Along Ozello Drive

These were captured along the drive out Ozello -- to Peck's and then a trio of three-wheeled bikes. There was every size & shape bike imaginable in the parking lot. Wasn't bike week, last week in Daytona? Apparently this is where everyone goes the Sunday afterward! Allen's got his big green machine stored up in WI till our arrival there this summer, so we will have to be patient.

Kayak Manatee Adventure

Look at how amazingly crystal clear the water is under our kayak. We are not floating in mid-air, but rather floating down the tributaries of the Crystal River over on the gulf. Our morning trek took us immediately past a 'cloistered' nook where we saw about a dozen manatee lounging out in the shadows. They are very challenging to photograph, as a novice in a kayak. We then paddled up a very small shoot to get back to "Three Sisters Spring" which is where this second photo was taken. Again, the water was amazingly, breath taking clear.

As we came back down our little snaking route, re-passing the Manatee Lounge, our lumbering slumbering friends were waking up, snorting and heading out to the gulf. The third picture is the best I was able to capture of one of our ten foot long buddies -- who was literally just beyond my paddle. Give your self enough time to find my Waldo. He's half-way down the picture and completely fills the pic from left to right, his tail on the left. Allen spotted our feathered friend in the final photo along the banks, later in the morning.

The day was truly picture postcard perfect. Our guide was knowledgeable and filled with stories to entertain. He's a transplant from Montana and was leading us in his hand-built wooden canoe. What a memorable final day for me in the sunshine state!

Our guide suggested we head over to "Peck's" for a late lunch and at his recommendation I ordered their famous soft-shell crab sandwich. Amazing. Juicy. Delicious. Another first. (A note to the casual traveler: the road back to Peck's is a picturesque 9 miles off the highway, twisting and turning the entire way-- and once you FINALLY arrive at the destination you're sharing the place with a WHOLE lot of motor-cyclists. It would be a glorious ride on a bike! Truly a one-of-a-kind spot.) I would highly recommend the crab sandwich, as long as you're not put off by seeing every leg and pincher sticking out of the sides of the home-made bread.... if so, just eat with your eyes closed, it's a delicacy too good to miss.

Flotsom & Jetsom Nevelson

This whole project "started" when I found a set of four paperboard 'coasters' with white polka-dots on black (my absolute favorite, simple design of all time.) These were at JoAnn Fabrics earlier this winter selling for a dollar for the set of four. I indulged my whim and purchased three sets -- for a total of 12 polka-coasters. THEN, we got here to our new house with the very white, white walls. THEN I went to the art museum in Houston and fell all over in love again with Louise Nevelson's work. The next step is undoubtedly the most important step: THEN I gave myself permission..... permission to have fun, permission to play, permission to think about color.

When I was back in Ohio before my Atlantic City adventure, I had time for a quick-root thru my stash of "goodies" that just mysteriously seems to accumulate there in my studio. So I grabbed up a bunch of odds & ends [George Ramsey, my Wittenberg graphic design professor always used the term: 'flotsom & jetsom' when describing oodles of details. He also used to say, "that's just a lot of bananas on the ceiling," if he was unhappy with a piece, but that's a whole different post.]

A trip to the Ocala Hobby Lobby landed a 30" by 40" stretched canvas, (on sale of course) as well as a biggish container of Granny Apple Green acrylic paint. Those two ingrediants were married on our back lanai. Then the real fun commenced. I had a total of 16 heavy coasters..... as I purchased three happy color ones at the Houston Art Museum gift shop and found one lone polka friend in Ocala's JoAnn's. Being the extreme math-wizard that I am, I then realized I'd need another 32 'squares' to fill out the canvas -- with a total of 48 mini-collages. Quite ironically I'd purchased a set of 40 art-foam rectangles that had three of the exactly correct finished edges...... and rectangles can be turned into squares with focus (six different colors in the set.) Hocus-pocus. Forty-eight back drops ready for embellishing!!

Buttons, pompoms, curtain rings, V8 juice continer lid, scrapbooking brads..... you get the idea; Oh, and a hot glue gun, with lots of glue sticks AND a couple of tubes of the amazing -- that's on the label, E6000 adhesive. The E6000 was used for the 'heavier affixin'......Now all I need is a hammer & nails!! This piece just makes me smile from ear-to-ear. If anyone's keeping track, this is One Day Project #11. Seriously. Serious smiling.

Outlet Mall Blank Canvas

Last week when I was in Atlantic City I was delighted to literally stumble into a whole slew of 'outlet mall' shops all perched between my convention center Sheraton and the Boardwalk. I HAD to walk past all of those stores to make my way to the ocean's edge. On my sojourn back I went in & out of lots of doors and had my most exciting 'find' at the J. Jill store. I've always admired hand-painted denim jackets, but never felt I could afford to embellish one, until the steal they were giving away last week. So I plunked down my ten dollars and my gears started churning on the spot.

What I've accomplished so far is to put some color into that little rivulet detail that runs down each of the front panels and both sleeves. The paint was dry in time for me to don the jacket and head out the door for my lunch-date with my fellow Buckeye, wintering here in Ocala!! The final picture is my new buddy, Edwina Hawkins [Mz. Eddie to a whole generation of children] of the greater Cleveland area. She's the brilliant grant-writer who secured funding for my upcoming trip to her school which serves young children with special needs. We started the conversation seasons ago, and I'll be there next month! During our chatty conversation about planning a great day for the kids, we stumbled into the fact that we were both gonna be in sunny FL at the same time. It took Edwina's organized brain to get us together and oh what fun we had @ the Bob Evans on the strip.... making us feel like we were back in Ohio.

Can't wait to return with paint brushes to all of that 'blank canvas' and have more fun. There are lots of ideas swirling round my brain ..... now to edit to the final choices and get back to the painting process.

Shell Shopping @ PopPop's

We made a trip over to Deland/Orange City to go to church with my parents. I happened to remember sweet Keegan's request for ocean shells and mom & I had fun choosing from their vast collection of previously gathered goodies. Wait till K sees what they were willing to share. He'll be so excited!!

One Day Project #10

Field trip, Orlando IKEA. Dateline amazing. How many IKEA boxes can be packed into the back end of a Ford Escape you ask?? It all depends if you need to put people in there, too. Since Allen was an engineer in an earlier life & a puzzle designer previously -- we were able to get all of our purchases inside the car. Fortunately they provided twine for those who couldn't get said car doors to close completely and off we drove.

As you can see..... we chose the pow-red bookshelves to complete our little entertainment nook. They were quite straight-forwardly assembled following the simple picto-graphs. I'd gotten the quilt pieces staple gunned to their frames and voila it's nearly complete. We decided that there's sufficient room for a second 'narrow' shelf on the left, so my dear hubby will pick that up next week, when he drops me back at the airport. Whooooohooooooo.

Happy Birthday Julia!!

Happy Row 15. All together. Sharing ideas. Sharing stories.

Enthusiastic questions. Eager parents.

Happy family. Happy little one. Happy trip.