Caffeine is Life

Coffee and entertainment..

2011-12-30T20:38:00.001-05:00

A long long line for coffee was made tolerable by some decent entertainment..

Finally!

2011-07-08T22:39:00.001-04:00

Our workplace has the blood alliance show up a couple times a year for us to donate. i've tried the each time the last couple of years, but my iron has always been too low. Not this time!
i'm just going to keep doing what i'm doing, and hopefully I,ll continue to be able to donate from now on!

Catching up..

2011-06-19T13:57:00.000-04:00

Thought I'd get this updated since it's been *ahem* a little while. First, a collage of some of my fave recent pics. Clockwise and from upper left: Sunset on the trout river, entrance to the Jax Zoo, A mural on the side of a building in Folkston, GA near the Folkston Funnel, A Great Blue Heron on the St Johns River, one of about 5 very noisy peacocks at the Fountain of Youth in St Augustine, FL.

Also:
**I got reading glasses...finally can read for more than 10 minutes without the double vision. Still getting used to them, but already much better.
**My cat almost needed to have a bladder stone removed, but between the initial x-ray and finally getting to the actual appointment, the stone had dissolved to almost 1/4 the original size, so vet will examine again in a month to make sure it's not getting larger, or won't clog up the works, as it were. ;) This is the x-ray. I circled the stone, which looks a little like a jelly bean:

**There are so many wildfires going on in the southeast. The level of smoke largely depends on the wind shifts. Some days it's fairly clear and other days look like this:

2011 Project 365, Week 10!

2011-03-14T21:53:00.000-04:00

On to week 10..I'm a little behind in posting but otherwise keeping up with the picture taking. I'm looking forward to my spring vacation with a day trip to Boston with the Bestie and a spring TSO concert, also with Bestie...gonna be a fun, fun time!!

Going clockwise from the upper left:
Mar 10: They finally pruned the tree by the pool, looks much better!
Mar 6: The kitty picking a fight with my camera strap.
Mar 7: The flowers by the entrance to the industrial park where I work.
Mar 8: The sunset thru the window at CiCi's.
Mar 5: Small balloon decorations outside a local toy shop
Mar 9: my collection of Boston books from the library
Mar 11: Part of the panda statue at the zoo in the "hidden" asian garden

As always, click on the photo to see in more detail!

2011 Project 365, Week 9

2011-03-06T22:49:00.000-05:00

Here we are at week 9! As always click on the photo for a closer view. Going clockwise starting from the upper left:

Feb 27: Watching the ABA Jacksonville Giants play

Mar 1: Dino-Alive at the zoo, members preview

Feb 26: Monster Trucks being shown off before MonsterJam starts

Mar 4: citrus tree

Mar 3: I made some yummy mac & cheese

Mar 2: Cracker Barrel made some yummy Pot Roast

Feb 28: sunset at the zoo pier

2011 Project 365, week 8

2011-03-02T23:19:00.000-05:00

Starting at the upper left and going clockwise:

Feb 19: I've got some new summer clothes!

feb 21: my pollen covered car

Feb 22: mollasses sugar cookies. not homemade, but good

Feb 23:crepe myrtle trees, pruned.

Feb 24: the last Febru-any sub from Subway

Feb 25: fountain in the retaining pond behind Panera's

Feb 20: I *finally* cleared all the levels in the Valentine's edition of Angry Birds!

We are now 8 weeks into the year, and just over a month til I get to go on vacation! So excited!! Bestie & I are going to Boston for a day, and to see TSO for the Beethoven's Last Night Tour.

2011 Project 365, week 7

2011-02-20T22:49:00.000-05:00

What a great week!! The weather here finally started to warm up a bit...I know it won't be long before I'm complaining about the heat. :)
The 7th week of the year was quite a busy one. Clockwise starting at upper left:

Feb 16: the door to my church
Feb 12: Sauce Boss, great show and good gumbo!
Feb 18: pretty flowering tree at the zoo
Feb 15: cat loves my shoes
Feb 14: cooking up spaghetti for the Daddy/Daughter dinner at American Heritage Girls
Feb 13: penguins at the zoo (first time I saw them out of the water)
Feb 17: the beautiful full moon

2011 project 365, week 6

2011-02-15T21:11:00.000-05:00

A month and a half down now...we finally stopped getting so much rain. It's been getting into the low 60's during the day, too. I was able to get in a nice ride to Palm Coast, (just past St Augustine) this past weekend to see a couple bands and enjoy some good food at the first annual "Hot Foods & Spicy Blues" festival.

Clockwise from upper left I have:

Feb 10: High water level in the little retention pond near work

Feb 6: my Superbowl Sunday snack

Feb 8: Kitty thru a coffee cup handle

Feb 5: my view from the couch resting with my allergy issues

Feb 7: driving in more rainy weather

Feb 9: Fountain and more high water near Panera's

Feb 11: Tropical Sangria at Olive Garden...YUM!

As always click on the photo for a closer look.

2011 Project 365, Week 5

2011-02-07T21:16:00.002-05:00

Week 5 was here and left just as quickly. We have had a ton of rain in our neck of the woods, and my allergies have been in high gear for the last few days. Here is my collage for the week, dates and descriptions as always clockwise starting in the upper left.

Jan 30: I started clipping the bits I liked from my scrap magazines, and then recycling them.
Jan 29: BLN (Beethoven's Last Night) and the spring TSO tour I will be seeing with my Bestie.
Feb 4: 3 days on the couch with previously mentioned allergies
Jan 31: Haircut time!
Feb 3: Rainy stop at Krystal's for supper..
Feb 2: I love driving by this hotel and the lights.
Feb 1: Subway, was sooo craving a meatball sub.

2011 Project 365, Week 4

2011-01-29T11:31:00.002-05:00

Well, here we are, almost the end of January. Here is my week 4 collage for Project 365. So far, so good! :)

As usual clockwise from upper left. Feel free to click on the photo to see in larger detail! Enjoy!

Jan 24: Panda Express for supper, Yum!!

Jan 28: Just one of many quotes around the zoo, this one is probably my favorite.
Jan 26: Panera for supper before church
Jan 25: Scrabble on facebook! I got whooped.
Jan 23: Train and a beautiful blue sky
Jan 22: Pretty as a peacock wandering down the path at the zoo

Jan 27: Tax filing time!!

2011 Project 365, Week 3

2011-01-21T23:57:00.001-05:00

Well here we are, three weeks into the new year already...seems like it's flying by! Work has been keeping me busy, and with the recent announcement of the 2011 Trans-Siberian Orchestra spring tour, I now get to plan my spring vacation! :)

Here is my week 3 collage of Project 365 photos, starting clockwise from upper left:

1/16: Purging my scrapbooking magazines, and removing inspirational bits to save.

1/21: There's an app for that! Changing channels on my tv with the iPad. :)

1/15: A prickly cactus at the zoo

1/19: Made a quick stop at CVS for some candy for work.

1/18: Blue sky after I got out of work

1/17: Watching the Martin Luther King Jr "I Have a Dream" speech at our American Heritage Girls meeting tonight

1/20: Supper tonight, was delish!

2011 Project 365, Week 2

2011-01-15T00:44:00.001-05:00

Here are my photos from the 2nd week of 2011...as usual, clockwise from upper left:
Jan 8 - looking out over the Trout River from the pier at the Zoo
Jan 10 - my car's check engine light on, needed 2 parts, total cost $700. yay.
Jan 14 - the merch table from one of the bands at Winterjam (Kutless)
Jan 12 - tree against an evening sky
Jan 11 - hot apple cider to enjoy while playing on the computer
Jan 13 - Scout hanging in one of his favorite spots
Jan 9 - Jacksonville Giants vs Orlando Kings, Jax won 174-117.

2011 Project 365, Week 1

2011-01-07T22:08:00.001-05:00

Here we are once again at the beginning of a new year. I will be continuing my daily project 365, and my scrap your day on the 25th of every month. There hasn't been much scrapping going on lately, but I did make a few cards and tags the last couple months, so working on adding more creativity to my days. I'm slowly getting back to more reading as well.

I plan on sharing a collage every week with my Project 365 shots. I will be better able to keep up with that than single shots, I think.

Clockwise from upper left:

Jan. 1: Polar Bear Plunge at jax beach. Water temp 50 deg, air temp 65 deg.

Jan. 2: Mr Scout on duty!

Jan. 6: Ducks on the pond

Jan. 7: Today's reading material. Lazy day.

Jan. 5: Betsy's favorite calzone from Luigi's. Kim's favorite too!

Jan. 3: My 2010 project 365 photos all sorted by month. Need an album. :)

Jan. 4: New shipment of coffee for my Keurig. The hot apple cider is amazing!!

Today, 12.02.2010

2010-12-02T20:20:00.000-05:00

From the Simple Woman's Daybook..

Outside my window...the moon is rising

I am thinking...my cat is eating too much catnip.
I am thankful for...a warm home.
From the kitchen...the smell of chicken in the oven.
I am wearing...jeans and my "dunkie junkie" tshirt.
I am creating...An Art Journal from here.
I am going...to see TSO (Trans-Siberian Orchestra) next week!!
I am reading...Don't sweat the small stuff (and it's all small stuff)
I am hearing...Christmas music on the XM Channel Holly
One of my favorite things...The Riverside arts Market on Saturday.
A few plans for the rest of the week: laundry, getting the Christmas tree up (finally), mailing gifts..

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...From St Augustine, FL

Today, 11.24.2010

2010-11-24T23:01:00.000-05:00

Due to tomorrow's holiday, I am posting my "From the Simple Woman's Daybook" today:

Outside my window... ~ it's dark and quiet.
I am thinking... ~ about putting my Christmas tree up this weekend
I am thankful for... ~ having the next 4 days off. And my health. And my Family and Friends.
I am wearing... ~ red sox PJ bottoms and a tank top
I am remembering... ~ that tomorrow is Scrap Your Day, charge your camera!
I am going... ~ to enjoy Thanksgiving with my aunt and uncle
I am currently reading... ~ The new issue of Food Network Magazine, YUM!
I am hoping... ~ the weather is nice this weekend
Pondering these words...~ "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation
is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

From the kitchen... ~ a bowl of cereal and a large DD iced coffee.
One of my favorite things ~ all the neat places to see while I am in the Lake City area
From my camera..~ fireworks at the mall after the lighting of the Christmas Tree on Saturday

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Today, 11.18.10

2010-11-18T23:25:00.000-05:00

From the Simple Woman's Daybook:

Outside my window... ~ I can hear a lot of highway traffic.
I am thinking... ~ I'm not really cut out for this place..
I am thankful for... ~ my family, both near and far.
I am wearing... ~ jeans and a turtleneck
I am remembering... ~ how chilly the nights can get here.
I am going... ~ to see Harry Potter tomorrow!
I am currently reading... ~ craigslist, LOL
I am hoping... ~ and wishing, and wishing and hoping!
Pondering these words...~ "Noone can make you feel inferior without your consent" ~Eleanor Roosevelt
From the kitchen... ~ nada, I had Panera's for supper!
One of my favorite things ~ Pulling out the TSO/Christmas cd's for the holidays
From my camera..~ Finding a little bit of fall in the trees.

..and then there was Saturday

2010-11-16T11:37:00.000-05:00

After that 3 hr adventure from Friday, including a nice bruise on my side from the cow train ride, Saturday was even more packed. I started the day at about 8:30am at Jax Beach for the Out of the Darkness walk for suicide awareness and prevention. I was there to support a former co-worker who lost a brother to suicide a few months ago. It was a beautiful day at the beach, and at about 9:30 (after coffee & a donut) we set off for a 3 mile walk on the beach. Thank goodness it was low tide! :)

After the walk, I had enough time to shoot over to the Arts Market for just a bit. This weekend there was some chalk art going on, and the Salvation Army was kicking off the "Bell Ringing" season. Bonus: A couple local restaurants got together and started a food truck! Mossfire Grill & O'Brothers are the restaurants, and they call the truck "busin' your chops". I didn't get a pic of the menu board, but I did grab a corned beef and cabbage "taco" and enjoyed it at a nearby park.

Last, but certainly not least, I headed home to change, feed the cat and head up to church. From there a bunch of us car-pooled to a favorite restaurant in Fernandina, FL called Barbara Jean's. Very down home, southern cooking. I had my shrimp n grits for dinner and for dessert a few of us split a big bowl of "Chocolate stuff" Kinda like a cross between warm pudding and raw brownie batter....sooooo good!!

It was almost 8:30pm by the time I got home..it was a wonderful day, full of good friends, and good food!

Fun from Friday!

2010-11-14T18:57:00.000-05:00

Since I didn't have to work this past Friday, a friend and I brought her almost-2 year old daughter to play at Conner's A-maize-ing Acres.

It's a family run farm that years ago was close to filing bankruptcy. So they started the acres and now it's huge and quite popular. There were several school field trips going on as well while we were there. They have hay rides, a barrel train, plenty of playground areas, pedal go-carts for bigger kids, a petting zoo, and of course the corn maze.

She was a little hesitant at first near some of the stuff, like the big plastic pool filled with clean, dried corn kernals. But for the most part she was game to try or go on almost any toy, or near any animal. Except the chickens. For some reason she didn't like them much.
She loved posing for pics, and was an absolute ham the whole time. I caught some pretty cute moments!

Among the animals we saw: a horse (complete with new foal), cows, peacocks, chickens, rabbits, ducks, pigs, a donkey, and one very old dog.

By the time we left, we were all covered in dust, and plenty tired.
I have more photos to share another time, but here's one last one of the corn field! You can't see the design, but this years theme was the Special Olympics.

Today, 11.11.2010

2010-11-11T23:55:00.000-05:00

From The Simple Woman's Daybook:

Outside my window... ~ It's dark. :)

I am thinking... ~ I may try get to the beach in the morning.

I am thankful for... ~ our Veterans and the sacrifices they made for our freedom.

I am wearing... ~ jeans and a TSO (spring 2010 tour) t-shirt

I am remembering... ~ How the sight of christmas lights give me such joy!
I am going... ~ to a corn maze tomorrow!
I am currently reading... ~ a few holiday decorating magazines.
I am hoping... ~ that I can leave work at work for the weekend.
Noticing that... ~ My scrappy area could be rearranged.
Pondering these words...~ "In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks."

— John Muir
From the kitchen... ~ warm apple crisp with whipped cream.
One of my favorite things ~ The smell of a balsam candle burning.

