Friends From the North

Marc and Deb come down every year to visit Marc's daughter in Bradenton for the Super Bowl.  Happily, we were able to make plans to spend the afternoon together.  

They arrived around 3:30, after visiting family members in Pt. Charlotte.  We visited for awhile, then headed to Fisherman's Village for a late lunch/early dinner at Shorty's Brewhouse.  This is a restaurant/craft beer establishment that was new last year, although we never tried it and Punta Gorda is their only location in FL.

We sat inside, because the sun was low and there was no shade outside.  However, the doors were all open so it was like sitting outside and there was a nice breeze.  Everyone agreed, it was a great meal!  Deb had pizza, Marc and Bill had the special burger and I had a spicy Hawaiian chicken wrap.  I can't believe I didn't take pictures.

From there we drove to Ponce de Leon park and caught a nice sunset.  We took selfies, which was quite hysterical because there were too many of us, Marc is very tall, Deb and I are very short and no one had long enough arms.  Our first attempt was pretty sad, we nearly missed Deb completely and I didn't want to playground in the background.  Oh well.  The evening sun was nice.

Finally, after much repositioning and laughing, Marc held the camera and Bill pushed the button.  In fact, I think that's his finger in the left hand corner.  Good grief.

The sunset was worth the trip.  I took these three...

and Marc took these two.

So glad we were able to spend time together.

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;o)

Together Again...

Tulip and I have been friends for 40 years but we haven't seen one another since 2000/2001.  We were neighbors in Colorado when our two boys, Greg and Steven, were born.  She always kept me supplied with Coke, to which I was totally addicted, as was her husband, Terry, and chocolate chip cookies, always without nuts!

Tulip lives in Wyoming with her husband.  For the past three years she has spent two weeks in Clearwater, FL taking a Spiritual Direction seminar.  We tried to get together last year, but the weather was awful so, sadly, we cancelled.  This year the weather was perfect!

We picked her up around 1:15, bought sub sandwiches at Publix and drove a few minutes to Kapok Park, a local park suggested by Siri ;o)  The park was located in a quiet neighborhood and was previously a flood prone mobile home park until the city purchased it in 2002 as part of a water management project.  We ate lunch at the only picnic table in sight, then walked along the boardwalk.

We couldn't decide whether or not these cypress trees were dead but the Corkscrew Swamp FB page said the cypress trees got stripped of their leaves during the hurricane and they had produced new ones, which have turned color although it's the wrong time of year for them to have leaves.

 

Someone before us threw bread into the water and the turtles were very interested.

From there we drove toward Clearwater Beach, although we stopped when we found this nice path along the water.  

There were a lot of bushes along the water, with occasional breaks and we spotted this pirate ship party boat through one of them.  

We picked an open spot a little farther along the path and sat for awhile.  Tulip doesn't see much salt water in Wyoming ;o)

Time was short so we headed back to the car and dropped Tulip off around 5:00 but not before finding time for a selfie.

It was so nice to have this time together after so many years, but it seemed like we were together just yesterday.  Hopefully it won't be another 17 years before we are together again!

Not to be forgotten...Bill was the perfect chauffeur and chaperone and is always the perfect companion!

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;o)

We Should Have Been at the Gym...

But instead of working on our muscles, we spent the afternoon working on our tans!

It was really a perfect day...80*, light breeze, no clouds and very few people.  There's a cold front coming which will drop the temps into the 60's again; so glad we came today!  

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;o)

Celebrating Christmas 2017

We headed to Greg's this morning, along with Wendy, Dan and Jane to celebrate Christmas.  Greg set a lovely table and cooked a great meal in his new Instant Pot.

Jane was all dressed up in her holiday best.

We opened gifts, enjoyed a good meal and good company.  Wendy and Ella read about making felted animals, which was a gift from Auntie Wendy and Uncle Dan.

Turns out it's a lot more time consuming than I would have expected.

Jane was a very good girl but the festivities wore her out.

I need some beauty sleep.

Ella and I snuck away to take selfies, which didn't turn out as well as they did last year.

My favorite, but it's blurry ;o(

Then, of course, much to Dan's dismay, we took the traditional group pictures.

As always, our time together went by too quickly and we were headed home before we knew it.

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;o)

Ella Makes Her First Quilt

After spending a wonderful Thanksgiving day in Gorham, I returned today to do some sewing with Ella.  Aunt Paula worked with her this morning, teaching her how to use the sewing machine and I took over when I arrived around 11:00.  

First off, Ella selected her fabrics from my stash of "leftovers" from my previous projects.  She selected quite a nice assortment, then proceeded to iron each piece.  It was much easier once we lowered the board.

She laid the pieces out on the floor in the order she wanted and then proceeded stitching them together.

This is the first two pieces going together with great concentration.  The white with pink swirls was used in the border of her pink polka dot quilt.

She's sewing it to a fabric that was used in one of the monkey quilts; I can't remember if it was hers or her dad's.  There are several strips of Olaf fabrics, used in her Olaf quilt.

We took turns, sewing and ironing throughout the afternoon.  She was very attentive when sewing the final strips together.

Ta Da!

The size was determined by the smallest strip, which was one of the Olaf fabrics and it's not quite large enough to use as a quilt, so Aunt Paula spent tomorrow helping her add a couple of 4" borders and completing the binding.

It was a group project, made with lots of love.  

Well done, Ella! and thanks to Aunt Paula for all her help!  Hopefully, it will be the first of many sewing/quilting projects for Ella ;o)

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;o)

What Did You Do Today?

This is what I did...

Forty-two days of dog food!

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;o)

Score!

Scored these bad boys for half price at Barnes and Noble.  They are perfect for our afternoon iced coffees!

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;o)