Good bye March

I'm off and running today. Yoga is at 9 and then I am meeting Jackie and I think Diane and Katherine at Ruban Rouge for some scrap time and hopefully lunch at Jack Willies on the water, weather willing.

My last reveal with the April kit I helped design went up two days ago at
Kit N Kaboodle. Pam Bennet has designed the next kit and I can't wait to work with her choices. I got a sneak peak and I think everyone will be thrilled with what she and Gerri-anne Duke, one of the owners, have come up with.

Meanwhile, here are my last two layouts with the April kit.






So, bye bye March. You've been a good month and hello April and all the adventures to come.

G45's Le'Romantique Ooh La La!

My reveal goes up today at ACOT (A Cherry on Top) and I've had one romantic fun voyage with this line. Hope you like it!

Busy Sunday

With a forecast of rain moving into our area for the afternoon, E and I headed up to the Art on the Bayou annual art show in Craig Park early. We had a couple of lovely hours to spend roaming the stalls and admiring the artists' work before we headed home. We grabbed a couple of goodies in the food court and ran into a neighbor. This art fest is a juried show and features the best of the best. We even found a turtle bench to show Bob and Janet for their yard on Anna Maria. (sending you the info and pics, pal).

These pictures show just a sampling of the close to 300 vendors that exhibited at the fest. So many pretties.







After we got back from the Art on the Bayou, the heavens opened up and it poured here. During one of the lulls, I headed up to Ruban Rouge to a baby shower thrown by Becky S and Lisa A (the owner of RR) for Stephi. Everyone did a two page layout for her and, had I not left my camera at home yesterday along with my cell phone, I could show you some of the lovely layouts the guests did for her. Becky's French Onion soup and her cheesy potato soup were perfection and the little cakes that Sephi's mom made were so wonderful. She is a professional cake maker and it sure showed.

Got to see some of the Friday Night Crew gals and made some scrappy and lunch plans for this week and for when Jean is on spring break. Look out Jack Willies, here we come!

Just as I was finishing up with a second layout (this one for our twins), Kristen came by the lss to let me know E has invited her and Chris over for supper. She carried my stuff out to the car while I paid my bill (lots of nice goodies in the store). E fixed us both lamb burgers and sirloin burgers on the grill and Kristen and I made plans to get together over her Spring Break (this week) and help her get organized for the twins upcoming arrival. Nesting has settled in with her...lol.


Janet and I have been busy planning some fun things for Pam B's upcoming visit. She does want to visit some of the local places here in Tarpon Springs and she wants to cook with E again too. Janet has invited us to visit with her for a couple of days too so Pam can see a bit more of the coast. We'll meet up with Janet in Sarasota and introduce Pam to the Columbia restaurant there and St. Armands'Circle shopping. Then back to Janet's beach house for more fun.

Good thoughts please for my sister who consults with her doctor today on the best steps to take to deal with the reemergence of cancer. The prognosis is good as it is localized. But prayers and good thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Great food and even better friends...does it get any better than this?

Last night was the first meeting of our Dinner Club. One couple could not make it but the rest of us carried on valiantly. The evening temps were lovely, my fairy lights twinkling down the path and had I not had an earlier encounter with one of Mr. Snakes offspring, we'd have had appetizers on the lower lawn. The lanai was perfect though and, as you can see, we laughed our way through several courses.

Becky and Bob had the appetizers and out did themselves. Becky's Cajun deviled eggs were super, her Texas 'caviar' dip amazing and her cheese dip has just the right amount of zing!






Suzie and Justin brought the side and the spicy okra and tomatoes were the prefect accompaniment to Gene's Cajun shrimp and andouille with a fettuccine sauce over pasta.



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Today is the huge Art Fair in Tarpon Springs. We were too busy getting ready for Dinner Club to attend yesterday so today will be our day. We'll go early as it is suppose to rain this afternoon and I have a baby shower to attend for a new friend, Stephi, whose baby girl is due a few weeks before Kristen's boys. Becky and Lisa are throwing the baby shower at Ruban Rouge and we'll all be doing two page layouts for Stephi's baby album.