From my camera... I love fun, creative window displays, especially near the holidays!

Garage Sales

2010-11-07T16:27:00.000-05:00

This saturday I decided to forgo the Arts market for some garage sales. I'd only been to a couple since I moved here, and really don't buy much. I do enjoy picking through things to see if I can find any real treasures. I especially like to collect Homer Laughlin pottery, which was pretty easy to find up north, and I'm always on the lookout for books that I haven't read, and clothes that I can use for work or otherwise.

Yesterday I got word of a subdivision-wide tag sale so a friend & I headed out to see what we could find. There was plenty of walking to do and we needed it! It was all we could do to keep warm. The morning started out in the mid 40's and never got past 57 deg. all day. BRR! I'm such a wimp now! :)

So, here's a collage of what I picked up. I'm not sure where I want to use the stool, but the tower shelf looks good right where it is. Still not sure what I want to use it for, but I'm sure a use will present itself soon enough.

Grand total: $4.50 for all of it. What a deal!

Today, 11.04.2010

2010-11-04T20:08:00.000-04:00

From the Simple Woman's Daybook....

Outside my window... ~ It is cloudy and gray. The rain was needed, so I don't mind!

I am thinking... ~ That I shouldn't have had this coffee tonight!

I am thankful for... ~ my family & friends

I am wearing... ~ yoga pants and a cami. However, the only yoga I will be doing tonight is curling up on the couch!
In the learning room... ~ keeping my emotions in check when dealing with a difficult boss.
I am remembering... ~ to pick up a few items for a Tea on Saturday.
I am going... ~ to be very busy on Nov. 13th!
I am currently reading... ~ The Rook by Steven James
I am hoping... ~ the weather is sunny this weekend for the beach walk.

On my mind... ~ Thoughts of a friend's newborn grandson, born at only 28 weeks.

Noticing that... ~ I *really* need a haircut!

Pondering these words... "The choice you make today will usually affect tomorrow." ~unknown
From the kitchen... ~ Chicken and rice casserole, and a cup of coffee
Around the house... ~ are a lot of photos that need sorting.
One of my favorite things ~ Criminal Minds marathons! :)
From my camera...

Perfect fall weather last weekend had me sitting out on my balcony enjoying coffee and some relaxation.

Not Catching Up

2010-11-02T20:49:00.000-04:00

I'm not even going to try and catch up to all my Project 365 shots that haven't been posted here. So instead of posting a hundred pics or so, here are a few of my recent (and not so recent) picks, plus today's shot. 8/23/10: I recently started following a local foodie blogger, and she mentioned this spanish bakery in one of her past posts. I'm glad she did because they have some of the best latin pastries I've ever had! One of these days, I'll get some pics inside too!

9/25/10: On my way to the Riverside Arts Market I saw these boarded up houses, and wonder why they are still there. There are actually 3 of them, but I could only get 2 in the picture.

10/09/10: Caught Scout one morning laying in the sun with the shadow of the blinds on him. I think he may see some birds out there..he looks like he's smiling!

10/10/10: I went to the beach to watch the sunrise before church, and I'm so glad I did! Managed to find a few small pieces of sea glass as well.

11/02/10: Today after work I voted and got the first peppermint mocha of the season. Today was damp and drizzly, so it was perfect for a nice hot beverage!

The next couple weekends are busy ones, with a benefit tea for the local Women's Resource Center this Saturday, and the "Out of the Darkness" Suicide prevention/awareness walk on the 13th. Chalk Art at the arts market, plus the Ladies group from church is meeting at a local restaurant for dinner on the 13th. **phew**

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T22:25:00.000-04:00

What a busy weekend for North Florida! The Riverside arts market was my first stop in the early afternoon for the Thriller/Zombie dancers. After that, a stroll down the north riverwalk to the Landing. I was going to get a starbucks there, but they had the whole mall plus the area surrounding the mall closed off due to the Florida/Georgia game going on at Everbank field, (where the Jaguars play). The mall has a big screen that they were showing the game on, plus live music and food vendors set up outside as well. Boats were docked 2 or 3 deep along the riverside, as well.

In lieu of paying $10 just to go in and get a coffee, I continued wandering towards downtown.

I stopped in to Chamblin's Uptown bookstore and got completely lost in that sea of books. Found the second book in a mystery series I recently started. Across the street I found a nice spot to sit and enjoy my sandwich. All around were people resting, playing chess, or just chatting. The weather was beautiful, in the low 80's. Knowing there was only a couple of hours til the movie was going to start, it was time to head back to my car.

After a short trip back home to feed the cat and grab a few things, it was back down to the Arts market for the free movie. This week was Ghostbusters! I brought in some coffee, and bought a bag of kettle korn from a vendor and settled in for the show. The short film they showed before the movie was an episode of "Flash Gordon" entitled Purple Death.

Here is a collage of just a few of the shots from the day. Click this, or any of my pics, to see in more detail.

October Scrap Your Day

2010-10-27T21:23:00.000-04:00

Monday, October 25th was Scrap Your Day, and the "theme" this month was Careful Composition. Since I cannot take photos at work, I made the best of what I have here at home.

From upper left and clockwise: Some colorful plastic chinese take-out containers, quick n easy supper (fettuccini & chicken), my favorite travel mug, groceries to put away, me and part of my cd collection.
I *really* need a haircut!

Those are my favorite shots from the day.

my mantra..

2010-10-26T18:50:00.000-04:00

Weekend Update

2010-10-24T20:51:00.000-04:00

Saturday was our breakfast day for the Ladies group from Church. We meet at a local restaurant once a month, arriving at 9 and usually we don't leave til almost 11. Lots of chatting, and making plans for future outings and discussing various other endeavors. Coming up soon we have A banquet at a local women's resource center, and lunch at a restaurant we went to last year that we'd all been looking forward to doing again. They have the BEST Shrimp and Grits!! :)

Instead of hitting RAM for saturday morning, I decided to go to Barnes & Noble to get in a little quality magazine time, and a big cup of coffee since it is Pumpkin Spice time of the year.

During the fall the RAM has free movies on saturday evenings, and last night it was The Wizard Of Oz, what a great movie! It was a tradition for us to watch it when it came on TV every year, and I honestly can't remember the last time I watched it from start to finish.

Today I went to Church, then to lunch at the Olive Garden. I needed a long walk through one of my favorite nature preserves to work off that dinner. I did manage to see 3 Pileated Woodpeckers! They are huge! I tried to get all 3 in one picture but the best I could do was 2, as they kept flying from tree to tree. They weren't too happy that I was bugging them.

It was actually kind of buggy out there, so I didn't linger around after the birds flew off for the last time.

Tomorrow is Scrap Your Day, so hopefully I remember to take pics throughout the day, and not just starting when I leave work, *that* never happens!

Back at it..

2010-10-23T21:41:00.000-04:00

After taking a couple, ok more than a couple, months off from blogging for various reasons, I want to be back doing this. I figure there's no better time than the present, right?
The reasons for my absence were varied, and I won't get into them here. Suffice it to say it was time for me to make a few minor adjustments to my attitude.

I've been up to the usual since my last post: Saturdays hanging out at the Riverside Arts Market, walks through the local parks and even a vacation back home. I am still taking my daily 365 shot, and participating in scrap your day with Jeanne. The little kitty is getting fatter as the weather cools and he is sleeping more.
Speaking of the weather cooling, this is what makes the unbearably hot summer (almost) worth it. Once the time change happens in 2 weeks, i'll be that much happier then, too!

Central Florida jaunt

2010-07-05T13:37:00.000-04:00

To start off my 4 day Holiday weekend, on Friday I took a drive to the Orlando area of Florida to see the Citrus Tower in Clermont. I've decided I need to venture further away than I have been. So, for me this was a new drive in very new territory. It's definitely the farthest I've driven in one go since I moved here.

There is a miniature White House next to the Citrus Tower as well as a mini Mount Rushmore, and a mini Statue of Liberty, too! Inside the White House there were all kinds of wax statues, souvenirs and Presidential memorabilia, such as the China they used or jewelry worn by the First Ladies.

Here are some photos of a few of my favorite displays, and the outside of the building. The day was gray and a bit wet, but thankfully it wasn't raining too hard.

I believe I was supposed to pay to walk thru the Hall but there was only one person working, and she was leading a school group, so I walked thru quick and poked around the store area before heading to the Citrus Tower. I loved the Lincoln Statue.

Out front there was a bench with a Barack Obama sculpture sitting there, presumably for people to sit next to him. It was too wet, and it honestly didn't look much like him, not to mention his face was more green than anything. Next time, I'll get my picture in front of Mt Rushmore though. :)

After the Hall of Presidents I headed over to the reason for my visit: The Citrus Tower! It stands about 22 stories up, and because of it's location the top of the tower is at about 500 feet above sea level. Pretty tall for down here.

There were actually 2 different signs for each direction, but I only did the one side this visit. Hoping for much better weather the next time I go. Perhaps better planning on my part to actually look at the forecast before I go?

The oranges will show in the winter, and that sounds good for my next visit. I picked up some key Lime coconut bars in the gift shop, and headed across the street to my next stop.

While searching the internet for other things to do there, I noticed that they had Friendly's Ice Cream. I honestly thought those were only in the Northeast! I sat down and ordered up a glass of water (tap, ugh) and a banana split. Jeanne had sent me a copy of The Improper Bostonian (Anthony Bourdain on the cover, Bonus!) and enjoyed reading that while I noshed. I stopped at the Florida Mall in Orlando for a little while, and then drove back home. Lots of holiday traffic, but hey, i wasn't in a rush. I drove right past Universal Orlando, too. Oh, how I wanted to stop and see the Harry Potter section of the park! :)

Downtown Jax

2010-06-06T16:57:00.002-04:00

Last week I went to the arts market, and decided to take the trolley to the Jazz Festival that was going on a couple miles away. I would have walked the riverwalk, but not in the heat. The air conditioned trolley ride was well worth the dollar! Here are a few pictures of the Jazz Festival and the downtown area in general.

This first one is from The Arts Market and a church jazz band that played there. Being under the bridge is great, even in the summer. There is always a nice breeze coming off the river to cool us off.

Downtown isn't usually where I venture, as the parking situation is pretty horrible. The garages are expensive, especially during special events, so the trolley was perfect for this. I got a few shots of this sculpture in front of the Museum of Contemporary Art, or MOCA, as most cities are calling them. I definitely should make it a point to go in there sometime! There is a good mix of old and new buildings, plus a few that are empty and in dire need of demolishing. The new main library is beautiful, 4 floors of pretty much everything, including a neat little courtyard with a fountain and shaded tables and benches to sit and relax. It had a very open feel to it, with desks set up in several different areas for people to work on a library computer or your own with the free wifi.

This is a large sculpture on the outside of the library set on a shelf into a corner. In my walking around downtown I found the building that housed the previous main library, and an even older one, where you could just read "jacksonville Public Library over the door, along with the slogan they continue to use "open to all". Hopefully this new library is big enough to last a few years more than the previous 2!

I found a goldmine in Chamblin's Uptown. Bookstore and cafe, I could have spent all day in there. I picked out a few books, and purchased a large coffee. They brew Green Mountain there, so that was a nice taste of home! In addition to this location, there is another one a bit further away, so I'm sure I'll make my way to that one eventually!

breakfast, books and tacos..

2010-05-23T15:47:00.000-04:00

Saturday morning I went to breakfast at a local restaurant with the ladies from our church. This trip there were 18 of us. After noshing on a western omelet and plenty of coffee I headed down to a Barnes and Noble store a little bit further away than the one at the Town Center for a little change of pace. There are *only* 3 BN stores within 50 miles of where I live, but several Books-a-Million, and one or 2 Borders stores as well. I grabbed a few magazines, a coffee from the cafe and headed to the section where a local high school jazz band was playing. I was very pleased to see many comfy chairs too!

The band finished playing, and the magazines pored over, I headed out in search of a local park I saw online. Set along the St Johns River, the Walter Jones Historical Park was a nice cool area to walk along looking at some old barns built in the mid to late 1800's and a nice view of the River as well. There was a birthday party going on in one of the pavilions and a few other people walking the trail. Other than that all I heard was the sound of birds and the rustle of the breeze thru the trees. After a leisurely walk thru there I got back into my car and headed southeast towards St Augustine.

Since it had been some time since breakfast, it was time to find dinner. Now, I've been thru the historic district at least a dozen times in the last couple years, and I don't remember seeing this taco/burrito shop. I went in, ordered, sat down at a small booth and amused myself by taking some pics, and reading the (allowed) graffiti on the walls. It was delicious fresh food, and I'll definitely be going back next time I'm in the area! And next time, I'm bringing a sharpie to add to the artwork!

back at it....

2010-05-21T20:02:00.000-04:00

Starting off where I finished that last post on Jeanne's & my last trip to Boston, day 2 is winding down. We spent the afternoon in East Boston, taking the Blue line out to the Maverick Station. We walked along the water (on a road, no beach here), and stopped in Piers Park for our lunch of strawberries and some photos of course.

Clockwise from upper left: Entrance to Piers Park, 2 shots of some reliefs on the pillars of one of the small pavillions in the park, covered benches along the water, giant metal fish sculture on top of a nearby marina.

As it got later, we headed back to Cambridge to wander around the Hatch, and the Charles River Esplanade. Clockwise from upper left: MIT in the background and the Longfellow Bridge in the fore (AKA the Salt & Pepper Bridge due to the pillars looking like giant S&P shakers), love the sunset setting on my camera..getting darker!, lots of people out enjoying the weather and watching the sailboats on the Charles, odd building on MIT grounds near the Kendall/MIT station, Duck boat making its way past with the Hancock tower behind.

Once it got much darker we saw what we had always wanted to and happily snapped away for about a half hour before making our way back to Dunkin Donuts and a long subway ride back to our car, and the drive back to Northampton...

Boston photos, Day 2

2010-04-26T21:54:00.000-04:00

After packing up our things, we checked out of our room, loaded our bags into the car, and drove the 1/4 mile down the hill to the Riverside T station.
So begins day 2 in Boston. Clockwise starting from upper left: Sunrise in our hotel room, view of Riverside T station from the parking garage of the hotel, on the subway heading in to the city, at Starbucks on Tremont St for our morning sustenance, Custom House tower & the Holocaust memorial, Jeanne feeding some crumbs to the birds. Greedy lil things! :)
The weather was beautiful once again!!

