*Dreaming of the Sea*

The summer months are not really the best time to visit the beach here in Florida. It’s hot and we have rain showers that can pop up quickly, usually with thunder and lightening. So we haven’t been to the ocean lately and I’m dreaming of the sea.

I splurged this week and bought a new book, Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. I find so many books at the library and book sales that I don’t often order a book. But this is one I’ve read and enjoyed and know I will read over and over again, so I wanted a copy.

I put it on the coffee table with the old printer’s tray filled with seashells, some of my favorite finds.

I’m joining Beautiful Sunday and

Lavender Cottage for Mosaic Monday

and Amaze me Monday.

Our weather forecast for the coming week:

90 for the highs, 72 for lows with a chance of afternoon showers each day.

Maybe we’ll wait another week before we head to the beach! But I can still dream!

How’s your weather this week?

Courtyard Critters

We see a lot of strange critters in our courtyard.

I’m starting with the Great Egret on top of the house next door!

Lizards run around everywhere here but we had to look closely at what was in the corner.

It looked a little like a green leaf at first but it was tiny tree frog.

Here’s a frog that’s not quite as ‘pretty’, seen in the courtyard at night.

Hubby took the flashlight outside to get the photo.

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Gulf Coast Canals

A lot of people live right on the canals with access to the Gulf of Mexico.

I’ve often thought how nice that would be to live there and have a boat big enough to navigate these canals.

This is a pretty gate in the community we were driving through.

Would you like to live right on the water?

I’m joining Tex for the

Good Fences party.

Zeta goes nautical!

What I did with a little imagination and 15 cents.

The old thrift store had this red sailboat remnant for 15 cents and it gave me an idea for a little sailor dress.

 

So I drew a sailor collar (it took a few attempts to get it right) and cut it out of white fabric. I put a snap to hold it together, and for the tie I sewed a narrow rectangle of white material and tied it in a knot, then sewed that on top.

I was so proud of myself!

I took Zeta to my blue bathroom and posed her on the shelf there for a photo shoot.

I’m joining the Vintage Inspiration Link party HERE,

and Roses of Inspiration

and Ivy and Elephants

and Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

Be sure to visit Shelia at Note Songs, too. We are sewing for our dolls this summer and sharing here on

Wednesday Wee Ones.

Don’t forget to take time to

Play and Sing!

Sailing!

I’ve never been sailing but I love seeing the beautiful boats on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

We were surprised to see this Sailing Scow Replica at Crystal River Preserve State Park. It’s 36 ft long by 12 ft wide.

Wouldn’t it be amazing to ride in this sailboat?

I’m joining Beautiful Sunday and

Lavender Cottage for Mosaic Monday

and Amaze me Monday.

The Gulf Coast of Florida

It was extremely windy when we were out last weekend.

I loved the look of the dark sky in this photo.

And just as I turned to leave this spot, the birds took flight which always makes a neat photo.

And how about this pair?

 

The caption might by, ‘You stay on the white rock and I’ll perch on the dark rock.’

A rough day to be out in a boat!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.

Crystal River Preserve State Park

We drove to the Gulf Coast last weekend and made a few stops along the way.

We love visiting our state parks. Crystal River Preserve State Park has a lot to see. “The park borders 20 miles of the northern Gulf Coast between the two cities of Yankeetown and Homosassa.”

Crystal River has some neat places to visit and I saw a few fences to share. We’ll look through a few of them to see what’s on the other side.

Like this Great Blue Heron.

And how nice it would be to be fishing along the bank of this river.

So many sights to see and photos to take!

Our Subaru was wishing it had a little trailer to pull behind it! lol

I’m joining Tex for the

Good Fences party.

Let’s go shopping with Noel!

It’s been such fun making doll clothes this summer!

This week I made a cute dress and beret for Noel.

(she’s an 18 inch Madame Alexander doll)

I received a sweet gift from a friend in this cute bag and I decided to be creative. Thanks D!

I took it apart first.

Then designed a ‘doll size’ shopping bag. I took a sheet of printer paper (to make a pattern),

 

a ruler, scissors and double stick tape to create a small shopping bag.

A piece was left over so I folded it and made a flat bag for all the flat items she might buy on her shopping trip! teehee!

JoAnn and I are continuing our summer sewing challenge. She sent me this fabric and we both made something with it this week. Her blog is HERE.

And visit Shelia at Note Songs. She is making doll clothes this summer too!

Thanks for joining us for Wednesday Wee Ones!

I’m joining Roses of Inspiration

and Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

Don’t forget to take time to

PLAY and SING!

A Very Good Month

I love summer time!

It’s my favorite season of the year.

And July was a very good month for me. I enjoyed so many different things and stayed busy sewing, reading, blogging and viewing nature.

I took a photo from each of the posts I did in July and made a ‘month in review’ mosaic.

The only one I didn’t include was the fried pies. They were delicious but I was concentrating on eating them and not taking photos. lol

I hope you’ve all had a good summer so far.

Maybe I’ll make fried pies again this month and take some better pics!

I’m joining Beautiful Sunday and

Lavender Cottage for Mosaic Monday

and Amaze me Monday.

Tuscawilla Park

Eileen at Viewing Nature with Eileen has done a few posts on the photos she took at this park when she visited Florida. So last Sunday we packed a picnic lunch and drove across town to spend the morning at this beautiful park. It’s over 34 acres and has a nice walking trail all the way around the large pond.

And birds? There are SO many varieties of birds right there in the park.

Look at these cute snowy egrets.

(one has mating plumage…oh my)

I was carrying my little Canon S100 point and shoot.

These of this American White Pelican are right out of the camera.

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.

Library Books

Do you have an IPAD or a Kindle? Have you ever checked out ebooks from your library?

I read books on my IPAD using a Kindle app and I love it! How nice to find the brand new Thomas Perry book, A String of Beads as an ebook that I could check out for 2 weeks. It’s a Jane Whitefield novel and oh, how I love this series. Jane is a Seneca Indian and I loved this character from the beginning. (I think I’ve read all of Thomas Perry’s books but haven’t updated them in Goodreads)

Hubby was sweet to check this book out of the library for me this week, too.

I was also able to check out The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up as an ebook. It has some GREAT reviews!

I’m joining Ricki Jill for Literary Friday.

Check your library’s website to see what’s available.