LEAVING FLORIDA!

 We left Cocoa Beach at 8:30 this morning.  I 95 is an interstate that we were told is full of traffic all the time and on an Easter Sunday it was full of action!


We saw this smoke about 5 minutes before we came upon it.

It was a diesel bus, full of people on full fire as you can see from 
the photos I managed to take as we were moving through.


After we left the scene, the highway was closed!  It took 5 firetrucks to put the fire under control...we were so lucky to have missed the cut off.

One of the highlights of the trip was seeing a lone boat on a very peaceful river in Georgia.


We also saw a car in a ditch on the road which looked like the car had stopped on the shoulder and just slipped off ....no injuries
and some lucky spring break
young men.


As we made it to Charlotte North Carolina, we are tired and happy to have traveled this far in one day with the occasional stops for this and that. 


The dog of course was a good little traveler as usual, and slept
in the back seat of the truck most
of the way.

You have heard me say time and time again about how small our master bedroom is at the cottage, well here is Jeremy's room at his training camp.   It is the only place where they could put the cot at night because of the space....Only for a week and he said it was really comfy, on the second floor so that if there was a fire, he'd have been able to jump off the balcony!  

So, tomorrow we are heading to Eire Pennsylvania....then we will enter Canada for the first time in ages....I am still in shorts!  How good is that!

QUILTS IN THE SNOW

An artist, Simon Beck in Savoi France, spends his days, walking on snow shoes to create these fabulous patterns in the snow to create snow quilts.


The quilts take approximately five to nine hours to create.

Enjoy yourself looking at these.
My sister in law found this site  and
she thought I would love this.

COCOA BEACH DAYS!

 Cocoa Beach is just down the road from Cape Canaveral.  The LaQuinta Hotel was built by the original astronauts as you can see from the plaque at our hotel.


Apparently, so the history has been told to me, the goverment felt that the Original 7 should not 
profit by their fame!  So after a few years, it became something else and now is a LaQuinta.


 CBS had its headquarters at this hotel (talk about profits) and the families of the astronauts lived above the headquarters when they were in town.


So many of the streets in this town
are named after different things that
reflect something of flights from here.There is even an "I dream of Jeanie" street.


Our grandson, Jeremy who is pictured at the pool of the hotel, is in Melbourne Beach at a Canoe/Kayak training camp.  He is with two other boys also working hard.   We took them 
shopping for food.  What an ex
perience that was as our truck is
full of our belongings, so we 
packed as much as we could leaving 
the cover unhooked so as not to
crush eggs and the cereals.  They
are good for the next couple of 
weeks.

I have finished Jeremy's sweater. It wasn't fun for him trying it on in 85 degrees F weather!  It fits, but if he muscles out more, I think the mother or sister of this guy will want it.  I'm not happy with how the bottom is, but am assured that it does stop the curling out that I see when being a critic of the pattern.  Next time I would do a binding on the bottom.


The space centre awaits visitors and I do think that we will go today as it is cloudy after a torrential downpour this morning.


I have been told by Helen my friend and teacher that the ice is out on most of the lake.  However, that doesn't mean that the boats are ready to be launched, so we will be travelling a bit more.


Don't you just love my life these days?  I do!

IT'S FRIDAY....FAVOURITE THINGS AGAIN.

 Once again, it is Friday, and time for fav things.


This sweater which I made for my darling daughter Kelly is a tweedy brown wool.  I love it and am sure she will love it too!


It's a surprise for her.  She doesn't

check the blog much in the winter
as I haven't done much here.


I am posting the close up as it is so lovely in person, as most things are.  That touch feely thing, right?


I am now also knitting my final project of the Florida season which is a sweater for Jeremy, the
guy at the Florida winter training 
camp.  Tough life he has, fun in the
sun doing what he loves to do best.

This is our bedroom at the moment.  Not too shabby.  We are enjoying glorious sunshine in the low 80s which my sweetie is moaning about...It's so hot is his daily comment....or...it's gonna be a hot one!  Well what do you expect....Sunshine and more sun
shine!

Our sweet dog has acquired an ear infection!  We were at the vet's a couple of days ago and he is in full recovery mode.


Apparently, westies and some such dogs are susceptible to this because of the humid weather.  Well, he is on the mend now, with me having to pounce on him when I must do the dirty deed of cleaning the ears etc.  He is smart and hides under the bed to keep away from me.


Our days are winding down for sure.  Our food stuffs are dwindling and we will be eating out for a while it seems once we leave here till we find another abode.


OK, another ad.  I lie a bit, but have been saving them.
Free!  Yorkshire Terrier....the little bastard bites!   This was a true one!

