Flown the coop!

The two baby doves fledged this week, and the nest is now empty. They must have been there longer than we thought. I kinda miss watching them out of the kitchen window.

I finally got around to measuring the red and green quilt--it's 132" x 134"! I hope that the quilter can fit it on her machine, if not she'll have to rip off the last border. It came through the wash without any problems, thank goodness. I worried about some of the scraps of red I used, but the dye fixative did its work well.

My violets seem to like their perch in the east window--they're just blooming their little hearts out! My DDIL commented on how beautiful the blooms are. They have little sparkles in them and almost look like they couldn't possibly be real.

The black and white table set is quilted and ready to bind. When I get it done I'm going to give in and take my machine in to be repaired. Luckily, I have two Featherweights to use while it's gone. My best one came from my sister, who bought it new in the 1960s, and gave it to me for my birthday a few years ago. I love it, it sews very smoothly and is fun to sew with. Thanks, sis! The other one is not in tip-top condition, but will sew in a pinch. It was given to me by my DMIL, who inherited it from her late husband's first wife. I haven't had a chance to really work on it; I just cleaned it, made sure it would run, and put it away.

We finally got the TV situation straightened out. The repair shop said ours couldn't be fixed, so they told us they would sell us a good used TV, crediting us for the amount we had already spent on repairs. They just had to put a new part in the used TV first. So we waited, and waited, and waited... but we finally got a 26" RCA for $35 that works fine (knock on wood!) so we are no longer watching a 15" TV with green spots in it! We're still getting used to the picture not being quite as sharp on the on-screen directory as it was on the old 27" model, but I can live with that.

The post office food drive is this Saturday, so I need to clean out my pantry of everything I have bought because it was on sale but will never use. I have about a gallon of RoTel tomatoes with chilis, lots of vegetables, and things like soup that we tried one can of and didn't care for.
Someone might as well get some use out of it. I will try to pick up some other canned goods before the weekend. I almost always set out a full plastic bag by the mailbox for the postman to pick up.

Tomorrow night our OES chapter is visiting the local DeMolay chapter. I haven't been to a DeMolay meeting since my youngest DS was a member, several years ago. DH is going to get his 50-year DeMolay pin in a few weeks, and is still listed as an advisor to the chapter. DeMolay was a very good experience for our older son; less enjoyable for the younger son, but still good for him, I think. It really built their confidence for public speaking and leadership. I can highly recommend it for teen boys.