Florida Break

Phew! Hello everyone.

I thought I would be back yesterday but life conspired to take me to the grocery store, the laundry room, the post office, Jack's school...

We just returned from Spring Break in Florida visiting my father for Easter. This year my sister, brother-in-law and niece joined us for the weekend which was a wonderful change of pace...

Even though there are some routines that are consistent in our yearly visit, I almost always seem to be inspired by something new.

This time I think my head must have still been stuck on trees and wood...because when I looked at my pictures, I noticed that wood kept showing up...

And this osprey nest was down by the beach...I loved how it was perched out in the crook of that weathered tree...It has such great lines...

I tried to get a pic of the osprey when he was there but again, I didn't have the camera at the right moment. It's a shame too because there were lots of fish being brought to the babies in that nest.

I did love the close up of this giant nest...

I noticed that the palette of so many of my pictures this trip matched the palette of my January Reflections piece. Isn't it funny how our filters work that way.

Our walk through the mangroves to get to the beach provided us with lots to look at...

And this Golden-silk orb weaver (or banana spider) kept showing up everywhere I looked. Don't worry, they're harmless...

I think I have to stitch him. You can't quite see it in this pic, but his abdomen is gold and tends to sparkle in the sun.

I've come home inspired and needing to hit the ground running, as is so often the case after being away.

But it's the shells...

The shells that Jimmy searches for every single day...

That's because he knows that there's no predicting what the waves will wash ashore...it's best just to show up everyday to see. This year, we noticed how the inches of shells tinkled as the surf tossed them in the changing tide.

And so it's the shells that will be the focus of my next crazy quilt journal project.

I hope to piece the block today and share the beginning with you next time.

I'll be around as soon as I can to see what you've been up to while I've been gone.

Happy Spring everyone!