After enjoying our coffee and muffin we headed towards the Haymarket. So many sights, smells and sounds, all at once. Vendors calling out for more produce, prices to prospective buyers, and telling people not to touch the "merchandise". The deals were not to be missed. If our car wasn't so far away, we would have bought lots of stuff. :)
Clockwise from upper left: Lettuce: what a deal!, artist at work, seafood vendor: fresh shrimp for $2/cup (it was delish!), A small piece of street art called Asaroton (meaning unswept floor), Seafood vendor shucking oysters. In the center we have 2 statues of Mayor James Michael Curley. We ended up buying a quart of strawberries for 99 cents. That was our lunch.

After the Haymarket we headed to the North end. Had to have a cannoli at Mike's Pastry! We took a short walk along the waterfront, then got on the T and headed over to East Boston, a place neither of us had been to.
Clockwise from upper left: the Bunker Hill monument visible from east Boston, The glass wall and tables at Mike's Pastry, tray of cannolis..YUM!, pretty tulip, Aquarium stop on the Blue Line, Custom house tower from East Boston.

Still more to come from East Boston and beyond. Including some pics from the skyline at dusk from Cambridge!

More Boston Photos!

2010-04-21T22:42:00.001-04:00

Here are just a few more Boston collages to share. As I said we had beautiful weather, and we also really enjoy being there on weekdays so that we get to see the "normal" hustle & bustle of the city. Trying to get on the subway during rush hour is probably the hardest thing. Crowded, and not the least bit comfortable, unless you happen to score a seat. :)

(from upper right and clockwise): One of the Muses in front of the Boston Public Library, The Prudential tower peeking out from behind The Lenox Hotel, the Soldiers & Sailors Monument on the Boston Common, here I am enjoying a slice of cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory, The First Church of Christ, Scientist (aka The Mother Church), and in the center: Jeanne & I always get this shot of ourselves reflected in the Hancock Tower. The glass seemed especially clean this year!

These blossoms stand out against the bright blue sky, the view from our hotel room, the restaurant we ate at in Chinatown before the TSO concert, the gate to Chinatown , and last but not least, The State House. This was the first time we really had a chance to wander around Chinatown, and we loved it. So different and interesting! The restaurant we chose was on a whim, and it turned out to be excellent. After dinner we wandered back to Tremont St towards the Wang Theater. And that brings me to my last collage for Day 1 in Boston. TSO!

Upper left: Jeff Scott Soto, awesome voice! Upper right: Chris Caffery, Lower right: Taking a bow, lower left: Intermission/introductions. The first part of the concert was "Beethoven's Last Night" in it's entirety, along with narration in between songs. The 2nd half of the show featured a few songs from their newest album called "Nightcastle". Being in a smaller theater, they couldn't use pyro like they do in the Christmas concert, but the special effects and lasers were out in full force. After the show we made our way to the merchandise table then to the autograph table.

Definitely a night to remember....We made it back to the hotel very late, and by the time we wound down enough to crash, it was almost 2am! Before we knew it, it was up and back out into the city for day 2!

Week 15 of Project 365, and some Boston Love..

2010-04-19T19:31:00.000-04:00

Week 15, (4/9-4/15) clockwise from upper left we have: a free sample I ordered of NV nut clusters, Red Robin bacon & guac burger I had while on vacation in W. mass, a new little Boston travel book to read while at the airport, my balcony railing (in FL) with the laundry building behind it, railroad crossing warning, my poor scrappy desk waiting for me to do some creating, and Slaid Cleaves (Texas folk musician at the European St Cafe in Jax) - Awesome show! Slaid is on the right, watching his guitarist do some Ham bone...

Now for a few of my favorite Boston shots: Jeanne & I got to stay there for 2 days and both were absolutely beautiful weather-wise. We totally lucked out! It had been ages since we'd done an overnight visit, and wanted to get some good evening/night shots. Especially of that familiar skyline. Here are just a few photos from day 1 to start. We each took over 900 shots or so in those 2 days! I was able to get mine down to about 700, and could probably delete a few more even, but that can wait for another day..

Starting at bottom left: We meet at the Northampton Dunkin Donuts and set off nourished with coffee, muffins and the GPS. You don't want to see the traffic on the Pike, it's never pretty. (upper left): here we are at Fenway Park already. Amazing! Flurry of activity there as it was only a few days til Opening Day, and the beer deliveries had to be made. (upper right): the Boston University store/Barnes & Noble, 3 floors of books, college apparel, and Starbucks. (bottom right): The infamous Citgo sign, seen in every Red Sox game on TV. Look for more views of it soon!

After walking around the Fenway Park area we found the Fenway Victory Gardens. Some people have probably had the same garden plot for 30 years, if not longer. It was so neat seeing gates, and entrances individual to the person who owned it. many plots had little patio areas to relax, and some looked like they hadn't been used in years. Someday I hope to see this area when it's in full bloom! There were a few early blooming plants, and a lot of geese.
The bright yellow forsythia caught my eye against the weathered wood of the fence, as did the beautiful Peregrine Falcon. Or is it a hawk? (correct me if I'm wrong, please!)

More to come soon!!

alrighty then....

2010-04-16T18:45:00.000-04:00

Continuing on from my last post, the month of March passed by quickly and onto my regularly scheduled vacation I went. March was very busy at work, and with various cuts being made be it people, time or material shortages, we make do with what we have.

Here are the collages for the last several weeks of Project 365.

First up is week 10: (3/5-3/11) a train in Jax, my huge pile of negatives that I had to sort thru, my new cellphone, opening weekend for the Riverside Arts Market, Girl Scout cookies with milk, Wednesday before-church dinner at Cracker Barrel, and my apartment mailbox area.

Then we have week 11: (3/12-3/18) Mark Erelli (local up-North Musician) played in Jax, Turtle, Firetruck & rescue showed up at the apartment complex, but no idea why, Rough seas ahead! Dinner: burger on a bagel thin and a rice & tomato side, view of the St Aug seafood fest from the parking garage, peeps!

.....and week 12: (3/19-3/25) Goose, my little old camera collection, The Treaty Oak, rainy day, gator up at the Okeefenokee swamp park, Starbucks fraps, and a couple Union Pacific engines (we don't see those too often here).

....week 13: (3/26-4/1) Looking north on the connecticut river from the old trestle/now a rail trail, cereal for supper, flowers near my work place, TSO in Boston!!!!!, flower, moving van in FL with a boston ad on side (thought it was fate), and dinner out with my parents on my first day of vacation.

Week 14: (4/2-4/8) Sailboats on the River Charles and the famous Citgo sign in Boston, Jeanne & I enjoying some Starbucks in Northampton, MA, Breakfast in the local sugar house by the wood stove, toll house choco chips, our small town church (westhampton, MA), Bacon Guacamole burger at Red Robin, The Quabbin Resevoir.

Hoping I can avoid playing more catch-up....LOL enjoy the pics! I'll be back soon to share more collages, and more photos from my 2 day adventure in Boston with Jeanne! Have a great weekend!

2010 Project 365, week 9:

2010-03-05T17:45:00.000-05:00

Back in sunny, but still not very warm, Florida...Here is my collage for Week 9 of our Project 365. As usual from upper left, and clockwise: A cool STOP sign in Surry, NH *look closely, A cemetery in the snow in Swanzey NH, Strawberries in milk for a snack (FL), my new George Foreman grill (love it!), a little single serve edy's ice cream, Flowerpots from Anthropologie, and Mr Kitty.

I bought a good size package of chicken breast tenderloins, and decided to try a little test. I put half in a baking pan with a dab of butter and sprinkled all but 2 with bread crumbs. Scout loves him a little chicken, so I leave a little plain for an occasional treat. The second batch went to the GF Grill. The ones from the grill tasted grilled (duh), and will be great for salads. The baked ones were good, too but didn't have that grilled flavor. So, I'm impressed! :)

Tomorrow the Riverside Arts market starts back up (finally!) so I will probably be there with camera in hand. Hope it's a nice day!

2010 Project 365, Week 8 (and about town)

2010-02-28T05:55:00.002-05:00

Continuing on with the next collage from Project 365 here is Week 8! Clockwise from upper left, in no particular order: walk-bridge near the dam in Keene, NH; My side view mirror one day after work; spinich pizza pie at Sams's in Northampton, MA; Wii at my sister's house; the Town Common in Troy, NH; Field at dusk in Westhampton, MA; and the woods behind work in Fitzwilliam, NH.

Saturday was my last day in New Hampshire. I woke up to a gorgeous snow covered landscape. I saw the whole spectrum of weather from snow squall to a tiny hailstorm to the sun coming out and quickly melting all the snow on the trees. Then back to a light snow for the afternoon. Late evening turned foggy and warm. It was very odd. Here is a selection of some of Saturdays pics.

Today I'm on my way to the airport in Manchester for a 10am flight out. And I will be back in JAX about 3pm.

Happy Trails!

2010 Project 365, Weeks 4 - 7

2010-02-22T18:15:00.001-05:00

Alrighty, time to get caught up here. Visiting my parents this weekend, instead of hanging out in NH, but I still have another full work week ahead of me up there. My regular April vacation will be here soon enough, with some TSO/Boston in there. Can't wait!

Week 4: Pigeons on a statue in a local park, reflection in a glass at Anthropologie, Barnes & Noble, some little garlic toasties, the moon, double sundogs.

Week 5: in line to buy a movie ticket to see "Edge Of Darkness", Stack of new railroad ties waiting to be put in, window display of Louis Vuitton, Coffee flavored milk, filling up the ole gas tank, entrance to the local shopping plaza, buttons!

Week 6: thinking about packing for work in NH, bacon wrapped jalapeno thingies (recipe here), rainy drive, some sea glass found on a beach walk, dinner with the ladies at Cracker Barrel, kitty enjoying a little outdoor time, radio tower in a sunset sky.

Week 7: dessert tray at a church ladies dinner, covered bridge in NH, snowy scene, Colony Mills Marketplace in Keene, NH, At the airport on the 13th ready to fly out of JAX, Ice fishing huts on Wilson Pond in Swanzey, NH.

So those are the last 4 weeks of Project 365. I'm looking forward to a little more daylight to enjoy being outdoors, and wandering. Maybe even a little more staying caught up here. Ahem....Not to mention a little more warm air. :)
For now, goodnight!

2010 Project 365, week 3:

2010-01-23T16:31:00.001-05:00

Done with week 3 of the photo project...It has sure beeen an interesting week. As mentioned previously I put in for my April vacation to go up north and see TSO with Jeanne in Boston.

Right after I submitted the time to my supervisor for approval, they sprung on me an opportunity to go up and do some work in one of the other plants the company owns. This event will be taking place much sooner than April, maybe as soon as 2-3 weeks from now. The final dates have not been set yet. I'm kind of blown away by it, sort of excited, and just a little apprehensive. Driving in winter is not one of the things I miss, but it will be cool to see wintery mountains for my own eyes, and not just jealousy-inducing photos from friends. notmentioninganynames.

To the right you'll see my collage for the 3rd week of Project 365. clockwise from upper left: Singer from the band Third Day at WinterJam, Armored vehicles on a flatbed, Tea & cookies, sunset on my way to Church on Wednesday eve, My small collection of Robert B Parker books on the sad eve of his passing, a lovely blood blister acquired at work on thursday, and last but not least, Moi. Onward!

2010 Project 365, Week 2:

2010-01-18T20:16:00.001-05:00

Week 2 is behind us, now. (heck, week 3 is almost over) Here is my collage for the 2nd week of our project. Clockwise from upper left: part of the form we use at work for employee reviews, looking south towards downtown Jax, cupcake from Luli's in St Aug., a fountain on a cold windy day, Luigi's fine Italian food (where I have dinner before Wednesday church), books from the library book sale in St Aug., and last but not least, my library stash of borrows. Click to see larger!

I will have some scrappy-ness to share soon, when Jeanne & I can coordinate our online presence. :)

Recently, Trans-Siberian Orchestra *finally* announced dates for the spring tour. They are heading out to support a new album called "Night Castle" and an older non-Christmas album about Beethoven, called appropriately "Beethoven's Last Night". It's a pretty limited set of dates and they aren't playing the southeast. As luck would have it they are playing in Boston on April1. It should be a blast!

It was planned even before dates were announced that I would go up north to see the show with Jeanne, since it's been several years since we'd gone to a TSO show together. Now to start planning the trip details!

Woohoo!

Scrap Your Day #8

2010-01-10T17:28:00.000-05:00

November's "scrap your day" layout, a little late. I had all the pics attached, but hadn't finished my journaling yet. I finished that before I forgot it all, and took my pic. The theme this time was "capturing movement", and with that in mind I used a little more embellishment this time.

Yesterday I went to St Augustine. Not sure what I was thinking cuz it was freezing out, especially by the water!! I knew I had to visit Luli's Cupcakes, since I usually go down on Sunday and they are closed that day. Oh, my the choices! Can't wait to go back to try another flavor or 3. This visit I tried the Lemon Twist and one called The Godfather. Lemon is pretty self-explanatory, but The Godfather was a tiramisu flavor with an espresso syrup in the cake, and the frosting tasted just like the filling for a canoli!

After the cupcake adventure, I stopped at the local library after seeing online that morning that there was a book sale that day. I found several older but interesting books to pick up. So, will keep an eye on when they have there next one as well. I need to find out when my library here does them. I don't recall them having one posted or anything recently. Books are always worth the time and money! Next time I'll have my camera handy in there, too!

Here I am in front of the Castillo de San Marcos, all bundled up in coat, gloves and a hat! :) Have a fantastic week, everyone!

2010 Project 365, Week 1:

2010-01-07T22:26:00.000-05:00

Here is the first week of photos for the Project 365 I am participating in on Facebook. As always, click on the photo to enlarge! 7 days down, only 358 to go! Have a great weekend!

Scrap Your Day #??

2010-01-06T20:40:00.001-05:00

Seriously, I don't know where I am on this project. No, we just finished our 9th month (December). Can't believe we've gone this far already! It has been a blast, and with the project 365 (facebook edition) I can see time just flying by even faster. Pretty soon, it will be spring and I'll be on vacation and hitting up Boston again. **sigh**
So anyhoo, here is my December layout. November is only half done, so that one will be shared sometime before this weekend.

