CALEDESI ISLAND, FLORIDA

On two occasions in the past month I was able to take visitors to the #1 beach in America...
Caledesi Island! I hadn't been there since the 90's when we lived in Florida before.

The beach hadn't changed...just as pristine and wonderful as I remembered it. My visitors loved it. We walked forever on the beach and collected lots of beautiful shells. Here is my haul from one day.

It has to be one of my favorite places. It's north of Clearwater Beach. You go to Honeymoon Island and pay $5/car park entrance fee and then pay $10/person for the round-trip boat ride to Caledesi. You can only be on the island for four hours at a time. It's a wonderful place!

This is a BIG cockle shell!

Sand Sculptures

The water was beautiful and warm enough for some folks to go in. This is my nephew on his skim board. There was just enough wave action to keep him busy and happy!

A DAY AT LOWRY PARK ZOO, TAMPA

Last Saturday my friend Jeanne and I took five kids to the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. What a hoot - two grannies and kids ages 2-12! The weather was very "iffy" at the outset but we braved on anyway. It was brutally humid and warm.

This zoo has a very high rating and I was impressed with the variety of animals that live there. We got to see many critters but not anywhere near all of them. We got to see the albino gator and a baby chimp! So cool!

We grannies pooped out way before the kids did and had to call it a day at mid-afternoon shortly after we got caught in a downpour. I'm sure everyone slept well that night, I know I did!

I would highly recommend a visit to this zoo (maybe in the cooler season), just have lots of $ on hand for food for humans and treats to feed the animals and birds. At least the parking was free. As I looked at the photos I took I decided that my personal favorites were the penguins, giraffes AND the blue frogs. I think the kids loved the giraffes. What an amazing world the Lord created for us! JUST AWESOME!

AN AFTERNOON PROJECT

CHANGES IN DISPLAY

I spent a couple of hours at the shop yesterday and put brown "silk" at the back of the hutch hoping to show off my wares better. I think it worked and I send special thanks to my BFF Jan in Seattle for the advise!

PEDDLER'S VILLAGE - DADE CITY, FLORIDA

Well, I did it! Today I spent hours and hours setting up my space in the Peddler's Village, Dade City, FL. The shop is owned and operated by Lonnie Monteiro who is very personable, kind and helpful. She just took over the shop in April and is making wonderful changes. Every time I go there it looks better and better!

The quaint town of Dade City is about half an hour from our home, it's a nice, easy drive. Even though it rained all day, it was kind of nice and cozy (okay, it was really warm and sticky but I'm trying to make this a nice story) and a perfect day to set up. Despite the rain, the shop had customers which was very encouraging for this newbie vendor.

I have rented that cream colored hutch under the lattice work next to the window. I'm just tickled with the location - plenty of natural light and good exposure.