Recently I picked up chicken duties at Daughter's house when they went to a cottage for a little holiday. They took their boat and enjoyed their time on the Ottawa River; compensation for missing their annual trip to Newfoundland.
I love seeing the chickens up close and of course, collecting the eggs. These are marvelous layers. Here they are waiting patiently for me to take a picture before letting them out.
The common wildflower, Chicory, is in bloom displaying a beautiful shade of periwinkle blue. I love how it lines the country roads here.
Purple Globe Thistle is in bloom in the garden.
And very popular with bees-here a bumble bee and a honey bee foraging before it was completely in bloom. I'm delighted with all the bees and butterflies in the garden this year.
Great free TV viewing On CBC's Gem -The Secret starring James Nesbitt. A series chronicling where infidelity can lead- and spoiler alert, it's not a good place. Based on a true crime.
Finishing More Solidarity Blocks- these definitely make me smile.
Marie Lismore's design
You can explore her board Quilts With Personality on Pinterest.
and Sophie Dawson's pattern and you can see lots of her lovely work at her site, Sew Swish Designs.
A book in the mail, one I've had my eye on for quite a while. Tending the Garden by Barb Adams and Alma Allen, the duo behind Blackbird Designs.
Showing you the photo of the sunflowers in this post reminded me I had a small sunflower tablecloth tucked away. So I got it out. It's many years old and was made from a panel cut apart and resewn. Some of you may have the same piece. Certainly cheery!
Spring Jubilee, a print by Jahna Vashti. You can see more of her work here. She says every smile brought to the viewer's face is a success for her. We have not seen a bear here but I have photos of the rest including the weasel to show they all scamper or fly about our property.
Lastly I was so happy these three successfully fledged from the nest on a beam outside our bedroom window. It made me a bit nervous and feeling sort of responsible to have them there so close. We couldn't move our blind or curtain because it would alarm the mother. I got this photo when she was away getting food. What a great mother she was! I think the photo I took of a baby robin in the bird bath was one of these guys.
That definitely put a smile on my face!
Hope there is something to smile about in your world today!
Linking this post with Not Afraid of Color, It's a Small Town Life, Viewing Nature With Eileen, Floral Friday Foto, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Love Laugh Quilt and Paying Ready Attention.
This is such a happy post indeed. I love the birds, chickens, and bee on the thistle bloom.
ReplyDeleteAwww, those are all smilemakers fur sure!!! Those little birdies are so cute!
ReplyDeleteThese are delightful. The birds, flowers, the blue!! All so pretty. I especially like that sweet house block.
ReplyDeleteThose baby birds are so cute and fun to spot! Love the sunflower quilt and quilts with personality looks neat. I'll go check that out! Enjoy your day!
ReplyDeleteSunflowers are always so cheery, and the wee birds, so good they have flown safely, that first flight must be a bit scary.
ReplyDeleteyour book looks wonderful - I have one of their books and must look at it again - I ordered a new book that should come around Monday - I love the blue flowers! such a round ball. how do you like to take care of the chickens - not too much work I presume and wonderful to get the eggs.
ReplyDeletePurely based on personal observation, American Robins seem to have had a very good breeding season. Hardly a day goes by without youngsters in our backyard, still shamelessly begging for food, despite being perfectly capable of feeding themselves. I am am glad that they felt at home at your house.
ReplyDeleteLots of lovely thing to admire on your blog today, such cute little baby birds nesting outside your bedroom window. Your sunflower tablecloth is such a cheery item, I'm sure I had some sunflower fabric years ago but have no idea where it is now. Have a wonderful day.
ReplyDeleteThe common farm chicken makes some good pictures and I love the rich blue of those flowers.
ReplyDeleteLove your choices.
ReplyDeleteYes, sometimes it's just the small things of life that put a smile on our face.
Sue
Lovely happy post Jocelyn, from the chooks to the quilt blocks. Blue flowers are the best for bringing the bees to the garden I have read. Great the baby birds have fledged.
ReplyDeleteSo much to enjoy in this post, but I love the Purple Globe Thistles!
ReplyDeleteLots of smiles today! I’ve never seen Chicory, love the color! And the globe thistle too! Sunflowers always make me smile! What a wonderful treat to have a robin’s nest close enough for viewing,
ReplyDeleteHi Jocelyn! Those chickens certainly are waiting patiently for you. That would make me smile as well. Gosh, those flowers are so pretty - what a nice selection of the blue hues in nature. Ooh - a true crime show - that sounds potentially scary but I'll take a peak at it. Oh! That house block with the cute hearts in the windows and door - love that. Those baby robins look like they are checking you out! Keeping their eyes on you so to speak. ~smile~ Roseanne
ReplyDeleteLove the flowers! Chicory almost looks fake. Happy chickens (hurry up and open the gate!). Your robin's nest looks a lot more sturdy than the one my robin built!
ReplyDeleteAll definitely smile-worthy!
ReplyDeleteNow that's one scatter runged chicken ladder! I love to hear the hens 'singing' as Mom used to call their happy sounds. Baby robins always make me smile as well. Thanks for the viewing tip on Gem. Will watch it later!
