My Hubster is the greatest!!!

He has a lot of patience.... and he waited and he waited and got pictures of the female pileated woodpecker. We have a pair... both of them were on the feeder but flew off before he could get the picture of both of them... they are very skittish and the slightest sound or quick movement sends them off into the trees.......The females have a smaller crown and don't have the red stripe on their faces..

They seem to show up on cloudy days....never when there's nice sunshine to get a really good picture... lol We also got a picture of one of the small downy woodpeckers too....

Soooooooo I proudly present my gorgeous female pileated woodpecker!!

The Quest for the Pileated Woodpecker

I have a lot of wildlife in my yard. I have deer and racoons and squirrels and a huge assortment of birds including several species of woodpeckers. I have cardnials and blujays and big huge crows, I have blackcapped chickadees, tufted tit mouse, nuthatches, robins, sparrows and an assortment of finches......but back to the woodpeckers.....

I have all of the Indiana species of woodpeckers.......I have the downy and the hairy and the redbelly and the redheaded and most recently the Pileated. Last spring I saw the male and the female on my feeders.......I have two woodpecker feeders on my back deck....... they were just passing thru apparently cuz I didn't see them again until recently.

Two weeks ago the female was on the feeder......she's gorgeous!! Of course the camera wasn't anywhere near where I was but I watched her for over 20minutes..on the feeder..then off to a tree then back to the feeder........the following weekend she was out there again......so I carefully went and grabbed the camera.... as soon as I put it up to take her picture she flew off the feeder. Ok.. no problem... she'll be back. I watched her in the trees for about 20 minutes... she'd fly by the deck and then head to another tree..... I finally gave up.

This past weekend I had the camera in my pocket. I went to the kitchen around the time I normally see her.... there she was... in the trees......... she wouldn't even land on the feeder!

But while waiting for her I did get to take pictures of two fawns wandering in my yard......

I will get her picture.......I will I will........but in the meantime.... maybe I'll just take pictures of the other birds........

It's still January!

It's still January and it's still cold!!! I'll be soooooooo happy when spring finally gets here and things are warm again.

I've been working in my sewing pit....cleaning it up...organizing it a bit... and doing some odds and ends. I finished a backpack for my great nephews birthday... just gotta mail it this weekend... I did 2 tissuebox covers, a santa sack and a wonder wallet as well as cut out 4 blocks for my Block Lottery group. I'll get pictures posted this weekend on the photo site of all the new stuff.

I hope to finish up the Block Lottery Blocks and get those mailed this weekend also

We've added quite a few new members to the 25Weeks of Christmas Group.... We'll take a few more and then cut the membership off again til June so if you are interested... sign up soon.

Since the Colts are out of the superbowl... my next choice is the Steelers... we'll see Sunday how that goes... lol I don't care who they will play.... I just want to see them play! lol

Not much else is going on right now......so I'll see you in a few days

Lish

Holy Crap.... it's January!!!

Well time just flies by when you are having fun... doesn't it!! One minute it's November and all of a sudden the new year is here and already 3 days old!!

No resolutions this year except the one I always make.... and thats that I resolve not to make any resolutions!

Last year my goals were to learn to knit a pair of socks and learn to paper piece. I can paper piece with the best of 'em!!!! I got 7/8th of one sock done........ that's definitely gonna need some practice...and I will again attempt to make a pair of wearable socks this year!

Most of my traveling is done now for awhile so I'll have time to concentrate on my sewing and crafting. I already have my list started for gifties this year and some pieces cut for a few projects that I plan to do this month.

I've opened the 25Weeks group to new members for a bit. I have a cut off number and when I reach that number I'll close the membership again til June. If you are interested in joining you'll find us at groups.yahoo.com/groups/25weeks We do have a few rules that need to be followed but for the most part we have a lot of fun getting ready for a stress free Christmas season. 25Weeks is geared toward those who sew but any craft will work into the plan.

