Weeding, Raining, Birds, and not much Sewing

It was raining last weekend and Jack and I put my Christmas present together, it is a Tractor Scoot from Gardeners Supply.  It is basically a tractor seat on a 4 wheel base with a handle to pull it like a wagon. The seat swivels 360 degrees and there is a bucket on the back for weeds and a tray underneath for tools. I think I like it, it is much more comfortable that my kneeler/bench and I have been able to walk after working in the yard. I was able to do some weeding and cleanup in the flowers but then it started raining. It has rained for days and it is cold. Everything is growing; the many shades of green and all the trees blossoming and the spring flowers blooming are wonderful to look at.
Not much sewing going on here but I did get out  to the quilt shop one of the rainy days. I did a little bit of cutting ( and a lot of talking) when I got together with my friends on Wednesday.

These are the fabrics in the fat quarter bundle I bought. I had nothing in mind but they look so springy and cheerful that they called my name .








They called Lucy's name too when I layed them out to photograph them. She always has to curl up on anything that is new.










This is the bird feeder that we see from the window in the living room at the back of the house. The trees all around the sides of the yard and the hemlock trees near the house make it a very attractive place for the birds.    

I noticed 2 pairs of Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks a couple of weeks ago and then didn't see them for a while.

Yesterday they were back and I had eyes on 5 males at one time. One of them was probably immature as it had makings of its head that were more like the female. I'm not sure how many females we have because they were all moving around back and forth, from feeder to tree to bush and back again.

I got this shot of 4 of the males and one little brown sparrow.

We had Nuthatches all winter but this little guy is new to our feeder. When I spotted him I thought he was just another Nuthatch because of his actions. A closer look told me he was different.  I looked him up and identified him as a Red Breasted Nuthatch.

Jack and I and Lucy spend a lot of time watching the birds. I am always excited to see something new at the feeders. I spotted a lone turkey way out in back the past two days and I am pretty sure there were 2 Brown Thrashers just beyond the hemlocks but they moved out of sight before I got my binoculars and bird books.

We use safflower seeds in the feeders and  the squirrels leave them along.  We have a lot of different kinds of squirrels.  We also have many chipmunks who do eat safflower seeds but so far this year they have stayed off the feeders.  Maybe that is because of Lucy. We don't let her outside but she gets out sometimes and one day she left us a dead chipmunk.