I’ve been busy!

Making cards…

and buying pretties to make ‘more’ cards.

I try my best to use what I have but then I look at Etsy and see all of the ‘pretties’ that other people make. Don’t you love the tags and card making ephemera that Kristy makes for her Etsy shop HERE?

I bought these and they are even prettier in person and so well packaged….oh and reasonably priced too!

Tags and card are fun to make because they are quick and easy. And nice to have on hand to give to neighbors and friends.

Have you done any crafting lately?

I’m joining Mosaic Monday HERE

and Cooking and Crafting with J & J.

The Golden Dragonfly and the Wood Ducks

They weren’t together but we saw them both on a hike at Blue Run Park in Dunnellon.

The Golden Dragonfly was the first sighting on the day…

at the beginning of the trail.

We had never seen one so large!

I cropped this one so that you could see the details in his wings.

And it’s pretty rare for us to get a good sighting of the Wood Ducks that swim in the swamp side of the trail.

We usually hear them and sometimes get a glimpse of them swimming.

But they stay back in the Cypress trees in dark areas that are hard to photograph.

This photo shows the little swirl…showing where he’s swimming.

And now I’ll show you one..

right after another…

to give you a good idea of how beautiful they were…

once upon a hike….

at Blue Run Park!

What a magical day!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.

Roses are Red!

And they are growing all around the Lavender Cottage this Spring.

(and yes, a few are PINK!)

My sweet husband started planting Knock Out Roses a couple of years ago and we now have 40 rose bushes!

They are blooming beautifully this Spring.

I went back and ‘collected’ a few photos that I’ve taken recently AND in years past to share.

They make some of the prettiest mosaics.

So I’ll include those too.

Knock Out Roses grow and bloom well here in North Central Florida.

I think that is the key to growing beautiful flowers….finding out what grows best in your location.

We saw lots of these growing in our neighborhood and one evening when we were riding our bikes, we stopped and asked a neighbor what type roses they were. And that’s how we got started replacing old plants and shrubs with red roses.

I’m joining the Garden Party HERE

and Thankful Thursdays too!

She Sells Seashells by the Seashore

Well, I haven’t ever sold any but I’ve given quite a few away over the years.

Because I LOVE to collect them!

And Canaveral National Seashore is an amazing beach to hunt for seashells.

There are not nearly as many people there and probably 15 miles or so of seashore to walk! Lots of parking areas to walk down to the beach too.

Much of the beach looks like this.

Tiny ground up pieces….

and then you’ll walk up to mounds of shells like this.

And come home with THIS! lol

We even found around a dozen pieces of seaglass this time.

Have you ever walked the beach picking up shells? It’s the best feeling in the world! Kind of like a treasure hunt!

I’m joining Mosaic Monday HERE

and Cooking and Crafting with J & J.

Beach Birds at Canaveral National Seashore

We drove over to the beach with our picnic and snacks (and water)packed in the ice chest to spend the day!

And it was gorgeous! Perfect weather….80s with a light breeze, nice and cool blowing off the ocean.

We walked and walked, picking up pretty shells. (I’ll show you those later) We don’t carry a camera on the beach for obvious reasons. (we usually get WET! lol)

But hubby had his phone with him and snapped off a few pics to share. He’s been enjoying your sweet comments on his photos. (me too!)

These are Willets

and these are Sanderlings.

That’s our best shore bird ID guess!

I stood on the boardwalk and took these of a pretty seagull that flew over and then landed nearby.

I know I was ‘leaning’ looking up!

He was so nice to stop and pose for me!

He looked rather comical.

Maybe showing off for the camera?

What do you think?

Canaveral National Seashore

…one of the things we like best about Florida!

(this is the photo hubby took with his phone and I cropped for my new banner)

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.

The Water Lily

One perfect flower!

When we hike Ross Prairie State Forest, the trail makes a big loop.

We turn at this pretty little pond.

Do you see a little white dot at the top right of the water?

And when we hiked there a couple of weeks ago, we saw ONE perfect flower!

Isn’t it gorgeous?

I’ll be anxious to take this hike again to see more.

Thanks hubby for these close ups!

I had a lot of neat photos to share, so I decided to make a mosaic out of most of them.

A nice hike through the pines and oaks. Listening to birds and stopping to see wildflowers. You never know what you’ll see.

I thought of ‘beauty and the beast’ for my caption when I decided to include this photo.

It’s just sap leaking out of a tree but it looks a bit ‘beastly’, doesn’t it?

I’m joining Mosaic Monday HERE

and Cooking and Crafting with J & J.