It's Nice to be Queen!

 What a beautiful Mother's Day weekend my three girls crafted for me! Daughter #2 had some work obligations so she couldn't join us on Saturday but she came down on Sunday so I actually got to celebrate with all three of my girls and a few grands. Harrison had just arrived home for a short break from college before heading back to the Academy for his summer assignment so I got to be with him and Olivia, who is soon moving up to our area to attend law school at UF...we will have another Gator very soon!

In any case, Saturday started off with a Tea and Fashion Show at a beautiful old church in Ocala. We all brought our own teacups and shared stories of how we got them and why they were important to us. We also got to see lots of old friends. The event was attended by women and girls of all ages and it was wonderful to see all of the interactions along the way. We had a lovely woman and her ten year old daughter at our table and by the end of the event, we felt like old friends as well. The daughter was a hoot and had us all in stitches and her sense of humor when one woman literally won four raffle prizes and then three others at her table won a number more was right on point with others in my family. LOL

When the tea was over we headed a few blocks away into downtown and went to a new wine tasting venue called Barons Creek Vineyards. It is in the spot that was once Corkscrew where we had many fun times so we weren't sure how we would feel but it has been completely redone and is beautiful...and their wine was delicious! We were there for a bit when my brother and sister-in-law joined us.

When we were finished there we headed just another block over to Cantina TexMex where my son-in-law and grandson joined us for dinner.

I had lobster tacos-not as good as my lobster rolls in New England but yummy just the same.

We're all so happy to have this guy home even if it is just for a short visit. He and his brother ran by yesterday and it was just like old times having them drop in unannounced. And, he is going to come over one day during break and be my "muscle" as we tackle a few projects that I can't manage alone. Like I said, it's nice to have him home. Lol

After dinner we headed back to Jen's house for gifts and more visiting before those who were staying went back to my house for the night. We actually turned on the TV but before we decided what we might want to watch, we started talking and that was it for us! We talked until it was just about the next day and called it quits.

On Sunday morning, Becky was able to come down and she and Kris made a delicious brunch that we all enjoyed before it was time for everyone to return home once again.

Grand dog Bennett came along to join in the fun as well.

And, my girls know me so well-lots of my favorite flowers.

Now the house is quiet and I am back to routine-well, not quite as of late. We are finally having our first real rainy day in FOREVER! We were in an extreme drought condition so this rain is much welcomed and actually quite beautiful. It is not accompanied by any lightening or thunder-just a nice steady soft rain and everything in nature is already responding by turning bright green. And, I have an excuse to spend the day indoors and catch up on all sorts of things-like getting this post in the archives before I probably sit down later to watch a movie everyone was talking about this weekend.

And, I'm still kind of looking for some new 4th of July craft ideas. As I am writing this, this is what is just to my right:

There are the 4th crafts that I have showed you, some new 4th Luminara candles and a candle label that I made and affixed to a new Yankee Candle that I bought. I wanted a blue candle but they didn't have any with the holiday label like the red one from many years ago. I thought I would just pull the inappropriate label off when I realized that I could print my own image, run it through the permanent adhesive Xyron machine and attach it over the old label. I've got some rubberbands holding it just until the permanent becomes permanent.

In any case, seeing this stuff every day is getting me more and more anxious for my next swap and I'm ready to add some more new things as well if I get any ideas.

Of course, that also reminds me that I should probably finish up my spring tour so I will be back to do that soon. Until then, stay safe and stay tuned.