GOODBYE WINTER, HELLO SPRING!....

 Our winter diggs are owned by an artist.  She comes to the Villas each winter for a few days with her  other artist friends.


They paint, they walk the beach and at times do lovely works of art which hang in the rooms of the villas.


This year, this playful creation was
done for those of us brave enough
to put our pusses in the hole and
say "cheese".  I was the first.


Also the last pot luck dinner was had with the gang bringing their best left over dishes.  We were there to feast and watch the sun go down.  It does get chilly in the early evening glow.  


Next year more "new from here" gang will have grown.  We will  be with the last of the gang to depart for the north.


Even the pelicans have decided to leave the beach for the spring break crazies who come to the pan handle.


The weather has been mild in Ontario, in the mid 50s in most places including, yep, even our little piece (peace too) of heaven on the lake.
We are keeping our fingers crossed hoping to be back by April 20th. The ice should be gone by then.


I have new quilts to sew, and so little time to do it all. My fingers will need to remember 1/4" sewing all over again.


I have finished a sweater for my girl, and will post it soon.  I do have one more to do, but my arm has been bothering me a bit.  Probably from bending it so as to hold up my head!  Really....when I am on the computer I do that and it is now sore.....don't laugh, I must learn to hold up my head by my neck!


Local paper add....must sell washer and dryer....have joined nudist colony.

IS SPRING NOT FAR AWAY?

KNITTING IN FLORIDA CONTINUES...

 I am still knitting little things to keep the fingers busy.


I have decided to keep the socks and fingerless gloves that I made with Sirdar yarn. 


At first this yarn wasn't my favourite to work with, but as time went on the patterns turned out well, so I am so pleased with the
results.


In progress is a sweater in a brown 
tweed, which will be a surprise for
one of my girls.

 The waves on Sunday were wild!  I mean 10-12 ft waves, surging onto the shore all day long.  The result is that the beach has changed mightily as some of the beach is gone to sea.

I'm not sure if the little video shows well here, but it was truly a wild day.  The pelicans were flying over the villas instead of over the 

water.

This little gal is a cross between a Maltese and a schnauzer.  She is so friendly as you can see, and the centre of attention wherever she goes.


The dogs avoid her as she has so much energy, and is all over them.


My sweetie is growing a mustache which he hope to be able to add wax and have it curl up.   I think he may eventually decide that this facial thing is too much work and he will chop it off.  


The puppy from......loves it though.


The days are winding down here on the Panhandle.  Just eight days to go till we head to the Orlando area for our final weeks in lovely Florida.   I feel like I shall be leaving one home for another.


Ad in a local paper.....Wedding dress for sale....worn once by mistake.
Enjoy your day.

Kearny Quilt....Helen

This is Helen's simple quilt which was donated to the Kearny Ontario Dog sled race day.  I love coin quilts and all the variations that come with them.  This quilt has a strip on the back which makes it fabulous with the red print binding.


The days are winding down here in Florida as a few people are starting to count the days left in their little villas.  We are about ten days from leaving here and heading further south.


Our dear friends, Bob and Mary who have been with us for three weeks are at another location for an extended week.  We were a gang of party people at their place last night.  A rock and roll event that had us dancing till the wee hours of 8:30 ish.   Honestly, we were all probably in bed in the next hour.  


The weather is humid, warm and I love it.  The announcement of thunder showers on the weather network made me yearn for rolling thunder, but nothing like we have at the lake in summer.


I look forward to our return to the lake in about seven weeks.  Honestly, the time has just flown by, leaving me to wonder how it is that it has happened.  Oh well, spring is just around the corner isn't it?

SWEATER IS FINISHED. HAPPY VALENTINE!

 As the sunny takes take their toll on our tans here in Florida, I usually take knitting down to the pool area to keep myself busy.   This sweater of course as most things looks better in person.  It is for a granddaughter's  birthday in a couple of weeks.

I have also been knitting socks, the fingerless gloves which are a huge hit here and a couple of frilly scarfs. I could go into business!  Of course the pay would be about 0 cents per hour as I do a bit here and there with the gloves etc.  But having said that there are a couple of ladies here who would like to knit a bit, and one has even gone so far as to by yarn!  So good things are happening.

We have hit a bit of a cold spell on the panhandle of Florida, but in the sheltered area of the pool, we Canadians hung tough and sat in the sunshine.  It was funny on Sunday.  There we were, eight people along the sunny sheltered side of the pool.   As the sun moved off an area, one person would move to the far left till we were all sitting on the other side of the pool!  Too funny, one chair at a time and everytime someone moved, there was a cheer!  Life is never dull here.

