it's a zoo here

Mama robin is tending to her 3 hungry beaks in a corner of our front porch. Not such a good picture because it is taken through the window in order to not scare her away. Good thing we don't have very much traffic to our front door!

And the squirrel wars have escalated and we now have captured the enemy! No matter that the enemy is a little baby squirrel, unable to fend for itself out in the world. But it's time to get these critters out in the open, not tucked away in a nice cozy corner of our attic!

Bob found a hole chewed under the eaves that was the front door for our squirrel family, and was able to figure out sort of where the activity was happening in the attic by following the noises we could hear upstairs. The live trap placed in the attic near our little trapdoor was unsuccessful. He had to resort to cutting a hole into the sheetrock, and after getting some insulation out of the way he spied one or two little squirrels hiding from him. We baited the live trap (peanuts and peanut butter), barricaded the opening, and this morning had a little squirrel trapped. We put the trap outside and waited for an adult to come around before opening the trap.

Run, little squirrel, run!

The saga is not over, we have to set the trap again to find out if there is another baby, then make sure the adults are out, then repair the damage outside the house and the sheetrock inside. The outside hole is in the very peak of the roof, 2 stories high, and not a place I can climb to alone. Heights are not for me. Doing heights alone is definitely not for me! Heights alone while trying to cover a hole is like a disaster waiting to happen!

On a much more pleasant topic, I have been piecing together some blocks that will make a table cover that is part of the Clothesline Club at Bear Patch. This group focuses on patterns and fabrics from Darlene Zimmerman, and the prints are all reproductions of the 30's era. There are 30 of these blocks and a border to finish it off.

During some evening TV watching, I have started stitching together some of my hexagons, assorted colors and shapes. This is what I have so far--

and I'm not sure where it's headed! These are English paper pieced shapes, which is why you can see my basting threads on some of the blocks. I remove the basting and papers from the center blocks as more are added.

I tried a new ruler that Debbie ordered for the store and it is very timely because it fits right in with the 9-patch blocks I made for an upcoming class. So nice when things work like that!

This ruler is used for the technique that uses squares instead of strips for piecing the blocks, something I learned about in January from a Primitive Gatherings book. That technique does work best with a block size that is easily divisible by 3, but this ruler makes it possible to get around that. I tried it out this morning with squares that started at 4 7/8", and it worked!

I used my new stockpot (thanks B&B) to cook up a batch of a good soup, the recipe is here on a good website for vegetarian recipes. Several more things on their recipe list that I want to try, I need to keep working on variety and protein to keep this vegie plan going. I am mostly very happy that I have made the switch, but I do find that eating out is challenging. Next time you look at a restaurant menu, try eliminating everything that has meat and/or cheese in the description, and you will find that you are not left with much to choose from! I did splurge last weekend when I was enjoying a dinner out with Bob to mark our anniversary. I ordered a chicken breast and it was yummy, but I deeply regretted that choice at 1:00 in the morning! If/when I decide to return to my carnivorous state, it will be a gradual change!

Such is life here on this pleasant spring day!