Flamingo Gardens and starting the cruise

Well, today is my last day on land for 11 days.

The morning started with a drive up to Ft Lauderdale to meet up with

my cousin by marriage, Annemarie.  She and her husband Roger (Ron's cousin) 

were here on vacation.  When I found out they were going to be within an

easy drive of where I needed to be on the 7th, we decided to meet up and spend

some girl time together.  I picked her up and we played tourist and went to

Flamingo Gardens, which happened to be near where they were staying.

This American-white Pelican had attitude.

He came up and started to attack Annemarie. She was videoing it on her phone.

When she posted it on facebook, a lot of her friends were laughing.

The Pelican  started to walk up to Annemarie, when it got near it lashed out with

it's beak, and continued on.  Maybe you had to be there, but we could not stop laughing.

It was a very pretty garden.  This area was for water birds.
A lot of the birds were brought here for rehabilitation.  They had been
injured or ill, but could not be re-released back into the wild.
This environment was perfect for them. There was an area
for reptiles, and raptors.  Naturally, a lot of birds were flying free.

Here is a Woodstork.

Got to love those Flamingo's.

When Flamingo's are in captivity they seem to have a deeper color.
They get shrimp on a regular basis which does enhance their
color. They are beautiful.

Did you know Peacocks fly and roost in trees?

The colors of a Peacock are vibrant and beautiful.

Love the colors.  We could not get any of them to show their fan's.
It is still amazing how long their tail feathers are.

This young White Ibis also wanted to be friends of Annemarie's
Maybe it because he wanted her to feed him!

Did have to check out a quilt shop.
These were their rows, for past years Row by Row.
Very pretty. I have to say the quilt shops in Florida have a lot of
bright beautiful fabrics.  Naturally, I had to see how many different
flamingo fabrics I can find.

No flamingo pincushions, but cute birds and cats.

Here is Annemarie and I at the gardens.
We had a  late lunch and all in all had a great day.
It was fun to catchup and spend the day together.

After I dropped Annemarie, it was time to catch up with Jan at the hotel
we were staying at for the night.  There were quite a few of the quilters staying
there for the night.  In the morning we would all be going to Port Everglades for
boarding our ship, Nieuw Amsterdam for our cruise.
The excitement at the hotel was on a high level.

It is time to start the festivities!
We have had the life boat drill, been to our cabin, unpacked the suitcases and
having our first cocktail before meeting up with the rest of the quilters.
They have a meet and greet in one of the lounges.  We get our name tags,
tote bags, and schedule of classes and activities.

It is time for the sail away.  The next 11 days of adventures begins.
We pass by these apartment buildings as we leave the harbor.
We are ready for the fun and quilt classes that Quilt Seminars at Sea
has arranged for us.

Let the adventure begin!
Mary

Trying something new for me.

Pepper is just waiting for the shower stall to be clear.

Went to a banquet for Pride of the Prairie Quilt Guild.
Love these button trees we all got to take home.

Hancock's of Paducah.

Another state down.

Now how is that for the true Chocolate lover?


I am on my way to another quilt cruise.
  But first let me catch you up on a couple of things.

The kitties are now 6 months old, and absolutely adorable.
As I said before, we have never had kitten, so watching their antics is so
much fun.  We have the two "Spice Girls"  Pepper and Cinnamon.
They are water babies.  They sit outside our walk in shower in the evening,
while I take my shower.  As soon as I am out, they run in. They come to bed with wet paws
and fur, as they have been playing and drinking the shower water. Silly girls.


In January Pride of the Prairie had their Christmas party.
What a lovely time we had.  The food was delicious, and the games fun, and
I think everyone came away with a little gift bag of goodies, a door prize, and
one of the cutest button trees ever.  A great time was had by all.

I did manage to get 3 quilt backs ready for three quilt, Dah! that I sent
to be quilted!!  Yea for me.  Also got the blocks done for another quilt that
I can put together in March when I get home.
 
