California Quail

Quail are both silly and charming birds. They can fly but prefer to run, reminding me of the old Roadrunner cartoons where the fast running road runner was depicted by a whirling wheel like image instead of legs. I think quail can probably run faster than they can fly. Their crest reminds me of the plume on a balmoral. 

Every covey of quail has one  sentry who stands on a high spot and keeps watch over the rest of the group. This one was standing on the porch rail, fixated on his family on the ground beneath the deck who were undoubtedly feeding on whatever dropped from the bird feeders. The babies are tiny fluff balls when they are born, or perhaps I should say when they emerge from the bushes where their nests are nothing much more than well hidden shallow depressions in the dirt. They  can be seen marching from there to their feeding grounds and back twice a day.
This fellow was keeping up a running commentary . He seemed unaware of our presence in the open door no more than six feet away...but I know he knew we were there...

A friend and I picked a hot day for a walk around Spring Lake...my first in months. It was crowded enough on some of the narrower trails that we kept our masks on the whole time which certainly didn't make it any cooler. I saw a massive crowd of Canada geese headed for the lake apparently heeding the signs posted everywhere that the swimming lagoon was closed. Perhaps they took advantage of the two month closure to increase their numbers, although they all looked quite mature so it might be that the babies are yet to come....

I heard John postponing the 40,000 mile service on his car since he is nowhere near that. There is also a recall repair on the door which they can't make because they can't get the parts from Japan. So much for buying a 'made in America' Ford. The body might be made in America, but countless other parts have been manufactured in countries all over the world.  'Assembled' in America might be closer to the mark. Disruptions to the supply chain are going to continue for a long time....

I have now finished all the main pieces of the Stephanie quilt and am pausing to make a new batch of face masks for the Pilates studio. I need to think about how and with what I am going to sew everything together.
The Covid quilt took only two days to arrive at my brother's house and he has found somebody who will assemble the top, the batting and the backing and quilt it. I need to find somebody who can do the same for me here...I don't think it will be by spotting a car with a license plate saying QUILTER at the auto repair shop as he did, but one never knows....