Post-Holiday Report

I am finally getting caught up following the holidays and it's almost already FEBRUARY!!! Before Christmas, my DSL modem was acting up. I spent a lot of time troubleshooting to get on the web, so I didn't get to post a "MERRY CHRISTMAS" to all :-((( Then I took off for Christmas. This year, I spent it in North Carolina with my Mother and Sister. A VERY long drive up I-95 and even longer back (West Virginia fans going to the Gator Bowl). It was pretty cold up there most of the time for this Floridian (little did I know that I would come home to a historic cold streak in South Florida! Brrrrrrr! My Malabrigo shawl was around me every night.)

As I have mentioned my 'sista' loves mermaids, and her Christmas tree for the past several years has been a mermaid-themed tree - with the addition this year of a new topper - Glinda, the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz - NOT a mermaid to be sure, but a great guardian of all on land and under the sea and now beyond Oz! Here is an shot of the tree which is about 4 feet high and sits atop a table over which there is a gorgeous sea green lame skirt.

The troll mermaid I snagged off of eBay for my sista and is one of my favorites, having grown up with a collection of trolls and spent time making outfits for them - early sewing memories. . . . Think that's a dressed up flamingo in the upper left and to the right is one of the merMAN ornaments - which kind of creep me out because they remind me of the VILLAGE PEOPLE!

Here's my other favorite ornament on her tree. King Neptune! He was just gorgeous, and very Santa-like with the white beard.

Just after the New Year, my friend's, who now live in France, arrived for a visit. They were supremely ripped off, since it was during the EXTREME cold snap. No SULTRY weather here! Certainly, better than Pittsburgh, where they had been before coming down to Florida, but still. . . . As soon as they flew back to France it started to warm up and I was back in the car driving up I-95 again to Jacksonville to attend Off the Ocean Rug Camp. DF Melody has a great report on camp, so check out her blog, and if I find any additional pictures on my camera, I'll post them.

I had a great time and made a few more new-to-me discoveries in Jacksonville - a restaurant, an antique mall, and a sewing store. So more places to go on my next visit!!!