Friday, February 17, 2012

A little diversion from Winter...


Hubby whisked me away for a few days to a warmer climate. :)


We headed south to Florida.


We were greeted by some lovely flowers just outside the airport.


and palm trees...


A bit of clouds and some rain showers made for some fantastic cloud formations.


At the visitors center for the Florida Keys.




fishes!



Through intermittent rain showers, our journey begins to the end of the Keys.


The first Key along the way.


and another...


a long ride on a two lane highway...


Little Keys along the way.



Here we are at our destination.
Our second story porch in Key West, we stayed at the Douglas House.


The view across the street.


around on the side porch...


Next door and below, the Sweet Teas Restaurant, we ended both of our evenings here, late.


Lots of bicycles and storm shutters.


Cute bungalows


The Southernmost Hotel on the continental US.

.



The southernmost home.






Further down is a close up of these gates.


Beach behind the southernmost hotel.



The Atlantic Ocean.

Dock



A look back at the southernmost house.








This wild looking cactus was right behind the flowering shrub in the last pic.






Scooters, bicycles, and motorcycles, the preferred methods of travel on the island.




We ate at the Old Mexican Cafe the first night here. I had sea scallops in a spicy hot sauce and rice and grilled vegetables. Even though it was spicy, I ate all of it, it was so good, but, my head was hot. ;)



Selling cigars across the street. Key West has a rich Cuban history.


We return to the front porch...


and side, to the left behind the palms are the steps up to the second floor.


Looking up the street.



out for lunch...


at La Te Da Restaurant.


I had a raspberry cosmopolitan. :) Just my color.



The old cigar factory.







Wild Roosters and hens inhabit the island. You can hear them crow day and night.

I never did find any of Hemingway's five toed cats, though.


Cool tree...


and someone's pet parrot right behind it.


The entrance to Bahama Village.



Check out Father Neptune. Can you see the Rooster, too?



Hotel Pegasus


Strand, now... Walgreens.








Rooster and a chicken!






The bay side or the Gulf of Mexico.


The water was a little choppy with white caps, it was windy here.
I love this color of the water.


The famous Duval Street.


"Mr. Chapman" few have copied his style, but he is the original with boom box blasting disco songs.

I hope you enjoyed a bit of vacation from winter... I actually have more to post, but for next time. The best is yet to come. :)

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Welcoming in a New Year and New Followers!

Welcome 2012!
I am so glad you are here!
A new year, new hope, new dreams, fresh beginnings.... :)
I wish you all many blessings and the best of the best in this new year.


I can still say it, because the month is not over yet!
Caution! Long post, but I threw in some eye candy for you. :)
Welcome, welcome!
Welcome all!
I am so glad that you are following my blog, it's so nice to have you, here. :)
Vicky Lovejoy
Elena san millan
John
sherry raines
Audra Pangle
Madelaine
Kati
LLyn M.
Once Upon A Time
Pilar
Susan
Gleise
mariana belmonte
mydina
özden ceyhan
Marijke
Pepper
Tiny Treasure Trove
reid.suzy  (I have to brag a little bit, this is my niece)
and from out of the shadows as they say, some more followers;
Barbara Gutierrez
Mary
Ela Wilt
                                       Daphne                                        
Галина
 I always say, I won't wait so long next time to welcome in new followers. (Smacks self in head!) When will I learn? lol! Well, that is quite the list of new followers, but, I'm not going to tell you how long it has been since the last time I made a welcoming post. ;)

As usual, anything written in pink is clickable, so click away, check out some new blogs and meet some new friends. If you take the time to leave a comment, tell them I said, Hi  :)

If you don't have a "google translater" widget on your blog, please get one. They are so helpful for those of us who read your blog from another language. Many times the google translate bar across the top of the page does not show up, so if you have a widget directly on your blog, you can be assured that everyone will be able to read your blog and it makes it much easier to leave comments, too!


There's another little widget that is now available that I truly love. It's the "follow by email" widget. This enables your blog posts to go directly into someone's email box. I love it! It's a great way to keep up on those blogs that you just don't want to miss a single posting from, but, the blog has to have the widget in place for you to follow that way.

I don't know what is up with blogger these days, but blogs either are not showing up or I'm unable to comment on them. I'm wondering if anyone will be able to comment here? I've changed the way my comments are posted, in hopes of getting to see the other blogs, that didn't work. Oh, well, I hope it is sorted out soon! :)
 
1. Photo credits: planter on stand, matching pitcher, smaller pitcher and bowl on left and floral plates on right, I bought from various dealers at the Philadelphia Miniaturia in the past. Small floral arrangement on the right is from Tallulah~Belle. Larger pitcher and bowl from a local Antiques/Thrift store- now that I am looking at it, I wonder if it is 1/6 scale...Pitcher in center, I can't remember where I got that from, I think I've had that for a while. Pink floral platters and trays from the most recent Philadelphia Miniaturia. Hydrangeas from my friend Pei Li when I was in Singapore. Lastly, the little stack of white plates I bought in Paris.

2. Photo credits: The two large matching urns I believe I picked up at AC Moore some years ago. The three in the center I picked up in the Smoky Mountains at a souvenir shop. ***Edit* Upon further reflection, I picked these up at the Museum Shop at the Winterthur Museum Shop. I brought baskets back from the Smoky Mountains. (Makes more sense, doesn't it? lol)*** The remaining three I purchased at one of the Antique Malls in Berlin, MD.
3. Folding screen, custom made for me by my friend Yuki. Felted black kitty custom made for me by my friend Hanna. Plate/wall hanging by lisaconfora

My original business mascot was my first cat named Thor, who has long ago, gone over the rainbow.


My new mascot, Tommy currently overseeing security. ;)