Easter Trip

We took a trip to Northern Virginia over Easter. It is always so enjoyable to visit "the KIDS" and this time our little family was complete.
We left Florida with 89ºF and arrived in VA to start shivering with the 63ºF that surprised us. It took several days to get used to these cold temps, brrrrr!

Carina spent time with her friends and so did I. It is always so good to give and receive hugs from people that are no longer just around the corner. When it takes 13 hours continued driving to reach your destination, the visits have to wait a long time.

We visited "Old Town" Alexandria. It is always nice to see the river and the old buildings, quaint shops and wonderful restaurants.

At the Reston Towncenter you find a completely different atmosphere. Here you find modern buildings, which make you feel like you are suddenly in a city, where business people rush around during the lunch hour. The quaintness of the Old Town is not present here but in exchange there are first class restaurants which not only offer beautiful dining areas but to my real surprise I was able to so enjoy the staff being trained as they used to be, a long time ago. They not only knew what was on the menu, but they could explain how the dishes were prepared and name the ingredients.
I have gotten used to the greeting "Hi my name is*** and I'm your waitress (er). No problem with that, but encountering first class service was just such a treat.

After we left VA it turned warm there and now here in sunny FL we have a cold wind blowing and it stays in the very low 70ºF.

That's o.k. I'm a lucky person, I do not need sunshine every day to be happy!

Kits : CourtneysDigiscraps-AlteredArt 1+2 - Hide and seek  @ Digital Design Den

A little less time past this time between posting. Maybe I'm finally getting the hang of it. There is really not much to talk about, but, there are always some pictures to show. One of these days, maybe someone will even leave a message. If all my friends were youngsters it would be different I believe, but alas, they are not and everyone is used to all the new methods of communication. So, I'm pretty sure one of these days I will find some kind of a message.

Kits: Geld- Art Emporium and Heart Vintage Images - Stefairy-Burgandy Rain @ Digital Design Den

 Not everything this past week has been altered art.

I will be spending Easter with my children and won't have all my tools so I thought  I'll go ahead and post my Easter wishes early.

Kits: DesignedByEllie - Beauty in books- DesignsByBrigit - Hop and minikit by DesignsByMozz

Invitation to a game of hearts.

Sometimes one comes across something that inspires and that's what happened to me with this altered art kit. I'm having a great time with it.

Yesterday I received a photo of a friend's Corgi puppy. She just won her very first medal, a start in becoming a show dog champion.
She might achieve fame one day but right now she is a
happy pup who did not like the quacking coming from the little toy duck. She fixed it, ripped off the beak and tore
out the quack box.

Her expression looks like she learned it from the Cheshire
cat in Alice in Wonderland. I just love that fur face.

Brecon the beak breaker

Unbelievable how much time has gone by again. In the passed weeks spring has arrived and that means mowing again. I enjoy mowing but I really really hate weeding. I found out that here in Florida we not only have weeds 3 seasons each year, there actually is such nastiness as winter weeds. This year new ones popped up that I had never seen before and they were especially nasty, nettle-like. They fight back when you try to pull them out so you have to pack tools.
The temperatures are almost warm enough for summer but at least right now there is a nice breeze and mornings and evenings are just wonderful.

Kit: Creative Inspiration by: Courtney'sDigiScrapping and KellyJosScraps

Kit Altered Art 1 by: Courtney'sDigiScrapping and KellyJosScraps

Kit The road less traveled by: Sandra Collins and GreenEyedLadyDesigns

 

I so enjoy altered art layouts. You can just let your imagination go wild, especially when you have some wonderful kits to work with.
The little "dragon" is actually one of the thousands of little lizards zipping all over the place. Sometimes they even come inside if given the chance. I love to see the little babies, tinier than a match stick and already running and jumping. Most of them here are brown but we do have a few green ones.
I'm forever trying to rescue them on the lanai because my Nutmeg thinks if it moves she needs to hunt it.

Today I encountered something new. I made a broom stand up without support. I'm sure there is a good scientific explanation for this but I don't know it. Supposedly it only worked today. So, I will be sure to go out tomorrow and give this another try.

Inside it worked really well and the broom just stood there. Outside was a little more difficult because we had another windy day and the broom kept falling. Finally the wind stopped for a moment and here is the broom.

