Welcome to the World - Miss Isabella Adelina

My brother Lee's first grandchild

Named after both of her grandmothers

Born on Friday, July 25, 2008
7 lbs. 8 ounces, 20-1/2 inches long.

Mother and Baby are doing just fine.

On a perfect June Day, a shower without rain......

could only be a Baby shower!
A happy occasion.... a "surprise"......


A room full of friends and relations, and many many gifts from well-wishers.






The weather was beautiful, the momma-to-be, glowing with
anticipation, happy to greet everyone.




Later...waiting to begin opening gifts...

So many gifts......

And afterwards, there was cake… And a happy Gramma-to be and new Mom-to-be….

Soon-to-be "aunt" Kim…



And sweet baby visitors…twin boys,with their momma and good friend.


Another equally excited new grandma on the occasion of meeting her firstborn grandson

And later…back at the Farm…

A porch to sit on.....perfect for relaxing...

A cell phone dropped in the pond. Oops!


Luckily - it was retrieved and amazingly...still works!

Later..there were more celebrations...birthdays, dogs....a barbeque.....more visiting..til way past dark... (but no more pictures)....

It was a perfect ending to a perfect day.

And very soon there will be one more new little member of the clan....

Stay tuned!

Getaway Time Again....

It was time to return, for just a little while, to the sunshine and warmth of Florida.

After our winter, it was so good to see flowers blooming, feel the warmth and see the water again. While we were there, the weather was beautiful...

we had all the windows open 24/7...fresh air, bay breezes.

It was terrific for sleeping.

We saw our new kitchen and had fun organizing it, and putting everything back.







We also spent some time at the beach, unwinding, birdwatching, listening to the sounds of the waves, the gulls, looking for shells, drinking in the ocean air, visiting with old friends and just relaxing.













Sunsets from the lanai are always so pretty.




And time spent eating out at the Dry Dock Restaurant on Longboat Key is always a pleasure. Lots of fresh fish, fruit and Florida strawberries…..
While we were waiting to be served, a manatee swam past, but I missed the photo
opportunity.




Check out our dinner guests. These guys were waiting for handouts from the fishing boats. They were incredibly tame.







We're restored from our visit. Our time away went by so fast, but we’ll be back….soon.

If this wall could talk.....

It would say, "thank you for painting me....FINALLY."

I found a new bedspread and had bought the wall paint to paint the wall behind my bed since last November. I've wanted to paint the design for ages. It finally all came together this weekend. Take a look..



Here's a close-up view.



I also put up new antique-lace curtains.



It's such a good feeling....one more thing I can cross off my list of
things to do.

One Wintry day in February

I remembered....

the lucky little girl who lived in the country who loved to run outside after school and play in the woods.

She would find a clearing and lie down on moss-covered ground, close her eyes and listen to the whispers of the forest, birdsong, trees swaying, and the sounds of babbling water in the brook.

Looking up, she could see through the treetops towards the sky, and it seemed the earth was moving but it wasn't. It was only the clouds racing across the sky.

Always there would be clouds to count, and later...the ground to search for indian arrowheads

or the joys of discovering a carpet of sweet-scented wood violets.

In May it was a ritual to search for ladyslipper orchids that grew in the shade of a huge old oak

There were salamanders to catch, and tadpoles too. And if she was very lucky, she would find the best treasure of all - a newly-hatched baby turtle.

Childhood memories....golden nuggets of the past recalled on a wintry day in February.

Welcome February…..

The Groundhog saw his shadow on Saturday, so that means we’re in for 6 more weeks of winter. Well, I knew that was going to happen - I'm just looking forward to Spring.

Thought I would share some photos of my feathered friends and some other pictures to bring a touch of Spring to everyone longing for warmer weather.

A Garden Tour is just the cure....

for the midwinter blues! It’s been awhile since I blogged, no excuses here…just that life managed to get in the way and blogging ended up on the back burner.

But the good news (I hope) is now I’m back!

Christmas was a blur this year, and look, here it is the end of January already.
Time just seems to fly past so quickly.

A cure for Winter blahs, for me, is a visit to Longwood Gardens.

Enjoy the pictures...

This one's for Mary. A Stinker...I know..it's the only kind of Heron for you.

Why can't my Christmas Cactus look like this??