Amaryllis... Apparently not?

 Years ago my Mom started a lovely Christmas tradition where in she would give me an amaryllis.  I would dutifully plant the bulb, and weeks later, would be astonished at the beauty of what it produced.

 This year, she stated that she wasn't sure what color this one was.  Rather an odd occurance because generally she chose according to color.  That said, it was quite a surprize when out came this immense, stunning white group of flowers. Good choice Mom! :)

Isn't this lovely. almost other worldly.

So, imagine my surprise when I google amaryllis (because I love to throw in a link or two to make an otherwise dull post more inviting!) and I find what I think is.... my amaryllis. Or rather, really a hippeastrum. Commonly confused with amaryllis.  Well, I have to say, if they didn't market the little suckers as amaryllis, we wouldn't think that they are amaryllis.

So you be the judge... is it Amaryllis or Hippeastrum?

And for a completely unrelated topic.... meet Watson.  He is my neices new puppy.  Sweetie and I are the designated babysitters.  Aren't we lucky.  I don't have to tell you that I already have a folder full of photo's and videos of dear little Watson on my coolmax  harddrive. 

almost done!

It's official!  I could live in my bathroom.  No, I haven't lost my mind... this is what it used to look like... well, this is what it looked like in the midst of the never ending renovation.  25 years ago it didn't seem so bad but now, just YUCK!   

 The 80's called and wanted it's ugly sinks, bar lights and stenciled walls back :)  This gross mess is what they call "floating a floor".  In order to install new laminate flooring we had to fill in all the grooves from the porcelain tile.  What were we thinking installing white porcelain tile???????

 In goes the new laminate flooring.  Beautiful and it won't show every dratted hair that falls off my head!

 Another view of sheer ugliness topping off the gorgeous new floor.....

 Yes, 25 years ago the stencilling I did looked sort of nice... now, not so much :)

The new vanities, new sinks... new faucets!  They look so tiny in this big empty room.  We couldn't find a long vanity that we liked so decided to put two together under one long countertop.  I think it might work out well with a small shelf in the middle and the garbage can underneath.

 I love the wall tattoo I found at WalMart for a couple $$.  The color exactly matches the mirror frames... which I am definitely keeping now (wasn't sure at first).  I guess I should remove the cardboard packing at the corners and hang them!   

Some new dark bamboo blinds, a nice throw for the chair and I'm moving in!

more tangles

Since our weather has been positively blah (it always seems to be drippy and grey) I've been stuck inside.  In order not to lose my mind entirely from zombie like TV viewing I've continued to doodle.  It's become an obsession.  I may need carpal tunnel surgery again... just kidding!

This is my current favorite.  It's kind of cutesy!

 My, what chubby little fingers I have...

I wondered what kind of zendoodles I could do with my brush pens.  This was really fun and it's no where near over!

the day the Eagles came

Sweetie noticed long before I would have... there seemed to be something odd going on...  there were eagles everywhere.  I mean a dozen of them.... It wasn't that odd to see one or two, in fact when we had cats, I always worried that they might swoop down and take one!   But this was something totally out of the norm.

 Old, young, the trees were dotted with eagles.

 And then we saw this... graphic warning!!!  A dead deer on the bank below our house.  I wonder if the dogs got him?

What an amazing weekend this was.  We spent hours watching and taking photos and movies of these majestic scavengers!  If I can figure out how to edit them, I will post mini movies...

Totally tangled in Beads for Life :)

This Christmas my niece gave her sister the most beautiful bead necklace.  We were all amazed to find that they were made of paper, hand rolled and then coated with a protective covering.  They are made by Ugandan women and sold online or at home parties through Bead For Life.  GORGEOUS!!

So there I am, thinking I've discovered a new and wonderful treat to share with Gladys, I email her a link to the website.... Wouldn't you know it, a day later when she comes over to exchange Christmas gifts (we aren't really very traditional or time oriented!) she gives me this luscious bag of beads!!!  What is this phenomenum called?  I know there's a name for it... Anyway, she got quite the chuckle out of my email.

Totally Tangled - another little goodie in my Christmas gift was this wonderful book.  Needless to say, once again I am imersed in tangles!  My hand hurts!  It really takes some practice and exercise to be able to tangle for very long periods of time. :)

So here are my first attempts at zendoodles since the carpel tunnel surgery of 2009.  I have oftern wondered if my zendoodling brought on the need for surgery....

The outline of my hand proved to be more odd than interesting but I will perservere.  I think this one needs a lot of shading and tons more detail to make it even okay, but as they say... practice practice practice! Oh what fun!

walk to the beach with my Sweetie

Looking across the straight of Georgia to the Salish Sea we have an incredible view of the coast mountain range.  I am forever amazed at the beauty of this island and it's surrounding waters. Salish Sea map

One of the many liitle wonders that we come across on our walk to the beach.

Sometimes it's just all about the sky....

A little whimsy... can you imagine taking the time to place rose hips on barbed wire?  Well someone did and I am very grateful for their vision.

This rotting stump looks like a wise old monster from the Lord of the Rings.

Beauty in twisty roots and spruce needles.

Something weird and wonderful happened with my camera here... I have no idea what but if this isn't serendipity I don't know what is!

It's hard to imagine this beautiful green moss growing on a log on the beach in December.... in BC but here it is.  What a wonderful place to live. And yes, I am bragging :)