Patience is a virtue

Yikes! I never intended such a long time between posts. Don't know what happened, except that I had a few unexpected days off work around Easter and I suspect it threw me off my schedule. I can't wait for retirement when I can make up a new schedule - one that includes quilting and blogging whenever I want.

Rusty and Ginger hanging out at the water cooler

Also, I've been taking advantage of the good weather lately to work outside in the yard. Yesterday was glorious and much was accomplished. I planted my strawberries, pulled weeds. I took some of my flowers out of the greenhouse to plant before commen sense overtook me and I remembered it was only the first of May. Still enough cold weather in the next few days to kill tender flowers. Saw my first Calliope hummingbird of the season, as well as a couple of yellow-rumped warblers hopping from tree to tree. The hummingbirds are late, but it's still good to see them.

Snow still on what passes for a mountain in these parts

The Saskatoons are in bloom - also called Serviceberries in some places

I even had a Liberal candidate at my door last night (it's election day in Canada today). She didn't stay long once I told her I'd already voted in the advance poll last week, but at least she made the attempt to visit the constituents. I've only seen two of our five (or six?) candidates here since the election was called. It's a huge riding, and they all live in the larger cities in the southern part of it. The city voters usually determine the election's outcome, so the candidates don't really need to shmooze us folks in the small towns (although you never know), and they usually don't. We do have a local man who is running as a candidate, but he'd doing it in another riding. Go figure. Anyway, the polls are just about to close and the rest of the night will be spent in counting ballots and listening to election coverage.

I haven't done much at my sewing machine lately. The area is still a mess, but guilt finally overcame me today and when the cold, nasty winds picked up outside, I shoved the mess aside and started working on a quilt that has been waiting patiently for me, collecting cat hair as it sits folded over a dining room chair. Unfortunately, I don't have the same patience at the moment and I decided to take a break after a couple of really dumb mistakes. I'll get back to it later tonight.

I always start quilting by outlining certain shapes in the blocks - in this case, friendship stars. Stitch in the ditch is my own way of basting the quilt. Some call it stabilizing. Once that's done, I get out the fancy thread and ruin it all with my freemotion quilting. I need to practice more, but the best way to practice is just to do it. I need more small projects to practice on.

The quilt I'm working on is a lap quilt. Not a full sized quilt, but larger than what I've been working on lately. One of my biggest problems is getting all that material through that little 6-inch throat. If I'm not paying attention and constantly straightening everything out, my stitching gets all crammed in some areas and stretched in others. You need lots of patience.

One of the local ranches invited everyone to come and meet their goats

Ever wonder what a llama's tongue looks like? It seems that all creatures love to be touched

And the star of the day, their newest baby goat

But, New Moon in Taurus today. New Moons are great for starting (or re-starting) projects, and Taurus is a home-loving sign. Very patient, but boy, when they've had enough, Taureans can just blow their stack and it's like an atom bomb went off. But when they're patient, they can move mountains and accomplish great things. Let's use that thought for this month's quilting.

Until next time,