Fun with Flowers

Yesterday was our third paper flower making workshop and it was another highly successful event.

The best part?  The laughter and friendship.  And the joy of watching our newbies discover that they have a talent they had never explored.

My friend Tanya's smile says it all.

That was her second flower.  She was a "natural" at this and took supplies home to make them with her friend, Faye, whom she had brought to the workshop with her.

Faye had never made these flowers before and she took to it readily.  Her red roses turned out beautifully.  To the left of her is Jane who had never made them before either.  Hers all turned out well and she really had fun. (I know because she told me so!)  That's Gay in the foreground.  She is amazing.

This isn't the best picture of these lovely ladies:  Sandra (l) and Claire (r). But the flowers these newbies created were gorgeous!

Sherry (r) is Gay's sister.  Claire is still concentrating on another fantastic bloom.  A talented artist who had not done this before, Sherry, too, was a "natural."  Her pink and coral creations were breathtakingly lovely. Sherry and Gay will be recruiting a few more people and doing small parties on their own:

We are very fortunate to have a library with a conference room that is perfect for workshops like ours.  There were 10 of us.

Ten more ladies making flowers for our March 14 fashion show at Safety Harbor spa's gorgeous ballroom.  The enjoyment increases with each workshop.

Live. Love. Laugh.

We're doing it.

Every.

Day.

I love my husband

and his garage....

Remember my paper flower project?  Actually it is "our" project -- meaning I and over 20 of my crafty lady friends who are doing fun stuff getting ready for the fashion show in March.

BTW, a big shout out to St. Mark's Village for becoming a our first big sponsor for "Celebrate Spring."  And huge thank you to Dee Isguzar who made it happen.

Back to my subject.

My favorite tool right now is my cordless, battery operated, glue gun.  (I can see my daughter, Chele, rolling her eyes.)  Yes, it's a gadget.  Yes, it is PINK, Chele.  And this is how I have been using it.

On an old dish towel.  So the glue won't drip and damage table or cutting mat, etc.  When the "Flower Girls" met a couple of weeks ago

my friend, Sandy, pulled her heavy duty, super duper , big mama glue gun out of her craft satchel.

But it wasn't the glue gun that attracted my attention -- remember I am very attached to my little pink, light weight, super cute, dainty little gun -- no, sirree, it was what she pulled out with it!  The BLOCK.  No folded towel for her.  She had a wooden block.  Now why hadn't I thought of that. I asked myself.  I may have even said it out loud.

I set aside some time today to work on my flowers.  Not bad, if I do say so myself.

This is some origami rice paper I had hanging around the place -- it is embellished with some metallic gold thread.  I used a combination of pale green and white and it turned out nicely.

BUT...before I began working on it, I walked out into my hubby's garage with my little pink gun and asked him if he had a block I could use.  And, of course, he did.  And, he was willing to share it.  Even give it.

So now my little pink, super cute, glue gun has it's own parking spot!

Almost as though, it was specially made for it!

I might even paint some little pink flowers on it.

Sometime.

One day.

Later.

Right now, I'm making flowers.

Gotta get back to it!

Just wanted to 'splain why I love my hubby and his garage.  He can pull anything out of it when I need it!

The Book Thief

by Marcus Zusak

It was hard getting into but then I realized how it is set up as Death introduces himself as the narrator, it got a lot easier to read and I LOVED this book.

I loved Liesel, the protagonist of the story. And I wonder how she would have turned out had she not had Hans as her foster father.  He is so patient and loving -- very different from her foster mother, Rosa.

Books and writing figure prominently throughout this novel  Liesel's fascination with the written work is a major theme throughout the book. The development of her character is very much involved with her "Book Thief" title character.

I have not seen the movie, but hope to see it on Amazon Prime soon.  And I am looking forward to discussing the book at our "Books & Beyond" book group at the library on Thursday.  I hope others enjoyed it as much as I have.

Paper Flowers

I think I have mentioned in other blog posts that one of my current projects is a series of workshops on making paper flowers.  We did the first one in October at the WCTS Fun & Games & Crafts Day.  The second one was last Tuesday.  We reserved the conference room at the library and worked for three hours.  Half of those attending had never made paper flowers.  The other half had learned in October, but we did a little refresher class.

