Feliz Navidad

Wishing you the very best of the season.

with love,

Anita & Fred

(and the cats)

Nights of Lights in St Augustine

Before leaving St. Augustine we had a chance to see their famous "Nights of Lights"..... well worth the tourist trolley ride through the old city after dark.  (especially after 2 previous attempts to take photos from the truck windows which produced no usable photos).  So, onto the trolley, equipped with special Holiday 3-D glasses that transformed all the lights into snowflakes.

It was great fun - the old city really gets into the spirit early, and was fully decked for the season.  Plus the hot cider and cookies were a treat!  This may be the only place where the Ripley's Museum is out glittered!

prayer flag project update

I was more than pleased to be featured in the most recent blog post on the Prayer Flag Project.  This edition was intended to send healing energies to all affected by the shootings in Ct.

You can read the post (and see the flags) by following this link!
http://theprayerflagproject.blogspot.com/2012/12/now-is-time-for-prayer-flags.html

Thanksgiving on the St.John's River

We moved inland for Thanksgiving - to a fishing area on the St John's River (famous as the Bass Fishing Capitol of Florida).  Although we're not fishermen, it seemed like fun to experience the "old Florida" fishing camp setting.

Welaka was much quieter and more removed than we anticipated, but that was more than compensated by the nicest, and friendliest neighbors we've encountered.  We shared potluck suppers, evening bonfires, and Christmas decorating.

GIANT pine cones make perfect mini-trees!

our Christmas Tree window box

The weather was perfect - warm and sunny - and I was able to work on printing holiday cards.

my outdoor studio

printing holiday cards with palmetto fronds

Welaka- on the St John's River

Welaka is a very quiet little community between St Augustine and Gainesville.  I imagine this area is hopping in the summer, but in the late fall all was very quiet.  Not much fishing going on here. Not much else going on either.  But Fred was captivated by the sunsets and accumulated a huge file of photos.  Here are just a few

Catching up with December's news

It's been awhile since I posted - December has been a difficult month for us.  We waited anxiously in Florida for news from home when my mother's health took a bad turn, and she was hospitalized after Thanksgiving.  Ultimately we packed up the RV and made a rushed drive to DC, arriving just before she passed away.  Then while helping with her funeral arrangements and keeping my father company, we learned the terrible news that our dear friend in Maine, Eric Herndon, had also passed away.

When it came time to leave my family we finally decided to head back south to Florida rather than continuing home - although it was a difficult choice for me. And sadly, the dreadful news from Sandy Hook was our companion on the entire drive back south.

We're in the Gainesville area now - still trying to pull mind, body and spirit all into one location, when our thoughts continually pull us toward family and friends elsewhere.

I have lots of happier posts to share with you, and will make an effort to be a better journaler in the future.
For  now, I wanted to post the photos of two people who left our lives this December,

You are all in our thoughts during this Holiday Season and we wish you health, happiness and prosperity in the New Year.  with love,
anita & fred

Delia Corsaletti  

my parents - Tom & Dee Giblin with their Great-granddaughter, Vivienne. Nov 2012

The Mad Hatter's Birthday party, August 2012, with Eric & Sarah Herndon

Happy November 7th

What a great day!

and what great political news.

Our new toys

our new toys.  It's so flat here everyone rides bikes.

I haven't ridden in more than 30 years - and it's not as easy at my current age as I remembered it being when I was 12.  Fred's not having any problems with his skills.

another early morning in the Old City

what can I say???  I just love the back alleys and side streets of old St. Augustine - 

especially early in the day

Overhanging balconies  dripping with blooming plants

Aviles Street

The Lightner Museum

Palm Court

Sunday morning in the historic neighborhood of Lincolnville

 We love to go into St Augustine early in the morning - before shops open and tourists arrive.  It's a lovely place-out-of- time with little surprises everywhere you look.  The old slave section of the city is undergoing a renaissance , with abandoned and derelict homes changing hands and enjoying much needed refurbing.  The community is aptly named "Lincolnville"  and was a significant player in the early days of the civil rights movement.

 Retirees and younger families are bringing in their unique sense of  tropical style....   I loved this particular house - such a happy riot of color

we found this stone "gator" protecting one garden

the street art is great fun - many of the houses have symbols painted on them; often "suns" around windows or starfish/fish/mermaids/ waves painted on side walls and fences.

Pea shrub is in bloom everywhere;  camellias (the winter rose) is starting to show up, and bougenvilla is a startling bright fuchsia.

sunset on the edge of the hurricane

No storms here - just wind, high surf, and beautiful sunsets.  the ocean broke over the dunes but there was little damage aside from beach erosion.

The wintering wading birds are back now after a couple days hiding inland

BATS! very large bats

For Halloween, the Lubie Bat Conservancy opens for 1 day - allowing the public in to view their HUGE fruit bat residents.  We drove over to Gainesville to see these critters for ourselves, especially since Fred had considered volunteering here but changed his mind when he learned every volunteer was required to have the  rabies vaccine!                                                                

there are about 80 bats living here -  mostly from Malaysia (thank goodness) .


The conservancy studies the animals, and has a breeding program, but doesn't do any rescue work.

The bats were mostly "hanging around" in their various enclosures, but were surprising active walking around the mesh ceiling and visiting the fruit feeding stations.

This guy has a 6 foot wingspan.  they call them flying foxes - and they do have a fox-like face, but those leathery wings and long gripping fingers and toes take away all the cute cuddly fox imagery, 

they do have really big teeth!

I thought is was hilarious that they also had the bloodmobile on site - in case anyone was willing to donate