The little metal letters ("my holiday") down in the right hand corner are so cool! Glad I was able to find the perfect LO for them too! (Thanks, Jeanne!) Of course, you should also go visit her site to see the layouts she completed, and all the other cool stuff she has going on!

I will post again, soon! Have a great rest of the week, and keep warm, wherever you are!! We've had some record lows here, this morning it was 29 deg F this morning, and only 31 yesterday. I know that's not real cold up north, but here, especially after being here for 3 years now...LOL it's COLD! It's hardly gotten above 45 all day, also. Out of the closet comes the hat and gloves!

New Years Day - 2010

2010-01-01T21:22:00.001-05:00

I probably should take down the Christmas Tree soon.
Cat has been chewing the needles off of it.
It's an artificial one, can't taste too good.
I've been lazy all day, drinking coffee & watching the Twilight Zone Marathon.
Started a Facebook-based Project 365 for 2010 with Jeanne.
I will probably make a weekly collage to post here.
I'll leave you with a photo taken a few days ago of the almost full moon.

"Every year gives us another chance, chance to change, to hope and wish for the better. That betterment will surely come. Wishing you and yours a joyous New Year"

Christmas

2009-12-28T20:47:00.000-05:00

Hoping everyone out in Blog-Land had a very Merry Christmas! As I have for the last couple years I went to Lake City/Branford to visit my Aunt and her family. But only after enjoying some webcam family time on Christmas Eve. For the last several years, now that we are all adults, we've drawn names. We play games, have trivia questions, and just have a good time chatting. When my niece was younger they used to drive to Maine for Christmas Day, so we always celebrated at our house on Christmas Eve. When they stopped going "up Nawth" we've kept up our end of the tradition. Gives you that extra day to relax, or spend time visiting.

It's certainly a little more challenging over the webcam, but we manage ok. So, without further ado here are some of my favorite holiday shots, in collage format to save space.

Above are several treats that I made to hand out to co-workers, and at the top is me, enjoying my morning coffee on Christmas Day.
To the right are a couple pictures of my Aunt's Norman Rockwell Stockbridge Village Set. Only part of the set is out, as she has limited space for it. I was able to capture this shot of a pretty male cardinal in her backyard too! The female stayed pretty well hidden, but I did see her. At top right is probably my favorite shot of all of them. My "happy accident" photo. :) At bottom left is my breakfast and my uncle's father.

It's been overcast and cold for the last several days. In this last group of photos we went for a drive the day after Christmas to several local springs, the water was very high in spots, so got some neat pics. Over by the Suwannee River we saw a tree full of turkey vultures, but the closer I got they all flew away. Still cool.

Happy New Year everyone!!!

The most wonderful time of the year..

2009-12-12T16:16:00.001-05:00

I put my Christmas Tree up last weekend, and it doesn't look too bad. I really need to remember to send some of my own ornaments to myself when I go back home. I like to keep it simple but so far I have only a few round (plastic) balls and some plastic twisty icicles. No glass here. At least not on the tree. One string of white lights, and a huge red bow for a topper. I wish I could have a real tree, but I figure Mr Scout would be far too willing to try to climb it. He already tries to eat the needles off this one when he's feeling feisty. If I want to smell a pine tree, I just burn a nice Yankee Candle, and it's good enough for me!!

I've been playing the Christmas music, and trying to just enjoy the quiet time when I'm NOT at work. I joined a friend and her church to sing carols at a local nursing home, and it was a blast. Some of them never get any visitors, and especially at this time of the year that's so sad. We handed out candy canes and wished them all a Merry Christmas. Many of the residents sang along, when they could, and were very appreciative of us visiting.

Here are a couple photos of the tree. Ignore the junk behind it, I had to tear a few containers apart to find all my stuff. Today I've been wrapping presents and will be sending those off this week. It's a great day to be inside: it's pouring out, and just a very blah day. Once I'm done wrapping, I want to get some scrapping done. been too long, and since I cleaned off the table it's ready to be made messy again!

Hoping everyone has time to relax and enjoy the company of friends and family!

2009 Trans-Siberian Orchestra Concert

2009-12-07T19:33:00.000-05:00

The TSO concert was just awesome. Every year it just grows and grows, in popularity, and how far they go with the pyro, lights, lazers, and most of all, the talent involved. Last year I only had my camera phone, and I still can't get them from the camera to the computer. I can still look at them, though. The band is very lenient with cameras, but I only brought my point & shoot and the little Bean as a back-up. If you go to YouTube, you will find plenty of video footage as well. This year was my 8th time seeing them in 9 years, starting way back in 2001. I curse the year 2006, when our company moved us from TX to FL over the long Thanksgiving weekend. That is a travesty in its own right. Back then they always played FL in very early November and they had already passed through when I got here.

This year out came the camera, and while a friend & I enjoyed the sights and sounds, I happily clicked away. No flash, and not many close-ups, except for a few lucky captures. Really, you need the wide angle to see the whole spectacle. Maybe one day I'll sit up close, but mostly I'm enjoying watching the story unfold, with the added bonus of not having to crane my neck to see the stage. First group of pics: the stunning Anna Phoebe on electric (pink!) violin. And 2 regular shots of the stage, featuring lots of fire and lights.

For goodies I picked up a T-shirt, a beanie cap and of course the tour program for signing. Towards the end of the show Chris Caffery and Anna climb up onto a platform, get properly harnessed in and go for a little ride. This was the first year it was suspended from the ceiling instead of being raised from underneath. This was the only *good* close shot I got. Alex Skolnick on guitar. I love this shot!!

This is another pic I got of Alex from in the signing line with the little Argus Bean camera. After we got our stuff signed we made our way down to the downtown area with the Landing Mall and find something open so we could get some supper...Chicago Pizza was the only decent place open, so we pigged out, and headed home to get some rest for our day of shopping on Friday. We went to the St John's Town Center, had lunch and margaritas at the Cheesecake Factory, hit up some of the big stores, got a few presents for me and others. Then it started to rain, so back home we went...

The last week or so....

2009-12-06T17:38:00.002-05:00

...Give or take a couple of days. Thanksgiving with the family was postponed slightly, so that my aunt could get over a nasty cold. So, on Thanksgiving I went for a ride up to Folkston, GA to check out the Folkston Funnel and get a few more pics of the area. I also managed to get lost in the Okeefenokee Swamp. Yeah, THAT was fun. Every. single. road. led to a locked gate. I turned the car around umpteen times, and went down some pretty narrow and overgrown roads. Finally, I found my way back to the road I came in by, and it was a private drive! The GPS told me that was the way in, too. Hmmmm. On my way out I apologized, and she was very nice about it. Next time I go there, I will be sure to find a legal entrance! Talk about an adventure, and I didn't even get to see any 'gators. I did see a lot of turkey vultures circling over me, waiting... :)

On Friday I did a little "black friday" shopping. Some for me, some for others. Once the crowds got to be too much for me, I was done. Back home to relax, and pack a bag for the trip out to my aunt & uncle's. They live in the Lake City area, so I left about 7:30am saturday morning. I always stop at Starbucks on the way out, and since that particular morning was only in the upper 30's I got a yummy peppermint mocha. In between helping with table setting and making coffee I hung out in the backyard taking pics, and chatted with my aunt on the deck.

Soon, my cousin & her family arrived as well as my uncle's father, and we all settled in to eat. Had all the usual foods, and lots of dessert as well. It was delicious! On Sunday we had turkey sandwiches and soup. After lunch a bunch of us went for a short walk.

They also surprised me with an early birthday cake and gift! Sweet!! :) Finally I knew it was time to head home, since I had get up for work on Monday morning...
Next up will be pics from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert I went to this past Thursday night... :)

This week..

2009-11-19T21:23:00.000-05:00

It has been crazy at work this week. So many different projects and things all going on at the same time. I'm so glad next week is a short work week. The whole crew will be in tomorrow, too, so I have to be in for 6am. meh.

Tonight I stopped by Panera Bread to grab supper since I heard one of their new soups is Mac & Cheese. Sure, It's not like mom makes, but hey, comfort food is comfort food. Especially when someone else makes it!

And in keeping with that comfort theme, I stopped by Starbucks to get a yummy peppermint mocha. It was all delicious. All that was missing was my friend and some cushy chairs. :)

On Saturday I was able to hit the Arts market, and since the weather was so nice, I walked down to the Landing. There were local artists/students/kids doing chalk drawings along the mall. The Andrew Jackson Portrait was awesome, as were the others. In the bottom right you'll see a statue of Mr. Jackson, "for whom Jacksonville is named".

There was a man at the market who makes, sells and plays the didgeridoo. He makes them out of PVC.

A few weeks ago I came across this cutest camera. It's perfect for sneaking into concerts. It has a carabiner clip, and a decent enough resolution.

And well, it's orange. It's pretty much a known fact that if it's orange, I will probably buy it. I've tried it out a little bit in stores, and it works well enough, as long as it's held very still. I don't plan to make it my primary camera, but it's nice and easy to keep with me.

I'll leave you with tonight's sunset after I left work

and a quote:

“Know what you want to do, hold the thought firmly, and do every day what should be done, and every sunset will see you that much nearer the goal.”

~Elbert Hubbard

Jacksonville Sea & Sky Spectacular

2009-11-08T17:50:00.001-05:00

This weekend was the Annual Sea & Sky Spectacular Air show at Jacksonville Beach. Every other year they alternate between the beach and NAS (naval air station) JAX. I've never been to the one at NAS, but this was my second time going to the one at the beach. In lieu of paying between $10-30 for parking, I chose to walk about a half mile or so, and use the free side of the road parking up the road a ways. I could have easily watched it from the beach near where I parked, but I wanted to get some food and enjoy some of the audio play-by-play. I probably should have taken notes on who some of the pilots were, or what planes I was watching, but the only ones I know by sight are those pesky Blue Angels. Oh, how loud they were! On the right are several shots of the different planes I saw. It was pretty windy, so there were no "wingwalkers" that I saw.

To the left are the best shots I got of the Blue Angels. There were several fly-bys that near gave me a heart attack. I'm surprised I don't have a sore neck from looking straight up much of the time as well. LOL

At right is the Johnsonville Brats 65 ft grill, and my Brat too. Yeah, the whole back of the semi truck was a grill!! very cool!

All in all it was a great day I'll see it again in 2 more years. :)

As always click on the photos for a closer look!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T19:38:00.003-04:00

Long gone are the days when kids could run thru the streets, going house to house, taking candy from friends, family and strangers alike. There was always the one house with the lights out, but a large bowl right outside the door. Perhaps an older person not wanting to get up from the comfy chair every time the doorbell rang. One house gave out apples. These were promptly tossed into the woods on the way to the next house. We came up with our own costumes for the most part, with a little help from the adults, that I can remember. No store bought costumes for us! I can't even begin to guess the years of these photos, but judging by the furniture, it was long enough ago.

In the photo above I am Dracula, and my older sister was the Statue Of Liberty. The other 2 were our best friends growing up.

In the photo at left, I am Sherlock Holmes, I think. My sister is the Old lady on the floor. The other 2 kids in this photo were family friends that I only vaguely remember. That was the good thing about trick or treating in New England, just pile on more clothes under the costume and you'll be plenty warm! The more flannel the better.. The photo below is several years ago at work. I clearly remember the looks I got from other drivers as I was driving in and back home as well.

We moved to a small town when I got a little older, and out there they would close off the center of town to traffic and kids again were free to run in the street. The residents would donate bags of candy to the houses that did the distributing. In the Town Hall they had cider, cocoa and cookies to enjoy while warming up and resting. Obviously by then I was too old to go door to door, but my niece wasn't, and I would join them to hang out, and to see the kids costumes. My mom will probably demand that this get removed, but oh well! :) Again, no idea on the year. Late 80's, perhaps?

Happy Halloween!!

Now watching: Nightmare Before Christmas. best Halloween movie ever!

messing about..

2009-10-30T21:23:00.000-04:00

Today was such a long day at work. We got in some long awaited product that needed to be packaged and stocked. We had extra help from another department, plus my normal crew. A few of us stayed til almost 8pm tonight, and I need to go back and finish it tomorrow morning. Glad to get it all done finally. I got them McDonald's for dinner for staying so late, too. Gotta love the dollar menu! :)

A couple of weeks ago I picked up an old Kodak Duaflex IV camera on Ebay to use for "Through the Viewfinder" Photography (AKA TtV). If you're not familiar with TtV, basically it's taking a photo through the viewfinder of an old camera, with another camera. Usually digital, but I'm sure any other camera would work. I've always loved the idea of a small display of old cameras anyway, so I'm gonna build towards that as well. There's a whole Flickr group devoted to this type of photography here, and if you're a photoshop user (which I'm not) there are also "actions" you can use to get the same effect. Not nearly as fun, though. I took a few photos looking out from the balcony and of the cat when I first got it, which came out really badly. Last Sunday I took it to the beach.

Speaking of Sunday, it was Jeanne & my 7th "Scrap Your Day", adapted from Shimelle's project of the same name. The theme this month was reflections. Once we can get together and do our layouts, we'll have a post to share on that, as well. so my teaser shot is this one.

Oh, Scout asked if I could post his picture anyway.

As always click on the photos to see them in more detail.
Looking forward to a quiet scrappy weekend at home. After last weekends adventures, I think I shall stay right here. :)

Scrap Your Day #6

2009-10-22T18:35:00.001-04:00

September 25th was Jeanne & my 6th month of Shimelle's Scrap Your Day, and we even got to hang out for a bit! We had dinner at the Bluebonnet Diner with the ladies from the bookstore we all worked at before it closed in 2005. I'm so glad we all kept in touch! I talked about the fabulous Scrod dinner I enjoyed in this post. After dinner Jeanne & I headed over to Barnes & Noble to sit & relax while reading a big stack of mags, and enjoying an after dinner coffee.

For the early part of the day I went to Easthampton, MA to see the bears of bearfest 2009. The display was only up for another couple of weeks, and I didn't quite see all of them, but I definitely enjoyed the ones I did see.

I tried to share as many Bears on the layout as I could!

As always click on the photos to see them larger.

More photos to be shared soon!

today's photos..

2009-10-18T17:25:00.000-04:00

It was a chilly start to the day, but once the sun came out it was very nice. I headed to St Augustine for the morning, and had a lot of photo oportunities. I heard at least 3 or 4 foreign languages as well: Italian, Spanish and French..and those were just the ones I recognized!

