More Sprints

Years and years (and years) ago, I had a guinea pig named Teddi that loved to sprint across the floor.  I have not had a guinea pig (or the right floors) do that since.  Until now.  In the last few weeks Wedgie has taken to spending more time on the floor.  Nearly any day I open the gate on the cage, she'll come down to explore; occasionally making burbling traveling noises like Cannoli used to.

Then zoom!  She hits into turbo.

I Like Thursday: Dancing, Drapes and Daffodils

Busy week!  It's been hard to catch a breath.  But lots to like.

I like volunteering.  I helped with NEFFA setup, which was so satisfying.  I like being useful, plus there's something magical about turning a school into a festival site. 

The weekend flew by so quickly.  I danced lots and lots and put more than 35 miles on my pedometer.

I liked the banana hat this guy was wearing on Friday night.  LOL.

I love it when dancing feels like flying. The right music, the right partner - ah, it was wonderful.

I loved the chaos dancing set!  It's pretty much as it sounds:  a contra dancing set in which you technically follow the caller's directions, but are constantly swapping partners and roles and direction.  Chaos.  Lovely, happy people, all laughing because no one knew what would happen next.

Crazy Robin

Yesterday I had a crazy robin spend nearly the entire day flying at the window.  He wasn't attacking himself.  He just appeared to want to go through the window, or expected to be somewhere else.  After I took the video I put the screen in (I remove it in the winter to hang a bird feeder).  I hoped to get rid of any reflection he may be reacting to and to cushion his impact.  Did it slow him down at all?  Nope.  He had the bonus of landing on the screen to peer in.

He continued this until noontime, at which point I opened the window (because warmth!  sun!  finally!).  But as soon as I closed it later in the afternoon, he returned and went through the whole process until after 5pm.


He's not back today, but it's pouring rain.  We'll see what happens tomorrow....

Telltale Signs

There are a variety of telltale signs when a guinea pig is in residence.  Granted, there's no hiding a cage or the loud wheeking.  But so many things you don't ever think about shout:  Guinea pigs live here!




Hay.  It's everywhere.  On the floor.  In every. single. room of the house.  On my clothes.  I've even found it in my suitcase once.  How did it get there?!?

I Like Thursday: Mmmm....

Up this week:  food, dancing and sewing.

It's a treat when Charlie (aka the Cookie Man) brings cookies to the Rehoboth dance.  Everyone likes Charlie cookies.  I was excited to find bags of his cookies at last week's fundraiser.  I brought extra money just to procure these.  They are seriously yummy.

NEFFA!  It's coming!  I enjoy helping with setup, which is how I'm spending part of my morning today.  The festival kicks off Friday evening.  I plan to be dancing a lot all weekend!

Scrappy Stuff

I tied up three scrappy projects this weekend (and started the next quilt - yes I have!).

Wrapped up the pillow made from the triangle trimmings.  I ended up fusing some fabric to the quilted batting rather than letting it all hang out.  I made an envelope back for it.  It will fit a 14" form.  Next time, I need to make the opening a bit more off-center.  It's a bit of a struggle stuffing it (not that you'd be doing that all the time).  I like it.

Not the Nails!

As if I didn't get enough nail clipping at the Pig-a-Palooza last Sunday, I decided that Wedgwood was long overdue for a nail trim.  Saturday was a nice sunny (and warm!) day.  Perfect for nail clipping.  Out we went.

There was a lot of complaining but no wriggling, not even a nibble.  A well behaved pig - a welcome relief from last week.  Or, maybe it was all the practice I got?  I gave Wedgwood the impression of knowing what I was doing.

She was so adorable just hanging out and waving her nose around that I had to run in and get the camera.  Look at that face.  Then she went back in for a well deserved treat.

Good pig!

Pig-a-Palooza Treats Giveaway

I attended another wonderful Pig-a-Palooza and was unable to resist the goodies at When Guinea Pigs Fly and Salem Pet Photo.  I purchased a couple of cards I had to have - those I'm keeping.  But I'm willing (just barely) to part with the adorable stickers (from When Guinea Pigs Fly) and the LOVE-ly bookmark (from Salem Pet Photo).