Before long we were deep into our activity:

And having a lot of fun.  There is nothing like a group of crafty ladies, a coffee pot, and lots of pretty materials and a glue gun for having fun.  We have three more workshops planned in January and February and then we'll see what else we need to do before the March 14 date for our fashion show.

I loved the results of this one.  And everyone took materials with them to make them at home in the meantime.

We only need to make around 300 flowers....

Hmmm...I guess I know what I'll be doing this afternoon!

Multitasking...

It's been a nice afternoon.  Layering paint on a watercolor, playing on the computer and crocheting the "Tree of Life" while the layers dry.  Chatting with hubby and watching the Green Bay Packers/Seattle Mariners game in between.

I am planning burgers for dinner between the two games.  Beau had a bath early in the afternoon and has been a little achy so I gave him a pain pill a little bit ago.  He's dosing now.

Life is good.

The Tree of Life has been planted!

It's January.  It's the time of the year when I am looking for something to lie in my lap and keep me warm while I am making it.  Hopefully, it will turn out pretty enough to enter in the annual woman's club arts and crafts show.  I try to enter a watercolor or an acrylic piece for the fine arts category and a crocheted piece for the crafts side of the show.

I have both my pieces for this year ready to go on Wednesday this coming week.

I worked last night and today on next year's crocheted piece.

This is what I hope my "Tree of Life turns out like:

I have completed the first 3 rows of the tree pattern and the FPDC (Front Post Double Crochet) stitches have were just as easy as I remember them being. HOWEVER, the BPDC (back post double crochet) stitches have been a total bitch.  

I was on row two of the tree pattern counting under my breath as I tried to crochet through the row when my adorable husband came in and sat down.  Not realizing what I was doing (though I am not sure it would have mattered), he proceed to read an article about the competition between Rory McIlroy's competition with Tiger Woods -- complete with how many competitions one or the other would win.  He threw out numbers of wins over different periods of time.  So I kept losing count and having to rip out my stitches and start over again.  I started to laugh and finally just put my work down until he was finished.

Did it upset me?  No, it didn't.

Because I thank God every day of my life that he saw fit to bring this man into my life.  So what are a few stitches I have to crochet over again in the big scheme of things?  Nada. 

When I started laughing he asked me what I found so amusing and I told him I had been trying to count while he was reading out all those stats. He said, "I thought you had that little electronic gadget to do that for you?"

This is what he is referring to:

I told him that I still need to count stitches in my head while I am in the row because I cannot stop between each stitch to press the button to record the stitch.  (Yes, my friends, another gadget.  You do know me, after all.)

At four rows into the tree pattern, this is what mine looks like as it sits in my yarn bowl:

I did conquer the BPDC stitch after a little while.  It is more difficult than the front stitch -- as most back stitches are.  And I had not done it in a long time.  Thank goodness for Youtube videos! 

It's Saturday night.  We're going to check Amazon Prime for something we haven't watched previously and, hopefully, no one will be calling out numbers while I am trying to count my stitches.

It was another beautiful day

in paradise.

And what did I do?  I was a "Busy Bee!"

I polished my silver spoon collection, cleaned bathrooms, stripped the bed and remade it after doing all the laundry, vacuumed, and made a pot roast and veggies for dinner.  I also managed to watch the playoff games when I took a few breaks and nursed my shoulder.  I did see and feel the beautiful day when taking trash out and walking a visitor out to her car.  I think we got to 79 today.

This week is going to be a busy one as I have to get my stuff done for the FOL Board meeting on Wednesday as well as the flower making workshop on Tuesday.  Hair appointment tomorrow afternoon and more stuff left to do around the house before visitors arrive on Thursday.

If it doesn't all get done, I won't worry about it.

What are they going to do?

Fire me?

Hardly.

Ha Ha

Neighborhood Restaurants

here in Tarpon Springs are just awesome!

The menus vary.  There are some dishes you'll find at most of the Greek or Mediterranean restaurants, but each has it's own unique recipe for those items.

Our three favorite restaurants in Tarpon Springs are:

1.  Jimmy's Neighborhood Restaurant

Not more than 4 blocks from our home, this small, family owned and run restaurant has a great menu of fantastic pizza, sub & grinders, seafood, pasta, salads, soups -- you name it, they have it.  And they have the BEST.  My personal favorites are the avgolemeno soup, fried calamari, Greek salad with delicious potato salad,  any shrimp dish, any grouper dish, and the artichoke, feta and onion pizza.  Their chicken or pork souvlaki is really good and I love their tzatziki sauce, too.   One of the best things about this place is that it is just a very short drive from the restaurant back home!

