Journal: Sparrows, Kaleidoscopes, Old Pictures, & Birthdays

Again Tuesday the chipping sparrows were busy in the yard, hunting for seeds.  It’s our littlest sparrow.  Nebraska also has a couple of Old World sparrows – Eurasian tree sparrow and English (or house) sparrow.  Would you believe, 29 other species of sparrows have been recorded here, too?  I’ve seen maybe 15 of them, though sometimes I wasn’t completely sure, as some are quite similar.  Half a dozen of these are migrants.

Cassin’s sparrow, Grasshopper sparrow, Black-throated sparrow, Lark sparrow, Lark bunting, Chipping sparrow, Clay-colored sparrow, Field sparrow, Brewer’s sparrow, Fox sparrow, American tree sparrow, Dark-eyed junco, White-crowned sparrow, Golden-crowned sparrow, Harris’s sparrow, White-throated sparrow, Sagebrush sparrow, Vesper sparrow, LeConte’s sparrow, Nelson’s sparrow, Baird’s sparrow, Henslow’s sparrow, Savannah sparrow, Song sparrow, Lincoln’s sparrow, Swamp sparrow, Green-tailed towhee, Spotted towhee, Eastern towhee.

The chipping sparrow didn’t used to nest here.  We only saw them as they migrated through on their way to Canada and Alaska.  But they kept staying later and later... and finally the last two years, they’ve been here all summer long, nesting and raising young.  They’re so cute, with their little rust-colored topknots.  They’re called ‘chipping sparrows’ because of the noise they make:  “Chip!  Chip!  Chip!”  When they finally started staying through the mating season, I heard their mating songs and warbles for the first time.  I never knew they sang like that!  Evidently, whoever named them only heard the ‘chip-chips’ too. 

By bedtime, the rows of hexagons for the right side of the Atlantic Beach Path quilt were all put together, and this, the bottom middle section, was done, too.  That left the rows for the top middle section and the left side to put together, meaning I was exactly half done sewing the rows together. 

Wednesday, I got about a third of the remaining rows put together before time for our midweek church service.

When I am sewing or quilting in my studio, Tiger can almost always be found in one of his favorite places:  his bed underneath the quilting frame.

On Thursday, I scanned and edited old pictures.  I got one smaller album done that dated back to when Larry and I were dating, and then started on a big one – which happened to be the second album from our trip to Canada in 1994.

When we lived at the house in town, all my albums were neatly in order – from #1 through whatever the last album was, somewhere around #350.  But when we moved, they got put into large totes all willy-nilly, not at all in numerical order.

I’ve been wanting to scan my pictures for years.  But there are always so many other things to do!  So... I’ve decided to scan pictures on Thursdays.  If I can get half a large album scanned per week, that’ll take 700 weeks or so, at one day per week.  Yikes, that’s 13 ½ years.

Well... maybe when this Atlantic Beach Path quilt is done, I’ll work on the scanning steadily for a while.  If I scanned pictures five days a week, I’d have all my albums done in 2 ½ years.  Somewhere here, there’s a balance, eh?  (Though I’m not oft inclined to find happy mediums.  I’m more likely to go whole hog one way or the other.  😉 )

Here I am at age 15.  à

And here’s a picture my boss took of me on the day they hired me full-time in the Word Processing Center at Nebraska Public Power District, right after I graduated in May of 1978.  I’d been working there part-time since school had started the previous September; my business administrations teacher got the job for me, and a good one it was.  I’m 17 in this picture.  They broke the rules for me and let me start at age 16.

This is Larry and me in Pawnee Park (two separate occasions).  We were 17.  I had made him the vest, pants, and western shirt; and there was a matching suit jacket, too.  Later I would cut it down and remake it into a little size 2 suit for Teddy.

It only got up to 50° that day.  We might get frost overnight in a day or two, and maybe even snow.  In the Montana Rockies, on the east side of the Divide, some areas near where some cousins of mine live got 52” of snow!  Nearby towns got 48”... 45”... 42”... 

I wanna be there!  😃

A quilting friend was telling a story of how a bird came flying into her house through an open screen door, scaring her half to death.  She leaves the door open when it’s nice so her dogs can go in and out.  

“No longer!” she said.

I did that, too, on those rare somewhat-bugless days – until an opossum came in the side door from the garage.  He’d had to waddle his way up a half-flight of wooden steps to get in.  He went right into the laundry room and started helping himself to the cat food.  I heard the bag rattling, looked around to see which cat was missing and therefore most probably in the bag (heh), and all the cats were all in the living room with me. 

