I'm Back!

 I just returned from a week in St. Petersburg and boy, re-entry is difficult! I had such a great time. If we weren't off just having fun, I was tagging along with my daughter to some of her design clients or shopping for her clients (or ourselves) or just helping her finish her new design studio...it was all so much fun! And, it is never a trip to St. Pete without lots of walking, laughing and eating. I like to think that all of the walking counteracts all of the eating. Lol

My first full day down there we went to the Van Gogh Live exhibit at the Dali Museum. It was quite the experience. All of the rooms in the one area were saturated with one painting at a time - some the full painting, others were close ups of parts of the painting. Then, when you least expected it, parts of the painting would come to life. It was very hard to take pictures of because, #1, the images were huge and projected everywhere and #2, you didn't want to miss anything by looking through a camera lens. It was really beautiful and I managed a few shots.

After the exhibit, we headed to The Library - a restaurant in downtown St. Pete. It is the first time I was there and it was delicious!

We had the most delicious roasted brussel sprouts as an appetizer and then I had a Fried Green Tomato BLT...minus the B. Lol I let them put it on but then gave it to my grand daughter as I am not much of a meat eater.

I was having so much fun that I didn't get many other pictures until daughter #3 and grand daughter #5 arrived on Friday afternoon for the rest of the weekend. We spent Friday sitting on the porch, talking and ordering in food from one of our favorite restaurants... gotta love Uber Eats! I will say that we were soooo lucky with the weather! The temps were in the 80s but there was very little humidity and the wind was enough to not only keep everything cool but to also keep the mosquitoes at bay. It was the PERFECT porch sitting weather and we did a lot of it! 

Saturday morning we started walking. My daughter lives in the historic district so there are so many pretty things to see as we walk and, it is only a short distance to downtown. It was wonderful to see a bit of the return to normalcy. It took us a while to decide on a restaurant for lunch but we made a great choice. We decided on The Park Shore Grill. Kris eats there often but it was, again, new to me.

After a long, leisurely lunch, we walked to one of Presley's favorite places, Sweet Divas. And of course, we had to get one of almost everything! Lol

Armed with our bag of goodies, we strolled through the park and made our way to another favorite destination - the veranda at the beautiful Vinoy Hotel. There is just something about sitting on the veranda, having a glass of wine (or two), looking at all of the beautiful boats docked across the street and wiling away an afternoon. 

Presley had never been here before and she was actually very excited to learn about the history of the hotel. She found a "tour" to listen to on her phone and then set off to see the halls, gardens, grand ballrooms, etc. in person.

We hopped on the trolley for a few blocks and then made it home right as grand daughter #4 was getting home from work.

We did a bit of a smorgasbord for dinner...a bit of charcuterie and then lots of air fried veggies with a delicious aoli that Olivia made for us! And, we ate as we played games...for the rest of the evening. 

And, after milking as much breakfast time on the porch as we could, we headed home. It is always so much fun down there and always so hard to leave! But, I am back and getting back to reality. I have a few appointments this week but then I think I will start my 4th of July decorating. We are supposed to have a scorcher of a week so the idea of staying in doesn't bother me at all. My grandson does have his spring football game Friday night and it is supposed to be HOT but I'm hoping we can set up a tailgate in some shade and manage to get through the evening. And then, I am dog sitting for the holiday weekend...should be fun!

I have a quick little 4th of July craft I will try to fit in as well so I'll be back. Stay safe and stay tuned.

Spring, Spring...

 Even though we are short on rain so far this year, the gardens are pretty much in full bloom because our temperatures have been pretty moderate so far. There is nothing like heading to the back yard in late afternoon! I just came in from taking some pictures now that all of the pressure cleaning for this year is done. The sun is a bit bright so I'll be waiting to head out until there is more shade but I thought I would share what's happening out there right now.

 

Lots of things blooming and lots of wonderful aromas right now. I definitely need to enjoy it all as much as I can because, before we know it, summer temperatures will be upon us and it will be a lot harder to keep these blooms happy! Stay safe and stay tuned.

Seeing Double

 Seeing double...or deja vu? This has been a really odd week. I can not do so many of the things I love for different reasons. My car could not get an appointment in the shop until next Monday so, I am home alone...lol. And, I not only don't have any new craft ideas but I also don't have a lot of supplies for special items. I always have the basics but it is hard to come up with any ideas just using paint, twine, glue sticks, glitter, etc.