The giveaway is for both the stickers and the bookmark.  To enter:  leave a comment telling me which sticker item your guinea pig would like best (if it was real).  I think Wedgwood would be hard pressed to choose between the hay cave and the carrot.  If you're a no-reply blogger, please include your email address in the comment.  If you can't comment (I am told occasionally that the comments don't work), email me (address is on my About Me tab).  I will pick a winner at random from the comments/emails.

The drawing closes on Friday, April 20th at 12pm EDT.  Congrats Diana! 

I Like Thursday: Bags, Book and Bits

It's Thursday - time to like stuff, thanks to I Like Thursday over at Not Afraid of Color.

I'm frugal, and it's a pleasure eking out something useful from the last bit of scrap that would otherwise be tossed out.  I particularly like the black and blue shoe bag.

I'm really enjoying The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (a pseudonym for J.K. Rowling).  I heard of it when it had first came out, but ignored it because of the hype and I'm not hugely into murder mysteries.  Recently it was recommended to me by an acquaintance, so I figured I'd give it a try.  Was chuckling before the end of the first chapter - always a good sign.  Now 100 pages into it and very much enjoying it.  Bonus - there's more books in the series (my reading list is ever-growing)!

Now What Do I Do?

I'm working on the last of my clean-up projects before setting my sights on the next quilt.  I'm down to the very last of my dreaded dress fabric.  The linen went wonderfully with some black and white fabric I have been hording, as well as leftovers from my summer bed quilt.  I've been wanting to try this Folded Star paper pieced pattern for a while, so I killed two birds with one stone.  It's a bit small for a mug rug.  I may throw on a border and call it done.  Maybe the black?  Maybe some more of the melon green?  Hmmm...

Pig-a-Palooza 2018

I'm writing this only hours after returning from the 2018 Pig-a-Palooza held at Nevins Farm in Methuen, MA.  Whew!  It was another crazy, well-attended, successful event.  Lots of happy people.  Lots of cute pigs, many of them are Nevins alumni.  I am wiped out after clipping nails for nearly two hours.

Not sure which way was up on that red piggie.  The texel pig was sooo laid back; the white and grey one so tiny!

#AdoretheSchwarz

The first wedding quilt is done!  And delivered, so I can share.  Finally!  I'm thrilled I had enough fabric to do the cornerstones in blue instead of espresso (when complete, all I had was a 2x8" strip left over).  It's such a small change, but I think it makes a big difference in the overall look.

Added bonus - the snow melted and the wind died down long enough to photograph the quilt in my favorite spot.

Lots of photos - all the stuff I wanted to show off while making this quilt.

I Like Thursday: Recovery

A quiet week.  My neck and shoulders still hurt from last Saturday.  What the heck did I do to myself?  I've been trying to take it easy - a little reboot and recovery.

I like eating my share of the Easter candy we made.  Serious sugar overload on Sunday, but I've paced myself since then.   

I like finding Wedgwood snuggled up. She doesn't use the tunnels as often as she used to, so it was a pleasant surprise to see her curled up in there.  She's been in there most of this week.

I enjoy sending little surprise packages to people.  Some paves to my sister, toffee to some others.

Manly Mug Rugs

I'm dragging my feet a little on my next big quilt in order to finish up some stuff I had been working on prior to Sunshine.  One project was a pair of mug rugs made from the last scraps from my charity shirt quilt.  These are fun!  I really like the colors and got a chance to practice some more free motion quilting.

Candy Making 2018

Happy Easter!

I was apprehensive about tackling candy making this year.  Work has kept me preoccupied the last couple of months; I feel like I'm always on the go and slightly behind.  I attended an experienced contra dance Friday night.  I stayed later than I intended (but not as late as I'd have liked).  It's hard to turn down good dancers and a great caller.  I awoke Saturday morning with stabbing pain in my neck/shoulders and a half-functioning brain.  Not an auspicious start!

But some ibuprofen, a large cup of tea and a chatty, lovely group of gals in the kitchen made all the difference.  The day flew by.  I plunked down on a chair after everyone had left and thought:  what a wonderfully satisfying day.  A lot of hard work, mind you, and a lot of standing in the kitchen.  I logged nearly 1.5 miles between 11am - 4pm going back and forth between the stove and the table.

Every year it's an adventure.  We've made most of these confections for a decade and yet, no matter how many notes I take, there's still gotchas.  You'd think as a crew we'd have it down pat.  But it's only once a year and little things change. Or I forget to record something that's obvious at the time, but not so much so a year later.