The wind is still blowing pretty strong but the sun was out so at least it looked nice out there. I decided to stay inside and have some fun with some stored photos.
I have a dear friend, Nicky, who loves to travel and she takes wonderful photographs which she shares with me. I listen to her travel adventures and see the pictures and enjoy it all without having to get up at 3AM to see the sun rise in a far away place.
Having been a military wife for 20 years I had to travel quite a bit. Didn't mind it then because being young made it all seem like a grand adventure every time. Now I love to be at home and just here and there take a not so far away trip.
Today I played around with some photos Nicky took in Guatemala. Hope you enjoy the pictures as much a I did creating them.

February Blossoms

This time it did not take quite so long for a few more pictures.

HumptyDumpty peeking through the drapes

Storm in dream land

This layout was done with elements from Stefairy's kit MagicLand.

Red Camellia blossom

My pink Camellia

 This photo was taken here in The Villages. Isn't is just amazing what is blooming in February?

This Jasmine looked rather pitiful last summer, it needed the colder weather

Red Camellia Tree

Seeing all these beautiful blossoms is wonderful. But take a guess what is sprouting even better!

You probably guessed it, the weeds. When you live in colder areas with a real winter season things pretty much take a rest until spring. Grass is yellow, trees are bare and weeds are gone.

I discovered that here we have specific winter weeds which do not appear during the rest of the year. I guess it could be worse, they all could grow all year round. Weeding just never stops and it is pretty much impossible to be free of the nasty stuff all around in grass and flower beds. 

Oh well, I count it as part of my exercise, it burns some calories so it must be good for me, at least as long as I can manage to get back up to a standing position, lol.

We are having yo yo weather again. From the high 70sºF we dipped into the 30s. It is nice to be able to wear some warmer clothes, but our poor plants do not do well when we get hard frost. Not a huge problem because by Thursday we are back to the lower 80ºF. 

 In the meantime I've learned how to make a little Blinkie.

Now I have to be careful not to get carried away because it really is a lot of fun.

It has been way too long since the last time I've looked at this Blog. Too busy learning other things which eventually MIGHT end up here.
We are having a strange winter so far. Plants are blooming, Jasmine is in full bloom and the wonderful scent delights every time the door opens. It is warm and and has been dry for quite some time and this means fire hazard. Some areas are getting some rain now but Central Florida is still dry despite the gray cloud cover.

Here are a few samples of what takes up a lot of my time, but it is time that I enjoy very much.
The cottage in the woods was a painting on wood that I did years ago, sold it and then missed it. I guess I could paint it again but in the meantime the walls are pretty full so I better keep creating things that can stay in the computer, take up very little room and never ever need to be dusted.
The second photo is of a 3-mast schooner my dad built many years ago. It has crossed the Atlantic several times (without getting wet).
The last lay-out is a digi-scrap page. All the blossoms came from my plants. The birds were made by several  digital scrap designers.
That's it for now. Hopefully it will not take me another 4 month before adding something.
Keep smiling and count the ones you get back.

My favorite photo subjects

Atlas visiting

Storm loves pillows

Atlas loves the snow

The kitty is a Manxx, no tail

This crane was posing

My fur baby

Yeah, my very first comment popped up. Now I have to find out why it was not in the comments box. Seems like I don't need that. Seems like I'm having a good time discussing this here by myself. I'm going to break a life-long habit of fighting my way through by myself and ask for help, any moment now!!

Slowly but surely I'm working my way through all this. Still have a long way to go but at least it has gotten somewhat better to look at. I'm talking about this blog, of course.  I think I forgot to apply a couple of things because now I don't see them. So, back to the drawing board to add again.

Clouds

I never get tired of looking and taking photos of clouds and sunsets.

The top right and the bottom left photos were taken at the same time, well, a few seconds apart to be precise. One is looking toward the East while the other one is facing West where the sun is slowly vanishing behind the clouds.

A grim sky makes a rainbow glow!

We get a lot of clouds and sometimes they look quite scary. There is nothing like a rainbow to brighten the view, even if you have to add it after taking the photo.

Digital pains

Having my own blog was not something I really wanted to do but sometimes you have to change your mind. So here I am trying to accomplish this and I'm off to a rather pitiful start. But, since I have no time restraint, I can just fiddle until something decent appears.

I'm pretty sure that this will never turn into some literary achievement, but maybe I can make someone smile and there will be pictures to see.