Here’s the Clam Chowder recipe again:
More pink wonky log cabin blocks
This is waiting for binding:
Reader Photos
From a Sunflower Farm by Minneapolis:
More reader photos
And seeing this white couch has just confirmed my vow to have a white couch again. I used to have a white couch and two oversized white chairs and then Rick and I got married. Enough said.
Here’s Margaret and me last Christmas. Her birthday is September 17 and she’d be so surprised to get cards! Please explain how you know it’s her birthday!
Margaret Jass
320 W. 4th St.
Garner, IA 50438
Just FYI – in the past few days while sitting in the porch, the only birds I’ve seen are blue jays, doves, and nuthatches. I suppose the rest have all gone south and I miss them already.
Cute pet pictures today. Mary, I love the latest quilt waiting for the border. Outstanding as usual.
I love Sally J’s maple leaf quilt. The colors just pop!!
Thank you everyone for your fall decorations pictures. Inspiring and unique.
I hope Margaret has a happy birthday. It’s fun to send cards! And if I’m out shopping for cards i think of more people i can send cards to do, its a win win.
the blog is great today. your log cabin blocks are great. i keep forgetting to tell you how much i love your triangles quilt. it is just beautiful.
all the quilts and fall decorations are wonderful. so much talent in so many different ways.
managed to stay home all day. put the green/purple potato chip block quilt together. small one will probably go to seniors or maybe a baby. think seniors would like the purple. maybe a wheel chair quilt. got the large potato chip block quilt put together also. same number of blocks. vastly different size. i’m sure the fabrics aren’t everyone’s cup of tea but feel certain someone will love it.
still tired from all the frenzy of the comings/goings of the week. expect to sleep well. considered going to a quilt shop tomorrow because all green and blue fabric is on sale for $5.99. the quilt shop is quilted twins sale is good for a week. but i spent a gift certificate at equilter a couple days ago, bought 3 or 4 different blues. must stay home. i have fabric upstairs, just have to get to it.
blessings to all, patti in florida
Oh how I love this blog about nothing. I just opening my email and seeing a new message, thank you Mary for keeping it going. We have loads of cranes here in central Wisconsin, in fact many of the farmers find them to be a nuisance. They eat lots of seed in the planting season and damage a lot of crops in the fall. You can find fields just covered in cranes. The international crane foundation is not far from my location and its a marvelous place to visit. Mary, you are correct, their wingspan is huge and there are many kinds of cranes. I miss loons from when I grew up in northern Mn. We have seen a few Bluejays this past week and lots of cardinals. I don’t have any feeders out but my neighbors do and we live close to a meadow and our backyard is a woodland. Love all the fall decorations that everyone is sharing. I put my card in the mail a few days ago, I hope Margaret has a splendid birthday.
Kim – your comment is why I try very hard to keep up with the blog – I LEARN SO MUCH! I didn’t know one thing about cranes until this. I didn’t get a post written last night – I think I was too upset about The Fever’s loss – they could have won that game!!
Also, Caitlin plays tonight on ION, 6:30 p.m. central time. Another tough game ahead for them, the Aces again.
Jeanine – thank you for posting the game! I forgot!!
What a nice picture of you and Margaret. I sent my card to her today. I hope she has a wonderful birthday. I wonder if she was born on Friday the 13th. I was, but in December. It happens about every 6 years.
All the pictures are great today. Thanks for sharing them with us.
It’s pretty quiet here in MA, as well. We do have a family or two of purple finches and some goldfinches that love the thistle that we put out. We stopped feeding sunflower seeds because the squirrels were terrible! They were climbing all over our screens when we didn’t put out seeds fast enough! I love all of the sunflower pictures, the piano is a great idea for picture taking. The pups are adorable and wow! That tuxedo kitty is gorgeous! I had a blast this past Wednesday, the Essex County Needlecraft Guild that I belong to had arranged a bus trip to Cape Cod for the day. We visited four shops and Cahoon Museum where there were three quilt exhibits and I just had such a great time. We started at Black Purls Yarn Shop and the yarns were oh, so beautiful. Then to White Cat Wools – she sells wool for rug hooking and I got a few nice pieces of wool to start a new project. From there we stopped at Osterville Needlepoint Company – wow, this shop was amazing! I really hadn’t been in a needlepoint shop before and had no desire to do so but whoa! This shop had such a great selection of threads and ribbons and I could really get in some trouble if I lived closer, haha! The last stop was Tumbleweed, an amazing quilt shop. Like I said, it was a wonderful day. Tomorrow my husband and I are going to visit his sister and her husband at their summer cottage on Frye Island in Maine! So after a pretty quiet summer the fall is turning out to be lots more fun! Happy Friday everyone, have a great weekend. Jan in MA
The sunflower pictures are so pretty. It reminds me of when we went to France, we drove by acres and acres of sunflower pictures. So beautiful. I really like the fall leaves quilt. It reminded me I have a fall quilt. I haven’t decorated for fall yet but I will next week and then send some pictures. I hope everyone has a wonderful day. Today we are off to Birch Bay, WA to stay the weekend with my son, daughter in law and granddaughter. My husband and son are participating in a Spartan Race tomorrow in Monroe, WA. It is my husband’s first Spartan race. It is a 5km run with 20 different obstacles mixed in. It will be interesting. I will let you know how it goes.
