Virginia Adventures

Last week I had to travel down to Norfolk, Virginia, for a business meeting. I drove down on Monday to make the meeting on Tuesday. Monday evening I went for a walk down by the waterfront. 

There are many of these painted mermaids down there outside businesses. 

I snapped a few photos while I was wandering around looking for a place to eat dinner. 

Annapolis had a collection of birds downtown, so this kind of art installation is something I've seen before. 

There was even this little one at a breakfast place rendered in miniature as a trophy.

Spring has Arrived

I haven't been up to much this past week.

I did win the block lottery during the last guild meeting. I shared my blocks last month. Now I just need to decide what to do with them all. Check out the free tutorial by Samelia's Mum to make your own applique tulips.

I think spring has finally arrived in Virginia. The daffodils are in full bloom.

The deer are out and about.

The squirrels are still chasing each other about. 

Even the trees are in bloom. I took these photos on my afternoon walks this week. I can't resist a pretty flower.

Nature Post

Back to work this week meant I was super busy all week and didn't get much chance to do crafty things. You'll have to be satisfied with some photos collected over the week.

There was my friend the buck. He rarely moves off when I walk by.

This pretty flower. I have no idea where I came across it.

This one, along my side yard on a tree that should be removed before it takes down part of my fence.

 Another encounter with that buck. I'm not kidding, he barely looks up when I'm less than a dozen feet away.

The heavy rains this week made for a great crop of fungi.

This one was my favorite and only took about a dozen tries to get a good photo. I love my Samsung phone. The camera makes it look like I know how to take a picture.

Sorry about the brief post. I do hope at least one of the images is to your liking. I'll try to do something interesting this weekend to share with you next week.

Afternoon Walk Wildlife

Have you ever tried to convince a butterfly to hold still so you can take a picture? It isn't an easy task, I can assure you. I was lucky to get this single shot.

Skittish buck.

His collection of bachelor friends.

Doves in my front garden. There were three when I flushed them, but I couldn't see the third when I drove up after work.

Thunderstorms bring Mushrooms

Last week was very rainy. The ground is soaked. The mushrooms are loving it.

I took this photo on Tuesday.

And this one on Wednesday. Those fungi aren't fooling around.

Walking in the Sunshine

I try to get outside most days for a 2 mile walk in the afternoon. Along the path, I come across different kinds of wildlife. This is a small structure made by crayfish living along the edge of a ditch in Virginia. They are called mud-bugs for a reason.

The deer population isn't too concerned with people. I usually get within 20 feet of them along the path. The does are usually more skittish than the bucks. This particular buck really doesn't pay much attention to people past the first look.

I saw this web a bit off the path and wanted to capture it in the sun. I didn't see the creator of this structure while I was there.

The largish beetle was making its way across the paved path.

I've counted six individual bucks that frequent the area.

The raspberries are ripening.

Afternoon Walks

Not all of these are from my almost-daily afternoon walks, but many are. This hydrangea is from my front garden. Buying a house always brings surprises and sometimes they are delightful. I love the many things that pop up in my front garden.

I wouldn't have noticed this pair on my afternoon walk one day if that fawn hadn't been frisking around in the woods. When they saw me, the doe bolted and the fawn was fast on her heels.

Those deer weren't far from a berry patch along the road. They aren't quite ripe, yet. I'm certain the birds and the deer will get the ripe berries before I even know there are any.

I could have thrown a piece of wadded up paper and hit this buck. These photos are taken within the suburbs of Alexandria, VA, so the deer have more to fear from a car than a person. I don't crowd the animals and they do move off quickly. They just aren't as skittish as those you might find in the farm country of New York state.

This one was a little closer to home. There are a couple flower patches on the corner near a local public school. Not all the flowers bloom at the same time, so I can get fun shots like this one throughout the summer.

These were at a local park in Maryland.

This little rabbit is another wild thing living inside the confines of a suburban neighborhood. More skittish than the deer, but cars are still likely their greatest threat.

Walking with Mother Nature

Even with the heat wave, I've been trying to go on daily afternoon walks. Some days I manage it, some days I don't.

I come across more than a few deer. This this skittish doe.

And this buck that figured if he stood really still I just wouldn't notice him.

My front garden has continued to bloom.

And bloom.

I love seeing these wild, and not so wild, things on my walks.

Everywhere a Critter

As often as I am able, I take time after work to go for a 30-45 minute walk in the woods.

I often come across all manner of critters. Like this turtle, pushing leaves about in the drainage ditch. Or frogs, which are much more difficult to capture with my camera.

Or this young buck foraging. He had about a dozen friends that ran off when I walked up the path. They left, he didn't care about be and continued his munching after looking up to make sure I wasn't a threat.

My most recent encounter was when I found this snake on the grass to one side of the path.
I didn't get close, but the camera on my phone is pretty good. Our guess is that it is an eastern rat snake. It didn't move at all when I stopped to take these photos. I think it was hoping I would just move on and leave it alone, which I did.

In the Mail Monday

Happiness is created with a new rotary blade! Sure, it may not be that exciting, but it was absolutely necessary. Fiskars rotary blades from Amazon.com.

The daffodils in the woods near my workplace are racing towards spring. By Sunday one in my front garden had bloomed.

One of my afternoon walks I came across this shiny green amphibian. The turtle I saw was too quick for me and swam into hiding in a drain pipe.

Quilt Soup

I wanted to get some hands-on time with an Innova long arm quilting machine. I decided it was time to jump in by taking a class at the Virginia showroom of the Longarm Network. They were offering a class called Quilt Soup and it seemed a good fit for me.

Their shop is big and bright and filled with thread and machines. Definitely my kind of place. The staff is super friendly, helpful and so supportive.

The Innova longarm is a great machine and when I'm ready to upgrade they are at the top of my list. The support is excellent and they don't just sell you a longarm, they empower you to be your own technician which is something I love. I'm not afraid of working on my own sewing machines as long as I have the support I need to do so. For this reason I'm confident this is the machine for me.

The class introduced several quilting motifs and encouraged us to use the many different books out there to incorporate as many as possible into the piece. I likely used way more swirls than I needed, but they are such a great filler. I'm so glad I took the class. It really helped me feel like I'm on the right track with my creative journey.

So, if you want to practice your free motion quilting on your domestic machine, or try out some things with your longarm I recommend you pull out a couple of those panels you bought for some crazy reason and get stitching. You never know where your creativity will lead. Besides, it is only fabric and thread.