Towels for the girls

I had to make these towels for my "sole sisters" .. Little Maddie and Dani will be the first to want to swim in spring..and they always forget a towel.. and that spring lake water is so cold they are about blue when they get out. I took bright colored large bath towels..((I folded these so you can see the top and the bottom trim))) I used a wide strip of coordinating fabric at the top, cut out their initials from another fabric, and then used my applique stitch on my sewing machine to sew the initials on. I added some fabric glitter to the dragonfly wings for a little "sparkle". I also added a smaller strip of fabric to the lower part of the towel. The girls loved them and now they can keep their towels on their golf carts and zip on down to the waters edge for a dip in the lake.. I can see them now... swim, jump on the golf cart and zip up to our place to have quick rinse off in the hot outdoor shower... lots of giggles and looking for a sweet treat to finish the fun...11 year old girls say the silliest things. they keep me young !

CAKE... carrier

Might as well blog as we wait for the weather to clear up here at the beach. Jan. weather here in Florida has not been as warm as I wanted..BUT I am used to it being in the 90's with 90% humidity when we are here in Sept. & Oct. so anything less than 55 is cold to me! We have been able to get in quite a few walks on the paved path...50 miles worth ( we measured our walk route by car ) In the 1960's my Mom had a cake carrier just like this..only hers was avocado green...well this one was too, until I painted it. It actually has 3 separate compartments. The top one you could put a pie or cookies in, the center section that I painted black with pink roses is for 3 to 4 layer cake, and the lowest section u can put a pie or cupcakes. You can load all three sections, stack it up, and use the clamp and handle to carry it off to a block party. I have fond memories of my Moms German chocolate cake being stored in her carrier. And holidays... pies, and goodies galore were ready and waiting. I look forward to this springs "Lake Opener" cook-out to fill mine up and let the neighbors find homemade treats. The cook out that signals the summer lake houses are open, and neighbors are ready for swimming, bar-b-Q's ,watching the sun set over the lake with a cold drink in hand, bar-b-Q's and sitting around open fires til late into the night. Yes Wendy, we are ready to host the party at the Happy Shack again this spring..see you there! Wait till you see the new party lites for the pergola !

These boots are made for walkin.....

Yes.. they ARE made for walkin.. These just arrived at the beach today.. my dear friend from CandyCreek and I did a little Instant Message shopping the other day.. Well the weather here was yukky..so we shopped... Good thing the weather has changed for the better.. SO the boots I choose to "puddle jump" in are navy blue.. with multi colored dots and blue trim. YES there is some pink on them...The most fun rain boots ever !

I actually went outside the condo and walked in the big old puddle in the parking lot.. Had to make sure they don't leak. We had some big rain the past two days...and major fog...BUT warm.. near 70 degrees..so we are able to get out and walk.. and have started some walk/jogging to speed up the metabolism.. So foggy you can't see how big the waves were today. We have been around shopping when we get cabin fever while we waited for the unseasonable cold to pass.. Hit the outlet stores in Foley,Alabama..I needed to visit the CROC outlet.. looking for some great "beach" themed items for the lake house.. and also had to buy another mermaid statue.. she's here to chase away the cold and bring the southern breezes back.. her name is Gracie Pearl..and shes working on the better weather for us.. last fall we bought a mermaid and named her Belle, she kept the hurricanes away from us. THEY truly are good luck ! We have been able to walk the beach and hunt for shells.. got in the water to our shins.. a tad brisk.. but with the sun we are able to sit on the beach in our chairs and read.. there's a nice paved path across from us on the "sound" side near the bay..so we walk there...and got the bikes out and rode yesterday. A great way to get some fresh air. When we went on our second walk today ..it was so foggy our hair was WET.

Spring is on the way I think!

Beach Winter

We decided to try the beach in the winter.. well of course it's been an unseasonable cold winter for them.. We got here Jan. 1 and will stay till April 1. I am sure you have read about it being so cold in southern Florida that iguanas were dropping out of trees...from going into a hibernation mode to stay alive, and forgetting to hold on to trees, and fall "thump" to the ground..also the Miami Zoo has been giving the Apes hot chocolate to stay warm.. We are hoping after this weekend it starts back to normal temps here.. It was nice enough the past two days to go out on the beach and shell.. took a 3 1/2 mile walk and shelled both days.. Yesterday it was actually 61! Woo hoo..sure beat the cold deep freeze our lake house is having right now. We brought our bikes to ride, books to read, and even all our old photos to go thru and thin out and organize. and brought our wiifit plus to try to keep winter fat off.

When it warms up we are going to go south to Treasure Island , Weeki Watchee Springs area to check out some rentals further south..were its usually mid 70's and 80's in winter.. we saw several on the internet..but want to see them in real life first. But this winter we are here, and will be back here again for Sept. /Oct. it is so nice here then.. So as you can see its empty beach in winter..no crowds..and even the locals stay away on chilly days like today..North wind..look at the flag flying straight out.. On our trip here we were in southern Arkansas and past a small town pond & picnic area.. we saw this rather odd geese..looked like they were pretty ratty from the distance..But up close they had curly feathers..We googled and found out they are Sebastapol geese.. but they cannot fly..so they would be easy prey to dogs and coyotes . Fun to see tho. Hope to have some interesting beach pictures later on. Peek back.. Stay warm