Housies IV

 I actually finished 20 house blocks.  They finish at 12 inches square so 20 (with sashing and borders) is enough to make a quilt. Here's a few more:

The color of the sky changes.  I have four each based on sky color (gray, light blue, medium blue, dark blue, purple).

I may have conjunctivitis. Monitoring the situation now. Awful stuff. 

Housies III

This is one of my favorite houses so far, the skeletons in the door and windows, butterflies on the roof, happy ghosts dancing on the house. What's not to love?

And those coyotes I mentioned yesterday:

They seem quite young. Dave thought they were eating grapes.
 

Housies II

Another round of houses:

 

Also

Today's wildlife count: Two coyotes eating grapes from a neighbor's vine, a mama quail with a tiny baby quail, two rabbits on the side of the road, and one frog out for an evening hop. 

Housies

I finished the marigold quilt top and folded it up and added it to the stack of quilt tops. Then I started making house blocks.

These are based on a block from Freddy Moran's book Freddy's House. Freddy Moran is one of my quilting heroes. She took up quilting in her 60s and was at it until she died last year at 94. 

Also 

Also this morning I saw a little, tiny, pebble-sized frog hopping across the front patio. 
 

This Day

I had a lovely quiet birthday at home in my pajamas. I slept late, got a little sewing in, had Chinese takeout for dinner and a cannoli (on a now badly chipped plate that I painted a few years back) instead of birthday cake. 

Dave gave me many lovely presents, including a huge bag full of fabric (solid colors that he picked out himself), which I sorely needed, clearly. 

You know you're getting old when one of your best gifts is a new fangled humidifier. (I swear, middle age--ha!--so far seems to be trying to turn me into a slab of dried out jerky, but I'm fighting it by drinking about a gallon of water a day and sleeping under this thing.)

I had thought about going out for a mountain drive or up to Santa Fe for my birthday, but my sciatica (another sign you're getting old!) had other plans that didn't include hours in the car. Staying home makes it easy to alternate periods of rest with periods of light activity which will (hopefully) help things to settle down sooner. 

Gray Kitty commandeered a stack of quilts (Big Chaotic With Lots of Bones at the top of the heap) and has been napping up there for days. I took his picture because he looked so cute there with his little paws dangling off the edge.