Christmas Eve 2009

We always watch the movie "Love Actually" on Christmas eve, which says what I want to express - 

May you have a love-filled Happy Holiday !

South winter Beach Story

 

It is very cold here today (low 60s with no sun) but about 5 days ago it was still in the low 80s so we decided to take a break from holiday shopping and go to the nearby beach.

 

There were a couple of brave souls in the water (temp is in the low 70s) - they are probably "snow birds".

 

So, we watched the local wild life as they searched for food - sea gulls posing

and surf fishing -

 

Pelicans circling overhead, drifting on the thermal air currents

and then back to watching my husband attempt to do a little water therapy

 

and took pictures of the whipped cream clouds

 

when my husband shouted to look north -

 

at the longest trail of Pelicans I have ever seen

 

heading straight down south to Miami Beach

for lunch of course, at South Beach!

Getting into Colors for the Holidays!

The closer we get to the holidays, the more I seem to make colorful jewelry - 

combined with a little silver or gold, of course  -

but always with lots of color!

Now, to get them all listed in my shops, or maybe  

give some as gifts, or even -

keep one for me!

The Egyptians Return !

Geese, that is.  Just a couple who honked their way over our house and landed in the pond.  Then, following them, a third goose who kept a little distance but trailed them over to the next pond.

They walked and paddled around for awhile.

Decided to do a little street walking...

But soon went looking for bigger ponds...

a little Thanksgiving weekend visit!

Thanksgiving time again

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Oasis of the Seas - Arrival in Port Everglades

Oasis of the Seas waiting to enter the port

Royal Caribbean's newest ship has just completed her maiden voyage across the Atlantic and arrived here in Port Everglades - Fort Lauderdale - which will be her home base.  The ship is the largest cruise ship in the world, costing $1.5 billion and had to have a new "State of the Art" pier built to accommodate it.  With nearly 6,000 passengers and 2700 crew it needs highly efficient processing in port.

So, having worked for Royal Caribbean for a couple of years at the port several years ago - and living only ten minutes away from it, I was thrilled  when my neighbor asked me if I wanted to drive over to the state park which is at the entrance to the harbor.  By 7:20 a.m. we could already see the Oasis sitting out at sea waiting for its turn to enter at 8 a.m.  When it started in, the crowds cheered loudly and all anyone could say was "WOW" - it is so big and beautiful!

 In fact, it is so big that I couldn't take a picture of the whole ship, so here's the stern -

Looks like eight decks of cabins with sliding glass doors to balconies - great way to cruise!  And it was a great start to the day - blue skies, 65 degrees and a brisk half mile walk from the car to the harbor entrance!

Welcome to your new home, Oasis!

Bouganvillea Season - it's DRY again!

Fall - late fall - begins our dry season, and it's here already!  That means the bouganvillea will be blooming profusely until next May, and brilliantly color our walk out the front door every day!

But somehow, I have other things on my mind......

I think I've been watching too much HGTV !

Dragonfly

This copper dragonfly just arrived, from Chicago via AD Adornments.  It is immense and so beautiful!  Thank goodness it is hollow, it must be 2 inches wide at least!  It is perfect for Fall, even here in south FL where it is 90 degrees today!  Cold front will finally reach us tomorrow and we can open our windows to get some fresh air to breathe indoors.  OK, I just measured the bead, and it is only 1.5 inches, everything looks bigger when you're too hot!!

Fall Colors in Zone Ten

 

Cooler temperatures are almost here - forecast for this week:  a cold front is due to pass through and lower the daytime highs to the 80s instead of the low 90s. But the best part is that the humidity will also be much lower.  I decided to be daring and go ahead and plant some fall flowers outside in pots.  I chose a lavender/blue/white palette for fall. Maybe influenced by the orchids as they bloom or by what Home Depot had in stock!

Hmmm... I see a little helper snuck into my photo, looking for lizards no doubt!

And the colors snuck into my jewelry attempts also... 

 

Must mean that Fall is finally here!

 

Orchid Bloom Time

Fall is orchid blooming time in our area.  This white orchid is the first, and has a second stem in buds.    We will be getting green orchids, yellow tiger orchids, deep fuschia orchids and some I have forgotten in the days and weeks to come. A beautiful Fall ahead!

Dogs - Growing & Shedding

This is Lucy, checking for squirrels.












And Brandy, waiting for a treat.










And they have lots of long hair now!   Vacuuming is a daily task.

Fall on My Mind

Recently I spent a week in Greenville, SC next door to this lovely garden. Aren't those great colors in the coleus plantings? But the best part was finding the lush square-foot vegetable garden behind them. It made me yearn for the wonderful vegetable garden we had on our half-acre in Huntington, NY. And for Fall in Huntington, too! September was the month of the big change in weather - drier, cooler air from the north almost always came in by mid month. Oh, I do miss that September a lot, so different from our living in south Florida where we look forward to November.


So, I started to dream fall colors again - my favorites.




I found a great little bead shop in Mauldin, SC (Panda's Crossing) and bought some fall colored strands of Czech glass beads. Then I combined them with pearls, horn beads and carnelian and one of my PMC silver pendants.



And I came up with this little toggle design from some lampwork glass that I got at the ISGB show in July. I use it with a fine silver oval, and like it as much as the fine silver pendant in front. I can wait for November I guess.