Slaving over a hot sewing machine

The Big Reveal for my quilt group's 2011 challenge quilts is on Saturday afternoon so I have been dancing up a storm at the sewing machine. My quilt is now quilted and the last of the loose threads are being woven in, then tomorrow the edges will be trimmed and the binding sewn on.

Serves me right for leaving it so late. It has been a finished top for months but making decisions about quilting gets to me every time. It could do with some more quilting in the centre and who knows, that just may get done. Or then again, it may not........after all, finished is better than perfect.

Here are a few of the lovely birds we saw on our holiday.

Major Mitchell's Cockatoo, so pretty with its pink and yellow colours.
Eastern Rosella - we have these here at home too, and they are beautiful. They are smaller than the other cockatoos. This one took a fancy to us and every time we stepped left, it shuffled left along the aviary wire.......if we stepped right, it shuffled right......our new best friend.
Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo. These are big birdies.
See the chewed tree branches? All done by this bird; their beaks are like bolt cutters. There are signs warning not to poke your fingers into the cages and you can see why.

The large aviary where these birds lived was also home to a young magpie, a terrible tease. It was annoying the black cocky, who was jumping up and down and madly sqwarking.....the more it sqwarked, the more the magpie teased......then the magpie hopped away with a "ha ha, gotcha!" look in its beady little eye and a yellow-speckled black tail feather in its beak. We thought it was very funny, although the black cocky was somewhat affronted.

I have a couple of questions about blog stuff: how do I make a header with more than one picture on it? and how do I replace the orange and white B with something different, so in a list of blogs mine has its own little unique symbol? I have seen that on a few blogs and it looks very swish.

We have been having storms lately and even the odd blackout, so the computer is spending some of its time turned off and unplugged as we don't want a repeat of the lightning strike which did so much damage to our last computer and caused it to be replaced. So if I am a bit tardy in replying to comments, or commenting on blogs, please forgive me. It's because I don't want to end up a bright spark.

"Showy dress.

The glaring colors and "loud" costumes, once so common, have given place to sober grays, and browns and olives; black predominating over all. The light, showily-trimmed dresses, which were once displayed in the streets and fashionable promenades, are now only worn in carriages. This display of showy dress and glaring colors is generally confined to those who love ostentation more than comfort."

Perhaps the brightly-coloured birds should be riding in carriages, rather than promenading around their aviary? The yellow and black cockatoo looked very smart and not at all sober.

Enjoy your days!