Friday, February 1, 2019

Other January Happenings!

There was an unusual visitor to Uvalde Texas this winter. A Rufous-back Robin. Usually seen in CA. and AZ in the winter months. It is native to Mexico. With Tilly doing better we took a few days and drove to Ulvade. It is a little south west of San Antonio. Unfortunately Galen could only get his picture looking into the morning sun. But he got to see it and it is a new life bird for him.


It was a beautiful spot along the Nueces River.  I can imagine the people who live on that particular dirt road are wondering why there is so much traffic!


But when there is an unusual sighting of a bird you are never alone!!! There was a couple from Fl who happened to be on a birding trip as well as a couple from Kansas.





While we were a way we had someone redo our deck. The Texas sun is brutal and the previous stain and sealer was in bad shape. So now it is stained and not sealed. Will be much easier to stain again in a couple of years.

That's it for January 2019!





What happened to January?

Here is February 1, 2019! Not sure how that happened! A lot of January was spent dealing with Tilly who had pneumonia. Never knew they could get it, but have discovered it is fairly common in dogs.Weekly visits to the vet for x-rays and lots of pills. Fortunately she is not as bad as Tiki when it comes to pills, but she wasn't happy about them either! About the beginning of the 3rd week she wasn't coughing near as much and was slowly returning to being Tilly!

By that point in time I felt like I could go upstairs and get back to sewing. I didn't before as I would have had to block off the steps to keep her downstairs. She likes to be with me and I didn't want her to overexert herself.

I had these blocks made in December but had not put them into a top. Got that done and it is back from my quilter Kerry.




I found a fat quarter pack of batiks and decided to use the pattern that came with it. The pattern has you make 18 blocks so there are 2 left over. However I am going to dig through my batiks and make 2 more so the quilt top will not be square.


Made 3 of these table runners to use for Chinese New Year. Fun fabrics! they are now all finished!


I did 2 with free motion quilting and one stitch in the ditch. 


Last on the sewing front I managed 4 of the last 5 blocks for the Kaffe Block of the month. The 5th is a little different.


So my block count for the month is 37. Better than I thought since I didn't get sewing until the middles of the January!


Thursday, January 10, 2019

Life at the Stewart household!

Never knew dogs could get pneumonia. But Tilly is recovering from it. Vet appointment last Friday as she was not sounding good and certainly not herself. Those of you who know her, she is usually full of life.  Xrays and blood work pneumonia! She has been on antibiotics now and has finally turned the corner. Tomorrow is a follow up.

We have been spending our time with her, or at least on the first floor. Therefore no sewing for me but we did get the downstairs back to normal! Christmas has been put away for another year. It was time but things always look so bare for a few days!

Hoping that soon I can start working on the upstairs again once she is sounding better. She has her 12th birthday on Valentine's Day.

On a brighter note Tiki had a good yearly check up on Monday! The bright spot of the week!


Wednesday, January 2, 2019

New Year's Day plus 1!

It has been a little while since I posted. Early December was my last entry!

December was a busy month, getting ready for the holidays, trying to get some sewing in and then we took off between Christmas and New Years. We went to Rockport for a few days hunting the Whooping Cranes and other migratory birds.

Galen left for 8 days 10-18. He and Greg Lasley took off for the Texas Panhandle, into Oklahoma for a few miles and covered a lot of territory in New Mexico searching for birds. Somewhere along the Texas/Oklahoma border is Galen's cell phone. First order of business when he got home. Get a new phone.

A few pictures of the inside ready for Christmas. My Snowmen go on the fireplace mantel




Our tree. Every year I say I need to make a new tree skirt. This one is probably 45 years old from  McCalls pattern


Decided this year to put a piece I bought in Thailand on the dining room table. We rarely eat there anyway!



My Santas go on the top of a cabinet in the living room


And there is the Penn State Tree on the left and the Texas Capital ornament and state & national parks tree on the right. My Mother's Nativity set on the table


Now to sewing! These blocks are not sewn together yet and will be changing the layout




My November Kaffe blocks

So my total block count for December is 40! If i figured right 661 for the year! Not as good as last year but as happy with it!

And here are 2 whooping Cranes. They are in this field every year.