It's Wild Around Here

Warning!!!   Warning!!!   Warning, Will Robinson!!!!  Okay, sorry I couldn't help myself with that opening from Lost In Space which was one of my favorite TV shows way back when. But seriously, if you're squeamish, look away NOW!!!

All the photos were taken with my iPhone. It's a handle thing since my camera is always misplaced.

 

As most of you know who follow me, I live in the country where there are plenty of wild things lurking about. In the above photo you are seeing a mole.......dead, thanks to my cousin Clark. This critter had been wrecking my yard for weeks leaving giant mole mounds. Clark is the local mole exterminator & he offered to "take him out" so to speak.

He did it!!! The mole was very crafty but Clark was patient. Look at the teeth on this thing....OMG!!!

I'm sure this isn't the end of my mole problem but it sure feels good to know that the granddaddy of all moles is no longer.  Thank You Clark!!!

Update:  Here's the latest photo of little "Show Girl," Showee for short. She stopped, posed for me, even started towards me in curiosity, then backed up. She's so funny to watch. Fairly soon afterwards she realized that her mom had moved off so off she dashed with her little tail in the air.

This beauty was fluttering about as I was gathering up some fallen branches after the big storm the other night. I was able to get quite close for the pic. This photo doesn't lend the beautiful coloring.

Finally, this is a photo of a branch/creek that fun thru the back forty. I'm thinking of doing a mini quilt from this pic.....if I have enough energy after all the hay baling.  We'll see.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and a nice Mother's Day.

Nuts About....Blog Hop!!

Greetings everyone!
 It's my day to post about what I'm "Nuts About!" First things first. I really appreciate Marian for inviting me to participate. She is a great hostess!! Make sure you pop in on her blog, as there are great give-aways each day that she talks about!!

Here is the schedule of bloggers who are involved in this wonderful February hop.

February 4, 2016
Words & Stitches
Moose Stash
Vroomans Quilts
Quilt In Pieces

February 5, 2016
Just Let Me Quilt
DesertSky
Lulu & Celeste
Marjorie's Busy Corner
Tea Time Creations

February 8, 2016
Batts In The Attic
Life In The Scrapatch
Quilting Affection
Ravelly's  -You are here!!
In The Boon Docks

February 9, 2016
Quilting Queen Online
Elizabeth Coughlin
Bumbleberry Cottage
All Things Sewn

February 10, 2016
MeadowBrook
Sew Many Yarns
From This To That
Seams To Be Sew

Make sure you stop by each blogger to see what they have come up with.

Here's what I came up with because I'm a bit off kilter and have been known to go a little nuts.....

My attempt at sketching a design.

Fabrics chosen and I sewed peanut type lines. Notice the wildly nutty eyes....yeah, that's my expression most of the time.....heheheheheheh

I went with a cross-word type puzzle to name a lot of the things I'm nuts about. 

1. I love studying the bible. Jesus is my Counselor, my refuge.
2. My mom is my best friend, of course, followed by my wonderful Cowboy who is always there to support me, even going so far as to advise me on quilting designs. Surprisingly, he's right 95% of the time.....hummmmmm
3. I love baking and cooking meals for family and neighbors. My favorite foods are shrimp and candy....not eaten together, BTW!!! I can eat a bag of Skittles on the way home from the market but let's keep that bit of knowledge between you and me.
4. I had to add fabric and sewing. That's in my blood. Our local quilt shop just announced that it's going out of business so I'm chomping at the bit to shop there one more time to aid them reducing so much inventory.
5. I love movies such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Guarding Tess, The Sound of Music, The Thomas Crown Affair, just to name a few. I've seen these movies so many times while in my sewing studio that I don't even have to look up to know what's going on.
6. I am nuts about jigsaw puzzles to the point that when I start one, I am fixated on it until it's completed to the exclusion of anything else. That includes no sewing. I barely stop to eat. I know that sounds a bit "nuts" but that's just the way I roll.
7. And finally, I'm nuts about my Wacky girlfriends who are like sisters to me. We are always coming up with 'wacky' things to get into and are supportive when one of us going off the deep end on a fabric spree. We are so close that we once went on a sewing cruise but wound up not doing much sewing but enjoyed the sites and locals a lot. That's all I'll say because we all know, "What happens on a cruise, stays on the cruise!"  

Here's a close up of the tiny meandering I did around the peanut area.

This quilt measures 31 /12" by 21 1/2".

Now to the give aways....... 

from the wonderful folks at the Fat Quarter Shop   

&

Free pattern from Any Pattern.com

To enter click on the link below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Oh my gosh! More & More..............

 

Our local post office lady thought I was a bit nuts asking all kinds of questions about shipping prices nationally and internationally and how much I could cram in the box, close it successfully and tape it tight. She just shook his head and shooed me away after the umpteenth question.......the box weighs 16.4 lbs. Just under the 17 lb. qualification.....Yeeeeeepy!!

Lookie what I found to add to my "big give-away!"

Yes, these books & more are going into the box.....that's why I had to know the weight.

I was so excited when I found the books. Of course I looked through them and thought "oh, why didn't I make that and why am I putting this in the give away!" Who am I kidding? There is no way that I'm going to make all those wonderful projects but maybe someone else will or they can re-gift it to another. Who knows.....I have to tell you, when I was looking through the books, several were duplicates. Has anyone else bought two of something? Good grief, the money I spent....oh well.

If you haven't left a

  comment HERE

to be counted, there's still plenty of time. The only requirement is that you have to be a FOLLOWER of my blog whether it's recent of you're an old timer. I'll announce a winner on June 20th, so tell everyone you know to pop over and leave a comment!!

Now to clear up, hopefully,

 that strange dog silhouette for some of my blogging friend who just couldn't see it.

Said silhouette frontal view

Boxer

Pincers

Can you envision the dog now? LOL 

My silhouette doesn't have eyes. I think that would have helped a bit. I'll do better next time.

Mother Knows Best

Last year mom had heart surgery and came through it amazingly, phrase God! Her doctors and ICU nurses were amazing and very kind. You can never thank them enough but I tried verbally and with some of my canned pickles.
I said all that just to get to this next part.......Erma Bombeck!   

Some of you may remember her, a columnist, humorist and mom. I reread her book (Forever, Erma) when my mom was in the hospital back then. It got me though a couple of tough moments.  I ran across the book last night and thought I need to share it with my blogging friends. You just might get a chuckle from the excerpts her son wrote as an assignment in 1975.

"Things My Mother Taught Me"

• Logic:  "if you fall off that swing and break your neck, you are not going to the store with me."
• Optimism:  "You are going to enjoy yourself at that birthday party or I am going to break every bone in your body."
• ESP:  "Put on the sweater! Don't you think I know when you are cold"
• Science:  "You put your hand out the car window and it will blow off."
• Finance:  "I told you the tooth fairy is writing checks because computerized billing is easier for the IRS."
• Challenge:  "Where is your sister and don't talk with food in your mouth. Answer me!"
• Ethics:  "If you are too busy to take out the garbage, you are too busy to need an allowance."
• Genealogy:  "Shut the door. Were you born in a barn?"
• Suspense:  "Can you guess what I found under your bed today?"
• Humor:  "Stop monkeying around because when that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."