Workwise, last week was quite a hectic one. It was also, for the most part, grey, gloomy and wet (and cold).

With the exception of Thursday. While it was a bit of a brutal day workwise, the temps reached almost double digits (Celcius), and the sun was shining bright and true. Around 3 pm, I got a bit of a break in the workload (had a little time to breathe between projects). I left my office to use the washroom, and as I looked out the window, I noticed a pile of Juncos playing in Willow Grove.

Juncos are a type of sparrow, all black, with a little white belly. We only see them here in the winter – some people call them snowbirds instead of Juncos. They also have a tendency to feed off the ground, making them easy prey. They are the main reason I cut down the seed heads in the catio yard – our first winter here, Burton brought me a dead Junco as a present – twice!

I think they are an exceedingly cute little bird!

So anyway – I decided I deserved some fresh air and sunshine for all my hard work. I grabbed the fancy camera and headed outside to see if I could get some Junco pics.

Of course, as soon as I got out there – the little guys scattered. But I figured if I settled in and sat quietly for a while, they’d come back.

While I was waiting…

My squirrelly friends came by. There were peanuts in the feeder and while these guys are still wary of me, they were willing to chance it for a peanut feast.

There’s something about the way squirrels hold their hands that just make them look so excessively polite!

If you look closely, you’ll see this one has a little leaf in his hand.

How the get peanuts from the ring still cracks me up. Hanging by their feet! That seed feeder in the background… it’s supposed to be squirrel proof. The cage slides down, blocking the holes, when anything heavier than a cardinal perches on it. Well… that’s all well and good, but the squirrels get the seed from it the same way they do the peanut ring – they hang from the top – gate averted!

I don’t mind if they get a little seed though – there’s more than enough for everyone.

It’s been mostly the grey squirrels in the yard this year – my black squirrels with the red markings have seemed to disappeared this year. There have been a few solid black squirrels playing about, but they are much more shy.

So was this guy.

He is a grey squirrel, but his coat had a very red/brown tinge to it. And no white belly like the other grey squirrels. He was digging about in the leaves by the shed, but took off when he realized he was being observed.

Of course, since there were peanuts in the ring, the Bluejays were about.

There were three of them (I think) coming and going.

I sat out there for over half an hour, but then then sun started to set, and it was getting much cooler. Despite the wait, my Juncos hadn’t returned. No doubt they are extra wary in my yard thanks to Burton…

But… as I got up to go inside, something flitted down into the pussywillow…

A wee little Junco at last! Only one, but I’ll take it!

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

It’s almost hard to tell what’s a Squishmallow and what’s a Floofmallow…

The cold weather and frost is well and truly here (though no snow since the day after Hallowe’en) and my gardens are well and truly done for the year. It means I have to turn to my indoor plants for my green and growing fix.

Thankfully, I have lots of those to choose from.

I picked up this new one at Home Depot a couple weeks ago. It’s a Chinese Evergreen. I LOVE plants that have pink in the leaves. But don’t tell Dave how much I paid for it – I thought it was $7 and when I got it to the cash, it was actually $17. But I was too attached by then so it came home.

This one is a couple months old – it’s a type of Inch plant (Tradescantia) – like the bigger ones by super, super tiny. It hangs in the kitchen window and is very happy there – I just recently had to turn it so it would grow more evenly.

This one is several month old too – and I bought it for the pot, not the plant – how cute is that little Axolotl???

And speaking of cute planters….

I picked up this one last time I was down at Mom’s. I bought it for the planter, but also the little black cat pick, AND the plant. It’s a Hoya. I had a Hoya ages ago, which was taking from a cutting from a very old plant (like 30 years old) that my Mom had. Unfortunately, both my cutting and the old plant kicked it several years ago. I’ve been meaning to get another, but for some reason, you don’t see them that often around here. That this one came in a super cute pot was just a bonus. He’s supposed to be hanging in my office, but I haven’t gotten around to putting him up yet.

And last – I’ve been terribly neglectful in sharing pics of the little succulents I got for the wee animal pots Sam brought me last time she visited.

Dave moved some stuff around in the dining room and it made space on the corner hutch from his Grandma. I think they look just perfect all lined up there!

It’s well into November (how did THAT happen???) and Burton is in the need of a November quilt.

On the weekend, we went online to get some inspiration (poppies seemed an appropriate choice), then got to work making some blocks

The great thing about Burton’s chaise quilts are they are small – they go together so quick

This one is actually a little larger (36″ square), but it was still put together in an afternoon. Hopefully we can get it sandwiched, quilted and bound this weekend.

Work continues on the first sleeve, though I did not accomplish as much as I’d hoped I would over the last week…

And this is part of the reason. Almost every time I sat down and picked it up, Lemmy had to come and sit in my lap. And that would be fine… except, he cannot resist the cables on the circular needles.

Andy he’s quite devious about how he grabs them. His favourite way is to lay UNDER the sweater and reach out and grab them when I thinks I’m not paying attention.

Despite his enthusiasm, I have managed to put several more rounds on it. I’m almost through the decreasing. I should have a finished sleeve to show you next week.

We just have to negotiate some boundaries first…

It feels like it’s been AGES since I last showed you anything on my Leader/Ender project. But rest assured, every day I’m sewing, it’s getting a little love.

I managed to get 12 scrappy 16-patches created, but that’s definitely not enough. So I’ve been sewing more scraps into two-patches. I’ve got a good stack now, so the next step it to make them all four-patches… and then eight-patches… before finally becoming more 16-patches.

It’s definitely not my fastest L/E project… but I think it’s going to be one of the coolest!

I have a friend who is having some serious health issues. Naturally I want to help, but being several hours away, it makes it difficult. But I can make her a quilt…

I bought this Jelly Roll ages ago with her in mind. I can’t say why, but when I think of her, these are the colours that come to mind.

I wanted something that will come together fairly quick, so I’m working on a version of the Star Patch Quilt.

I got about half the four patches made last Sunday before I had to stop for the day.

The other strips are all paired and sewn together, so it’s just a matter of cutting them up and sewing them back together again.

Then we get to turn a bunch of them into stars – Burton is very excited about that bit!

I know it seems like all I sew is red and white blocks but… that’s what I got for now (there’s more stuff coming, I promise)

This here is Block 7 (in the back) and Block 2 (in the front). It took us a while to figure out how to make Block 2 work with just two prints, which is why it was sewn last weekend, and not when it came out originally weeks ago.

We now have seven blocks for this sew along. There are five more blocks to come before a Christmas break. But so far, it’s shaping up to be a mighty fine quilt!

While Lemmy had fun the day after Hallowe’en, Burton made the most of the holiday itself.

A while back, while I was ordering a few things for myself, I came across some pet costumes. Burton is so good about wearing his bandanas, that I just couldn’t resist getting him a little something to dress up in for Halloween.

I was very interested to see how he would handle it.

He did NOT dissapoint!!! Look at that pose – isn’t he just the cutest little Vampurr???

He wore it so well!!! I wish I could have taken him outside for the trick-or-treaters – they would have loved him!

But he tends to be on the skittish side around strangers, and I didn’t want to take the chance of him breaking free on me. So we contented ourselves with a little Hallowe’en photoshoot.

Just purrrrrrrfect!