Paintings # 5 and 8, vacation in Micanopy

Hi Everyone, I just returned from a mini vacation with my hubby to celebrate our anniversary. We spent a few days in Micanopy, Florida, which is near Gainesville .It is a tiny historic town full of antique shops and quaint cottages and Victorian houses. More on that, but above is my number 5 painting in the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge. I actually did numbers 6 and 7 but will save them for later when I am pressed for time. I was away from computers (oh, joy and peace) so could not post. Isn't it fun to kind of go back in time and enjoy olden things, quiet times, wandering through nature and the like. I love that kind of vacation! # 5 is titled "Hibiscus Duet" and it was done from  a flower that I picked. I painted another flower ;t seems 2 might be better than one! Hope you like it.

This is number 7 and is titled "Blue Shutters". It is really done from my imagination, but I have seen many beautiful window boxes in European countries, especially, and they always have such charm.

This is the beautiful Herlong Mansion in Micanopy, Florida, which is now a bed and breakfast.  We have actually stayed in the Mansion several times, but this time elected to try the Carriage House on the grounds.

see below

Isn't this so cute and quaint! The inside is really pretty and I will show that another time. It is nestled in the live Oak trees and the one by the porch is a Southern Magnolia. Leaves are beginning to turn a bit there, as it it is further north than where I live in South Florida and the nights were nice and cool.

Downtown, is a street with old buildings full of antique shops, ice cream parlor, eateries, book stores, and the like. There is a nice bakery and a museum, all on a short street so you can walk to everything.

This is an entrance to a property on a side street and it reminded me so much of one quite like it that I saw in Northern Ireland. It reminds one of a fence that might be around a cemetery or an abbey.

That's my little tour for today. Hope you like the paintings and I will show you more of Micanopy later.

Two more paintings #3 and #4

Hi everyone, I posted the above painting for my third one in the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge. I have a pair of old boots that some little boy or boys wore long ago and I paired  a boot with a sunflower, thinking that maybe a rough little boy picked his Momma a sunflower from the garden. I titled the painting "In From the Garden. I have painted the boots several times and they are just one of my very favorite things. They were a Christmas gift to me one year and the giver paid only 50 cents for them at a yard sale. They are priceless to me. Every nail shows through on the bottom....very well worn, so I think many little boys wore them through the years.

This painting is the fourth and I posted it today in the challenge. I painted it yesterday and was thinking I would do a very delicate painting of a ladies china teacup full of the last of my zinnias. It did not go well. So after many hours, I decided to simplify it and in desperation added a tea bag and soil around the bottom and called it "Tea in the Garden" I thought it quite humorous if nothing else! Hopefully, I will like # 5 better, which I am working on now. It is fun to see all the paintings entered in the challenge and you can do so by going to Google and entering Leslie Saeta blogspot on search. Many artists are putting their work on Leslie's site and it is fun to see all the different paintings.
Back to the easel! Have a happy day!

30 Paintings in 30 Days

"Sunflower Trio"

Hi Everyone, Yesterday was the first day of the 30 Paintings in 30 days challenge that artist Leslie Saeta has started and over 300 artists signed up for it! The above painting was my first one, so I wanted to share it with you. The one below is today's painting...Day Two of the challenge.

                                                                "Sunflower Solo"
I bought the sunflowers at the market. The ones I grew are long gone and they were very little, although pretty, but not long lasting. These are still beautiful and it is the third day for them in the studio. I plan to do one more painting using one of them with an antique child's boot. You will see that one later. You might enjoy going to http://lesliesaeta.blogspot.com/ to see all the artists' paintings.
 Have a nice holiday today!

Some Birds around Lake Okeechobee

Hi Everyone, I love bird watching around the shore of Lake Okeechobee. It is so peaceful and one is certain to see a variety within just a few feet of each other! The Blue Heron above is a favorite. It is fun to watch him slowly spot fish and as quick as a flash, dip that long neck into the water and come up with a fish

Along the sandy beach, one sees terns and seagulls galore.

