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I love critters. So I always appreciate it when wildlife invades my world here at The Kansas City Star.Where the chipmunk was: He came, he saw ... he ran.

You may recall the time a bird visited me in my basement office. Then there was the Beast, who we swore roamed inside the walls of The Star’s basement, moaning and wailing away.

Well, I have an upstairs office now with a nice window. I rarely hear the Beast and only when passing through downstairs. And, of course, the bird is gone. I do see squirrels out the window … there’s a fire escape there, and they like to stare at me. Maybe I look odd to a squirrel.

But we now have a new friend roaming our halls. A chipmunk, and a fat one at that. Word is he’s been stalking the halls for about three weeks now. Apparently he has popped into our offices here a couple of times, though I didn’t see him. Near as I can tell, no one has made a serious effort to catch him.

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Okay, I don’t want to wear out the gardening-quilt analogy (see last post). But this I have to share. A guide to the gardens: The view from high up

Some out-of-town friends were in for the weekend, and they’re into gardening more than I am. Especially Steve, who tends a hefty vegetable garden on his 3 acres of prime Northern Illinois farmland, while I have my single tomato plant named Audrey Jr.

If he’s Johnny Appleseed, I’m Johnny Costco-Produce-Department.

So we visited Powell Gardens, the botanical gardens about 30 miles southeast of Kansas City, on Saturday to see what was new. (I like their motto: “A Road Trip for Your Soul.”)

And what was new was, for me, pure coincidence and, for you quilters, pure bliss.

I’m pretty good at a lot of things. I am a good cook, I can make some really wonderful candy, I’ve made up a few cookie recipes and I can design and make a quilt. Cooking used to be my most favorite thing to do, but for many years now quilting has taken over the number one spot.

Quilting has been my calming activity. It’s what I do when everything else in my life turns upside down. I can get myself centered by concentrating on the details, the colors, the fabric and the growth I can see as the pieces all come together.

Right now I desperately need to sew. I need to quilt. I need to see something come together. You see, the floor.concrete boards refinishing people came on Monday. They began to chip out the concrete boards in the living room and what they saw was not a pretty sight.

It seems as though there was actually a reason some person had filled those missing boards with concrete. Some long-gone termites had feasted on the wood, hollowed out some boards, weakened and compromised the structure of the house.

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The past couple of years have flown by – and I credit that to my job as Kansas City Star Quilts’ marketing and sales manager. My job sort of exists in a cycle: books come out four times a year, quilt market is twice a year, and then boom, another year is gone and it starts all over again.

Well, we’re in the short lull between quilt markets, and our July books are making their way to the printer, so I have taken the time to get my ducks in a row!

Mrs. Bobbins' General StoreFirst order of business: For you Mrs. Bobbins lovers, it is your lucky day! We have just opened a store site dedicated exclusively to Mrs. Bobbins! Get your favorite cartoon printed on a t-shirt, mousepad, notecards, apron – the options are innumerable! And here’s the great part: If your favorite cartoon isn’t there, but yet you want it, say, as a wall clock, let me know, and I will take care of that for you. Click here to shop the store. For custom orders, email info@pickledish.com.