Beautiful Birds, Nature Notes and a Little Quilting

 

Hi everyone! It's sunset now when Mo and I have his pre-dinner walk. The sky--glowing orange and violet--is filled with flocks of birds. 

The activity level is mesmerizing. The flocks may be as mundane as Canada geese, starlings, gulls. Some hawks, swifts / swallows, busy little yellow rumped warblers. 

I even saw the male cardinal again. Birds flock together for protection, for food sourcing, for the initial mating search. They aren't necessarily migrants. I've even seen small groups of crows! To inspire me to revisit my Winter marsh quilt? Sadly the flocks are so far away and move so fast, photographing them is almost impossible.

........................................................................

A fun quilty correction: ''Giraffe in Egypt''... I poked fun at this vintage redwork embroidery, saying No such things as Giraffes in Egypt.

Turns out I am wrong. I pictured them creatures of the mid-African savannahs but it seems that thru the 19th century, they roamed everywhere, even north to Egypt. A giraffe was present to a European prince in the 1830s and it became a popular icon, part of Victorian fascination with the exotic flora and fauna of faraway continents. These animals were often drawn up and printed for embroidery ''penny squares". You can read about her, her name was Zaraffa, click here: Zaraffa

And Carrots! In between doing who-knows-what, I sewed the Rainbow Carrot block, from my vintage Sarah Sporrer project.

Needs its embroidered words, Rainbow Carrot Seeds 5 cents/pk 1897. 

I got a kick out of seeing the real thing at Trader Joe's. No clue why I didn't buy them. I love oven roasted carrots.

In the mail: always a special delivery when the TQC postcards arrive. Quite a few enticing minis in this year's collection, too.

And speaking of enticing, I did fall for Lori' Humble Quilts' fall sewalong this year. here

She goes fast, the blocks are tiny, but my interest was piqued by the pale low volume palette, something new to learn. I certainly have a big collection of ''shirtings" to play  with. [for non-quilters: shirtings are/ were used in the 19th century for clothing for adults and children both. They are usually white or light in color with a small dark sprig or stripe or figural design. Supposedly the pattern of the fabric hid the soiling of rarely washed clothing, plus was a fairly cheap cotton item.]

***************************

The zinnias are gone, salt spray from the October storms did them in early. Surprisingly the marigolds, once hidden by the zinnies, are beautiful, blooming merrily in two pots! Dollar Store Heirloom Seeds, 59 c!

These were the last zinnias I snipped as I hacked away at the tall tough zinnia stalks this past week. Aren't they a lovely odd deep shade, with lime green stripes and backs. I think leftover seeds from Baker Creek Seeds,  that really never grew summer of 21, '22.

***********

Catching up on nature journals, sorry if these are repeats. This is October.

Scribble journal and personal memory journal:

Perpetual Nature Journal:

....................................

This is Mo, saying Hi, as he sports his pretty Autumn neckerchief from Sherry the Groomer.

A couple days las week it was cold enough for him to wear a sweater---and me, back in my down jacket. Alas summer passes much too soon.

          Mommy, daylight savings ends, 

                        dark at 3! Ugh!

Have a good weekend!

internet pics: fun or beautiful things to share.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach......

These distance photos are from this morning. Huge array of fishing boats, hundreds. Oddly the local fishing site said Tuna? But no, a knowledgeable friend corrected that, Striped Bass and sea bass. I for one wouldn't like to swim with these huge creatures. [but then I'm afraid of fish and also sad to see them captured and killed for sport, too.]

Ohio autumn, from a friend. sunrise, and beautiful trees.

and the beach at the East End, Hamptons. [my sand is whiter].