Bee, Myself and I in August

Between the heat and the headaches there hasn't been much going on here in The Magpie's Nest. I've done some needlepoint, which is what I do for myself lately. And that's the whole point of Bee, Myself and I. Instead of working on a gift or something that will eventually be donated somewhere B,M&I gives us an opportunity(or an excuse!) to spend time of a project we want to do for ourselves. For me that's been needlepoint.

I've finished up Jack in his party hat.

Well, except for the background. I've got a couple of skeins of Nancy's hand dyed floss on hand, I just have to figure out where I want to start. You can't tell by looking, even in person, but I used a DMC floss that's supposed to shimmer for the dots at the top of his hat. Maybe if the light hits 'em just right it'll show up.

I've also done quite a bit on my sugar skull cat:

The green parts of the eyes and other details are all that's left to do on this. And then the background of course. 😉

I've been reading and working on a jigsaw puzzle instead of stitching the last couple of days. Not sure I'll have something fresh to show for our Stitch Along post on Sunday.

There was some excitement here in The Magpie's Nest yesterday. It was time to do a thorough cleaning on Pippen's home.

Sorry, that's the best picture I could get!

When I separated the wired upper from the plastic bottom of the cage he slipped out and flew to the windowsill. He's not a strong flyer since he doesn't have much opportunity to practice. Still, there are a lot of places for him to hide or even get hurt in the studio. I quickly closed the hallway and bathroom doors so at least he wouldn't escape this one room. I kept an eye on him while I finished up cleaning the cage and put everything back the way it needed to be, leaving the cage door wide open so he could return easily.

Canaries are not trainable like parakeets or cockatiels. In the world of pet birds they're the cats rather than dogs. To encourage him to return to his cage I found a dowel I'd used for hanging small quilts and tried to get him to use it as a perch with the idea that I could ferry him back home without getting too close. It looked like it was going to work until I moved too quickly or something and he spooked. At least he was closer to the goal so I thought I'd leave the room and see if he could find his own way home.

When I returned I couldn't find him anywhere. I looked high and low, making sure he wasn't in trouble in the more dangerous places. No bird. I still don't have a clue where he was hiding. I left the room again, breathing deep to calm my nerves.The next time I returned to the studio I spotted him perched on my scrap basket on the floor. He's very nearly the same color as that basket! This time I grabbed a lightweight piece of fabric and threw it over him, wrapping him lightly in it so I could carry him over to his cage. Whew! That's the first time this bird has gotten away from me. Mr. Bingley got out a couple of times while he was with me. He was easier to find though, being that lovely bright yellow. 😊