Little Penguin Quilts Through the Year

Little Penguin Quilts Through the Year

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

I Like Thursday #386

Good morning and happy Thursday!  I hope your week is going well.  They certainly go by fast!   The other day our Merlin bird app identified a Cedar Waxwing in the yard, and we were not sure it was right at first, because we apparently don't know what Cedar Waxwings sound like, lol!  And then, there they were.  Cedar Waxwings visit in flocks, and they are attracted to the blooming fruit trees around here.  A good sized group of them flitted in and out of our apple tree and neighboring trees for quite awhile.

Mike's photo.

We watched an interesting short documentary on Disney+ the other night called "The Last Repair Shop."  It's about the Los Angeles School District which has its own instrument repair shop for the student musicians.  It won the Oscar for best short documentary just this year!  It was really interesting - I loved the stories of the people who work at the repair shop and of some of the musicians, too.  Definitely recommend!


Our son made us a delicious dish which we ate as a salad over the weekend, "Cowboy Caviar."  It would be good served with tortilla chips, but probably healthier without.  Isn't this pretty?  It's tasty, too.


I worked on the May design for the Woven Wreaths stitchalong for three evenings to get it done.  There were a lot of little flowers and leaves to stitch.  The dianthus I shared about have started to bloom, so I tried to get creative with a photo, but wasn't really successful!


LeeAnna's question of the week is about birthdays - how did we celebrate them when we were growing up?  We always had a homemade birthday cake, which Mom made, and it would be presented on a special birthday cake plate which rotated and played "Happy Birthday!"  I wonder now what happened to that cake plate.  I found one on eBay that looks similar to what I remember.


One other favorite memory is from a birthday when I was probably in junior high.  Two or three friends and I got dressed up and rode the bus to downtown Rochester (New York) and went to a movie.  I remember feeling very grown-up that day!  Now that feels like forever ago!

Have a great day, friends!  Joining in with I Like Thursday at Not Afraid of Color.










20 comments:

Anonymous said...

I put the Merlin app on my phone and it’s fun to figure out what birds we are hearing. We had a special birthday cake plate too but it didn’t play a song! That’s pretty fancy! Beautiful embroidery as usual! Gail at the cozy quilter

Carole @ From My Carolina Home said...

Wow, Mike got a great photo of the cedar waxwing. Merlin is a wonderful app, mine keeps telling me we have a blue-grey gnatcatcher, but I have yet to see it. Love your stitch-along quilt.

kathyz said...

I have that cake plate in my closet! For some reason it was only ever used for one sister. I need to see if it still works!
I remember writing a report on cedar waxwings in 4th grade. :)

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

I remember always Mom making a birthday cake for each of us on our special day - after I grew up I found if I wanted one I had to make it myself! no one thinks of it

Deb A said...

What a great photo of the bird and blooms! I need to add that app to my phone and remember to take it with me on walks. There are lots of birds chirping in the morning. It will be early walks though; I went at 9 today after dropping kids and it was already 84 feels like 88! It is going to be a scorching summer.

Nann said...

Cedar waxwings always look so trim and tidy!

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

I like your May flower stitchery. What fun birthday memories!

Angela said...

Oh, that is a pretty bird! I will definitely watch that show. Sounds interesting.

Laura said...

I love cedar waxwings! They are so pretty! They really enjoy crabapples! :)

Melisa- pinkernpunkinquilting said...

That is a beautiful photo of the Cedar Waxwing. And the Cowboy Caviar looks so yummy! Thank you so much for sharing the link to the recipe. It looks like a great side dish for our Memorial Day gathering. Enjoy your day, Diann. Hugs.

QUILTING IS BLISSFUL, DI said...

I didn't realize that we both grew up in NY--I was further south--along Seneca Lake in the country--small town--but later after graduation I lived mostly in or around Watkins Glen at the tip of Seneca Lake--!!
One year for my birthday--I had alot of my friends come to a party and my Mom made me a fancy doll cake with the doll(like a Barbie one) inside the cake--!
have a fun week end--hugs, di

LA Paylor said...

your photo is outstanding! Yes that caviar looks so good, I'll take a pint
LeeAnna

grammajudyb said...

We were talking about the Merlin app today at my stitching group! I’m going to have to download that one! I love Cowboy Caviar, hard to not eat too much! LOL! Especially with tortilla chips! A cake plate that played “ Happy Birthday 🎶🎵🎵🎶, how fun!

MissPat said...

I downloaded the Merlin app and have been amazed at the birds I didn't even realize were around here. And oddly enough, today it recorded a cedar waxwing, which I've never seen before. So thank you for showing the photo of the one in your yard and for recommending Merlin. I don't have any flowering trees in my yard, so they must be visiting someone else in the neighborhood. I left it recording for 26 minutes while I was weeding and it recorded 17 different birds. Now if I could just catch a glimpse all of them.
Pat

Kate said...

Cedar Waxwings are such pretty birds. I don't need an app, I have My Guy. He hangs out with the research guys from Sutton Avian Research Center here in town.

PaintedThread said...

I think waxwings are so pretty. That cowboy caviar looks pretty good. I didn't realize your Woven Wreaths were so small - that is seriously cute!

Linda said...

I'm excited about your "dian"-thus! Your birthdays sound like good memories, I have the same happy type of memories. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting, always! I had to laugh at Karen's comment - I make my own cake too. Hubs has offered, but I won't let him. ;)

Jocelyn is Canadian Needle Nana said...

Gosh I love the idea of that special plate! Very neat. Cedar Waxwings are beautiful; they hang out down by the pond here...never near the house. Great catch, Mike! Going to check out that Cowboy Caviar recipe: thanks!

piecefulwendy said...

Cedar Waxwings are one of my favorite birds, but they rarely show up in our yard. I like the tip of their tails, which looks likes they've dipped them in yellow paint. My birthdays were always dinner with grandparents and cake and presents, of course.

Jeanna said...

You Woven Wreaths is stunning.