We had a “crafting” get-together in TX this past week with at least 26 ladies attending.  My plan was to make glasses cases (or iPod cases or phone cases) out of ready-made potholders.  They are so simple — one L-shaped seam and sew on a button and you’re done.

NOT SO FAST!!!  My machine down here isn’t as heavy duty as my machine at home, and goodness knows what size needles I had on hand, but they weren’t doing the job.  I figured it wouldn’t be fun for the ladies to sew with needles breaking every fourth potholder, so I stitched the L-shaped seam ahead of time and we sewed buttons on by hand as a group!  I wish I would have taken a picture of the 26 I stitched up for the get-together, but I didn’t, so here’s a picture of two I made for myself after the meeting:

I was able to get my rotary cutter in one and my Razr phone in the other (just barely).  Just search for potholders on line, and there are a lot of projects out there you can make from a ready-made potholder.

On a photography note, I joined the 365 Project, which is a web site where you take at least one photo a day and post it on their site.  It will make kind of a photo journal of my year.  Right now it’s all about the birds, but there are times of the year that I don’t see many birds, so I will be forced to branch out *shudder*.  I put a link on my left-hand side bar and would LOVE it if you visited.

Back to work!  I need to finish my blocks for my Color Palette Challenge with Judy Laquidara.  The end of the month is near!

–Sue

We had some remodeling done this winter in the little efficiency condo next door to us in Texas (we use it as a second bedroom when needed, and it’s in rental the rest of the time).  I really like how it came out.  The Before:

and the After:

The old kitchen was original to 1983, so it was well past the time for an update.  We had to “steal” about 10″ from the walk-in closet to get in a real refrigerator and slightly bigger range.  And DRAWERS!!!  We have DRAWERS!!!

The carpet went in Wednesday, so we are officially D*O*N*E with this project.  I love how it turned out though.  Now I’m thinking I need a glass-tile backsplash in our kitchen at home, but it will have to be a do-it-myself project.

–Sue

Week 1:  15 miles
Week 2: 15 miles for a running total of 30 miles

That puts me exactly on target, except for the fact that we’re bound to get some nasty weather eventually when I won’t want to walk, and I will be at JudyL’s retreat for about five days in February (including driving time).  I need to be walking more than the bare minimum.  In my defense, I’m still building up stamina.  I’m hoping to do a little better next week, but time will tell.

It’s foggy this morning on Mustang Island, TX.  I thought I would share some pictures of a week ago or so when I walked in the fog.  It was a little bit surreal, but also very surprising how much activity was going on.  Here are a few ways to have fun on the beach on a January afternoon when the fog just refuses to lift.

–Sue

And just in time.  I’ve put together my UFO list to follow along with Judy Laquidara’s 2012 UFO-a-month completion plan, but I still have to dig up some pictures to make it a little more interesting.

We’ve been busy working on the little efficiency condo, but now we’re just waiting for carpet so I have time to blog and sew.

Laundry is waiting, so just a quick picture from this last week.

Tony, Lynn, Rob and Jim on the beach Christmas day with these strange fingers of sand where sand got pulled back into the Gulf.  There was a high-tide advisory with potential flooding the day or so before, and there was was some water standing all the way back to the dunes in areas.  The waves were big and brown (filled with sand).  You can also tell from their attired that it was pretty chilly!

We really enjoyed having the kids here (more pix later) for Christmas.  Of course, the weather turned gorgeous the day they left (sorry, guys)!  Dave will be coming here to spend some time with us in February.

– Sue (who’s REALLY glad to be back on line!)

I’ve been mulling over my choice of item to give away, and I can tell you that it’s one of my favorite “tools”, something most of you don’t have, and it’s something any quilter could use.  It’s also smaller than a bread box, non-edible, and doesn’t require feeding!

On Friday, 12/9, the Blog Hop Party button on the right-hand side of this page should be active and direct you to other participating blogs — lots of chances to win lots of prizes!

And it just doesn’t seem right to have a blog post without pictures, so here’s a shot of a snowy egret, taken in Port Aransas, Texas, in October:

Stop by tomorrow for a new favorite squash soup recipe!

–Sue

No sign of any water birds or night herons, but there are a lot of small song birds.  This also happened a couple of years ago, and it was amazing to me how quickly the pond became “paradise” again.

A photo from 2008:

Hopefully the much-needed rain is on the way.

–Sue

A tri-colored heron at the birding center:

A duck at the birding center:

Tomorrow I’ll show the pictures of Paradise Pond.  Get your tissues out, Winter Texans…

Sue

Tree leafing out

A juvenile White Ibis at Paradise Pond.  He will “fish around” with his whole beak in the water looking for a tasty morsel:

White Ibis, Juvenile

Charlie’s Pasture is a newer nature preserve site in Port Aransas.  It’s on the other side of the island and run parallel to the shipping channel.  It too is only about five minutes (or less) from here.  We took a l-o-n-g walk there yesterday from the city swimming pool to almost the end of the walkway and back, which easily took us at least a couple of hours.  It was a beautiful spring day in Texas.

My first bug pictures of 2011!  A damselfly on the sidewalk:

Damselfly

A bee (or a fly that imitates bees) on a teeny, tiny flower (the bee was maybe 1/3″ inch long).  Gotta love the zoom!

And a photo of four of the thousands of pelicans we’ve seen streaming north in long strings along the coast:

More later…

Sue

Dolphin

A seagull found a tasty treat at the beach:

Seagull

And at Paradise Pond, a Black-Crowned Night Heron (juvenile):

Black-Crowned Night Heron

Also at Paradise Pond, a Great Blue Heron takes a break from tending his/her nest high in the trees to take a stretch:

Great Blue Heron

This time of year, there are long, long strings of pelicans flying north in formation:

Pelicans

That’s it for now…

–Sue

Mottled Duck at Paradise Pond

–Sue