Finally finished!  Today a couple of knitting friends came over for coffee.  Kathryn was working on a pair of socks for her daughter and it made me realize I had a pair in a bag somewhere waiting to be finished.  I drug them out and in a couple of hours the toes were finished.  Yea!! one less UFO.  These are made out of 98% cotton and 2% elastic.  I love the fit that the elastic provides. 

I was sitting at my computer this afternoon when a beautiful roadrunner came right up to the patio door. The door is about 1o feet away from my computer and that’s as close as I’ve been to one of these birds. My camera was just a reach away, but by the time I could get to it, he had started to move away.  I was able to catch a few shots of him however the zoom on my lens is not strong enough.    I’m amazed at how tall he stood, maybe 18″ or so with his crown up. 

Roadrunner on step

As I was raking the leaves yesterday afternoon, I remembered how fun it was when my Dad would rake the leaves to form walls for me to play in.  I did that yesterday thinking of Emma and how when she’s a bit older she will enjoy playing in the leaves.  They smell so sweet. 

 

 

My main concern was to get them off the sidewalk in case it would snow. I hadn’t checked the forecast, but sure enough about an hour later the white stuff started to fall.     By the time I raked, used the blower over the gravel areas, and bagged I was ready for a nap.    We only got three large bags filled.  Here’s what it looks like this morning. 

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It won’t get done today, but maybe this weekend the rest of the leaves will fall and I can get it all bagged up.  I do wish we had a city service with would come and vacuum up piles of yard debris, how easy that would be!

We had a good bit of snow earlier this week.  The leaves have come down all at once, they didn’t even have time to turn colors!  We usually have windy days, but today is so still you can hear a leaf fall. 

Green on green

April 13, 2009, newly hatched

September 24, 2009

October 22, 2009, should be underground

I thought it would be fun to look at the growth of my baby tortoise over the summer.  When I found her in April, I could still see the remainder of the egg sack on her bottom shell. She’s grown quite well over the summer feeding on insects and vegetation in the gardens.  I did see where she was hanging out during the mid-summer and threw a bit of tortoise food in that area.   There was another baby found the same day, but I haven’t see that one since early May.  This one has been a little less skitish each time I found her, and this time she didn’t seem to mind being handled.  Undoubtedly, the cooler weather has reduced her energy level.  As I said in my earlier post, she should be underground by now with the rest of her clan.  I put her in a hole that a larger turtle had abandoned. it goes about 8 or 9 inches into the lawn and has a side tunnel as well.    I don’t want to disturb the hole by looking in, so I will just hope she winters there.   The larger turtles went underground earlier this month.  That’s the end of the 2009 desert tortoise session here.  I always look forward to seeing them in the late-spring. 

 

Made to be played with

 This is a little 24″ square  quilt for Emma’s doll, Claire.  Hope Claire (and Emma) likes it!

 

An unprepared turtle

This little guy needs some Lunesta.  I found him last week under a leaf in the garden.  I showed him a nice hole to crawl into, so hopefully he’s taken the hint and gone underground for the winter.  They say we will probably have snow tonight or tomorrow.  He’s one of the babies I found in March. 

How come we always wait until after the cold weather hits to winterize the motor home?  I think it’s because we always hope to take one more trip.  I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow and then we’re going to do the winterizing chores.  Hope the wind is calm while were there. 

 

One year old today!

 

27 Today!

This is a  for our Guild’s Quilt Bank.  These quilts are given to non-profit organizations for fund-raising.  I didn’t sew the top, just did the quilting.  My frame is only 8 ft, and I had to repin several times to get the borders done since I could only do half at a time.   This has been on the frame for months — not that I procrastinate or anything!!

 

 

 

 

I’m very glad it’s done.  It’s been a major road block just because I didn’t make the effort to get it done.  Now I can move on and get some other things finished!!   When I look down the road, the remainder of the year is going to slip by.  Balloon Fiesta, Steve’s surgery, Emma’s birthday and then the holidays.  And somewhere in there I want to do a road trip or two.  Time to make a list of “want to dos” and start getting them done!  (I must have roads on my mind.)

In mid-April I discovered a couple of freshly hatched tortoises in my backyard. 

tiny turtle

Here’s how he looks now

I’d say he’s doubled in size.  He’s getting a bit less afraid of me.  I don’t see him often, maybe only four times all summer.  This is the first time he didn’t entirely retreat into his shell.  Over the past few days, I’m seeing less and less of the turtles, and today I haven’t spotted a one.   I’ve noticed several burrows around the yard — I’m sure they’re all busy digging deep for the winter.

When I was in PA last month, we came across a huge turtle in the middle of the road.      This turtle was as big as a dinner plate with legs about as thick as a half dollar coin.  I thought I would do my good deed for the day by picking him up and moving him off the road .   That was a big  mistake on my behalf.  He was a nasty, nasty common snapping turtle (which I didn’t know at the time).   I could not get behind him to pick him up.  No matter which way I moved, he turned to face me and kept up an offensive stance.  I could tell if he got a bite of me, it would be goodbye finger.  Turtles are supposed to be slow, but this guy was  the fastest turtle I’ve ever seen.  Finally, we found a long-handled window scraper in Sarah’s car and used it to wedge under his shell and lifted him to safety.   Next time I’ll find an easier good deed to do!  It’s a fun memory of us laughing and screaming along the side of Puddingtown Road! Sarah took a couple of pictures with her phone, but unfortunately her phone was stolen out of her car before we could transfer the picture.