confused woodpecker

 This little woodpecker has developed a taste for the sweetened water in the hummingbird feeder. I believe this is a Hairy Woodpecker.
A Downy Woodpecker looks very similar except for a smaller beak.

But this little fellow has been landing here fairly regularly to satisfy his sweet tooth. (or should I say sweet beak?)

At first I thought he was just curious and trying to see what the hummingbirds were finding here, but then I noticed droplets of water as he pulled his beak away...he is definitely drinking.

But wait...now here is a Red Bellied  Woodpecker. Either he doesn't understand what to do or he doesn't like sugar water. I have only noticed him here a couple of times.

While I'm on the subject of wildlife...look at this little newt that my younger son found while hiking.

He looked for info online and it looks like an Eastern Newt.  This lovely orange color is only a temporary stage for them.

They are pretty small as you can see by this large finger in the photo to show scale.

These newts live only in damp places. Junior saw this one just after heavy rains...the newt was able to come out from it's damp hiding place, I suppose.

my poor peas...and beets

I had taken a few photos outside and was going to show you that my peas were beginning to bloom...

But now they look like this...

 
Something, probably deer, have just chomped them all down.

And the beet leaves are missing too.  Oh well, such is life!
I just pulled up the stumps of the pea plants. That will make room for the other stuff.

The kale is looking pretty good. I think I can start harvesting leaves from it.

And, not garden related, but a problem almost solved... my husband used the ATV to drag "the stupid chunk of concrete" to the back of our property...close to a developing sinkhole that I have been tossing branches and stuff into.  Either I will see if Junior can tump it over into there or I will chip away at it a little more. 

The good thing is that it's not sitting in  the yard looking ugly...and now I can get that area leveled out and planted with grass.

what I am working on

I finished sewing all my small half square triangle units and now it's time to work on the fun part of the quilt!

I am making larger triangle units with those nice plaid fabrics I ordered a few weeks ago. I was able to use my Easy Angle Ruler to cut these triangles too. They make a 6 1/2" finished square...the largest this ruler will accommodate.

I am cutting one fabric at a time because I want to mix and match the plaids. I really like this part!

Now, laying them out before sewing to try to get the colors evenly distributed. You can see where I have placed a few of my smaller triangle units too. They will be sewn to the darker large triangles.

son's new gadget

My older son got this new little gadget at a big discount through a special offer by the organization he works for. They encourage health and fitness for their employees and besides this deal, they will pay a nice amount each year for anything having to do with fitness. It could be anything from equipment to athletic shoes to yoga classes.

But back to this device. It is called a Fitbit.

It works like a pedometer but better. You clip it to your belt and it measures how many steps you take in a day and how many flights of stairs you climb.  My son found out he walks  1 1/2 to 2 miles at work each day.

(that picture was a Sunday so a lower count). Also you program in your weight and other info and it will calculate how many calories you burn each day.

It will sync with a program on your smart phone or other device to give you even more information. If you choose to wear it at night on a wristband...it will track your sleep!

The dark blue lines show times of sleep...the turquoise shows restlessness and the red lines are time awake.

Pretty interesting!

I am thinking about getting one, too. Maybe it would encourage me to be a little more active!

cutting more half square triangles

I have been working on cutting and sewing  480 of these  ... 2  1/2" square units. 

This is a method that seems the quickest and easiest to me. I am using a special ruler..the Easy Angle Ruler.

So to get started, you layer your light and dark fabrics with right sides together...and cut a strip half inch larger than your finished square should be. So in my case, that's a 3" strip.

I flipped the layers here to show up better in photos.

Now, you find the line on the Easy Angle ruler that is the desired size of your finished square. Line it up along the edge of the fabric and cut.  Mine is the 2 1/2" line. Now flip the ruler and make the next cut. Continue down the length of your strip.

Sew along the long side of the triangle then press open for your finished square (like in the top photo).

I took my little machine out on the back porch and got a bunch of these sewn. Usually I would sit at a taller table but since these were small and I didn't have a lot of other stuff to spread out - this worked just fine.

Actually maybe even better...a good visual angle for what was going through the machine!

country fried steak

This was Sunday Dinner, Country Fried Steak.   It's not something we have real often even though it is quick and easy to fix.

I watch for a price break on the chopped steaks at the grocery. They are not ground like hamburger - just thin and cross-cut so they cook quickly. Look for the ones without a lot of white fat/gristle/connective tissue in them.

I make enough for the boys to take home leftovers. Just salt and pepper each side and give them a good coating of flour.

Fry them in a good amount of bacon grease. Don't overcook or they can get tough!

I set the fried steaks aside in a baking dish while I make the gravy.  Gravy is not my best thing but this time it came out pretty good. I thickened skillet drippings with flour, added salt and pepper, milk, half&half, and chicken soup base for flavor.

All right!

Then I pour it over the fried steaks waiting in the baking dish and keep it warm in the oven until everything is ready to go on the table. 

Really, after I took this picture I smothered the biscuit with gravy too and I might have put more on the steak!

Easy to reheat leftovers. Just warm up the meat in the gravy in a nonstick skillet.

a new device for cleaning the pool

We had been using an electric robot device for cleaning the pool bottom. It worked by crawling along the pool floor and catching debris in a bag. It did a good job when we had the larger rectangular pool - but not so good in this new kidney shaped pool.

It would go back and forth along the same path repeatedly. Something about the curves of the pool I guess. Then it developed a problem with the timer and would shut off after a few minutes.

We decided to go back to the type of vacuum we had before.

This one uses no electricity. It some how works with the circulation of water. You just plug it into the skimmer hole.

It uses weights to sort of bump it along the floor of the pool...vacuuming debris right in to the filtration system.  You can still use the pool while it is working...unlike the electric one.

With the electric one we had to always remember not to leave the control box out if it looked like rain. No worries with this one.

After a couple of hours the job is done...just remove the whole contraption, so the skimmer can resume  clearing the top of the water.

This smaller pool is much easier to take care of!