On to Florida

Spent the morning (as well as last evening) with Elizabeth. For those of you who don't know her she is the amazing daughter of my dear friend Carolyn who lives in New Hampshire. Elizabeth is just finishing up her medical assistant degree and will be going on to nursing school this summer. She's very smart and loves her internship in an emergency room that she will finish up next month. Here she is in front of her apartment on Daniel Island with her dog Riley:



Time to hit the road again. It's getting a bit cool here in Charleston so must head south! Bye bye South Carolina!

Just passing through.....

HELLO Florida!!!

A bit cooler than yesterday but a respectable temp for Feb 3!

Heading south

Had a perfect weather day for driving today. A bit overcast with spots of blue sky and sun and good temperatures which warmed up considerably just south of Washington. I was 60 degrees by the time I reached Richmond! By noon I was passing this sign:

Once in North Carolina there were South of the Border signs every few miles! I captured a few as I whizzed by!




And here we are crossing over into South Carolina at the "border"!

Got to love the temperature after the brrrr cold winter we've had!

I stopped in Charleston for the night, on Daniel Island. It's a gorgeous place and I'll try to take some pictures when the sun comes back out to post tomorrow!

What happened to January?

Quite suddenly, today is the last day of January. It’s been a month of cold, a little snow (not nearly enough for my liking), time spent with family and friends, experimenting with my new bread machine and lots of jewelry creating but it is time to head south. I am excited to be heading to Anna Maria Island this week to see old friends and to help my dear friends Julie and Sally in their awesome restaurant "Rudy's Subs and more". See you from there!
Sun and sand await!

Shen Yun

Had a lovely evening at the Kennedy Center seeing a performance by the Shen Yun Performing Arts. It was a colorful and exhilarating performance of classical Chinese dance and music. It was a presentation of traditional Chinese culture as it once was: a study in grace, wisdom, and the virtues distilled from the five millennia of Chinese civilization. It was a wonderful show and a fun evening!

Polar Bear Plunge

My brother-in-law leading the pack for the annual Polar Bear Plunge in Lake Michigan. I believe the air temp was around 11 degrees and I suspect the water was not much warmer! They had to chop up the ice just to be able to do this! And there were EMT's standing by....

Blue shirt and red swim trunks is the man to watch!

Happy Birthday Ann!

Nobody enjoys a birthday more than my Aunt Ann. Today is number 75 and I know she is enjoying every minute of "her"day!

Here she is on the left many years ago (like 40) with my best friend Julie and my mom in the rear. In the front is my cousin Patrick, Prudy and my sister in front of my mom

Pesto Bread

Most everyone I know has a bread machine - not sure where I was when it was the rage - but I have now joined the ranks of bread makers. Have had a few unsuccessful attempts, we'll call them practice loaves, and a couple really good ones. One of which is my Pesto bread which I have made twice now and has turned out quite well! Here's the one I made today and took to a dinner party. It could not be easier - all the ingredients into the magic machine:

all mixed up and ready to rise and bake:

all done - nice and crispy on the outside and soft and tasty on the inside:

ready for sharing: