Grassy Waters Preserve

I drive past the Grassy Waters Preserve each day on my way to and from my office on Singer Island.  Just south of Northlake Boulevard, this portion of the preserve is sawgrass  prairie and cypress marsh.  Our wetlands are so very important, and sometimes I fear that encroaching “progress” and urban sprawl may be inevitable, which, unfortunately, is not something new to us in Florida.  But at least for the time being, this little preserve seems to be doing fine.  
Northlake Boulevard was built on a former railway line from long ago.   GrassyWatersPreserve.com

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Today I decided to stop on the way home and take a nice walk on the boardwalk trails. 
 

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Drinking water in the City of West Palm Beach originates from Grassy Waters (!) and is home to all kinds of fish and wildlife.  This is the headwaters of the Loxahatchee River system, which eventually makes its way south to the Everglades, which is not far from here.  This afternoon I was lucky to get a photo of a red-shouldered hawk.  The photo didn’t turn out well but I was so excited to see this beautiful creature:

My house is about six miles from the preserve and there are many canals around the Acreage that funnel the water from our yards to the preserve, like these: 

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With all the seemingly endless “progress” in Palm Beach County, I feel lucky to “live out in the sticks.”

Mrs Twins ~

A special lady is celebrating a 1st blogiversary today.
Congratulations to Sue McGorie of Mrs Twins.

Sue is a collector of
little piggy things.

Here’s to you Sue!





Sue is also the creator of the SIBOL (Sunshine International Blankets of Love) blog and as you can imagine keeps quite busy putting together lovely blankets like these:

This group of blankets have already been delivered to a nursing home and will be given to new residents to help them feel at home. 

But….wait there are many more blankets waiting to find new homes.   Sue has gathered together a wonderful organization of people from around the world who make the squares that she transforms into blankets.

Sue you are a special person and I am very proud to have your friendship. ~  Congratulations!!!!

Lilla Hyttnas: a home and art

Lilla Hyttnas was given to the beloved Swedish painter Carl Larsson and his wife Karin Bergoo Larsson by Karin’s father in 1888.

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Lilla Hyttnas is nestled next to a lake in Sundborn north of Stockholm Sweden.  This house, in my opinion, speaks volumes about Carl and Karin Larsson.  Unlike the popular decorating style of the era this house is colorful, light and airy and many of the furnishings were designed by them.
Larsson’s watercolors depicting simple everyday things with smiling children are some of my favorites.  The following is called Brita’s Little Nap:


“Woman Lying on a Bench”
For better views of Carl Larsson’s other works you can visit WikiGallery.Org.
The Larsson home is still owned by the family and is open to the public from May through September for guided tours.  There are quite a few Larsson Home YouTube selections about the garden if you are interested.
Also, I found a property located in North Carolina  that is listed for sale on Realtor.com that was definitely done in the Larsson style:

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Inspirations from Peruvian Connection

The Peruvian Connection company was started as a mail order business specializing in textiles made from the luxury fibers of alpaca and pima cotton.  According to Wikipedia, Annie Hurlbut visited Peru and found a sweater with an alpaca fur-lined collar for her Mother’s birthday.  Biddy Hurlbut showed that sweater to a buyer who wanted 45 more.

I’m always on the lookout for handmade textiles and Peruvian Connection works with cottage industries in Peru.  These artisans make beautiful items by hand.  If you are interested, take a look at the Peruvian Connection websites for the US, UK and Germany, as well as their blog at blog.peruvianconnection.com.

These bags and accessories are creative and full of detail:

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My favorites are the Floral Skirt from 2008, Pima Cotton Doily Scarf and the Bella Cardigan:

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I know you’ll find something to inspire you!

Happy Birthday Annika and thank you too!

Today is Annika’s 28th birthday.
 
Annika has a happy little blog named Seelenfein and the header reads “everything that is good for the soul.”   Annika is a fan of Hello Kitty so I could not resist including this little dancing kitty in honor of her birthday.  I read that Annika lives with her little daughter and sweet Mr. Seelenfein in Germany.

It never ceases to amaze me how many wonderful and interesting people you meet in the blogging world!

In addition to the birthday wishes I also wanted to thank Annika for awarding Posy Linda its second blog award!

I am so happy to find a new friend through my blogging adventure.
Thank you Annika! 

Thank you Merchy!

Sweet Merchy of A Little Green Valley has very kindly given my first award.
 
Merchy lives in a little green valley in the city of O Porrino and province of Pontevedra, Spain.  O Porrino is located along the Atlantic coast and looks like a lovely place to live.  Here is a photo of a street in O Porrino.

I first learned about Merchy from Sunshine International Blankets of Love (SIBOL) after seeing some of the squares that she had made and sent to Sue (Mrs Twins) for SIBOL.  As you can see Merchy loves to make things and is especially good at crochet.

