Dropped my basket. . . . .

Goodness.  It has definitely been a while.

A quiet Saturday afternoon trying to understand our new computer and checking in on some of my favorite, long missed friends.

As for my absence, thankfully no serious physical illness, but in looking back over the past several months -- all of the following idioms are appropriate: dropped my basket; went loco, dippy and gaga; was not playing with a full deck; fell completely out of my tree; nuttier than a pecan pie; has straight jacket in every color; a sandwich short of a picnic; as crazy as a Betsey bug?; the lift doesn’t go to the top floor; around the bend; psychologically challenged, and “quite simply mad darling.”

I thank my family and all of you for your continued patience and understanding.

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!