So, this is where I would usually head outdoors as there is always something needing to be done in the garden. But, this week it has been brutally hot and I am not supposed to be in the sun or get over heated for awhile.

And so, once again, desperate times called for desperate measures. I found myself roaming the rooms looking for any ideas of something to do to keep me busy...and then, I saw it. When I bought the spindles to make Uncle Sam, I bought two. I was thinking ahead to maybe my grand daughter wanting to make one or even further ahead to making a witch. So, when I saw the spindle, I realized that I could make another Uncle Sam. But, I didn't want them to look too much alike.

If you remember the post of the first Uncle Sam, I had cut out a section of the spindles because he was taller then I wanted. Luckily for me, I had not thrown out those extra sections and I figured, what came out can certainly go back in. And so, with my trusty wood glue and a spot of hot glue to give it an immediate bond, I put it back together. I honestly believe that you could build a house with just wood glue. Once it dries, it is bonded forever!

Then, it is just a matter of painting...

...hitting it with some antique gel, distressing and coffee staining the cotton balls for hair. I also rigged up another hat this time using cardboard (not corrugated) cut into circles and glued together for the brim and another TP roll covered with card stock and with a piece of thin wood as the top. And, this time I added a bit of white tinsel. I also used a white paint pen to draw on some stars...so much easier than painting.

When all of that is dry, it is a simple matter of adding the eyes, buttons, hair and beard. I didn't want to use anything printed on this guy but his hat needed something so I made a tiny "messy" bow using 4th of July ribbon and red and blue shaggy yarns.

So this guy kept me busy yesterday...what's on for today? I haven't decided yet. We are supposed to get some much needed rain this afternoon - although every time I check the forecast, the rain window gets smaller and smaller - so, maybe I will use it as a rainy, movie day and catch up on some of my favorites on Netflix or Amazon. We shall see where the day takes me! The way things are going, I might be decorating for the 4th of July much sooner than I had planned. Lol Stay safe and stay tuned.

Merry 4th of Valentine's Day!!

 It finally happened!!! We were able to gather every single one of our family members together for the first time in almost a year! We have missed so many holidays together not to mention big celebrations such as graduations, birthdays, new dogs, etc.

The fun started this past weekend when daughter #1 arrived on Friday from St. Pete and her daughters arrived from Tallahassee. We went out for a wonderful lunch, off to the grocery store and then home where daughter #3 and two of her kiddos were waiting for us.

I will admit right up front that I was having so much fun that I not only didn't take many pictures but I also didn't request any "all family" or "all grand kid" pictures. The house was full. There were a lot of people not to mention dogs and even a friend. Everyone was off doing fun things and talking and catching up and I decided to let them do that and not make this holiday as formal as I would generally like. Also, it was kind of weird celebrating Christmas when my house was full of spring decor. At one point in the planning, I thought about getting all of my Christmas stuff out but, since May does not bring the same temperatures as December and that would be a huge, HOT undertaking, I vetoed that idea quickly. I then decided on just a nod to Christmas but apparently my grand daughters had other ideas and decided that we should celebrate every holiday we have missed together this past year. Unbeknownst to me, they went out to my garage and found all sorts of seasonal decor and had it all over the place. I wish I had taken pictures of all of the signs and centerpieces, but this one little picture might at least help set the scene. 

We decided to just do a nod to a tree as well, so the kids got going on that.

We had a good laugh at the presents as they have been waiting so long that many of them were covered in dust! Lol

My youngest grand daughter loves to bake...and she does a darn good job of it...so she made a batch of rolled cookies and we all helped decorate them. We didn't drag out any of the decorating tips so we did the best we could with spoons and butter knives. They may not be as gorgeous as some we've done but they sure tasted just as good. Even better maybe because who expects a Christmas cookie in May?

So here is a random batch of pictures that I have. If you look closely, I think everyone is accounted for. Definitely not our best faces forward but this weekend was just all about family, fun and love!

The week leading up to this was busy in so many ways...not the least my being invited to an award ceremony for my oldest grand son where he received a Trinity Catholic H.S. Distinguished Student award. I am so proud of the special young man that he is!

So that brings me to this week where I am waiting to see if we can find out why my car decides that it doesn't want to start every now and then. Hopefully it will be an easy fix and I will be out and about again soon. Until then, I'm staying pretty close to home. Not much exciting in the forecast but if I come up with something, you'll be the first to know. Stay safe and stay tuned.