pause in the isolationitis. 

Stay well.  Stay home.  Stay in touch.  Love, Del & KoKo

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A Sunday in isolation 03-29-20

I didn't mean to garble "Struggling" on my blog last evening, but maybe it is apropos!  Sorry, I'll try harder.

One morning we drove up to the top of Bastanchury hill to try for snowy mountain pictures again.  All the sky was clear blue, but the mountains were hiding behind their very own bank of clouds.  

The larger mountains were almost completely hidden, but in the very middle of this image the top of Mt. Baldy shows.  Just to the left of the tallest cloud. 

Here is a wider shot with one little stray cloud up above.  The white to the left are the lower mountains without clouds.  

There were only two other occupants in the park. 

This lovely large Raven - about the same size as KoKo. 

He was croaking a regular tune. 

And this barebacked fellow off in the corner of the hedge.  Meditating perhaps, he was facing west, does it matter?

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