Colorado Blue Spruce

 Last year, about this time, I was concerned as to whether my Colorado Blue Spruce, a tree I had planted in the backyard, was going to survive. I considered offering it up as a large Christmas tree to one of the churches or anyone wanting a very tall tree, thinking the bottom third was dead.

In the fall, I had a tree company come and take down two very large ash trees that were growing between the house and the garage and shading most of the backyard.  At that time, my nephew Kris said that he thought that the other trees in my backyard might enjoy having more sunlight and do better.

Kris was right.The blue spruce that I was so worried about, now is showing new growth on all branches, even the lower ones that I thought were dead.

I hope you can see the new, light green growth.

The biome of my backyard is responding well to the 🌞.

None power

 Power Outage, 

so that means 🚫🚽,🚫🚿, & 🚫📺.  

Yay for 📚 📖 📙 📘!

The power company said that 265 electric meters are affected in this outage.  Probably some of those folks are at work or school, but will soon be returning home to wondering...

hey, why doesn't the garage door opener work?  

What no Wifi? 

How long will the freezer keep the ice cream frozen?  Or should we just eat it now?  

Should I go to Kwiktrip to 💩? 

Why is it soooo quiet in the house? 

 What's for supper?  

Will the power be back in time for Jeopardy?

How many jugs of water do I have and how many do I need for flushing 🚽?

The quiet is remarkable. 

I had a new book sitting here just waiting to be read.  So,  I'm fine; I can wait; but I do ❤️ Jeopardy.

💡⚡️💡⚡️💡

The outage only lasted an hour,  I got to see Final Jeopardy ❤️.  

The house coming alive again was interesting and I got started on my new book. 

An outage does make a person appreciate the convenience of electricity,  it's not all bad. 

The cat didn't really care. 

Easter Sunday

 Kyle and Heather hosted brunch on Easter Sunday and I was included.   The food was yummy and we had a nice visit.  It was a smaller group this year, as Emily was also hosting which meant that The Chivers gang and Lois were at Michael and Emily's.  I enjoyed the smaller group,  we adults sat around the big round table and had a fun visit.  

We took one photo with a few of the kids before they left to play ⛳️  golf or take naps 😴. 

Jack, Uncle Larry, Aunt Lois, Stella
Uncle Harry, Aunt Wanda, Jude

I sat there all afternoon. It was nice. 

From there,  I stopped at a little kiosk on 4th Street and bought a beautiful loaf of carrot cake sour dough bread. I love the opportunity to buy home baked goods like this. 

Then I stopped at Bruce's.  We chatted and had a beer.  I dropped off a bag of books for him to read. 

My ride home was uneventful. A small herd of deer crossed Hwy 48 just out of Cumberland.  I had plenty of time to slow down.  It did make me chuckle a bit that they came out of the woods right next to a sign that was posting for No 🚫 Hunting. 

Several bunnies have been enjoying my back yard. 

Happy Spring.

Handyman Joy

 I have some good luck finding tradesmen, but today, took the cake.   

I needed to have a hole (plumber) in the bathroom wall repaired and found the contact information for The Plaid Handyman, Jim Johnson, on Facebook.  I sent him a photo and asked him if he would take the job. 

We made an appointment for this morning for him to look at what was needed and he showed up with the tools and supplies needed to do the work. 

In short order,  he had fixed the hole and started the process of taping and mudding.  

About supper time,  he came back for a second mudding. 

What a difference.  He will come back next week to texture that area and then I will paint.  I could not be more pleased.  $250 and it is off my list of things to fix. 

I also talked to him about putting a new storm door on my house. He was up for that job too. I'll do that next month. I'm starting a list now.  

I am feeling very lucky. 

And it is done

 We had another good quilt retreat, with old friends and new.  

The lake was very still this morning,  loons & swans were communicating. 

Today, I finished a little runner for Wanda.  Several camps ago,  Sharon had given me a zipper bag of 5 inch squares, with a pattern, Mini Brick Road.  I ran across it when I was packing up to go North, and I tossed it in. The squares didn't look like much until they assembled.  Now,  it's one of my favorite projects ever. 

I finished the quilting and the binding.  I guess I forgot to take a photo.  I still have not mastered the corners on binding.  But, I keep practicing. 

It was a beautiful morning.  The view of the lake from my room is nice and a small herd of deer walked by this morning

Packing up to leave is not the fun part,  but I'm home now and have hauled all my gear into the house. 

The cat is telling me a lot of stories. 

Life is good. 

Convergence

 I'm January of 2023, Mary & Sharon & I took a class to make a quilt called Convergence. The instructions were given during a Zoom session.  We each sewed a quilt top.  Mine was never finished.  

I ended up with another kit, so today, I worked on the 2 projects with the intent of making lap quilts for a couple of the great nieces/nephews. 

It's not my best work, but once quilted, I think they will be a nice lap quilts.

Day 2 of quilt camp is done.

Spring Quilt Retreat

Once again we gather at Solon Springs for a weekend of quilting.   The weather is finally very nice.  And my view is hard to beat. 

On my drive North I saw 7 hawks.  Six Red Tailed Hawks & 1 Cooper's Hawk.  I also saw several American Eagles  & one Vulture. It is a thrill to see those big raptors.  Without leaves on the trees, they are easier to spot, if you are looking. 

My first project was to finish the Barn Star Sampler runner that I started during the last virtual quilt retreat.  This was an icky project for me.  My precision is not what it could be for all those crazy points. 

It is really for quilting now. 

As usual,  we enjoyed happy hour before dinner. 

We shall see what tomorrow brings.