Last night about 10:30 I was scrolling through Facebook and came across an update from Patriots For Pets. As I read the post she was talking about being so empty that they were having the floors redone. Only two adoptable dogs – Lola and Lima Bean. LOLA???? I burst into tears thinking that my sweet Lola had been passed over by her new family and was there at the shelter all alone! She was the one who loved me most and the one I wanted to keep if push came to shove. What to do? I’d have to go get her – I couldn’t live with myself knowing that sweet pup was all alone. I left a message on Facebook but knew I’d have to wait till the morning to find out the details. Finally I texted Becky in tears and she called me right back. She did some more searching and found a 5 year old German short hair named MS. LOLA who was still at the shelter! I could only hope and I went to bed in tears.
This morning – good news! The foster coordinator assured me that my Lola was fine and it was indeed the 5 year old still at the shelter. Whew! My swollen eyes will need an ice pack! Oh, the drama of it all!
Now for some fun pictures! Here’s our sweet Luna with her mom, Katrina, big sister Stella and her dad, Eion. Oh, Sandy, you must be so anxious to visit!
Dirty Dozen quilts:
Alphabet Quilt measures approx 53″ x 63″.
Here are the other alphabet books I’ve collected thru the years – I have NO IDEA if these are still available – you’ll have to do your research on that- they’re all old books.
Remember Angel? She loves helping Gloria plant flowers. What a feel good story!
I’m beginning to hate Pinterest because people see a quilt credited to Country Threads and they just assume it’s still available. We were in business for 40 years – can you remember all the quilt names and availability from 40 years ago? I can’t. And remember, we retired in 2014. I get letters from people who want an old pattern and I will have to sit down and actually write them a letter! Do you think I have time to write letters to a potential customer who might spend $5-10? No, I do not. I have three such envelopes sitting on my desk right now and one of them isn’t even a Country Threads pattern! It has a copyright name and date of 2000 – and I didn’t think I recognized it when I first saw the quilt. Then I saw that tiny copyright in the corner. Ugh.
Good thing I worked outside yesterday because today is miserable – wind blowing 30+ mph so I’m staying inside today. Does anyone else see a change in the bird migration this year? I saw only 3 male rose breasted grosbeaks and they’ve already left. I’ve only had a few goldfinches and I usually have dozens and dozens! And the grape jelly is out for the orioles but I haven’t seen any yet.
Still only 3 cases of Covid-19 in our county since March 1. I can’t wait to eat in a restaurant again, shop in a quilt shop, and go to Target! How about you?
I will close with this sweet picture sent by R.H. of two new calves born in Michigan.
Be still…..
We have Baltimore and Orchard orioles, grosbeaks, finches, thrushes so far. Have not seen some of the others that usually migrate through. Saw one bluebird and neighbor saw some indigo buntings. Definitely not the usual numbers though.
Here in Laguna NIGUEL, California we have two pair of bluebirds. One pair is using a birdhouse in my front yard. I sit and stitch and watch them . Through this virus situation they have kept me amused. Feeding the babies now!
Never had bluebirds in our area, that I have seen.
Patty – you’re very lucky! I’ve never even seen a bluebird!
Perhaps just write Business closed/Return to sender on those envelopes, return them to the post office on your next trip to town and be done with it! Or just throw them away!
I agree with Lisa.
The pictures are such fun! Little Angel is the sweetest girl. Loretta jumped up on the porch swing with me today, first time. I don’t know birds very well, but we live in a wood sided house and have very small woodpeckers pecking away on the siding. They have a white stripe across their eyes and long peckers(!), beaks and are making holes all over the front. In the past we’ve had big woodpeckers making big holes!
This weekend is forecasted to be nice. I hope so, we are having our Mother’s Day tailgate lunch. The kids on theirs, us on ours, and between us…8 feet🤗.
Have a great week everyone.
Jo in Wyoming – send me a picture of Loretta for the blog – I forget what she looks like. Long peckers, huh? Oh, Jo, I just had to tease you!
Okedokey, I’ll find a good one of Loretta.
I hope you got a chuckle😀 over the woodpecker!
Jo in Wyoming – loved the woodpecker description !!!!
I learn so much on your blog. I didn’t know orioles like grape jelly! Love all the pictures!! I’m almost finished with May’s DD. Sorry you went to bed in tears but glad that Lola went to a good home.
I’m in the country, surrounded by plowed fields so only trees are on our property, not ideal for drawing a lot of birds to feeders as they prefer to fly with cover vs out in the open where hawks and eagles can pick them off.
