Swan

It has been a difficult year. A sadness has pervaded my life and I have worked diligently to combat it in the face of great adversity. Despite it, many gifts have been discovered, and almost daily something special happens. Today, this big fellow landed on the lake in the back yard. It is almost inexplicable how special it was to watch this lone swan on a cold December morning as he glided through the shallows. He watched me, I watched him and all was well for a little while.

Woody in the Backyard

We have now had every type of woodpecker in the back yard. This is the pilieated woodpecker. I keep a "dictionary" of Eilene on the refrigerator. Eilene used to call them "hoopuckers". I love original words!

Receiving Blankies for Twins

Here are two sided receiving blankies for twin boy and girl. Fleece on one side and flannel on the other. I used a Martha Pullen applique pattern for the corner of each.

Sugar Biscuit Quilt

I went crazy for a neighbor who is having twin boy and girl very soon. Here is the girl quilt based on the sugar biscuit pattern. I should have used the flash!

Rapunzel Rapunzel

Eilene was "Tangled" for Halloween. She loved the froggie tat she got at the Halloween parade at her pre-school. I have made all of her costumes and this year I let her select the fabric. This was by far the most expensive costume I have made, but what the heck. When I'm dead and gone, she'll know it was a labor of love from her elaborate costume collection.

What Kind of Hawk?

Here is a hawk that has been frequenting our backyard strafing the birdfeeders. I have no idea what this fellow is. We have a cooper's hawk that does it occasionally, but this one does not appear in my bird books and is not a cooper's or sharp shinned hawk. The two are distinquishable by the shapes of their tails, but this one is bigger. We also have redtails in the area, but this one doesn't appear to be a red tail either.