Beach Views (Rockport, TX)

Our weather has been coming in waves with 4 to 5 nice sunny days followed by 6 to 7 days of cold rain. I have found this weather pattern to work quite well for me. Sunny days - we are out enjoying the weather, seeing the sights, and walking cats. Cold overcast days - time to Quilt!

Great White Egret

There's a road going towards Rockport's main shopping area that passes a bird sanctuary on Little Bay.  There are several piers along the shore with a few birds perched on them. For some reason, there is one pier that is more popular than the others. Every time we drive by, this one pier never fails to be packed full of several sea birds sunning themselves.

Dan stopped to let me get a few shots on this sunny day. I finally got some photos of the white pelicans. Usually they are in an area that we cannot stop or they are too far away, so I was very happy to get their photos on this day.

Rockport also has a public beach park.  There is a fee if you drive into the park's area, but it is free for walkers and bicyclists.  

Sparrow searching among the large piles of oyster shells.

We needed the walk so we parked outside the park and walked along the beach.  We saw plenty of seagulls.

At the end of the park and across a canal are some beautiful homes.  They have such a serene look to them.  I bet it is great to wake up in the morning to a view of the gulf from this home.

life in Key Allegro, TX

Wouldn't it be nice to sit on the veranda?  We could watch the boats go by while sipping tea and try to do some quilting.  It might be a little too distracting, but I'm willing to give it a try!  We heard the dolphins visit the canals too.  They like to herd the fish into the canals for an easy catch.  I would probably spend a lot of time looking for them.

All the homes in Key Allegro have water access by canal.  So, each home owner has access by road or by canal.  Here's a Map  .  Easier to view than for me to explain how they developed this area.  Sigh!  My dream home is there....somewhere...once I win the Lottery, of course.

On The Cutting Board

I finished all four Turkey mug rugs.  I had plenty of time to get them done and like the red/aqua trailers, I am ready to move on to something different.  I have made six of turkeys and seven red/aqua trailers.  I am seeing them in my sleep!

I started working on my pre-cut quilt kits that I put together a couple of months ago.  I have sewn together four quilt kits into blocks.  I need to clear space on the bed which is not easy to do when there are usually three to four cats sleeping on it.  Or I could go find a big table in a community center.  I just need a large area to setup the blocks for the quilt top.

In the meantime, I will keep sewing the blocks together and cutting more for kits.  I'm working very hard to get rid of some my fabric stash.   I keep seeing all this wonderful fabric which gives me ideas for a new quilt.  But!....I have no room left for new fabric.  I need to do a lot of sewing to make room before I go shopping.  Yes, there is a method to my madness...

Happy Quilting!

Not So Wordless Wednesday (Sutherlin, OR)

I haven't done a Not So Wordless Wednesday post in a long time.  So, here are some photos of the wild turkeys doing their turkey thing.

I'm always on the lookout for these guys while on our walks.  Often, we hear them before we see them.  I love watching them when they don't like a certain sound such as a helicopter flying in the distance.

They show their displeasure of the sounds by everyone making a gobbling sound together.  I swear the leader must call out "On the count!  3! 2! 1!"...dip heads and "Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!"

In sync -- "Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!"

It seems like the turkeys have doubled or even tripled since November.  We started out seeing a posse of six to ten turkeys.  Now, we are seeing up to 30+ turkeys.  Many of them look very young.

One very foggy morning, we had over 20 turkeys milling around near our site.  As we watched them, two young males started to fight.  Running around in circles pecking at each other while using their feet and flapping their wings.

Then, the fight got very intense when one aggressive male caught the beak of the other male and started to twist his head downward.  I was worried that he would break the other's neck or his beak.  That's when we noticed that the others were not just milling around, they were watching the fight.  Above, you can see the feet of more turkeys coming down the road.  Most were elders and apparently, they did not like the young males fighting.

One of the larger elders started pecking at the dominating young male while four other elders circled trying to help.  When that did not work, one of the elders managed to wedge his body between the two putting pressure on their heads until the dominating one released the other.  As they moved on down the road away from us, we could see the elders working hard to keep the two separated.  Isn't that interesting?  I'm going to miss our big feathered friends but not their droppings... ;) when we leave here.

Check out this link with Twelve Unusual Facts about Turkeys by the National Wildlife Federation.  I learned a few unusual facts about turkeys.  

Did you know wild turkeys sleep in trees?  I have seen them fly up to 30 feet in the air, but I did not realize that they slept in the trees.

Hey Tom, you are looking a little blue

Another unusual fact is their heads can change color depending on their emotions from pink/red to blue or white.

I need to go back to see what else I can learn about other interesting critters.  

I have been busy quilting away the hours when I'm not watching the antics of turkeys.  I'll post photos of my projects next time.

Happy Quilting!

Deer! Oh, Deer! (Sutherlin, OR)

I'm not getting a lot of sewing done.  We have been doing a lot of walking, visiting, and exploring.  I'm sure all the running around will slow down as we get more familiar with the area and the park's residents.  But, not today.  Today, I am waiting for some friends to show up that we have not seen since May 2012.  They are full-timers too, but they travel outside the US as well and they have been doing a lot of both!  So, today will be catching up with our traveling friends!

Here are some more photos of our local wildlife.  The two deer below did not realize that we were standing nearby so both stopped in the same spot making for a perfect photo op for me.

Oh deer!  Humans!

Humans!  Say did you see which way the doe went?

We see the turkeys every time we walk now.  They are so entertaining to watch.

The turkeys stopped by our site recently.  You should have seen our cats' faces.  Their eyes were huge.  I had to wonder what they were thinking..."did you see the meat on that bird's leg?"...."my dream came true! That is the biggest bird I have ever seen!"..

 I still think the jack rabbit looks like a cottontail on steroids.  This one looks like he is scolding me as well.

go away, you are bothering me

 The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley

This has to be the first book that I have read, finished, and wanted to start it all over again. Funny, I wasn't too sure about a time-travel love story since I don't like the questions that come with time travel...like the butterfly effect...all the what if's -- what if she changes something in the past that will cause a ripple in her time. Susanna manages to address some of those questions rather smoothly.  

I had nothing to worry about with the time traveling because it wasn't long before I couldn't put the book down.  When I did, I found myself wondering how this would end for the main character Eva Ward.  This is an old fashion romance set in modern day England in a Gothic paranormal story with a little mystery and lots of great characters.

The unexpected twist at the end really got me.  The clues were so subtle that I missed many of them until everything was told towards the end.  That's when I thought that I needed to read it again.  I can't believe Susanna had added all those clues and I did not pick up on them.  Almost to the end when someone says something that finally turns on the lightbulb for me...but wait a minute...that means....aaa no that can't be!!  Needless to say, I was really surprised by the twist and the ending.  Excellent!  I like Susanna Kearsley's writing style and the way she tells a story so I certainly plan to read more of her books.  There's no swearing or sex.

I hope to have some finished projects for my next posting.  In the meantime, I better hop to some cleaning before our friends arrive!  Happy Quilting!