I will get maybe one cardinal in spring but so far none. Usually have a few Orioles for a few weeks in spring and so far none. Have only had a handful of gold finches so I agree, the birds coming to the feeders is definitely down this spring.
Love seeing everyone’s quilts and projects, really a bright spot in my day so thanks to all of you sending Mary photos.
I’m glad your foster pups found new homes. The overpopulation of dogs and cats in the US is so tragic. We get dogs and cats dumped by our house often, it’s so frustrating especially when they’re huge dogs and no idea if they’re friendly. We have no recourse in our county to deal with strays, the sheriff will come out and shoot them but we, the property owners are responsible for disposing of them. I don’t appreciate that people put that responsibility for their unwanted pet onto me. 🙁
Teresa – I agree with you! Why doesn’t the pet owner euthanize the animal if they don’t want them – it’s not fair!!!
My jelly feeder in Des Moines is seeing Baltimore Orioles but not near as many as we’ve had the last couple years. Also eating the jelly are catbirds and a small red bird that’s been around about a week that I haven’t seen before. Research makes me think it’s a Summer Tanager, which would be rare for here. The Scarlet Tanager would be more likely but there is no black whatsoever on this red bird. The grosbeaks have already disappeared after a short fly through. I’ve had hummers too. My neighbor saw an Orchard Oriole this morning. Love seeing all the different birds!
After my dad passed away, all his mail came to us. Lots of it because he subscribed to every political org out there. They kept coming, over and over. He got more mail than we did. So, they told us to write Deceased/Return to Sender. We did not even have to put a stamp on the return. It worked like a charm. After a while, no more mail. I agree with the others. Try it and see.
Those little girls are SO adorable.
The finishes are all wonderful. Especially love the apple wall hanging.
The weather has been so up and down this spring and that certainly seems to have affected the timing of migratory birds. Here in west central Illinois, we’re a bit warmer and the last 10 days I’ve seen many more birds. Just finished our first quart jar of grape jelly in the feeder. Besides orioles, our house finches gobble it up. We also have catbirds heavily feeding on the jelly. They’re quite elegant looking! We are starting to have raccoons raid the feeders, though, so take some of them in at night.
I am so hopeful that your puppies have gone to a wonderful, loving forever home. You sure helped them learn to love someone and to enjoy life. ❤️
We have a Baltimore Oriole, and just this afternoon we saw both the male and female eating the grape jelly. We had not seen the female before today. So do they leave us? I was hoping we had some baby Orioles around here so they would stay longer. I have seen the purple finch (it has red on its head and part of its body) eating grape jelly as well. I have no idea why their name is “purple”. We also have a grosbeak here, plus other birds. I love watching them. We have several different woodpeckers, large and small. It is windy here today as well. Yesterday was a perfect day to be outside. I planted some flower seeds in an old bathtub we have in the yard, and also flower boxes on the deck. Will see if they grow. I haven’t been out to bou any planted flowers yet. Our green beans are starting to emerge out of the ground. Always enjoy your blog. Have a great day inside. I’m in, too.
Jeanine from Oskaloosa – yesterday was near perfect, wasn’t it? Oh but today was horrible! So windy the birds didn’t even try to land!
What beautiful children! Thanks for the pictures, Mary. Sorry you had such a sad night worrying about the puppy!
There was/is a German Shepherd who had/has been in the town animal shelter over 5 years. A 2019 graduating senior girl made the dog his own dog house as her senior project! Nice article in the local paper about it. Local stores donated supplies.
Launa – why doesn’t someone adopt that poor dog? I wish i lived closer – is there someth8ng wrong with the dog? Yes, aren’t those little girls just darling?
Bless you for taking such good care of those pups, so relieved that all is well with little miss Lola! I do love, love, love your alphabet quilt! That precious little Angel on the Gator seat is such a sight to behold! Little Luna is every bit an angel, too; just precious with her big sister and family. I’ve had a good variety of birds this spring, would love to see an Oriole but they’re scarce here. Take good care~
So…another dog by the name of Lola that badly needs a home? Hmmm. Divine intervention? maybe Hazel needs to visit…
Those little girls are so beautifully sweet. I am glad that your Lola wasn’t the one waiting to be adopted, Mary. But I feel bad for the older dog. Hazel is so sassy and so lovable. Stay home or the wind will blow you away!
Felicia – don’t you just love those little girls? The wind blew so hard today, the screened porch is covered with bits of leaves blown right off the tree!
I am so glad it was another Luna and not yours. I can see you were so distressed thinking about her alone in a cage at night. It brought tears to my eyes just thinking about it. You will sleep like a log tonight at peace.
