Vacation's end

A brief summery of week 2 of our vacation...

We took a dip in Silver Glen Springs in Ocala Natl. Forest. It was gorgeous and cold! The water, as Jerry likes to remind me at any given opportunity, is a constant 72 degrees, as it is at all of the springs in Florida. So you can either dive right in, suffer the mammalian dive reflex, and have to have your heart jump started again... or, you can go in gradually. I opted for the later.

Once you get used to the cold, the water feels wonderful, especially on a hot day. I floated in the crystal blue water, very blue, and listened as someone on one of the boats on nearby Lake George was playing the Grateful Dead. Home.

We went to the wine festival at the Log Cabin Vineyard in Satsuma. These are muscadine grapes, which are native to the southern United states. They produce a sweet, dessert wine. I bought a bottle of a white wine infused with key lime. Can't wait to try it!

And here the wine goddesses are crushing the grapes. There was also live music. It was a small but nice gathering.

Our neighbor across the street, Mr. Counts (he's a math teacher... no really) brought us over some of his homegrown veggies.

I spent a good part of the vacation knitting and reading. I'm reading this book by Susan Gordon Lydon. It is a really good read about knitting and the healing power of craft in our lives.

New developments

Things are moving along here in Lala Land. I have been very busy with life stuff though and this morning woke up with an unhappy neck, so here we go in reverse again. But I did manage to make this little cloth. This is a nice way to stamp fabric. I used a bit of Fabulous Foam Sheet and drew a pattern into it with a pencil, pressing down hard.

One of the two big life things taking up my mental and physical time is the acoustic neuroma. It has grown slightly again so my days of watch and wait are over, I'm afraid. I am going to the Univ. of Miami to discuss radiosurgery options with Dr. Eshragi. Their radiosurgery team is one of the best in the country, so I am very grateful for that.

Remember this?

This is the other big life thing. And for a change, it is something fun and I'm so excited! We made an offer on this house in Crescent City, Florida and we are now waiting for the closing date. It is our retirement home and, though that is in the future still a bit, this house just couldn't be passed up.

This will be our future view from the front porch

We should be able to make it up there at least once a month and holidays / vacations. North FL is home for me. So I am really happy about this. The house was the Methodist minister's parsonage, so that's what I call it.

Can we say "studio"?

St. Paddy's Day weekend fun

No good St. Pat's day should be without a ride on the bar bicycle. This was in St. Petersburg, FL. I have never in my life seen one of these things. You ride on it while sitting at the bar and you peddle...thus powering your own bar experience. Or some such thing. At least you're working off all the calories from the booze.

Here the city of Tampa is dyeing the river green during the Irish festival. I really hope that the dye is non-toxic to sea life :\ That's the University of Tampa in the background.

Irish dancers at the Tampa festival. Took me back to the days when my daughter used to be in step dancing competitions. And what a nerve wrecking hot mess that was.

Here we are with our BFF's in Ybor City (that's pronounced Ebor). It is the very place where the famous Cuban - Tampa cigars were manufactured by hand back in the day. And maybe still today. I don't know. The males in the group didn't want to watch the little history movie at the welcome center. And I'm supposed to be the one with ADHD.

While in Ybor City, we came across a vintage clothing store, La France, that was just off the chain. I took a picture of this old coat. Not the most spectacular thing in the store, but I did love the weave. It reminded me of my mother's spring coats when I was a kid.

Now, this was the most spectacular thing in the store. The most beautiful dress I have ever seen...ever.

And speaking of textiles....we took a trip to the Ringling museum in Sarasota. The Ringling museum is a collection of museums and Mr. Ringling's magnificent house. I must say, Ringling was one wealthy son-of-a-gun. Or as my husband said, "...a lot of midgets built this house". Here is a shot of the dinning room table cloth; incredibly beautiful lace!

Ringling collected quite a few tapestries from the 16th century. This one is just some little piece they threw up in the foyer.

This tapestry was in the art museum. It has deteriorated to some degree and you can see the warp showing. 20 epi ... I counted.

We also went to the Dali museum, but you weren't allowed to take pictures there. It was pretty incredible. I really like the Tampa area. Hope we can go back again soon. And now back to weaving. I'm working on a bird's eye pattern for a pillow at present. Pics to follow.