More from the garden

Yesterday I showed you pictures of the balloon flower before it completely opened. Below is the fully opened flower.
This is a day lily. The blossom is huge this year.

I have tomatoes on my big tomato plant

and the grape tomatoes are growing.


The bell peppers have set small peppers.

From my garden

Just a few flowers that are blooming right now.

Beading for a Cure

It has been a long time since I posted any of my beadwork. I am currently working on my entry for the 2010 Beading for a Cure The 2009 entries are currently being offered for auction a few at each week at Ebay Here is my 2009 entry:


It was offered the first week the auctions began. I am happy to say it earned a few bids. I had nightmares of my item not getting any bids and having to beg someone to bid on it.

I like this year's color pallet much better than last year. Included in the kit this year is a beautiful lampwork bead by Laurie B. Smith. I think she had to make over 80 of the same bead. It was generous of her to offer her time, talent and glass for the cause. All other beads in the kit came from Stormcloud Trading Co. Below are some pictures of the beading tray containing all the kit beads.


I'm using geometric shaped pieces for my entry. I have had a ton of help from two wonderful artists. Glenda Payseno and her book Geometric Beading and Diane Fitzgerald with her book Shaped Beadwork. Both books are about using the Peyote stitch to created dimensional shapes. It is fun and challenging.

The offical deadline for the project is July 15, 2009. I am almost finished and hope to have it in the mail by the end of June. The auctions will begin in March 2010.

Swimming Lesson Part 2

Sky had another swimming lesson on a recent warm weekend. She is doing lots better in that she is swimming. Here she going for the ball and no feet are touching mud.


At this point the turn is looking pretty good.


But those pesky back legs are sinking to the bottom looking for mud.


Extra effort with the front legs combine with some splashing.....


and she is smoothly swimming once more.


We need to work on keeping those hind legs moving while swimming.
Oh, a click on a picture will open it up in a larger format so you can really see the determination on her face.

Colors of spring

Deep red is not one of the colors that comes to mind when I think of spring colors. The light green of new leaves, bright yellow of Forsythia, yellow and peach of Daffodils, pinks and whites of Azaleas, soft pink of the Cherry Tree are some of the spring colors that I expect to find. While wandering the woods of Western North Carolina I find the deep red of the Paw Paw tree.




Then there is the Sweet Shrub, also known as Carolina Allspice.



And the Toadshade.



I really like the leaves on the Toadshade.


There are some pastel and white spring flowers in the woods, but spring in the woods is not nearly as colorful as fall.