Quilters Helping Tornado Victims

Every couple of days I check to see if there are any quilters or quilting organizations who have taken on the responsibility of organizing help for the tornado victims.

Happily, today, I was able to locate one effort.

http://bamaboundquilts.blogspot.com/

Also, the Terre Haute chapter of Project Linus

is collecting quilts for their area.

You can contact them by e-mail: 

ProjectLinusTerreHaute@hotmail.com

For two years in a row now, I've been blown away

by the efforts of the Australian quilting community

when their country has been struck by catastrophic weather. 

Quilts for Japan  also being a hot topic. 

Surely there are more groups and organizations out there

helping to soften the blow by wrapping our tornado victims

in the comfort of warm, handmade quilts.

Please pass this information along

and please, let me know of any other initiatives you have heard of! 

Lets make a difference, one quilt at a time.

~karen

Bugs Mean Birds

"Here I am....where are you?"  (Blue-headed Vireo)

I've been slowly making my way up the east coast after spending the most delicious winter in Texas, and out of range of reliable internet most of the way.  Photo opportunities have been scarce, as I've mostly been visiting friends and family in city settings. 
But now I am in Central Maine, staying in a log cabin at the forest's edge, and in Warbler Heaven.  Although I'm in jeopardy of being carried away by the black flies, I am surrounded by warblers and need only to step out the front door to view 6, 7, 8 different species in one small stand of trees! 
The air is rife with birdsong - the squeeky wheel of the Black and White Warblers, the over-the-top trill of the Northern Parula.  "Teacher, Teacher", says the Ovenbird, over and over again.  Chestnut-sided Warblers.  Black-throated Blues and Black-throated Greens ("one, two, three, four, five")....there are so many, I can't even remember them all.  Quite the symphony.  In the few days I've been here, I have accumulated over 35 birds on my yard list alone.  I'm so "pleased, pleased, pleased to meetcha", calls the Chestnut-sided Warbler!  Such a wondeful opportunity to hone my birding-by-ear skills.

Sadly, they are busy feeding among the treetops and elude the scope of my little camera.  But there are a few that frequent the feeding station.  (I apologize for the poor quality of the photos.)

White-throated Sparrow

Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak

White-breasted Nuthatch

Generally, we travel an hour, down to Portland, to bird the Evergreen Cemetary for all these species, but with the price of gas, it's nice to be able to stay put!

By the way, there's a new book soon to be released from Princeton University Press that looks quite tempting.  It's all about Avian Architecture.  You can check it out on their blog here!!

And a final note:  I usually take the bus from Maine to Cape Breton, however, when attempting to make my plans, I discovered that there is no longer bus service available.  They terminated the route in February.  So, I'm kind of stuck here for a little while, until the opportunity to continue my journey presents itself. 

 

Sure is a nice place to be stranded!!