The weather was warm today, so all the little birds were bathing.

When they splashed all the water out of the bird bath, they took to the puddles
under the grill.

It's a boy

9 lbs 5 oz. -- 21.5 inches long -- and perfect :)

We've been home over a week and aren't getting much sleep.
Other than that we are all doing well.

Signs of winter

So, I know it's still October, but that's not too early for the first signs of winter in Minnesota. We've had some pretty nice weather so far, so in that we've been lucky. Today as I was filling the tea kettle I looked out the window and saw my first Junco of the season. A sure sign that the cooler temps are here to stay.

Still counting down.... +5

Ok, so +5 isn't really counting down, but when working with an estimated due date, one has to allow for some count downs that work their way back up.

Had 6 gold finches at the new feeder this morning. Not bad since there is only 4 perches.

+1

Ok, so we are up to 1 day overdue :) Still no little one.

Today is the DUE DATE

.... and no baby yet. We'll just have to wait and see what the little one has planned for us.

Countdown continues

Ok, so the baby guessing board at work is a little heavy after the EDD (Estimated Due Date), but I am still holding out some hope. There's a full moon on Monday, and at the moment they are predicting storms! Maybe that will be enough.... only time will tell.

Rocking Chair for Baby! 

Still waiting

Of course, we are still 9 days away from the "Estimated Due Date," but I'm hopeful that we'll get to meet our little one sooner rather than later. Tick tock....

Baby's Named a Bad, Bad Thing

I personally find this stuff on this site very funny. I think I must share some opinions with the person who writes it.

Baby's Named a Bad, Bad Thing

Nicolas Cage gives Superman's birth name to son - Yahoo! News

Interesting name choice.......

Nicolas Cage gives Superman's birth name to son - Yahoo! News

Left-handed women's risk of breast cancer higher-study - Yahoo! News

This seems like an odd association. Not one those of us who are left-handed really want to see.

Beat Iowa!

ISU Football Hosts In-State Rival Iowa Saturday :: ISU trying for sixth rivalry win in eight seasons.

I almost forgot........

GO CYCLONES!!!!
BEAT IOWA!!!!

Saturday

Well, much to my own dismay, I was up at 6:00 this morning, and could not go back to sleep. What a bummer. Of course, you can get a lot done when you are up really early.

So, I thought I'd upload some pictures from the camera and review some of the bird stuff from the week.
Yesterday I had the first sighting of a hummingbird at my feeder. I only put it up a short while ago, since I didn't think I had enough flora to attract a hummer. But I saw one buzz around the other day, so I thought I'd give it a shot, even this late in the season. So, yesterday I saw him twice. He just sat down at the feeder. I wasn't fast enough with the camera, but maybe one of these days we'll have a small blurry photo to share.

Last week, my husband was working from home and caught this picture - a full house at the feeders!



The week before my squirrel was back. I saw him a few times, one time he only came up to the bird bath for a drink, the other I caught him in the feeder. That was cause to running him off.

Are you ready?

It's CYCLONE season.
We're headed down to the first home game! Probably my only home game this year.
For sure, this is Baby's first home game!

chick-a-dee-dee-dee  

We have 4 blue jays that have been coming around. Two of them have the baldest heads! Here's one of them (through the screen door) 

one - two - three - four!

Four chickadees at the feeders this morning!

Look who caused a stir this morning. I heard a strange bird out back (still don't know what this Blue Jay was mimicing) and looked. He laneded on the new feeder with a flourish (startling the other birds on the ground) and proceeded to make himself at home on the feeder. 

All sorts of stuff!

Well, I had a good day. I managed to make a curtain for the guest room! I can barely sew a straight line, and I made a curtain - no pattern at all!

Not bad, eh? When I wasn't in the basement sewing, I was watching for birds. I saw a white breasted nuthatch the other day. He was sniffing around the new feeder in the garden. It's the iron sunflower that I mentioned earlier. I didn't catch him at the feeder, but I did catch some house finches there. They look like little brown blobs on it.
Here's the feeder, in the sunlight so you can get a good look.
The little brown lumps in the second picture are birds chowing down. I have circled them in pink.

We've had a lot of mourning doves this summer. Especially this week. I did find a pile of grey feathers under one of the feeders. I'm not sure if this means the dove got caught or not. They are supposed to have loose feathers, so they can escape a predator. I think I may have seen the sharp shinned hawk last night, so that might be the explanation.

The petunias I started from seed are doing well, finally. I was beginning to loose hope for a while there. Here they are looking pretty.