ReplyDeleteLove the blue globe thistle. Pretty chooks. You have so many great projects in the works. Love the pictures it instantly makes you smile.
ReplyDeleteOoh, fresh eggs, ample payment for your chicken tending chores. I don't recall seeing any chicory lately and it used to be everywhere, along with Queen Anne's lace and other wildflowers. I do have globe thistle, but it is doing poorly. Many of my plants seem to be in decline. Perhaps, like me they are just aging out. The one has that me most alarmed is a beautiful Peegee tree hydrangea. It is starting to bloom, but the leaves and blooms are much smaller in size than previous years. I lost quite a few shrub and plants the last few years. Perhaps Mother Nature is trying to tell me something. Enjoy your weekend.
ReplyDeletePat
Love your bees & thistle pictures. Nature at its finest! In the past I've had robins make their nest on the rafters under our deck. When I'm sewing in the basement, I can watch the busyness of the parents from the window. And who doesn't like Blackbird Designs anything??? That is going to be a fabulous book, I can tell from the cover!
ReplyDeleteThose blues of the flowers are so pretty and I loved seeing the little birds. It must have been fun to watch them. I’ll bet those fresh eggs tasted delicious!
ReplyDeleteYou've been very busy!! It's nice to have good laying hens around! We love eggs here! :) Your sunflower piece is really darling. They're my favorite late summer flower of all! To me they perfectly capture that marvelous transition from summer to autumn. Tending the Garden looks fun. I like books that have rather whimsical themes! I will look forward to hearing about it from you. Sweet baby birdies!!! :)
ReplyDeleteLove the flowers--my favorite shade of blue!
ReplyDeleteSomehow I missed this post yesterday, Jocelyn, but so happy to find it today! Your pictures of the various blue flowers are so pretty. Love seeing your blocks, too - I really like the house with embroidered details. Enjoy your new book - I bet that will give you ideas for new projects!
ReplyDeleteInsects and bees! Yay summer.
ReplyDeleteI took the grandies swimming this a.m. and I am baffed! This is hard work!!!!
Oh what a sweet little bird and the color in the chicory. Life in Canada can be a ch an adventure full of so many things to smile about. Thank you for sharing your list 😁 Carol
ReplyDeleteYou live in a beautiful, serene place..each post I enjoy seeing your birds or flowers or snow scenes in the winter. I am so happy when one of your posts shows up in my email.
ReplyDeleteThose chickens are lovely. There is nothing like fresh eggs. I have six pullets right now. They are growing fast and I cannot wait until they start laying :) Thanks for linking up and have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteThose little birdies are adorable! And those thistles are gorgeous! My mom has tons of thistle, but it's the regular russian thistle that's so invasive and annoying so she's always trying to rip it all out. That globe thistle is so pretty and I love seeing the bees. I've had lots of bees and butterflies this year and it makes me really happy (except when the caterpillars are eating my leaves). Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteNice pictures of flowers! I've never had to encounter chickens. My mother has told me stories since she grew up on a farm. I always love your quilt projects. That book does look good! I love seeing that bird nest. So cute!!
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI would like to have a chance at chicken duty, as along as they do not peck at me hands. I love the flowers, the Purple Glove Thistle are beautiful. Your quilt projects are pretty, I love the sunflower piece! Love the baby robins, they are adorable. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care and enjoy your day, wishing you a happy weekend. PS, thank you for leaving me a comment.
Lots of happy to be had here! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for such a lovely and uplifting post! We don't see much chicory where I live but I grew up with it around us. It is a lovely flower and so are the globe thistles! So glad your baby birdies are all safe and growing up! Thank again and have a great day!
ReplyDeleteHi Jocelyn :) Beautiful photos! The chickens are great! I love your sunflower tablecloth and that book looks really great. The baby robins are so cute. We had some last year in our lilac tree, we were so proud of them when they finally flew out of the nest!! :)
ReplyDeleteMy nephew keeps chickens and has ordered baby chicks recently which will bring his flock up to 17! That's a bunch. Wonderful quilts to see and the flowers and bee.
ReplyDeleteI love all of these! I've been doing a lot of chicken duty here at home, and I'm thankful we have them, they provide so many eggs we have had deviled eggs as our main course on several very hot days. Looks like we'll be doing that again this week as well.
ReplyDeleteI also have two cloths with sunflowers at home.They were tablecloths, today they are pillows.Your quilt is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI wish you a nice day ☺
My mother used to have chickens when I was a kid and the best was when the babies arrived in the spring. I never quite figured out what happened to the adults though - should have known we ate them, but as a kid I thought chicken only came from the store. Chicory is one of my favourite flowers and I take exception when I hear people refer to them as weeds. Too pretty to be 'weeds'.
ReplyDeleteI love the banjo playing bear... How SWEET! Right up my alley, got to go look at her work. That blue is glorious... thank you mother nature for the brilliant job on flower colors! I like those chickens and the flower block too
ReplyDeleteLeeAnna