Valentine's Day

This might have been my nicest Valentines Day ever!  It was twelve degrees at our mountain cabin, twenty-six degrees in Raleigh, and we went to the beach at Sanibel Island!

First we went to church.  When we were here last fall we found a church that we liked very close to my brother's home.  Jeff and Anna went with us yesterday, and they liked it, too.

Then we went to Sanibel.  A plus for me...they were having a lovely Arts and Crafts festival.  I did not purchase anything, but it helped feed my soul to see all the lovely artwork.

And being on the beach with my sweetheart was very special.

He gave me some beautiful roses.

And for an extra sweet treat...some Norman Love chocolates!  We fell in love with Norman Love the last time we were in Fort Myers.  Oh, my, his candies are works of art as well as delicious treats.

Today we will drive to Sarasota for the first of the radiation treatments.  I think it will be so much easier for Charlie this time.  I hope so.

The Smell of Chocolate

The latest journal prompt from the Fall In Love With Art Journaling Challenge was "Do You Smell That?"

I immediately thought of the delicious aroma of chocolate that hits you upon entering Norman Love's Chocolate Shop in Ft. Myers, Florida.  I painted some of his jewel-like candies with watercolor for my journal page.

I loved that place.  It appealed to all my senses...well, maybe not Touch!  Do you see the sign in front of the chocolate bouquet?

 Love me some chocolate!

I just found out that there are two chocolate shops in downtown Raleigh.  Field Trip!

A Little Handwork

Before I left for Florida, I searched among my many UFOs (UnFinished Objects) for a project needing handwork to keep me busy.  I came across a notebook with a number of flower/nature studies that I began in an online workshop with Pamela Allen in 2010.

I remembered that these were in my project bag a few days ago, but alas, I had not packed a needle.  A trip to Target produced a tapestry needle that will do, so I have been doing some stitching.

This one is supposed to be morning glories climbing on fence posts.  I have stitched down all but the leaves and flower at the bottom center and right, using embroidery floss.

I think I must have made those fence posts when I first got my needle-felting machine.  I detect some wool roving and strips of fabric felted onto a cotton base.  The wool makes it look a little hairy, I now think!

When it is all stitched down, I will machine-quilt the piece, adding more wood grain and some veins in the leaves.  Looks like it could use some wire between the fence posts, as well.

Here are the other pieces I brought from this series.  They all were missing bits here and there.  I compared them to the photos in the original post and tried to fix them up.  I may have to add some more fabric when I get home to Raleigh.

Poppies

 Perhaps a hydrangea?  It is missing about a hundred of those x-shaped petals!

Some tall blue flowers on stems.  Looks like I need a bigger piece of background fabric!

 I think this one is an abstract  version of aspen trees.  The purpose of the exercise was to observe shapes in nature, and not always make the stereotypical daisy shaped flower or symmetrical pointed leaf.

A tree...Not sure what's going on here, except maybe I was trying to utilize the botanical patterns on some commercial fabrics to make the leaves and branches.

I sat outside on Jeff and Anna's deck to work on my stitching today.  While I was stitching, there were three iguanas criss-crossing the lake.  I think the big brown one is getting amorous, and the two smaller green ones are trying to swim away from him.  Here is one of the green ones climbing out of the lake onto the grass.

We did visit a fabulous place on the way home this morning.  It is right here in Fort Myers, and my sister-in-law told us about it yesterday.

Norman Love's Chocolate Salon...oh, my goodness, Heaven on Earth!

The pastries and candies look like jewels or pieces of art.

Here is a chocolate cake with several tiers.

 We each had a pastry and coffee, and then we brought home a box of assorted truffles for our hosts, a dark chocolate bar for a fellow patient we have befriended at the Dattoli Center, and a sugar-free chocolate bar for us.  I predict more trips to visit Norman Love before we leave!