To tell you the truth, I am not sure what these fat birds are. I took this photo from the car and only got this back view.

This fellow is cocking his head to one side, as if to question just what I am doing!

This is a Great White Heron in the foreground and a little coot back in the water.Is that a big Gator in the distance? Not really, but they are often spotted in this big lake. Hope you liked this little tour! Have a great weekend.

The Beautiful Mandevilla

Hello everyone,

My neighbor, Margaret, has the most beautiful Mandevilla vine growing all across the fence in front of her house and up over the awning at the door. It gives the look of a sweet cottage garden and is just eye-catching! Everyone talks about how gorgeous it is, so I wanted to share.

The Mandevilla comes in various colors but the pink is really outstanding. I have heard that people in Northern climates plant them in  pots and treat them like annuals, maybe using a trellis for them to climb and have them on the patio all summer. In Florida, we have them year around outside, unless an unusual freeze should happen, which isn't likely in this zone.

We have had rain showers and even storms every day all summer, so evidently the Mandevilla likes lots of water.

Here you can see some of her other beautiful plants. Her garden is really a show stopper!

Freshly Baked Banana Bread and Peanut Butter/Chocolate....

Oh My, Everyone! What a yummy treat I had today at tea time! When you have a bunch of really ripe bananas, you just have to bake banana bread! So I did and the recipe turned out great. I will give it to you at the end of the post. It has a nice deep crust and is moist and delicious on the inside.

A good dollop of butter never hurts, either. Yum!

All ready for tea, and then I happened to think of a gift I received on my birthday from a friend.....a carton of whipped chocolate peanut butter spread by Jif, called Jif Whips.  It is out new in the market and is delicious on toasted English Muffins and pretzel sticks and crackers, as well.

So, I tried a bit on the banana bread and was that ever good!

Just love my tea time!  Here is the Banana Bread recipe:
Grease and flour a bread loaf pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.   Cream together 1/2 stick butter, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp. of vanilla and 2 eggs. Add 4 mashed very ripe bananas alternating with 2 cups flour, 2 and 3/4 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 tsp. salt.   Mix well and pour in your pan. Bake 1 hour and test for doneness. Mine was done. I let it cool about a minute and cut a big piece and dug right in. No use waiting, although I am sure it will only get better as the flavors blend.  Try it!  It is SO good!

Birthday Fun and An Artful Tea

Hi Everyone, It has been awhile since I have blogged! You see, my birthday came and I was so busy opening presents and eating cake that I just couldn't do another thing!! What fun! I really isn't so bad to get old when you can have this much fun! Above is a big basket my friends Margaret and John sent and talk about an eating frenzy; it contained 20 pieces of delicious fruit and that many packages of goodies, too, plus salt water taffy! Yum.

I also received a cute surprise package of fun things, including the sweet little tea bag holder (below) with an Irish theme!

Another package came with a Wristlet that I will love carrying, and such a lovely color.

And a cute Eiffel Tower salt and pepper shakers! I love Eiffel  Towers. I just used some to decorate the tables at my Watercolor Class Tea Party.

It wasn't enough to do Birthday partying and then quit. Oh, no...I gave a tea for my watercolor class.There were 12 of us for tea and I was having so much fun that I completely forgot to take pictures, so after the

 guests all left, I sat up a place setting to show you how it looked. I used Fiesta dishes and mixed up all the bright colors. Each person had a little easel with her name on it for a place card and favor. The napkin holders were like palettes  and we had strawberry tea to drink.  Tiny tea sandwiches and cakes and cookies completed the menu.

In the center of each table was a chunky little art book with an Eiffel Tower on top.

Once again, we nibbled the afternoon away!

I showed some goodies on palette serving dishes. Really cute.  My watercolor class enjoyed the afternoon and we planned for an exhibition of their paintings in September.What a great class I had this summer and what good paintings they produced. More of that to come.