2.  Hellas Restaurant and Bakery

Hellas is on the Sponge Docks.  We love Hellas for their wonderful "Saganaki" -- the flaming cheese that everyone yells "Opa" when the cognac or other liqueur is set on fire.  The Greek salad is very good and I love their Greek hamburger and souvlaki platters.  The bakery next door has scrumptious desserts.  We often take a chocolate kok (pronounced "coke") home with us to eat later.  It is a cake with a cream filling and a chocolate glaze. They are so rich that my husband and I usually split one and save the other for later!

3. Rusty Bellies

Rusty Bellies seafood restaurant is owned by the folks who own Pelican Point Seafood next door to the restaurant.  You cannot get fresher seafood anywhere.  Their oysters, stone crab legs, and shrimp are all outstanding.  My favorite dish at this restaurant is "Carly Sue's Shrimp & Cheesy Grits."  And, if I am in the mood for fried oysters, Rusty Bellies is where we go.  Their hush puppies are terrific, too.  Never had a hush puppy?  You need to head to Rusty Bellies to try them.  They are served at every table while you wait for your meal.  The view of the Anclote River is stellar from the big windows and deck of this restaurant.

I named these three restaurants in particular because they offer the best of my favorite dishes, but there are many more I really enjoy: Spirou's, Toula's Trailside Cafe, Tarpon Tavern, Dimitri's on the Water, Ballyhoo's, Gusto's, Paul's Shrimp House, Mykonos, Mr. Souvlaki, Plaki's, Zante's. Magnolia Grille (just a couple miles down Alternate 19 in Palm Harbor) -- and I have probably left out others I really do like.

My point being -- they are all local, not part of a chain, with local owners who offer great food and atmosphere at reasonable prices.

Whoops -- just remembered the Plum Tomato -- they come in at number 4!   See?  I told you there would be some I forgot to mention -- but not because they aren't good restaurants!

No wonder I am a perennial member of Weight Watchers!

I am a VERY happy camper because...

 I let the Board know yesterday that we have sold enough cookbooks to cover the cost of printing and that every book sold here on out is pure profit. 

Soon we will be meeting to develop a time line for expanding the museum exhibit which highlights the history of the Woman's Club and the impact of its members on Tarpon Springs since its inception in 1892.

We're getting ready to place some in the Chamber of Commerce on Tarpon Avenue and in the Cultural Center.  They can currently be purchased from the Historical Society located at 160 East Tarpon Avenue in the train depot or from the Woman's Club.  Just contact me.

We've gotten so much positive feedback.  It has been a really great project.

My Needlework Project for 2014

is keeping me warm this morning.

I have crocheted four afghans over the last two years.  I made two using the same yarn.  This is my favorite of the two. I finished this one in early 2014 and haven't done one since. I will be entering it in the woman's club arts and craft show on January 21.  

This morning, I saw a lovely knitted afghan on FB and did an online search for the pattern.  While doing so I ran across the crochet version of the same afghan.  I downloaded and printed the crochet directions and photos and immediately went to the Joann website to order the yarn.  Hopefully, I will finish it in time to enter it in next year's January show.

The pattern is called "Tree of Life."  It has tempted me for several years now as a knitted afghan and I was able to resist.  As a crochet project, temptation hit hard this morning and I was not able to resist.

I can hardly wait for the Lion Brand "Fisherman" yarn to arrive so I can start this while we have winter chill around and I enjoy having something across my lap and legs to keep me warm.  I found this image online.  It isn't exactly the same, but it is close enough for now.  I will probably change the design a little.  I like a plainer edge and perhaps a fringe.  Might do an extra couple of rows to make it a deeper edge and dispense with the ruffle look. We'll see.  And we'll see if I get it finished in time. LOL

It's Colder than a Witch's .......

as my dear dad used to say.  43° when Beau wanted "out" this morning at 8:30.  I was still in short sleeved night shirt and barefoot.  It is 10:00 now and I am still trying to get warm again.  I had to go out two more times to get the little guy to come back in.

