drowned feather 3 and flowers

So I finished the model for Drowned Feather 3. This one took me 6 days, averaging about 4 hours a day. Still have one more in this series to do but I have to make the 10” x 10” blank which I'll get around to doing sometime today. While I was working on DF 3 I got an idea to do another series of feathers, small ones, little pieces that can be held in the hand. I'm mulling over those, part of my shifting over to birds as I'm sort of tired of doing lizards and bees.

While I have been diligently working away on new models, I need to take a break now and then to let my eyes focus on things in the distance 

and also other colors besides the blackish brown of the wax. Fortunately the yard gives me lots to look at.

The ginger was beginning to bloom when we left, first the coral,

then the white,

then the yellow, always in that sequence, and then all three are in bloom for several weeks.

The plumerias were also starting to send up bloom stalks before we left. So far just the pale pink, which is most of what I have, survivors from the 10' tree I had in the ground back at the city house that froze to the ground dead during the winter of 2011 when our temps hovered in the 20s for a couple of weeks. I knew it wouldn't survive so took a lot of cuttings.

I was surprised to find this dark pink one when I returned home which a member of the garden club sent to me while I was gone. Not the red for white we were supposed to be trading and not even from her.

Last fall I approached her about trading a cutting of her red plumeria for a cutting of my unusual white 'bridal veil' plumeria (which are sending up bloom stalks) to which she agreed. I rooted her cutting and waited and waited and waited and every time I would remind her she was all 'oh I forgot'. Over and over, she forgot so I figured she wasn't really interested and stopped reminding her and bought one while I was in Hawaii (which is already sprouting new leaves). So I was surprised to see this new dark pink one on my driveway. Someone she knows wanted to get rid of all his plumerias and he gave them to Patty. He told her that he thought this one was red and so she sent it over to me via my sister. Nice, but no cigar. It's not red and it's not from her so she doesn't get the cutting I prepared. Now I want a yellow one.  I think I have a yellow one but it hasn't bloomed yet so I don't know for sure.

Some other things blooming...the zinnia is almost as tall as me, a few day lilies still blooming, and the cinco de mayo rose.