Look who moved in

We have a new family that just moved in. Actually, I am not really sure when they moved in, but I found them on Sunday. Do you see her?

How about here?


This is the best that I can do for now. She is really kind of shy.


I know this one is really fuzzy, but it is hard to catch momma bird off the nest and I snapped this one quickly. There are two eggs in the nest.


My book says incubation last 12 to 13 days. I really do not know when the eggs were laid and can only watch each day to see signs of hatching.

A little bit purple

I can no longer say I never win anything. Back in April I was cruising through some of my favorite beading blogs when I came upon a post at Grace Beading entitled Faces. Grace was giving away a beautiful kit full of goodies. I won!

The feature of the kit is a beautiful face cab by Jen Martian of Graphixoutpost. It is a wonderful color of purple with great details. Grace included a piece of stiffen felt to mount the cab for beading.


There is a piece of ultra suede for the back of the finished cab. She even thought of the needles and thread for the project.


And the beads! There are some beautiful coordinating beads just waiting to be used. Everything was securely tucked inside a deep purple velvet pouch.


Projects such as the Beading for a Cure necklace have caused me to push this one aside. Finally I am ready. I have mounted the face on the felt, threaded the needle, and paused. Gee, I hate starting a new project. Once the first beads are places and the beads begin to say where they want to go I am OK. It is those first few beads that cause such stress.

I cruised over to Graces blog to gain some inspiration. She has mentioned Beading with Cabochons by Jamie Cloud Eakin in her blog. I have that book and it is one of my favorites for beading around cabs. I even have my beading books on one bookcase where I can find them. I spent a wonderful afternoon going through the book once more. And I have the first beads sewed around the cab. There is a good chance that I may do the frog stitch with those beads, so there won't be a picture just yet.

I just did a quick search to find a link for Jamie Cloud Eakin's book and discovered at her web site she is giving away a free book! Serendipitous. I also discovered some beautiful beaded work by Jamie.

Thank you Grace for being so generous.

It is finished

I finally finished my project for 2010 Beading for a Cure. The auctions for the items beaded will be held in March, 2010 which is National Colorectal Cancer Month. The name of this necklace is Delta Nights.

I spent many hours beading this necklace while watching a web camera focused on on an eagle nest located in the district municipality of Delta, Britsh Columbia. Hancock Wildlife Federation is a non-profit organization that has mounted web camera on several eagle nests in British Columbia.

The nest is in an old cottonwood tree in the yard of a farm house. Sheep and goats graze underneath the nest and children's voices are often heard. This pair of eagles are young at around 8 years. It is their second year to nest here. Last year they successfully raised two eagles It has been amazing to be able to follow this family and other eagles around North America. It is not a Disney movie and real life can be harsh. Orginally there were two eaglets in the Delta nest, but one fell out one night and did not surive the fall. Each day is a small victory. The eaglet in the Delta nest is also about one month younger than the other in the area. I don't know why this pair mated so late in the season, not do I know how it will affect this eaglet who should fledge around the second month of August. I do feel honored to be able to watch the eaglet grow each day.

The techniques I used to create the neclace came from two sources. One is Diane Fitzgerald's Shaped Beadwork. The other is Geometric Beading by Glenda Payseno. Both books taught me a great deal and allowed me to pull together the vision of the necklace.

Capturing the beauty of the necklace is difficult, so I've offered photos on two different backgrounds.

Who is looking at Me?

This is a recording from the Hancock Wildlife Foundation's Sidney Cam located in British Columbia. These three eaglets were hatched April 8, April 10 and April 14 of 2009. They are close to fledgling and are busy exercising their wings and hoping about the nest. One eaglet is flapping around the nest when she discovers the box holding the web cam. A very thorough examination follows. Be sure to have your sound turned up. Click here to see what the eaglets are doing right now.
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Robbinsville Bead Retreat

Every few months I load my car with beads, wire, and food and head to a house where I will meet friends. We spend the next four days sharing, laughing, and beading. The June retreat was located in North Carolina at vacation rental house near Robbinsville.



It was a beautiful home with breath taking views.




The meals are always wonderful at our retreats even though we do try to focus on the beads and keep food preparation to a minimum. Everyone helps with the meals so no one person is burdened. Mornings were always greeted with homemade biscuits among other wonderful treats.



We teach each other and have an easy schedule of two classes a day.

The first class of the retreat was taught by BeBee. We learned to bead around mini gourds. The selection of the perfect mini gourd was the first step. They were all perfect.



Netting was the stitch used to encase the gourd.





Peyote stitch was used to work up the neck of the gourd.




Next we added fringe on the bottom of the gourd.




Lunch was salads and deviled eggs.



Genny taught a class on wire work making a very pretty bracelet.





You get the idea. We bead and we eat.
We also had a visitor from a resident of the farm.



More beading.


Annette taught her Friendship Circle.




More food.



Mmmmm, blueberry crumble.


I taught a class on tubular netting also known as Russian Netting. This was my first time to teach a class and everyone was so nice. It is an easy stitch to do with the beginning being the hardest part.





After that, I am hungry. What's for lunch.




The afternoon's class was cold connections with Harleen. I had enough trouble with wire work, so I took the opportunity to check out a not too distant bead store. Those that took the class created some beautiful pieces, but this is the only one I got a picture of.



We had mini classes including sculptural RAW with Harry.



Carol's Peacock bracelet.



These are the goodie bags.



Each person has a bag and you can put a little something in each bag or not. It doesn't matter what or if you contribute. It is fun to go through them at the end of the retreat.

We had a special guest with us this retreat. Her name is Sasha.



Normally dogs and spouses are not encouraged to attend, but Sasha was special. She was the sweetest dog who took her role of hostess very seriously. She seemed to know who would appreciate her attentions and enjoy a snuggle. If dogs can have old souls, then this one does.

It was a wonderful four days that past all too quickly. I'm already looking forward to the next one.

ball and rope

Sky's favorite toy is the ball. Chasing the ball is pure joy to Sky and something she can do for hours.


Cody thinks it is funny to run by and grab her ball when she is not looking, but when it comes to playing, he prefers a good game of tug. He doesn't like to tug hard. He also likes to prance around the yard with his tug-rope in his mouth.

More flowers

More pictures from my garden and a couple from my sweet Mother in Law's garden.
I gave my blueberry bushes an over due trimming last year and the berry production for this year is suffering. I do have a few that are just beginning to get a bit of color. Now the real trick is going to be to get the ripe blueberries before the wonder dog Cody does. Cody loves blueberries and will pick only the sweet, dark blue ones. He even stands on his hind legs to get the berries.


I love dahlias and have a few that are already blooming.


They come in so many different varieties and colors.


This is a gladiolus blossom that is just beginning to open.


A rose.


A lily.


A day lily.


This one is from the garden of my Sweet Mother in Law. She has hydrangeas all along the back of her house that are in full bloom. Some are the pretty blue. Some have a pink tint as she added lime to the soil.

This is from her butterfly bush. I love the deep, vibrant color.