A visit to the Cummer Museum & lunch with a friend.

As many of you know, springtime around here means azaleas, dogwood, redbuds and a myriad of other gorgeous flowers popping out in full form. So delightful to see, and smell if you can visit a garden that has enough flower density to concentrate the amazing aroma of fresh flowers. Here in Jacksonville we have the Cummer Museum, a lovely museum property located just along the St. John's River. It's a beautiful place with a rich history in this area.

My friend Nancy is serving as a docent this year and she graciously invited me to a tour and lunch. I gladly accepted. We started with a tour through the gardens before the temps got up there. Nancy had all the details about each garden area, what style it was modelled after and the other interesting tidbits about them. Lots of shady benches to enjoy. Boy, what a delightful way to start the day. Just going to feature some of the beautiful flowering plants now.

Azaleas plus the river in the background

More azaleas plus a Holly Fern (I love them).

A Bottle Brush

Foxglove

Pansies

After a nice leg-stretcher along the river we headed inside for some lunch and then a tour of some of the exhibits. Lunch was quite good, a turkey BLT on croissant spread with Boursin cheese for me and a beautiful salad for Nancy.  A few of the exhibits to follow.

I don't have any kind of formal training but personally,
I liked this one a lot better than a Pollock

The tiny details of the outfit in this painting are so superb. Nancy mentioned that the Lady in Waiting was sitting in such a way as to show off the details of the back of the dress (in case you wanted to whip one up).

Finally, a painstaking needlepoint of the gardens by Ninah Cummer, so nuanced when you look at it up close. The water, the greenery everything is rendered in multiple shades of thread. I wonder how many hours she spent on it? Labor of love for sure.

It was a great way to spend the day with a friend, thanks Nancy!

Thanks for checking in on me, I have another catch-up post I will be working on soon, so check back sometime. Otherwise, have a great day.

Spring is zipping by with craft fairs, and HOA doings

Gee whiz, I can't believe how fast this spring is flying by. I've been a busy beaver with making my 'dazzlers' to boost my inventory as this is the season for craft fairs to spring up. I've done 2 more shows since the one in Feb, again with somewhat mixed results. One was a small neighborhood festival at their community center grounds. It was a great weather day and I did sell several items, however, it seemed like it was more of a walkabout for families with kids/dogs. Got to wear those kiddos out somehow. The other was at a church property - it was quite large and fun, but sales were again slow (for all of us vendors).

I have 2 more shows scheduled this month; this weekend, another neighborhood, and the 19th at the Thrasher-Horne Performing Arts Center. I'm excited for that one and hopeful that I get a good location for my booth. I figure as long as I cover my booth fees and supplies I'm ahead of the curve.

The hearts and moons are popular.

A couple of shots from the One Heart Church fair. I did meet a lot of nice vendors that have been having mixed results this spring. We just keep rolling along, we're all having fun. Once a "maker" always a "maker" - totally addicting! Also, the more I setup my booth, the easier it gets. It can still be a hot and sweaty deal though.

The little pink tent that thought it could.

Lots of professional looking setups - If I keep going
I'm going to have to up my game, lol.

I was surprised by the Boss the other day with a bouquet of beautiful tulips - just out of the blue! Sometimes I forget he has a romantic side to him. 💗 Thanks sweetie.

I may have mentioned that I volunteered to join the board of our homeowners association to handle the secretarial duties  - the normal 9 member board was down to 5 and the HOA's operational responsibilities proved to be a lot of work for so few people. If I can free up someone from having to produce agendas and board meeting minutes, they can put their time and energy towards other projects. Luckily, I find I'm enjoying it, it's stimulating the business side of my brain which has been dormant for a while, lol.

Just a final note once again thanking Publix for selling ready-made pizza dough. Such a handy shortcut, and delicious to boot.

Kitchen sink pizza at it's finest; pepperoni, Italian sausage,
bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, garlic, black olives, capers
and 2 kinds of cheese - divine. We eat 1/2 and save the rest.

Thanks for dropping by - and sorry about the long wait for this post.

