Little finish today :)

I stitched this little piece today and will make a pretty pin cushion.

This design is from Pin Pokes I by Homespun Elegance. It stitched up fairly quickly. Such a cute little design! :)

I decided to add the little hearts... Looked like it needed some love ;)

Hope you are all getting some stitching time in today!

Raggedy stitches and Blessings,

Louise

Bluebird At My Window

The Lord knows I have been praying and worrying about our son leaving in just a few short days for the military. I could not barely sleep at all last night.
This morning we were awoken to the sound of "pecking" at our bedroom window.
We opened the blinds and saw the most beautiful Bluebird looking right in at us!
This bluebird has been flying back and forth at our windows all morning long...then pecking at the glass.
I do believe in signs from God..and even my husband thought perhaps it might be a sign like that saying to let them spread their wings and "fly". (Meaning our son).
That made me smile and I too think my husband felt this way when he saw this amazingly beautiful bird.
I looked up the meaning of "bluebird", and it symbolizes Happiness.
We wish our son all the happiness in the world..but perhaps the Lord was intending on letting us know that everything will work out with all our big changes and we will all be happy :)
I opened up the back door and was able to quickly catch a snapshot of our little visitor!
:)
Louise

Sunny WON! ..A family trip...

Thank you for those of you that voted for our dear bird Sunny on Facebook. He WON the contest! YAY!!!
The wonderful artist Bill Muck will do an 11 x14 pet portrait of our bird for us to hang in our home. We are so excited! He does amazing work, what a talented artist!
I will be sure to post a picture of this finished piece when we receive it. :)

Our family took a 3 day trip away up to the Carolinas this past weekend. The weather was just perfect! Not sure where God will place us to live yet, (North or South) we have a lot of thinking and praying to do ..but know wherever it will be, it will be where HE wants us to be at that perfect moment. We already looked at some homes . The Carolinas are really beautiful. Lots of flowering trees at the moment so the scenery was really pretty!

As we drove around I took lots of pictures to share with you...These are some old houses ..not houses we looked at to buy! Just some houses that were very old looking. I just happen to see these houses as we drove around and thought you might like to see them too :)

 

Pretty streets we drove down:

 Flowering trees:

Clovers for Saint Patrick's Day!! :

A WONDERFUL quaint restaurant my husband and I dined in just the two of us for a candle light lunch! "The Jasmine Cafe and Gift Shop" This is the restaurant from the outside....

 

and....photos of the inside!

So beautiful and so quaint! We really enjoyed ourselves. My husband had a reuben sandwich and I had a salad with grilled chicken and raspberry vinaigrette dressing. It was delicious!
One of the houses that we DID look at, and was absolutely beautiful and amazing was this one....

So very pretty, on a cul de sac, and the landscaping was just gorgeous! It is lots of fun looking at homes!

We have lots more searching to do, not only homes, but for a hometown! We may have changed our mind again as to where we actually want to live. With my husbands job relocation and with him traveling, we can sometimes be a little bit flexible.

I hope you all had a wonderfully Blessed and Happy Saint Patricks Day...the day wouldn't have been quite the same without seeing a leprechaun...so, without further ado...here is what we ran into on our trip! ;)

Thank you again for voting for Sunny! With your help he won the contest! :)

So very thankful to all of you,

Louise

Backyard Visitor

Earlier today I heard a screaming outside...
I went to see what all the clatter was about.
There was this very large bird flying around, then landed in a tree. I ran to get my camera, and this is what I snapped:

I thought it to be an owl at first..it was up quite high, had to zoom in with my camera..
After looking at the photo, It didn't look like an owl to me anymore...I thought perhaps a hawk.
I am not so sure about either, if you look at the beak, it is straight and not hook billed.
It appears to be a young bird..although large in size.
It has the sweetest face!

Anyone know what type of bird this might be?
Louise
***Edited to add***
Thank you to Abbie for your comment...I looked at the photos of a Swainson Hawk..but not sure the markings on the chest are just alike or not..I did look up Red Shouldered Hawk and noticed the chest has the same color marking and horizontal lines as the bird in my picture. The straight beak stumps me though! Might just be the picture itself and it's beak really isn't straight at all...

Hello Mr. Crow

So very nice to meet you..but you woke me up this morning with your loud calls!