I love all the beautiful photos today. Those dogs and that cat are adorable, and all the quilts are beautiful and inspiring. I love the quilting on your quilt, Mary!
Hurray, hurray…finally can comment! You are such a lovely person and friend!
Great post today. Lovely pictures. At my house the hummingbirds are fighting over the feeder. Last night along the creek in our pasture two belted kingfishers were flying. They are probably my favorite bird. You are right Mary the birds are moving for the season. This morning a huge flock landed in the trees by the house. Also had a few Sandhill cranes fly over.
Why is there a piano outside? Or is it just a backdrop? The dog is cute, but the piano is sad.
Judy – I think it’s a backdrop for photos and I thought it was wonderful! You can’t give old pianos like that away – this makes it valuable and important again and a focus for everyone. I’m sure every visitor is saying the same thing – what’s a piano doing out here in the sunflowers?
It was indeed just a backdrop and it gets moved into the barn when they harvest the sunflowers. The farm is only open 3 weekends per year so there was a lot of traffic. They had an old (early 1930s) pickup truck that was also there for photos. All told, there were about 15 different spots set up.
Kathy in NY thank you for sharing the clam chowder recipe!! It looks yummy!
Mary, I love your quilt! It so restful! All the pictures ae so cool! Especially, the puppies! That black cat is so spiffy! Love him!
Mary as far as birds go, we were sitting on our porch last evening and some birds were around again. It has been total silence as far as birds go. But we have those screeching katydids! Who could even hear a bird above those things!
I spent a couple days up at Ottertail with my cousin this week! No wind, the temp was perfect! It was a lot of relaxing, chatter, reading, bonfires etc. and some napping. Perfect!😍
Now I will have to send my recipes!! Better put it in my to do list 🤪
Joy – we don’t have the katydids – I wonder why. Feels so lonesome without all the birds. I am not familiar with Ottertail – where is it? Should I ask for favorite soup recipes?
Enjoyed the blog this morning. The pics were wonderful. Nancy’s quilt with hexies and embroidery was outstanding. I saw a hummingbird yesterday but they were scarce this summer so I believe they were further north and he is headed south stopping by for feeding and building strength to keep going south. The sandhill cranes are making their way out of AK. I have witnessed hundreds of them flying yes in a V yapping as they fly. I would hear them and look up! A wonderful sight and sound.
Fran – I don’t think I’ve ever seen a crane flying – they’re so long I can’t imagine.
Another day I’ve saved several pictures to my iPad. Your readers are the best for inspiration. Thank you everyone who sends in photos to Mary’s email. It’s so nice to see what we do with our days and create weather with food, fabric or outside. And then the pet pictures are the icing on the cake. Have so loved all the kitty and doggy shares as they bring us such happiness.
I sooo love to see any embroidery as they add an extra touch of goodness.
I too Linda have witches faire all sitting in a tote ready for me to begin….someday. With weather all week and next week too in the 80’s it’s hard to think fall but the pictures tell me I will like changing out my front porch once I go buy some pumpkins and mums. Today I’m doing some flower bed clean up and moving a carnation clump to a sunnier spot.
Isn’t my sister’s quilt top cute! It’s Nancy’s and she can whip out a quilt faster than I can even start cutting fabric. She said she wanted to color and embroidery, so this is actually the second colored quilt in a very short time. I’m working on embroidering the witches faire and she has her blocks sewn together. She is fast but everything she does is always perfect! And, she is amazing at choosing colors that end up making fabulous quilts.
It’s going to be mid 80’s here again, but thankfully low humidity. I should cut grass this afternoon but the porch and my quilt block are calling me already this morning.
Linda – oh, that’s such a sweet little quilt!! When I see I’m not making much progress I try to remind myself, like you, that I have way more chores of all kinds than most people. How’s everybody at your house? And how’s Don? I think of you so often.
Oh Mary, my Mother’s feeders have been busy. I’ve seen blue jays, nut hatches, doves, red headed woodpeckers, at least one pair of cardinals, a yellow bellied sapsucker, red wing blackbird, grackles, and hummingbirds. Jo, I had always thought Loretta was a large dog…I don’t know why. She’s cute. The sunflower photos remind me that summer isn’t over yet. I’m in MN and the temperature today was almost 90. The weather man said there will be summer weather and humidity next week. I’m not looking forward to that.
Martha – your mom’s feeders must be feeding all the birds that I’m waiting for – ha! Yes, it’s going to be warm and I’m so glad my porch season is continuing – the longer, the better. You must be back in MN to take care of your mom’s “stuff”. It’s a hard job.