Wecome to Cedar Key!

This a view of the Gulf of Mexico from the main island of Cedar Key. This is the north west part of Florida. We happened upon this small fishing village in rural Florida just by happenstance. It is a little piece of paradise!

This is the view of our accommodation from the water. We are on the third floor with a loft bedroom at Park Place.

Oatie is making his way back to the motel, which is very pet friendly. The motel cat is called Bella, a lovely black and white feline!

Oatie loves to sunbathe in front of the sliding door or out on the balcony.

This is our view every morning.

From the balcony!

The downtown is truly unique with antique and second hand stores and ART galleries! I loved the Cooperative gallery and Deja Vu Consignment shop. I bought a bunch of DMC embroidery floss and a quilt for my sister made by a local resident, Laura who passed away recently. The people here are so friendly! We met Anne at the Historical Museum today, who is a transplanted Canadian and a former teacher too.

Inventive Art is everywhere!

I've been taking interesting photos of doors and old buildings. This is one of the doors on 2nd Street, the main street of Cedar Key. More of Cedar Key to come!

Creating on Vacation

Creative Cue ODD

I was inspired by odd socks of which we have many in our family. My son calls them socks without friends!

This week`s cue is TIE

I was inspired by different kinds of ties and decided to do a Zentangle of ties and knots in my sketchbook.

I continue to work on my class lessons for Fertile Earth. This is Lesson 4 still in progress. I am loving the look so far.

Close up of Ginkgo

Close up of stitching on Lesson 3

For lesson 3, I used Creative Chick`s photo of mushrooms and followed her stitching as well. I have now applied all the painted organza circles and I am adding the sequin waste as well. I love how Susan creates her layers in her stitcheries.

I spent today hunting for treasures at an antique flea market in Fort Walton Beach! I sleuthed out 2 vintage chiffon scarves, ribbon, a vintage hankie, dyed green cheesecloth, paper images of vintage photos and a 1950`s sewing pattern still in tact! All the fun is in the hunt and trying to spend as little money as possible. All this for $11 US!

A Tribute to Sweet Bailey

One of our beloved furry family members was sent to doggy heaven on Friday, February 5Th after a brief illness. Bailey had lived 15 years with my sister, Brenda and her family. Emily, my niece grew up with Bailey. She shared all her chocolate chip cookies with the Black Blaster, our nick name for Bailey. He is now in heaven with our dog, Oskar. We called them cousins since they came from the same breeder in Welland.

I took these photos of Bailey at Christmas time, 2008. He was a very energetic dog even in old age. He loved to run around the house with his stuffed moose in his mouth. We called it the Moosey dance!

Goodbye, sweet Bailey! We have such happy memories of you. We will miss you dearly! Love from Oatis!

Crystal Beach, Florida, Brrrr, Cold!

Yesterday, I went out to take photos of the surrounding area near our little cottage in Crystal Beach near Destin Florida. I just loved these lacy cabbage-like plants outside our motel.

I have been reading Judith Baker Montano's book called Fibreart Montage. She has a great chapter on photography. I went out and took photos following her advice. Here is a view of the beach at the end of our block. It was about 59F when I took the photo!

This is our little old cottage, part of the Old Pier Motel in Crystal Beach. It is certainly old style! The monster cottage next door is typical of the surrounding cottages, all 3 stories tall with for rent or for sale signs on the lot. It is a very quiet neighbourhood with few people around. That's because it is too cold!

This is an interesting photo I took in Valdosta, Georgia of a very tall Juniper shrub. Compare it to the car beside it. We stayed in the worst Motel 6, ever! Beware of cheap motels and ask to see the room first! Lesson learned, I am seeing every room first.

Here is Oatie on his master's lap chilling at the local Starbucks in Destin, Florida. And we were very chilly! Now who picked the Florida Panhandle as our destination? On Sunday we are heading south, after we travel east to I95. Unfortunately, I did all my shopping at The Fabric Art Shop in Lake City already. I picked up some yummy dyed velvet cotton, fabric,threads, and books. This was the highlight of the trip so far for me!