BIRDS

Well, I looked out the window tonight and saw such a delightful array of birds! I had a white breasted nuthatch, sparrows, gold finches, house finches, chipping sparrows. One little guy had even found the new iron-flower feeder.

Misc Stuff

Well, it's been a week since I posted, so I thought I should say something.

We've seen a young bunny in the yard a few times. He's been eating dandelion leaves, so he's welcome to stay and do that! I saw a chickadee for a fleeting moment yesterday. He stopped at the empty safflower feeder and decided it wasn't for him and left.

I got a new feeding station as a birthday present. It's an iron sunflower that holds seed cakes. I put it out Saturday since the ground was nice and soft from the rain. As far as I can tell, the birds haven't discovered it yet, but it's only been a few days. I'll post a picture here soon.

We got the baby's room painted (three coats of yellow!!), and a new crib mattress purchased. Just want to clean the carpet and we'll be able to get things more organized in there. My dad has offered to help hang the wall paper border, so that will be great! Pictures of the painted room will follow one of these days.

Look who came to stay for a picture this morning, even if it is a little fuzzy. I had to take the picture through the window in the kitchen. Opening the curtain to the glass door scared him off. 

Birds!

The day before yesterday I saw what I was sure was a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Of course, I could only see him from the back. Last night he came back and showed off all around. It seems that he doesn't mind the safflower seeds I've been feeding.
Mr. Cardinal has also made an appearance at the feeder recently. Neither of our pretty visitors has stayed long enough to be caught on film. .... (I suppose you could say that the photographers are slow on the move)

Four o'clock flowers starting to bloom

I checked on the plants on the deck this morning and was happy to see the Four o'clock were starting to bloom. They've been on the verge for a while now. The first ones are yellow, with a tinge of pink. The next ones look like they'll be more pink! Something to smile about today.

Even more updates

Well, I updated even more. I noticed that the embroidered card page hadn't been updated since last August, so I cleared it out and added all new cards. I have to admit that I went for a stretch of time where I was forgetting to scan the cards I made, so the page is just a sampling. I also made a few minor updates to the stitching page. With the garden and other updates from this morning, there is plenty of new content there to keep you busy!

Web page updates

Wow, what a day at the computer! Especially for a weekend. I have finally gotten around to organizing and posting our vacation pictures. Then (by popular demand) I got together some pictures of the new guest room. Same stuff, new room. Since I was doing some web work, I got some updated garden pictures and posted them too. Maybe, between loads of laundry I'll do some stitching page updates as well, don't hold your breath on that one. I might just stitch instead. :)

Anyway, check out my web page. The and tags will point you in the right direction.

Guest Room Pictures

The Guest Room is now put together, and the soon to be baby's room is ready for us to pick a paint color. Step by step, we are getting closer!

Our Vacation July 2005

Vacation pictures have finally been posted!!!!

First coat painted!

It's a good thing we like the paint color! We just got done with the first coat, and it looks very nice. We'll do the second coat tomorrow, and then we should be done. Verdict on a third coat will wait until tomorrow.

One step closer to painting

Well, earlier in the week we washed down the walls in the new guest room. Tonight we made excellent progress. We sanded and dusted the walls. We taped the windows and doors. Tomorrow we paint! (That octagon shaped thing in the first picture is the window, even though it looks like a painting hanging on the wall) The next pictures of this room will be Dried Thyme.

Home again and back to work

Ahh... the wonders of vacation, and the realization that it's back to work and home and chores. We took an extra day off this time, and used it to catch up around the house before we went back to work. What a help! We were able to have food in the fridge and clean clothes to wear!

We even got some extra stuff done. We tidied up the laundry room (even swept the floor) and found the painting stuff for the guest room. I washed the walls in the guest room, so we are all ready to sand and get ready to paint. We picked the color and bought the paint: Dried Thyme.

Wildlife adventures & other stuff

Wildlife
So, while finishing up a few things this morning before packing to leave for VACATION I was out doing some last planting (yes, even on July 1 I still had seedlings to plant). I found a toad out behind the lilacs. I was back there clipping off the runners from the lilacs and there he was. Just as surprised as I was. Then, on the east side of the house I found a mouse! I thought he was something like a hedgehog at first, and was disappointed to find a regular old, though fat, mouse. I heard the cardinal singing in the front yard, and caught a glimpse of him in the back. The chipping sparrow didn't even wait for me to get inside after I filled the feeders before he flew in.

Flowers
On a sad note, the hollyhocks took a beating yesterday in the wind. They don't look so good. Next year we'll have to put a trellis up and tie them so they can stand up tall.


