Great Blue Heron Painting

Here is a little card I made for my new friends from the Dattoli Cancer Center, Fiona and Howard from the U.K.  They had rented a house on a pond, and Fiona got pleasure from feeding a one-legged great blue heron.  I thought she might like this little memory of her stay here.

Fiona's Friend, Jeanne Turner McBrayer, 2015

We have made some very nice friends at Dattoli.  Everyone there is in the same boat.  It is nice to talk to people who are sharing the same experience.  Howard finished his treatments today, and they are so glad to be heading home.

After treatment today we went to Siesta Key for breakfast at Another Broken Egg.  It has become very well-known thanks to college hoops sportscaster Dick Vitale, who eats there frequently. No Dickie-V sightings today, Baby!

We ate outside.  I love the pottery coffee mugs.

I had a delicious and unusual breakfast of fried brie covered with apple, pecan, and raisins sauteed in Grand Marnier liqueur.  Oh, man!

Charlie had a Belgian Waffle with blueberries.

After breakfast I surprised him with a trip to the Apple Store in Estero, Florida, near Fort Myers.  There is a very nice shopping center there called Coconut Point.

I bought Charlie a motivational gift for being a "good boy" during all his radiation treatment.  He now has an Apple Watch.  He loves gadgets and is very good at figuring them out.  I think this gave him a little lift as his treatment winds down.  We are both homesick and ready to be back in North Carolina, but this will give him something new to play with.

There is a major hurricane brewing off the eastern coast of the US, but it is sucking all the moisture out of the air here in southwestern Florida.  There is no humidity, the temps are lower, and there is a light breeze.  Yesterday we went to the beach at Lido Key and loved the more pleasant temps.  There were actually some waves, which have been kind of rare since we have been in Florida.

Tonight was so pleasant that we sat out on the deck and enjoyed the sunset.

It is raining cats and dogs at home in North Carolina thanks to Joaquin.  We are enjoying being on the right side of this hurricane.

A Pretty Quilt and WIP Wednesday: Zen Garden

Since today is Wednesday, I'll start with a Work-in-Progress: my Zen Garden art quilt.

I have slowly been adding more beads to the gold "structure" area

and the blue "water" area. Even a little sparkly fishy!

Next up is the last of Teresa's quilts that I finished quilting yesterday. This one has lovely Moda fabrics with floral and cross-stitch motifs. I got to do my favorite kind of quilting...flowers, leaves, feathers. We selected King Tut "flax" cotton thread.

This quilt has a pieced back, with patchwork perfectly centered. I tried my best to keep it centered by pinning the top and lining together at the center, and then putting pins where I should start the top. It is really hard to keep it centered, though, because the quilting draws up the backing. It looks nice on the back, though, with the quilting really showing up.

In other news, when I walked Maggy yesterday, I discovered that my street is now a cut-through street connecting us to Rogers Road. They finally removed the barricade at the former end of the street. You can still see the bent-over red sign that warned you to stop. There are only about four houses built so far in the new neighborhood.

The new road still needs a little work, as the manhole covers are still sticking up. You rusted-fabric lovers would have fun with this one...I love the "quilty" design, and who would have thought of a manhole cover named "Dancer?" I didn't actually know they had names!

And while you were draping fabric over rusty items, there is an old rusty fence over an old family cemetery in this neighborhood. I would not recommend draping fabric there to be rusted...just not respectful...but it is a very attractive fence.

Yesterday when I was eating lunch on my front porch, I was startled to see a great blue heron fly by just beyond the porch rail. I think he was pond-hopping and was considering a stop in my little garden pond. These birds can have a wing-span of almost seven feet, and are often seen in inland ponds as well as in coastal marshes. Here is a picture borrowed from the Internet that looks exactly like what I saw from my porch rocker.