Dear Ones.... Just saw this W O N D E R F U L ~ B L E S S E D ~POST !! * C * O * N * G * R * A * T * S ! ! ! ! The Pictures of Precious little HollieBrielle Are A W E S O M E !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks so much for sharing them with all of us !!! We Treasure sharing this Blessed Moment with YA'LL ! ! ! I just KNOW that you a r e both THRILLED to pieces of this W O N D E R F U L new addition to your Precious FAMILY !!!!! God Bless ! Tons of Prayers headed your way as Always !!! Your Buddy ! SusieSunshine GOD IS GOOD ~ ALL THE TIME>>> A L L the time..... GOD IS GOOD ! ! ! ! Especially this GRANDPARENT Deal !!!! BLESSINGS GALORE!!

THANK YOU everyone for taking the time to look at my post and comment. My darling newest grandbaby finally arrived yesterday, May 17th!! It was a very long, difficult and dramatic delivery so I have been at the hospital since Monday morning and haven't even had time to shower let alone read any posts here. We came close to losing him but he is here, healthy and adorable! I am over the moon in love. My daughter was a trooper and so brave. I will post a picture of him soon! Celeste

Squirrels generally find plenty in nature to eat so what we give them is something of a treat, easy to find food. Peanuts are fine as long as they're unsalted and they also like sunflower seeds, cracked corn and fruit. I feed ours all three but mostly the peanuts, cracked corn and sunflower seeds. The fruit(Apples, bananas) I give them infrequently since it's a little more expensive and not something I want them to grow accustomed to eating. I buy bulk peanuts from a local garden center. They're feed peanuts and I buy them fifty pounds at a time for around a dollar a pound. I give them the striped sunflower seeds. They're bigger and they get more out of them than the black oil sunflower seeds. They're a little more economical than peanuts as well. If you buy cracked corn, don't get more than you'll use. If it sits for a long time it will start to get moldy and you'll likely end up with bunches of little moths. Like you, we have around a dozen or so daily visitors. They come around anywhere from 8 in the AM to 7, sometimes 8 at night. Fifty pounds of peanuts lasts us anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 months. On average, probably one pound a day. Our garden center also sells shelled peanuts that are actually cheaper than the unshelled. Overall, more food for the money, but I've found they have a little more trouble in the winter when it's snowed and we throw them out there. They go right down into the snow. The unshelled ones will usually stay on top or go part way down and since they're larger, they're easier for them to find. It also allows them to take it up into the tree away from the snow to eat. Our grandaughter and little niece like watching them eat the unshelled ones as well. They'll sit right there and systematically strip the shell away and hold the nut above it like a little ice cream cone or something. Those cute little chipmunks are h-o-a-r-d-e-r-s, especially in the fall. If you throw the unshelled ones out, they'll stuff 8 or 9 in their mouths, take them back to their den and be back for more by the time a squirrel has eaten one or two. Throwing out the unshelled ones, they'll take two or three away and be back by the time a squirrel has eaten or buried one. Remember that when you put a bunch of food out because you might think you're putting out enough for everyone, but the chipmunks might feel otherwise. :-) Bulk peanuts, striped sunflower seed or cracked corn can be found at some garden centers and most certainly a feed store if you have one around. Unsalted is important because salt increases their already rapid hear rates. I have one caveat for you and I'm by no means assuming you're naive or anything, but we can't protect our "yard pets" from nature. I've seen stray cats, raccoons and different kinds of hawks take runs at our little creatures. There have been times when they've been successful and I've seen it happen as well as stumbled across the end result. It's easy to become somewhat attached to them and can be something of a shock when something like that does happen. We occasionally have flying squirrels in our yard at night, with one that made regular nightly visits to the jar squirrel feeder we have in one tree by the house. One day I woke up and found the poor little fellow in the yard. It about broke my heart, but you just have to remember it's nature and steel yourself for such things. We keep our dogs and cats inside at night, safe from predators but once we shut the doors or turn off the lights we can't do the same for our outdoor visitors. You may never see or come across anything but be prepared for the possibility. It's sad when it does happen, but in the long run it doesn't diminish the feeling I get from seeing them running across the yard or sitting there waiting for a treat. Now that I've gotten past the gloom and doom part, enjoy your extended family! I've enjoyed hundreds of smiles from our little critters and expect hundreds more in the years to come.

Thank you all bunches for your wonderful comments on the quilt! I have been posting pics of the quilt in all its stages on Facebook, so Christy has been helping me make decisions on colors used in the blocks and layout of the center blocks and design, it's been kind of fun getting feedback from her and collaborating with her. Marsha "why do I piece entirely by hand" on most quilts ... I am very noise sensitve and don't enjoy hearing a sewing machine, the sound of a sewing machine stresses me out, I feel like I have more control hand piecing getting my points to turn out just right when I hand piece, a lot of blocks I have made by hand have a lots of triangles in them and usually have thick points that sometimes bends my sewing machine needle, I love to work with my hands, I like to feel things in my hands, most quilts I have done in the past by hand piecing have fabric pieces that are too small to back stitch on the sewing machine without puckering the fabric, and my bed with my temperpedic mattress is much more comfortable to sit on than my desk chair, which I can't seem to get hubby to replace with a new one. I love to board draft by hand and I feel like if I make plastic templates that store in clear pages with patterns in binders then those things can be passed on to future generations, even if I am no longer living then, any of my future family members will be able to take out those plastic templates and make a quilt with it. I love to work with my hands and I get bored sitting at a desk all day, and I have more room to layout a block on my bed in front of me as I hand piece blocks and as I do that I like to "listen" to tv shows. I only have 1 desk that I used for my computer and fabric cutting and sewing, I am hoping in a future quilt room in my next house that I will have at least 2 desk surfaces to work on 1 to cut on and 1 to sew on so I can leave my sewing machine out and not have to keep it stored under my desk. In the future quilts I work on that have much bigger pieces I will be tempted to sew on the machine, like the Scatter Leaves quilt and the Crazy Quilt I have started that I like to use my rotary cutter and acrylic rulers on for squaring things up. I have just started learning how to use my rotary cutter during the past couple of years and am still trying to wrap my head around that process of fabric manipulation. That was the long answer. The short answer - I know I will make fewer quilts in my lifetime, but I just love to work with my hands. Sharon you are thinking exactly like me ... yes I do plan to take the crochet lace project with me while traveling. :-) Best to you and thanks bunches!, Sandra This post was edited by quiltingfox on Mon, Jun 3, 13 at 18:22