Latest stitching

My latest stitching ventures. I made the bookmarks to be donated by my Guild for an adult literacy program. The apron is for my daughter. She used to work at a daycare and they wore aprons to carry all their stuff in it. She likes to wear it to carry cleaning or crafting things in. I had to model it for the photo but she likes wearing it at home.

Zoo

Another mini-vacation with the grandkids. We went to the Columbus Zoo and got some great photos. The weather was perfect and the girls were on their best behavior. That doesn't happen often that they are both in sync with each other. We had cotton candy and the works. My daughter got a new camera and the photos are excellent.

Conquering my fears!!!

__________________________________________________________________

Pictures above: Me, my husband and granddaughter Alyssa on a balancing thing; son Nick driving a space shuttle; and granddaughter Emma showing me her bottle.

We went to my daughter's house in Columbus to celebrate Alyssa's 4th birthday with a trip to COSI. I was the only one brave enough to go on the high wire and I had to get video to prove that I did it!

Friendly bird

About a month ago I got a new pet, a cockatiel I named Alfred. (You know, Hitchcock The Birds) I first put him downstairs because I thought his cage area would be easier to keep clean down there. About a week ago I moved him upstairs. He loves being upstairs but he gets ready for bed before we do. Around 9 he starts chirping, just a little at first. If I don't do anything he finally just chirps constantly until I put a large towel over his cage. Then, he's quiet until morning. It's funny. He loves the new hanging snack thing I put up for him. He has his own little personality and he's a lot of fun to watch. If I go on youtube and find birds singing or chirping he thinks they are in the room and chirps back to them. I'd like to teach him to sing but I can't whistle so I went to the pet store and bought a CD that has parts of several children's songs being whistled. I guess the theory is that if he hears it often enough he'll repeat it. I'll try it and see how it goes.

Picture taking tips

At our TANA meeting last night we had a guest speaker, Ashley Quinn who is a professional photographer. She gave us tips on how to take better photos of our needlework and how to post them online. She had great tips for lighting, background and such. I tried her ideas today taking a photo of my scissor fob that I just finished. I think it really turned out well. I usually have to take 15 - 20 photos to get 1 that I like enough to save. This was my second try. I'm happy with it.