Hope everyone has a great Sunday!

Spring and everyting is BLOOMING

This would include Kristen and the twins. We get to see the boys again on the 30th. with a sonogram and none of us can wait. Little Mama is doing great, Daddy Bear is studying hard and working on renovating their guest bath and Kristen's second graders were so cute in the school production of Mice and Mozart yesterday at the school.

We've finalized the cruise (many many thanks to JoAnne. You are truly amzaing!)We are booked and even have our house sitters lined up already and we don't even leave until September. E will spend his 65th. birthday is a foreign port...how cool.

The next two weekends are busy ones for us but fun. Tomorrow night is Dinner Club here with a Cajun/Creole theme. Becky and Bob have the appetizers/ Justin and Suzie have the side or salad/ we have the main course and the dessert course is up to Ian and Meryl. Sunday, we're off to the wonderful Art Fair down at Craig Park in the morning and I am off to Ruban Rouge for a baby shower thrown by Becky and Lisa for Stephi. She is due a few weeks before Kristen. We're each doing a two page layout for her.

The following weekend is Easter and we have lots of family coming. We'll have three little girls staying with us and it will be fun to hide eggs once again.

Enjoy your weekend!

Ah, Spring (crossing my fingers)

First and foremost, happy birthday to my baby sister, Janet...many many more and will see you at Easter!


It was a beautiful day here in Paradise...the birds were singing, the sun was shinning and I was back in sync. I still have the remnants of the sinus headaches from the infection but realized this morning when I was rationalizing that I really didn't need to got to the WW meeting (again!), that I did need to go. It is about accountability which is why Weight Watchers works for me. As long as I do the program, I lose weight; when I start doing something else, I don't. It is a s simple as that. I could use being sick for the past 3 wks. as an excuse but that does not make the couple of lbs go away, now does it?

Yesterday I returned to yoga after only making practice here and there during the set back. It felt great. The next logical step was to do a WW meeting, own up and see how much damage I had done by going off the program. Enough but not not so much (no matter how much it was) to not start again.

I rode my bike to the library and checked out some book. The library is about 4.5 miles from my house and it felt great. I fixed a salad for lunch and E trimmed our supper down to 7 or 8 pts. (thank you, dear E). And, I signed up for a 5k walk with Becky D and some of her friends for April. One day at a time and I can make goal.

Tomorrow is yoga and then lunch out with Becky D. Marathon Grill has some great dishes that fit my plan. One day at a time and I can make goal...my new mantra!

Hope your day was a great one.

St. Pat's pictures (belatedly)

I had misplaced my pocket camera for a couple of days but just discovered it in the saddle bags of my bike so here are some shots from last week's St. Pat's in Dunedin. We had originally planned to attend the street party in old Palm Harbor but that fell through and we took a pass. So, when we read in the paper that Flannigan's was sponsoring a street party in Dunedin, we gathered ourselves together and drove down for some corned beef and cabbage.




Dunedin was a virtual sea of green from about half way up Main to the east end. While the crowd was an older one, the party was in full swing and lots of dancing in the streets with the enthusiastic crowd! We even met some people from St. Louis who noticed my Pat's tee shirt from Dog Town. We were told a younger crowd appears later in the evening but this crowd suited us just fine.



And what is St. Pat's with out green beer?


I've always had a thing for bag pipes (and the pipers) and this Dunedin group was very good! It is nice to see young people interested in things like pipes and drums and this type of music.




Yesterday, here in Tarpon Springs was another type of celebration. It was Glendi, the Greek Independence Day. There was a big parade scheduled and festivities at the Greek Community Center. I am hoping the rain did not stop the parade. E was painting and I was dozing on the couch and we missed the whole thing. There is always next year.

