Decision Made

After leaving my first row of the upcoming Row by Row hanging on the wall all week, I made a decision on the black row that was bothering me.  I did a little unstitching and applied a new spacer row.  I think I like this better.

This was the before.

I may still add the darker rows - depending on what future rows look like.

There hasn't been much stitching going on here this week as we have been away, but I came home to some great mail.  I participated in Sheila's postcard swap again and received my postcard from Lin (in France).  It is just gorgeous with so many terrific techniques.

As well, my mini quilt from Barbara arrived from Ireland.  This was from the ALQS10 that I have participated in for many years.  I have received so many beautiful quilts through this swap and have met so many great blogging friends.  Barbara actually received one of my quilts a number of years ago so it is a thrill to now also have one of hers.  I just love this one and the quilting is beautifully done.  She also included a mug rug and a little book about her area with the quilt.

Recently a dear friend of ours had surgery and complications from kidney stones.  I was blessed to be able to help him a bit and in return he brought me a lovely Breadfruit table runner from Hawaii - his home state.  Although he apologized for it not being "homemade", I will cherish it.  I love the color he chose.

As I said, we were away this week for our annual fishing trip to the Sierras.  Again this year, the fishing was uneventful, but the family time with all the kids, their spouses and all of the grandkids was priceless.  Just a few pics from the trip......

First fish!

This little ones mom used to do the same thing.  Her mom would pull my drawer out, remove all of the towels and climb into the drawer.

These three can make a golf course out of anything!

It will be a quiet blog week for me as our daughter and SIL are off to Hawaii for the week.  We will have the five children AND the dog. Life should be busy here.  I'll be back next week!

e,i,e,i,o........

This week brought us the rest of our vowels for the Repeat QAL.  We added the a, i and u to all of our e's.  I think there is a game show where one has to pay for their vowels....no??????

I'm looking forward to moving away from the vowels.

I worked on some of the Bullseye blocks for the Block Lotto this month.  This was a new to me technique, but kind of fun to create.

I also made good progress on a mini quilt for the ALQS10.  I have been a participant in this swap for a number of years now and absolutely love the way Kate runs it.  There is still time to join in if you are interested.  This year our mini quilt is only 10" square.  You can submit up to two quilts.  I have received the nicest quilts in return over the years.

I promised photos of our growing baby cockatiel.  It is still very vulture-ish looking, but improving as more and more feathers appear.  It is now starting to eat seeds on its own and the parents are encouraging fledging.  Dad is the only one still feeding it as mom has moved on to better things.  The baby loves being held and is starting to chirp a bit.

Last week.....

 This week......  starting to venture out on its own.

We had a wonderful weekend of celebrating all of the fathers in the family but I have no photos to share of it.  We were way to busy having fun together.

......but......we enjoyed our first BLTs of the year with our first fresh tomato from the garden.  This week the peaches are ripening. Although smaller than normal with the lack of water, they make up for it in quantity.   I know what my week ahead has in store for me.

I'll be back when the canning is done.