Thursday Things

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you will recognize this flower below.  If you are new, I will fill you in on the story of this Christmas Cactus... My mom passed away a few years ago and had lost her memory in her final months, well actually years.  She had always had a "green thumb" and grew plants and flowers that flourished under her care.  She passed that down to me.  :-)  I knew she was not doing well when I saw a cactus in her room that was nearly dead with lack of care and water.. so I brought it home and watered it and put it in my garden window in the kitchen.  Not long after she passed away, that little "rescue" cactus put on buds and bloomed.  I know it's silly, but whenever one of these flowers bloom on that plant, I think that it's my Mother.. reaching out to me to say hello.  Isn't it pretty?

Dayle and I volunteered at Multnomah Falls today again.. the water flow was heavier since we'd had a few days of rain.  There are some colored leaves, but not very many yet, it's a VERY late color year - I blame it on the 3+ months of no rain. 

The only leaves that have much color are the Vine Maples. 

zooooom...  

The lodge.. see the French doors on the left side?  That is the Visitors Center where we work. Today a cute older couple were there from near Ipswich, England - I told her I was a blogger and she said she was too!  They were so cute and told us that they were newlyweds - I asked where they met and she told me "at church"!  Then she whipped out her iPad and showed me wedding photos - the adorable part is they were members of different churches near each other, so they got married in HER church and then walked over and got married again in HIS church.  They were just so CUTE!!

Heading to our car after we closed the center for the day, I saw these Snow Berries..  

Looking down into Multnomah Creek.. the salmon will be here soon to spawn. 

Another vantage point of the falls from the volunteer parking space on the other side of the bridge over the creek. 

On the way home on the Historic Columbia River Highway, we stopped to snap a photo of this darling little stone house that I've always admired - their window boxes over-flowing with colorful impatiens.

Right before we got on the freeway to head home, Dayle spotted a kite surfer and zoomed in to get this photo.. the men and women who do this sport amaze me.  You can see how low the Columbia River is - see the sand bar?  That will quickly disappear when our rainy season begins in earnest.

I finished my dish cloth while volunteering.  I did an edging of SC, CH 1, SC.  Now what am I going to work on next?  Hmmmm. 

I thought I'd share a photo of one of my favorite necklaces that I've made.  We were going to go to see the King Tut exhibit in Seattle years ago and I wanted to make a necklace to wear in honor of the Egyptian king.  So, Dayle went up to the local grocery store and asked for a piece of cow bone from Dave the butcher and he cut this oval out and shined it up for me.  I had a scarab that I'd gotten at a bead store which I set in the center of the bone, then carved wax and made the 2 gold pieces using the lost wax technique at my jewelry class - then did the scrimshaw myself and made the bezel to set the piece in - then strung the necklace using amber beads, malachite and glass.  

I am excited as I've signed up for a precious metal clay workshop with a local jewelry artist - it will be in a few weeks.  Can't wait!!  Well, we have to jet off to have dinner with our son Shawn and his family at Flying Pie Pizza.. I think we'll stick with the salad bar.  Thanks for visiting!!  ((hugs)), Teresa :-)