Tea & A Segway

We got into town just in time to have a pot of tea and a scone before they closed! We talked about going to One Flight Up, coffee house that we love, but having tea won! They make a nice scone, but I adore their lemon curd! You can see it in the little cup. The tea room is pictured below, oh, I talked with the owner (I talk to everyone ; ) and she is from Michigan.

I can hardly believe it's been a month since I last blogged! Life has been crazy busy round here with the end of school, friends vacationing here, and getting to spend time with family that came to Florida! Life has been a whirlwind this past month. Part of that whirlwind was dealing with our Michigan home...no, we still have not closed. Grrr, y'all. That's why Sissy & I went to Mount Dora, to escape the whirlwind and just sit a spell. I can feel my blood pressure drop when I enter this captivating town.

Do y'all know what those are? I have always been curious about them, so I snapped a few pictures as they zoomed by us. The traffic is so low that they are in the street! Well, about 20 minutes later, a man approached us and asked if I was the one who took his picture? I was thinking, oh my, I will delete it, oh so sorry, but before I could get a word out, he said, "Here, get on, wanna try?" Oh how I love The South. Why YES, I'd love to try it! Here I am after just seconds of explaining how it works...I was a pro, well um, maybe not a pro, but I did not fall over either! Y'all it was SO fun! He took me around the block, then had Sissy hop on...she was a pro too, just like her Mama.

Here is Sissy going past the Wine Den and a couple of giggling gals. They were quite fun and asked me to take their pic, maybe I'll put it in my next post! Mr Segway seemed to know them, cause he told Sissy to go ahead and hit them if they didn't move...wink. Life in a small town and all it's characters, ya gotta love it. That's him in the photo below. I love this one because you can see the Windsor Rose Tea Room in the distance.

There's Sissy, way in the background, waiting patiently as I play with my new camera. (Happy dance, I got it for Mother's Day!) We took a walk through this cozy town and I snapped photos more than I walked. I want to share all 500 of this quaint town with all y'all, but promise to keep it down to a few : ) This fountain is actually on the outskirts of the downtown area. I just love this town and have pondered moving here...but I'm not so sure Hubby would like his new commute to work. It's a good thing I didn't put an offer in on that neat mini plantation house I saw with horse property!

New "do"

It was this trip to the pool that broke the camels back! It is HOT down here in Florida and this long hair just has to go. If it's only MAY and I'm hot, Lord have mercy, what will JULY be like?! Many tell me I'm "hot" because I've lived up north so long and my "blood is thick." This might be true, but I'm thinking isn't Florida a sub tropical area??? So, no matter where you've lived, it's hot down here, the hair has to go.

I think I'm gonna like my new "do"...I know it will be much cooler than my last style. I told myself, it's only hair and if I don't like it, it will grow. Ya never know, I might go crazy short!

Side note: things are moving along with the sell of our Michigan home. I want to thank y'all for keeping this in your prayers...it's been a long, frustrating road, but I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Have a wonderful weekend...I'm thinking I need to take my new "do" to the beach!

Things I see

Did you see the baby Sandhill Crane in the first picture? The Crane in the second shot must have forgotten his gate clicker! YES, that is an American Bald Eagle, who lives in my neighborhood. The COON, well, that's Rascal, named by Little Man.

What does this bird have in his mouth? Can you tell??? I see Palm trees, everywhere I go. It still seems odd for me to see Palm trees in my day to day life. Did you notice the amazing blue sky in the palm tree shot? It is not photo shopped, it's God.

This turtle lives around the corner; he is quite old. Ever felt like someone, or thing, was watching you? I did...this lizard was peering down at me as I sat on my porch swing! We can't forget Benji, my sweet Yorkipoo...I am blessed to see him everyday.

Happy Mother's Day Mama!

