Tuesday Dahlia

We've been getting rain during the night since last Friday & my garden loves it!

I do too, as God has been watering the garden for me..

Here's the Golden Emblem Dahlia this morning...

It is 8 inches wide!

Jazz & Oysters

Yesterday was Jazz & Oysters at the old Oysterville school, an annual event here on the Long Beach Peninsula, which is organized by the good folk from Water Music Festival


My husband has been a volunteer at Jazz & Oysters for several years but this was my first year helping out.

I worked at the dessert table & boy oh boy there were some tempting delights, all donated by local Bakeries & Restaurants!

I only had two plates honestly!

This is how we cook oysters up here on the Willapa Bay, where some of the finest oysters in the Nation are grown by the way ;9

Although the day started out damp & grey, by noon the sun had come out and with it came many locals... ...to listen to the Ron Steen Trio & the beautiful voice of Marilyn KellerI was lucky enough to speak with Marilyn, who told me she has been singing since she was a child & that she learnt to sing in harmony when she was in kindergarten.

Of course that meant I didn't get any beading done this past weekend but that's OK, I'm planning to make up for lost time this evening

Here are two photos of the yellow dahlia...

taken this morning
& again this eveningIt's really got a grow on now & that bud next to it is getting bigger by the minute!

Dahlia Sunday 19

Here's day 3 of the yellow dahlia, it has 2 more petals open..

Last year my girlfriend gave me a Hollyhock she'd grown from seed & which I put in a part of the garden that is a work in progress, not much has changed in that corner since last year - Except the Hollyhock, which came up from last year's seed & there are close to 30-50 plants there now LOL

They're such beautiful purple flowers I had to share them with you.....

Golden Emblem Dahlia

I've decided to share progress pics of my huge yellow dahlia as it opens, I've never seen one this big before & to think it started as a tiny tuber I got at the supermarket a couple of years ago...

Friday 17 August

Saturday 18 August

The flower that's opening now is just over 2" wide & the bud next to it is just over 1" wide.

I'm wondering if the slender stalks will be able to hold the flowers up once they are fully open. Time will tell, won't it?

Making Progress..

Here's a progress pic of my starfish, three points done & two to go. I think the center bit will go faster, the points are tricky to bead.

Well I had my appointment with my Neurologist yesterday & he wired me up & sent some electric shocks thru my hands to find out what the problem is with them >OUCH< It is Carpal Tunnel & my right hand is far worse than the left. He said that he wants me to have a steroid shot in my right wrist first & if that relieves the pain then in 6 months or so to go ahead & have the surgery - I am not a big fan of needles but if that's what it takes to do away with this problem then that's what I'll do but I might leave it for a few more weeks yet

I have to share these pics of my Phoebe with her Catnip plant which is in bloom at the moment

Of course just a taste of catnip takes her back to kittenhood & dust baths

You can see how well my thyme ground cover is growing to cover the patch where nothing would grow except weeds, it should cover that area totally by next summer which will mean NO MORE DUST OR MUD, boy am I looking forward to that!

Making progress with July

My July page is under way, it's moving slowly because I decided that each bead had to be stiched on one at a time - Nothing like doing things the hard way LOL

I'm happy with how it's looking so far so that is a plus, isn't it?

I made a 'starfish' & lightly stuffed it & I'll attach it to the page once it's beaded..

I'm not sure if I will bead on the acutal background, maybe just here & there to add a bit of sea like sparkle to the wavy blue lines - time will tell, eh?

On Wednesday I go to Longview -about 2 hrs east of here - to have the neuropathy in my hands assessed.

My Neurologist has the MRI that was done recently & his nurse told me that it does not appear to be from the damage to the vertebrae in my neck, so at least that's a good thing & it's not Carpal Tunnel either so what the heck is it?

Hopefully it is something that can be fixed.

Oh, oh it's August...

Happy birthday Stephen - It's hard to believe so many years have passed since I first held you in my arms but you'll always be my boy, my boy, my pride & joy...

Myself & my 3 children all have our birthdays within the space of 2 months so of course it's always a special time of the year for me

OK, back to what keeps me sane - My beads!

I've decided to stay with my original 6" x 4" size for my BJP page - thank you all for the encouragement ~smile~

This is for July

& this is for August

I recently bought Stitch Magic by Jan Beaney & Jean Littlejohn, which is a wonderful publication if you love to play with fabric & fibres.. My August page is the result of my first attempt at some of the fun things in the book, so stay tuned