Happy Sunday....

Though the weekend is over, and according to the calendar, summer is coming to an end soon (but not here), with temperatures still in the mid 90's and high humidity - I am always reminded of no matter the temperature and the humidity, there is so much to be grateful for living in the Sunshine State.  Last evening, as with every Saturday, my husband and I had our date night.  We went to the International Plaza in Tampa for shopping (yes, I actually bought a pair of Ugg's Caspia boots).   Yeah, I know with temperatures in the mid 90's what was I thinking...well, I love them, they are so soft inside it's like waking on a cloud.  They are super cute on, and believe it or not, I got the last pair, only one left in a different size, so I'm not the only one out there thinking and hoping for a super cold winter here.
       

After shopping for a few hours we drove over to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge for a little photography, it started to sprinkle a little as we arrived, but stopped as soon as we pulled over to watch the sunset.  Wished it was a little earlier so the water would have been more blue but it was getting dark   But the sunset was spectacular...after watching the sun go down we left for one of my favorite Southwest Restaurants called Red Mesa...ohhhh, so good.  If you live in this area, and haven't tried it, you really should, the food is fabulous and never disappointing over the many years we've been going there.  My husband is out playing golf, all three of the fur babies have been bathed and groomed and are sound to sleep like little babies, and I about ready to start making the Taquitos and Spanish noodles for dinner.  I must say, it's been a very nice, relaxing weekend - ready for the week ahead.  Hope everyone had a great weekend as well and the week ahead is a wonderful one.  Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Where I Blog and do my photography from....

Over the last several weeks, I’ve been working diligently on our family photographs for un upcoming family reunion.  Since I am the electronics and photography junky in our family, I was asked to compile thousands of old and new photographs of my wonderful family and put them on a CD for the entire family…we’re talking well over 100 CD’s, In the process of working on these photographs, which were given to me from my older family members, such as my Aunts, I’ve been assisting my cousin in Texas on our Family Cookbook.  To say the least, I’ve spent many of hours here in my “Relax” room, scanning, and editing some photos from the mid to late 1800’s…it’s been a challenge to remove scratches, bends, discoloration, etc., and make them as clear as possible,  but I’ve loved every minute of it.  The cookbook is a beautiful book of hundreds of recipes and some handwritten from my beautiful Grandmother and other family members and includes numerous family photos.  I still have three weeks to complete this project, though, I am starting to worry that it won’t get done, so many photos, but I know that it is very important to my family, so I will stay up late each night, and work on the weekends, until it is done.  I guess this is what some call a labor of Love!!! 

My Relax room is very simple, but I love the Ralph Lauren metallic paint in the brown tone, it reflect light, and shadows, though it’s not an extra-large room, it has everything I need right there.   Yes, I have two computers going at once, and even my iPad, for those quick e-mails, that I need to send and not get out of my photo editing programs.  I think I can call myself a multi-tasker for sure!!!  As you can see from the photos, there is an area that I did not take a picture of….well, that’s because that has one huge box of nothing but photos, and I must say, it’s not the neatest area of the room…with all the discovery of new photographs and sorting…nope, I’ll keep that hid for now – I really try to keep it organized, but that is almost an impossible task.

Well, back to scanning more photographs…wish me luck; I’m going to need it.

Plumeria after the rain....

We had rain, yah!!!  For us here on the Gulf Coast of Florida, that is great news.  Saturday night early Sunday morning, the thunderstorms came roaring in, some pretty severe, but we were so desperate for rain, it was such a welcoming sound.  Though we are in our rainy/hurricane season, we’ve only had rain twice in the last two months, we need more, no hurricanes, just rain…there has been a lot of hand watering going on to keep everything as green as possible.