We saw this amazing plane in our travels here.  It is one of those that hovers, then wings come out and it flies like a regular plane.  I can't remember the name of it, but Osprey comes to mind.  I refuse to ask (one more time) what it is called.  But it was a thrill  to see it take off.  We are living between two air force bases here so we see lots of military stuff.

Yesterday a plane flew so low we could have hopped on!  For we Canadians, anything like this is a big treat and we waved like crazy.

Today, being Valentine, we are going to a pot brunch at noon.  I do have red to wear for the occasion, and am making a yummy appetizer.  It is the one that I call Monica's Recipe.  Monica being one person that I know that really doesn't cook, but this is her recipe for each occasion that calls for "bring something".

Okay, here it is....one cup of chopped onion, one cup of mayo (hellman's only), one cup of cheddar cheese.  Bake for 25 minutes at 350.  I use a food processor to mix it all .  Also spray the dish before putting the mixture in.  Very very good and no one can guess the ingredients.    I serve this with rice crackers or other crispy crackers to dip.

I have also discovered Google Phone.  All I needed was gmail and I was dialing my fingers off.  A great little device.

Today it is raining and the sea is huge.  We are loving Florida Panhandle.

FIREFLY RESTAURANT, DINING AT ITS BEST!

If it was good enough for the President of the United States, it must be good!  Good is an understatement for this restaurant where we went last night.


The photo is in the middle of the restaurant, and above the lights on the tree are little green lights that just twinkle here and there for the "firefly" effect.  Beautiful!


Here in Florida's panhandle there are many fine restaurants.  But this one is where I had one of the most memorable meals of my life!


The shecrab soup was so good that I could have made a meal of this.  There was flavour such as I've never had, and the little piece of puff pastry in the soup was perfect.


There was planked salmon.  Perfect!  We had the Delmonico steak, done to perfection with the right amount of bernaise and an au ju sauce on the side.


I have never been to a restaurant where there is no salt and pepper on the table....seriously...have you?  


I am being so careful about eating as it is easy to get fat when one doesn't cook for ones self.  The bread pudding dessert which had chocolate and blackberries on top, homemade ice cream on the side.


Delicious, I couldn't finish it though as I was so full.  Imagine me being full at a restaurant.


This is probably the only restaurant review that you will ever read from me, so salivate....I ate the best for the best price too.    I'm not even mentioning Michael our server who guided us throughout the meal.


Today, we are going to tell everyone about this place.  I will advise the shecrab soup for sure.  


Enjoy the weekend.

KNITTING IN FLORIDA!

 This is a boa or a scarf that is becoming quite popular in the knitting circles of Canada at the moment.


Over Christmas when we were visiting my friend Helen who is also knitter extraordinaire, can you believe, she gave me one of these
little gems.


Of course it was easy for her to 
knit, but me?  I had to do it
twice to get the darn thing right.


The yarn is called Frill Seeker is wide as you can see and one adds nine stitches and the above photo is the result.


I didn't pick up enough of the 
yarn, and when I shook it to 
make the frills, it unraveled!
Oh yeah, what else would one expect
from my first attempt!


I am loving the colours for sure.


This photo of my knitting place is from our balcony with a wee Mary swimming in the pool getting her morning exercise which she she has been doing every day.


Me?  I'm walking on the beautiful beach, my sweetie is walking 5 km each day.  Wonderful, wonderful, and he is loving the walking even if he has pain in his hip.  We should be in great shape for cottage time.


The weather has been extraordinarily warm for this time of year, in the mid 70s and so sunny too that even the locals are wearing shorts.  


Not too far from our villas is a bar, a biker bar to tell you.  Anyway one morning Mary (friend in residence) needed change and since this bar only closes for an hour a day, she walked over got quarters for laundry.  Coming out of the crowded bar, she noted a Harley Davidson with rider parking.  Now Mary is a nurse, and she notes that this guy has all kinds of coloured tubing wound around the seat of the bike, and looking to the rear of said bike is an oxygen tank with the mask.  Only if Florida folks, only in Florida.

WATCH THOSE "SALES"!

Funny how a little time spent in the "north" gets me knitting sweaters.


This beauty is the first I've made in years and years.  But, with the quilting on hiatus because of travels, I'm a knitting nit wit as you can see.


I find that one must be ever vigilant when it comes to the "sales"  advertised.  Mary, the other knitter and I went to Michaels for their 50% off sale.  Well the Lions Brand wasn't 50% off, but after looking at the pattern, I bought at 30% off.


