21 Parrots

I am guessing there were at least that many!!

They are here most of the year and 

you can hear them fly over very loudly.

Usually I see anywhere from 3-8

together at one time but

on this day, there were gobs of them 

all chirping away.

Plus they were right up close and I 

had NO idea how big they are...

at least a foot long.

All this time I have imagined 

they were more like the parakeet size

in the pet stores.

A quick google search found

Nanday Parakeet...??

They did look like the one on 

Audubon's site.

The couples were snuggling and 

there was a branch with 3 sitting together:)

It was mesmerizing!!

I will watch them overhead

with new appreciation!

~R

Cheryl Sleboda of Muppin.com 

for more blogs to follow.

Day 13: Winter

Today's laziness was prompted by chilly weather. I know 40s isn't cold for those up north but here in Florida an extended period of 50/60s highs and 40s lows is WINTER! 
So I put in Winter as my prompt and counted down 13 images:)...I do enjoy this game. 

Then the hard part of sticking to that picture occurs. While looking at the rest of the images, Niagra Falls popped up and reminded me of a wonderful trip we took with our girls one year in early summer.  It was hot in Jersey already but the nights in upstate NY were chilly!! Temperature is all relative as we know from our overseas travels:)  Blood thins and thickens depending on what climate you adjust to so I guess I have adjusted some to Florida because my fingers are a bit on the icy side as I type this post. 

Keep warm and Quilt on!

Pop over to see who else is blogging...

http://muppin.com/wordpress/index.php/the-2018-31-day-blog-writing-challenge/

Day 6: Just for the ones in Snow...

Last night was our second little cold spell this season down here in Florida.  No snow but it did get down to the 40s where I live.  I love these little bits of chill where I can pull out my Winter jammies and wear slippers:)  I understand that for some who do not live in Florida, the above photo is what they dream of all Winter so this one is for you!
Enjoy and keep quilting!

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NoveDecember...A new month (?) plus A POOKA

This has been the longest and shortest month and a half ever!!  I am going as fast as I can but not feeling like I am gaining ground. Do you ever feel that?

Top that off with living in Florida where the temperature and surroundings make it a bit difficult for me to get into the Christmas spirit.  All of a sudden it is 11 days 'til Christmas but the thermometer hasn't changed and it feels like a practical joke.....

I don't have all the days filled in yet but it is just a matter of time!
11 Days 'til Christmas
10 Movies choices
9   Dinners to plan
8
7
6   More gifts to wrap
5   Rooms to clean
4   Packages to mail
3   Quilts to hang
2
And a Pooka in the artificial tree.......

Here is POOKA. She is the other reason my world is a blur right now.  Most of you know that my Juni went to live with my older daughter this summer when she moved to a pet friendly apartment.
We were going to travel, etc. and we did take a wonderful trip this fall.  Mostly though, we are home bodies and I work at home so I missed someone to talk to.  Enter Miss Thing.  Jim says he has "always wanted one"....one what?  She is a soft-coated Wheaton Terrier and that face just melts you.

 PLEEEEEEEZE- just one ice cube!!!

Jim wanted to name her Crumpet but I wasn't in love with that.  I wanted Buttons (for my quilting) but he didn't love that.  This breed originates from Ireland and we looked for a Gaelic name.  Pooka in Gaelic means 'Mischievious Sprite'...Boy is that dead on!!  When our daughter met her, she told me we should have named her Fizzgig and I completely agreed but we couldn't talk Jim into it!!

Those familiar with this movie will completely agree too:)

Here she just looks like a teddy bear! We are completely hooked and in love even though our lives have been turned upside down.

So the tree may or may not go up this year.....

Remember the Steelers pillows I said I made for my daughter...here they are.  I thought I had shown a picture previously but didn't find it.  They turned out great.  For the Steelers lovers in your life, the cathedral window works perfectly!!

The pictures above and below are small 14" table mats that I made for the guild Christmas party as door prizes.  I used the Poinsettia from my Coastal Christmas to center onto an 8-1/2" center square and added a small border.  Then a friend had made me some embroidery blocks using Loralie Designs.  I was able to trim the extra, squeak in a sliver of red, and add the extra black back on for a cute little mat.

Lastly, I shrunk down my Jingle Penguin so that he was an adorable little mini that fit into a 4x6 frame opening.  Too cute!  I may have to make a few more of him!

This is a fat quarter bundle I treated myself to....Basic Grey's Jovial for MODA.  Not my usual Christmas color pallette but it just looked so yummy.  Now to decide what to make myself!! 

In case I don't get back here for awhile,
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Thank you for following my journey!
Robin

PS:  Don't forget to visit all the other creatives over on Nina's OFF THE WALL Friday

Coming to you now from FLORIDA

I can't believe it has been 2 months. Although I knew that I would lose a lot of time during the move, it still surprises me just how much.

