RainBow Sunday

Rainy season here on the high desert. Who would have thunk it rains all summer in a desert? It does here in the Sonoran Desert. Moisture comes up from Baha CA and Gulf of Mexico June- August.

More rain falls close to mountains. Sometimes the moutains disappear during heavy rainfall. The mountains you can't see in above photo are the Huachucas (meaning thunder).

Everything is so fresh after a rain storm.
Looks like Moose found the pot'o gold!


Genesis 9:13
I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth.

Friday Night Sew-in Project

Fabric choices for Churn Dash blocks. It's about time to cut into these stashed (for too long) fabrics.

And more fabrics. I am pulling all colors that are more muted or "dusty".

Not sure about using just one background fabric. Maybe should use a variety of different creams.... will sew a few blocks before I decide.

Now, how many to cut, how big do I want my quilt to be? These are ten inch blocks, maybe 6 across and 8 down would make a nice sofa sized.
(Hey sis- hope you like these fabrics because I'm cutting fabrics for you to sew a quilt too).

I have so many started projects but have always wanted to finish a Churn Dash quilt to keep for myself. Hope I get this one into a finished quilt. Maybe I will pull it out on Fridays and use it for my Friday Night Sew-in project until complete. Here is a finished block.

Tonight was cool with a slight breeze so we stayed out until dark to enjoy. Clouds in distance were beautiful, the photo is not retouched. Started my sewing project late tonight so I'm tired and will work more on it another day.

New Chicks

There are seven new baby chicks for the backyard.

We thought some of these may be Silky and Cochin Bantam crosses. But I'm reading up on the Cochin breed and some are clean legged while some have feathers.
So, I'll have to watch and see how the feathers develop. Soft feathers without barbs are Silkie feathers. Doesn't matter cuz all are so pretty as they are. Six are about 8 weeks old, one is a young baby but holding his own. Two female chicks mother the baby so he's safe.

Below is one with Partridge coloring on head and neck. It will be interesting to see how far it spreads when he matures.

Feathered legs and feet as in the Silkie breed. But her feathers do not look "silky".

Below is a Frizzled Cochin. Frizzled feathers can occur in many breeds. (Never breed Frizzle to Frizzle, offspring will have nekkid, sparse feathering)!

Compare Frizzle and smooth feathered.

This is a rooster for sure! (may have two in the group).

Maybe a roo too. White faced (?)Cochin.

The Frizzle is mean to the baby, roo protects.

Young chicks like to roost on a pole already! Even the baby hops up :)

Oh well, the new chicks are why I have not been working on other projects. Enjoy them while they are little, huh?

Antics of Poodle Kids

Coming in for the grab (Zoey get out of the way!) and......
a mouthful of ear.


Geeze, which way did she go? Chelsea went to her favorite place! (You can see the chicken coop addition).

Hey, are you up for a game?

Um, yes the poo-kids are slowly being groomed. It is so hot now there are just a couple hours morning and at night when it is cool enough to get anything done outside. I usually groom on the back porch but we had rain and the humidity is a killer. Dodger went to the groomer in town a few days ago, I may give up and send Chelsea. Wonky and Matty now have their faces and bodies clipped, still need to clip legs. Oh, and Mouse is clipped short since these photos, he has a summer (skinny) look but he's cool now.
Heres old Dodger after his groom, but oops he closed his eyes! LOL

And more rain on the way!

June Blocks I Won!

Wow! I won a dozen of the "things a kid would keep in a jar" theme blocks for June.
These are just stuck on a flannel wall since arriving yesterday. Aren't they great?! (This is the monthly Block Party at AboutQulting).

The brightest lizards I've ever seen!

The pencils look real enough to reach in and grab.

Have you ever seen a quilted spider?

These blocks will make a child very happy, so will send them to the Kid's Quilt Project (sponsored by Downey).

Star Cat Quilt Blocks

Finished my blocks last week. The marmalade cat is extra I made to put on a denim bag.

There are duplicate blocks to make a quilt for my sis too. Found a stack of civil war print charms and used a bunch of those for my pinwheel centers. Cats below are sewn from a smokey grey mottled fabric. It reminded me of a Russian Blue cat we had in FL.

There are a few more blocks to make and I'll use some different "cat hair" prints for those, maybe even a cheeta print. The cats will make a nice wall hanging so a square quilt of 3x3 blocks and narrow sashing will be what I aim for.

Things Around My Summer Yard

One of my favorute guys- Moose Man. He is sporting the latest fly season mask.

One of his fav treats, mesquite beans.

Oops, Dreamer spilled his beans!

Jurassic Park foot prints. I did a double take when glancing down at these. Just hen foot prints under the recently watered Palo Verde tree :)

Tarantula hole/home too close to front door, right under the water faucet. See the little hairy legs? I hope I never see the rest of him! He is in a bad spot, the poodles will get him if he doesn't move away under night cover. Last year Wonky chased me with one in his mouth and yes, I out-ran him. LOL

At the backyard Mimosa tree.


Photos taken with my new Nikon CoolPix camera. It is so easy to use and pics download instantly when plugged into the laptop. (Click on any pic to enlarge).

July Block Party

Finally I can show the boat blocks worked on last month. These will be in the Block Party (LOTTO)for July. Exciting news- I won a set of the Kids Jar blocks from the Block Party draw for last month. I guess the jar blocks will make a good kids charity quilt.
Below is Mimsy, my DH's cat. I found her at the local shelter several months ago. Mims was on death row, no one wanted a long-haired cat that needed dental work. She had been taken from a bad situation, a cat collector. Mimsy was kept in a cage for several years, stored with several other caged cats in a small trailer on the owners property.

Dear Mimsy is at home now, she loves only my DH, I get hissed at! Sheesh, and I am the one who saved that silly cat.
Must add a pic of Patch Cat. She loves to be on the back screened porch when it's not too hot. I wanted to toss out the old cat tree but she loves to sleep on it and watch birds and chickens out back.