Birds and Books and Timbuctoo!

My girlfriend Jean from the French Cupboard wanted me to have one of her pretty bags.

She knows I love nature so she made me this one. It’s the perfect size to carry shopping or to festivals. And she made it herself which makes it extra special! Visit her blog HERE to meet her and see what she’s making now!

And books? Oh how I love old children’s books, especially readers and school books from my childhood.

Judy from Cranberry Morning sent me a ‘new’ reader and I sat down and read a lot of it.

Sure takes you back to happy times…when your teacher read aloud while the whole class sat enraptured.

Aren’t the illustrations beautiful?

And Timbuctoo was a fun poem to read ….

out loud in the lanai!

And she included a bar of her wonderful, handmade soap. Have you ever tried her soaps? The Etsy shop is HERE and she has a great deal if you buy 5 bars, you get one free. I did that awhile back and they last a long time. Amazing fragrance and they lather so well. I love them!

I had a wonderful Mother’s day. I didn’t get to go to Timbuctoo but we did go on adventure to find a new hiking trail. AND this amazing new bridge looking over the Withlacoochee River.

I’ll share my adventures soon!

Did you have fun? Happy Monday!

Happy Mother’s Day!

I hope everyone has the most beautiful day!

You are each one so special and deserve a wonderful day doing something you enjoy!

“Happy Mother’s Day”

EXPLORE X 24

I chose a word for 2014 at the beginning of the year.

~Explore~

As most of you know, I keep a journal. I have kept one since the ‘70s! Wow! That’s a LONG time! Anyway, it comes in handy when you want to look back and document something special.

So it was fun to look back at all of our hikes and make a list. We did our first serious hike on November 10, 2013. So here we are 6 months later and we’ve gone on 24 hikes, each hike averaging 2 hours.

(this doesn’t count walks at Sholom park or  neighborhood ‘strolls’)

24 hikes in 6 months.

I feel kind of proud of what we’ve accomplished. We’ve gotten into better shape and enjoyed the great outdoors, too. Florida has so much to offer. I know hiking is probably not what you think about when you plan a vacation to Florida. But we live in the central part of the state near Ocala National Forest and many preserves so we want to take advantage of what we have close by.

I’m joining Beautiful Sunday,

Mosaic Monday,

 Amaze me Monday

and Tex for the Good Fences party!

Most of our hikes were taken at

 Ross Prairie State Forest,

Halpata Tastanaki Preserve,

the Cross Florida Greenway,

Pruitt Trailhead and

Silver Springs State Park.

And we have so many more we want to

EXPLORE!

Don’t let anything stop you!

Find a way to EXPLORE!

“Colorful” Photo Challenge

My first thought was how GREEN Florida is right now. We have not had the bad storms in this part of the state but we’ve had a few good afternoon showers. It’s green and beautiful and looks more like summer time.

(the golf course and golfcart path behind my house, before it rained)

But then I was driving down the road with my camera handy.

And I saw this! I didn’t even slow down…a quick photo out the window.

Doesn’t it take you back to your childhood, when you looked forward to the carnival coming to town?

I used the Waterlogue app for IPADS for the watercolor effect.

(orginal…out the window. I was zoomed in and almost missed the shot!)

I’m taking part in Donna’s photo challenge.

I hope you are having a colorful Spring!

Photo Editing FUN! Updated at end of post!

A lot of you have been interested in the Waterlogue App and it is for IPADs only. So today I downloaded Photoscape and have been having a ball with some of the effects it has to offer. It’s FREE and it works on ANY computer!

Thanks Cheryl at The Farmer’s Daughter for helping me get started. Visit her blog to see some of her photos!

This is watercolor pencil.

This one is pen.

This one is cropped and has a notebook frame.

My little work of art is a Duda Daze card, propped up on my seashell box. I order her art from the Etsy shop HERE.

Photoscape is a download so once it’s on your computer you don’t even have to be online to use it! I love it!!!

(colored pencils)

Have you tried it yet?

Update: Hubby was sweet to do some research and find this link for downloading it to MAC.

