Kitten update

The kittens have been moved out of the barn and into the house.   They seem to be adjusting to being away from their Mom and on their own, although they have discovered a new "nest" where they can be close together.













They've also adjusted to eating on their own and have made it clear that they prefer canned cat food over their kitten chow!

Valerie Goodwin workshop

Genesee Valley Quilt Club sponsored a two-day workshop by architect and fiber artist Valerie Goodwin on the Seven Principles of Design.

Valerie is on the left, holding one of her small compositions.













Our first assignment was to create a small paper collage for each of the seven principles.














We created background fabrics by sewing fabrics on crinoline and adding paint and stitching.










The background fabrics were used as a base for compositions representing the design principles.

More kitty picures

In case you haven't seen the kitty pictures on Facebook, here's a picture of Mommy Kitty as she guards the nest of her kittens.

She's very protective of her brood and takes very good care of them.







The kittens are usually in constant motion, as you can see in the next picture, so this picture with everyone posing is very unusual.

Barn Visitors

Although we have lived here for almost 40 years, having a resident feral cat has been a new experience.  We have had many strays, but this feline will allow no close interaction.  We decided to feed the visitor as the cold weather and heavy snows early in the year made hunting difficult.












We have a large horse barn so finding lots of room and hiding places was no problem.  We had hoped our visitor was male and had planned to try a Have-a-Heart trap capture and neutering.















As you can see, our gender assumption was faulty, and three new kittens arrived.  We built an enclosure near some straw bales, and the babies seem happy and healthy.












Mother is nursing her 5-week old children and endures their piling on her during play time.  She can climb out of the nest, and the kittens have a safe hole to hide in when she is not there. 

We haven't determined what to do with our visitors yet...
 If you would like one as a companion, just let us know!

Spring Day

We are in the middle of a stretch of perfect weather -- a reminder of why we live in this part of the country.

Daffodils are a hallmark of the season.









The lilac bush nears full bloom.  Old timers call the year one of the best in many for color and fragrance.  It will be a big week for the Highland Park Lilac Festival in Rochester!










We have a small display of tulips that made it through the deer attack.  The simple fence seemed to add some protection.












Another smaller group around another tree.  Maybe we didn't get the fence up early enough!














Inspector Suki enjoys the beautiful day.  She scratches her back by rolling on stones and stays close by so that we can take more pictures of who surely should be the main attraction!

Cass

This is Cass, a lovely young Belgian mare that was getting a break from being on patrol duty at Pittsford Plaza.



















She was donated to the police by the woman who raised her, and she has a very sweet personality.













Her break included grabbing a few mouthfuls of fresh grass -- like M&M's for horses said her rider.

Burning Grass

The perennial grass garden is left to over-winter and add nice form to our landscaping.  It is very dry this time of the year and ready to go.












The fire is a quick and efficient method of getting rid of last year's growth.  It is gone in seconds!













The great plains of the western part of our country was rejuvenated in this manner through millennia.  Before there were humans, lightening strikes did the job.









The plants are not destroyed.  With the area open to sunshine and rain, the grasses will soon return.










Some weeding of unwanted clumps needs to be done.  A little additional mulch will set up this garden for the year.

Pond cleaning

The yearly ritual of cleaning a couple of our ponds was scheduled for a cold April day, or as we call it this year -- Spring!









The fish and water are removed, and the attractive but hard-to-clean cobblestone base is visible.  A rubber membrane underlines all these stones.













The pond is filled from our well, and the fish are returned along with a few frogs who made it through the winter.  Our job now is to control the algae buildup.











The men are discussing the clean-up process.  Dave and Shawn have done this work for many years with various seasonal helpers.  Bill assumes the usual supervisory role -- crucial to the operation -- or so he says!!

Earthquake Faults at Images 2013

I'm pleased to announce that Earthquake Faults has been selected for Images 2013, the juried gallery exhibition of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, by juror Joyce Robinson.

The exhibit will hang in the Robeson Gallery of the HUB/Robeson Center on the University Park campus of the Pennsylvania State University from June 5 to July 14, 2013.

April Meeting

The Peeps gathered for a regular monthly meeting. 

In preparation for our upcoming exhibit, we took a look at several of the quilts that will be on display.

The exhibit is "Holy Mola!  Art Quilts Inspired by Molas from Panama." 

Each artist selected a mola to use as the starting point for a new quilt, and we'll be displaying the molas with the quilts they inspired.





Bev's "chicken tracks" and Pat's "leaves."
















Anne's piece titled "Fifty."















Mary brought this piece with lots of quilting.  She's thinking of adding some trapunto.

New deck

In our continuing campaign to upgrade our home and build with long-lasting, low-upkeep materials, we chose cellular PVC deck material for this project.












Peter is removing the screws from the cedar planks that comprise the existing surface.  The original deck was built by Dave Koeberle and his brother almost 20 years ago and has held up well.












Some of the cedar needed replacement and rather than replace six or ten planks per year, we decided to rebuild the whole surface.  The treated 2-by-6 under-structure was in fine shape and did not need work.












Paul works on some railing we added to the step off the deck.  As we age, a hand-up or down will probably be a good idea.











A look at the completed structure from the interior porch, as seen through one of the new windows (Note the nice interior framing).

The contrast board around the upper deck serves as a nice accent piece, along with being a visual reminder of the proximity to the step up or down.