Friends At Last

Jac said I had to tell everyone that she and Coco are now friends. 

 New BFF’s

Coco is skittish around new people so no surprise that she pretty much vanished while Marie, Leo and Jac were all here. It’s been 2 days since M & L left and this morning Coco didn’t run when Jac sat near her on the bed. Ten minutes later, Jac moved a little closer… another 10 minutes and she slooooooowly reached over and started petting Coco. Jac was thrilled!

Stalking the new toy

Coco’s not much interested in treats - she’s ignored everything we’ve tried except her nightly Churu - so it’s hard to bribe her to allow pets or to come when she’s called. She also doesn’t much care for cat toys, although this one got her attention for a few minutes. Sooner or later we’ll find something she likes… I hope! 

Jac In The House

Jac’s here! 

Pop picked Marie, Leo and Jac up from the airport Saturday evening, then took Marie and Leo* back Monday night. 

Jac’s staying for about 5 weeks and we’ve already started partying. 

We’ve done art, talked, played computer games, listened to Jac talk, watered outdoor plants, caught a lizard(!) and talked a bunch more. 

We have plans for Jac’s birthday on Sunday, are visiting the Queen Mary and Long Beach Aquarium Wednesday and Thursday, then the Santa Barbara Zoo the following week. That leaves 3 more weeks to fill with FUN. 

I thought this was the first lizard Jac had caught but look what popped up in my Facebook memories from the same day in 2023. She’s a lizard wrangler! So funny. 

* Bad grandma - I didn’t get a single picture over the weekend, and Pop forgot to take any when he took the girls to the beach on Monday. Oops!

One, Two, Three

One…

Two…

Three!

21.75 x 21.75”

Except for yesterday’s fabric chicken drama, this Red-Shouldered Hawk went together surprisingly easily. I really like the ‘chaos’ of the feathers, especially since it meant there were very few seams that needed to match up. 

The patterns for the last two birds are cut, folded, color-coded and ready to sew. We’re almost done!

Fabric Chicken

Fabric Chicken: will a piece of fabric (it’s from the stash, there is no more…) cover all the pattern pieces or will it run out with inches to go. 

The upside of adding stash fabrics to Birdwatcher patterns is more texture and interest - the kit’s solid colors are pretty but kinda flat. The downside? When it’s gone you sure better have a Plan B! 

We’ll call this one a draw win since there were enough tiny scraps to sew together to make it work. 

 That’s all, folks!

But it was so, so close!

Red-Shouldered Hawk wing

One of my air plants flowered! 

I’ve never seen one bloom before. I wonder if the flowers open one at a time or if multiple can open at once. 

There's lots of buds so hopefully I’ll find out soon. 

Whose Eye?

Only 4 pieces left to make on the 3rd from last Birdwatchers bird. Can you tell which one it is?

They all pretty much look alike at this ⬆️ point. Hoping to attach fabric to the last four pattern pieces tonight and sew (or at least start sewing) it together tomorrow. 

More Winter Wonderland

We’re getting so close to the finish line.

This is #14, “Joy Quilt Block” by Center Street Quilts (here). Love her designs! 

We needed to do mathing to get the right size, decreasing from the 12” pattern to our 8” block. Somewhere along the way, Teena’s printer decided to do its own thing and… yeah, hers didn’t fit together like it was supposed to. Such a bummer. 

I’m still thinking I’ll stop at 15 blocks, for a 3 x 5 wallhanging. One more block, then squaring up, sashing and a trip to the long-arm spa. So close to done!

More Harm Than Good?

Tried my hand at repotting the Venus Fly Trap from the big box store 

 

and I’m not sure if I did the poor thing more harm than good. 

The roots come wrapped in a ‘plug’ which growers use to make potting faster and easier. Eventually the paper/cloth needs to be removed so the roots can spread out.

 Plug paper 

I thought repotting now would be better - it’s already stressed from the nursery-to-store-to-me move - rather than re-traumatizing it later. 

 Rhizome looks nice and healthy.

Note for next time: soak the peat longer so it holds together and goes into the pot more cleanly.

 Before the repot

Hope it survives… They are fascinating plants and I may want more….

 Coco says ‘why are you disturbing me??’

Back to the Birds

I was hoping to get this Red-Shouldered Hawk done before the last bird pattern comes out tomorrow 

but with all the (really great) distractions from Cyrus and Leia staying with us, then planning for Leo and Jac* to visit, quilting has been on the back burner. 

At least I got it started?? 

All the color changes have made this slow going - I finished 6 (of 22) pieces in just over 4 hours. The feathers are almost done, hoping the body pieces are easier faster.

* Leo is staying 2 days but Jac will be here for FIVE WEEKS. So excited. 

Carnivorous

Dipping a toe in the carnivorous plant pond and it is fascinating. 

I love pitcher plants - so colorful! - so got this Nepenthes alata from a local nursery. It’s more than doubled in size in less than a month. Each of the new leaves will grow a new, (hopefully) larger pitcher.

Several big box stores and nurseries in our area have kiosks with different carnivorous plants. 

This Sarracenia ‘Scarlet Belle’ is from the same nursery as the Nepenthes.

Carnivorous plants must be popular since this was one of only 2 plants remaining from the shelves of plants just a couple of weeks earlier. 

Poor, sad Venus Fly Trap is from Home Depot. It’s perked up a lot since I got it out of the plastic ‘coffin’ and put it in the sun. Repotting with better soil is up next. Hope I can save it. Also, VFT’s are native to the bogs of North and South Carolina. Can’t wait to visit Matt & Mary again!

I’m trying to take it slow and not go overboard (who? Me??), which is made easier by there being no big carnivorous nurseries/dealers in this end of the state (that I’ve found yet…) 

Love the ribbed edges

Thank goodness for the interwebs! The bigger, better quality pitcher I ordered from a grower in NY arrived today, in surprisingly good shape after a 2-day, 3000 mile journey. 

 This was very well packaged 

This was my ‘mystery’ freebie first-time-customer gift. Isn’t it cute?? 

Already planning a bog garden in the soon to be remodeled (again) back yard…