I crept around the corner expecting to find one of the neighbors’ cats or, more likely, a stray in there, all set to shoo him out right proper-like.

Imagine my amazement when I came upon an opossum.

Aaaiiiiyiiiieee, I didn’t even try to shoo him.  I just stealthily (and rapidly) shut the door to the back hallway in order to prevent him from traveling farther into the house.  I then dashed out the front door, raced around to the back, trotted up the deck steps (one flight up), opened the patio door, and commenced to make lots of noise, stomping and yelling, hoping to scare him back out the way he had come.

He went, tail a-spin.

However, Tabby kitty, who’d been out in the garage, decided he must rush in and see what in the world all the commotion was about – and he and the opossum passed side by side on the garage steps! 

I held my breath, hoping Tabby wouldn’t get bitten by the ’possum’s razor-sharp teeth.

But they passed each other with hardly a glance, as if they were well accustomed to doing just that.  And maybe they were. 

This picture is from our vacation to Canada, taken August 16, 1994.  It’s Athabasca Falls, with a drop of 80 feet (24 m) and a width of 60 feet (18 m).  The Falls is in Jasper National Park, Alberta, along the Icefields Parkway, just off Highway 93A.

The following photo was taken somewhere near the Falls.

The Schwan man came Friday, and I probably disappointed him by only ordering three items.  I usually have a giant bagful or two.  Sometimes one needs to use up the food one already has!

I washed sheets that day, and put our lighter-weight fleece blanket back on the bed.  I’ll wait a couple more weeks before I exchange the cotton quilt for either the wool or the flannel one.  We’ve used the furnace a few times in the last week when the temperature dropped down into the low 50s and high 40s.

Saturday, I vacuumed and swept, cleaned the bathroom and the kitchen, and then worked on the Atlantic Beach Path quilt the rest of the day.  Shortly after supper, I finished sewing all the rows of hexagon halves together, and got all the seams ironed and the edges pressed under.

Larry then slid the table in my downstairs giftwrapping room away from the wall so I could lay the center panel and hexagons on it.  Measuring cattycorner, we made sure the panel was centered and square inside the hexies.  Then, working my way around the table, I glued and then pinned the kaleidoscopes to the panel.  Tomorrow I will appliqué it on with a very narrow blanket stitch.  I’ve been poking around online, searching for ideas for both borders and quilting.

The legs of that table are cherry wood, and the top is thick marble.  It weighs a ton.  I got it, along with six non-matching wooden chairs with upholstered seats, at the used furniture store in town for only $75 (because it was a non-matching set).

Larry and Caleb then had the job of collecting the thing, bringing it home, and getting it into my basement sewing room.  Larry says I walk into a furniture store, hunt all over the place for the heaviest item I can find, and then buy it.  😅

Sunday, October 6^th, was my 59^th birthday.

A dear friend sent ‘Happy Birthday’ wishes and a poem by Augustus M. Toplady (1740-1778):

Why should I worry, doubt and fear?

Has God not caused His Son to bear

   My sins upon the tree?

The debt that Christ for me has paid,

Would God another mind have made

   To claim again from me?

Redemption full the Lord has made,

And all my debts has fully paid,

   From law to set me free.

I fear not for the wrath of God,

For I’ve been sprinkled with His blood,

   It wholly covers me.

For me forgiveness He has gained,

And full acquittal was obtained,

   All debts of sin are paid;

God would not have His claim on two,

First on His Son, my Surety true,

   And then upon me laid.

So now I have full peace and rest,

My Savior Christ hath done the best

   And set me wholly free;

By His all-efficacious blood

I ne’er could be condemned by God,

   For He has died for me!

When I was 9 or 10 and in Jr. Choir, the leader had everyone write a paper on a hymnwriter of their choice.  I wrote on Toplady, who also wrote Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me.  I loved those sorts of assignments, but a good many of my friends were indignant that they should receive homework at Jr. Choir!

Augustus Toplady had quite the ferocious debate with Arminian John Wesley over the doctrines of predestination.  Toplady died at age 38 of tuberculosis.

A quilting friend sent a funny story:  “When I was outside picking the corn, I was talking to the dogs as a stranger walked by and gave me an odd look.  I wasn’t sure why, since picking corn from my garden doesn’t seem too terribly strange.  After he passed by, I realized he couldn’t see the dogs among the corn, so it looked like I was talking to myself or to invisible people.  I’ve never pretended to be the sophisticated neighbor, but I didn’t want to be the crazy one they need to watch to figure out when to call the authorities for my own good, either!”

That reminded me (everything always reminds me of something) of the time I was taking Hester and Lydia for a walk in the twin stroller, back when we lived in town.  They were ages 4 and 2, respectively, and it was shortly before Caleb was born.  (They’re 3 and 1 in this picture.)

