Vacation, Days 3 & 4

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

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

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..

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

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..

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

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

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..

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..

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..

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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.