Stitching a tail

This past Saturday was fantastic.  We went scalloping and had one of our best trips ever. The weather and water were perfect, the company was fun and we limited out on scallops! Here I am with some of the ones I collected.

Sunday was a day of getting things done. We cleaned the scallops and I did some chores. We visited some friends and the puppies they're fostering. 10 adorable fur balls and their sweet mommy.

I decided to postpone the last few chores I had intended to do, and workk a little on my niece's quilt. I got all of the white cut, but am a little annoyed at myself for misreading the quantity of the blues and purples that I needed to cut. So there is still much to cut and sew (and possibly buy). Since funds are extremely tight right now, it may have to wait for a bit.

I had a bad head ache and neck ache, so I took the day off and slept it off.

Meanwhile, I have started a new black work project the other day. It's a little bigger than the last one. Here's where I'm at now.

 And here's my favorite stitching buddy, Oliver

Thanks for stopping in! ~Amy

Getting caught up

Foto Finish: Show Us Where You Live

As many pictures as I take, apparently I need to take more, so I can be better prepared for future Foto Finishes!  Here's my entry for "Show us where you live".  I took this photo several years ago from behind our shop. There was a small canal, and thankfully this big boy stayed on the other bank. Alligators are quite common in our lakes.

With our house guest here, I haven't been able to get on my computer much, so I'm really behind in my posting.  My brother came down to visit my Dad, who had a mild stroke back in July. Dad's doing ok and seeing lots of doctors to try and figure out the cause.  We took Todd out on the boat for the afternoon. We went out to Egmont Key, just off the coast from Fort Desoto. Here's a few pics from the the trip to island. 

  

The lighthouse was built in 1858 and is still in use today.

 

 An Opsrey in it's nest. The pillar is what remains of an old building on the island.

  

This is one of the Sea Turtle nests that were on the East side of the island. They are endangered and protected. It was good to see so many out there, since the oil spill hit many of the northern nesting sites. The tracks on the sand are from a Gopher Tortoise that live on the island. They are also protected. 

  

Some kind of hermit crab hole. I liked the way the tracks left a pattern on the sand.

One of the brick roads that still remains.

  

A Gopher Tortoise. We came across two that day. Both were more interested in eating than having their pictures taken.

My big brother, Todd. In true big brother fashion.  

Thanks for stopping in! ~Amy

Scallop harvest 2011

 

Here's my entry for Foto Finish

 The theme is "Summer's Here"

 This was taken last year on our first scalloping trip. Looks like it should be a Coca-Cola ad. We had so much fun. The scallops are about 8 - 10 feet down and the water is fairly clear. We snorkel along until we see one (or two or three) and then dive down, grab them up and stuff them in a bag. Regulations allow 2 gallons (in shell) per person, with a 10 gallon limit per boat. We got our limit and then almost no one wanted their share, so Bruce and I ended up cleaning 8 gallons of scallops! We went two separate weekends, so we had scallops to last all winter.  Thank goodness for those vacuum sealing bag systems! 

Here's me, with a scallop. We had one of those disposable underwater cameras. The pictures weren't great, but this year I have my new fancy camera, so I'm excited and looking forward to when we go this year.

Here's half of a scallop shell, after it's been all cleaned up. Only a few were this pretty. I kept a few of these and sent some up to my friend in Maine, for her shell collection. You can't really see the edge well here, but those little suckers are sharp. They cut right through two layers of thick trash bags.

 This was my other choice for the Foto finish. Must have the dive flag out if you're diving or snorkeling. Safety first!

Our friend, Mark, with his haul. He was a scallop gathering machine!

 Looking at all these makes me want to go again. Bruce has been getting the "new" boat all geared up. Just has to figure out the Bimini top, so we don't get fried and we'll be ready!  For now, I have some sewing and laundry to do and a lawn to mow. I have to get some items finished for the rescue's 3rd annual wine social and auction next Saturday. 

I did finally get the blue chalk out of my niece's quilt, so I'll be posting pictures of that next. 

Thanks for stopping in! ~Amy