Giving Thanks

As the Thanksgiving Feast approaches we send our thoughts out to you all - wishing you wonderful gatherings with friends and family.

We'll be sharing our day with fellow travelers here in North Beach -

The potluck dinner will be complete with all the fixings - but a lot less work!

We may roast a turkey breast on the grill - 

or not;  haven't decided yet.

Be safe  -  be warm  - be joyful - be thankful.
love you all

Nights of Lights 2013

St. Augustine loves the Holidays - and they start the celebrations early.  The weekend before Thanksgiving is the official opening of the Christmas Season, and the celebration begins with the 20th annual Nights of Lights.... when the mayor flips the switch on thousands of tiny white lights.

We joined thousands of revelers at the Plaza de'Constitucion  to await the official count down.  A  swing band performed in the bandstand, families picnicked.

spotted an Ibis perched on the overhead lines watching the activities

 the Colonial Regiment marched with fife & drums, the mayor said the appropriate things... and then  .....

 ----  the lights flipped on.

Awesome!

my campsite art studio

 I collected some of the local plant materials
and decided to try my hand at eco-dyeing.  The
dye pot boiled, I made leaf bundles and set the
tied papers over the steam.  This first attempt
had limited success - but it was fun, and there
were some surprises.  I still have a jug of
dye left over from the black walnuts I cooked up
last winter - and I love the effects I get.

I'll just have to keep trying.....

Palmetto prints drying

 I work on art journal pages, and experiment with

painting art papers for use in collage or as pages and covers for handmade books.  I'm also working on another series of palmetto prints - maybe for Holiday Cards?

 I discovered a gecko watching me from one of
the palmetto fronds that had been used in the
printing process - Usually we see them in their
brown stage, but this little guy was working hard
to match my green paints.

first layers of paints

my visitor seemed very curious about what I was doing
He came in for a closer look - maybe searching for a new color?

more layers of color, prints, stencils

there's nothing tidy about my process!

Day trip to Paynes Prairie

Full moon - time change - and the cats were up at 5:30am...... and so were we.  So, after pretending we could go back to sleep, we finally decided to get up and take a day trip over to Gainesville, for a visit to Paynes Prairie.


We saw a startling number of birds!  water birds, wading birds, hawks, small birds, cranes,  and even a female Vermilion Flycatcher (very rare for this area).  The herd of wild horses was visible nearby.

Little Blue Heron

It was the perfect day.....  the water levels are high, the prairie was in bloom with Prairie Marigolds and Pickerel Weed and the gators were able to spread out all over the wetlands - including up on the trail.

 and there were lots and lots and lots of alligators out sunning themselves.  Some areas along the trail had been fenced off because the trail was nearly level with the water, and the gators!

Love St. Augustine

Such a beautiful little city - so much to discover - such wonderful surprises everywhere

Hibiscus in bloom - lots of flowers and trees are in bloom right now.

love bird houses

This house had  lines of pennants hanging on each porch - but on closer examination I realized they were really gloves!  very clever! and very festive.

 .

 love the gate details,and all the rusty ornamentation

There's now a small garden planted in front of this gate......can't help but wonder what 

these doors open on to???

  

old houses - beautiful old hand-split siding.  Love the colors.

very old streets, very old bricks - nothing is level

this is called cotton candy grass - and it looks like it too!

the first month at the beach

The days slip by - books are getting read, walks are taken, campsite feels like home... and the campground is very quiet.  In fact, we almost have it all to ourselves, since the winter folks don't really settle in until after Thanksgiving.

the sandy road into the campground always looks enchanted to me - lots of shady Live Oaks, lots of palmettos and plenty of privacy.  It's so quiet we can hear the surf from our site.

Vilano Beach is right across the A1A from
the campground

Fred waiting for the moon to rise

Weekends are busier - flocks of large motorhomes stopping here on the way to spots further south.  Sometimes we have flocks of local visitors too

 We've done a little exploring in Jacksonville - love the street art.  Also loved the Saturday farmers' market under the highway overpass - a very cool venue on a very hot day!

Fred found two groups of Pickleball players -  and has been enjoying the exercise.

 The Pickleball courts are conveniently located next to the beach volleyball courts - not sure how this affects his love for the game??   Returning to the Damariscotta YMCA will just never be the same.

Life in the campground has settled into a comfortable routine - complete with the same chores.