Cocktail Cruise

Skies are looking gray but only 20% chance of rain, water is high, warm but a little breezy–let’s go on a cocktail cruise.

Cocktail Cruise
Maggie, guiding us out to Mason Creek
Cocktail Cruise
This house has set empty for years. New owners and lots of activity. Looks like a new dock is going in now.
Cocktail Cruise
The bait lady headed home. Hey, when did she start selling ice cream? And what kind of fish is that going to catch?
Cocktail Cruise
Great Blue Heron
Cocktail Cruise
No eagles, ospreys, or hawks, but here’s a cormorant.

Got home just in time, that 20% chance of rain turned into a thunderstorm which we  watched from the safety of our screened in deck.

DIY Apron

I’ve come across several adorable aprons over the past year.  Are cutesy retro aprons coming back in style?  But would I dare get food on these?

This one is from the Heritage House in the Heritage Village in Crystal River.

DIY ApronFound these lovelies at the Anthropologie in Hyde Park in Tampa.

DIY Apron

I’ve also seen several versions at craft shows.  And if they are being sold at craft shows, why am I not busy making them???

But I usually have to have a reason to make something–so I decided that I needed an apron for a special photo shoot.

Picked up this pattern and some gingham at Jo-anne’s.  They didn’t have the shade of blue that I wanted but I didn’t have time to order the fabric online so just went with it.  The pattern was really easy.

DIY Apron

I wanted to embellish this apron with yo-yos.  (If you don’t know how to make yo-yos, click here for directions.)  I love Moda fabrics and had picked up a charm pack of 5″ quilt squares at our local quilt shop, Tomorrow’s Treasures, sometime last year.  I picked out some coordinating squares from the charm pack to use for the yo-yos.

DIY Apron

DIY Apron

Ready for the photo shoot!

DIY Apron
That’s my banjo! And Andrew’s got the grandkid’s guitar!

DIY Apron

This was what we originally envisioned the photos for.

DIY Apron
That’s a pic of “Mattie the Cattie that thinks she’s a dog” on the big porta potti!  She couldn’t make it since she doesn’t like to travel, and because she’s a cat.

But we liked the pictures so much and I took about 100–we turned several of the photos into the guest book!

DIY Apron
We’re so clever!

And, last but not least, it’s actually an apron–not just a photo shoot prop!

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Damn Squirrel

Does anyone out there like squirrels?  How many times have I seen people feeding them bits of crackers and chips at the park?  Don’t they know that they are just rats with fluffy tails?

Squirrels are my nemesis.  Last year I couldn’t figure out why my beautiful tomatoes were disappearing just as they were getting ready to ripen.  That is until one of those tomatoes fell out of the tippy top of one of our huge trees.  Not only were the squirrels eating them, they were trying to drop them on my head!

Damn Squirrel

The previous year the nasty rodents stole the squash blossoms right off of the vines.  They dig up every plant I have in a pot so they can bury acorns.  They also like to use the hanging baskets for spring boards to the next perch.  And I’ve given up on succulents.  Michelle has given me two pots of them now–the squirrels just chew them down to nubs.They play havoc with the twinkly lights that are on our deck, dock and trees as they chew through the wires and bite the lights right off of the line.

And now their latest escapade, because honey bees took over one of our hummingbird feeders this spring, I found one that was supposed to be insect proof.  Not only do the bees not like it, but the hummingbirds won’t use it either!

Damn Squirrel
Hummingbirds and honey bees love this type of feeder!

But the squirrels love the new flying-saucer shaped feeder!

Damn Squirrel

Damn Squirrel

So I’ve put Maggie on alert.  The last squirrel that drank out of the hummingbird feeder got quite fat and happy.  Which ended up being it’s ultimate downfall–so fat it couldn’t outrace my chunky monkey Maggie.  The Magster still has a little scar on her leg from that battle.  But she was the victor!  Gone Squirrel!

Damn Squirrel
The final photo of this bad boy hanging upside down on the feeder while draining the last drop!