A Weight Watcher friend posted this on FB this morning.

I am still laughing!

Going to one of my favorite places today --  Home Depot!

I will dress warmly.  It's still only 47°.

Tuesday Night TV

I have two favorite TV nights. Tuesday night is one of them.  CBS almost   messed this one up.  I do not like that they moved NCIS: LA to Monday at 10.  I would preferred that they did all 3 NCIS shows on Tuesday and moved Person of Interest to 9 on Monday.  Then Monday would be a better night, too.  I wouldn't have to DVR Castle.

Have liked Mark Harmon since his early TV days and was happy to see her series make it really, really big.  I love the show and the characters and it has survived losing some really good ones.  It spun out of another show I liked at the time -- JAG.  We recently watched all 10 seasons of JAG and enjoyed those as well.  NCIS is still a tight show with great stories laced with humor and good onscreen relationships. And I love, love, love Abby and her relationship with Gibbs.

When they spun off NCIS LA, I immediately fell in love with Henrietta "Hetty" Lange, played by veteran character actress, Linda Hunt.  She really makes the show and should she leave, I am not sure it would last without her.  I like Chris O'Donnell who plays G. Callen.  The show has grown on me and now I look forward to each episode almost as much as I do the original show.

NCIS New Orleans is a different story.  I am still trying to like it.  The early episodes were  a little off putting because of the poor attempts at maintaining a New Orleans accent.  As I have watched subsequent episodes, I have grown to like two of the characters:  SA Meredith Brody played by Zoe McLellan and Dr. Loretta Wade, the Medical Examiner played by CCH Pounder.  It's getting a little better with each episode now.  The accents have been toned down.  I am not a fan of Scott Bakula.

And what's not to like about Person of Interest? Love Jim Caviesel as Reese and Michael Emerson as Finch.

And, I am crazy about the dog, Bear, a Belgian Malinois.  I also enjoy the performances of the women playing the parts of Shaw and Root.  It is a complex plot and one has to pay close attention to minor details to understand everything that is going on.

I know many other Tuesday NCIS and POI junkies out there.  I am in good company.

It's Coming Down Today

And I'm not talking about rain.

I'm talking about this:

Half way through this process.  There is something sad about taking down the tree.  Doesn't take as long to take down as it does to put up, but it's not as much fun either.  However, two members of our family of three will not be mourning the absence of this disruption to their tidy lives, though Butch isn't looking forward to his climb into the attic.  Beau is happily sleeping the afternoon away under his favorite end table where he is safe from being stepped on.

Still need to get those precious ornaments wrapped and put safely in the plastic tub you see in the background.  That's the easy part.

The poinsettias I planted just after Thanksgiving are thriving so I'll have them to remind me of what a nice Christmas it was.  And one that welcomes visitors as they come up our walkway.

Mr. Garden Gnome and his poinsettia will have to be moved backward a little because the Fragrant Plum rose is getting ready to take off.  I love new rose foliage.  The colors are so lovely.

Need to get back to work.  Break time is over.

"To Do" Lists

Jokes, aside, I have made "To Do" Lists all of my life.  I may not have come out of the womb making them, but I started very early.  I made them when playing "School" and "House" when I was very young.  My first real ones were school related, of course.  As I became involved in organizations and after school activities, they started forming categories. Then when I got a part-time job, the lists expanded into work-related items.  Got worse as I started college.  Marriage and children complicated the whole process.

I found myself continually making lists and trying to cross off the items on each list.  Then someone came up with the "A-B-C" concept of assigning a level of importance to the list and a filing system based on those assignments.  I wish I had a dollar for every list I have made over my lifetime.

And, you know what?  I'm not done yet.  I have a household list, a Friends of the Library list, a Woman's Club list with several different categories, a Garden Club list.  My "Daily To Do" list contains elements from all the other lists and is based on a weekly schedule that I make up every Saturday.  The major difference between lists today and lists early in my life is the wonderful invention of electronic calendars and a program called, "One Note."  I love the ease of using this great Microsoft product.  I have several notebooks set up in One Note and each one helps me keep track of projects and information I need for all my activities.

I don't worry when I cannot complete everything on a particular day's list.  I just move it to the next day, reassign importance and move on with it.  My daughter inherited this particular OCD gene and I think she's better at it than her mother.  She runs rings around me when it comes to getting stuff done.