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Merchy’s little green valley must be a happy place.   Thank you sweet girl!

Happy Apis Mellifera Day

Today is National Honey Bee Awareness Day.

We’ve all heard about the ongoing plight of the bee, particularly Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).  CCD is an alarming and mysterious phenomenon in which the workers abruptly disappear, often leaving behind their brood and Queen.   This is mysterious in that honey bees are are normally very social insects and will defend their hive and Queen with their lives.  While the debate regarding the causes of CCD continues, there are a few simple things we can do to help the bees.

• When encountering bees, don’t be intimidated.  Most bees are not aggressive unless they are provoked.
• Make your garden, patio pots and window boxes bee-friendly.  (Here are a couple of great sites for info on urban bee gardens.  Nature.Berkeley.edu and The Melissa Garden. )
• Avoid, limit, or if possible, eliminate pesticides.
• Buy organic food.  It’s no secret that buying organic protects humans and bees (and other pollinators) from harmful pesticides.  
• Buy local honey.  Eating local honey may help reduce seasonal allergy symptoms.
• Allow a beekeeper to maintain a hive or two on your property.  More information may be found at OutdoorPlace.Org.
• Bee swarm removal – do not call an exterminator!  Instead contact a local beekeeper through your state or county honey and beekeeping association.  HoneyO.com has links and information that you may find helpful.
• Set up a bee bath.  Bees need water too.  I don’t believe that the birds would mind sharing, so you could modify an existing bird bath for bees by adding a few pebbles for them to land on.
• Stop by GreatSunflower.org to find other ways to help bees. 
• Become a hobby beekeeper like Cindy at The Bee Lady from Hilltop Farm.

Now, where are you going to place those beehives?

A glimpse of old Florida

Cayo Costa State Park is like a little piece of heaven.   Cayo Costa translates to “key by the coast”, and the locals pronounce it Kay-yah Coss-tah.  The park is located on the Gulf coast, due west of Ft. Meyers and directly north of Captiva and Sanibel Islands.  If you like, you can visit the Park’s website or these YouTube selections.

Frankly, it’s not the perfect destination for everyone.  The park offers a few “primitive” cabins and campsites, primitive being  the operative word…there is no electricity (except at the ranger station), so you can forget about air conditioning!

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Not exactly The Waldorf.  The park is accessible only by boat or ferry, so you can’t just zip out to a store if you forget something.  You have to bring everything you might need:  food, drinking water, ice, plenty of bug repellent, cocktails…and even shade.

For those who don’t mind roughing it, Cayo, in my opinion, is some of the best atmosphere Florida has to offer, the quickly-disappearing  “real” Florida, the way it used to be.  Our last trip was in July of 2009, and boy is it hot in July!   But there is always a breeze along its nine-miles of secluded beach.   

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The island and its surroundings are home to all manner of birds and sea life, including families of dolphins, who feed in the shallows near the lagoons and just off the beach.

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When you’re ready to get back to civilization and a well deserved hot shower, you can pack up, catch the tram to the dock and make a stop at Cabbage Key.  This little spot is a private island that has sweet cottages and a small inn with all the amenities:

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I’ll leave you with a shot of our favorite Cayo Costa activity…..

Note to self:  get back to Cayo soon!

A call to lovers of color

Do you need a jolt of color to get you going?  Well, I’ve got the ticket for you!

There are times when words just can’t express how you feel about something.  This is one of those times.

Zip over and take a look at a glorious work in progress by Vanessa Cabban of Do You Mind If I Knit.  The divine Miss V is working on a little piece of color heaven.

You’ve gotta check this out for yourself.

Crochet Envy….The Garden Bell

I had planned something else for today.   But after visiting The Garden Bell...... I was filled with serious crochet envy....You must absolutely make a bee line over to see Kate’s Circle of Friends blanket at The Garden Bell.  I couldn’t possibly describe how beautiful it is.   Its so Kate!

Rainy Weekend

This entire weekend has been a wet one.  The National Weather Service in Miami has issued flood warnings for Palm Beach and Broward counties through tomorrow evening.  We may get between two and six inches of rain to deal with in a short period of time.

It rained on Saturday.  These are a few shots taken from the patio:

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It rained on Sunday.  These were taken at a local park today before the storm:

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Earlier this morning before the weather came in my husband and I took a nice long bike ride around “the Acreage.”  We ran into one of the neighborhood peacocks, but he kept walking away from the camera.   There is also a woodpecker that can only be seen in silhouette on a palm tree at the park.

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This post is a little trial run of Windows Live Writer.  Actually, this is part two of the trial - the post I had written yesterday  disappeared overnight.   One thing is certain - the photo placement options in Writer are great!