So what have I been up to? Well after Easter and my girlies' birthdays, we prepared for my older daughter's graduation from ECU with 2 degrees no less!! I couldn't have been prouder.

Copyrighted 2010, "Flutterbys" NESTLINGS by Robin

These little framed butterflies were good-bye gifts to a wonderfully fun group of women I met with occassionally. They were gracious enough to invite me into their world and I will be forever grateful! Thank you!!

It was then time to visit my mother in Virginia one more time before moving. On the way, I FINALLY got the photo of the Tobacco Flowers that I had been trying to get for 4 years. They are so delicate for such a deadly plant.

Copyrighted 2010, "Spiked Pinwheels" NESTLINGS by Robin

Since the visit was right after Mother's Day, I was able to hand deliver my gift to her. Plus that gave me the excuse I needed to have a few more days to finish it:)

Added bonus: I was able to see my nephew that I hadn't seen in 2+ years...WOW he had grown and what a little personality. Here he is being a ham AND being licked to death by my Juni:)

All the work I had done before my trip to finish entries for the local quilt guild show paid off with 2 Blue Ribbons. Here is one for the challenge quilt that I named, "Snow Bird". The second one I will not show since I have entered it in Houston and don't want to jinx it:)

So now I live in Florida (Tampa Bay area) and this is a flower from my backyard. I don't know what it is but it is Orange, one of my favorite colors, so it doesn't really matter to me as long as it keeps blooming:)

Happy Belated Easter and ...

what a crazy month it has been:)

Since I last wrote to you, I have:
-taught another class
-helped write the standards for a local Saturday Market
-prepared my Paducah entry for shipping-- "Groovin' Grove" was juried in:)
-worked up my business taxes so my husband could do our family taxes-yuck
-finished all the minutes for 2 boards I sit on and submitted my resignation for both due to the impending move
-mapped out entries for local guild show and started actually making 3 of them--they are entered but not started. How's that for confidence? :)
-continued to work on a new design in applique along with a fusible version
-reviewed a pattern for another designer
-showed our house 3 times even though we are renting
-had my pup in for a follow up visit because her stitches didn't look well and we were kenneling her for a week--she was fine:)
-prepared moving lists
-prepared lists for houses to look at
-went house hunting in FL and bought a house
-started one of the miniatures for my quilt show
-start preparing for Easter company which will consist of both my daughters and one boyfriend. It will also be my daughters' birthdays so we celebrated that too.
-had both the sewing machine and computer take a vacation-Yikes. Both were fine too:)
-started cleaning out studio and while doing so found this bunny below.....

This design was suppose to be a wall hang with 4 blocks where 2 would have chenille bunnies and the opposing 2 would have chenille carrots. It is amazing what you find while cleaning:) I found a few started designs that now I have to decide how to proceed. Since I only had one bunny done, I decided to stop there and make a smaller table topper out of it. This measures approximately 13" and turned out very cute! My older daughter took it for next Easter.

Now what to do with the others?? My cleaning will result in fabric going to a friend, a quilt club, and then donating other supplies to a local Girl Scout troop.
I have to keep editing and forcing myself to stop being such a pack rat!

Now back to cleaning and designing- I have to get lots done on this end before all is packed away for a month...
Have a fabulous week!

Travels part 1

Last month I had an opportunity to travel to Orlando, Florida. While there I forced my husband to go to Universal to see the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter . I knew this was terrible timing being the height of tourist season and only one week after opening but that little voice of warning was quickly squashed because I knew this would be my only chance to go. We would never make a specific trip just to do this. We were piggybacking this onto a business trip and you do what you can.

The tree above is in the first section of Universal-Islands of Adventure. I have never seen such a cool palm tree and am sure this will make it's way into my art at some point. There were many wonderful architectural details that I snapped photos of for inspiration.

The weather was hot and sticky and may have helped in my argument against moving to Florida on our next military transfer (he has always wanted to live there) since he was just as miserable as I was. The lines were excrutiatingly long- 1 1/2 hours just to make it to the picture below....

Welcome to Hogsmeade

The bottom of the sign states: Please Respect the Spell Limits....the 'spells' were moving sooooooo sllloooooow.

Lines and weather aside, the whole place was amazing. I know I am not the only adult to be totally entranced by this fantasy world and being able to walk through areas from the movie was wonderful. The attention to detail was fantastic and inspiring and I so wanted to be able to walk across that bridge in the picture.

I was very happy to be able to walk through the town and have a Butter Beer and be a part of something that has entertained my whole family for a decade now. Then we got on the ride....they did a phenomenal job of putting you into that world via a 4D ride that allowed you to feel like you were flying, and brought you through a few of the frights we have all read about and seen on screen. If the lines had been shorter, I would have ridden this multiple times. There is something to be said about finding your inner child from time to time. She was there with me and we had a ball:)