Spring!!!

Here are shots from my yard now...very pretty. The only bad thing about Spring is the fescue needs mowing about every 4 days...and the yellow pollen will soon start coating everything. But it sure beats the Spring in West Texas where I went to college (we went from brown....to light brown that was about it). This is my Yoshino Cherry, my Dogwood, and Carolina Jasmine

St Pete Stroll On the Beach

Here are shots of our beach stroll we took before the Blues fest. We saw several of these large clam looking shells. This one still had its inhabitant inside. The shells were very thin. And I loved this heron ? He was hanging out near a fisherman hoping to get some treats.

Music Festival

I enjoyed the Tampa Blues fest as much by watching people as listening to the music. It was a lot like Merelefest (which is a week from tomorrow yeah!) where you see all kinds. We are standing here at the edge of Vinoy park that edges Tampa Bay where they held the festival. The St Pete Pier is in the background. Merelefest may not be quite as picturesque, but they have multiple stages and still do a great job handling the thousands and thosands of folks that attend. Los Lonely Boys announced they will have a new CD in July, so maybe we will get another chance to road trip and see them later this fall. Next time, maybe I will have time to scope out a local quilt shop. I bet there was one down there...and I bet they had great bright, beach ispired fabrics.

Raffle Quilt Link

Here is my link to the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life website. This is a really cool way to fund raise. They have made it very easy to set up a web page, upload a photo, send e-mail to your friends/family, and they manage the credit card donations. All I have to do is write up the raffle tickets as donations roll in! Most of you that read my blog have already received an e-mail with this link....but I thought it would be interesting to see if there are any other bloggers out there that might follow through with a donation!!

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?px=6118010&fr_id=8896&pg=personal

Big Time in Tampa

The Blues fest was very nice. It was set in Vinoy park right along Tampa Bay. It was sunny all day and they were giving out free samples of Starbucks iced coffee....how could I not be happy. I am not a huge Blues fan but its growing on me. I enjoyed one artist a lot....Tab Benoit. He is from New Orleans and fairly young (40) for a blues musician. The Civic did great...38 mpg and Go Postal didn't flinch at the twelve hour drive home...he said it was worth it so I guess he really enjoyed the trip. Los Lonely Boys were great. We had a good time watching those in the crowd that hadn't heard of them before...quickly become impressed with their talent. I'll post some pictures later.

Roller Skating...Well Kind Of

Buddy's school has a skate night one Tuesday each month (proceeds go to the PTA) so I finally made one. He had been using cheater skates (the wheels were very tight) but last night had to use regular big kid skates. After several spills he started getting his balance and was even able to make turns by the end of the evening. Little Man has a way to go...we played some air hockey while Mom and Alden skated. We went skating a lot when living in Casper as kids (long winters I guess) and I could "shoot the duck" with the best of them. That entailed skating until the whistle blew, then getting down on one skate with your other leg straight out in front of you. Last one still rolling...won. If I tried that today, my adult center of gravity (back end related) would plop me straight on the floor!

Civic 5 Speed

I forgot how much fun driving a little 5 speed can be. I took this car to Boonville twice this weekend and the needle barely moved on the gas gauge. The dome light still glows red (that had at one time matched the red neon running lights that were installed along with the large muffler) Go Postal's birthday trip is now a road trip...so we will give this guy a good long trip (Tampa) this weekend. We are off to the Tampa Blues festival (mainly to see the Los Lonely Boys on Saturday night) We will probably check out some Cuban food in Ybor city and hope to catch a sunset or two at the beach. Dont worry Miss Bee Havin...we will still get the Explorer out when its time to pack up four quilters and their machines for Black Mountain!

Where's the Integrity?

I was giving a trip to Go Postal TODAY for his birthday. A trip to Florida next weekend to see one of his favorite bands Los Lonely Boys and a few days of R&R on the beach. I woke up to the news that effective immediately Skybus is out of business. No refunds, no flying out the month etc. Now, I work for a big corporation and don't doubt they are out of money due to rising fuel costs...but you can't tell me they didn't see this coming. Four days is not enough notice to find alternate air. If he still wants to go....I guess we will have to make it a road trip. Good thing I picked up my new (Used) Honda Civic last night. It is supposed to get close to 38 mpg on the highway....

Kudos to Allegient air who also recently announced they would be suspending their flights from Greensoboro. They gave their customers some notice. Can you imagine having to explain to your kids that the trip to Disney that you have been planning all year is now off...I am sure that will happen this week.