calm before the quilt storm

Such a nice weekend here - time to relax and play before the big rush of Easter and Quilt Week.  Weather was a bit on the cool side & breezy, but it helped keep the frantic rush at bay. 

Today kicks off Holy Week and it was the first time I've been to a Palm Sunday Mass where the congregation did not participate in the Gospel reading.  Usually, we have several lines to speak, representing the crowd and I felt a bit left out that we weren't involved this year.  They had the rest of the parts covered so it threw me off a bit, and I didn't think it was as powerful to just hear it.  It always seemed so personal to say the words of the Jews willing to crucify Christ.  We had a nice procession into Mass with the palm branches, which was neat, but on the way out, someone took my palm branch!  I snagged another one afterwords, though I didn't have the skill to weave it into a cross.  Growing up J was better at that than me.

I managed to spend some time organizing the sewing room and even got rid of another lingering moving box.  Score!  I finished up the binding on quilt project #1 while watching hockey and got project #2 ready to baste.  It's nice to work at a place with classrooms and large tables so I can bring in my quilts, lay them out & baste 'em where there's plenty of space. 

Have I mentioned that it's nice to have cable again?  Especially for it to be just in time to watch the Stanley Cup playoffs.  :D Both the Red Wings & Capitals are in and doing well so far and they games are fun to watch.  The Caps need to avoid the penalty calls though; today's game 3 was full of them.  I also cheer for the Blackhawks (thanks dad) when they aren't playing my other teams, and they could use some help right now.  They've played well, but are down 3-0 to the Canucks (gotta love the name) so it's getting dicey.  It's hard to do anything else when the game is on unless it can be done in view of the tv or during the intermissions - a small price to pay for good hockey!

I've re-hung my hummingbird feeder and have seen 1 zip by so far.  We thwarted the pigeons from nesting on my porch, though they did nest in the downstairs neighbors' porch.  I hope that won't keep the hummers away too much.  Took a walk today and heard a woodpecker, lots of songbirds hidden in the trees, saw the the geese in full force around the pond, startled a bunny and enjoyed the sound of the wind through the trees.  Stepped out briefly after dark and the moon had a smooth orange glow behind a light cloud cover. 

I am working my way through my to-see movie list as well with the most recent being Invictus.  Such a good movie!  I like Matt Damon & he did an excellent job in this role. I like how he commits to the story and the character and really gets into it because it shows up on screen and really draws you in.  Seeing the rugby reminded me of summer camp and the international staffers with their rugby Thursdays.  Good times.

A good weekend to recharge and relax before it gets super chaotic as we gear up for Quilt Show at work.  I've helped J rearrange and hang quilts (more like play musical quilts in the gallery) and set-up the School Block Challenge winner display in the lobby.  There's plenty more to handle this week before all the quilters arrive and I look forward to seeing the show in action.

-- it's a beautiful night -- bee signing off --