Mr. Hootie

Have I told you about our resident Mr. Hootie?  He's a screech owl that has adopted us.
We first found him in our maple tree..Actually, there were two.  Not sure if they were siblings or mates, but one flew away and the other stayed.   According to what I've read about them, they are territorial, so perhaps the other one is close by.   The girls and I named him/her Mr. Hootie.  He's now living in our garage.   Pa built him his own nesting box today so he has a place to live as long as he wants - the last two pictures are of him.  Yesterday, we went to an Owl Festival here in Apopka where we live.  It was so much fun to see the other owls that have been rescued...They probably won't ever leave this facility, but they are well loved and taken care of.
The first two pictures are of a great horned owl...next is the barn owl...the one on the left with huge eyes and the last one, before Mr. Hootie, is the Bard owl.  We also saw red tailed hawks, bald eagles (we see these birds flying over our house all the time)  and swallow-tailed kites.  It was a very fun day.

Sorry to be late........but will post the winner of the " what makes something primitive" later this evening and I will post the winner tomorrow. 

I Could use your help..........

I was interviewed for the Sewn.com magazine just recently and in the article I said that if you interviewed 12 different people you would get 12 different answers about what made things "Primitive" so it got me to thinking................asking you this question I'd love to hear what you have to say about what you think makes something primitive.  And, let's just make it fun............starting today until November 15th whom ever gives me their ideas about this, will have their name in the hat for a drawing!  Ok, on your mark, get set, go.................

another Mr. Boo to share

Hey Lynda.

Thought I would share what I did with your pattern you sent out a while back! I have an 8 month old grandson Jack. Finding

a Halloween bag for him that would fit his size, was just not

possible! They were all way to big! So I took your pattern you sent

us via email & made just the right size for him. He loves it & drags

it around with him. I lined it & finish it inside that if he uses

this next year, his Mommie can reverse it by taking the bear off.

Thank you for that pattern. It worked for something entirely

different than what was intended, but a finish for his little costume

was perfect. He is a pumpkin this year. This is the front & I will

follow with the back view! Thank you again for sharing your amazing

ideas with me!

Sue Taylor

Apopka, Fl.

Thanks Sue for sharing your Mr. Boo idea with all of us! It's a wonderful idea for a gramma to use for next year!  I know of several gramma's that have new babies in the family that will be just the right size for next season.

Cobwebs and all...........

It's so hard for me to choose which holiday is my favorite.....Well,  Christmas tops the list, but Halloween has to be number 2.  What's really fun about halloween is it's the only holiday you don't have to clean your house for..........cobwebs are required!  And, as you can see, I didn't get around to cleaning up for this one at all.....cobwebs were everywhere.

Small pumpkins make the best lit up words and B O O is a must have when the lights are low.  I was invited to go trick or treating this year with Becca and Sarah.....Becca was a wonderful Spiderella........just look at those beautiful eyes all a glow!  And, little Sarah was Strawberry Cake-cake (shortcake) with red hair and freckles.....she was just too cute.  No one knew I was going to dress up too......so it was a surprise when Becca opened the door and saw me.  She giggled and said, "Gramma, who are you supposed to be?"  lol   It was a last minute decision, but I put together a little girl outfit and told her my mommy dressed me in my nightgown, put a bow in my hair and told me to mind my manners when I received candy at the doors.  I carried my dolly, blankee and I had an all day sucker I made.  Sarah and I both had freckles on our faces.   Bryan, our youngest son, said I was a nut-job or fruit cake, can't remember now (lol)......but we had a great time.  Who says you can't be 60 and still have fun?  After the trick-or-treating we all went back to our house for the annual halloween bon-fire party where we met the rest of the family.  I think there were 20 of us in all............. And, some very strange people showed up as well and just took over my porch!

It was a very fun holiday..........I hope you had a wonderful time too! Please share what you did with the rest of us.

Surprises are so wonderful

I know we all get so tired of hearing all the horrible things that happen when we read the paper or listen to the news....wouldn't it be nice if stories about all the good things that happen got as much press? 

When we returned from the mountains this week, a package was waiting for me.  I was told it was coming, but had no idea what it was. I received this lovely gift from Debbie St. Germain.  It's a punch needle stuffed pillow that hangs that she made out of my Shirley, Goodness and Mercy pattern.  This is Shirley out of this piece.  Debbie had no idea who Shirley represented I don't think, but she's very special to me.  Needless to say, I cried when I opened this special little gift.

Inspiration for Shirley, Goodness and Mercy came from a book I had read years ago, but it is more than that.....my sister, my sister-in-law and myself quilted just about every Saturday at my house.  So, when I made Shirley, Goodness and Mercy I decided it was based on the three of us.  Shirley, was my sister because surley she would make us laugh at something she'd make. (She was not a primitive type of gal at all!)  Goodness was my sister-in-law because she really was the good one.....and me, well I was the mercy because I was always doing something that could be considered "not exactly right" or more accurately "a little off!"

I lost my sister 3 1/2 years ago to cancer so when I got my present it was very special indeed. 

Yes, there are so many, many good things that happen in our world that we hardly ever hear about.  Thanks Debbie so much for your kindness.  I will cherish my "Shirley" always.

   

Fun Pictures

Remember when the Mr. Boo's were introduced?  Well, I just had to share these pictures with all of you. 

The top one was sent to me from Cheryle Harte in California...she made this jean's pocket bag for me as a present and she calls him "Mr. Hugs".........It is for me to use when I go shopping for fat quarters!  Cheryle is a member of my pattern club. She and I have never met, but we've been corresponding for a long time.  She does beautiful work..........which you can see in the parlor room of my website. 

Rebecca Hoffman here in Florida sent me a picture of her Mr. Boo's.  Also a pattern club member she made hers only 3 inches and made it into a pin to wear!  How clever is that? I love that you've shared this idea with us. 

We ran away from home for a week, but we're back and just now getting caught up. 

A lovely surprise

When I returned home yesterday, waiting for me in my mailbox was a package from the Kansas City Star.
To my delight,  I received a copy of the "MY STARS II" book.  Several months ago they put out a notice, to everyone interested,  to submit a quilt that was made from a list of blocks that the KC STAR published over the years in their newspaper.  Back in April of this year they published the first book and because of it's popularity, they decided to do a volume II.  Well, it's out and ready for anyone that would like to order one.  I submitted my Snow Trails quilt made from the snails trail block.  It was chosen to be in the book, which was a delight in itself.

What was fun is that when I was looking through the book I felt it would make a wonderful sampler quilt using all the blocks.  The snails trail quilt I made was from the block they published back in November 1935.   I was born in November - just not 1935!  Isn't it funny how things sometimes work out?

If you would like a copy of the book, you can order it through  http://www.pickledish.com