February's Flying, food, crafts and fun

Wow, I'm kind of behind on the blog having had such a busy few weeks. Doing what exactly? Getting ready for the K9 adoption and craft fair, visiting with friends passing through and my favorite, cooking. Also, I've been having a great time with my crafting pursuits, making more inventory, creating new, fun dazzlers and upscaling some of my booth displays.

So, the craft fair was a mixed result. I don't begrudge the organizers at all, and they had great success with some 18 adoptions. But because it was so dog-centric, there weren't a lot of browsers or much foot traffic. Most of the booths around me were in the same boat, not many sales. I jokingly chalk it up to people figuring out just how much pet ownership can cost. That's OK though, I still made enough to cover my costs and donated most of the rest. It was a beautiful day weather-wise, and here's a shot of one side of my booth.

It's kind of hard to see much about the
inventory, but I had a lot with me.

I put together a Valentine's Day display area for some of my "heart" Dazzlers and had a Valentine's Day helium balloon for outside the booth. Well, the display was fun to make, and I did sell one of my bigger hearts. Fun to make is the name of the game for me. I like to spend my time doing something other than housework or shopping or baking (ugh, my waistline).

Anyway, moving on, we had a great get-together lunch with cruiser friends passing by in their trailer on their was south. We met Heather and Scott (Vermont'ers when at home) back in the mid-2000's when we were in the Bahamas getting ready to head down into the Caribbean for the grand adventure. Fun, knowledgeable and great company, we would see them here and there in the various anchorages and get together aboard 'Scott Free', their gorgeous Nauticat 43' or onboard our sailboat. It was a fun reminiscent session and we got caught up on the whereabouts of common friends.

From the left; me, Ed, Heather and Scott

Speaking of friends, I had a great lunch with Nancy, another ex-cruising friend who currently lives in Jacksonville. Here she is with her magnificent sushi/sashimi plate - wow.

That was a work of art and even 
included fog from dry ice.

More great looking sunrises too, and good weather all around except for about a week of cold, gloomy-looking weather. I think we had 1 or 2 hard freezes but we were ready for them.

We love our lake

We also celebrated our 50th anniversary mid-January, with a romantic evening at home. So wonderful to have a lifetime of memories with someone you love. 💖 We both appreciate how very blessed we've been to have found each other all those long years ago.

On to the upgrade of my custom jewelry display. I had DIY'ed a display of sorts which I used at my first craft fair last year. It was pretty rinky-dink and I wanted something more polished and professional that didn't break the bank, and this is what I ended up. I like it, it breaks down and stores easliy.

The sides of the necklace display fold in for storage
and the 3 bracelet displays come off the base
which comes apart for flat storage.

I'm trying out some new dazzlers using a tree/hanging basket motif. I love them and think they make an excellent addition to home decor in small nooks & crannies. Any thoughts? I guess we'll see if ppl like them, I'm lined-up for a show mid-March.

Mine is on the right. It fits right in and brings some sparkle
 to the party. Since the rocks are glued on, you can just give it a 
rinse if it becomes dusty over time.

I love the winterscape in the middle, my sister favors
 the stone chip and succulents little one on the right. 

And finally, a tiny (2.5" pot) hanging
succulent basket that will never die.

Thanks for dropping by and I hope you enjoyed it. Have a great day and come again.

First week of the New Year

Once again we have crossed over the threshold of a new year, and finishing up the tail end of a quarter-century. Lots of water under the bridge.

We had to start the New Year with the "good luck" meal of course. Here's a look at our black-eyed peas, (we make a big batch), and our prep method which ensures a tasty batch. We sauté chopped bell pepper, the more colorful the better, plus plenty of onions. Then after softening, add chopped ham bits, minced garlic and continue cooking until they get a little color on them. Add 2 cans partially drained black-eyes, a cup or so of chicken stock, 1T of chipotle sauce and an envelope of onion soup mix. Add a few herbs of your choice and let simmer an hour or so adding additional stock or water if they are looking dry.

Wonderful black-eyed peas, a little on the "wet" side.

We like them a little wet, over rice or cornbread. So good! We had a delicious mid-afternoon meal of smoked pork chops, collards, black-eyed peas/rice and cornbread with some cabernet sauvignon.

Here's the Boss in one of his new tee's
 getting ready to enjoy the meal.

