It's been a lovely week, the weather has been sunny and warm, the trees are in full leaf, and baby bunnies are starting to appear in abundance - occasionally being brought, live, and quite unharmed, into my bedroom by my daughter's cat! There have been some interesting, if slightly stressful, midnight evictions going on!
Having been absent for about three weeks, the birds have finally returned to my garden feeder. In addition to the usual titmice, robins, wrens and finches, there are a lovely pair of Greater-spotted woodpeckers, a male and a female, who have discovered the peanut feeders. I noticed them yesterday, the male being very solicitous and carefully withdrawing the choicest of the peanuts and promptly offering them delicately to his bride! The male sports a bright red cap, the female a black one - I managed to snap a quick photo of the female, which is a rare treat as they are very shy and normally zoom off in a flash the moment they notice movement at the window.
Another rare chance photo was this one of a nuthatch. There used to be a pair of these but only one has returned to the feeders after the annual 'baby-feeding' break. I don't know if this is male or female, but clearly one of the pair has either died or gone on to pastures new. (By the way, the nuthatch is the only European bird to prefer eating upside-down - so this one is doing what comes naturally!)
I was delighted to notice that my 'lone' goldfinch is now part of a trio! The pair seem to tolerate him and he has introduced them to the delights of the dandelion patch at the back of the house. I did try to photograph them but they were too fast!
And here is a not-so-rare chance - this is Rufus, one of a regular 'family' of squirrels who use the feeder. Rufus is a rather bold chap, and has been known to tap angrily at the window to attract my attention if the peanut feeder needs filling!
Stitching-wise, I made the decsion about the next project to include in my rotation; Spring Patches, a patchwork cushion worked on different fabric counts, by Homespun Elegance. The cushion-cover is pre-made, with a full-length zip across the back for access. The first 'patch', "Hoppin' Hares", is finished:- 
All the threads colours are either Gentle Art Sampler threads, or blends of Anchor threads. Weeks Dye Works is also listed but as this isn't colour-fast, I decided to stick to Anchor and GAST.
Hoppin' Hares was worked in 4 strands, with 6 stands for the french-knots to make the fluffy bunny tails! There are brass bunny-charms to finish this patch but I will leave them until the cushion is complete before adding them.
Happy stitching, everyone - keep buzzzzzy! 
17/06/08 @ 16:57