Click HERE .

ENJOY!!!

The ‘sweetest’ face “Wednesday Wee Ones”

Some thrift store finds are sweeter than others.

Look who has joined me in the lanai!

The sweetest little bear with the cutest little face!

The only thing he needs is a ribbon and I’m pretty sure I can find him one!

He was worth WAY more than 50 cents, don’t you think?

UPDATED!!! I wrote this post, went to the Hospice Thrift store and found another one! They both had their tags on and they were made by A*VON. I cut the tags off (I’ll pretend I made them. Prudence, don’t tell!!!)

And I found a girl ribbon and a boy ribbon to tell them apart!

So So Sweet!

More sweetness for the lanai.

Have you found something special this week, too?

Makeup Monday with Julie

My blog friend, Julie at Julie’s Lifestyle is doing a Makeup Monday series.

It’s a great place to learn some make up tips and info on taking care of our skin.

I’ve also been following Deborah at The Beautiful Matters. She blogs about personal beauty and all things beautiful!

I keep things simple but I do take care of myself and enjoy being a ‘girl’! I think the healthy habits we start early can really help as we age.

Julie had a giveaway and guess what? I won an amazing box of goodies. I’ll still trying out the new products she sent. The first thing I did was give myself a pedicure and use the Sally Hansen, “Raisin the Bar” nail polish. I keep my toe nails polished year round. I wear sandals most of the time.

Thanks Julie for the amazing package of makeup.

And thanks Deborah for the wonderful book reviews.

Here’s my favorite ‘beauty’ product. Put it on lightly before you apply your makeup. Everything will go on so much smoother and last all day.

It’s fun to try new products.

What’s something you think I should try?

Part of my ‘Living in Luxury’ Series

Oh, you didn’t know I HAD a ‘Living in Luxury’ series? Well, I didn’t either but I do like the sound of it, don’t you? And I think we can have luxury in our homes without spending a lot.

 

This quilted pillow sham was on the back of the washer when I took pics of my thrift finds HERE. I soaked it and then washed it in my regular detergent. I put a half cup of vinegar in the rinse, too. It came out so clean and fresh.

 

I have a ‘few’ extra pillows. I think it’s so nice to have them to prop up on or take an afternoon nap without messing up the bed. I’m not a nap taker but ‘never say never’. I always feel like I’ll miss out on something if I sleep during the day.

I don’t keep these on my bed. I keep them on the chair or put them next to the sofa in the lanai to be handy.

 

(And if you think my bed is unmade….you would be right! I took these photos before I made it.)

I got all three of the shams at the thrift store for a dollar apiece and I love them all.

And having extra pillows, brand new, covered with freshly laundered pillow shams gives me a feeling of luxury.

Another photo, with my bed made! lol

I’m joining Beautiful Sunday,

Mosaic Monday,

and Amaze me Monday!

Do you have some special touches of luxury in your home? We could have a ‘living in luxury’ club!

Friday Fences

We see all kinds of fences when we hike.

(you’ll have to look close to see this one)

One of my favorites is the entrance onto a trail.

And look at this dilapidated fence around an old structure that we saw on the Pruitt Trailhead of Halpata Tastanaki  Preserve.

Time to park under a tree and have a picnic!

Hiking is always an adventure!

Is that the trail marker laying on the ground?

Which way do we go? lol

Thanks Tex for the Good Fences party!

~Gathering the Moments~

When I saw several of my blog buddies taking part in this party, I knew I wanted to join them at Thinking about Home.

We’ve hiked the Florida trails, including Ross Prairie State Forest and Halpata Taskanaki Preserve.

I’ve played with Waterlogue (The IPAD app) to make my photos look like watercolors.

And we’ve played with dolls in my house, cooked corn chowder and shared gifts from friends. AND we saw the Blood Moon in the middle of the night.

We also made a trip to the Canaveral National Seashore and picked up seashells. We’ve watched an eagle soar overhead and shared Spring photos of NC.

April has been wonderful! And today we start one of my favorite months of the year!

Happy May everyone!