Flora and Fauna

Here's a little front-yard flora for you! Just a pretty pic of my purple coneflower and my portulacas ;) I love portulacas and find them to be a very underrated flower! They're part of the succulent family, grow great in the ground or containers and are very drought tolerant. And they come in a rainbow of colors! The main draw-back is that the flowers only last a day or so..but it blooms all summer long ;)

And of course what better fauna than another shot of those baby birds! LOL They're alot bigger now and will be leaving the nest by early next week!

Dino Chicks!

I think someone stuck some Velociraptor babies in where the cute hairless chicks were! This is a pic from this past Monday...ooooo scary babies! LOL rather Jurassic park-ish! They are sure keeping Mama and Papa robin busy with the worms and bugs and all! They should be fledging by early next week so I'll keep you all posted!!

Oh and for some quilt-worthy news, I have finished my first Christmas-In-July project for the month! Peg, Michelle and I are doing a little challenge for this month with Christmas-related projects and Peg is in the lead! LOL So here's my teeny Thimbleberries tree quilt, jingle bells and all!

The Chick Cam

Still pretty featherless, but getting cuter!!! ok...maybe not that much cuter LOL but still entertaining! LOL

THE BABIES ARE HERE, THE BABIES ARE HERE!!!

OH GOSH!! Sorry for the yelling, but I am just too excited ;) I'm a mama! I mean the OTHER robin's a mama! LOL Today on the way out the door, I made Bill stick his head in the nest and check the babies...2 little hairless chickies greeted him and one more was there when we came home! Mama did a good job of cleaning out the eggshells from the nest too..no sign of 'em in the nest or on the ground! She's back sitting on the babies as the sun was setting tonight! Nothing like being 2 days old and featherless! LOL

Saltbox stitchin'!

I recently started a new BOM (yes, ANOTHER new BOM! LOL) called Saltboxes through the Year, and it's being offered by Karen Perry of Farmhouse Woolens. I finished my first block and it was a surprising amount of work! LOL It was alot of fun though, and I'm very happy with how it came out!

Nature's Treasures

We were out in the front yard this afternoon, poking around and watering, when a robin flew out from our maple! Now since we live in a townhouse, we don't have a very big front yard, or even a very big maple (about 4 yrs old), but this robin was making herself right at home in our little tree! Would you believe that she built a pretty cup nest right at eye level on one of the lowest branches!!

Now being the curious nature-lover that I am, I had to stand on tip-toes to peek inside the nest! I put my camera above my head and snapped this nifty shot of Mama robin's treasures! She was waiting impatiently for me to finish with the shutterbugging so she could keep get back to the hatchin' business! LOL

I'm going to mind my own business til I know the babies have hatched..and then I'll see if I can get some additional pics! WikiAnswers.com tells me that they should be hatching in about 2 weeks...so check back around then!

Just in Time!!

I know I'm not the only "last minute Charlie" out there...anyone else wait til the last minute to finish a project for a specific holiday or event? Well this year I finished my 4th of July project around 4pm ON the 4th LOL I'll leave it out for the rest of the month and pack it away til next year ;)

Happy 4th of July!!

Happy 4th of July everyone! We are just BBQing at home today, a nice quiet low-key celebration! I wish you and your families a safe and happy holiday!