Well, I can't stop now! I've been all over Florida (and Georgia) in less than 6 days and have lots to share. After the Panhandle I came home, dumped everything in the living room floor, got a good night's sleep and took off for St. Simon's Island, GA. It is a beautiful place, but then so is every place I've been this week! They have a nice lighthouse.
I visited the Golden Isles fiber arts guild. I like the way they have their guild structured. It has 8 disciplines, not sure I can remember them all. I'll try. 1.quilting 2.surface design 3.weaving 4.spinning 5.wearables 6.applique 7. beading 8.?
I'm not sure I have those right and I can't find a link on the net to help me. Anyway, the atmosphere was relaxed and void of any tension, enjoyable evening. Nice ladies.
Home again to unpack and repack. This time down to the Quilters of Alachua County Day Guild for a program and workshop. This time, for the first time, my sister is going to accompany me. She doesn't sew or quilt. I think she enjoyed the program and helping (in technical ways, like tape and extension cords) for the workshop. Then we drove the long way to one of my favorite spots in the world. Okay, I haven't seen much of the world, but it's still my favorite spot. The Lake.
A little fish camp my Papa bought in the late 50's. Not much has changed there, and that is a very good thing. Here's Oscar the hungry heron, waiting on me to catch his lunch! Good luck buddy!
Here's Lee, having commandeered the neighbor's boat after trying unsuccesfully to start both of ours.
A Quick trip through Blue Creek takes a while. The pace just naturally slows down when you pass through the channel gate. Fishing must be good today, lots of boats and people.
Almost the first wildlife we run into is this monstrous gator. We decided after hangin' out with it a while, it must be a she. She has attitude. No matter how close we came, she just sat there, claiming her log. We took dozens of photos and video with the bow only 7 or 8 feet away. Still she sat. Finally, Lee just couldn't stand it and had to splash her with a paddle. She splashed back with her tail.
Here are just a couple of the hundreds of turtles out sunning on logs. The smallest were about 3 inches and the largest was close to 12! I love to see the ones with algea growing on their backs and the ones with bright red or yellow markings. I could drift down the creek all day. Lee drives too fast!
We saw many baby gators who still had their stripes and quite a few more medium gators. You can tell it's almost mating season, they are holding their ground longer than usual when we approach. We saw 2 other mongo sized ones other than the first picture.
Back out into the St. Johns.
Here comes a nice boat.
Off the Lake and into the river.
They wave, must've had luck on the lake. Nap time at the Lake. Sandwich and a beer at the local diner that changes names every time we come. It's bike week in Daytona 30 miles away, so we see mlc (mid-life crisis's) on their Harleys and Hondas. No young good-lookin' ones though.
Mosey on home in the late afternoon.
The Yulee Tuesday sewing group is working on a quilt to raffle to benefit the Youth Group's camp funds. Here is a preview. There are over 20 members in the group, less than half are members of the church where we meet. On Easter Sunday, 3 of the sewing group will join the church membership! I like our church. Everyone there is welcoming and friendly. Lots of good people there.
Another shot of the gorgeous Mornings that I spent at Camp Timpoochee. Okay, I'll admit, it was hard for Timpoochee to come rolling out of my mouth with out me thinking things like Hootchee-cootchee on the Withlacoochee in Chatahoochee. Or at the very least, Coochee-coochee-coo-coo. BUT~after I saw several ladies say it with pride and not even a little grin, I realized it was a common name there and was used without prejudice. I'll try harder.