Well, after finishing the sweater, and giving it to the girl for her winter in Ottawa and it being very cold there, the "buy one get one free" flyer came out nine days later.


Mary, who must be the best shopper and the
queen of returns, got our bills, and off we 
marched to the Michaels.  The 
manager, a fine young woman was
overpowered by the return queen.

We got our money back in the amount of $28.00 between the two of us, with me getting the most!


Happiness is having money in the pocket and learning about "sales".


We had a visit with Helen and D.  The guest room is just about the most comfortable that I've ever been in what with antiques all over the room and photos of their family heritage abounds in the spaciousness of this guest room.  There is also a large private bathroom with a walk in shower.  


We slept like babies under a goose down duvet, perfect pillows, and this beautiful Amish quilt sits on the bed.  In her travels which she and her sweetie visit many quilt shops; she found this quilt.  It was perfect for the bed and there it sits in total comfort for all who visit to see.


We have returned to Florida bringing the good weather with us it seems.  Today, the wind is blowing and the surf is up as the saying goes .  Our friends are arriving today too, so life will be another adventure.


It is also great to be back and able to blog and read posts again after such a long absence.  As they say here in the south..."hi y'all"!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Now honestly, would you spend time quilting inside if this was your view?

So, I've made up my mind to knit in the sun while in Florida.  It is much easier to carry around with me.  I don't need the sewing machine and table etc to load into the truck.

And since our unit is on the second floor, carrying wool up there will help my sweetie with his back.

I am still going to buy fabric, which will be cottage stuff, but honestly when we returned to Canada for the holidays, I hadn't used my fabric, sewing machine at all, and the two binns, plus the machine was just too much.

I went to Michael's which had a huge 50% off sale on wool, so that got me started.  I had to buy knitting needles, because most are packed in storage of our furniture etc from the old house.

So, a new adventure begins...photos to follow...we head to Florida in about 10 days.

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

GINGERBREAD MEN! IT IS THE SEASON!

 We left Florida on Monday morning.  The trip was an excellent drive, coming north on highway 65, through Bowling Green Kentucky which was a lovely lovely area.


We arrived in Whitby in time for the Gingerbread decorating fest.

It was a great fun night and amazing how different each person is in their ideas of

decor.

There was a bit of dilemna as to who could possibly taste the creations of the decorated men as the amount of icing was only left to how much one could control the piping coming out of the tubes.

Oh, Jeremy, you taste it first!  He did and thought it was yummy stuff.

A lot of time was spent by the boy decorating his man which is the one with the least amount of decoration on it.  Who knew?

On a different note, here is a photo of happiness personified.  Me with the dog on the beach in front of our villa.  The weather was fabulous for December and the dog actually loves the beach walking.

We are returning in January to finish our stay at this place.

Just a photo of how great it is to travel with the dog....the photo is of his favourite stance in the car.

He slept all the way home.  Only awakening when we had a pitt stop or parking for the night.

Truly easy for both of us.

So, dear friends in blogland, Merry Christmas till I connect again in the new year.

We are all like friends aren't we?  We may never be face to face, but it feels like hugs just the same when comments are posted on our sights.  It usually makes my day, so I hope that I'ves spread a bit of cheer throughout the passed year, and that we will all get together again in the next year.

Again, Merry Christmas to all of you and yours.

FINALLY.....FEELING FLORIDA! TOTAL BLISS!

 We moved from our so called "beach house."  I am pleased that the landlord was very accommodating and refunded most of our monies that had been advanced.

It just was not what we expected.  We wanted the feeling of being in Florida.

So, yesterday morning we packed up and found this little piece of paradise on the Panhandle, not too too far from where we were.  One

must believe in Karma!  We had passed this pink residential hotel a few times after getting lost, noting that it was right on the beach.

This is perfect!  I mean perfect!  Every unit is different, except that there is the same bedding which has these very very cute quilts on the beds.

 Also our living room has hand painted pillows.  They are very quilty looking and I think I may get into this when I return to the cottage.

Note for anyone older than 50, this is the original typewriter table, painted green and so wonderful to bring back memories.

We have a one bedroom, green walls, retro feel to the

unit, what with Marilyn, Liz Taylor,

and Bing Crosby on the walls. Also the bathroom floor is small black and white tiles.  Now if this isn't just the most perfect place!

The beach is close as you can see from the photos.  We cannot believe that we have found such a place.  It must be the best kept secret by snow birds! 

This morning, I stepped outstide with the dog, to smell the salt air and see the beginning of my happy days.

ps.

Helen if you read this, please send email to same address as I have lost my computer address book.  Same address at gmail.