I am being completely honest and impartial when I tell you that my nieces and nephews and great-nieces and nephews are the smartest, most beautiful human beings I have ever been lucky enough to know.

thanks, Annie for taking the picture

They left before the dawn cracked this morning and it is way too quiet at my house. A whirlwind of a visit and I miss them already.

So much has happened since we last talked! My nephew Nat and his wife, my sisterfriend, Sarah and my beloved Genevieve, Seth and Ben arrived on Monday to overlap with Will for one night. Will jetted back to Boston on Tuesday and on Wednesday, my sweet niece, Annie with Lucia and Micah arrived from Philly.  Woohoo! Full house. I would be showing you stick figures again (no, I still haven't found my &*%## camera) but Sarah took pictures yesterday so I can share a few with you.

Seth goes off the high dive!!

Ben paddleboards with daddy

little landlubbers from Philly take to the water

Bet you wish you were here!

I am feeling more thankful than usual this morning even though I have been up since the early hours with Sophie, who has decided to be scared of thunder and lightning in her old age. We don't see much of this in the Keys in winter. Anyhoo, grateful because our fishing trip isn't today. It was yesterday!! A beautiful day on the water and I could not be more grateful this morning, looking out at the pouring rain and purusing the pictures that Paul and Debra were kind enough to drop off, taking pity on the girl without a camera.  arrghgh

sunrise

Cap'n Skip

Will and Paul hunting fish

dinner

Lenore, Will, moi, Bill (in lucky fishing hat), Debra and Paul

Grateful for such sweet friends, for a day on the water, for this beautiful life.

so true

Well, I have been unable to locate my camera and am starting to think I need to get a new one, thus causing the old one to magically reappear. I am a busy bee as always and here is a quick update before I hit the shower, pick up my friends, Maria, Gail and Florence and head for the annual Voices charity luncheon on Duck Key.  Woohoo!

I picked up my handsome and sweet and very cool nephew, Will, now 16(!) on Tuesday, I think, and so glad he got to see his grandparents for a couple of days before they left.

So, I took my parents to the airport - how the time flew - and I miss them SO MUCH already. I'm sure they would have liked to stay longer as the temperature in Michigan on their return was in the 40's. Imagine.


I have not been in the pool for a week because I've had so much going on - instead just hopping in the canal to cool off and swim with the girls - so hoping to take Will and meet Gloria at the pool later and I will be sure to post a picture later. NOT. Because I can't find my FREAKING CAMERA.

de plane de plane

So, I can't find my camera. I have torn apart my house, ginormous handbag and car to no avail. These are the last pictures I transferred to the laptop. They are of the mug rugs I made for the latest swap at the Quilting Gallery. The theme was the Sochi Olympics. My swap mate was a nice lady named Sandy from Iowa. I'd show you the cute mug rugs she sent me but did I mention? I lost my camera.

The big event you missed was the retirement party for Sue, our fabulous water aerobics instructor. Everybody was quite faclempt when it came time for her speech. Not sure who took this shot:

The five of us with the butterfly wings on our heads were the musical entertainment for the evening. Glad there is no video of that performance! Or is there . . . ?

Traditional Irish blessing . . .

May those that love us, love us. 

And those that don’t love us, May God turn their hearts. 

And if He can’t turn their hearts 

May he turn their ankles, So we’ll know them by their limp! 

Alzheimers Request

My friend, Penny, gave me this poem. We need to do more to end this terrible disease. You can donate at Alz.org

Do not ask me to remember,

don't try to make me understand.

Let me rest and know you're with me,

kiss my cheek and hold my hand

I'm confused beyond your concept,

I'm sad and sick and lost.

All I know is that I need you,

to be with me at all cost.

Do not lose your patience with me,

do not scold or curse or cry.

I can't help the way I'm acting,

I can't be different though I try.

Just remember that I need you,

that the best of me is gone.

Please don't fail to stand beside me,

love me 'til my life is gone.

Sue and Florence and I rocketed up to the Redlands Sunday to the Fruit and Spice Park for the 25th annual Asian Cultural Festival. We LOVE this day every year!

crazy wierd and wacky fruit

We tend to graze our way through the day and here are Florence and Sue posing in their Chinese hats with our Japanese beers and Bangladeshi food. Yum

We paid a visit to the Tibetan monks - this is their booth - and received a blessing. I kneeled in front of my monk and he said the usual things about health, luck, etc. in the year to come and I looked up and said and peace of mind? He said yes yes peace, and dipped his broom thingy in the holy water again and thwacked me in the face with about a quart of water.! I gave a little scream, I think. Trust Florence to say the right thing: Wow! That must have been a really special blessing! We went to the booth next door for our massages after.  yessssss

As you can see, it was a gorgeous day

And we saw what, as you may know, is my favorite performance of the day: The Fushu Daiko drummers. In the words of Tony the Tiger, they were GREAT!

The quilts

Just a few of the quilts from the show. Such clever creative women I have the privilege to know!

with Aunt Grace fabrics - love this!

I think Jo's quilt won Viewer's Choice - click on it, it's beautiful

Mary Ellen took first prize for this applique - well deserved.

Hard workin' women, Penny and Nancy in the Country Store

Off to the Asian Cultural Festival this morning, up in Homestead. But before I go I wanted to share this picture from the quilt show:

Ta da! Took second place!

Helped set up at the quilt show and here you see the transformation. More about the quilts later.

before

after!

Yesterday morning, Mom and I went on the Upper Keys Garden Walk 2014. I had some trepidation about it because, well frankly I used to live like this: a house on the water, beautiful landscaping. A husband. So is it all about wanting what I don't have? Not exactly. I've let my husband out of my thoughts. Mostly. And I get that I'll never live that life of privilege again. But on days like this I can't help but think what an injustice he did to me and my family. He took it all away from me and it's been a long struggle to get my self back. I'll never be the carefree person I was but I'm still putting one foot in front of the other, going through the motions as it were, and that's what I did yesterday. Saw some pretty gardens and here are the pictures.

beauteous mother

crazy climbing vine

outdoor shower

my friend, Suzy, as docent

The top parrot is 49 years old!

orchid house