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11/27/2013

Happy Thanksgiving

Good evening from finally sunny Florida. The sun did come out this morning, but it has been quite windy all day. The temperatures were pleasant early in the day, but mid-afternoon, had begun to drop. We finally got our predicted thunderstorm & rain last night, so I closed up computer operations about 10pm, and went to bed and read for a while. Earliest I've been to bed in a long time.

Here's a couple of pictures (same view as yesterday - ) with the sun shining. The water looks like diamonds were dropped it was so sparking.

The sky was  not the gray lead of yesterday, but still had not gotten the pretty blue I love to see. It did have that luscious blue later in the afternoon in the 2nd picture. Oh yes, DD said what I thought was a bird in my water picture of yesterday, was just a buoy out in the water.


This is what Florida should look like! But as anyone who has ever visited here knows, it rains & gets gloomy & chilly in South Florida too. Fortunately for us, we lived here long enough that we don't get that upset with the weather.  We got a phone call from relatives who live in our subdivision that snow flurries were happening there, so the Florida gray looked better than what it must be at  home!

Got out & about today and headed for Ruskin, Fla. to visit a store called Sparkle n Sprinkle, a lovely place a blog follower (KathyK) had told me about. To get there, we had to cross the famous Skyline Bridge in Tampa (maybe it's called Skyway..I'm not certain).  Anyway, I really dislike having to drive over it!  I was in the back seat, DD was driving, and it was very windy. We could feel the wind buffeting the car. Needless to say, I closed my eyes and said "Tell me when we get down". She took pity on her ole Mom and we came home another way.

It's not a large store, but oh my, was it packed with goodness. Lots of products that were new to me. The owner, Margaret, was so friendly and welcoming, knows her stock and knows how to use the products too. We did a fast make & take which I enjoyed and will try to share here. She explained how to use any number of new products and if I forget, there's an online gallery where I can refresh the instructions. I behaved myself pretty well (relatively speaking) and had such a great time.

After leaving Sparkle, we headed back to Tampa, stopped at Ikea to pick up a couple of small shelves for the cabinet over our laundry sink. The shelves are always cluttered and I had seen these small metal shelves last visit (got 2 for my kitchen cupboards and they work well). Daughter picked up a few things, and we had lunch in their cafeteria. It wasn't a 'great' lunch, but pretty good - and we were hungry.

I've had the laptop cluttering up the table while we've been here. Since tomorrow we will be using it to have the holiday meal, and since the SIL is arriving home tonight, I'll have to clear up my clutter. Might not be back to chat tomorrow evening.

Oh yes, I am missing the fun at the last Rudolph Day of 2013, and the fun at Pixie's Snippet Playground to celebrate the 100th Snippet week. I have to dash over & see how long that is going on...maybe it will still be running by the time we get home, and I can submit a card. I would urge you to check out both these lovely blogs for some extremely inspirational cards, because as we all know, Christmas is not that far away. (well at the Playground, your card just needs to have snippets, but there will be a lot of holiday cards I can assure you!)

So, from my family & me, to all of you & your families - Happy Thanksgiving, if you celebrate that day. If not, well all of us have many things for which to be thankful for, so Thankful Blessings to all of you who don't celebrate the day as a USA holiday. Thanks for joining me.

17 comments:

  1. Happy Thanksgiving to you Mary.
    I had to smile about your visit to SparklenSprinkle in Ruskin FL.
    Margaret and I have been friends since 1997 and I designed for her for such a long time, only giving up the team in 2012, due to ill health. I actually flew over a couple of times to (Florida and Oregon) demonstrating for her when she first started her business.......... and I have watched her grow successfully
    since then. Only a small company by todays standards, but so friendly and helpful. If you get back there again, please tell her I said hi. Have a great Thanksgiving.
    JoanP in England aka lakeslady

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  2. I hope you and your family have a very safe, blessed and happy Thanksgiving!!

    Lisa
    A Mermaid's Crafts

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  3. What a great post Mary. I enjoyed it. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. Hugs Rita xxxxx

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  4. Hi Mary, I hope you are having great fun, we are dealing with snow, blowing winds and bad roads. To answer your question: I've been using Mixed Media Vellum Surface, 400 Series, 140lb by Strathmore. I buy the large pad, 11 x 14 inch and cut them into four pieces..Water colour also works well, cold press, but the surface isn't as smooth as the mixed media which makes it a bit trickier for stamping, but I've used it for over a year before finding the mixed media. Goodluck and let me know if you have any other questions. Shirleyx

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  5. Hi Mary, I just left a comment, not sure if it went through properly, let me know if you didn't get it thanks Shirleyx

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  6. Thanks for sharing your trip to DD's with us on your blog! It looks and sounds as if you're having such a fun time together! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

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  7. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family

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  8. What beautiful pictures Momma Mary! Yes, be glad you are there and not here! It is very windy and very cold and we had snow flurries too. I'm glad that you got to go to the new to you store and enjoyed it!! I don't like going over big bridges either, so glad that DD found another way to get you home. Have a very Happy Thanksgiving, I think we all have much to be thankful for!!! Now if I could be thankful enough to have hot water back!!!! I guess our hot water tank went last night. But on the bright side, we have water!!! lol Hugs my sweet Momma!!

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  9. Hope you have a lovely trip and a lovely Thanksgiving, Mary. Thanks for sharing your beautiful card!

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  10. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family Mary. Beautiful photographs of the landscape. They remind me of our one holiday to Florida, somewhere I would love to visit again one day. Enjoy your family time xx

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  11. Have a wonderful day with your family. Glad you have some sun and not snow! I have met the lady from Sparkle and Sprinkle. She was at a craft show I attended several years ago and I bought some stamps from her. Fun stamps and she could not have been nicer. So glad you got to go there.

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  12. Have a great time in Florida! Happy Thanksgiving to you! Thanks for all your sweet comments on my blog! Feel free to CASE anything you want :)

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  13. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours Mary.I know what you mean about going over long bridges in the wind. I have the same issues with the old Severn Bridge which links Wales with England. The new bridge they have built is a little more secure but I am still not keen in the wind.
    Hugs
    xx

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  14. Sounds like you're having a good time and a nice visit with your DD! Hope you've had a wonderful Thanksgiving with those you love the most. Ours was noisy and lovely! Jack sends hugs back. Me too.

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  15. Sounds like a wonderful time spent in the Tampa Bay area. I'm sorry we did not have our usual sunshiny weather and cool, beautiful temperatures without the humidity while you were here. Mary, I wish I could have met you at the SNS store. I have not been able to leave the house for a few years in that capacity, so it has been a treat meeting you on line.

    We used to live in Tampa, and now live in a community just north of Tampa about 50 miles. Thank you for your wonderful comment on my blog! I have joined your blog today to follow your travels and artistic expression. It will be fun to see what you create in coming months! big hugs, Donna {Creative Smiles}

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  16. Grew up on E coast of FL. The Skyway Bridge that crosses the Tampa Bay from St. petersburg to Bradenton is named the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Is this the same bridge you mentioned? Temps here in Central TX couple days ago have been in the 30s-40s. Cold in the morn in 40s-50s but by noon the sun is out and warmed up in 50s-60s.
    Melissa
    "Sunshine HoneyBee"

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  17. Happy Belated Thanksgiving Mary. Sounds like you are having a wonderful time at your daughters.
    Your craft shop sounds just what a shop needs to be...one that goes above and beyond the expected!

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