It just shows you care. That is why we all love you So much.
Angie from Baltimore – I’m going to post her picture with her new mom for all of you to see!
We currently have a bunch of blue jays, cardinals, brown thrashers, one redwing, sparrows, wrens, tree swallows, finches, morning doves, and lots of wild turkeys. I hear geese fly over in the evening, and there were a couple of ducks in the field the other day. Our weather has been cold and windy, but they say we’ve finally seen the last frost for the time being. Hubby broke a bunch of ribs and had a partial lung collapse last week, so don’t know when he’ll be able to do any gardening, but day by day, he’s feeling better and is less painful. So glad your puppies were adopted, but will miss seeing pictures of them.
Linda Baker – How in the world did he break ribs and collapse a lung??? One time I broke 5 ribs falling off a ladder and it was so hard to breathe. Is he sleeping sitting up? Tell him not to get a cold or a cough – it will hurt like crazy to cough! You’ll have to wait on him for awhile, huh? Not that Rick waited on me of course. As a matter of fact, he said, “if you’re gonna be dumb, you’d better be tough!”
So did you go get Miss Lola?😪😥😪😥
Mary! country threads was such a stellar shop and known and loved by many far and wide. People still have good feelings about your product and do not realize what they are asking of you. I can remember the sheer joy I would feel when I would be able to fit in a visit to the shop. It was EXCITING!
Hi Mary, I got a lovely surprise to see my son and family when I looked at your blog, the girls are perfect, and Stella has been singing to Luna, so all is going well! I must look for my oldest UFO s, 26 years old they are and only small quilts, give me a hand quilted queen size one to work on any day( I only have 2 of those to be finished) enjoy your day,best wishes from Sandy
Sandy – we are all fans and admirers of Stella and Luna – I’ll bet you can’t wait to see them!
Mary, maybe write a generic note you make copies of and stick in envelopes as requests come… “We closed in 2014 and no longer sell our patterns. Please pass the word into fellow quilters.”
Or, Return to sender across the front sounds like a great idea!
We have an oriels very busily building their beautiful nest in the maple tree in the front yard! They are feeding in their jelly dish and sipping from oranges, and singing and calling like mad. The yellow finches, chickadees, grosbeaks, cardinals, blue jays, robins and juncos are building nests and going to feeders all day. I love spring!
Carol at Pin Oak – I found one oriole nest several years ago and I saved it as it had blown down late in the season – what an engineering feat it was!
Your birds are so different from what I see here..seems like the same cardinals are back, lots of bluejays and carolina wrens and bluebird. Doves abound and I saw the woodpecker that used to climb all over my elm which died last year from borers. Grr Gloria has quite the transportation to wheel around in while planting flowers with Angel! HA
Sherrill – yes, Gloria rides in style – she worked for and retired from John Deere so she’s driving the right brand! Haha! Doesn’t Angel look just perfect sitting there?
Our county, which is Laurel in KY has had 21 cases. .I am concerned about all the kids getting sick from this. I think you need another doggy baby to love on!
I must share as long as you mentioned birds. I have feeders just outside the sliding doors to the dog yard.(sewing room) On mother’s day while I talked to my kids on facetime I had male and female cardinal,goldfinches,grosbeaks,purple finches,chickadee, orioles,a blue jay,sparrows and starlings of course,all in one day. I have never had grosbeaks. Today and yesterday I had cat birds plus all the others. Not sure if one catbird or if the one kept coming back. Tomorrow I will turn 74. Hoping for sunshine and less wind so I can plant some of my annuals. So glad it was not your lola. Judy
Judith Ann – I absolutely love having all those birds in my yard but this year it is unusually quiet. Happy Birthday tomorrow. I sorta figured we were the same age.
Lovely blog post today. Precious pictures of Luna and her family. That Angel sitting on the John Deere is really something! She’s posing so perfectly. And thanks for sharing my photo of the calves.
I love your alphabet quilt books and have one I recommend. It is “S is for Stitch” by Kristyne Czepuryk. Combines embroidery with quilting so is a great book.
Hopefully our weather is turning warmer for good in Michigan. I worked all day in my sons garden. We are putting in a vegetable garden. We’ve been growing vegetables from seeds for about 6 weeks now. As soon as we get the new garden fenced, the plants will get in. Take care.
We have WAY more than usual gold finches. I was just telling the neighbor that I think they had a population explosion! We also have more bluebirds than usual. Actually saw a whole flock of them fly through the yard from our tree. The neighbor has a bluebird box and we will soon have five more bluebirds in our neighborhood!