Bad signs, happy ending

The problem with living close to nature is that sometimes you have to face teh reality of it--nature ain't always kind.  Monday morning when Bob went out to feed the birds he found a clutch of feathers;  that usually indicates that one of the birds has become dinner for something (we now have coyotes)

We followed the trail of feathers, finding a clutch of body feathers, a pile of soft down .  .

A pile of tail and wing feathers . . .





And finally . . .

A rather bedraggled and slightly bald peahen.


She's all right--in the vernacular, she's a bit "stove up."  We'll be keeping her in a pen for a few weeks until she feels better and grows some feathers back.

Random Catching Up

Oops!  A couple of weeks have slipped by--and I'd been being so good about posting.  So . . . to catch up.

April 6--Happy Birthday, Mom!!  No--no pictures of the birthday girl (she wouldn't let me) and I'm sure as hell not going to say which birthday this was.  I did take champagne and make my now-famous shrimp and grits.  And a double fudge cake courtesy of Mrs. Publix.

The "woodland elf" fabric became a bathrobe for my father (although I don't think of him as a woodland elf at all, the fabric was both elegant and colorful, and that describes him as well.

I participated and survived a zumba marathon (fundraiser for the American Heart Association).  Two hours of hard working out--I have to admit that the last 20 minutes was a little rough.  No pictures--too busy dancing.

I spent the weekend at a weaving workshop (don't look for me in the picture--I was the one behind the camera).  The theme was "extreme warp makeover."  Normally you thread a loom and weave one pattern of fabric with that threading.  We did about a dozen different fabrics.  I was even able to make some corduroy by weaving some floats (long strands of yarn) and cutting them open (I only cut half so it would show.)





And more springtime (sorry that text and pictures are being in wonky places--blogger is not cooperating and it's past my bedtime so I won't find it).  Our butterfly garden is beginning to bloom--and we got our first sweet pea blossom.

Happy cats and Swings

Cats love cardboard boxes.  Cats love paper bags.  Pookha found a box inside of a paper bag--kitty heaven!

The seat of our old garden swing was finally falling 

apart.  When we created the butterfly garden last year, we talked about getting a new wooden swing for it.  Problem is--the old swing was a padded sling and *very* comfortable.  Couldn't find another one like it.  It finally split open completely and something had to be done.  So I bought some outdoor fabric and padded, took the old one apart, and figured out how to make it.  It was really a simple pattern, but slightly awkward because of using large stiff pieces of fabric.  When it came to the last seam (which enclosed the padded seat) I realized that there was no way to get it under the pressure foot of my sewing machine.  Hand sewing to the rescue.  We have our new swing!  Sitting in the butterfly garden is my favorite place to read (at least for now.  When the temps get in the 90's . . . . .



More Color

The "woodland elf" cloth is off the loom and washed--now it has to decide what it wants to be when it grows up (I draped it over my dress form just for fun.

And more color is happening outside.  The azaleas remind me of popcorn getting ready to burst open.  You step out one day and there's suddenly hundred of little green buds.  Then a few days later there's hundreds of little pink buds.  Then *POW* and they all pop open.

While I was shooting these, Babs the peacock was trying to get my attention, so he gets yet another picture of himself in here.  The sun was behind me and I thought my shadow on his tail looked pretty cool.



Mysterious Waters and Manatees

We went kayaking on the Wakulla River this weekend with our friends Rob and Jeff.  We've been meaning to do this together the famous "sometime."  For about three years now.  "Sometime" finally happened (possibly because I called and set a date for it).

Wakulla means "mysterious waters."  While it specifically refers to the freshwater spring that feeds it (of unknown depth and length--basically forever and forever) it does seem an appropriate name for the area in general.

The river is fairly shallow, with the bottom covered in long eel grass.  As it waves in the current, you can see the white sand below.  As befitting "mysterious waters" sometimes a patch of sand will slowly float to the surface and take a long low breath.    It's hard to say just what is so appealing about manatees.  They are not by any means attractive (those sailors who mistook them for mermaids must have been out to sea for a looooong time).  They're just rather blobby.  But as a fellow kayaker noted "they're a big blob that make people happy."   Sadly--they are easily mistaken for a patch of sand, and they move very slowly.  I've never seen a manatee that didn't have scars from boat props.
       

 And what's a trip out in the boats without an alligator.  yes--that's the tip of Bob's oar there.

Camp Gordon Johnston

Camp Gordon Johnston was an amphibious training camp for World War II.  Every year in March they host a celebration and parade--and, of course, being the proud owners of a WWII jeep, we go down to be in it.  It's fun--an old fashioned small town parade (complete with Canadians in umbrella hats.)

I am touched every year by the biker group, who line the parade route to offer their respect to the veterans.

Fiber and Zumba!

Spring break was this week--but I went in to campus anyway.  Three of us "borrowed" the textile lab so I  could show them how to make felt scarves.  Compared to spinning and knitting or weaving, felt is instant gratification.  You just lay it out on a piece of bubble wrap, roll it up, and rub it for awhile.  Here's Wanda and Nancy with their scarves.  Note that I'm not showing mine.  I thought I'd go outside my comfort zone and away from my earth-tone colors and did one with a yellow base and red and blue decorations on one side and orange swirls on the other.  It was . . . not attractive.  Later  I went to a spin-in at the local knit shop (Really Knit Stuff) for an evening of spinning, nibbling, and talking.

Tonight I started a Zumba class (the latest version of Dancercize)  On the plus side--I still have the stamina and rhythm to make it through an active hour-long class.  On the other hand--thank goodness for hot showers, Tylenol, and Aspercreme!