After the rain stopped and the sun began to peak out through the trees in the woods behind our home, I noticed more flowers on some of my Plumeria trees had opened.  Camera in hand, I went out to capture the pictures with the freshly fallen rain.  The air was so clean and the fragrance of the tropics coming from the Plumeria was so nice first thing in the morning.  Though I have around 50 or so Plumeria trees, difference sizes,  with the hard freezes we had two years ago, and having to cut them way back to help them survive, the flowers have not been as abundant the last two years, this year, they are trying.  And since they only bloom here in the summer months, I have to take every advantage I can to capture their beauty.  The deep tropical pink, yellow and tropical red/coral, only had a few flowers, but one of my larger tropical pink trees are about ready to open, not a lot of blossoms but enough to enjoy.  Sadly, many of the multi-colored ones we had to cut back so far, they didn't bloom this year, but hoping for some next year.  For now, these all may look the same, but they are actually from three different trees.  Hope you enjoy them; they are my favorite of all tropical flowers.







left click to enlarge photos

Weekend Project...

As I often do, I was on the internet just looking at beautiful photographs, and this picture popped up, I saved the photo, but clicked out of the site, so I’m not even sure as to where I found it. I immediate thought of my daughter, who is a designer junky, and has in a storage box inside her walk-in closet some of the shopping bags from where she has purchased handbags, clothing, wallets, jewelry, etc. and has them folded neatly in there, and of course, depending on the purchase, they are in a variety of shapes and sizes.  Since we just re-decorated her bedroom, and she is very particular about how it should look now that she totally changed up the design of the room, she has one larger wall that has no artwork on it, because she hasn’t been able to find exactly what she wants.  I showed this picture to her and she loved the idea.  Now we will go to Michaels and buy some matching frames in white, get her favorite shopping bags and design a certain layout of how she wants it to look, I think if it’s done correctly it could be so unique and add certain flair to that wall.    

I was also thinking it would be so cute for a little girls room, if you have shopping bags from Disney, or any of their favorite little girl boutiques, or even from Build-a-Bear.  Just a quick weekend project that is unique and fun to make.

Happy weekend everyone…hope whatever you have planned it’s enjoyable and not as hot as it is down here on the Gulf Coast of Florida…

Good Morning Florida....

Today is my Friday off from work, so I got up early made my tropical iced tea (passion fruit/papaya), never been a coffee drinker…went out to the back yard and decided just to sit and relax for a while.  Though it was only a four day work week, it was a tough one.  Now, I’m not one that can ever sit still, always have to be doing something.  As I previously stated, we’ve been so busy inside with the summer redecorating, we kinda-sorta-maybe-seriously, neglected the backyard.  Though we have no grass in the backyard, just tropicals and tile, my husband did keep the front yard cut and trimmed, and we’ve had numerous BBQ’s in the backyard, I didn’t notice how overgrown everything was…don’t know how it happened, we’ve had very little rain, but it just did.  Palm fronds need trimming, weeding is seriously needed, and in some desperate need of fresh mulch. 

So, I began trimming some of the date palms, and though it was only 8:30 in the morning, I said “enough of this”…too hot and humid.  So, I got out my camera because it was a beautiful morning, and just took some pictures…mind you, I am showing them, a little ashamed of the unkempt yard, but to my surprise, I did notice I had several Plumerias, Heliconia’s and other plants in bloom, so through the overgrown palm fronds and weeds, I was able to capture some pictures.  This is just life in Florida during the summer months.  We do not have a gardener, because I love working in the yard, it usually is very relaxing for me, but you know what, that just might change after this summer’s heat…during the winter, my husband and I will do it, but next summer, different story!

Now the sky is that dark tropical blue and it’s thundering all around the house, by so far, not a drop of rain…guess the weather report was right, no rain in sight.

Tomorrow is a different day, we are finally going to paint the Plantation Shutters white, and then I think it’s time for some serious backyard grooming…then maybe a nice family BBQ with some cold pineapple mojitos…I’m ready for the weekend…hope you all have some great plans, and it’s not too hot where you are, and you enjoy every moment.