This morning I went to Joann's sale.... wowza!!! I came out with a lot of goodies for very little money..... I got one bolt of muslin and no other fabrics..... I have plenty of fabric to use up this year!! I picked up some christmas garland, fimo clay, bells, pompoms, peg dolls, wooden balls, button tags... all on major sale! I got myself a new quilt book with some outstanding blocks in it and a couple of magazines...... I'm good for the rest of the month now! ( or till they have another 75% off sale)

The Christmas Countdown Clock will remain again this year......... only 355 days left! Wow! seems like only yesterday...............

I guess that's it for this first installment......... see you soon

Lish

November??? What the heck?

OK... so I have no clue what happened to October....must have something to do with the time change issue.... maybe they take a month instead of just an hour?? I have no clue.

But it's november now and I have my missing hour (month) back and its time to be getting ready for my annual trek to Pennsylvania over Thanksgiving. It's about a 12 -13 hour drive if the weather is good.... two years ago the weather was NOT good and it turned into a 19 hour drive....

I visit with my family and get to see all the new great nephews and this year I have a new great niece! It's been a long time since I've sewn anything in pink! My youngest niece is 25.... so that's how long! She's in Bahrain this year and it will be her first christmas away from home....

I've been busy sewing and knitting and I have updated the flickr site with some pictures. I have a few more to load before I'll be caught up for this year.

There are a few gifties to make when I get back from my trip.... some lounge pants, ties and cat toys but everything else is all done! I plan to bake some cookies and make some candy topped pretzel sticks this year. Yummmmmmmmmmm

I also got some books called Mug'ems... apparently you make individual packets of stuff... put it in the mug for gifting and the recipient just adds water or an ingredient or two to the cup and has a treat.... I haven't checked them out yet .... I'll do that tonite ..... It sounds like a great gift to me!!

I don't have much to add right now.... I'll do better about keeping up on posting.....and will post again after thanksgiving.

There's a map now that's supposed to update itself to show who's been visiting... we'll see how that goes. If you are reading this and don't see a map...then you'll know it sucked and I got rid of it!

Have a great Turkey Day......

Lish

September

Yep... it's September! Labor day picinics are over, kids are in school and it's time to get busy with Christmas goodies!

I've updated the photosite with new photos of things I've finished over the last 2 or 3 weeks. I've been down with the summer crud for a week so I've not been as productive as I would have liked to have been.

Just 109 days left!! Christmas will be here before you know it! Will you be ready??

September is National Sewing Month. Celebrate by sewing something for yourself or a loved one. Donate a finished project to a good cause or teach someone to sew.

Have a great week!

Lish

End of August Already??

Can you believe it??? Only 125 days left til Christmas! Wow!

The summer is almost over... the kids are back ( or going back) to school.

Soon the leaves will turn colors and fall from the trees and winter will roll in . Time flies!!

I've been busy with stuff.........school has been very busy.... 5500 freshmen came back this past weekend and the remaining 35000 ( give or take) will be back this weekend... next week will be a busy busy stressful week........ but then it will settle and things will go back to sort of normal again.

I've been working on things here and there but haven't been able to focus much on anyone thing. I got some new paperpiecing books and therein lies the problem.... I wanna do new stuff and not the stuff on my list..... lol

I have one larger project to finish and then I can get back to my regular christmas sewing.

One thing I want to mention...
September is National Sewing Month. The Lazy Girl Blog and the 25 Weeks of Christmas groups are extending a challenge to all who sew.

You can share your love of sewing by going to www.lazygirldesigns.com and downloading Joan's free With Love tote pattern. This is a quick, easy and fun self lined tote bag that makes up in less than an hour and takes one yard of fabric.

Make two copies of Joan's pattern and two tote bags. Now.... fold each tote with a copy of the pattern inside and tie with a pretty ribbon.

The Weekers are doing this and then giving one of the tote/pattern combos to a non sewing friend with the promise that if they are interested in learning...they will teach them to make this bag. The other bag goes to a sewing friend who will do the same... Make 2 Give 2.

It's a great way to spread the joy of sewing and giving and use up some of our stash in the process.

You can find more info on Joans Lazy Blog. The link is off to the left.

Have a great rest of August and Celebrate National Sewing Month.

Lish