In A Bookish, Quilty Mood

Advent is a time of waiting, of preparation for the Christmas miracle. Of being mindful of the great gift God presented humanity in the form of a helpless baby destined to die thirty-some years later on a cross. My husband and I appreciate the season of Advent, and this afternoon I arranged four candles on our coffee table. Then it was time to attend to chicken maintenance; I needed to add sand and wood ash to the dustbathing box, change out the waterers both in the coop and run. And then clean out poop. Because even if today is the first Sunday of Advent, those chickens aren't going to do any of those tasks for me. In letting the hens out of the run, I guided them into the garden. A couple wanted to poke around freely, but I had things to do and fortunately the chickens acquiesced. In counting them, I was down one, and saw no one loitering in the run. My hubby headed to the coop to see who was dithering. Observing the hens, I realized Camilla was missing, which seemed odd; she...

Formerly titled Giving thanks 2025 , but I didn't get around to writing this yesterday, so.... Sew buttons. Or Ah so !  as Brynn, Mirella, and Finny might say. So on and sew forth, or myriad takes on so and sew and when am I going to make any sense? Maybe I'll never be perfectly clear, but Saint Paul does write that currently we see through a glass dimly (1 Corinthians 13.12), and I believe he knew what he was on about. Cami calculates the distance to the ground, or something like that. Last night I didn't have much in the way of clarity, but usually the road is darkest before the dawn. Today is cloudy, yet the chickens had an outing, and in her haste to join her sisters, Cami launched, then landed atop our aged greenhouse. It's not like Eric's , and Cami certainly isn't a hawk . She squawked LOUDLY, trying to figure out how to reach the ground, then finally edging her way to the end of the roof, she flew somewhat gracefully, reaching terra firma. She's a fu...

The block on the right was sewn last night. Don't those safety pins look annoying? Last night I worked on the Quilt of Grace (QoG); I appliqued one Lucy Boston block (LBb) in place, then hand-quilted around it, and in a few other spots accessible as only THREE blocks remain to secure! Out of thirty, which makes me pleased to have (slowly) accomplished that much hand-stitching. Each block requires some hand-quilting within, but I'll save that until later, because, well, in appliqueing them I remove more safety pins. And right now, removing safety pins seems to be the greatest joy of all! Safety pins are much happier safely ensconced in shaped plastic. Or I'm much happier, one of the two. What a silly notion, ridiculous even, but I can't help feeling super-victorious with every pin I gently toss into the plastic container on the coffee table. That container is nearly full, and I'll need those implements for my next project, which I am hoping to start next week, heh he...

Quilt top DONE! A quilt top that's been on the wall for, um, weeks. A quilt top that until yesterday afternoon was loose squares, waiting so patiently for me to, um, get to it! Git 'er done, as my daddy would say. I put it up there well over a month ago, in anticipation for rain that came and went, followed by copious storms that didn't make a single dent in all those squares. Aligned they rested, lingered, loitered.... Then yesterday morning I had a new shiny pop into my brain, but to attend to new shiny, old faithful had to go. LOLOL! Maybe that's what I'll call this quilt, Old Faithful. Made up mostly of Anna Maria prints, it's some of my oldest and newest faves. Made for.... Maybe me, maybe. Or maybe it will be for someone else, because let me tell you, the corners are PRECISE! Some of the best nesting of seams I have accomplished, which makes me wonder if it's going to again wait for the perfect moment to be gifted. Of course, I need to finish it first....

A possible cover shot for an upcoming installment of The Hawk . This was the view at our second residence while living in England. Sometimes, well into writing a manuscript, I realize the true purpose for said story. Occasionally it's not at all related to why I began telling that tale; The Enran Chronicles qualifies, as do drafts I'll never publish, yet just as vital to me are those yarns spun for reasons only I needed to grasp. When I started writing The Hawk , I thought it was going to be a short story. Laughing Out Loud! As it became something far more encompassing, I accepted it was a way to work through massive personal issues; becoming a grandmother as my father died, finding my role as a woman no longer that young, etc, etc, etc. But well into a third of the saga emerged previously unplanned characters and story lines which are some of the most meaningful I have been blessed to translate from my heart onto a virtual page. The scene that follows is but one example, as S...

Camilla and Cami in front, assorted Barnevelders behind them. Snapped yesterday by my husband. Still reading through Nothing More Complicated . And am happily amused by the silliest chickens in my realm... So, chickens you say! Oh those chicksters.... Yesterday afternoon I was shoveling poo from along the wall, what I do every three or so days. As I shoveled, the chickens dug through the straw, looking for any additional kernels of seed. Occasionally they clucked when my shovel moved too quickly for their liking, LOL. I noticed the dustbath box, or dustbox as we've started calling it, needed to be stirred, so I went for my stick, not shutting the coop door firmly closed. And suddenly I notice Owl Chicken slipping through the gap, making her getaway from the coop. Okay, I thought, you naughty chicken! Then more rightly I berated myself for not closing the door properly. Lol not lol! She was NOT KEEN on being coerced back into the coop, far more willing to explore her newfound freed...

This hat comes first because I made it before the other two, and it's already been through the wash, hence the fuzziness around the edges. Because my chickens need some sun! And I need to appreciate the lessening daylight just like I adore the lengthening days.... It's also five weeks until the last Sunday in Advent, but I didn't know that until I checked the calendar, finding that the solstice coincides with Advent. Which isn't so much what this post is about, but it is fascinating. Anyway.... What made me think about the solstice was the chickens. They get so little sun these days, and that won't improve significantly until, well, February. Lol. Poor chickies, not that they know any better, but I do and.... And there's very little I can do about it, other than let them into the garden when the garden is getting sun, then waiting. We live amid plenteous tall trees, and not until this year has the lack of winter sun been an issue, as thankfully I don't suffe...

Gratuitous chicken photo as Owl drinks from a tub in the garden while Cami gazes to the left. This is from Nothing More Complicated: The Hawk Book Four . Stanford Taylor inwardly debates the need for his soul while his longtime housekeeper Agatha Morris proffers the Alka-Seltzer amid 1962's Christmas preparations..... Enjoy!   As families prepared for the holidays, Stanford took stock of his role as an art dealer. He hadn’t blatantly told Eric he would no longer represent him, but Laurie had made Stanford’s feelings clear to both Snyders. Initially Stanford wasn’t sure how he felt about Laurie’s declaration, but it had eased Stanford’s mind, which was still burdened by all Laurie had learned on Thanksgiving. Stanford hadn’t seen Seth since that day, too busy preparing for Eric’s paintings to be shipped to London. The exhibit in New York would close on Sunday, just in time for Christmas. Then the canvases would head for Britain, and after that Stanford wasn’t sure what would happ...