The thing I love most about living where we do is the varied festivals and activities available to us on a weekly if not daily basis. I love the fact that I can ride my bike to my dr.'s office or to yoga class or the library. We have a choice of a dozen Gulf side restaurants within ten to fifteen minutes of our house and that we have the choice of not one but three or four different beaches from which to pick for a sunny day's pleasure. And did I mention the people...from Book Club to the Crop Crew at Ruban Rouge, from the yoga gals to our favorite gal, Suzie, we have met so many wonderful people. This is home!

Welcome Spring

It has been a busy weekend so far and the weather has been both a distraction and a blessing. Back on my meds for the sinus infection and feeling oh so much better. Friday, I met up with the gals from Ruban Rouge and scrapped the night away. I got two layouts completely finished and another three fairly complete. I had assignments for both ACOT and KnK to do and glad I got so much done as Sat.'s beautiful flip flop top down on the car ride my bike day kept me outside and having fun in the sun.

Here are two I did that evening and did finish up early yesterday morning. The picture of the one of Rob is by Hector C who did our family photo shoot. I recommend him highly if you live in the Tampa area. You can email me for details.






I have yoga at 10:30 this morning and the rain is moving in rapidly so may spend the rest of the day in my work room or finishing the ironing for our Dinner Club or for Easter here with my family; there will be 12 of us this year and three little girls to hide eggs for!

Hope you have a great day!

Introducing the April KnK kit

I was asked to help design this month's kit for KnKclub.com and hope you enjoy it.

Have a great weekend all. Off to the crop tonight at Ruban Rouge with the Crew. Have missed them muchly while I have been sick. On the road to recovery!

Happy St. Pat's

I am so glad my friend, Janet, and her husband chose Anna Maria Island as their winter residence. Janet and I can get together often during their snow bird days as we did this past Monday. Janet picked up her lovely daughter-in-law, Linda, and we met at Bon Appetite on the Gulf in Dunedin. And thanks again, Linda, for lunch. Of course, we had to shop too and found such lovely hats in the vintage shops...don't we look grand? lol.

We had a wonderful lunch, many many laughs and made plans for our next get together. Our last stop was Rainbow's End and found so many lovely ribbons and trims I went a little mad. I can't wait to turn them into flowers, borders and other fun things for my layouts and altered projects.









The new kit for KNK will be unveiled soon and i am pleased that I was given a chance to contribute to the design of this one. I've been working madly on two layouts for the reveal when I have not been blowing my nose from this sinus infection. I believe we have it on the run now as I woke up this morning sans the headache and the stuffed head I was becoming accustomed to over the past two weeks. Let's hear it for good meds!

Hope you have a great St. Pat's.

Happy Birthday to our favorite(and only) Son In Law, Chris

For Chris' birthday, we took him out to Old School House restaurant on Alt. 19 just over the Palm Harbor city limits sign. This has long been one of our favorite places to eat (and, yes, we have lots of those). We can honestly say we have never had a bad or even slightly not wonderful meal here...they are always outstanding and very reasonable. The kids had neither one been here so this is where we celebrated Chris' 32nd a couple of days late. We even invited Little Mama to come too! lol.










I just got back from the doctor and it is a sinus infection and it was getting worse. Am on stronger meds now so will be back full out very soon.

Busy week ahead:

Today: meeting Janet and her dil in Dunedin for lunch on the Gulf at Bon Appetite and shopping. On my MUST do list is a stop at Rainbow's End fabric and quilting store in Dunedin for more of her wonderful trims, ribbons and the amazingly beautiful French dyed ribbons!

Tues: Weight Watchers weigh in and meeting in the morning and helping with the second graders in the afternoon.

Wed: yoga at 9am and cropping and lunch with the Crew from RR

Thurs: clean for the Dinner Club Sat night and do some design work for ACOT and KnK

Friday: yoga in the morning and crop at RR in the evening

Sat.: Dinner Club at 6pm

Sun: big huge art festival at Craig Park on Spring Bayou! Can not wait! We missed this last year but never ever again...so much fun and such beautiful juried art work by very talented artists.