As the sun was coming up over the very heavy cloud on the horizon, the fog/mist started to lift on the river. This ship just screamed Pirates to me, dunno why. Maybe it was the way the sails hung, or the fog, or both! :)

I had lunch in this small Spanish Bakery: an Empanada, a roll, a cookie, and a can of lemonade for $5.50! It was delicious, too. After I was done there I picked up a birthday present for a dear friend. *hehe*
While walking down the street I heard some accordian music, and got a quick photo of the one man band! We tried to get someone to take our pic for me, but the gentleman we asked refused, so I just took it myself.

On the way home I stopped at the beach quick, and it was very windy and cold. I almost got killed by a kite crashing down near me. And for some ungodly reason, there was a surfing contest going on! BRRRR!

I thought about walking on the pier, but not with the way that wind was blowing. My ears were near frozen.

Back home I went to do some laundry and feed the Master and myself some dinner.

(Last) Sunday Drive

2009-10-16T17:46:00.002-04:00

Saint Mary's to be exact. I wasn't planning on going anywhere last Sunday, but the roads beckoned. And I always listen. Since I usually go either West to the Lake City area to see family, or South to St Augustine, this time I went North. I'm always on the hunt for a good nature preserve or state park. I love walking along raised wooden walkways, or sandy paths to see what kind of wildlife there is out there. I never fail to see at least a hundred lizards, or egrets wading. I was on my way to check out the Crooked River State Park when I passed the Tabby Sugar Ruins. I stopped there to wander about the old grounds and take lots of photos. There were a few people that arrived just before me, and they left after only a few minutes. I never did make it to the State park, but I'm sure I will soon enough. I think the Submarine Museum would be a neat place to see as well.

This weekend I want to try and go see "where the wild things are". Even though I don't ever remember reading it or having it read to me, it looks like a fun, cute, sad movie. Saw this display in the window at Barnes & Noble last night.

The weekend plans are still a mystery....

Something Like Normalcy..

2009-10-11T22:35:00.000-04:00

Hooray! I actually managed to visit the Riverside Arts Market yesterday. Parking was a challenge due to Toyota and their awesome Farm to Table promotion. They paired local farms with local restaurants and in addition to offering (delicious) foodie samples, and promoting the Hybrid models in their automotive line, you could also take a test drive. They handed out passports at the entrance to the market and as you got samples, they stamped it. Once you got at least 3 stamps (I had 7) you could get a free herb. I waited until I was ready to leave so I didn't have to carry it, and chose a nice basil.

Due to the heavy traffic and hard time I had parking, I stopped at one of the little parks nearby to see what was hanging out in the "pond", and kill some time. I saw a roseate spoonbill, among other water fowl types. There was also a "Pet Blessing" going on, seen in the photo in the lower left. Lots of furry pets about.

Out in the St John's River the fish were really jumping. Several boats stopped to watch, and there was a few people at the rails watching as well, probably wishing they were out fishing. :)

After all those healthy samples, I had what I'd been craving for a couple weeks, a beignet and an iced coffee. Yum!

At left is my dessert, the plant wagon and the stamped passport. The dish is pickled beets with goat cheese. And like all the other samples before it, it was delicious.

Vacation, Days 10 & 11

2009-10-04T16:17:00.001-04:00

Well, Saturday the 26th was my last full day of vacation. I started the day with my mom at Bruegger's Bagels in Downtown Northampton. After I enjoyed my asiago cheese bagel with veggie cream cheese and a large hot coffee, we headed to the farmers market across the road. It was a chilly but sunny morning. Lots of mums, winter root veggies, pumpkins, gourds and even a few indoor plants for sale. This frog is around the corner from the market.

After the farmer's market we went to the Holyoke mall. I picked up a few fall shirts at JC Penney. We had lunch at 99's (she loves that place!!), I'll eat wherever. I had a yummy shrimp and pasta dish. On the way home we stopped at a small farm stand/gift shop. The llama wasn't too happy, but I took his picture anyway. The Tasty Top was along the ride home from the mall. It has been there for as long as I can remember.

Sunday, I finished my packing, and packed a small box to be mailed back home to FL. There is still stuff in the attic there to go thru, and I always think I'll get more done, but only manage to spread it all out, look thru it, then box it back up. I did separate the tag sale items from keep items in the spare room, so when they have a tag sale, they won't have to worry about selling anything that might have been something I wanted: *cough*huge stack of Duran Duran memorabilia*cough*

Thankfully, the majority of the rain had finally left the Atlanta area for the flight home. What a drenching they had. We did circle atlanta for a bit, for one reason or another and when I looked out my window I saw this sight.

Anyhoo, That ends the vacation blogging for now. I will eventually share more Boston photos, as well as any scrappy pages made.

So for now I think I'll relax in this comfy Adirondack chair, and hope the llama can't spit this far!

Vacation, Days 8 & 9

2009-10-02T17:25:00.013-04:00

On to Thursday & Friday of my vacation week. Work has been busy this week, and I haven't done anything more than coming home and just crashing. Hopefully next week I will be more used to getting up early. I definitely plan on going to the Riverside Arts Market on Saturday. The St John's Town Center was calling my name tonight, but I worked a way longer day than I usually do on Friday, so maybe I'll just go tomorrow after the market. Save a little gas that way, too!

Anyhoo.. On (vacation) Thursday, the 24th I didn't do much more than rest and veg around the house. I played with the dogs some in the backyard, and fooled around on the computer, burning cd's of the pics from Boston to give Jeanne on Friday. We share our vacation shots for scrapping, and so that we have pics of ourselves out and about. I took all of 10 pics on Thursday. I went out to lunch with my mom, we went to Webster's Fish Hook, and I had a scrod sandwich with tomato and melty cheese on it. It was very good! On my way downtown, I grabbed a couple quick photos of the bits of foliage that I was able to catch. There are a few areas around my parent's house that change much earlier than usual.

Friday, the 25th was our "Scrap Your Day" day. She reminded me when we met at The Bluebonnet Restaurant to have supper with a few of our former co-workers from a local bookstore we all worked at several years ago, before it closed. I'm so glad we've all kept in touch! Dinner was delicious, Jeanne & I both chose stuffed scrod, with a yummy butternut squash and roasted red potatoes. I believe I ate more seafood on this vacation than I normally eat in a year! Photos from SYD will appear in a later post when we have a chance to collaborate our efforts. But I think I can post this little tease. I can't wait to show the rest!! I'm glad I took these photos, or I would have have a very sad scrap your day!!

Vacation, Day 7

2009-09-30T19:30:00.002-04:00

Day 7, Wednesday. This is when we hang out in Northampton, and stay out way too late watching Beau's band (the Beau Sasser trio) jamming away at Bishop's Lounge.

I met Jeanne at her place, and off we went. First to Target, then off to 'Hamp. We wandered about taking a few pics, deciding where to go for supper. A local bar/restaurant has half price appetizers during the week, so it was decided we'd go there. I got a couple sliders, and stuffed mushroom caps. Jeanne had some Chicken Ravioli and Scallops wrapped in bacon. All was delicious. It was actually pretty busy for a wednesday night, which made for some interesting people watching.

After more wandering and picture taking we sat in Starbucks for awhile enjoying a coffee and people watching. It had started to rain lightly, but as long as it stayed light we were good. The band doesn't usually start until about 10-ish, so we get there about 9 or so and start getting our drink on, making jokes with the band and bartender as they set up.

Started out with a Nut Brown Ale. I forget the brand, but was quite tasty, if not a tad heavy. I usually get Sam Adams, but the local microbrew ale's are just as good a choice.

I really thought I could fit more than one day per post, but that's not happening! Onward....

Vacation, Day 6

2009-09-29T20:15:00.002-04:00

I need to get a little more caught up here, no? Day 6 would be tuesday, the 22nd, the day after Boston. The day with tired feet, 3 dead camera batteries, and one very full memory card. I spent a little time in the morning sorting thru the 400+ pics I got, weeding out the blurry, duplicate photos and the SP's I looked horrible in. :)

I knew my sister and I would be hanging out later in the day, but didn't know what she had planned yet. I met her in the next town over where she and her husband had a DR appointment after work. Once she got done there we took off and left Scott with their car. She then showed me the tickets to the Big E that they got thru work.

Since she was still not feeling well, we didn't go on any rides, but we definitely did plenty of walking around. We had some good food, watched the rides (which only made her more ill) and poked around the state buildings. I did good on food. I had to have stuffed clams from the Rhode Island Building, and a fresh squeezed lemonade. I only sampled the kettle korn, maple cotton candy, and pumpkin spice ice cream. YUM! Oh and I had to get the fried oreos. Kinda bummed they didn't offer a small order, because there was no way I could eat 7 of those, and they aren't much good when they get cold. Ah well.

These are a few of the rides. Top left is for those who like loop coasters, minus the parts that aren't a loop... Top right is a hang glider ride, kinda neat. If you look just to the left of the ride's name you can see the platform with 3 people on it....Bottom left is the zipper. 20 years ago, my favorite ride, hands down. Also the best place to find loose change falling out of pockets. Bottom right is the swings. I like that ride, but this one is different. Once people are on, it goes up, and up, then the ride begins. Aside from the ferris wheel, I don't like tall rides. The view is awesome, but I rather like something solid under my feet.

That ends day 6...coming soon, days 7-10.

Stay tuned..

Vacation, Day 5 - Boston!

2009-09-26T20:50:00.001-04:00

So, day 5....Boston. Met up in Northampton at 7am to get coffee for the long ride out. Stopped to fill the tank, and program the GPS, and off we went. We don't get there as often as we'd like, so I always freak out thinking we'll miss our exit to the T station in Riverside. Traffic was fine til about 20 miles from Newton, then it just slowly crawled along. It took longer to do those last 20 miles than it did for the first 75 miles...

We couldn't have asked for better weather, it was sunny and beautiful all day long.

These are just a few of the bricks that are embedded on Winthrop Lane, There are just over 100 of them total, and I didn't get pictures of all of them. We had lunch in the courtyard of the Boston Public Library (a delicious quiche and fresh greens with vinaigrette), and supper at Dick's last Resort ('gator nuggets).

So, that's just a small portion of the day...I will add more pictures soon. Thankfully, the last few days of my visit were more leisurely and not so picture heavy. We each took just about 400 pics in Boston.

Tomorrow. I'll be flying back home, and I go right into physical inventory at work on Monday. Joy.

Vacation, Days 3 & 4

2009-09-23T08:36:00.013-04:00

On to days 3 & 4 of my vacation. I'm a third of the way thru now, and so far the weather has been super. Saturday was sunny and warm. Instead of heading to town as we had planned Jeanne & I went to the Old deerfield Craft Fair. You can visit her blog to see more photos as well! Lots of beautiful crafts, yummy sauces and dips to try, and "shooters" of different grades of maple syrup, from light amber to an almost black one. Definitely the Guinness of maple syrups! I had an Italian Sausage Grinder/Sub and Jeanne enjoyed a stuffed baked potato. We wandered down the street some and checked out the farm. There were sheep coming in from pasture.

After the craft fair Jeanne's husband picked us up and we drove up to Pocumtuck Ridge and admired the view while the guys talked Ham Radio stuff. It was a beautiful view up there! It will be even better to see when the colors have changed!

On Sunday I drove up to my sister's house, and we decided onvisiting the Hadley Flea Market and Atkins farm. They have unbelievably good cider donuts! We were going to carve pumpkins that afternoon, but we ran out of time. My parents were away for the weekend, and I needed to get the pups fed and outside. We got to the flea market late (for the vendors, not us), as most of them were already packing up, but it was a nice walk around, anyway. There's a horse farm right next door as well, and I enjoy watching the horses. We stopped at a couple local farm stands for mums and to check out the prices on other pumpkins.

Vacation, Day 2

2009-09-20T21:28:00.017-04:00

On Friday, My mom & I went up to Vermont for a few hours, We had planned to do a big loop, but decided instead to just go up I-91, and make our way back down Rt 5. We stopped at Harlow farm for coffee and a muffin at Cafe Loco, and she got to pick out the biggest pumpkin she could find. I, as usual, amused myself taking odd pics of everthing.

We stopped at the Dummerston Covered Bridge, built in 1872. Several cars in the lot, but noone down by the water, so it must have been a good day for kayaking. I grabbed a couple nice river stones for the trip to Boston.

The weather was sporadic for most of the day, going from cool and cloudy to sunny and hot every 10 minutes. It never did rain until after we got home to go out for dinner.

Day 1 - Sept. 2009

2009-09-18T07:06:00.009-04:00

The travels yesterday were a little less than perfect, but since I didn't have to be anywhere important the flight delay/missed connection wasn't too big a deal, just one of life's little inconveniences. I grabbed lunch (at 9:30am) and a white chocolate mocha at Seattles Best, and settled down for the rest of the morning. This is why I prefer the window seat.

On a happier note, my rental car is awesome, way better than the poorly handling Ford Focus I had back in May. This time I got a PT Cruiser! Sweet!

Today mom & I are headed to southern Vermont to drive around and visit our favorite places noted in yesterday's post. She wants to get her pumpkin at Harlow's. :) I thnk we'll be passing through Bennington to catch a couple Moose.

Have a great day!!

Almost time..

2009-09-14T21:15:00.002-04:00

Vacation creeps ever closer. I hope I can slow down just a bit and not feel that it's over before it even begins. I don't have the whole 10 days all planned out, so that definitely leaves me some wiggle room at least. There's Vermont on Friday with mom, stopping at one of our favorite places (Harlow's Nursery) and also Walker Farm. Saturday & Sunday I will be relaxing, maybe catch a movie with my sister, and firm up the Boston plans with Jeanne over a coffee at St. Arbucks. heh.

Did I mention Monday was our day in Boston? We've got so many ideas of what to do, pictures to take, and utter hilarity will surely ensue. People see us taking pics of ourselves, and offer to take a pic for us. We politely refuse. Maybe this time we'll let them? Maybe. No shiny, reflective surface is safe from our cameras.

Then we have the Big E. Here is a favorite shot from several years ago. The last couple of years my vacation hasn't properly aligned with it, so this year I made sure it was!

Time to finish packing!

