BACKYARD BIRD FEEDERS

One of the things that I love living in the country

is seeing and hearing all of the different birds

that fly through my yard.

This winter I did not do a very good job of feeding the birds.

One thing that I did do is that I left the dried flowers.

I some birds flying to them and eating the seeds.

Now that Spring is finally here, the birds

are out and about coming for visits.

The bird feeders are busy feeding the birds.

There are several things you can do to keep

your birds happy and healthy.

MORE IS BETTER

Crowded spaces can get messy really quickly.

If you only have one bird feeder and all

of the birds are coming to it,

you may need to put another feeder.

AFTER THE RAIN

Birds don't like to eat soggy and wet food.

If the feeders are not cleaned after it's rained,

the seed will become moldy and the birds can get sick.

I clean my feeders after every rain.

GOOD STORAGE

I keep my seed in a plastic container.

This keeps it safe from it getting bad.

It protects it from other animals getting to the seed.

CLEANING

A good rule is to clean your feeders at least once every new season.

Hummingbird feeders are the exception.  

They should be cleaned every week or

two during the height of the season.

All you need is a little bid of bleach to give them a good cleaning.

Scrub with a mixture of 10 parts water to 1 part bleach.

So go an enjoy feeding your birds.

CROCHET BABY BLANKET

I just finished making this baby quilt for a young couple that are having their first child.

This was a very easy blanket to crochet.

The stitch that I used was the double crochet.

Click on the link below to know how to do the stitch.

DOUBLE CROCHET

To make this blanket, I bought the chenille yarn from Joann.

The yarn I used was Bernat Baby Blanket yarn

I bought three of their large skeins which was $9.99 each.

.

1. I crocheted a chain 120 stitches. 

2. DC in 4th ch from hook. (This creates two double crochets next to each other because the last three in the row serve as the first double crochet).

3. Ch 1, sk 1.

4. In next chain work DC, ch 1, DC. This is the V-stitch.

5. Skip 2.

6. Repeat #4 and #5 across row until there are four chains left in your starting chain.

7. Ch 1, sk 2.

8. DC in each of the last two stitches. This completes your first row of V-stitches bordered by 2 double crochet stitches on either end of the row.

9. Now you’re ready to start your next row, so turn the work and ch 3 for your first DC of the new row.

10. DC in next DC.

11. Ch 1.

12. Work into the center chain one space of the first V-stitch. DC, ch 1, DC to create a V-stitch right in the center of the V-stitch in the row below.

13. Repeat #11 and #12 across row to the end of the V-stitches.

14. Ch 1, sk 1.

15. DC in each of the last two stitches.

JUNGLE PATH BABY QUILT

One of my closest friend's daughter is having a baby boy.
I held this young mother-to-be in my arms when she was a baby.
It's hard for me to imagine that she is now married
and going to be a mother.

I promised her that I would make her a baby quilt.
I saw the pattern for this pattern online and fell in love with it.
It is very easy to make.
The title for the pattern is called Jungle Path Baby Quilt
Click below to go to the link:
Moda Bake Shop

Here is the quilt all pieced and ready to be quilted.

I used a jungle print for the center of the blocks.

CHICAGO

I had to be up in Chicago to take care of my mother-in-law

while my brother-in-law and his family took a much needed vacation.

It was a long and hard ten days but I did get some time

to go and do some things with friends.

Where my mother-in-law lives is like a nature park.

There are deer all over the place.

It is very scenic and quiet.

These deer I literally could touch them if I wanted to.

One of the places that I still have not gone to

is Wrigley Field and watch the Chicago Cubs play.

My sons and husband have gone but not me yet.

 I went to a Cuban restaurant.  

The food was absolutely delicious.

The atmosphere was wonderful.

 My lunch and dessert below.

On the left plate is tostones and on the right is a Cuban sandwich.

I ate the tostones and brought the sandwich back home.

The dessert below is called flan. 

 This building is the place where I took my piano lessons

when I was a little girl.  I would go in on the

side door and up the stairs.  

I took lessons there for several years.

 I decided to take the scenic route on my way home to Indiana from Chicago.

The route I took had me go along Lake Shore Drive.

I had never been through this route and I loved it.

 One of the places that I always want to stop on my way back

from Chicago is Albanese Candy Factory.

This place is absolutely awesome.

Jorge and I always buy a 5 pound back of their

reject gummy candy and he buys for himself chocolate.

I highly recommend this place.

It's in Merrillville, Indiana.

One of the places that I love to go also is Fair Oaks Dairy Farm.

