Baby Birds, New Fabric, and Some Turkeys

It feels like May and June have been one big event after another after another. Our congregation is hosting the annual meeting for our denomination’s regional conference this weekend. I was only tangentially involved in the planning; however, I am the pianist for the whole weekend—a hymn sing Thursday night, services Friday and Saturday evening, and a service Sunday morning. I enjoy playing, but some of the songs are new to me and have required practice. I spent time yesterday organizing music into folders so I know what I am playing when.

“How to Be a Church Pianist” was not one of the skills I learned when I took piano lessons as a kid at the Koch School of Music in Rocky River, Ohio.

I had hoped to do some sewing yesterday but it didn’t happen. Now that the jacket is done, the Place for Everything Tote is back at the top of the queue. I’m at the stage where I need to make a few miles of bias binding. I haven’t decided if I am going to take sewing or knitting with me to the conference this weekend. I am a delegate and will be sitting through several delegate sessions. At last year’s conference, the pastor from Menno Mennonite, in Ritzville, WA, brought her English paper piecing project—carried in her Place for Everything Tote—and we compared notes.

We have had such absolutely gorgeous weather since the first of May, but it is going to be cold and rainy this weekend. The high on Saturday may struggle to reach 50F. I sincerely hope we don’t get a frost, because I don’t have time to cover everything. Our conference is being held at the Lutheran camp on the west shore of Flathead Lake. 😩

My shipment of teal fabric from Tim Holtz’s Palette line arrived on Monday:

I’ve avoided teal for a few years because I was sick of it. Teal is one of the few jewel tones I can reliably find in the sea of muddy earth-toned ready-to-wear and I got tired of having so much teal (and black) in my closet. Obviously, I am coming back to it—the BU jacket has a teal background and I think this teal collection is my favorite so far of the new Tim Holtz line. (The photo doesn’t do it justice.)

The new appliances for the rental house were delivered yesterday so that’s been crossed off the list. And the zipper for my jacket is on the way, so I am reasonably certain I can get it sewn in before we leave for SLC.

I am teaching the Free Range Slacks pattern today. This should be a fun class. When I get back from BU/Seattle, I absolutely have to work on class submissions for Sew Expo and for the stores this fall.

We’ve had three older male turkeys hanging around the house. When a group of hens wanders through, it’s funny to see them puff up their chests, hoist their tail feathers, and start gobbling. They seem to have added up a couple of juvenile toms to their posse. Yesterday, the whole group was chilling in the front yard:

The baby robins have flown the nest. Three of the four left Monday afternoon. One baby didn’t want to leave and spent Monday night alone in the nest cheeping pitifully. I wondered if I was going to have to get up there and help it, but mama came back early yesterday morning and convinced it to fly.