AND THE WINNER IS...

Most of the pix in this posting are from my trip to the States a couple weeks ago and have nothing to do with what I'm writing about today...but hey! What's a post without pictures?!? This was taken at a restaurant in St Pete Beach. (Beaks if I remember correctly).

I'm excited and thrilled to be back online after this past week of severe withdrawal pains!!!

Again, outside our hotel room

My son-in-law, Pedro, 

brought a tech to the house this afternoon and he took out the old modem, cleaned up some stuff here and there...and VOILA! It's working JUST perfectly. He was here for about an hour and...only charged me 30 thousand pesos - which translates to about $15. 

I'm very thankful.

I participated in Quilting Gallery's Blog Hop Party this month so the first thing I did was go to Random.Org to have them pick the winner of my batik fabric...

And she is...


Jeannie D !!!

who said...

... First of all, I love your blog name...it made me laugh out loud! The fabric is beautiful and I would wait as long as it takes for it..Happy Holidays!


I love the name of her blog too!!! - Kind Woman Lives Here, which hasn't had any new postings since Father's Day...but hopefully she'll get back to it. (But only if it makes you happy Jeannie).

St Pete Beach

Anywho...as you can imagine I have several hundred things to catch up with and it's Christmas week...so 

see ya later alligator!

MY COMPUTER CRASHED!!!

I´m at my daughter´s using an unfamiliar keyboard (laptop) and wanted to let you know that my computer hard drive crashed. I have to depend on others to help me get tech support and / or buy a new one (I can still barely understand or speak Spanish) so as much as I want to be posting, reading your blogs, comments, etc, it´ll have to wait for Santa, but I think he comes EARLY here in Barranquilla.

Love to all...

Merry Christmas!!!

CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

I'm an orderly person. Maybe to the extreme. I realized I missed including a photo in my post yesterday - so before I can continue with my journey, I have to include it here. 

Made in 2k5 or 2k6

On the way to the Bay Front Plaza Hotel, I spent Thanksgiving night with my brother and his wonderful family in Orlando. 

Our room is the window downstairs in the middle.

He's a big fisherman (his hobby and passion) and is President of Central Florida Offshore Anglers. They have an auction every year - which he and his wife work very hard at making successful - and lobby congress and do all kinds of good things for fishermen - both professional and sport - and the environment.

View out our Hotel window.

Anyway, I donated the above quilt to their auction one year and it didn't sell.

But neither did much else due to it being the first year of the big 'depression' in the USA...(especially Florida). 

So, baby brother confiscated it as his own and I'm happy to know that it hangs on his living room wall. It's an old one that I hadn't taken pictures of in it's finished state so once again, fuzzy pix due to my broken camera.

While I was blissfully yard sale-ing, I came across a book on how to draw insects

And since I was writing Christmas cards...I included the praying mantis in one of them. My niece is gonna think I'm weirder than she already does when she gets this card.

From the other side of the window.

OK...I feel better now. That covers the weekend and I just KNOW you can't wait to see the pix of the next seven days but alas, I must go. 

I have my Colombian quilt group coming today and the house needs a little attention!!!

Love and all that good stuff!


PS (I'm linking to WOYWW and you'll love what you see when you go there)!

FLORIDA!

Once again...more pix of our vacation...these of our time spent in Florida. 

This is the First time we've spent more than 3 or 4 nights in a hotel. 

(I went to Houston to attend & teach at International Quilt Festival ((for a week each time - respectively)) but that doesn't count since I was "working").

We usually stay with our dear friends in Florida...a couple nights here...a couple nights there with a hotel thrown in between.

But we found the most wonderful, affordable place on St Pete Beach last year (Bay Palms Resort on Gulf Blvd) and ended up spending 9 glorious nights and 10 wonderful days there last month. 

Our living room windows from the deck out back.

It's actually across the street from the beach...on Boca Ciega Bay but has a property on the beach which was available for our use as well. (Another pool, internet cafe, beach chairs, etc). 

This is the view from where I sat on the sofa and made tags for Christmas gifts...

It's a one bedroom deluxe suite with large kitchen/dining area, big living room and a separate bedroom and bath.

Sorry about the fuzzy pictures. These were taken before I realized my camera wasn't focusing.

Here are pix of some of the tags I made for gifts. I used whatever trash came into my hand...or flyers, receipts, etc. (The only thing I bought new was a glue stick).

I did plan on 3 weekends of hitting up the yard sales since they don't do that here in Colombia.

So some of the stuff on the tags came from odd boxes of 'stuff' I bought.

I had three glorious (unplanned) days  to myself...

 To walk the beach...

Enjoy the room...

RIGHT outside my window.

And make stuff...

I was a happy camper! (Didn't even wash my hair this day).

While my hubby and his buddies pigged out on Hot Rods at the biggest car show in the USA...in Daytona Beach...at the Turkey Rod Run...

Woo Hoo!

I'm ready to go again. It's calling me.

QUILTING GALLERY BLOG HOP PARTY!

After much hesitation...I've decided to join Quilting Gallery's Blog Hop Party! which runs from December 10th to the 17th.

I hesitate only because it includes a give-away...from me...to the winner - which is totally wonderful... except that the mail system where I live in Colombia is really, really, really bad...really, really expensive... and takes a long time.

So...with that said, I'd love to give the winner one of my hand dyed, batiked pieces of fabric. 

It measures a little over 23 X 32 inches.

But be prepared for it to take up to a month or more to reach you.

Anyone who follows my blog will be in the running automatically...and if you leave a comment on this post I'll add your name to the pot as well. If you're a follower AND leave a comment...you get two chances to win!

Be sure to visit all the other bloggers who also have give-aways.

OK...I feel good about this! :)

Thanks to all of you!!! I love my internet community!!! 

Please make sure your email address is included!!!

ON THE WAY TO VIRGINIA!

I love seeing this sign when I get off the airplane...headed to customs!

Did I mention that I lost about 400 pictures from my trip?!?

My hubby, standing in front of Comfort Suites where we stopped the first night. He doesn't like to fly...so we drove a rental car from Florida to Virginia.

My camera quit focusing somewhere along the way...dang, darn it all...and because I can't see the screen very well...even with my glasses...and I didn't take time to look...I didn't know it until days later. 

driving through Jacksonville Florida

I had to delete so many shots that I just know would've been wonderful...and those that I'm showing are a little fuzzy...but here goes anyway...

I worked on this Round Robin crazy quilt piece while on the road. Too bad my stitching doesn't show up! I think I'll outline it with fabric markers. Any ideas?!?

Our second night was in North Carolina at my sister-in-laws house. Here she is with one of her twin boys. (He's single girls)!

Finally...Virginia!!! On my sister's front porch.

And in her front yard.

I spent three nights with my sister while hubby went to his cousin's house in Norfolk. Sweet.

We met friends at the Crab Shack on the James River Bridge. Yum!

I finally got to meet my newest great, great niece! Here she is with my niece...her grandma! How can that be?

It was cold enough for a fire!!!

Virginia sunsets are always spectacular!

Create Your Life...


annie!