It's on I-65 exit 220.

I was able to watch a calf being born.

They have added several other buildings and they offer tours.

  

  

 Going through the small towns in Indiana

I was able to enjoy their uniqueness.

I realized that it doesn't matter where I go,

I still love old houses.  

They have so much character and charm.

One thing is for sure for me,

there is no place like home.

NOBLE-SEYMOUR-CRIPPEN HOUSE

I had to make a trip up to Chicago to take care of my mother-in-law.

Yesterday I was able to run a few errands.

An area that I drove through is Norwood Park.

I fell in love with the area because of the 

big and old beautiful houses there.

I stopped at a beautiful yarn shop.

The name of the shop is Woolly Lamb Yarn Studio.

It is located at 6007 West Nina Avenue.

The store is locally owned.

I fell in love with it.  They have quite an array of yarn.

I felt like I was in heaven with so many choices.

I also made a stop at the Norwood Park Historical Society House.

It is also known as the Noble-Seymour-Crippen House.

Sadly, the house was closed so I could not tour the inside.

But I was able to walk outside and take a couple of pictures.

I was intrigued about the history of the house,

so I decided to find out more about the house.

Here is what I found out.

The house is a mansion and the southern wing, built in 1833,

is considered the oldest existing building in Chicago.

The southern wing of the house was originally used as a farmhouse

by Mark Noble who was a Chicago pioneer.

He was the founder of the first United Methodist church in Chicago.

Thomas Seymour bought the house in 1868.

He added the Italianate style northern wing of the house.

He raised the roof on the older section of the house to build a second floor.

The Seymour family lived in the house until 1916.

Stuart and Charlotte Crippen bought the house.

He was a concert pianist and she was an actress.

The home was going to be their summer home

since it had no plumbing or electricity.

During the 1920's, they installed indoor plumbing

and electricity and added a second stairway.

Their children and grandchildren sold the home

to the Norwood Park Historical Society in 1987.

AMISH QUILT

Back in the Summer of 2011, my husband and I

made a trip out to the East coast on our motorcycle.

We really had a lot of fun and adventure on that trip.

We made it a point to not go on the highway

but to take secondary roads to see the beautiful scenery.

While we were riding through the state of Pennsylvania,

we passed through many Amish towns.

Of course we stopped at several quilt shops along the way.

At one of the shops that we stopped,

I bought a set of fat quarters in different shades

of purple and one black.

I loved the hues of the purple.

I had no idea what I wanted to make

but I knew I had to have it.

Well, it took several years before I finally decided to make a quilt.

I decided to make a small paper pieced quilt.

The block measures 5" finished.

I like the way the quilt turned out.

Now to decide how I'm going to quilt it.

 

This is the block that I drew up to make the blocks.

 I cut the fabric to the size that I needed to make each individual block.

 When I paper piece, I make sure that my fabric is a little larger

than the area that is on the paper.  It gives me more room.

I also use a light to reflect my fabric on the paper

to make sure that I'm sewing everything correctly.

Once I had the fabric aligned, I turned over the paper

very carefully so that I don't move the fabric.

I sew on the line.  I made sure that I set the length

on my sewing machine to 1.8.

I would iron each strip after I sewed them on.

This is what the block will look like

before it is trimmed to the size.

 I took my ruler and rotary cutter and trimmed the block.

I made sure that I would cut my block adding

a 1/4" seam allowance.

My rule is measure twice and cut once.

 Once all of the blocks are cut,

the design possibilities are many,

SHADYSIDE PARK

 In the town that I live there is a nice park.

Back when my sons were younger, my husband and I would

bring them here to walk, run, and play.

We made a lot of good memories.

This past Sunday my husband and I decided

to go back to the park and take our dog for a walk.

It was a beautiful and sunny day and it seemed

that a lot of other people had the same idea as we.

Dotty had a wonderful walk and so did we.

She loved it when people would pet her.

She's a very gentle dog and the kids loved on her.

As Jorge and I walked, we started

remembering all the times that we 

took the boys to the park.

We became very nostalgic and 

I know that I wanted to go back to that time

when my boys were young again.

 Dotty all excited going for a car ride.

She had no idea what an adventure she was going to have

 My Mr. Wonderful and Dotty.

 The geese and ducks were "talking" with each other

just having a wonderful day.

 These two guys were having a wonderful time on their kayaks.

 Dotty's leg was hurting her so we stopped to rest.

We had wonderful afternoon at the park.

Jorge and I plan to do more walks in the park and

we will be sure of taking Dotty with us.