We had a great time snapping pictures with Nana in my back yard that afternoon. This was June 2008, when we were in Michigan. I miss that yard and my gardens, but I don't miss wearing a jacket (like Sissy has on) in June! I kinda enjoyed going to the beach today...in MAY. Florida has it's perks and today was a picture perfect day to be at the beach. However, I forgot my camera!

Happy Mother's Day Nana, we love you.

Epcot Part 2 & Prayer

This is the butterfly house; I was hoping it would be larger. However, it was nice and quite cozy. The floating planters below were a favorite of Hubby's. Leave it to Disney to even put flowers on the water! Flowers were everywhere y'all ! I loved it so much that we stayed until they kicked us out...well, not really, but our car was one of the last in the lot!

Getting Mrs. Potts photo was a must for a tea lover like myself.

Today is National Day of Prayer. Can I share a request with y'all? Many of you know we recently moved from Michigan to Florida. We had our Mi home on the market for many months and kept watching our home value plummet right before our eyes. My kids kept asking, in a joking manner, "Can't we just put our home on the truck ?"

This past January we got an offer! It was what we'd been praying for and we were thankful, yet it was bittersweet because of how low the housing market had dropped. Now to the prayer request...we still do not have a closing date. Please pray that the paper work moves along at a faster pace than it has thus far. I confess that I have grown weary and frustrated. However, I am extremely grateful to have a buyer in such an awful market...God is good.

I would love to pray for you as well. Just leave me a comment and I'll be delighted to lift it up.

Epcot Flower & Garden Festival

What a beautiful day it was to stroll around Epcot during their Flower & Garden Festival. I took about 300 pictures! Hubby was so patient as I constantly stopped to take all those pictures. Here he is waiting as I spent a lot of time in the English garden. He also helped me plot out where the special gardens and topiarys were, he's holding that map in this picture. What a sweetie, huh?! I had to post a couple of the tea cup planters; aren't they adorable?

St Augustine, FL Part 2

Ponce de Leon discovered North America on April 3, 1513. This monument of him is at the Fountain of Youth. We were there April 3, 2010...exactly 497 yrs after Ponce was here. How cool is that?! This place is loaded with history; it is also a National Archaeological Park.

The lady offered Benji a drink...he will be a puppy forever! Ya gotta love that the park is dog friendly. All the staff members were quite friendly and full of information. When Ponce was here this well was actually a fountain spraying above ground, but over time the water table dropped and now the Fountain of Youth is a well.

Below is a life size monument of the Chief. He was huge, over 7 feet tall, and Ponce was only 4'10". This tribe's life span was in the 70's and the Spanish only late 30's. Ponce just KNEW this had to be THE Fountain of Youth.

They actually fire this cannon! Little man loved it, but really enjoyed chatting with the conquistador. He was loaded with cool information and was quite funny as well. He approached my son by asking if he injured his eye in battle...see the patch he's wearing?

Saint Augustine, Fl ?

We should have never walked down these stairs...

The guys hopped out of the car, without swimsuits, and took off running towards the ocean first thing. Once they got there, that's where they wanted to stay!

He loved playing around, but mostly boogie boarded. For some reason I don't have one shot of him on his board! Maybe it's because I was watching over Benji. It was a dog friendly beach and Benji loved being with us.

I took this shot of Saint George St. as we DROVE by...next time I will walk the entire street all the way to Scarlet O'Hara's restaurant! I'm sure after such a walk I'll have to sit a spell and have a bite to eat.

Sights like this sail boat is much more exciting to my Little Man than the "Oldest house in America"...which I did not get to see, OR the "Oldest wooden school house" OR the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum. Do I sound a bit bitter, really, I'm not, (now)...kinda was then. I love places with history. I WILL be returning...what do you suggest I see and do on my next trip to Saint Augustine, Florida?

The good news about so much beach time is that my "boys" were all tuckered out each night! Is this not sweet or what y'all ? I am blessed.

I guess with something as beautiful and inviting as this, I can't blame my Little Man for wanting to stay. The next trip to this area will not include going down those stairs. Well, maybe once.