Monday, March 19, 2012

Another fun day....

I ended up taking the whole weekend off from my finishing routine.  I needed some fun time.  I made some mug rug pieces from cobblestone blocks and pieced a lot of the short strips in the bin into patchwork for the future.  I have no idea what I will use them for but I had fun.
Neither of my forsythia bushes are pretty shapes because I whacked them back over the last couple years.  They are blooming though.  This one is outside my kitchen window and is the bush the birds sit on to get out of the wind in the winter.
The redbud trees are just starting to show pink.  I hope we don't get a late freeze.  With 5 days in a row in the 80s it has been like summer.  Next weekend is supposed to go down to the low 50s which is still above the average temperature for this time.  I went out and dug out volunteer raspberry bushes and pruned a couple bushes.  I pick up a few branches every time I'm out.  There are so many small ones in the back yard and garden.  This old body is out of shape so it isn't much fun.  I need a yard boy.

Thanks everyone for trying to identify the bird from yesterday.  After I had a few clues I looked it up in a bird book but I was still not sure.  A couple birders told me it is a Cooper's Hawk and probably only a couple years old.  It looked a lot like a falcon in the books but one reader said the falcon has a darker head and I saw that when I did the research.  Another reader said it might be a sharp shinned hawk and the link she sent had a photo that looked a lot like it.  I didn't realize there were so many different kinds of hawks.  All I know is that I don't want it eating lunch in my yard and leaving the feathers for me to pick up.


12 comments:

Unknown said...

A fun day for sure! I am in awe that your forsythia is blooming already! I couldn't believe your post from yesterday. Amazing what goes on in your backyard!

Sewing Junkie said...

We have many birds in our yard all the time. The sewing looks like you had fun. Chris

HollyM said...

Wow, it'll be well into April and May before we get any buds let alone blooms.
I's just so much fun to do those little projects!

MulticoloredPieces said...

Hi, Wanda. I enjoy seeing springtime in people's gardens--so refreshing! Your hawk visit was really interesting. And your Rainbow River quilt is sumptuous--and that may be an understatement!
best, nadia

Susan said...

My forsythia is just about ready to pop...it's really loaded this year too!

Needled Mom said...

It looks like it was a fun sewing day for you.

I don't blame you for not wanting a repeat in your yard. That is NOT fun! We had an incident like that at our feeder last summer. The quail and all their babies were there when a predator bird swooped in for a kill. Fortunately, they all scurried away and were safe. What a ruckus it made at the feeder!!!

Elaine/Muddling Through said...

Glad you had yourself some fun. It's necessary. All work and no play would make Wanda a dull girl, and we can't have that! Your forsythia blooms are so pretty. We had that in our yard when I was a child. Always a sign that Spring is here!

Anonymous said...

Nice Monday posts to get me off and running for the day.

As always your daily progress is wonderful. Rainbow River just glistens with your grand finish.

I went through all the posts I have missed in the past few days and your nature photo's were so interesting. Trees and bushes in full spring blossoms, young mr. Hawk, squirrel's doing their camouflage against the tree trunk, chipmunks full fat cheeks, all fun to see.

Five days of 80 degree temps ! Unreal... We did see on the national news of your gorgeous weather and all of those on the beach in Chicago. (*._,*) The 'Jet Stream' is cutting the nation in half, we are getting snow in the mountains with cooler temps in the valley and all east of Nebraska has those unusual warm temps.

J~MT

Verna G said...

This is rather gross but did it pluck its prey before eating it? We often have sharp shinned hawks in our yard eating sparrows! They always pluck them before aeting them!

Sheila said...

I love to watch you play with your batik strings.

Cathi said...

You definitely needed a fun day! You've been on such a tear finishing things up, a fun day was in order.

We went for a walk this afternoon. It was actually hot out! Couldn't believe it. Mid-March in Toronto doesn't usually mean anything but cold!

Vivian said...

Everyone needs a bit of fun in her life. Good for you--and look at all you got done.
If you get a yard boy, he'll have to keep up a steady pace to get as much done as you do. And if you get a yard boy, would you share a picture or two?