Grandbabies, Pheasants, and Mountains of Snow

 Anyone else just love sewing notions??

Besides double-seaming the satin binding,
I hand sewed the mitered corners closed. I've learned from experience that babies like to stick their fingers in the corners and undo them.

Hi friends,

I was sorry to miss Terri's Wednesday Medley because I was hurrying to get a baby blanket done for grandchild #12, due a couple days ago.  (The 11th was a great-grandchild, remember? I've still not recovered from turning 70 AND getting our first great-grandchild all in the matter of a couple weeks last summer.) It's kind of late, I know, but I had ordered the fabric from fabric.com and after waiting for it to arrive, I suddenly got a notice of a refund from them. No explanation, just a refund. Okay, so that means I need to go out and find fabric. When I chose this particular fabric (shown above) in a local shop, the lady looked puzzled and said, 'This isn't very babyish.'  I told her that as soon as this child is old enough to realize that he even has a blanket, he will like the moose and bears on it. Besides, it's a gorgeous shade of green and this flannel is of incredible quality. In case anyone wants to know, it's called 'Return to Cub Lake' by Holly Taylor. And of course the flannel and the satin binding couldn't be found in the same shop. That would have been just too easy. ANYWAY, it was a delight to make and I will look for that artist and manufacturer another time, Moda Fabrics.

Now on to the matter at hand, or the matter that everyone in Wisconsin is talking about: the long, snowy winter.  This is the kind of winter I remember as a kid.

I was only four years old in this photo, but I do remember that when we were kids, we would carve thrones and dishes out of the huge snowbanks, and also make tunnels. I'm wondering why my mom didn't make me wear a jacket. But at least I'm wearing tights and a sweater. It could have been March, Wisconsin's snowiest month, typically, and warm enough at times to stand outdoors for a photo.

 The backyard

 The backyard again

 The top of the driveway, having just been plowed
by
this
guy:
Son #2

And this is the pose he gave me first time:

 Very funny, Rob!

 On the way home from town today
I love our rolling hills!

 Good thing we know what that wee bit of red means.

 So you get the picture.
We've had a ton of snow
and more expected.

 But this morning's sunrise was beautiful.
I love seeing all the bunny tracks in the snow.

Besides feeding the birds their bird seed, we're putting out corn for the other critters too. It's been a harsh winter for those poor creatures. Everywhere we go, we're seeing pheasants along the side of the road, looking for food. A month ago, we were unusually snowless (for January), and they could find lots to eat. But now, everything is covered in far too much snow.

This poor (huge) fella was sitting on an old bird feeder just outside the office window. I think he was keeping an eye on the other bird feeders, besides eating cranberries in the nearby cranberry bush.  It looks like we won't have any cranberry bushes next year. The bunnies have completely girdled all the cranberry bushes. It's a pitiful sight to see them gnawing on the bark of the bushes. They are so hungry. And yet I know it will irritate me next summer when they're eating my peas and beans (IF I plant them).

 And checking in on the Christmas tree on the porch:
Still going strong. No needles dropped yet. It's been well below freezing.

 One more glimpse of the walkway.

 Tommy & Smokey
(Tommy looking rather sassy, wouldn't you say?)
:-)


*** UPDATE ***

In the wee hours of the morning, February 28, grandchild #12, Tobias William, was born.

Praise God for this new little one!

 7 lb. 15 oz.
and just missing his auntie's birthday by a couple hours.





***

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