Scrap Your Day #5

2009-09-08T19:45:00.002-04:00

Jeanne & I had a chance to get in some good scrappy time yesterday. Both of us finished the August edition of Shimelle's Scrap Your Day. This month's theme was "all about you". I had a bit of fun with this one, making my way down to the st john's town center as seems to be my habit on SYD. Much more scenic than my apartment. This is also the second SYD in a row with a well known person passing. In July it was Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett, August had Senator Kennedy.

I used Tim Holtz ink and my Studio G stamps for the date, and Martha Stewart pens for the journaling. Cardstock is from The Paper Company. That tiny little piece of PP in the middle is unknown scraps.

Don't forget to visit Jeanne to see what she created!

At least the weather seems to be cooling off, so I will enjoy sitting out on the balcony more in the evening. The cat loves it out there as well.

I also find myself far more willing to go to the beach in the winter. Early morning is especially nice, when it's about 50 deg. F out. Not only is it too hot in the summer to go to the beach, but instead of being able to enjoy the walk, I spend most of it dodging everything from frisbees to footballs to bocce balls. I'm definitely not cut out for the summer heat of the south, but I sure as heck don't miss driving in snow & ice either. A proper fall would be nice, but then I wouldn't have an excuse to go home for vacation. Well, I'd have one less excuse, anyway.

Only 9 days til my vacation, and I'm so happy. I'll miss the kitty, but he is well cared for by a co-worker while I'm away. **Thanks, Julie!

What a week..

2009-09-04T20:03:00.008-04:00

And I'm so glad it's over! It started out normally enough monday morning, but by lunchtime I knew I was comin' down with something. Tuesday morning at 8, I headed out to the local urgent care center, since it's easier to get in & out of there than it is to see my regular doctor. It took her exactly 30 seconds to look in my ear and at my throat, and pronounced me the proud owner of a sinus infection. YAY.

I knew with my vacation only 2 weeks away there was no way I was going to be sick during those blissful 10 days back home. Been there, done that.

So home I went with my trusty Z-pack of antibiotics. First dose threw me for a major loop, and my stomach took a couple days to settle. I stayed home on wednesday doing nothing but sleep and reading. I didn't even have my coffee! Thursday & Friday, I still wasn't quite myself. Today is looking much better. Hopefully I have enough drugs running thru my system to keep any other germs away while on vacation! :)

Here's a shot of one more Turtle that I don't think I've shared yet. He's located at Everbank, close to where the Arts Market is.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

St. Augustine on Sunday

2009-08-29T18:28:00.014-04:00

I wasn't able to leave as early as I usually would, but I still managed to make it down there shortly after sun-up. I didn't bother with the beach this time. I parked the car in a nearby garage, and headed to the Castillo De San Marcos fort. Chatted up a random photog (one of many I saw today) for a few minutes about our favorite spots and time of day for shooting, and parted ways.

I spent quite a few minutes watching some chickens, roosters and babies over by Flagler College. A local told me there was 3 chicks, and after a trip crossing the road, there were only 2. Mama still seemed to be looking for that 3rd baby.

I had been messing around with my camera settings this morning, and while some of it worked, some of it didn't. This shot is pretty blurry, but you can still tell what it is.

Shortly after noon, I was back home to listen to The Red Sox game.

This is one of my fave pics I got today.

Red Hats & stormy skies

2009-08-27T22:03:00.005-04:00

During a recent Saturday at the Riverside Arts Market, there were many ladies belonging to the Red Hat Society wandering as well. Here is a collage of the ones I managed to get photos of. They all looked to be having such a good time!

I decided to skip out on the market this weekend, and instead listed a few unneeded items on Ebay and Swap A CD.

Maybe tomorrow I will head down to St. Augustine for the morning. It's usually pretty quiet there on Sunday mornings, but with enough people out for some good people watching, and photographing.

I couldn't resist getting a shot of this last week. If you look closely you can see downtown jacksonville. Obviously, I was driving, so wasn't going to attempt making sure it was composed. The sunlight is what I was after.

Thursday is..

2009-08-27T19:00:00.004-04:00

Thursday is.. coffee in the evening since I don't have to go in for 6am on Friday. I'm usually there by 7, though. *yawn*

Thursday is.. what I consider to be *my* Friday because of the above, which almost makes for a 3 day weekend.

Thursday is.. already? Wasn't it just Tuesday, and I was at Barnes & Noble, learning of Sen. Kennedy's passing?

Thursday is.. wear your team out casual dress day at work. I wore my "Vote for Papi" t-shirt from here.

Thursday is.. debating whether to go to the Riverside Arts Market on Saturday. They have a good entertainment schedule this weekend. And seriously, I missed my french Quarter Beignet! :)

Thursday is.. reading thru the Boston list, and seeing how much more stuff I can add. I love Flickr.

RIP, Mr Kennedy..

2009-08-26T22:30:00.003-04:00

Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy passed away last night. Despite the fact that he has been quite ill as of late, it was still a shock to hear the news this morning.

Work was good. We have slowed down yet again, so several people are taking a vacation day tomorrow. We did manage to get quite a bit of work done on our current Kaizen project, so at least it was a productive day.

I can't wait for my vacation, 3 weeks to go. So much to do and see in just 10 short days. Boston and the Big E have been occupying my every thought lately and that's just 2 of the 10 days. lol! So much food, so little time! I'm starting to check the Boston sights a little more now to see what we can find that's a little more out of the ordinary. We came up with quite a list, too! It will definitely require leaving very early in the morning, and employing lots of logistics. Not to mention camera batteries, memory cards, and really good walking shoes! :) Let the insanity begin!

Seriously, we've been there so many times and have yet to see all the little nooks and crannies that make up Boston. Then there are those places we visit over and over, and never tire of the sight..

Yesterday was Tuesday, (and Scrap Your Day #5) so that meant a trip to Barnes & Noble to catch up on some of my favorite magazines, and a Green Tea frap.

This morning I *had* to go to Dunkin' Donuts to try the new "Toffee for your Coffee" donut, created by a customer in a contest this summer. It was a little too sweet, but still very good. It consists of a sour cream donut with a little glaze on top, and then crushed Heath Bar candy on that. Did I mention it was sweet? LOL

Around Jacksonville..

2009-08-24T21:00:00.001-04:00

Last Saturday (the 15th) I made my way downtown for the weekly Riverside Arts Market for probably the last time, til fall anyway. I'm trying to save a little cash for vacation, just to make sure the credit card isn't used more than it needs to be.

I got to watch an escape artist get out of a straightjacket, twice. I missed part of the first show, so made sure I caught the whole second performance.

This time I walked only to the train bridge, and then turned back. More rain was threatening after an already good storm plowed thru. Dare I say it was actually *chilly* under the bridge. I had a yummy pulled pork sammy and fries for lunch and a beignet (pronounced ben-yay) with cinnamon on it and some chickory iced coffee from the new orleans vendor for dessert.

On the 17th as I was leaving work I noticed lots of flyovers going on over the airport, so I took a short detour to find a good spot to park on the side of the road and try to get a few photos.

As always click on the photos for a bigger view.

Have a great week!

Scrap Your Day #4

2009-08-14T17:44:00.009-04:00

I was finally able to complete my layout for the 4th Scrap Your Day held on Saturday July 25th. The theme this month was looking down, out and up. I did pretty good for down & out, not so good on up. Two outta three ain't bad.

I love when SYD falls on a weekend. Weekdays make it much more of a challenge, since I can't take pics at work. This particular saturday I went down to the Riverside Arts Market and watched some live music from Justin Roberts and the Not Ready For Naptime Players, had a delicious pulled pork sandwich and lemonade, and wandered all about downtown Jax. It runs thru December, I can't wait til it's just a little cooler out.

Here are a couple more photos that didn't make it onto the layout.

Downtown Jacksonville Highway Maze. There is still construction going on, but it's gotten better than it was a couple years ago, thankfully.

This is the splash fountain in front of the jacksonville Landing Mall. Oh, how I wished I could have taken a splash..I did stand on the edge and try to get a good shot of my slightly wet sneakers, but it didn't come out like I wanted.

This is the back of the turtle seen in the upper left of the layout. I think I've found about 6 of them so far.

As always click on the pics for a closer view, and don't forget to visit Jeanne's blog to see what she made!

Saturday at the Market

2009-08-09T20:45:00.000-04:00

For the third Saturday in a row I went to the Riverside Arts Market to hang out and see what I could find. There is always so much going on there.. Lots of food, crafts such as jewelry or clothing, and then you have the entertainment. I've seen everything from jugglers, a break dance competition, belly dancing, and major recording artists.

I decided for the second time to make the walk down to the Jacksonville Landing and across the Main St Bridge to the fountain. I had planned on walking down the street some to find the Treaty Oak, but it was too hot, and I didn't write down proper directions.

So after wandering for a bit and seeing dolphins in the St John's river (?), I caught the river taxi back across. Once safely inside the air conditioned mall, I picked up a proper downtown map. Got a few good tips from the gentleman working there as well!

Man, I can't *wait* until winter, so I can go outside and wander without feeling like I'm going to pass out. LOL, I guess I'm just meant to sit in B&N nursing a huge coffee frap for the rest of the summer.

Speaking of winter, Trans-Siberian Orchestra has released their 2009 tour dates already. They will be here in Jax on December 3rd! for the rest of the weekend they will also be playing in Sunrise, Orlando and Tampa as well.

At right is a collage of just a few of the statues/scuptures/cool stuff I've seen recently. From top left: Maxwell House factory. We walked past this on the JDRF walk, seen here. and it does smell good out there. :) "The Sea of the Ear Rings" stand at the front entrance to the Cummer Museum & gardens. Next is Alltel Stadium for all you football fans. Bottom right is "Winged Victory" in the historic 5 points part of Jacksonville, bottom center is a memorial dedicated to Tilly K. Fowler, a Florida Congresswoman, and last but not least is "Diana of the Hunt", located in the gardens at the Cummer Museum. *phew*

Sunday Ride

2009-07-20T18:00:00.000-04:00

I was up fairly early this past Sunday and decided it would be a good day to hit St Augustine. I hadn't been there for a few months, and wanted to see what was going on. I made it to the beach for sunrise, then headed into town. Did a lot of walking all around the fort (Castillo De San Marcos) and the historic district. Being a sunday, not much was open that early, but I managed to find a small cafe, which seemed like a great idea. No iced coffee and they didn't take debit cards. I hardly *ever* have cash on hand. So I got just a hot coffee, and took it to go. I'll be prepared next time, since it did seem like a nice place to relax.

On the way home I stopped at a preserve, and took a good long walk there too. I saw lots of animal tracks, but other than a few frogs and lizards, I saw no wildlife. This little guy was hanging out in the box where the sign in/out clipboard is stored. too cute!

Here is a collage of a few pics taken of the fort. I love walking around it and just knowing how old it is amazes me. I never fail to find something that I missed on a previous trip.

Also, I was reminded recently that I still haven't shared pics from the 4th of july. ooops. I made it to the beach in Jacksonville. It took forever to find parking but once I got settled in to watch the live music, then walked the short distance to the beach for the fireworks after. Totally worth it!

As always click on the photos for a closer look!

Scrap your day 03

2009-07-13T20:30:00.002-04:00

On to the 3rd "Scrap Your Day" layout already, and next week brings the 4th day of picture taking. This year is just flying by. I can't believe it's only 66 days til my next vacation already too! THAT makes me very happy! This time we plan to get to Boston and the Big E (hopefully)! At least I have more time in September, almost a full 10 days.

This months theme was capturing the faces around us. Since I live with just my feline companion, there was no getting pics of family, and since I'm also not allowed to take pictures at work, it made for a short window of picture taking. Above, see a pic that didn't make it into the LO, one of the fountains by where I work. The first pic of the day came when I left work at 4:40 in the afternoon. After a quick stop at starbucks and the boat ramp I came home. I was able to get a couple shots around the house, then decided a visit to the St John's Town Center mall was in order.It was a bittersweet evening as both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson passed away.

This past weekend I found yet another turtle in the continuing saga of "find all the fiberglas turtles in Jacksonville". This one is just on the side of the road by my Toyota dealership.

I also managed to find a new nature preserve. Unfortunately the interesting half is closed for renovation. This one is called Castaway Island Preserve. They did have a nice, albeit overgrown, flower garden loaded with butterflies.

Oh, and in other super duper cool news, the dunkin donuts we had here near the airport is REOPENING!!! oh, how happy that makes my workplace. But wait, there's more! In addition to the million restaurants at the river city shopping center (near the airport, not as nice as the St. John's, but definitely a place I visit frequently) we now have an Olive Garden there! Salad! Breadsticks. I think I'm in heaven! :) I'm thinking dinner before the new Harry Potter film on Thursday!

As always click on the photos for a closer look, and don't forget to visit Jeanne's Blog to see what she created!

Long Weekends Rock!

2009-07-06T21:39:00.013-04:00

My weekend started on Thursday evening when I got out of work. For once I didn't have to "make an appearance" at work on Friday. Not that I don't usually have stuff I need to get done, but that's besides the point. A fire-truck in front of a Larry's Firehouse subs?? nahhhh. *click*

On friday afternoon I took a ride around downtown Jax knowing there wouldn't be much traffic, and saw many places I need to explore further. I really should visit the Cummer Museum & Gardens. Seriously. I've been here for almost 3 years and haven't been there yet. I managed to drive by it twice on Friday. I love visiting the local parks, and today I found Riverside Park, with its fenced in pond full of various birds, ducks and turtles; and a Turtle Sculpture (see another one I posted here).

Driving further out of the city, I found the remnants of what was to be Luxery Condos on the St John's River. The banners proclaimed high quality living and there the concrete skeletons sit, vacant and only half built behind a new (and thriving) strip mall. After all that driving around I made my way to the Barnes & Noble for a coffee frap. After coffee and a fast but heavy downpour it was time to scope out the eye candy at Anthropologie. If only I was filthy rich...*sigh*

Walking past one of the walkways going to the back parking lot, I noticed lots of tents set up. So, off I wandered to check it out. Turns out they have a flea market on fridays. I immediately bought an Icee and took a bunch of pictures. Rain was again threatening so off I went to head home.

Fireworks photos to follow in a seperate post...stay tuned!

Blueberry Festival

2009-06-27T20:55:00.001-04:00

Oddly, I bought nothing containing blueberries. I did have a polish sausage with some onions and peppers, and a nice fresh squeezed lemonade, served in a quart size takeout container. Yum!

