Florida - Gulf Coast

Egrets

My sister-in-law and her husband spend two months in Boca Grande on Gasparilla Island, a barrier island on the gulf coast, every winter. This beautiful spot was our last Florida destination. The four of us drove to Sarasota to tour the grounds of the Ringling Brothers Circus museum. It was a beautiful day and we saw as much as we could. Below are a few shots.

Ca' d'Zan Mansion

Home of John & Mabel Ringling

Inside the Circus Galleries

"The cornerstone of the Circus Museum’s Tibbals Learning Center is the world's largest miniature circus, The Howard Bros. Circus Model. The model is a replica of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus from 1919 – 1938. It was created over a period of more than 50-years by master model builder and philanthropist Howard Tibbals." This is just a wee bit of this amazing display.

Find the lizard

Sunset on the Gulf

Shell Beach

A blustery day

Viva Chihuly!

On February 10 we found ourselves in St. Petersburg, Florida with an entire day to see the sights. A brochure in our hotel's lobby advertised the local Chihuly exhibit presented by the Morean Arts Center. I've long admired Chihuly's art but had seen it only in photos until we were in London's Victoria & Albert Museum last summer. The glass chandelier in the entry at the V & A was breathtaking. I knew when I saw it I had to see more of his work in person so this opportunity was serendipitous and not to be missed. Photography was prohibited within the exhibit but I did take photos outside, in the lobby, and in the gift shop.

Video of Dale Chihuly

Demonstration of glass blowing in the Hot Shop

A Day at Epcot

After our two days in Cape Canaveral we spent a day at Epcot enjoying the exhibits, rides, and entertainment. Below are several photo favorites.

Florida Visit

Cape Canaveral Beach

Flowers on a Wall

Florida Sunset

Manatee

Beach Birds

We've recently returned from a week in warm and humid Florida, my first visit to the state. We spent the first two days in Cape Canaveral visiting friends. It was interesting watching the activity in the harbor from their deck - lots of cruise ships dock at Port Canaveral. We walked on the beach, alive with sea birds - gulls, sandpipers, pelicans - and saw a group of manatees in a lock. The flowers and sunsets were spectacular.

Estes Valley Library

This photo shows the area we're using for the tagging project with the purple cart (we use many of these) in the foreground and one of three tagging stations in the background. We use the room at the back as our "headquarters" for the duration of the project.

Along with several others, we have spent the past two days at our local library working on a book and media tagging project which began last week. When the project is complete, virtually each item in the library will contain a unique RFID (radio frequency identification) tag - a two inch square sticker with information embedded. This will allow library patrons to self-checkout books and media while freeing up staff to do other things. It will also help to keep a more accurate inventory of the library's holdings. In spite of some glitches with one of the computers, we processed over 2000 individual books. Volunteers will continue working six days a week until every item available for checkout has a tag.

When Claudine Perrault, our wonderful library director, looked into doing this update for the Estes Valley Library, the cost was prohibitive to hire it done. She talked to members of the noon Rotary Club asking if they would consider taking on the project using volunteers. The library would pay $8000 to the Rotary Foundation's community projects fund. The cost of hiring an outside company would have been well over twice this amount so it's a win/win situation.

I am one of many Estes Park residents who is quite proud of our library. It feels good to be volunteering for the good of the library and the good of the community.

Re-shelving tagged books

Valentines for my Grandchildren

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and I found the directions for making these Rock Candy Valentines on the Internet. I went right out to buy the supplies and made these for my six grandchildren yesterday. I think they are adorable! I'll pop them in the mail next week so they arrive on time.

The sunrise was spectacular this morning. I grabbed my camera and got a couple of shots just before the color faded.