Stitching
I hit a snag with my hardanger. I'll have to take a bunch out because I made a mistake on one side and the next part won't fit in. I'm really bummed about that since I thought I was making such good progress! Oh well, such is life.

New picture option at Blogger

Hey. I just saw that I could put pictures in my posts and this is pretty cool. This is a picture I took a while back in Ames. Probably the last time there was VEISHEA. Anyway, I thought I'd try out the new technology option here and see if I like it better than the way I was posting pictures before. This seems like I'll have more options to put a small picture up with text. I may keep the other way too... just to have some variety.

VACATION

Is there a better word in the world? At this moment, I can't think of any.
Tomorrow vacation starts! Hooray! Some nice quiet days, just the two of us. Especially anticipated since this will be the last "just the two of us" vacation for quite some time!

Even our lilies are Cyclone colors

Lilies are in bloom. Too bad you can't tell the difference between the ones I dug and replanted last fall (right) and the ones I left alone (left).

Hollyhock pictures

Check out this page for pictures of my hollyhocks blooming!

In the summertime

Wow, it was over 90 here this week. That's something for us!
I finally got around to finish my planting this weekend. It's almost July!

My holly hocks are blooming! They are so pretty, and TALL!

I finally got a glimpse of the Oriole this week. He was here just for a moment for a bite of orange, and then something startled him and he flew off. I added some jelly to the oranges and hope to attract him back. We will have to wait and see on that one.

Tech Ed 2005

So, here I am at my Microsoft conference. Florida is hot and muggy. Of course, I spend all my time in the air conditioning, so when I have to go out to the bus my glasses fog up. Conference is good. Sessions have been pretty informative. The convention center and Microsoft have put together a good program here. Who knew that a conference for 11,000 could seem to run so smoothly.

Marybeth's Homepage

Marybeth's Homepage
I've updated my web pages with some recent photos of flowers and birds.
Also, there's a picture of my crewel project.

Planting!

Gee, it's June already and I just now planted my tomatoes and basil outside. I tried to put my flower seedlings outside yesterday for a bit, they didn't like it at all! I will try again tomorrow to see if they can toughen up some. Maybe if the weather holds out I'll be able to plant some of them over the weekend. Of course, it will be a while before I see any flowers from them. I might have to go buy some flowers just to get some instant color on the deck.

Robins and Crewel Work

Well, I went to go count the eggs in the robin's nest yesterday, and my mirror revealed three gaping mouths! As we were doing yard work yesterday, we saw both parents actively looking for food and heading back to the nest.

I've been working on my crewel piece this weekend. I've finally gotten to use some color. It's looking pretty cool. I'm not sure this is for me though. These sharp needles are going to be the cause of some blood on the piece before it's done I'm afraid!

Robins

It looks like our robin from last year has taken up residence in her old nest again. We never got around to taking it down last fall, and when I walked around to the side of the house I scared her (and me).

When I was over there Sunday weeding the flower beds, I flushed her away from the nest a few times. Since she was never gone long, and never went too far away I am guessing she's got eggs in there. I haven't gotten out my "mirror on a stick" yet, but will probably go check it out this week.

I did weed out the flower beds... at least two of them. The tulips are mostly done, and I have some iris getting close to bloom. I have fought back the spread of the lilacs by clipping off about two dozen runners. I can see the ground cover (forget-me-nots) now.

'Extinct' Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Found in Arkansas - Yahoo! News

Well, how about that! :)

Hairy Woodpeckers

Well, what a day it has been - no foolin'!

I saw a Downey woodpecker this morning, for the second day in a row, and then this evening we saw a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers in our yard. The male was at the suet, and the female at the seed log.

The grackles have outsmarted my spring-action bird feeder.

I finished one of my little stitching projects too! What a busy day!

Stitching Days (or is it Daze....)

I finally finished the buttonhole stitch around the edge of the hardanger, and last night set myself to work some of the kloster blocks for the interior borders. I finished about 6 blocks and was distracted. Maybe tonight better progress will be made! (secretly, I sometimes hope that there are elves who will come in and do some of that for me... but then I realize that then it really wouldn't be my project then).

Signs of Spring

There may still be a foot of snow out there (thanks to the 18" we received on Friday), but the sings of Spring are coming. I saw some Robins on Tuesday. This morning, I noticed that the goldfinches were starting to get their yellow feathers in. And who showed up at the feeder this morning, but a Red-Winged Blackbird.