This and That

I have decided I would like to make an attempt at doing the Raggedy Ann block of the month that the Painted Quilt is offering. (See button on the right side bar if interested!). It really is an adorable quilt..and everyone knows how much I love Ann and Andy. :)
I do not have a light box big enough for tracing, so made do with what I do have access to, and that is a nice bright window! It works! I used packing tape to hold the pattern to the window while I trace the design onto the fabric I purchased. I decided to go with a Kona cotton in place of muslin.
I have yet to pick out my quilt type fabrics for the blocks that will be placed around the design.
I have picked out the DMC cotton thread to backstitch the pattern and decided I like the darker red number 815 best! :)I am considering making the quilt all red and white..but we shall see...
I found out about this BOM (block of the month) a little late, so I am behind now, but that's ok. I just hope I can stick with it!
My husband is going to build me a sewing room, and I cannot wait! I haven't had a sewing room for many years now, and I know it is going to be worth the wait. Finally a place to organize all my stash again. We still have so many things to unpack, but it is so good to be back home again.


Our new Parakeet "Misty" has settled in nicely. Our cockatiel "Andy" is not lonely anymore! They really hit it off very well. Misty loves snuggling up to Andy. It is quite a sight to see! They really adore each other. Misty preens Andy, and he just loves it. We were surprised how well they took to each other, as they are different breeds of birds.



Yesterday we attended a reception line that was many miles long down a major road in our city. It was to welcome home a HERO! Corporal Tyler Southern, a wounded marine returned home from duty in Afghanistan. It brought tears to all of our eyes. He had lost both of his legs and one arm by an IED explosion.
He returned home for his 21st birthday this weekend.
Many people lined the streets, with flags, balloons, and wore red, white and blue.
I think all of our military should be welcomed home in this manner. We are so blessed to have our freedom here in America, and they help fight for our freedom.
Thank you to all our military!






I wish you all a weekend full of Blessings,

New Home, New Baby!

So much excitement has happened in our lives in the past couple of months. I have been one busy lady, with one very busy life! This will explain why I have not posted much as of late.
We have decided to relocate back home to the sunny state of Florida. We had a family meeting and decided it was the right choice for us. We missed Florida so much. We have so many family ties in Florida, so many friends here, and so many fond memories. Our children were raised in Florida, and the memories are so dear to our heart. We just couldn't stand to be away one more day. We have family here, and more of our family has also just relocated to Florida to be near us.
We are very excited! We found a beautiful home and are busy settling in. It is so exciting unpacking and decorating our new home.
The generosity upon our arrival back to Florida was overwhelming! Friends had meals for us, took care of our animals, and even unloaded two full trucks with us.
We continue to receive offers of help from everyone, even new neighbors.
We are very thankful for all of the goodness everyone has shown us, and we can see the work of our Lord in everyone surrounding us here in Florida.
We know for sure we made the right decision the minute we crossed that line into Florida!

There are so many craft stores in my town. This makes living here that much better!
A new quilt shop is opening up soon. I cannot wait! I will be visiting that shop weekly I am sure. I have already visited Michaels craft store and a Hobby Lobby, right down the block from our new home! I also visited the local stitching shop.
Yes, living here is pretty much heaven on earth.
I am one lucky woman! :)

As they say, New home, New baby , right? Well, yes, in a way, sort of!
We did acquire a new baby today! But not the human type...the feathered type. :)
We know Andy has been lonely since Sunny had passed on, so we decided to purchase another bird.
I took our daughter to the pet shop today and she picked out the prettiest parakeet. Blue and white, and oh so sweet! She decided to name her "Misty".
Andy and Misty get along really well, and they are very happy together.
:)

We are all very glad things worked out so well for us, and know that it was all in God's plan for us to come back home to Florida.
We are truly Blessed, and so very HAPPY!! :)


RaggedyStitches,
Louise

Birdie "SPA"

I just had to put this on my blog..it is the funniest site I see each day when I look out my window!
We did this last year and found that it really worked well for the birds outside.
You know those plastic containers that the sandwich meat comes in?
Well, we decided we could recycle them and use them for the birds.
We clean them up really good, fill them with fresh cold water, and place them outside on our deck railing for our feathered friends.

Usually we keep one out at a time..but I am thinking maybe perhaps we should start putting out more than one. They are starting to fight over who gets at the "spa" first!
It is the funniest and cutest thing to watch out our kitchen window everyday.

