Easter and More, April 26, 2011

A cute little plate that I found at a gift shop over in Ponce Inlet a few years ago.  It says it all, doesn't it?  My ability to see Life and its good side is due mainly to my friend Patti and her husband Tim.  He has been sick for months, and this week it finally looks like he has turned a corner.  Patti has been surviving somehow all this time with a little help from her friends and a lot of help from above.  She is my Doopleganger...I am the dark side, she is the light side.  LOL  Occassionally we switch places, but not often.  Way to keep the faith, Girl!

We celebrated Easter alone this year.  I had invited Patti and her sister, but, they had made plans with another neighbor.  So, this is what she missed...my Mom's homemade roll recipe that I converted for the bread machine.  Yummy, says it all!!   Oh, we also had Ham Balls, Scalloped Corn and cookies.   There's more in the freezer if you get here quick!  

And for good measure, let me add a picture of my dog's behind.  For those of you who have helped me through the flea phase of the last few weeks--notice no redness, no inflammation and NO FLEAS.   I must tell you that Bonnie did not want to expose this end of her--she was downright offended.  She laid down in her submissive stance and got it over quick.  So, with my apologies to you and Bonnie.  This is one of those times when I take my hat off to modern chemistry.  

New Show Look, April 23, 2011

Introducing my new craft show display...well...honestly...the new table covers!  LOL  I am so excited to have new colors to look at every weekend.  The look is bright and cheerful--which I hope is a reflection on how I perceive the world.  Most of the time anyway.  

The new fizzie displays are so cute.  I found these little metal baskets at JoAnns last week...and then I found the display of all the fun fabrics I choose to coordinate in the new coverings for everything.  The line of fabric is called Tutti Fruitti and I think that says it all!

Some other shots of the booth:

So, what do you think???

Fleas! April 25, 2011

Boy, it has been a rocky month in the Turbot household.  Especially for our furry kids, Bonnie Dog and Princess Emily.  It probably started two months ago.  I had packages of Interceptor (Heartworm protection) and Sentinel (Heartworm and Flea protection) up in the cabinet for Bonnie.  I forgot I had both and they look exactly alike. Oops.  For two months I was giving only the Heartworm protection.

And then I started noticing hitchhikers (fleas) on Bonnie coming home from our walks.  She started scratching.  A little at first and more as the weeks went on.  By the first week in March I had realized my mistake.  But by that time, Emily was being bothered.  Mom and Dad's cat was starting to scratch a bit and ugh...poor Bonnie's back end was looking pretty rough.  Frontline went on the cats.  I started buying Capstar to kill the immediate fleas.  I thought after treating the yard, the house and all the bedding we would be home free.

But NO!  I got home from my show in Flagler Beach the middle of April and picked Bonnie up and she was covered with the little buggers.  Into the kitchen sink bathtub she went, closely followed by Emily.  Who of course meowed that pitiful awful meow cats do when they get wet.  It was so sad...Bonnie thought I was killing her, so she was all concerned.  You can imagine how thrilled the cat was to be getting a bath.  The pictures below sum it up pretty well.

Bonnie was so concerned about Emily that she jumped up on the couch and started licking her as I was drying her off.  The cat tolerated that for about 5 minutes and then she whooped her.  

So we are now a week after a second round of yard, house and bedding treatments.  Bonnie's trip to the vet yielded prednisone for a flea allergy, but, luckily she didn't need an antibiotic. I stocked up on more Capster and now a topical flea treatment, Advantix.   My vet tells me that the area around Tampa, Florida is the Flea Capital of the World.  All the companies that make flea protection products do their testing there.  I think a couple of these megafleas have made their way to Orlando.  BUT, I think we finally have them beat.

Fun with the Folks 2011

I have told you before about going out to Spring Training games out at Disney's Wide World of Sports.  This time we sprung for box seats while Mom and Dad were here.  We waited too late to sit low, but, honestly I think every seat in the house is a good one.  We got out early for batting practice and to watch the ground crew do their thing.  It was St. Patricks Day so they had a bit extra to do--one of the pics shows the big cloverleaf stencil they put on the base line.

Dad had a bit of trouble with all the walking from the parking lot, but, he ended up doing ok.  The staff is really helpful and made sure they had a temp seat for him if he couldn't make it up and down the steps.  We were a bit worried about the weather, but, it turned out perfect.  Not to hot and not to cold.  

The game was against the Washington Nationals and the Braves ended up blowing them out despite the Nationals late game challenge.  We got to see a couple homeruns, and, the fireworks they shot off after.  Oh, and it was the  first game back for the coach who got hit by a ball and lost his eye a month earlier.  Thank God, there were no mishaps this game. 

A couple nights later we took advantage of more good weather and scooted over to City Walk at Universal Studios where we had dinner at Margaritaville.  It was fun, the drinks were plentiful, food was delicious and the music was loud!  This is usually a problem for Dad's ringing in the ears, but, the waitress offered earplugs and he made it through with no complaints.  

  

We also made a run one afternoon over to Tampa to see my cousin Angie, Nick and the kids.  What a great family they have!  I don't know how in the world you keep house for five kids, home school and keep yourself in one piece but Angie has it all figured out.  Nick was just back from a month of training which took him back up to Quantico (I think that was where anyway) and we were happy to see them all.  Below you can see Christian performing his drum solo and Andrew playing around.  Somehow I missed a group shot on my camera, but, I hope Rod or Mom got one!

March 2011 Shows

During the month of March I did a couple small, new-to-me shows including one in St. Augustine at St. Anastasia Church and one at  Oviedo Presbyterian Church.  Both were pretty small shows, but, I had a good time seeing crafter friends and a few regulars. 

I did my old standby shows--first the St Augustine Seafood Festival where I got to spend some time with my friend Susan who lives in historic downtown.  The guy below was my artist  neighbor to the south.  He had these wonderful carved fish and birds...I hope he is back next year--I want one bad!  I heard him working over there and had to walk over and get a picture of the work in progress.  The show was a bit slower than normal, but, it is one of my favorites as I get to see people like my friend Russ, the Clean Air Candle guy.  

One of the cool things I did this weekend was go out to dinner with Susan at a raw food restaurant called Present Moment Cafe.  OK, how to describe what raw food is--think organic, vegetarian and unprocessed.    I got to meet the owner and her son (Yvette and Nathan) and had an absolutely fantastic (and healthy) dinner--oh the flavors cannot be described.  Check out their website at:    http://www.thepresentmomentcafe.com/

I talked to Susan later about finding more restaurants of this type and she recommended:   http://www.happycow.net/    Maybe you can find a restaurant near you to have a dining experience you won't soon forget.  Now, I remain a meat eater, probably always will be, but, I sure enjoyed it and can't wait to go back.  

I also did the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens again at the end of March.  The show is being run by a new gal and I think we encountered a learning curve year.  There were too many changes--an increase in the cost of getting in for customers and some changes that affected the artists.  I hope this show goes back to what worked in the past.  We seemed to lose the whole day on Sunday--too few customers and no reason for it.  

Luckily the weather was fantastic at all these shows and that was so appreciated.  Mom and Dad arrived for the month but spent a bit of time down in Naples with a friend and then sometime over at the beach abpve St. Pete when my sister, Jodie, came at the end of the month.  We had some other fun that I will detail in my next post.