MFA - Exhibition - Speed, Style, and Beauty: Cars from the Ralph Lauren Collection

I went to see this exhibit this weekend in Boston with my sister.
It was really cool. My favorite was the Jaguar. I guess I've always had a soft spot for jags.....

We also saw lots of other cool stuff at the museum...several Monets and van Goghs I hadn't seen before.

I was not surprised to see they had a lot of Paul Revere silver. One forgets that he had a day job.

A young red-tailed hawk visited the neighborhood on Wednesday. Here he is in the neighbor's yard - on the play set.
 

A young red-tailed hawk visited the neighborhood on Wednesday. Here he is in the neighbor's yard - perched on the purple martin houses
 

March

Well, it is March now. The month that Spring arrives. It's 12 degrees outside now. That doesn't help me think of spring like thoughts. brrrrr.

My goldfinches came back this week. I saw 5 this morning at the feeders.

Next week I leave to go visit my sister for a long weekend. What will we do? A lot of hanging out and visiting I expect. Maybe a museum trip or two as well. That is, if we don't get snowed in. I heard on the news today that the airport by her was closed because of snow for a while today or yesterday.

What to do with your day off

Life is good when you have the day off! I was able to do laundry, tidy up, wait for delivery men, bake cookies, and update web pages! I still have several hours left, I guess that laundry should be folded eventually.....

Here's a picture I just found while cleaning out a closet! It's my sister and me in 1978. I am the tall one here. Now, that's not so true. 

Sweet Charity

We went up to Minneapolis last night to see Sweet Charity. It was a fun production, and worth the late night. *yawn* The music and dancing were really good. Christina Applegate was pretty good in it. I believe this is her first stage performance.

No more italics

I solved the italics problem today. Turns out an application I'd installed had replaced a pretty common font. Once I put the proper font file back where it belonged every thing was back to normal.

Friday!!!

Happy Friday. Today is a lovely, crisp (ok, COLD) day here. I saw an awesome sunrise this morning on my way to work. Going in at 7:15 has its advantages.
Jury duty is over. I didn't have to go back again after that one time last week. There were a few afternoons where I was scheduled to go in, and then at the last minute they canceled it.
Yesterday I saw a hot air balloon rising in the morning sky. It was pretty cold out, I can't imagine what would inspire someone to go up when it's 3F outside! More power to 'em!
Now, if my computer would stop displaying everything in italics this morning it might shape up to be an all right day.

Knitting, Stitching and Jury duty

So, as if I don't have enough projects going, I picked up some fancy yarn on Saturday and started knitting with it. I figured I could make a scarf. I now think that I'll run out before I get it long enough. So, will I go get more yarn or not? Hmmmm..... Let's see how this skein goes.

I did finally get around the edge of the hardanger last night (I know I said I hoped to get that done a week ago). I started the button hole, but couldn't quite get it right. I will have to go back to the instructions to get it right.

For the second day in a row I was supposed to report for jury duty in the afternoon and then called in and found out I didn't have to report. I'm going to run out of dress up clothes!

Jury Duty

I had to report for jury duty today. After some orientation, I was selected to go through the jury selection process. I wasn't selected for this case and will probably have to report again. It was an interesting experience. Maybe next time I'll get selected.

Just after I finished yesterday's post, I saw a Downey Woodpecker. I haven't seen one of those in a while, so I went to get the camera. Then he flew away. I also saw a starling, and I don't see them often in the winter.
I cleaned up a broken bird feeder and put it out yesterday. I moved some things around too.

I've started stitching Christmas cards. How about that, eh? Let's see if I can do more than the 18 I did last year.

Cold birds

On this crisp and sunny morning (-5 F) I went out and unclogged the bird feeder before church. When I got home I was rewarded with a bunch of sparrows, three goldfinches and a couple of juncos.

brrrrrrrrr

It's very, very cold here today. The high temperature won't be above zero. I am glad to be where I am though -rather than further north where their air temps are in the -40 F range!

I will spend this chilly weekend indoors stitching! I have a hardanger project I'm working on and I should finish the outer ring of kloster blocks this weekend. Then - do I work on the inside design, or get the dreaded button hole stitch out of the way? Maybe I'll do a little of both.

I've started something new on my stitched cards - I ran the card stock through the printer first to print my message, then I pierced the holes and stitched my design. That came out really cool. I have to be a little more careful about placing the pattern this way. That's not a big deal though.

I went out this morning and loosened up the bird feeders. The newest one I bought keeps clogging up. This cold weather means I have to be better about checking them. The little birds will be needing more food to stay warm.