Memorial Day

My tribute to Memorial Day! We watched the PBS concert in Washington DC tonight...well, not all of it because I forgot it was on. It is a terrific show...it has been on for 20 years now and never fails to bring tears to my eyes. One of the last things they play are the military branches' songs and those in the audience from the perspective branches stand and sing along....very moving!! Reminds me of road trips with family when we would sing all the songs...in the days before DVD players!

I love to visit Washington, DC...we have been there twice now and I could go again and again and see things I hadn't seen before....really makes one appreciate being an American!! Our last trip there was when the cherry blossoms were in bloom..what a site!! We also saw the WWII Memorial...so impressive..this pic kind of tells it all.

How I've Been Spending My Time!

Strawberry/rhubarb jam! Little trapped hummer!

This is what I have been doing instead of quilting for a few days. My first batch (I made three) of jam didn't set up so I redid it according to directions on the pectin package. Had to reboil it all with some more sugar, pectin and lemon juice....set up beautifully. Second batch, after following the original directions religiously, also did not set! Redid this batch with great success. Third batch, I just added more sugar, pectin, and lemon juice in the beginning and had a perfect set! So guess what I learned....follow the directions along with the redo all at the same time!! Saves a lot of extra work!

Also a visual of my little trapped humming bird in the rafters of our back porch. Poor little guy would have beat himself to death trying to get out. Dick finally got him out and he flew away, but have no idea what got him confused in the first place....hummers usually have such great "radar"!

A Gorgeous Day in Texas!

Rainy yesterday, but today is absolutely fabulous!! The bluest skies, temperature just right, about 75...took a walk after breakfast...and after my crossword puzzle. On Sundays, there is only one in the paper...(don't do the New York Times..way too hard!) so Dick and I split it...he starts it out, does about half of the answers and then I get to finish. It works out pretty well.

Our little lawn girl was out today to mow and discovered she is allergic to grass!! But the mom and dad think it will be OK to continue to mow for Grandad if she wears a long sleeve shirt. As Dick was taking her halfway home to meet Marti, Dorothy called and we had a great little visit...talked so long that Dick got back before we were finished! She told him she is glad to talk to me as she learns a whole lot more....the little details of things...than from talking to him!!! That is a guy for you!

Busy week coming up...hope to get more done on my quilt for Veronica; work more on my series of "Wheels"...I have neglected it lately; and need to get my "whimisical" block done for our studio Q challenge!

Strangest thing this evening...a little humming bird got up in the back porch roof and didn't seem to know how to get out...kept flying back and forth between these two rafters, so Dick finally got him out by getting him trapped in a box, taking him out away from the house and the little guy just zoomed off!! Reminded me of once when I was a kid about six or so, I woke up in the middle of the night. Our bedroom door (my sister's and mine) and a closet door were on the same wall about a door's width apart. I could feel the door jamb of the closet and the outer door but thought I was walled in because I was between the two doors and was feeling the wall!! I really panicked...I always did have a wild imagination!! Scared everyone to pieces with my screams!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Here is a picture of my babies!!! Taken (can you tell) in the 70's!! One of those photo booth shots! And a more recent pic taken just last week! I am very proud of my girls! They are both such great adults and still good friends...to each other and to me! I love spending time with them...and got to do so last weekend at their grandmother's; then today spent time with the one who lives near and time with the far away one on the phone...to find out she is planning on moving closer to "home" in the next few months!! Hooray!!!

Trip to Missouri

The dogwood trees are blooming in Missouri. My family from Texas and California were up there this weekend to help my mother in law celebrate her 90th birthday. It was great seeing all the family...talking, laughing, and eating way too much!!! I trespassed into a yard to take this picture. The second picture is my version of "Dogwoods in the Smokys" done in fiber.

Although we had a wonderful time, I am glad to be home and am anxious to get back to quilting my Inner City. I am a little bit of a hermit at times!! Oh, and my little mockingbird family seem to be doing quite well. I took a picture through the window of one of them which shows just how close to my studio they are.