A Picture Perfect Day

This is a three day weekend for most of us in the US, and Mr. QD and I talked about taking a short trip somewhere, but  decided against it.  Quite often it’s a dreary rainy weekend, and we didn’t want to make reservations somewhere and then get rained out.  Naturally, now that the weekend is here, the weather is beautiful and sunny and warm.

A perfect day for kayaking, in fact!  The turtles were sunning themselves

 

 

 

 

The Great Blue Herons were fishing

 

 

 

 

 

 

And what is this guy doing here?  An Osprey?  I think he’s lost.

The water was cool and refreshing.  hehe – don’t ask me how I know that!  We only saw one goose family, with 5 peeps, but the cameras were still safely packed away at that point.

Dinner may have involved some seafood, as tomorrow is DH’s birthday, so we decided a treat was in order.

Before we drove down to the lake, I made a quick detour to the site of the flooding last week.  Remember this picture?

The water level is still high today, but here is what it really should look like!

I’ll close with a couple of gratuitous flower pictures.  We have planted several Clematis over the years, and never had any luck with them.  One of them has decided to grow and bloom this year!

Sunny

FNSI and Relaxed Robin

Another weekend comes to an end, and I actually have some stitching to share with you.  I started this little quilt as my version of the Relaxed Robin. 

I started the checkerboard border on Friday night, and finished it today.  I’m thinking of adding a narrow white border next, and then a wider border using the yellow print that is surrounding the picket fence.  I’m also considering either appliqueing for embroidering something small in the white corners.  Any suggestions?

Most of this fabric is from the very first fat quarter bundle that I ever purchased.  A friend at work asked me to make a baby quilt for her to give as a gift, and I suggested this project, because it was fabric that I already had so I didn't have to invest a lot of cash, which will make it more affordable for her. 

I got a late start on Friday night, because after dinner, we drove around and took some flood pictures.  We received nearly 4 inches of rain on Thursday night, and local streams and rivers were flooding.

This is normally a small mild-mannered little creek, approximately one fourth this wide.  The trees and geese are actually in a back yard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were quickly losing light, but there was one more place I wanted to visit. 

This bridge was actually an old aquaduct over a creek.  It’s also a stone arch bridge, that we often kayak under.  You can barely see the very top of the arches.  It was amazing to see how high the water was.  Needless to say, we didn’t kayak on the river or the creek this weekend.

That didn’t stop us from kayaking on a lake, though!  It was chilly, windy, and partly cloudy.  This is the first time I’ve ever kayaked and wished I had ear muffs.

Here’s Mr. QD as we were starting out.  Note the jacket!  The lake level was quite high from all the rain, and very muddy.  Moments after this, DH got a little too close to the spillway, and nearly had a very serious accident.  Fortunately, all’s well that ends well, and I think he learned a very valuable lesson.  I wasn’t near him at the time, because I’m a chicken, and I was worried the current would pull me too close to the spillway.    hmmmmm…

This is an unusual visitor.  I think it’s a common loon, in winter plumage.  If anyone else knows better, please let me know.  He’s blurry, but it’s hard to focus on a moving bird on moving moving water from a moving boat.

Have a great week!         Sunny

How is it Possible?

How have two weeks passed since I last posted?  It isn’t intentional.  The time just slips away.  Maybe because Spring finally arrived, and I’ve been spending some time outdoors.  I’m taking almost daily photos of this tulip because I think it’s the most beautiful one I’ve ever seen.  Our daffodils are all gone now, but there are still plenty of tulips, and the Azaleas are now starting to bloom.

Last weekend, we took a hike on the Trillium Trail, which is just off the Appalachian Trail in Virginia.  The Trilliums hadn’t peaked yet, but we saw thousands of them.

We saw many other types of wildflowers as well.  Many of them were very tiny, but we enjoyed taking photos of them all.

 

Today, I took a walk by myself, because Mr. QD wasn’t interested in joining me.  I went to a nearby National Park, with a great walking trail.   I took special note of the mothers out there.

The geese let me get fairly close, but they were hissing their warnings.

 

 

 

I was a great day for basking in the sun, although a shady trail was another option.

In addition to my nature hikes, I’ve actually been doing some stitching.  I finished the baby quilt for my coworker.

The white squares have stars embroidered in them, and the white inner border has the verse “Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star, Do you know how loved your are?” embroidered.  They don’t show up very well in the photos, but I’m quite pleased with the results.  The nine patches are made from a variety of blue and green fabrics that were left over from another project.  And I went wild and crazy and quilted stars.

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve also started a SAL with Alma at Blackbird Designs.

I’m sure it’s not too late to join if you’re interested.

I’ve been going up to bed much earlier the past few nights, to do some reading, as part of my focus on my health this year.  I’ve had two visits to a dietician, and only after the second visit did I learn that my health insurance is not paying one penny of the cost!  I’ll be getting the rest of my information from books that I already own.  So much for preventive care.

And now I’m off to exercise, following a yummy dinner of grilled shrimp and green beans.  I’m eating quite healthy these days!

Sunny