They had some seafood and BBQ thai as well, but it was a lot more money than I felt like forking over. There was also kettle korn and I almost got some, but the heat was making the cooker sweat, and that sweat was dripping right into the kettle, so I decided not to go there. ewwww..

It was pretty darn hot out, so hung out in the barn checking out the poultry and cattle, watching the judging. Once I got my food I made my way to a little open barn to sit and eat, as well as enjoy some country/folk/bluegrass music performed by Ron Davis, a one man band. He played much Johnny Cash, some Willie & Waylon, and some other odds and ends, very good!!

There was also a small civil war reenactment. Bless those people dressed in heavy wool period clothing on this sweltering day.

Scrap Your Day layout #2

2009-06-23T18:00:00.000-04:00

So, here we are, only 3 days away from the third Scrap Your Day that Jeanne and I are doing together. She did this project last year with Shimelle, and this year we've decided to take it on ourselves, but picking the months randomly to switch up the different themes.

On this layout, I made a collage of just a few of the flowers from mom's gardens, and my sweet puppy of course. In the middle row are some of the cars from the Cruising Night at Atkins in Amherst, MA, breakfast with my parents in Williamsburg, and the entrance to the Holyoke Mall. On the bottom is me & my mom walking the 2 dogs. Click on the picture to see in more detail.

Where is the year going?? I can't believe it's only 87 days til my next vacation already! Not that I'm complaining. ;)

On Sunday morning I went to the farmers market in Jacksonville. I really should try to go more often, as it's only about 8 miles away. I spent about $14 and got so much stuff. Mangoes, strawberries, blueberries, bell peppers, onions, red potatoes, cukes, and both green and yellow squashes. You could also buy live chickens as evidenced in the top left photo. Or fresh boiled peanuts! Now all I have to do is make sure I can eat everything before it goes bad. It shouldn't be too hard. As of today, almost all of the potatoes are gone and half the berries, squash, and peppers. yummmy!

Thought I'd share another photo from the friday night free movie at the pavilion by the beach. Since the movie didn't start til 9pm, I had quite a bit of time to wander around. I love the blue on the right hand side of this building, and the sun dropping below the horizon.

Northeast FL weather update..

2009-06-22T21:23:00.007-04:00

Lovely storm tonight: high winds, heavy rain. I didn't see any hail here, and the power didn't go out surprisingly. Once it stopped, as I did the other evening, i took the cat out onto the balcony with his cute little leash and halter on. Probably the only good thing about storms (besides much needed rain) is the fact that it usually cools off a little bit. And that's a good thing, since it was still 90 degrees last night when i went to bed at 10pm. **sigh**

Here is Mr. Scout admiring a bug flying around, I'm sure. or a shadow moving. certainly NOT the camera.

I couldn't resist a fisheye shot of the sky with this sweet cloud once the storm had mostly passed. Hence the funny orange color of the cat.

Happy day!

Friday Night Movies

2009-06-20T11:29:00.007-04:00

On Friday I went to work for about 3 hours getting some last minute work done on a small project I'm finishing up. After I left work I went for a quick ride to Hobby Lobby & Michaels. Didn't get much, but wanted to see if there was anything new and fun.

I also made a quick stop at the Cradle Creek Preserve I had posted pics of here. It was great then, I don't know what happened. They may be cleaning it up, but the trails are overgrown, and there is cut wood everywhere. Lowe's did build a new footbridge in one spot, though. So, needless to say, I was in, got a few pics out by the estuary, and the canoe launch area, then I was out.

I headed out towards the beach after that, and to stop at Krystal's for supper. Over by the SeaWalk Pavilion I noticed something going on, so parked and walked over. I'd forgotten about the free movies they show on the big screen on Friday nights. Last night's movie was Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade, starring Sean Connery as Indy's father, and River Phoenix as a young Indy.

Sunday's in the summer they do free jazz concerts, so I believe that will be on the agenda soon as well.

Red Shouldered Hawks

2009-06-18T20:32:00.012-04:00

As I was leaving work this afternoon, I was looking at the giant rolls of hay being baled in the field, and something caught my eye. I made a quick u-turn to come back around and saw these two hanging out, i'm sure looking for dinner. The baler must be disrupting the small field creatures they so enjoy. I sat in my car pulled over to the side so I wouldn't scare them away, and managed to get a few pictures.

Pretty cool, but eventually they flew off in search of food. Hope they found some!

I was really bored the other day, and decided to try a makeshift filter on my camera. I used the trick of a nylon over the lens, and held there with a rubber band. the tighter I stretched it the less you could tell it was there. For this first pic I kept it pretty loose.

And this is with it stretched very tight. Still pretty muted, but clear.

A couple nights ago we had a very cool light show, as well. it thundered quite a bit, and rained for a little while. After the rain stopped it was all lightning. Mostly it was just the bright white flashes, but there was some orange and reddish light on occasion as well. I also noticed that the lightning mostly forked either upwards or to the side, not down. I have some video of it, but it's very long. If I can figure out how to get a couple smaller chunks seperated, I may even post it. I put my small P&S camera on the tripod, and brought it out onto the balcony. I put the halter and leash on my cat, and we sat, watching the light flash. It was 12:30 am by the time it had stopped enough for me, and then I went to bed.

The Color Red, And Then Some...

2009-06-09T18:33:00.007-04:00

Today I had a TWI (training within industry) class south of downtown jax. I had a lot of fun, and learned quite a bit. It's mostly about training others to do their job properly, consistently and safely. It doesn't matter what industry or title you are. You will run into difficult people to work with and for. We got out a few minutes earlier than planned so I hit up the St John's town center for a bit on the way home.

Grabbed a scrappy mag at Barnes & Noble, a Frap of course, and this shot of the cute train they have set up for rides. I love the bright colors! Shimelle has a bit of a color challenge going on..

Over the weekend I went out to Lake City to visit my cousin and family. One of the kids had an end of year dance program which was a lot of fun (no photos allowed, tho). We also went to a town-wide tag sale out in Ft White. There weren't a ton of vendors due to the unpredictable weather that day, but there was still plenty to look at. In the center of the parking lot they had this old caboose set up on a short set of tracks, and I couldn't resist getting a few shots of it as well. Click on the photos for a closer look, and enjoy!
Hopefully I will get to scrap my May "Scrap Your Day" page. I think part of me doesn't want to scrap my vacation pictures, as I'll wish I was still there instead of being here. LOL
Only 100 days til my next vacation. :)

Scrap Your Day layout #1

2009-06-04T21:05:00.007-04:00

Here it is, already a week into June almost. Where oh where is this year going??

We had some rain and a bit of thunderstorming today. Here is a photo taken at the boat ramp around sunset. I stopped at Michael's to use the coupon I had for 20% off, and got a few things to use on my vacation layouts.

Here is my layout I did for April's Scrap Your Day that Jeanne and I are participating in. Ge here to see her "Scrap Your Day" layout.

I will scrap May's SYD pictures soon, so that I can concentrate on June's day without feeling like I'm behind. It was definitely a great day, and I can't wait to see how the page turns out! I also need to choose the next month that decides our "theme" for taking pics.

Tonight I am just plain tired, and ready to crash.

I will leave you with this photo, it almost looks like the same bird I posted some months ago, and still can't ID. It would figure that now I can't find the other pic to compare. *sigh*

What I saw today..

2009-06-03T19:54:00.009-04:00

So, I haven't much to say about these, but I couldn't resist posting several of my favorites.

I showed some of these little guys (and gals, I'm sure) here. They seem to be growing pretty quick. I'm pretty tempted to feed them, but don't want to upset the balance of nature...so I am content to take several photos and watch the protective parents keep them safe.

Into the water they go......

By this time, I've turned the car around twice, and finallt decided I should just park. thankfully there's a new warehouse for lease right there, so I stopped in the lot for just a few minutes.

.....And back out the other side, right towards me. this is when i wish i had some bread. :) (and where I got lightly hissed at, hehe.

This shot is my absolute favorite. I did only a slight crop, to move them more off center. I do wish I had gotten a little more in the bottom of the frame, but their cute faces more than make up for the slight oversight. hehe

More Vacation Memories

2009-06-01T19:53:00.014-04:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, the Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory has much more than just butterflies & Moths. Top center: some kind of lizard (couldn't find it on the website), top right: Female Australian Stick Insect, left & center: Owl Butterfly, Bottom left: Akbar, a Senegal Parrot, and bottom center: the iguana. On the bottom right is a close-up of the nursery, where all the coccoons waiting to hatch are pinned up.

While Jeanne was jumping for joy, I was twirling about next to a small flower petal circle. Not sure of it's signifigance, but it was pretty.

Here's are several views of the area around Paradise Pond. clockwise from top left: tree from right side of Boat house, The island as seen from the tree, The flower grouping, and the boat house.

I can remember when I was much younger, they used to plow the whole pond in winter, around the island even, so ice skaters had plenty of space to move around. There was a sign hung in front of the boat house telling the thickness of the ice, and whether skating was allowed. We pulled each other around holding onto each others scarf, and probably spent as much time on our butts as we did skating. As I got older, and less people went there, they plowed a smaller and smaller area, and no longer went around the island at all. I can remember walking down the steps with my rubber blade guards on, and having hot cocoa with marshmallows when I got home afterwards. It all looks so much smaller than it did when I was a kid.

/vacation..

2009-05-31T14:25:00.001-04:00

If Wednesday was Wicked, then Friday was

Fabulous. We were thinking of going to a movie, because the weather was so crappy, and the only thing that came to mind as something to do for a good amount of time inside was the Butterfly Conservatory, Magic Wings. I hadn't been there in ages, and along with butterflies and moths, they have several other creatures in cages, or roaming (more or less) free.

Once we got used to the dive-bombing of the butterflies, we just stood still as possible so they would land on us. They definitely like bright colors. We both got some great shots! When we left there (3 school groups full of screaming children later) it had brightened up some, and was shaping up to be a pretty nice day.

Off we went for a drive up Mt. Sugarloaf. The view was awesome & the clouds were high enough that we could see the mountains beyond, and still see pretty far off into the distance. After Sugarloaf, it was off to Jeanne's to pick up her car, so we could both drive to Hamp. I had to be home by 5 to feed and let out the pups, and that would give us at least a whole extra hour in town.

We first went to Local's for those delicious Burgers, onion rings and fried pickles. It was so good, and there was no way we could even finish it all. After that we wandered around Upper Main St, and into St John's Episcopal Church, then up to Smith College for the Greenhouse, Botanical Garden and some fun pictures down by paradise Pond.

We had a blast here, recounting all the memories each of us had in the area. By the time we finished there, it was already time to head back toward the cars. We made stops into Faces (they have the best t-shirts here) and Starbucks on the way, of course.

Wicked Awesome Wednesday

2009-05-29T21:00:00.002-04:00

What a great day we had! The weather could have been a little better, but it also could have been a lot worse. I met Jeanne at her place a little after 2pm and we headed into town. There was so much we wanted to pack into the day, where to start? Starting from the top of the parking garage in town, and just wherever we went there was something to attract our attention. Here are some of the flowers we came across.

We had an early dinner at the Teapot Restaurant, including some Bubble Tea. Here is my Mango Chicken with both of our bubble teas in the background.

After walking around some and digesting that, we decided to stop into the new-ish Local Burgers & Fries place. Wow!! I had an order of regular fries, and were they delish! So good in fact, that instead of going up north a bit as originally planned for Friday, decided to stick around closer to home and go there for lunch! Not only was the food great, the service and people working there were awesome as well. Casual, friendly, fast, reasonably priced, clean. Pretty much perfect.

We checked out the Urban Outfitters, and hung out at Starbucks before heading down to Bishop's Lounge to check out the boys.

By the time we got home it was about 2am. Thursday I had no plans but to relax. Friday is another fun day!

My Vacation So Far..

2009-05-27T08:18:00.007-04:00

On Sunday my plane flew into Bradley just ahead of schedule. There was a nasty storm brewing towards the south/southwest, so the timing was perfect. I grabbed a shuttle down to the rentals, and picked up my car. They gave me a Ford Focus. As someone who is used to driving a Toyota Rav4, I don't like it (small cars scare me), but it's better than not having a car. As a consolation, it *does* have Sirius satellite radio. As I was driving I got to see all the familiar sights along the way. Of all of them, nothing beats the sight of mountains and hills. That is one thing I miss, Florida is so flat. One thing I came across that I don't miss: potholes. Holy Moly, the roads on the outskirts of town are just horrible. Driving thru the center of 'hamp I was stopped at a red light and snapped this photo of the Academy Of Music. Great old theater. Since it was getting

late, I decided I should get a move on, and make my way home.

Monday's photos will be shared when Jeanne & I can put our posts up at the same time. I spent most of that day at the Holyoke Mall, Barnes & Noble, and later at a Cruise Night at Atkin's Farm.

Tuesday was pretty much moving from the word GO! I got up, showered and drove down to Dunkin's with my sister, hit wal-mart to pick up snacks for our long session at the Tattoo Parlor, Then it was back home to pick up the other people going (there were 4 of us geting inked that day: my mom, me, my sister, and my niece). We hit the 99's restaurant for lunch and made our way to Guideline Tattoos in E. Hartford, CT for our 2:00 appointment with Steve. In the process of deciding what to get for my second tat, I must have changed the design and/or placement a dozen times. This is what I ended up with, and I love it!

Here is the finished tattoo. It goes all the way around, save for maybe an 1/8 of an inch. When I take off the bandage I can show the rest of it, but this is the main part of the design anyway. The back is all vine and leaves, no stars.

Today it is raining, so it remains to be seen what Jeanne & I will do this afternoon. Tonight is definitely drinks and music at Bishop's Lounge, though!

One Weekend in the Life of Me

2009-05-18T20:33:00.012-04:00

Ali had a great challenge on her blog this past weekend to document our weekend. I plan on sharing a few of my favorite pics here, and probably will make a mini book out of this project. I had a great weekend, even though I had to work on Saturday morning. The good thing was it was just me, so I could go in whenever, and that whenever meant that the sun was up. It's dark when I go in during the week, and that makes for a very boring and picture-less drive.

