New Shoes

It was nice and warm earlier this week and I started thinking about going to the beach....so of course I must get some new shoes! Sandals..something you can kick off and walk in the surf. I can hardly wait! Can't you just feel that warm ocean breeze?

How about YOU? Even if you dont live near a beach, I'll bet you are seriously thinking about getting out of those heavy winter boots and into something pretty and light!

Be sure you listen to Paolo Nutini singing New Shoes....it's a "catchy" (earworm) song that will stick with you for days!!

The Jesker Award

I know you love awards Irene.....and this is one you well deserve!!

For Irene who is a great pet lover... .. and for Jesker who is a real trooper. Neither one of you lets life get them down!

Cypress trees along the shore of Palestine Lake

Azaleas in bloom

Dogwood tree in bloom

Have you ever had Mayhaw jelly?

The Mayhaw bears it's fruit in May, hence the name Mayhaw.

Olustee Festival...Lake City, Florida

Today we went to the Olustee Festival ..... it was a sunny day and a big crowd was there to see the parade and craft festival.

The Union and Confederate armies march through the streets

Along with their wives and children.......

whoops....what's he doing here?????

President Lincoln and General Lee made an appearance too.......

Several blocks of craft booths.....

And I know you will LOVE this! An artist doing a mural on the side of the building....he has been consigned to do several in the downtown area.

How do YOU recycle?

My mother…Lord love her …..was born with a rampant recycling gene! When I was a child she even recycled our Christmas wrapping paper and ribbon….a little pressing with the iron and it was good as new. So today I thought I’d introduce you to my mothers yard. I am constantly amazed by her ingenuity (and sometimes appalled). None the less, her yard is an interesting place to visit between her green thumb and quirky yard art.


An old lamp globe becomes a fancy amber mushroom


Our local weather station......

TV table bath...with waiting area on the side.

Shaded lawn chair feeder with plank seat for squirrels

to sit and crack pecans....birdseed hubcap on side.

Does anyone know what she can do with her old bowling ball???

More CS3......

Today was lettering and text on a path....the most FUN so far!!

CS3 projects

Today it is history brushes, art history brushes and filters.....

Another CS3 project

Another CS3 project using the quick selection tool, quick mask and gradients......

I haven't been posting here as often because I've been taking a class in Photoshop CS3. I'm hoping it will be helpful in repairing some old family photos....and maybe learning some new "artsy" stuff too! Here is my first attempt at using brushes.......

Groundhog Day

They dont have groundhogs in Florida...but the old timers here say that when you see leaves coming out on the pecan trees, you can be sure the cold weather is over. Nothing on the pecan trees yet.....but the Redbud trees are blooming and our Date palm is already getting pods so I am hopeful.....

2 Things Challenge - Sign/Post

Really? Who would want to? Do they really need a sign for this? Actually they do! This is a picture of the spring house at the Stephen Foster Memorial in White Springs. When the Suwannee River rises, this area fills with water.

2 Things Challenge - Foot/Loose

Here is my "LAME" attempt for the 2 Things Challenge. The song has been like an ear worm for the past 3 days so I desided to just give in to it.......

The Apple Makeover

My glass apple for Rima's digital makeover.........I used Photoshop4 and applied several filters and a little touch-up paint.

Happiness - Saturday

This being the last day of Happiness Week...I hope you will each continue to seach for and find it in your lives.....this seemed an appropriate quote:

Celebrate the happiness that friends are always giving,

make every day a holiday and celebrate just living!

~Amanda Bradley~

Happiness - TGIF

If I regarded my life from the point of view of the pessimist, I should be undone. I should seek in vain for the light that does not visit my eyes and the music that does not ring in my ears. I should beg night and day and never be satisfied. I should sit apart in awful solitude, a prey to fear and despair. But since I consider it a duty to myself and to others to be happy, I escape a misery worse than any physical deprivation. ~ Helen Keller

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WOW, what attitude and determination.....and what a great woman!!

Happiness - Thursday

Happiness adds and multiplies, as we divide it with others. ~ A. Nielsen

Happiness - Wednesday

The happiest people seem to be those who have no particular reason for being so, except that they are so. ~ William Ralph Inge

Happiness - Tuesday

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

The grand essentials of happiness are:
something to do,
something to love
and something to hope for......Allan K. Chalmers



The pecan trees in my yard are bare now,
except for the Spanish moss.

Happiness - Monday

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom......Marcel Proust

Happiness - Sunday

Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family........in another city! George Burns

Tag...you're it!

A coleous plant from my yard ... with lots of tweaking and filters

I was tagged by Sweet Irene over at Sweet Wood Talking....

Here are the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.

2. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

Some fun (or just plain weird) facts about me:

1) When I was six, I took a wild ride on a cow...courtesy of my older sister.

2) If you look in my wallet, you will find all my dollar bills facing forward (heads up) and arranged by denomination (compulsive, I know)

3) I once ran into the side of a truck....while dashing across the street.

4) A neighbor had me over for supper one evening and fixed armadillo...which I thought was pork chops....until informed otherwise. I never ate there again!

5) I have an extensive elephant collection...all of which are under 3 inches high.

I'm tagging anyone who would like to participate....just leave me a comment so I can go to your blog and read about your (weird) life

Sunshine......

It has been overcast and gray the past few days and I have really missed the sunshine!
So, today when the sun came out and the temperature warmed,
I couldn't resist spending the afternoon in the yard.

While snapping a few photos of the Camelias

and Seven Sister roses in bloom......

I spotted this guy!!

I bet one of your little men will know his name.....

or be able to make up a good one!!

Two Things Challenge - Tidy/Ends

I took this photo some time ago in my
husband's barn...

He is actually very tidy...
because even the smallest item has a place....

But tidiness ends as the dust and spiders take over.

Merry Christmas....

Merry Christmas to all my blogging friends.
I hope you and your families have a wonderful holiday!!





For all you shoveling snow this week... our local
paper says we will be in the mid 70's on Christmas
Day...


T'was the night before Christmas and all though our town
No noses were frozen, no snow fluttered down.

No children in flannels were tucked into bed,
They all wore their shorty pajamas instead...


Merry Christmas from Florida!

What is this?

This picture was taken by a friend who recently returned from a trip
to Amsterdam. I have never seen anything like it in the US. It's a
parking garage for bicycles!

Two Things Challenge.....Holds Value

Free as a bird.........



I did a lot of thinking about what qualities of life hold value for me...
health, happiness, love, peace ......but none of those would really
matter if I didnt have FREEDOM

Still blooming......

It's December.....

but little bits of color are still visible around the yard





This one has a Christmas look to it...red and green
might make an interesting mandala....






The Loquat trees are loaded with blooms....and bees

What is this?

Ask any of your little guys and they will be able to tell you right away what this is!