Douglas' Birthday Friday May 19th

Douglas' birthday was Friday, May 19th. We had a little family party. Cheesecake, his favorite, beef jerky his second favorite...no accounting for taste but it's easy to find. Everyone wore hats, even Doug!! and even Spunky and the puppies...Wilbur finally ate his.












Don't often get to capture a picture of Doug laughing...it's a shame it was at Charlotte's expense..but there it is in all it's glory. Charlotte was unimpressed.

Thursday Bee

Thursday at the bee.

Rachael & BettyAnn:














Carolyn and her sister Tricia who was up for a short visit:














Jolene and Barbara:

















Margaret, Connie and Kimber:

Thursday May 18th is my Real Birthday

A darling Elinor Pease Bailey doll from my friend Connie.Isn't she just darling!!!









Birthday cards....














Card from my brother, Damon who lives in Charlotte. This year he didn't torture me with a card about my age...you know the type...the ones that say you can light up Las Angeles with all your candles...or that have you looking like Grandma Moses or some other such character...or questioning the need for Depends...this year he was kind and only said that I base my fashion on what doesn't itch....i mean really, doesn't everyone?!?!?



















This adorable doggie was made by Pat H. she occasionally makes these special cards for friends...I feel very fortunate to have one now!



















Well hubby Doug bought me my camera dock on Wednesday for my birthday because I started to have a meltdown when the battery in my camera died...so he took me to get the dock and we all went out for dinner at the Pizza Joint...good pizza!!

What I had originally asked for was for him to pick out or make a really nice card...I do believe he went above and beyond this year on the card...how on earth he got the dogs to cooperate was one thing....but getting psycho cat to let him get his print is worth several many cool points for future use!!! Isn't it neat?!?!

My Birthday

Wednesday was playday at Rachael's. BettyAnn, Margaret, Carolyn & Rachael's Aunt Tricia were there. They surprised me after lunch with a party. It's a double present when the wrap is a present too.


















The vellum carry out container housed the wool fingerless gloves BettyAnn knitted for me...they will be great when it gets cooler and help keep the Raynaud's that I have at bay.































Fabric, needles, thread cutter, beads, yummy organza and cool card from Margaret. Closeup of Margaret's card with BettyAnn and Rachael siggies.














The wrapping from Rachael's gift..a darling pewter mouse covering his eyes.


















Rachael made me the most adorable postcard of a matching mouse...don't you just love it!!!!














The back is signed by her and dated. Too cool!!














Birthday angel from BettyAnn...

At the top of my list of favorite authors...Lilian Jackson Braun and her mystery cat Koko. Koko made me want a siamese...maybe one day.

The 1st Stargazer Doll

Here's my dolly. She has pipe cleaners to make her movable and plenty of stuffing. Amazingly Patti Medaris Culea has drawn these girls fairly realistically...at least big hips run in my family....lol












Her back with the stuffing seam...she had to be sewn up in the arms since she experienced blowouts in both pits.







She has spent most of her time as 'nakey doll' since I didn't know what on earth I was going to do with her. She is supposed to be clothed in windows and up until a week or two ago I had no idea how to do that.


















Yesterday I got in the window making groove and decided it was time to get her some clothing. As you well know I also adore beads and baubles and I had to completely gussy her up. She still has no face but at least she's not nakey anymore although the Rugrats seem to think nakey is good.

Windows for the Tome

Okay, the question of the day is this: If it only takes a mere few moments to take a picture, why does it take forever to download, formulate text and blog said pictures??? My pictures were printed on the Printed Treasures and I worked on windows for them yesterday...unfortunately I had already cut down most of them when I figured out if I sewed the pics down onto material I didn't have to cut away as much of the frame...bummer, if only I would have gotten in gear sooner.



And a moment of incredible honesty: BettyAnn made the purple window framing Charlotte (keep in mind I am the one who gutted it) and Rachael (who had to teach me how to do the stupid things in the first place) made the green one framing Spunky. I must add that I no longer think they are stupid since I now know how to do them.




The tiny ones are a real pain in the pratt to do but I had fun with them in spite of it.













Now to figure out what color background...subdued color so as not to compete with the pictures and frames and I still have a doll pocket to do...

Remember the famous feet?



















Tome group at Fiber on a Whim.














Rachael & Carolyn.

Backyard

Some days I become annoyed when it rains, however when I see the flowers flourishing it's impossible to stay that way.














the johnny jump-ups, one of my favorites popped up in the middle of the garden...which is much better than in the yard where they usually show up!!


















This tall beauty, with its Queen Anne Lace style flowers, is what the tubers were in my back yard. It is stationed between our fence and neighbors...it used to be a walkway for the neighboring kids until the overgrowth became so large.



















This little guy was posing for me...yes, i said posing. He was tilting his head and looking at me and do declare I even think he winked once or twice while he was at it! He is on the pole to the butterfly house so I'm assuming that the anoles are living in there still.






























The little fern was a complete surprise to find under the azalea bush. As you can probably tell, I only rake once a year in the springtime...during the winter we call the leaves protection and if you leave it long enough eventually we can call it compost.














The pond is in dire need of cleaning out..a task that I only do every other year. I say I, what I mean is that it is me who is in the pond while the guys are outside of the pond catching baby fish that get dumped out accidently. That is their job, that and dragging the hose back across the yard to refill. It has a waterfall but the stupid thing continually leaks so I haven't used it in 2 years. What the pond needs is for the structure to be made permanent (the original owners left one side so it could be enlarged later if desired...my hubby or me digging that deep with a picax in georgia clay...i don't think so!!). I just haven't gotten my 'want to' in gear to tackle the process but I really should...later...much later.













It's looking like the gardenias are all going to flourish this year...the low growing bushes are full of buds!! I just love their fragrance and with the jasmine blooming, I should have a delightfully stinky yard this year!!!



























The butterfly weed is one of my favorite plants and is full of buds, i just love the bright orange of its flowers and the butterflies simply adore it. I wish it would reseed itself but think that this year I will help it along and plant the seeds, when it comes time into one of the window boxes on the deck. Then if all goes well, I will be able to transplant them into one of the garden beds that Wilbur has been into.




















The purple groundcover, which is similar to lantana is another that I have to look up the name. It wasn't that long ago I could remember all the names of the plants I have...'of all the things i've loved and lost i think i miss my mind the most'....



















The transplanted crepe myrtle into the perfect spot in the deck garden.




Along with the hydrangea from Rachael and a small lily of some type I received from our gala guild event.











Other backyard visitors include the mockingbirds..this particular guy was doing an awful lot of digging and flitting so it was hard to get a good picture of him...He and his mate were digging for worms...that would have been a great picture...but alas, i did not get it.














The little squirrel had no idea I was outside until at this moment when he realized 'i am not alone'...see the terror in his poor little eyes? He didn't know quite what to do.