A little of this and a little of that

Last week when Friend Jan and I pinned our quilts you might have noticed she had something in her hand. Now, I don't do gadgets.  When I go into a quilt shop the last place I look is the nick nack wall. But when Jan showed me how to use this tool to pin a quilt I was so excited the nick nack wall was the first place I went when we stopped in a little shop on the way to lunch. Even better, they had this little tool hanging right there waiting for me.

 This is it.  I'm sure you all know about it and I'm the only one on Planet Quilt that doesn't.  But just in case you are a quilt pinner this little thing will revolutionize your task.  And save your fingers.  In the past by the time I finished pinning a quilt my fingers were always bleeding. Not anymore!  AND!  AND the tool gets the job done in record time.  No wonder we pinned two quilts so quickly. 

 These grooves grab the pointy part of the pin and with a mere whisper of movement on your part the pin is closed.  Amazing!  I'm gushing but it really will change my quilting life.

 

 Friends Jan and Marilyn came for our once a monthly quilt get together Monday.  In the forest outside our window we could hear a very different bird call.  Suddenly a pileated woodpecker came right to the tree nearest the house, mere feet from the window where we sat.  These birds are huge, as backyard forest birds go.  When I first saw one I declared it was as big as a chicken.  Almost is, for real.  It would fly away, come back, fly away, come back.  So here we are, three 'mature' women standing at the slightly opened sliding door, Jan holding her phone in her hand stuck out the door, tuned to a youtube playing of the pileated woodpecker call.  Marilyn standing next to her poking her head out scouting for a sighting and me dodging from window to window hoping if he/she came back I could zoom in.

Alas, not so lucky.  This is as close as I could get.  But after they left I could hear the bird calling again and when I looked out that window it was hanging onto the staff of the shepherd's hook holding the suet feeder.  Its wings were flapping as he was holding on for dear life feet sliding down the pole. 

I saw him just once today.  Sigh.  Today is the last of the nice days.  Nice enough to take a few minutes to sit outside looking for birds.  Tomorrow our weather finally changes to what it's supposed to be for mid November.  Darn. 

 Santa has packed his sleigh and is off to another country, package in hand for a secret friend.  Hold on tight, Santa.

Saturday I made over 400 peppermint patties and Sunday I chocolated them.  That unpretty one in the lower left corner will go into the container that holds the not so pretties for our personal enjoyment.