When You Stall....

Just a few photos of a fun journal challenge that I was a part of during Advent 2015. A combination of December Daily, and Advent Illustrated.   With premade foundation pages, and preselected embellishments.   Mostly? ...I loved picking up my paint brushes. And journaling.  Just stopping in the busyness and writing and making. 

A fun post after being "away" for almost a year.   Stalled right in the middle of Sarasota.  We did get home safely.  It was an amazing trip.   And then we returned to Florida during Christmas and New Years.   With the kids!   I want to go again.....

Ringling Brothers Museum and Ca D'Zan

Another neat stop on the trip was this museum and mansion, in Sarasota.  We stayed in a motel across the road.   We weren't sure if we could spend an entire day here, but we actually missed most of the 10 art galleries, which was really too bad.  

There is an amazing array of art, circus memorabilia, and artifacts...plus the beautiful specimen gardens filled with statuary.   Loved the banyan trees!

The mansion was immense, covered with glazed terracotta tiles....and granite.., lots of granite.  

There was lots of time and space to linger.  A great low-key kind of day.  Love that kind!!

Taste of Dunedin

One of our favourite non-nature outings of the trip was going to Dunedin for a Blue Jays Spring training game.  We headed to Florida Auto Exchange Park and took in a game on a very hot day.   Super memorable and good to see the Jays again!
And....we saw Greg Zaun and Jamie Campbell from Sportsnet.  They cover the Jays all season long. Neat to see them signing autographs too!

The Everglades - Day 3 - The Last Glimpse (really)

Occasionally, a single outing generates scads of photos.  Enough for its own post, even if it was only a part of a day. This sunset cruise out of Everglades City was such an outing :)  Only a handful of people on the boat. The weather was so warm, while it was still so very cold back home.  Just a light sweater was needed.   What a treat!

And the super bonus!? ...the dolphins playing in our wake.
And the American white pelicans on this little key....in the Gulf of Mexico.   The second largest land bird in North America.  The largest is the California Condor. 

Sometimes Plan B is the sweetest.

The Everglades - Day 3 - On Our Way Out

On this day we left Homestead, heading for Everyglades City, on the East side of the Everglades National Park.  We had hoped take a tram ride at Shark Valley but the parking lot was so full that we couldn't even get in the lane way.  Another plan B day...and you just roll with it. :)

We had planned an air boat ride, to get way out into the back reaches of the Everglades.  I was amazed at how plentiful the birds were.  Loved seeing them in their natural habitat...doing natural things. And alligators too, way in the back 40.  There was an educational talk about alligators this safari place had rescued.  Never a fan of animals in captivity, I suppose they have their role in educating the world that steps through their doors.

One of our favourite other stops on the way was Big Cypress National Preserve.  Amazing to see still another ecosystem in this area.  Loved getting into this shady marsh/swamp and see some different ferns. Even a nesting bald eagle.

And then it was time to head to the Gulf Coast Visitor's Centre, to round out the day with our alternative: a sunset cruise out onto the bay and around some the Keys.  Ahhh, another sunset.   Stay tuned!