Backyard Babies

A couple of years ago we had a mockingbird make a nest in our little American Redbud just outside our back door and porch.

Every time we went in and out, she would fly off the nest.  Not only that, but it was such a tiny tree that provided hardly any protection from sun so I wasn't surprised when the little eggs just didn't do anything.

This year, on the other side of the porch in our Mimosa tree, we found another nest just about a week or so ago.   My husband and I enjoy sitting on the porch swing and watching the momma bird come and go from the nest.  Today we couldn't figure out what she was doing as she was coming and going with something in her beak...was she still building it?   Could there possibly be babies?  There wasn't any noise coming from the nest so I decided to investigate.....here's what I discovered...

These four fuzzy little fellas had their mouths wide open, craning for a little buggy morsel when I first peeked in so I ran to get my camera.  By the time I got back, they seemed to be enjoying a little nap, and the momma mockingbird was flying around scolding me for intruding!  I apologized and quickly took my picture and my leave.  Lovely!  I hope we get the opportunity to see these babies grow and fly off this summer!

Walkin'

Been trying to stay/get fit this year by walking around our property in the evenings.  Tonight I brought along my camera and took some pictures of the things I passed...

This rosebush is in my front flower bed.  My mother told me to yank it because it was diseased.  So glad I chose not to!  :)

Beach Break

Well, it appears that I only have time for blogging when I'm taking a break from sewing!  Easter was a very busy time for children's clothing orders and even afterwards with everyone filling their baby's closets with summer outfits.
Unfortunately, it took a family emergency to bring me to a break.  We lost "Jorge" this past week and it's been a real tough time for the family...

We decided to 'get away' after all was wrapped up and take a quiet trip to the beach for a long weekend.  The weather is absolutely perfect....not too hot, not too cool....a walk on the beach was just what the doctor ordered for both of us today.

There were tons of jellyfish washed up on shore - something I've never seen before in such a large quantity.

Lots of kites were up and one man in particular had quite a collection of what must be some very expensive ones....

.....in the air......

....on their way up.....

....and coming down.

We found a pretty spot in the shade to rest and do some people watching...that's always fun, isn't it?!  :0)

Isn't it just like a picture to remind you that you need to go on a diet!  We've booked a cruise next month to celebrate our 19th anniversary so I need to get going on that task!

Next on our camping agenda is to 'mount our mighty steeds' (that's how Bill refers to our bikes) and head to the market for some fish, shrimp and veggies to grill for our supper!

Heading Home

I'm up early this morning - perhaps I can't sleep as I'm excited that we're finally heading home to South Carolina today!  I've never been away from home for more than a week or two, so this month-long stay clear across the country has really been tough for me.  Actually it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but nonetheless, it was a challenge.  I think my husband was challenged with it, too, although he may never admit it...he's too tough and likes to think he's pretty flexible, but I know him too well.  We gained two hours when we came to Montana last month, so when we head back this weekend, we'll lose those two hours AND an additional hour with daylight savings....ugh.  Not looking forward to re-adjusting to a 3 hour change in the 'negative' direction.   My husband has joked that he plans to drive straight through...I truly hope he's joking because my butt couldn't handle 32 hours in that little car without stopping for a couple of nights.

So, the double bath renovation is pretty much done (at least our part is) and I really have no final pictures to show you except this one of the shower, which really isn't complete as we hadn't installed the sliding glass doors yet, but it is a pretty shower, doncha think?

I was just too tired and too 'done' with this project to go around and take pictures in tight spaces.  Mike and Gwen promised final pictures once all the clutter is cleared and such.  They still have to paint, so it will be nice to see that finishing touch.

Speaking of final pictures, my mother took some of her new home office space and I want to share them with you because I think she did a wonderful job of settling in and making this a beautiful place for her to do her paperwork and relax.

Sorry for the blurriness on some of them...you know those old folks just can't hold a camera still sometimes!  ☺♥

 

Classic Bean Bag Chairs

This past Christmas, I didn't have time to make anything for my niece and nephew (Ellie and Jared), so once I knew I would be in Montana shortly thereafter, I decided I would take my sewing machine and we would tackle a fun sewing project/gift together.  When I was little my mother made each of us kids a bean bag chair out of the fabric of our choice.  I chose a faux sheepskin, my older brother had one made from cast off jeans and my little brother had one made from green corduroy.  She filled them with styrofoam packing peanuts and we loved those chairs!!  We wore them out and had to refill them several times as the peanuts broke down into tiny little pieces.

I found a similar pattern for a bean bag chair here and decided I would do the adult size for Ellie and Jared so it would be something they could 'grow into' as they got older.

I took the kids to the fabric store and they each chose a nice soft fleece in their favorite design and color.  My husband graphed the pattern onto cardboard and away we went cutting the pieces and assembling the bags.

Once we got started it really didn't take too long.  The kids each took their turn at the sewing machine and that was a lot of fun watching them concentrate and have fun.

Once the lining and outer shell were complete, we sent them to the packing experts to be filled.  

Using a special filling designed just for bean bag chairs (not packing peanuts) they were filled up and zipped up and then immediately plopped down into by two adorable and very thankful kids!

I hope they'll be used and loved for many years to come!

Bathroom Renovation Progress

I think this has been my main goal during this bathroom renovation project!  Oh my wits!!  Where are they when you need them????

I wanted to show you some of the starting pictures of the bathrooms to the demolition and finally to where we are now - heading toward the finish line.

Here are some pictures taken before the project started

Hall bath - overhead view

Master bath - from master bedroom doorway - super small shower to the left

Here you can see the demolition of the shower - we had to take a sledge hammer to it!

The two bathrooms are basically side-by-side as you can tell once we've torn down a few walls along with the old shower

We stole some of the space in the master bedroom (way too large) and expanded both bathrooms into that space, making each a bit larger.

Stood up some walls

The sheetrock is up and we finished laying the ceramic tile yesterday.

I went to take a picture of the ceramic tile progress in the shower and noticed a BIG boo-boo...can you see it down towards the bottom of the picture?

One lonely little pale tile set the previous day.  We had to saw the tile in half diagonally and then pry from the middle to get it out, followed by lots of chipping and scraping to get the hardened mortar off the wall....fun.....BUT, I am glad I found it before we got all finished!

So, I won't bore you with any more construction details, but I will try to post later this week about my sewing adventure with Jared and Ellie.

A Montana Birthday and Dr. Seuss-isms

My brother's wife also has a sister named Jenn so I'm lovingly referred to as "Daddy's Jenn".  
I turned 44 today and had the extreme pleasure of celebrating with my brother's family....his wife, Gwen, and their two children, Ellie (10) and Jared (7).  I think the last time I celebrated my birthday in my hometown was probably in 1992 - the year I left and moved down South.

My nephew, Jared, reminded me that I share a birthday with the famed Dr. Seuss!

Jared:  "Auntie Jenn, do you know who's birthday is coming up?"
Me:  "Who?"
Jared:  "Dr. Seuss!...do you know how many books he has written?"
Me:  "Hmmmm.....24?"
Jared:  "Nope"
Me:  "39?"
Jared: "Nope"
Me: "56?"
Jared: "Nope"
Me:  "74?"
Jared: "Nope"
Me: "OK, so how many?"
Jared:  "Well, I don't know but it's a lot"

I looked it up later - 44 books (for children, that is).  Hey, that's how old I am!

Last night, we all went out to dinner at an Asian grill and it was a really fabulous time!  The kids found some interesting chairs in one of the rooms and we thought they were appropriately Seuss-ical!!

They had a lovely surprise for me when we got home!