I decided to take out the camera and take some pictures. We have all sorts of birds visit, doves, robins, cardinals, even blue jays!

Here are just a couple of pictures for you to see.

The robin decided he liked it so much, he just sat there as if he was floating in the water. It was so histerical! I told my husband I was going to run and get the camera upstairs.. I thought for sure he would be gone by the time I came back downstairs to take the picture, and I couldn't believe my eyes when he was STILL sitting there in the container of water..he really had gotten a cooling off I suppose :)

The birds seem really happy with the little sandwich meat container filled with water..they bathe and drink from it..I usually have to refill it twice a day.

Love my feathered friends!

Raggedystitches,
Louise

Close Companion

Andy is now wanting to be close to us at all times. He is hardly in his cage at all since Sunny has passed. He doesn't screech at all as long as he is with one of us somewhere in the house. On our shoulder, or perhaps close by (on a counter, on a chair). He is presently next to me at the computer while I type, closing his eyes , taking a nap.
I guess he feels more secure knowing we still love him. I know how much he misses Sunny!

Lots to do today.I am cleaning out the house and have so much to do! I will be baking tonight for the church. I love the church we belong to. It is wonderful. We love attending mass each week. The priests make you feel so welcome and you really feel like you are part of a big family.
We also have big future plans coming up in the near future..
Our daughter has worked very hard since last September preparing for receiving the upcoming sacrament of Confirmation in our Catholic church.
We are very proud of her! She has volunteered at nursing homes, shelters, and at the church also. She has also attended retreats.
I will take her soon to pick out a pretty dress.
She has accomplished a lot this year, also made all state for her beautiful voice in treble choir. She was recommended for all honors classes next year.
We are very proud of the young lady she has become!
We are very blessed indeed!

Andy Boy

Well, since our bird Sunny has passed, our other bird "Andy" has been screaming non- stop. He does have a habit of being loud and does scream on and off each day, but not as much as he does now.
It is almost unbearable!
We are thinking perhaps he thinks we took Sunny away from him?
The only time we can quiet him down is when we cover his cage..but we can't leave him covered all day long..
We are at our wits end :(
We have given him treats, let him walk around on our shoulder, paid so much attention to him..then as soon as we put him back in the cage, he is back to SCREECHING again!
UGGH!
It is not a normal whistle, or a cute little noise, it is a loud scream.

Anyways, I had covered him once again for a little while and decided to do some baking!
I made a full Irish soda bread today.
I found the recipe on the internet..and boy did it ever come out delicious!

You can find the recipe on my recipe blog HERE



I do feel badly for Andy, as we also, like him are grieving for the loss of Sunny. We have discussed perhaps maybe buying another bird, but one that won't learn Andy's scream!
(We are thinking a DOVE)! :)

*****EDITED to Add***
Well, it seems as though dear Andy Boy doesn't want to be in his cage without contact at all times! ...I have noticed that every time I have him on my shoulder he does indeed stop screaming. I guess it looks as though I may have a bird attached to me at all times now! :) he is playing with my hair and chewing on my necklace.
He is such a sweetie! I truly believe that Sunny passing has affected him greatly, by the way he is showing it in his actions.


Raggedystitches,

A Very Sad Day

This turned out to be a very sad day. Our dear Pet bird "Sunny" passed away today. He had just turned 24 years old. We are heartbroken :( We bought him when we first married. He has been such a big part of our lives. He whistled the tune "here comes the bride", he loved pizza, pretzels and chips.He gave us kisses and he followed us around the house. Sunny has seen many changes in our lives, good times and sad. He was with us when we moved many times from state to state.
Sunny has always been such a joy to us. He was a big part of our family.
He would eat dinner at the table with us. He saw our children grow up.
He saw us in happy and sad times. I never thought I could become so attached to a pet as I have with "Sunny", but I did.
I can't imagine life without our bird. His whistles, and his ways...
Things won't be the same for quite a while, I am sure of this.
My husband is out of town, and I was so sad to call him with the news of our loss.
There was silence on the other end of the phone, and I just knew how heartbroken he also was. :(
This bird meant the world to us!
We will miss "Sunny"..he left us on Saint Patrick's Day..the same day we lost my dear Father in law.

"Sunny" will forever be in our hearts, and we are grateful to have had 24 years of song and memories..