Passing Time on Peace River (Wauchula, FL)

I thought I should post something soon before someone thinks we have lost our way through the humid haze of Florida.  We are not lost.  We are just trying to survive the heat wave that has been breaking Florida's record this past month.  It is certainly hot here!  It is a little more than what I had wished for.... I know, I know...be careful of what you wish for!  Then again, I wasn't asking for a hot summer just a warm sunny dry winter.  After three wet winters, I felt we were due a warmer winter and I am still looking forward to this winter in Key West.

In the meantime, we are dealing with the heat wave by getting out early before the temperatures rise.  When it gets into the 90s with a heat index of 100+ with humidity, it is very hard to stay enthused about taking a walk around the park.  We do get a break from the heat in the late afternoons or early evenings with some terrific thunderstorms that shake our rig and a quick dump of ice cold rain.

Still, I have no complaints.  I prefer this over our freezing winds and rains where I had to wear layers just to take the garbage out to the dumpster.  We have made it a habit of spending about a half hour to an hour sitting outdoors with the cats in the shade before surrendering to our air conditioned motorhome to cool off.  Even the cats are getting use to the idea of going out several times a day for short periods of time.  So, now it feels like there is always someone begging to go outdoors....all day long.

suspended bridge

The photos here are from Paynes Creek Historic State Park.  We walked a few of the nature trails and visited a few of the historic sites.  There wasn't a whole lot left to the old trading post or fort.  I liked crossing the suspended bridge and seeing some different textured plants like the mushrooms below.

On The Cutting Board

I finished my first Hawaiian block with echo quilting.  I started out marking the background with a water soluble pen.  With this humidity, it was disappearing before I got around to the third turtle.  The air erasable disappeared even faster.

I decided to quilt the block without guide lines and I am quite happy with how well the echo quilting came out.  I thought for sure I would be all over the place.  Now, I need to decide what to do with my first Hawaiian applique....I think I'm going to keep it and make it into a pillow cover.  Granted it does not match our interior southwest decor theme, but we do have teal and that's a good match.  We need some new pillow covers.  My old ones are looking a frazzled and faded.  Hmmm, I'm thinking there are some new pillow projects in my near future.

I also started working on my quilt tops.  I plan to give a few to charity and a couple of them will be listed on Etsy.  I'm hoping to get all the quilt tops done before we get to Key West.

Well, I better get started on making binding for these three quilts.

Happy Quilting!

Window Shopping Disney Style (Clermont, FL)

We entertained ourselves by visiting different shopping malls in the area and Downtown Disney.  

Talk about lots of photo ops for colorful pictures in Downtown Disney.  I took more photos than I did shopping, but shopping was fun too.

Downtown Disney is as grand as going to Disney World.  They even have a couple of different rides.

I like the Amphicars.  That looks like a fun ride and it goes my speed...extra slow.

They also have a balloon ride.  The basket is a ring so you can look straight down through the center. I bet the best scenes are the surrounding areas.  Talk about a panoramic view!

Did you play with Legos when you were little or with your kids?  I loved them while growing up....yes, they have been around for a couple of decades...no age jokes please.  Anyway,  I would also buy them every year for our kids.  They had a huge bin filled with them.  I can't imagine how many Legos went into this big guy.

Isn't he adorable?

Brickley, the Lego Sea Serpent

Okay, so I was curious enough to do a Google search and found out that there are 170,000 bricks and he stretches 30 feet from head to tail.  This site has photos of some amazing Lego designs with interesting facts about each one.  Make sure you check out #2 Warren Elsmore - gorgeous European style building. And #8 A Futuristic Japan made by school children using 1.8 million Lego blocks!

I love my TV shows in the evenings.  I really enjoy the ones with a little imagination like the ones J.J. Abrams produces - LOST, STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, and many more.  So when I saw these two scuptures peeking out from the bushes near the Crossroads at House of Blues, I thought of "BAD ROBOT"!  He could be a cousin...

I love this fountain so I had to add it in.  I don't know a thing about the winged statue, but overall, she is quite interesting.

On The Cutting Board

I finished two Santa Mug Rugs and I will list them in Etsy after we move tomorrow.  I already sold all three of my Uncle Sam Mug Rugs.  Maybe I should have made a few more?  I suppose I could make a couple of more...

but I have been busy with some new Happy Campers with horses.

I try to make each one unique so I decided to do this one in shades of purple.

I was going to add different flowers to this one.  I changed my mind while we were walking around one of the malls in Orlando.  One of the kiosks offered hair extensions and a young woman was trying on different styles.  Eureka!  I can do that with my horse!  I braided the first extension and tacked it down.  I think on the second one, I will leave it as a fringe - shorter than what is showing.  Hopefully, this is not too bulky because I want add a flower or star button behind the ear.

Tomorrow is a short travel day to Peace River Thousand Trails.  This will be a new location for us to explore in between sewing and cat outings...of course!

Happy Quilting!

Gator Country? (Clermont, FL)

When I think of central Florida, I think of Disney World and talking mice.  Not this time.  No, instead I find myself thinking and watching out for alligators and snakes.  

We are staying in a campground in Clermont, FL.  About 20 minutes away from Disney World. So far, I have not seen a single alligator in the campground's lake.  Although, we did hear a story about a woman finding one near her rig's doorstep one day.  Imagine stepping on that by mistake in the dark!

The only bad thing I have seen has been one big black snake high-tailing it for cover away from Dusty while I was shooing all the cats away from the bushes.  I gave them all a lecture to stay out of the woods and away from snakes.  Did they listen to me?...of course not, but I'm happy to say I have not seen another snake since then....well, not near our site anyway.

We see the Sandhill Cranes almost twice a day during our walks.  These two are smaller than I remember from our last visit.  They are about 3 feet tall.  They are not shy of humans and often walk right by us if we stand still.

It is starting to get very hot as we move into Hurricane Season.  I am starting to see the old pattern of a hot sunny mornings, dark threatening clouds by noon and sometimes a dump of big, not to mention, very cold rain drops.  By evening, the clouds have cleared for a cool evening.

We re-arranged our schedules to walk early in the morning and again late in the evening for cooler walks.  This is when I look for alligators, but they are staying well hidden.  Probably a good thing that they stay away from people, right?

On The Cutting Board

I usually like to spend my evenings sewing.  Now I am trying to get my sewing done in the afternoons.  I thought this would work out quite well for me.  For once I can sew without Max in my lap complaining about fabric and thread tickling him.  Ha!  He caught on real fast and started showing up in my chair by the third day.  There's no fooling him.

Begging puppy

 I finished all of the mug rugs.  Now, I just need to photograph, edit, and list them all.  That's a chore that I do not cherish, but I will be happy to have done.

Hello Friend!

 And Hooray!...I am finally listing the pictured mug rugs on Etsy.  But wait!  There's more!  Santas and Snowmen will soon be available!  :)

Wind-blown hair

Amazing!  I actually finished three Uncle Sams in time for the 4th of July this time.

and....3 Uncle Sams!

I'm making progress on my Hawaiian turtle block.  Batik is great for applique because it is so forgiving.  When I put a crease in and I can iron it right back out when I make a mistake.   So I was quite surprised that I find it is very hard to hand quilt through two layers of batik fabric plus muslin and batting.  I hope to finish it before we leave this area which is about 6+ weeks from now.

Time for some sewing....shhh, Max is in the back....if I am real quiet I might get in an hour before he realizes that he is missing out.....

Happy Quilting!