My Trixie cat sure does know how to relax sometimes! #catsonquilts

Next scrappy lap quilt top in progress. This one has some bird-related prints. My kids love birds!

I met this little fella at Panera today. His human said he is a mini golden doodle. I think he is a teddy bear, or maybe a baby Ewok. #doggie

Peering through my sewing machine at Eddie #cat in his napping spot by the window.

Newest quilt top finished! I'm trying to finish lap quilts for my kids for Christmas. This is the top for the first of the three.

Ghostly tree skeleton against a #bluesky and a yellow-shafted flicker feather, scenes from my walk this weekend.

The jumping spider pet market is booming, particularly with women. And for many, the journey to spider enthusiast began as an arachnophobe.

Dilly #cat lounging on the most recently completed quilt.

Dilly #cat is really enjoying the new rainbow catnip toy!

My husband and his #cat are computing. This is Wilbur, our little old man-cat.

Caterpillars in the garden this morning. I saw a large monarch caterpillar, a smaller monarch caterpillar, and I believe a whole herd of newly-hatched milkweed tussock moth caterpillars. #invertebrates

Eddie is enjoying my new quilt room setup. #cats

A Monarch #caterpillar is feeding on one of the milkweed plants that I cut back after it bloomed. It grew new, fresh leaves, which the caterpillars seem to prefer. #invertebrate

There is a fledgling goldfinch on the windowsill outside my dining room. It's so, so tiny! I will be making sure it doesn't end up in a giant spider's web! #nature #bird

Oh boy. I found out that Big Mama and Big Auntie have another sister. I'm calling her Little Auntie, and she has a butterfly. I'm conflicted about the butterfly carnage, but I actually love these spiders. #invertebrates (Pictured are Little Auntie, Big Auntie, and Big Mama, L to R)

I'm beginning to think that Big Auntie might be a little TOO skilled at catching butterflies. #invertebrates

Big Mama the yellow garden #spider has a sister. I'm calling her Big Auntie. Alas, her prey this morning is the Monarch butterfly I saw in the garden yesterday afternoon. Nature gonna nature, though.

I heard the #sandwich had salami, but my husband insists it was clearly bologneous assault.

Here is Big Mama, the yellow garden spider who has made her home in the garden bed right near my front door. And I think this is her egg case, nearby. I wonder how much longer she will live, now that her eggs are laid. Last week she caught and ate a small skink! #invertebrate

My new/used phon came in the mail today, so I can show you this photo of one of the eensy weensy Monarch caterpillars I found in the garden! #invertebrates

I'm practicing quilting pebbles. I need to learn how to keep my shoulders relaxed in the process! Not clenching my jaw would be good too, lol. This hobby is supposed to be relaxing!

Taking care of Elvie, my Crested Gecko, felt slightly different tonight after watching Jurassic Park again after 30+ years...

I made zucchini bread! It has oatmeal, flax seeds, currants and walnuts, and a lemon-sugar topping. It's really tasty!

Like a doofus I drove off today with my phone on the roof of my car. A mile down the road it fell off onto a 55-mph divided highway. I pulled into a parking lot and walked back for it. I don't know how many cars ran it over before it was safe to retrieve it. ...more...

Check out my super-cool Yellow Garden Spider! She's so big! The zigzag pattern in her web is called a stabilimentum. Its purpose is apparently not fully known (by humans, anyway). #invertebrate

Sadness. The one bluebird nestling that hatched from the four eggs is now gone. Definitely way too young to have fledged. Has to have been a predator. I took the nestbox down to prevent future repeat tragedies. It's my fault for mounting a box on the deck post instead of a pole with a baffle. 😭

My order of 1000 live mealworms arrived! Time to pamper some #birds (and maybe my gecko too)!

This is how it is in our house. The #cats are in charge. Trixie on the left and Eddie on the right.

This was intended to be a quilt back, pieced together from scraps and miscellaneous fabric, but it ended up the wrong shape and size, so now it will be its own quilt top, and I bought extra-wide backing fabric for both quilts. I got it sandwiched on my dining table this afternoon.

I got to go #sailing on the Chesapeake Bay yesterday! It was a beautiful day and so much fun!

Looks like one of the four #bluebird eggs in this third clutch has hatched. Fingers crossed for this baby's good health and that they might have siblings that hatch.

"Drinking problem? What drinking problem?" Eddie defends his reputation on #caturday.

Dilly #cat might look super worried, but she was enjoying a small box snuggle.

Life is pretty good when you're the beloved #cat of a quilter.

#Nativeplant blooming now in my garden: cup plant! It's a drama queen, growing soooo tall so those yellow flowers don't hide in anyone's shadow.

I baked a cake! It's vanilla buttermilk cake with chocolate frosting. @pavlovcat.bsky.social I thought of your birthday while I baked. I wish you could have a piece!

A Snowberry Clearwing #moth feeding on common milkweed. Isn't it amazing? #invertebrate

I found this cool cicada near my garage this morning. #insect

The once and future Lizardmobile. Our amazing mechanic will investigate and hopefully find that the alarming release of steam from the engine compartment is just a burst heater hose, and not an existential threat. #camry

At 55 years old, it still hurts so deeply when my dad treats me unlovingly. If my mom were alive she would be so upset at how he is treating her daughters and grandchildren. Working on accepting that he can't do any better and that the love in my life comes from other family members.

Good morning! With love from the redbud tree. #nature

The Glass Tomb of architect Hugh Jacobsen in Delaplane, Virginia. I visited with my son today, so he could photograph it. #landscape #photography

Katydid lady in the hot and humid garden this morning. #invertebtate

My front porch skink. I just love #lizards! I just hope this little friend doesn't creep in through the gap under the screen door and meet a cat. That tends to result in a tailless skink, at best.

My sweet Eddie #cat!

There's a Muppet infestation in the garden! There are bunches of these (native) Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillars. I call them Muppets. They are so adorable! #invertebrates

A Horace's Duskywing #butterfly on purple coneflower in my garden. I'm sick with a cold today and can't participate in the butterfly count event, but I did find this little one. #invertebrate #wildlife

Well look at that! The bluebird pair is trying again! This is their third clutch this season. #birds #wildlife

Small friend in my back yard! I saw this Eastern Box Turtle through the window and went to check on it. Seems like a healthy youngish #turtle.

I went walking this morning at a little suburban pond. There were so many little turtles!