Want to come?

Out of the house...

After heavily medicating myself and soaking in the steam from the hot tub yesterday morning, I felt good enough to finally break out of the house. We both have been sleeping lots both at night and during the day and I guess it was our body's way (along with meds) of fighting this sinus thing. We were suppose to meet up with another couple or two at a street party in old Palm Harbor to celebrate St. Pat's but, when one of the couples called to cancel, we took it as an omen to take a pass too and instead, we went out to lunch.

Ozona Blue restaurant sits on the Gulf with a view of Honeymoon Island. The food is phenomenal but the best part is that the restaurant, which is part of a big boat marina, has its own pool. You can swim before your meal or after, or even be served pool side. I have never been to a place like this before! We found out about Ozona Blue from Sandy from Book Club and have been back several times. And yes, Pam and Clare, we can go here when you both visit.

I had the Italian flatbread and devoured the entire thing myself. I was going to show great restraint but threw that out the window with my first bite. Oh yum.

On our way home, we pass one of our two favorite nurseries, the Outdoor Living Room and just had to stop, of course. E found a bay laurel tree and I found a couple of plants to replace some of the ones killed off by one of the frosts.

We came home to a warm lanai and spent the rest of the afternoon dozing and reading a small area garden magazine and making plans for the rest of the area struck by the frost.

Just what the doctor ordered for both of us...a nice day in Paradise.

Happy Weekend to all

We've been down and out with the sinus infection bug that everyone and their brother has. E is doing better but still congested and I slept almost all of yesterday and am back on antibiotics. Hoping you all are well and don't forget to set your clocks ahead by one hour tonight.

Now this is more like it...Spring has arrived!

On Wed. and Friday, the Crop Crew usually gathers at Ruban Rouge for fellowship and fun. Oh, and we get a bit of scrapping done too from time to time. On Fridays, the crop includes supper but when we go on Wed., it is not an organized crop so we head out to lunch. I am a relative newcomber to the Wed. group which is composed of those of the Friday group that are retired or, in Jean's case, when she is not teaching. And thanks gals for including me in the extension. The Marathon Grill on Nebraska is the usual lunch spot for Wed. with all the freshly prepared tasty food.

Yesterday, poor Jackie was down with that horrible sinus bug that is going around and Katherine had a prior commitment so it was Diane and I. While we missed you, Jackie and Katherine, it was nice to spend some one on one time with Diane. And we did toast to you both at lunch. Diane made great progress with her butterfly album and I got about 3/4 of 3 different layouts done.





I did my bit towards helping out the economy. Michele was unloading box after box of new stuff and Diane and I were plucking it as fast as she could unload it...lots of Timmy stuff, some cool embossed cardstock papers, lovely new ribbons, glittery spring letter stickers, and Un-du ( I have been hoarding my last few drops as I was having trouble finding it locally). And, there are more orders of goodies due in next week.

Diane and I were going to go to lunch at the little Italian place near RR but the day was so lovely that we decided on Jack Willie's Tiki Bar instead. The sun was out, the surf was up and the beer battered shrimp and the fried grouper nuggets just what the doctor ordered. Thanks for a fun day Diane and see you all next WED. Get better Jackie!

Mini Album on a Layout

While some events like long vacations or visits or holidays often result in entire albums, sometimes there are not enough photos to justify this. For these, I create a mini album and put it on a layout.

I inherited a bunch of photos of my family from long before when I was even a glimmer in my father's eye. My aunt and uncle courted through the war and while the letters they exchanged are lost, the photos they sent each other were not. It is easy to piece together their romance from the notes on the backs of the photos and the stories my aunt would tell me.

The papers from the March KnK Club kit were perfect for this project. Thanks Amy for designing such a lovely kit.

I selected a few of the better ones and this is the result. Are you smiling, Aunt Momie?