I'm signed up for a craft fair in early February, so I've spent some time making a few more dazzlers and something new - puff trivets. I've been enjoying looking at my puff quilt lately and my brain came up with this idea. They are a good size for a bowl/plate or casserole dish, would  pretty-up the table, and also, unique I think. Any thoughts?

Puff trivets, about 12"x12". Some ppl
might not like my "twirly" trivets.

Bobby-Dazzlers anyone? I stock a few repeats
of the most popular items but hold them back in reserve.

Still getting the good sunrises on those cold, crisp mornings. Here's today's after overnight low's around 37°. 

Not a stunner like some, but still a pleasant surprise.

The Boss got the Colorado Pontoon boat commissioned the other day and while he was taking his test paddle, he got a shot of the swans having a "bottom's-up" feed. Pretty day too.

That's about it for this post. I stopped making New Year's resolutions a long time ago, however, I am planning on doing more stretching, squatting and "body-groove" style dancing to keep my joints limbered and loose. Oh, and I'm planning on laying-off the Christmas cookies one of these days too, lol. 😉😊 Thanks for stopping by and see you next time.

The week leading up to Christmas and beyond

(This post might be a bit long because.....) Busy times all around what with picking up a few smallish gifts/treats, getting everything wrapped, decorating and figuring out how to fit in all our favorite foods throughout the days before Christmas. I do love this time of year, not only because of the spiritual aspects of the season, but also because it seems like many people are on their best behavior, using small acts of kindness to spread the good cheer around.

Let's start with a southern favorite - collards. I was in Walmart the other day and spotted a great looking double bunch of collards for a very good price and I was not to be denied! I got them cleaned up and cooked one day then let them develop their flavor overnight. The next day we had the collards with BBQ chicken quarters, half a sweet potato and cornbread. I forgot to take a picture but it was pretty & yummy. Here's a shot of the greens though.

Totally worth the effort, probably 5 meals worth
for the 2 of us to pair up with pork chops or ham.

Don't forget about the pizza, also a big time favorite and easy to throw together after a busy day.

I participated in a Christmas Brunch & Cookie Exchange on the 14th which was wonderful and rather low key with about 9 of us. Definitely less noisy and chaotic than last year with 20+. It's always a treat to spend time with ladies; neighborhood ladies, lady friends of ladies. I don't get enough of that now that I'm practically a recluse at times, lol. (Self-imposed I must add, I like my solitude quite a bit.) Anyways the Peppermint Crunch Chocolate chip & pecan cookies were a hit.

I don't do too terribly much decorating these days but I did get my mantle fixed and the tree(s) up. That was fun! We had 4 up; the micro tree I made from coat hangers last year went on the fireplace hearth, the fiber-optic mini goes in the dining room, another small tree on a table in the craft room and the 4' tree in the Florida room where all the festivities take place, and viewable by the neighbors across the lake.

Micro tree on hearth - so cute.

Mini fiber-optic tree in dining room

Craft room tree with some tiny
bobby-dazzlers for ornaments

Florida Room tree where the gifts
end up and our big meal is served.

Anyway, after that was all taken care of, I turned my attention to the treats I was taking to our neighborhood Christmas Dinner Potluck. I wanted to bring some gluten-free cookies and some regular ones, so first were the Pecan Pie mini muffins. I used 1 to 1 GF flour for these and they turned out just great. The recipe is on the Food page just below the header photo. So-o good. 

Pecan pie mini muffins. I made a 1 & a half batch and got about 50.

I also tried Peanut butter cornflake cookies with a few butterscotch chips in them - very addictive! Lastly were the Chocolate Brownie Peppermint macaroon bars, to die for - so moist with the brownie layer then a coconut, pecan and peppermint crunch macaroon layer on top. Several extra's went into the freezer for later, 😉. The Potluck was very nice. Lovely decorations, a nice turn-out and super good home-cooked food.

We have a wonderful neighbor that owns this great meeting hall
and she graciously allows us to use it at various times.

Merry Christmas! It's finally here, and what a beautiful start to the day, thanks Ed for capturing it.

Christmas morning, what a beauty. Crisp and cool too.

