Up the Lazy River

 Can you feel the breeze from this picture?  These wonderful, gnarled cypress trees sit just inside the edges of the St. John's River.   I love the way the Spanish moss drapes over the branches and moves with the slightest bit of air drifting by them.

 The bridge just happened to be opening for a sailboat as we approached it.  Usually it opens for barges chugging their way to Jacksonville with heavy cargo.

 Ok, I don't know about you, but I can just picture myself taking a sip of my first cup of coffee in the morning while lounging on the covered dock.   Are you there yet?

These little guys were so darned cute that I had to snap a quick shot of them before we scared them off.   Ah, yes, just another lazy day on the river......spring is here, can you feel it?

Happy Friday,
Debbie

Gator Nation

 For those of you uninitiated who don't follow college sports, I'll fill you in on Gator Nation.   That's what Floridians call the University of Florida in Gainesville sports fans.  And they are rabid fans!

 Well, my friend Susan and I were at the river this last weekend and we saw five different gators while out on the river....yikes!    It's mating season and they were everywhere.   Cousin Steve took us out on the boat for a quick ride before we left Monday and these are just a few of the gators we came across.

Pretty impressive, aren't they?   The smallest one we saw was at least 5 ft. long and the biggest one was .....hmmmmm, I'm guessing here, maybe 8 ft.   It's hard to tell when they're swimming in the river with nothing next to them to measure against.   It was fun seeing all the wildlife out and about, I'm just glad we were in the boat a safe distance away from them.

Searching for the "wild life",
Debbie

Check out "Home"

I posted about this on my other blog, http://www.pinkfloridathreads.blogspot.com/ , and thought I should also tell you about my oldest son's venture.   Jarrad has finally decided to pursue his passion in woodworking and he has started plying his craft with a wide array of projects and designs.  You can view his work at his website listed in my blog list as "Home".  The wonderful clock above was a Christmas gift from Jarrad, isn't it gorgeous?

Check it out,
Debbie

Planting Time

 Joel and I were up at the river for 5 days recently and the weather was simply glorious.  As usual, we couldn't just sit and relax.....no, not us.  We had Billy replace the broken wooden lattice at the front of the cabin with some kind of hard plastic lattice that will last forever.   Then I planted ever bearing roses that will bloom year round.

 Here are the same roses that we planted a few months ago along the side of the back porch.    They are blooming like crazy!   Joel put in a microdrip system for the entire yard and put it on timers so we don't have to worry about watering things when we're not there.   He even built the little box you see above to cover the manifold so everything is protected from someone stepping on it.   Handy guy!

 We also planted white azaleas under the oaks........

and "planted" a bottle tree.    Ok, now I'm having fun!  And yes, we did take time to swing in the hammock, read a good book, and sleep in late.    I think I'm finally over "THE three week respiratory flu bug"......thanks to lots of rest and 2 courses of antibiotics.    Yikes!  I have been sick every couple of weeks this winter, most likely due to burning the candle at both ends.   Haven't been sick like this since nursing school when I was really run down, so, we decided to slow down and eliminate unnecessary stressors.    Yea, I'm all for that.

A "work weekend" at the river was just what the doctor ordered....giggle.....now I'm counting the weeks until we get to go back up there and do it all again!

Resting comfortably,
Debbie

Final Resting Place

 Pictured above is my much beloved antique metal headboard.   It comes with a matching footboard and rails which hold a full sized mattress.   Much to my husband's chagrin, I've dragged this relic with me wherever we have moved and we put it into good service as a bed in our guest bedroom.    Joel never cared too much for this bed because it was kinda ragged, but I'd put a fresh coat of paint on it and it actually looked pretty cute with all the bedding surrounding it.

Now, what's the significance of this bed in the yard!?!?  Well, now it's a "flower bed"....up at the river....and serves as the "stop" in a golf cart parking area I mapped out for cousin Steve's golf cart when he comes to visit our cabin.   Joel is just happy it won't get dragged around anymore as we sunk it in concrete and this is truly it's final resting place.

Why would I keep this old bed for so many years?   For those of you who have known me a long time, you already know the story.   When I became divorced 36 years ago, things were beyond tight, financially speaking, and one day I went past a home that had the dismantled bed out at the curb.   Next to it was an old dinged up Hoosier cabinet.   I knocked on the door and when a sweet lady answered the knock, I asked her if she would mind if I took her old stuff because I needed a bed and could use the cabinet for something, I was sure.    She invited me in and we chatted for a while and she said she was happy that someone would give her old furniture a new life.

That old bed stood in a bedroom at my apartment for almost 2 years.....it was all set up with the rails and I had painted it white, but I couldn't afford a boxspring and mattress so I was sleeping on a couch.   My dad came by one day and when he went in the bedroom he asked me why I didn't have a bed and I explained that buying groceries for 2 growing kids was more of a priority these days.    A few days later he came by again with a new boxspring and mattress.....I cried....wouldn't you have?

The Hoosier cabinet got cleaned up, too, and I used it as my sewing room.    When the kids and I moved to Florida, we dragged those old pieces with us and they were put to good use in every place we lived.   After I met Joel, we each had to sell several pieces of furniture to fit all of our things in one house, but I wouldn't part with the two salvaged pieces.   By my count, they have been in 10 houses with me over 30 years.  Life is so good for us now, but I never want us to forget where we came from or what the kids and I went through during those rough years.   And this furniture is a bitter sweet memory of years past.

Here is the footboard sitting behind our deck in the back yard at the river.....looks pretty happy to me!   And both pieces look so cheerful all dressed up in red, don't you think so, too?  

Rest in peace bed, you've served me well.
Debbie