I also have been cleaning and clearing my sewing space.
It was time.  I have organized a lot of projects, and put them in their own
boxes. I made of list of UFO's I want to get finished.  Way too many in
progress.  Each time I go on a quilt retreat this year, a project is going with me that
needs to be worked on, with the hope that it will get done, or at least a lot of progress
is made.  Also, made up a basket of things that I can pick up and take with me
when I am on the road.  All handwork.  As I finish up some things, I will have others to add to
the basket.  It feels good to have gone through so many books, patterns, and stuff.
I am donating a lot of things to other quilters.
I can't possibly finish up everything that is in progress.  At least  now I can put
priorities on them.

On Tuesday I started my drive to Florida.  I had decided rather then fly to Ft.
Lauderdale to take the cruise, I would drive by myself and stop when I wanted, and visit
a couple of friends, and bird along the way.

Naturally my first stop, and stay the night was Paducah, Kentucky.
Had to visit Hancock's.  I had a list of things I wanted to pick up.
Needed thread, and new rotary cutter blades, and of course fabric.
Kona's color of the year is "Flamingo".  Now for someone that likes Flamingos as
much as I do, I needed to have some of that!  I found a beautiful, large gingham
that is the same shade as the Flamingo fabric, with white.  A new blouse just
may be in the works for me.  One of the classes I am taking on the cruise is
"Quilt of the Century" by Gyleen Fitzgerald.  I had what I believe is a Moda
layer cake from a long time ago. It was part of a kit that I took apart, but is in colors
that I don't usually work with. So, while at Hancock's I picked up a couple more fabrics,
that I think will work with it.  Little hard to get 2 squares 6 1/2 inch out of that layer cake.
Anyway, I found a couple I think will work.   Then didn't I find a couple cool
Flamingo fabrics that I just had to have.
I had a great room and a good nights sleep, ready for my second day.

I did stop in Manchester, Tennessee to check out the Russell Stover store,
How about those boxes of Chocolates.  Told my husband we will have to stop
on the way home, as they have sea salt carmels for Valentine's Day.
Hopefully there will still be some on sale after the big day!!
Next stop was Atlanta, Georgia.  Traffic and trucks was a bit busier going through
Tennessee.  I have my trusty Garmin, navigator, and she got me through
Nashville quite well.  I have to say, no snow or ice or even a hint of it.
But you could tell how bad winter had been so far.  There had been
several semi's still being worked on to get upright and off the interstate.
There was a lot of roadkill.  So sad to see all the different animals along the road.
Got to see a lot of Vulture's as well.  Saw several large flocks of Geese heading
north,and a flock of White Pelicans on a lake as I passed by.
What is really sad to see is all the garbage along the road way.  It is like how
did some of the strange things you see, get there.  I mean a loveseat, and a little farther
away a cushion.  Children's toys, pop bottles, and the usual suspects.  People must
think it is okay to throw trash out the window during the winter.  Someone else
will pick it up.  Sad.....

I did make it to Morrow, Georgia right on time.  Getting through Atlanta is always fun.
Ironically, I got through downtown in about 20 minutes.  What helps is that all the trucks are
diverted to a bypass.  No one was being unpolite.  I have to say there were a few crazies
that flew from one lane across several to get to an off ramp.  How can you not be aware of
where you are.  Entitlement.

Already had dinner, talked to my husband and wrote up this post, and getting ready for
bed.  Time to settle in for the night.  Tomorrow Florida.  I am going to check out a
couple bird sanctuaries and end up down by Sanibel Island.  I have a friend that
winter's there, and she is doing a craft show on Saturday.  Have not seen her
in a long time.  We will have some time to catch up.  Maybe I will get to
stick my toes in the water!  Who knows, I may come up with a couple new for me
life birds.   The cruise does not start until the 8th.  I will meet up with my friend Jan
on the 7th in Ft. Lauderdale.

Ron will be flying down after I get back from the cruise.  He would like to visit
with his Dad, then we will start the drive back to home.  I just may do the drive back too.
We will visit his brother and our friends that provided the kitties.  It will be nice to know then
that we will not have long before Spring does come.

Hope you are going to have a great February.

Mary

Port of Tyne, England

The Port of Tyne, England was our first stop on the cruise.

As we were coming into the harbor we were greeted by various birds and people.

Appears the gulls nest anywhere they can.

Our entry to the Port of Tyne

Bamburgh Castle in the village of Bamburgh on the coast of Northumberland.
It is listed as the fortress of the north.

