About to Fly

The nest is getting a bit tight for three growing baby robins. Yesterday morning, I noticed that they were out of the nest and fluffing their feathers, so I don’t think it will be long now before mama encourages them to fly. I wish the weather were nicer for them. (Yes, my windows need washing.)

I am always a nervous wreck until they make it safely into the woods. I used to have to worry about our dogs getting them. The mama robin usually coaxes them to the herb garden, first, which is a good playground for learning to fly.

We’ll see if the adults have a second batch of babies. Some years they do.

The husband put up my weather station yesterday morning. He mounted it on one of the smaller outbuildings. We have it paired to our phones and can check the weather here any time we want to.

I am such a nerd.

I ran up a quick muslin of the Made by Rae Rose Pants—shorts version—yesterday afternoon. I like the style very much. The pattern needs just a few tweaks. I made the usual adjustment to the crotch hook, shaving a wedge off the back pattern piece and moving it to the front pattern piece. I’ve had to do that on every pants pattern I’ve made, so it must just be a variation in the shape of my pelvis.

I have a length of the most gorgeous royal blue rayon twill in my stash that I think will make a lovely pair of Rose Pants. I can’t remember where I got it but it’s stunning.

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Our church is currently without a pastor. Our former pastor retired in October 2022 and we had a transitional pastor for three years. We chose not to renew her contract knowing that we would have to become a lay-led congregation while we continue our pastor search. Our regional conference has quite a few lay-led congregations because Mennonite pastors are a scarce commodity and most want to stay in the east and midwest near family.

Being a lay-led congregation for the past six months has not been terribly onerous, and I say that as a member of the committee that does the worship planning. (Elaine might have a different perspective as she is also on that committee. 😉) Everyone in our congregation has pitched in willingly to cover tasks. Our leadership team is working on a capital improvements campaign and the first project is to renovate our church basement. We’re hosting a bike tour at the end of July and we would like to have ADA bathrooms and showers available for participants. The project is well underway. Some time this week, the husband will be cutting out the old concrete so new plumbing can be installed. It’s actually been fun brainstorming and thinking of new possibilities for the space. One of our members joked yesterday that we should call it “The Holy Hostel.”

I am itching for a road trip. After the plant sale is over, I might see about going to Missoula or maybe even Spokane.