Contemplation?

Just looking through my photos for the week in preparation for writing this blogpost and there aren't many???  Why is that?  Have I been that idle for the past week or so?  My hands maybe, but my head no!  Like many of you, I'm waiting for my first vaccine shot and that has led me to think about how I will exit the current state of things.  

What will I do first?  Who will I visit?  When can I leave?

For sure, the first visit will be to my daughter and her family who live over 300 miles away.  Since my oldest granddaughter was born in 2006, I've made the trip to see them four to six times a year.  This is the longest I've gone without seeing them and I'm getting antsy to go.

These are pictures from BIG trips I took with each of them the summer of 2019 and I'm so glad I did it when I did!!  They are both doing virtual school and are a bit bored -- so my grandson has been puttering with map and chart creation and my granddaughter has become a thrifting clothing fan!  My gifts to them at Christmas reflected these new interests and I'm looking forward to seeing what they've created!

(Brief pause to go get more photos organized.)

There was more progress towards my "finish 20 tops in 2021" -- as I type that, I'm thinking it should be " 21 in 2021"?!?  Hmmm??   I quilted it exactly the same as the last one -- no thinking required!!

One of the perks of doing the same thing is you get better at it.  So this time in anticipation of going back to quilt the outside scallops after binding the quilt, I made one little adjustment!

My stop-point for the first and the last arcs in each row was 3/8" from the edge of the top -- easy to do once I realized my presser foot was a perfect "stop" guide.  The results weren't perfect but better than the edge of the first one!

 So #4 is finished -- another Mississippi Mud teaching sample.

I love being able to "shop my stash" these days -- this backing has been without a purpose for so many years and now it's not!!  And the binding is just right.  Even the thread was lurking in my embroidery thread stash.

Now that the little hexie flowers have been added to the picket fence border, layering up #5 is on the "to-do" list for this weekend . . . . . . .

. . . . . . right after I clear off the table which means finishing up the photo sorting project which I lost interest in completing one week ago -- too many decisions just wear me out.  How about you?

Arrrggghhh!?!

How about a couple of entertaining ideas?

First up is tropical birding via the Cornell Bird Lab's webcam in Panama.  I was fortunate to bird in Costa Rica in 2007 and of course, I needed the "book".  This past week, while doing research in order to harass some local owl stalkers (it's breeding season for owls and they need peace and quiet, not stalking) I discovered this webcam.    It's HERE.  

It's live during daylight hours and is just one of a half dozen cams around the world.  So much fun to eat lunch with bluegray tanagers eating fruit and flipping through the pages of my book identifying species -- many are new to me but I've been told I can't add them to my lifelist even though I identified with just the help of my book!!

(If you scroll down the page, there is a guide of the birds that visit the feeder if you need to know their names.)

The other is a quirky English retro clothing maker I found on Instragram.

@twistedtwee

This little video of her reflection about her "to-do" list hooked me and then a couple days ago she shared a quote, "let go of the hand rail" which has been buzzing around my head since trying to figure out what that might mean for me -- to let go???

Check her out when you have a few minutes to explore her feed!!

Well, help just arrived or it's time for lunch?!?

I hope we all get through our weekend "to-do" lists and that there is some fun included!!

Mary