Crochet - Anthropologie style

Still trying to organize that memory stick and of course I would have to find these......
 
So often you hear about "Granny Chic" and "Granny with a Twist."  What are these? 

Stitch Encylopedia

Carnival

Lucy

Genevieve

Cooled Rainbow

Quirky Heirloom

Knitted too!

For close up views of Stitch Encyclopedia and Quirky Heirloom, zip over to Anthropologie.

GreenGate again!

After some consideration, I believe the photo of the striped blanket from yesterday's post doesn't do it justice.  Here are a couple of alternate views:

Sledding, and...















...up a tree.

GreenGate Copenhagen

The other day I was attempting to organize a photo collection I keep on a memory stick.  I only got as far as "G".   "G" as in GreenGate.   As in Copenhagen.  Unfortunately, they don't ship to the U.S.

During the 1994 Olympics hosted by Norway, my husband purchased a little book for me from the used book store:  The Royal Palace of Stockholm by Ralph Herrmanns.  This book contains many beautiful photos (by Hans Hammarskold) of the various and sundry royal belongings.  After that I was hooked....

I would love to visit Norway, Sweden, Finland, and especially Denmark.  Is it because I live in Florida and long for cool weather and the change of seasons or.....because GreenGate is headquartered there!?!

If you visit the GreenGate website, you'll soon find yourself lost in all manner of lovely kitchen and homey items. 

This is Sylvia.

This beauty is Chloe (not the girl, the blanket).

Lastly, this sweet little number is from a previous year's online catalog.


                                                           Isn't it pretty?  Sure wish GreenGate would "branch out."

Soggy Doggy

Beautiful, happy Saturday!!

We enjoyed a drenching rain yesterday evening, complete with the violent South Florida
lightning and thunder. 

While she is bothered by the thunder, Posy does revel in running with wild abandon through wet, soggy grass (beyond human comprehension) the next day.

Any dog owner knows a rain can magnify scents of bunnies and possums and raccoons, and heaven  knows what else, to extreme olfactory levels.  A canine's true bliss!

Hmmm.  Hunting in the ficus hedge again?

Bath time!  

So, I will leave you with a couple of photos
also taken this morning of a cactus bloom settling down for a good day's rest and the Royal Poinciana tree against a sumptuous blue sky.

Enjoy a beautiful weekend.

P.S.  Not sure how these photos will look, products of camera de cheap and poor photographer to boot.

P.P.S.   Just used the "updated blogger editor" - it was a breeze for photo placement and the preview is outstanding!

A little help from my friends

WARNING: I am waaaaaaay too excited!

While researching how to set up this blog, I realized there must be some super people working behind the scenes at Blogger. I read where it was first started by Pyra Labs, which was bought by Google. Many of my favorite blogs were "Powered by Blogger", and before you know it, I pressed a button or two and filled in a little information - et voila, PosyLinda.

Often noticing the Shabby Blogs icon here and there, I surfed over and had a look around. What on earth would compel Megan at Shabby Blogs to share all of those beautiful things - aside from being an incredibly generous person?! It didn't take long to "pretty up" PosyLinda just the way I envisioned it could be.

A special Thank You to my first follower Sue - Mrs Twins, and to these new friends: Karin - Karin aan de Haak; Merchy - A Little Green Valley; Bethel - Bethel's Place; Molly - Crocheting My Best With My Worsted and The Bookworm; Maria - AussieMaria; Erica - Crochet By Day; Kate - The Garden Bell; Kris - Simplify; Cindy - The Bee Lady from Hilltop Farm; and, Janet - Musings of the Puppet Lady. You all have made this experience a beautiful one.

Remember, I warned you - way way way too excited over here!

First things first

For a couple of years now I've been inspired by many talented bloggers who generously share their experience through writing, photographs and good deeds. Not until I began trying my own hand at it did I realize how difficult all of this communicating can be. I suppose that's why it has taken me so long to get one going!

I couldn't possibly name here all of the interesting blogs and talented people I have encountered online, but in the coming months I will faithfully try to list as many as I can in my blogroll.

Attic24 and Creative Breathing were two of the first blogs to catch my attention. From there I soon discovered others, like Mrs Twins, for instance, a/k/a Sue McGorie, who also happens to be the creator of SIBOL (Sunshine International Blankets of Love). With the help of people from around the globe, Sue uses donated, crocheted "squares" to assemble blankets that will be distributed to nursing homes and hospitals in remembrance of her Grandmother. SIBOL has blossomed into a wonderful "good deed".

I look forward to sharing with you and hearing what you think. Hey, I might want to show you something I've made, or something someone else made. Maybe a great recipe, or even a picture of my dog, Posy, doing something goofy. (My husband is also not immune to this condition.)

So, first things first. Thank you bloggers and blog readers for inspiring me to join this wonderful community.