The Birds are Running My Life

I am convinced that the birds are trying to take over my life.

We have a pair of cockatiels in a small aviary (large cage) in the back yard. They dote on each other all day long. Last week when I was tending to them, I apparently did not latch the door completely. Needless to say, the female managed to "fly the coop." I could hear them calling to each other as she flew freely about the yard landing in the very tops of the biggest trees. There was no way to catch her and her mate was so forlorn looking. This went on for four days. Finally she flew off and we heard nothing from her. This week as I was sitting in my sewing room within view of the aviary, a shadow passed in my vision. I looked over and, sure enough, she had flown home. I immediately went out and she jumped onto my finger and wanted back in the cage. Life is now back to normal. Perhaps she just needed a break from him.

Our nights really cool down here so each morning when we wake up we open the doors and windows to let the cool air fill the house. Tuesday was no different. However, when I went to close everything up to keep the cool air inside I found a female oriole sitting on the floor of the sunroom. I figured that it would be no problem as I could just encourage her to fly right back through the double doors. Who was I kidding? She took off flying - not outside, but right up to the high ceilings. Why do they always want to fly upwards? Naturally, I was trying to get out the door to go to my monthly quilt guild meeting so I was not in the mood for chasing orioles around the house. She managed to run out of steam eventually and dropped behind some blocks that are set in one of the high windows. I got a ladder, retrieved her, placed her on the feeder and CLOSED the doors. She sat there for a spell and then flew off. I assume she was none the worse for the adventure.

Caught at last.

A few feathers short on top of the head and a little stunned, but seemed fine after sitting a spell.

The quilt guild meeting this month had a wonderful speaker, Karen Combs. Not only is
she a charming gal, she is a very accomplished quilter. Her works are very three dimensional. She brought many samples of her beautiful quilts along with her and I would like to share a couple of photos of them. The look that she accomplishes by using diamond shapes and color shades is just amazing. It really makes me want to try one of them. She is doing Celtic quilts as well using just three block designs and changing their directions within the quilt. Those too, are stunning.

I love the tumbling blocks on the quilt below.

I had a wonderful day yesterday going to lunch and a movie with my eleven year old granddaughter. We went to see the American Girl, Kit Kittridge, movie. It was such a wonderful, wholesome, good morals movie and I highly recommend it to anyone with young girls. Bring a tissue because there are a couple of very touching parts in it. I do hope that the company will keep producing movies like this one about the other American Girl dolls.



Am I weird or has anyone else ever had a thought about what they would do if they saw a plane crash close to them? It has always been somewhere in my mind and I have no idea why. This week I came pretty close to experiencing it for real. I was leaving my mother's house and saw this crazy small plane towing a large banner right in front of me. It was so low that the banner was actually touching the trees. In my mind I was thinking that the banner was going to pull that plane down. The next morning I picked up the paper and saw where the plane had crash landed and flipped just a couple of blocks further up the road from where I saw it. Apparently, it had lost power and what I witnessed was it's descent into a more open area than the residential one. The pilot, I am glad to say, was able to walk away from the plane. Pretty crazy event though.


Lastly, I have to share what two of my granddaughters made for me this week. I always enjoy having the girls over for sewing and they love it as much as I do. The two girls spent the night at each other's home and sewed this all by themselves. They are six and seven years old and I think they did a great job with no pattern and a great imagination. They told me that I cannot eat that delicious looking cookie pocket. Too bad! Thank you Ms. M&M.