More signs of spring

Photos from this morning... spring is definitely here!

Of course it wouldn't be spring without dandelions. This is the first one I've seen so far. Or second. It had a twin nearby.

And the violas (a.k.a. johnny jump-ups) always bloom early.

But my tulips started opening yesterday!

This is actually the one I went out to photograph:

And closer:

Did you notice the background above?

Yep, I was getting an assistant, Miss Mia. She had her eye on the same flower I did.

Awwww......

That was a lucky shot - ha!

Newbies

The first of the season! (Or the first that I've seen, anyway. Autumn's mama may have some at the neighbor's... I'm not sure.) These were born overnight Saturday night, so were just a few hours old when I took the pics yesterday morning.

These, at least, are in our machine shed and easy to get at. I have a large doghouse in there that's lined with straw, and they're inside that. It kind of puts the other cats out of their bed, but the weather's warmer now and they maybe didn't sleep in there anymore, anyway.

Here's their mama, having breakfast:

Nope, it's not Rainbow, although they look a lot alike. This is Dash (Annabelle's mother). She and Rainbow might be sisters... I can't remember anymore. Dash is a VERY protective mother, and you (I) don't want to get too close to her when she has babies! (Actually, I can't get too close to her, anyway. I've never been able to pet her.) I had to take these pics of her babies quickly while she was eating. Fortunately, the roof of the doghouse lifts up handily.

Aren't they beautiful? I'm in love with the calicos already... and that white one is likely another Annabelle.

Crafting with Courtney

As I mentioned, Courtney was here all day on Monday because she had the day off from school for Easter vacation. She came loaded down with stuff! You saw the dolls in my last post, and they came in the bag I'd made for that purpose. Annabelle, who loves to get inside things, thought it was great for her purpose, too.

We soon had to dump her out of it, though, and hang it out of her range to avoid it getting too full of hair... or chewed on.

I'd requested that Courtney bring along her Sew Cool machine, since I hadn't yet had a chance to see it in operation. Here she is with two very curious onlookers.

Courtney did the whole project, which was for me, all on her own, except she asked me for my color choices.

There were some very tiny pieces!

She knew just how to put them together.

I see lots of sewing in her future. Just look at that concentration!

Voilà! Here is my tiny, winking bunny... cocky ears and all! He even has a bit of stuffing in his little belly.

I've discovered that Courtney's little machine is actually a child-sized felting machine. They make machines like that (which look more like regular sewing machines) for adults, too! Just try googling "felting machine" and you'll get all kinds of results. There's even a hand-held one. I don't really see one in my future, but who knows? There are some really unique projects out there!

Easter gifts for Courtney

FINALLY I can show you what I made for Courtney for her Easter gift... I've been dying to show you for about 3 weeks (yeah, can you believe I had something done that far ahead of time? me, either!), but of course I couldn't because it might've spoiled the surprise.

First you must try to guess what I made. Here are 3 of the 4 pattern pieces. Keep in mind that those are ½" squares on my cutting mat. Can you guess?

Okay, what if I added the final piece... now can you guess?

In case you can't, here are the pieces turned over:

Yes, they're pattern pieces for a pair of loafers... very SMALL loafers! Finished they look like this:

Modeled by my assistant, Kit (true color above, not as dark as they look below):

Before making those, I'd also made a pair of sandals (from ribbon scraps and hair elastics):

You see, that's the problem when I go to the Pixie Faire website. Their patterns are just so darn cute that I can't resist! And I love making itty-bitty things. They're so quick and easy to make, and they're kind of a nice break from more complicated patterns. (Okay, that motorcycle jacket does not fall into the "quick and uncomplicated" category!) Mostly they're just plain fun. And so little - heehee!

Courtney was here all day on Monday because she had Easter vacation from school, and she brought her dolls along, so they got to try out their new shoes right away. Coincidentally, they happened to be wearing outfits (after we got them out of their nighties and dressed, that is) that went very well with their new footwear!

Here's a shot of the best friends!

You can about imagine that with Courtney being here for a full day, we had to do a little crafting. Or maybe more than a little. Of course I took pictures! Keep an eye out for them in future posts.

Big birds

I've noticed some bigger birds in the trees across the driveway from the house recently. This first one was a crow, I guess, but it sat there for an unusually long time. (I cropped all the photos way down for a better look.)

Occasionally it would open its beak and call (or at least I assumed that's what it was doing, since I was in the house with the windows closed and heard no sound). Or maybe it was sickly, I don't know.

Suddenly there was a bluejay above it, checking it out.

A few days later I saw an even bigger bird over there.

It turned its head around and I could tell it was a hawk.

I believe it's a red-tailed hawk. It soon flew off.

I put my birdbath out a few days ago. So far I've only seen a blackbird, a sparrow... and Rainbow (the cat) using it. Thankfully, no turkeys... yet... although they've been around plenty.

Their feathers are rather pretty when the sun shines on them. But I'd rather not see them at all. I think every single one survived the winter. Boo.