It was a beautiful, dead quiet, late summer/early autumn day.  All the children of the neighborhood were in school, and only one elderly man could be seen, leaning over working in his garden.

Lydia, who had not seen the man, and would have been silent if she had’ve, suddenly burst into song at the tip-top of her voice:  ♫ ♪ “Row, row, row your boat, swiftly down the drain!!! ♫ ♪ Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily; ♫ ♪ life is but a paint!” ♫ ♪

(Those were the words my father had taught her before he passed away the year before, when she was 14 months old.  She cannot remember her Grandpa, but she can remember some of the songs he sang to her [though he didn’t say ‘paint’, but ‘pain’; ‘paint’ was Lydia’s mistaken version].)

Lydia had a low-pitched voice, sang right on tune, tremolo and all, and pronounced her words perfectly.  She did not sound like a two-year-old.

The man in the garden, startled, popped straight up and stared at me in amazement.  He would’ve never thought either of the little girls in that stroller had belted out that song.  Then, taking in the state of things (remember, it was shortly before Caleb was born) and evidently concluding I had good reason for the caterwauling, he went back to his gardening without a word, and without a single glance at the little girls.

I held my chin high and marched – er, waddled – along.  Hester, having seen the man as he rose upright, whirled around and stared at Lydia, sitting in the seat behind her; and Lydia, having seen him at the same time as her sister, stared back wide-eyed, somewhat horrified that someone – especially someone she didn’t know – had heard her singing.  Lydia was timid. 

I turned the corner – and both little girls dissolved into peals of giggles and merriment.

And so on we went.  🤣

Kurt and Victoria invited us to their house after church last night.  Victoria had made some pumpkin spice/chocolate chip cookies, and scrumptious they were. 

While we were there, my phone rang.  It was Hannah.  They’d driven out to our house to give me a gift and share ice cream with us...  but we weren’t there.

 Victoria promptly invited them to her house, so they came, and then we all had cookies and ice cream together, and an enjoyable visit.

Victoria gave me a cast iron French oven.  

Hannah gave me a Mix ’n Chop tool from Pampered Chef, a jar of Juneberry jam, and a bag of those yummy loose tealeaves from Sipology, this one in White Winterberry flavor.  It has date bits, dragon fruit bits, sea buckthorn berries, chokeberries, goji berries, pineapple bits, papaya bits, kiwi bits, blueberries, and cranberries in it.  Mmmmm!  I’m sipping some as I type, right this very minute.

Another friend sent me a funny birthday note that reminded me of when Winnie-the-Pooh had Owl write ‘Happy Birthday’ on the honeypot Pooh was giving Eeyore for his birthday.  Owl (who could even spell his own name, WOL) wrote: “Hippypappy Buthadithdy” on it, while Pooh looked on admiringly, having explained, “My spelling is Wobbly.  It’s good spelling but it Wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places.”

Here’s part of the front of the card Hannah made for me:

Levi gave me a flex clip by Lilla Rose.  They are generally used for hair, but can also be used for scarves.  I could’ve used that last week, when, after hunting around in my jewelry box for the right size of scarf ring, I finally unearthed an old Avon ring and used that.

Today is Amy’s birthday.  We gave her a cosmetic (or sewing tool) bag and a set of fabric nesting bowls.

A few days ago, I ordered a new 18-55mm Canon zoom lens for my camera, as the old one had a nick nearly in the middle of the lens, often causing my pictures to be slightly blurry.  Those things usually cost $250, so you can imagine how disheartened I was when the lens somehow got nicked.  I have a 75-300mm Canon lens and a 90mm Tamron macro lens; but those certainly don’t take the place of the 18-55mm.  This smaller lens is perhaps the one I need the most.

But!!! – someone was selling a brand-spankin'-new one on Amazon for $99.  I decided to get an Amazon credit card.  They call it a ‘gift card’, because when you get it, they immediately load it with $80.  There are no fees for the card.

Therefore, I was able to get the lens for $19 plus tax, and shipping was free.  I took the above two shots (the birthday card and the flex clip) with the new lens.  I’ve compressed both pictures to put them into the letter, and the detail is still very clear. 

Here’s one more picture, also compressed:

I took it without a flash, with few lights on in the room – and it’s nevertheless quite clear.

I’m so happy I got this lens!

Bedtime!  Tomorrow I shall appliqué kaleidoscopes to Atlantic Beach Path center panel, Lord willing.

,,,>^..^<,,,          Sarah Lynn          ,,,>^..^<,,,