Checking the Girls

It's very warm today, for January.  Temperature in the mid 40's  It's a good day to see if my honey bees are alive and well, and they are!  Here are a few photos....

checking on my girls   the white lump you see is a sugar patty that I put in this fall for food

a little closer look  you can see a clump of bees in the center of the photo you can't see them wiggling, but they are!

another look   in addition to the sugar patty, there is still a lot of honey in the hive to eat

 I'm very happy that things look so good in the hive, though there is still a lot of winter a head of us.  So, I proceed with my fingers crossed.

Now for a confession.  I made really good progress on the stick figure quilt.  BUT, I needed more fabric, another jelly roll to be precise.  I called the gals at the Odessa quilt shop and sure enough, they had another jelly roll.  Here comes the confession part....

a pattern for a valentine quilt!

i was fine until I found this beautiful burgundy, pink and the white on white hearts

then there was this really beautiful, vintage looking piece that I could not pass up

this pink with the burgundy is just so pretty!

So, this is mostly Beth's fault.  She found the "free downloadable" pattern, made up the quilt with fabric from her stash, brought it out to show me on Saturday and, well, the rest is obvious.  She says it goes together very fast, so we'll see.  First I'm going to finish the stick figure quilt, which is very near completion, then I'll start on this!

Also started a throw for the motor home.  It was all ready cut, I just started sewing a few rows together over the weekend.
  

the block is called "tumbling blocks"  

But, today, I need to buckle down and focus on taking down Christmas.  I will miss the lights and the happy decorations that make me smile, but I'm also ready to have the house back to "normal".  We'll leave the outdoor lights up through January, because the days are still very short and the nights very long.  The outdoor lights give me something to look forward after the sun sets.