It was the royal seat of the Kings Northumbria.
Today it is owned by Francis Watson-Armstrong.  It has been owned over 200 years by this same family.
It has been rebuild and restored and is a testament to the skill of the designer, Charles Ferguson appointed by the 1st Lord Armstrong, and the masons who translated the working drawings and sketches.

Some of the many curio cabinets with china on display.

The ceiling of the great hall.

What a magnificent piece of patchwork.
Sir John Adye was the commanding officer at the time this was made, circa 1830-1850.
The elaborate coverlets were often made in hospital by disabled or wounded soldiers. 

The Village of Bamburgh.

Poppies were in many fields.

Then we travel to The Alnwich Garden, also in Northumberland.
What a beautiful garden.  It was designed with children and persons with disabilities accessible.
There were kids riding around on tractors. There is a Fairy Castle where the children can dress up  in their favorite character's costumes. There is plenty of places to setup for a picnic lunch, or purchase food on the grounds.

Naturally I had to take a couple pictures of flowers.

A lot of the roses were still in full bloom.

It is also home to what is billed as the worlds largest tree house.

The young gull on the left was pestering Mom for more food!

As we were leaving the Port of Tyne we passed the fishing  harbor.   Look at the
ruins in the background.

The entrance to the harbor.
What a beautiful area. Loved riding along the countryside.  You can tell Fall is on the horizon.
The fields are ready to harvest.  Loved seeing all the sheep in the pastures.  There were
castles everywhere.  Lovely country.

Hope you enjoyed this little glimpse of England.  It was the only day were for England on our trip.

Next stop Edinburgh, Scotland 

I did it again, another quilting cruise

January 26, saw me and my friend Jan flying to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
We boarded the Noordam on Monday morning for an 11 day quilters cruise to the Caribbean.

In St Lucia, we got the chance to visit Caribelle, which is a Batik factory. Everyone that went had a great time checking out all the beautiful batik products.

We sailed to another part of the island to see the Pitons, and pick up some of our passengers that had traveled there earlier that morning.

The Ryndam had also been the harbor that day, and they too sailed to the Pitons to pickup passengers.
We had to anchor off shore, as there is no deep harbor to accommodate the ships.  Both ships lowered  life boats  to sail in and pick up the passengers.  We were able to stand on the bow of the ship and watch the happenings.
It was just a little windy.

There was a small quilting store, and plenty of machines for all our machine stewing.
Here are Fay and Margaret working on their purses during an open sew.

This was one class by Sue Nichols, free motion quilting of an 18 inch square and it makes into this cute purse.
Sue had kits made up for us, ready to sew.

My favorite saying!

Holland America is having a Dancing with the Stars contest between passengers and the  dancers of their show. Now that was fun to watch.  There were a couple of hot passengers.

We visited Dominica, a first for me.

Saw waterfalls. This is the Trafalger Falls.  What a hike back in the forest to see them.

Bougainvillea in a beautiful array of colors.

Here are Fay's pineapple blocks.

Big stitch with Gyleen X. Fitzgerald

Jan, my friend, took a class with Paula Nadelstern

Here they are, our teachers, from left to right.
Gyleen X. Fitzgerald, Paula Nadelstern, Sue Nichols, and Mary Sorensen.

Here is what I am working on in my class with Gyleen.

We stopped in Bathsheba, on Barbados.
Doesn't it look like a women's head looking at something  while laying in the water?

So many miles away is Chicago!  Did I miss the cold weather, not on your life!

It says it all.

Here are my table mates, from left to right.
Jan, (my sailing partner), Fay, Carol, Barb, Margaret and myself.
Our table was voted the loudest for laughter.

And of course food, fit for a queen!

We had a wonderful time, learned lots of new things and met some fun and friendly ladies.
Our classes were fabulous, and of course the teachers were the greatest.
Our days on the islands warm and fun.

We had 59 persons registered for the quilters. (That does include several persons that are non-quilters.)
Quilters came from as far away as Alaska, as close as Florida, and many in between.
We had a wonderful time thanks to our hostess, Amy and Kim, of Quilt Seminars at Sea.
If you every get a chance to take on of their cruises, I highly recommend it.

Have a great rest of the week, and be sure to check out the last hop that Mdm Samm has put together.
Mary