backyard visitors, birds, bugs, friends, fun, nature, perseverance, photography, road trip

When the cat’s away…

Here’s the version of Grannie’s gone wild when Kathy’s home, it involves the quilting version of cutting out paper dolls.  We’ve hit two quilt shops, and I’ve lost track of the number of fabric shops we’ve explored on this visit…granniesgonewildfBut I was left to my own devices yesterday, and the result is what you see in the feature photo.  There may have been a trip to Hobby Lobby early, but the rest of the day was spent on that wonderful porch.  I keep hearing mention of the extreme heat, but it was perfect porch-sitting weather here.  And there was hardly a moment to play with my fabric, what with watching all the varieties of birds at the feeder, until the blue jay came along and shooed them away.  I continued my binge watching of Dead Like Me on Prime video on the iPad, and then there were photos to edit on the laptop.  There may have been a beer involved, but not until after 5 PM, if Kathy was home it would have been wine.   We were shopping one day when I first came here, and as we drove through the booming metropolis of Franklin, NH I happened to see a shop called Granite State Hedgehogs.  Yes, you read that right.  I had to do a double take.  So when I drove past today I stopped in, and yes they are cute, but not so cuddly.  I had suggested getting one as a pet and dressing it up and taking pictures, which had Kathy doubting my sanity.  But when something is that cute you want to cuddle it, and I tried, but they are just plain prickly.  So I opted for this little plush Hedgie, he fills the bill nicely.

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I almost wished I hadn’t noticed the very dramatic life-and-death struggle that went on all afternoon between a little tiny spider and his much bigger prey.  It was reminiscent of David and Goliath and I wasn’t sure who would prevail, but the more that bigger bug struggled to escape that web, the more entangled he became.  I could relate after trying to untangle a friend’s dog the other day.  It was a valiant effort though, and impossible not to watch.

spider1It’s not unheard of for a moose or a bear to visit this yard, but that didn’t happen.  I had my camera ready for anything just in case.  But I’m not complaining.  It was a lovely, quiet, porch-sitting kind of day, for me at least.  Not so much for that poor bug.