This Maxine cartoon made me laugh.

One of these days those may be my categories, too.  But not today, tomorrow or next week.

Cooking Light

In an effort to put another "tool" in my "Getting Healthier" tool belt, I found a $10 subscription to the next year of Cooking Light magazine.  The Jan/Feb cover features scrumptious looking dish of Chicken Picatta -- my absolute favorite chicken dish.  I have a huge freezer in the garage full of chicken, beef, seafood and pork.  We are carnivores in this household.

And we have a huge refrigerator full of fruit, veggies, yogurt, cheese and other really good stuff.  Butch insists on bringing coffeecakes in and putting them in the freezer. And,  I will buy a sour cream pound cake occasionally and cut it in 1 ounce slices to have with a decaf cup of coffee and Silk creamer when I need something sweet at night.  The key to staying on program is measuring and weighing and making individual servings of the right size easy to obtain.

So Day 2 of 2015 has gone well.  I had 10 ounces of Hoppin' John and two pieces of Tex-Mex cornbread baked by my husband.  The cornbread was really delicious.  My right side is almost back to normal.  Bruises are fading and I am able to stretch and reach upward without excruciating pain.  It was good to get back to the library for my normal 11-2 Friday shift today.

And I have blogged two days in a row!

Tomorrow is devoted to housework and watercolor painting.

And, tonight I will finish Karen Robards' new release, "Hush."  I read until 4AM this morning and forced myself to put it down then so I could get 4-1/2 hours of sleep before having to get up and get ready to go to the library.

High of 81 today.  The weather is just plain awesome.

I LOVE Florida. ;-)

2015 -- Day One

The first day of 2015 is not much different from the first day of 2014 for me.  I look at what I wanted to accomplish last year and resolve to do better in the coming year.  At my age (68), it's mostly to work on a healthier lifestyle -- and to make the remaining years of my life ones that really count.  And to have fun.

So in 2014, I did do many hours of volunteer work for several different organizations as I have done for the past eight years.  In June, I looked at what I had ahead of me and dialed back a little because I was stressing myself out.  And I wasn't having as much fun.  My major accomplishment for the year was editing a cookbook, "Dining with the Ladies," as a fundraiser for the GFWC Woman's Club of Tarpon Springs.

I have been gratified by the reception of the book in our community. The Historical Society and the hospital auxiliary even purchased some and are selling them in their respective gift shops.  The city will also be purchasing them to sell in the various museum gift shops.

I had a committee of wonderful women who were very supportive in putting this together in less than two months so that we could take delivery the first week in November.  I still have some boxes sitting in the entry way of our home -- but it is only 9 boxes now -- down from 24.  I told my husband a couple of weeks ago that I would try to get them moved to a storage area when it was available but that sweet man told me not to worry about it -- that he is used to them now and doesn't even notice them.  Well, I'm not at that point yet.  I am used to riding around town now with a couple of totes full of books so I can sell them at a moment's notice.

And, my current project? The 2015 Fashion Show, of course.  We're beginning the marketing effort now and I am teaching flower making workshops in January and February.

We're using hundreds of paper flowers for centerpieces and corsages for our "Celebrate Spring" theme for the show which is being held on March 14 at the Safety Harbor Resort.  I am also joining a few other women in creating a basket for donating as an opportunity prize for this year's  show.  We typically make around $2000 just off of the raffle ticket sales for those prizes.  I've already received a print from Christopher and Kelly Still which we are having framed.  Artwork is normally our best ticket seller.

On the "Healthier Lifestyle" resolutions?  Well, I did lose 8.5 pounds for the year and am continuing with that goal as it is an ongoing process. And I am part of a group of women who are actively working on it together.  We plan to meet in May on Perdido Key so we're all working to make sure we are all in very good health for a few days of shopping and sightseeing in the Panhandle.

All in all, 2014 was a good year and the only regret I have is that I didn't do as much painting as I wanted to.  To remedy that, I have started scheduling time in my studio -- 10 hours a week minimum.  I hope to have a lot of new work to choose from for next year's art show in January.  I only have this one for this year:

I did a few others in 2014, but I didn't think they would do for a show.  We'll see how this one does.   I can't remember if I named it.  It is a sunset on a cloudy horizon.  Maybe I'll just call it, "Sunset."

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2015.