First things first, the gift giving, ahem, right after breakfast I mean, lol. Lots of fun stuff, cool tee-shirts from various Nat'l Pks for him, a dream interpretation book for me (what do those lost-in-the-airport dreams mean?!), a great new purse, and a slingshot for me!, a gorgeous framed pic of St. John's USVI featuring Trunk Bay for him, and some other odds/ends.

He's always been like this! Gotta love him.

My goodies.

Finally time for our Christmas dinner prep. We went with a Cornish hen again this year, as it's the right size to have for 2 special dinners, one on Christmas and one a few days later. This is our 50th Christmas together - YAY!

The hens, cut in half, with root vegetables
 to join the rest; cornbread dressing, rice and gravy.

The table got dressed, the Saraceni Blumond sparkling wine got chilled and around 2:30 dinner was served. So thankful to our Father for all our many Blessings.

We were going to get into the fruitcake that's been mellowing for a few weeks with our hot tea later, but were too full to partake. Dinner was MM-MM-good.

And as if that wasn't enough, I got my first video call (through FB messenger) from my gorgeous niece and nephew & his family from California. So wonderful to actually see everyone. It's been 20 yrs (I think) since we last met up in person, but we made some plans for a Colorado visit next summer. I sure hope it comes to fruition in some way, shape or form!! ❣️

Counter clockwise, beautiful Nicki, her brother Joe behind her, and his extended
family ending with his wife Deia and her Mom, visiting from Brasil.

That was so cool! A great way to end a wonderful Christmas. Thanks for coming along for the ride. I hope your Holidays were just as special wherever you were. Wishing you a Happy, Safe and Blessed New Year.

December's going fast - baking, decorating and socializing

 It's that time of year again that I love. We've settled in from our summer travels and acquired our Christmas Holiday spirit and an extra amount of good cheer. Now for the holiday baking - yay! Fruitcake first so there's plenty of time to "mellow" it (with a bourbon sprinkle every now and then). Next was to use those peppermint crunch baking chips to make chocolate chip, peppermint chip & pecan cookies. They were very good and I got a lot of good feedback from my taste-testers. They will be my cookie exchange offering.

Fruitcake is a wonderful thing!

Got the fruitcake swaddled & wrapped, my cookie tins out, plus
the .10¢ recipe books that I scored from the library, I think I'm set.

Peppermint crunch, chocolate chip, pecan cookies

Not sure what got into me, but I couldn't stop baking. So since we love macaroons, I had to try these Chocolate Macaroon Bars. Basically a compressed chocolate cake-like crust covered by a chocolate chip, coconut and pecan macaroon layer. Oh my goodness, these were goooood! I cut them up into tiny squares so I ended up with a nice sized batch. Some of which went into the freezer.

Chocolate Macaroon Bars. A 9" x 13" pan - probably 60 pieces.

I've been steadily working on my stock of Bobby-Dazzlers so I have something to offer my friends and neighborhood folks. Lots of people have the "secret Santa" type gift exchange events going on at work or Sunday school, and these seem to fit the bill. Sales have been steady. I dedicated a portion of the craft room to a small display setup. I obviously won't let strangers into my house but my neighbors are fine. I close off the rest of the house and the craft room has it's own entrance door to the outside courtyard.

Dazzler display area. I close off my craft room from the rest of the house.

We have had some nice weather and some breathtaking sunrises this month. The other week a large flock (30?) of American White Ibis came marching through our end of the neighborhood. Very cool! They started getting a little strung-out by the time I took this picture.

This end of the neighborhood is a cul-de-sac, no through traffic.

As for sunrises, check out this beauty!

Winter sunrises are just the best. 😍

Another traditional thing that I adhere to are snail mail Christmas cards. Even though I wish my Facebook friends all the best for the Holidays, I still send out Christmas cards to family and special friends. I love seeing them on my mantle so I'll bet they do too. I do "assorted" cards rather than buying a box of one type. More interesting that way and less of an expense.

Well, I guess that's all I got for you this time, but there's plenty happening in the upcoming weeks, so stay-tuned. Thanks for dropping by and you have a wonderful Christmas. Peace be unto all. 🎄