YSA North Topsail

The YSA women are at the beach for the week. Julie and Kari drove down from WV and MD, Gini, Bonnie, Martha and I came from Wilmington. We have a really perfect house at North Topsail, with GREAT light. We immediately moved the furniture against the walls, set up our work tables, put on our baggy clothes and began to laugh and work. We celebrated Martha's birthday...this is the 'cupcake' birthday cake. I can't post the picture after we lit the candles, it was too bright for the camera! Carrot cake, complete with carrot tops garnish.
 

The house is on the beach. Since we're experiencing the last gasp of winter, we have a "refrigerator annex" on the porch. Perfect for the leftover lasnagna, cake and unopened wine that won't fit in the fridge. I've seen more pelicans than I've ever seen in one place. The first afternoon I was here, I saw a flock of what appeared to be 100 pelicans, heading north. What a sight!

The cover of my Oaxaca/Guatemala journal....Stuart and I fell in love with San Marcos, on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. I took pictures of the 'street' signs in the village, and covered the front and back of the journal with those photos.

I'm quilting the huge log cabin quilt top Bonnie gave me last year. Bonnie and Julie are working on jewelry making and metal work, Martha is collaging and enjoying her books, Kari is sewing various projects, Gini is sewing and quilting. Oh, cooking and wine drinking, too! Lovely week, even if the wind is too cold for to allow beach time. The week is young...

Charleston

No pics today, maybe later....

I just returned home (yet again!) from Charleston, where I spent a few days with a life-long friend, Kathy, who's husband is recovering from brain tumor surgery.  He's had a few rough days lately, as has Kathy.  She's sleeping in the chair by his bedside, and after 17 days of that routine is a little tired.  I'm thankful that I could get her out of the hospital for a little bit, to enjoy the sunshine, and walk past a few gardens.  We had a couple of meals outside the hospital, too, and she slept one night at the hotel with me in a REAL bed!  Sam appears to be improving, and we're all cheering for his grumpy personality to return soon.  Poco a poco, little by little.

In my gardens, Veona's March Pinks are blooming; some daffodils are finished, others are beginning; the early forsythia is finished, and the late forsythia is still glorious.  The helleborus' are gorgeous, I'd like to plant more but they are too pricey to buy plants.  I'll look for seeds!  I bought a few pots of thrift, which will get planted on the ditch bank by the blueberries...I think that will be a beautiful sight in a couple of years!  The warm weather veggie seeds are in dirt inside, and the peas are sown in the garden.  The cilantro volunteers are up...I leave the seeds where they drop each spring, they sprout at the Perfect Time the next spring, without any assistance from me.  Lovely system, isn't it?  The timing is always perfect with the cilantro.

I've come up with a system for plant rotation in the garden, after reading an article in Mother Earth News from  last fall.  A system that will work for me, it allows for spontaneous planting. I think.

The pollen has begun in Charleston, so will start here next week, I believe.  Counting the days until we can clean the porch, and move outside for the summer!

Peeps Week

Peep Week, at Myrtle Beach. Stuart and I got home Wednesday morning, and I left again Saturday morning. Thank goodness I had left a few things in a stack, in anticipation of this trip. After having been gone for three months, I had no idea what I'd been working on in my studio!

Joanne is settling into her new apartment this week, and taking care of Roy. We are missing her. Karen and I are in the two ocean front rooms, and I'm sleeping very well, with the sound of the waves in my ears all night. Bev and Kathy are just down the hall...


Thursday. This is the SECOND day we've seen a rainbow this week! If you look closely, you'll even see a fainter, second rainbow just to the right of the Big One. The light was beautiful, the seagulls on the beach were glowing in the almost-gone sun.














Daffodils in my White garden. The March Pinks (flowering almond) should be blooming pretty soon.
















I fully intended to get this gorgeous quilt top quilted this week. But, I didn't bring thread, so it will wait until next week. It is sandwiched and pinned, and the quilting design is worked out (in my head, of course!). All the prep work is done, I'm ready to stitch. This is the quilt top Bonnie worked on, during Retreat, for several years. It's beautifully pieced, with fabrics from many friends. It's huge: 100" x 100". It's going to be perfect on my bed....THANKYOU, Bonnie!







The late day light is so pretty. I took this from our 4th floor balcony; the tide is high, and wind is low.

It's been a good week, but too cold or rainy most days to spend time on the beach. That's OK...we can hear the waves all day and night!