Saturday was also the date for the annual Dancin' in the Streets celebration in downtown Neptune Bleach, FL. They block off the end of the street and it's one big party for the whole day. Like all the events, the food was expensive, but the entertainment was great. I hit the beach for a short walk before I was able to catch the last 2 bands. First up was the "Little Green Men". They played all the great hair bands and sing along anthems of the (mostly) 80's! Add some beer and sunshine, and it was like one big karaoke session! We sang along to Def Leppard, AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Journey, Katrina & The Waves, and I'm sure many more that I am forgetting. After they played we heard "Straight Up". They played Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, and the like. Very happy movin' music, for sure! About halfway through their set, I decided to beat the traffic and head back to the car. Yes, they had on funny green wigs and space-suits. But they had fun, and we had fun, and that's all that matters!

Along with the painted Jaguars they have around town, we now also have Sea Turtles. I saw only one other so far, but wasn't able to stop to get a shot of it yet.

So that was my Saturday. Here is my sunday:

As always click on the photos for a closer look, and have a great week! This coming sunday I will be on a plane headed home for vacation!

Spring goslings..

2009-05-15T18:41:00.011-04:00

Several days ago I was leaving work and saw some baby geese waddling alongside the parents, and darned if my camera battery was dead, and no spare handy. **hangs head in shame**

All was not lost tho, as I was leaving yesterday, I stopped in the front parking lot and walked across the street to where the pond and clock tower are, right in front of the Coach building. Too cute! I wandered down the where there is a little area with benches and low overhanging trees, very nice area to sit and relax. If you don't mind the noise of the fake birds in the tower to keep other critters away. LOL

Here are a couple photos of some of the babies.

The one to the left is a different group, and if you look closely you can see a second baby behind the adult.

I also saw these very bright and cheerful flowers. I have no idea what kind they are, but they are oh so lovely!

Last but not least, today we had an hour for lunch instead of our usual half hour, so me and a coworker went to a newly opened frozen yogurt place down the road.

The owner waved us in, (he was on the phone) and I asked him if I could get a couple pics for my scrapbook and he emphatically shook his head no, as if I would steal ideas or something. I dunno. So, on his phone, loudly speaking in chinese, and paying us no mind at all, as soon as we paid for our dishes (all self serve, 45 cents an ounce, so a good size dish is about 4 bucks) we sat down and proceeded to take pics anyway. he never noticed at all. If he did he didn't say anything. Lots of flavors, tons of different toppings, including lots of fresh fruit, and cool prismatic tables! Here is a collage of photos I was able to get.

I'm so glad I only have a week to go before my vacation. I fly out on sunday the 24th, and should be landing in Mass about 8pm. A bit later than I like, but oh well, better late than never! I better start packing! :-)

Weekend photo dump

2009-05-04T19:30:00.006-04:00

Out driving with my cousin, I had the chance to stick my camera out the window a few times and catch some of the beautiful color on the side of the road, not to mention said camera hanging out the window.

We did some shopping at the mall in Lake City, and I had a blast trying on stuff I would never actually buy. I did buy a cute outfit for church on Sunday. It was casual day, since there was a big get together in the park below the church. Here it is:

I also got some really cute layering t's at Rue 21, another store I didn't think I'd ever buy from, seems like a cross between old navy and Hot topic, lol

It was taken in the girl's mirror before we left. I got some cute hammy pics of us, but don't want to post without permission from their mom.

Kinda bummed that I missed NSD, but it was nice to get away from home for a couple days, despite the hell i'm dealing with here. I'm trying to keep it into perspective...if the broken AC is all I'm dealing with right now, it could be much, much worse...

OK, this pic does not do it justice, but there is a field full of these beautiful yellow flowers, and this is all I managed to get. Notice my lovely reflection right in the middle, lol.

Have a great week, everyone!

The heat is on...warning: ranting ahead!

2009-05-04T18:17:00.005-04:00

I had a great time at my cousin's this weekend, even though we didn't end up having the time to go to my aunt's to swim. I came home early evening yesterday to a 92 degree F apartment. Yay, the AC picked a great time to crash. I went online and got the "emergency" maintenance beeper number and called it. 6 times within an hour. No answer, no callback, nothing.
This morning, I locked the cat and his neccesseties in the bedroom with the ceiling fan on, and called the office at my 10 am break. I called at my 2:30 break and they still hadn't gotten to it yet. I got home at 6pm, and they were just starting to look into it. Turns out the fan wasn't turning. So he told me if it happens again to just tap the fan with a screwdriver, until it can be fixed properly...WTF???? **sigh**
I also mentioned that the windows needed better weatherproofing, along with the space under my door...the whole place needs updating, badly. I should just get this stuff fixed myself and take it off the rent.

/rant

St Augustine continued..

2009-04-29T19:28:00.015-04:00

Here are some more photos from my visit to St Augustine on Sunday. First up are a couple pictures from the little walk I took before I went in. These are the steps leading up to the path. The cement path has palm fronds engraved all the way around. They look a little like fossils, pretty neat.

The music was as awesome as the food. As I said before the stage setup was much smaller than last year's, but that didn't affect the enthusiasm of the players at all! That's one thing about the blues bands, along with original songs, you're also likely to hear a few familiar songs as well. At right is JW Gilmore and the Blues Authority. Love the singers purple suit!

The band below (Stormy Weather Blues Band) did an awesome version of "You Didn't Think About That", a song I know from Coco Montoya's Suspicion album. The guitarist was a riot to watch on stage. besides playing the guitar, he took pictures of his band mates, and pretty much was all over the place. The singer reminded me of a cross between Joe Cocker and Jack Nicholson, a la The Shining.

At left is the Regi Blue/Al Stone band, (links go to to their respective, seperate MySpace pages) they were fantastic as well. So all in all, with the food, and the music, and the stupendous weather, it was a great day! After all the food I ate, I decided to drive south just a bit further and hit the beach for a short walk, since I had some time still before I had to get home to the televised Red Sox/Yankees game.

Phew!

Oh. My. Goodness.

2009-04-27T22:25:00.001-04:00

Sunday I met a friend of mine at the St Augustine Ampitheater for the Taste of SA, and the Birth of the Blues. Last year it was a 2 day event, this year they've shrunk it down to just one. The weather was beautiful, with hardly a cloud to be seen.

On the way down I stopped at the SA outlets to walk around and pick up a new pair of sport sandals, and a 3 pack of "car jar" air fresheners (Vanilla Lime) from the YCC outlet store.

I pulled into the Ampitheatre a little after noon, and took a walk on a short circular stone path. I didn't venture too far, lest the parking attendants think I was trying to sneak in the back way. There were steps leading up, all but blocked by a large hanging tree branch. After getting a few photos in there, I paid my way in to the Taste. After purchasing some taste tickets I wandered about the booths looking for what I wanted to try first. Immediately the booth with the Pan Seared Mahi Mahi tuna wrapped in bacon caught my attention. The line and the wait never seemed to cease. Adding it to my "must try" list, I moved on. The A1A Ale Works had a busy booth as well, and the Shrimp 'n Grits were quickly purchased, photographed, and inhaled. Delicious!! While I was wolfing that down, my friend called saying she had just pulled in. I met her at the entrance and after purchasing her tickets, we wandered again, with me pointing out where the "good stuff" was. She started out with the sushi, and I headed to the booth with
Caribbean Jack Seared Ahi Tuna with Apple Mango Slaw. It included an edible flower, which I ate, but it was pretty tasteless. :)

Other items I had were the Maryland style Crab Cakes with a mustard sauce, Fried Custard, Garlic Fries, Mini Chocolate Torte, The Mahi Mahi wrapped in bacon mentioned above. Oh and 2 Starbucks Iced coffees, and a small pice of Orange Chocolate fudge to go. The only disappointment was the Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice, which was very bland.

In between dishes we sat under the tent and watched the bands and chatted.

More pictures to follow!

Scrap Your Day 01

2009-04-26T07:49:00.008-04:00

I randomly chose the August prompt from Shimelle's free online "Scrap Your Day" challenge/project she did last year. Jeanne and I decided to do it together this year, and alternate choosing months, as well. She already had a system that works for her down, and I'll be learning what works and what doesn't as I go along.

This months theme was "in the details", and I probably could have done better, but I had fun and that's what counts! :) It's a challenge after all, right?

I could tell when I got up, that it was going to be a beautiful day!The sun was shining, and some high fluffy clouds.

Dinner last night was from a tasty recipe I found in one of the Taste of Home magazines. I love that they are fast, and always use easy to find ingredients.

This one has spiral pasta, diced chicken breast, diced tomatoes, black olives and some spices. It also called for sour cream, but had none, and it was still tasty. I have made it properly before, so knew it was one ingredient I could skip.

Most of the day was spent at the St John's Town Center browsing at Barnes & noble, and watching the free music in the small park there. There are ducks, koi, and lots of turtles in the pond there as well, so plenty to capture my attention.

They had an art show going on also, so I couldn't get too picture happy there, but there were some great drawings and paintings. very creative stuff!

I even managed to find my new bathing suit. hopefully this one lasts more than a year, since I may go swimming 2-3 times a year at the most.

Today it's off to St Augustine for the annual Taste of St Augustine, and Birth of the Blues festival at the Ampitheatre. I've even skipped breakfast so I can properly stuff myself later on. Carribean Jack Seared Ahi Tuna with Apple Mango Slaw anyone?? YUM-O!

Remember to go here to see some of Jeanne's pics from her day! I wonder what month she'll pick for us next!!

Lazy Sunday

2009-04-13T18:43:00.006-04:00

On Saturday I had planned to go to the beach for Sunrise Service, but on Sunday morning that was not happening. I woke up, fed the cat and promptly went right back to bed. Ah, well. I finally got up about 8:30-ish, took my shower and proceeded to have a semi-lazy day.

I made cinnamon rolls, and coffee, then got on the computer. I always hit the Postsecret blog first on Sundays, then off to check out some crafty blogs.

Eventually Jeanne & I connect and decide to scrap. It took me a little while to decide what layouts to do, but I decided on one for the election (loosely), and one on the walk through Cradle Creek Preserve.

The photos on the right half of the page were from the rally held at Metro Park back in September.

~details: cardstock: The Paper Company, "memorable" stamp: Collage Press office policy, "imagine" & "dream" rub-ons: Junkitz, "change you can believe in" stamps: Scrappy Cat.

For the Cradle Creek layout, I wanted simple, and used a sketch I found in the newest, and sadly last issue of Simple Scrapbooks.

There are so many great places here to hike and watch birds, or other small creatures, that I just need to get out there and find them.

~details: Cardstock: Bazzill, Flowers: Prima, Letter stickers & brads: unknown, journaling font: Lucida Handwriting.

Have a great week and don't forget to go visit Jeanne's blog and see what she created!

Jax Beach & Springing The Blues

2009-04-05T15:50:00.007-04:00

Between Friday evening and most of Saturday I spent about 10 hours at the beach listening to some great music, and eating some good BBQ. They had 2 stages, going and I found myself at the less crowded, but just as good, smaller stage. I listened to the Yankee Slickers for most of their set, and moved about between set-ups.

It wasn't as windy as the last time I was out, so I ended up on the pier again also. Lots of bluefish and some white being caught. From what I heard, there was a small shark sighting. The dolphins made a quick pass also.

This guy was hanging out on the pier for quite some time. I bet he was probably waiting for someone to toss him some fish.
I got a little sunburn, even with at least 2 applications of sunscreen, but it was a great couple of days at the beach.

Jacksonville Parks

2009-03-28T20:00:00.010-04:00

After working several hours today to finish up a project at work I decided to take a ride to a local park/trail that I read about on this site. I chose the Cradle Creek Preserve to check out, will probably visit more of the other parks eventually.

I stopped at Dunkin's for an iced coffee, and headed a few miles down the road.

As soon as I got out of my car and saw the boardwalks I couldn't wait to see what was out there!

I mostly saw lizards and lots of large bird nests. I wish I had a better zoom, but I think this one may be an osprey. Heard some woodpeckers as well, but didn't/couldn't see them. Lots of elusive butterflies as well.

This little lizard was pretty neat. The photo is actually upside down, since that was the only angle I could get him at. I was hanging over the railing as it was. :)

Can you see the lizard in this photo?? He wasn't into getting his picture taken, and I took that as a personal challenge. Managed to get a couple of him, but he kept scurrying under the leaves, and boy, did he blend perfectly!

Also saw lots of flowers, spanish moss, and various palms.

Managed to get a shot of myself sitting on a bench at the end of one of the trails. I only saw one couple walking around, other than that I pretty much had the trails to myself.

Windy Weekends..

2009-03-23T19:59:00.001-04:00

I was able to scrap part of my saturday events from the Seafood festival, but not all of it. It was so windy, I have no idea what made me want to walk out onto the very long, even windier out over the ocean pier. May have been the attractive price of only a dollar. A superb bargain, considering I had just paid $13 for some fried shrimp and a lemonade. Ah well, not like the seafood fest is every weekend.

Here is my layout from the Shuttle Discovery launch at the beach. I printed out the patch from the internet.

~details: Cardstock: Bazill, "blastoff" letters: K & Company, Discover, believe, Imagine rubons: Junkitz, imagine rubon(top left): Swatch book, calendar stamp: Collage Press, Journaling stamp: Autumn Leaves.

That last pic that looks like a cloud is actually the leftover gas from takeoff, it was very bright! The pic on the left with "discover" on it is the rocket boosters dropping off.

As I mentioned earlier, while I was at the seafood fest, I decided to take a stroll on the pier. It was actually pretty neat, spots for people to clean their fish and some benches. I will definitely have to take the walk again, on a much less windy day of course!

~details: cardstock: Bazill, "@" stamp: Fiskars, "the pier" stamps: Autumn Leaves (more on these later), Pointing hand stamp: Melissa Francis.

So, those new Autumn Leaves stamps are pretty cool. they are the layering ones, and so an endless amount of possiblilities for color choices. I'll have lots of fun with those over the holidays!

So, that was my weekend! I still want to scrap the actual seafood fest, and then at the beginning of April, there's the Springing the Blues fest, with more food, music and fun to be had. That one goes on for 3 days.

While I was trying to find less windy places to hang out during the fest, I went to a small park near where I watched the Shuttle. There's a bronze statue there called "Sea Express". It depicts a boy riding on the back of a dolphin. I took several pics of it in different lighting, so not sure which one to use on my layout. I'm sure one of them will be fine.

That's all I've got here. As always it was a very productive scrappy day. Don't forget to visit Jeanne to see all the cool stuff she made!

Have a great week!

**only 62 days til my vacation, and 64 til I get my new tattoo!! w00t!!!