JB's Fish Camp

While we were in Florida, we went to JB's Fish Camp to rent kayaks and have lunch.  We paddled around for about an hour and a half and visited a little cove full of manatees.  What a great way to spend a day!

Land Love Magazine

When I was at Barnes & Noble a while back, another British magazine caught my eye.  (Probably because there were bunnies on the cover...)  It's called Land Love.  It contains great articles about plants and food and wildlife that are uniquely British.  This picture is from an article about how to make a sofa in the forest - fun!  And the critter at the bottom is a hedgehog, of course!

Wizarding World of Harry Potter & Butterbeer

So here's a picture of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter from when we were there.  I took this later in the day, so the crowd is quite large.  One of the fun things about entering the WWOHP is hearing everyone gasp with delight.  It is magical.  The bottom photo is Hogwarts - home to the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride.  That was quite beyond description.  Here is a link to a butterbeer recipe that's close to the real thing.  (I would omit the rum extract from the topping and use less whipping cream if I made it again...)

Friday Featured Art: Garden of Earthly Delights

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to say that I saw a picture of Victoria Beckham wearing this Carven skirt, and it fascinated me.  It's such an interesting idea to use art - literally - as fashion.  Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights is always one of the strangest pieces that one comes across in an art class, but I think it translated well to an article of clothing.

Thursday Text: Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis

This month for book club the topic was biography.  I didn't finish my book, but I've been enjoying it.  I'm reading Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis by George Sayer.  Sayer was a friend of Lewis, and this is considered the definitive biography.  I'll let you know what I think when I finish...

Wizarding World of Harry Potter

We were in Orlando last week!  Of course one of our main activities was visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  It was fabulous.  I'll have to post some pictures later, but for now I'm borrowing some from Universal's site...  At Ollivander's I bought Luna Lovegood's wand!  And below is the Pumpkin Juice that they sell there.  It was delicious.  It's a cold juice drink with apple juice, pumpkin and apricot puree.  So fun.

Oh, Martha, You Really Shouldn't Have!

I just found out about something that might use up all of my allowance for the next couple of months...  Martha Stewart Crafts now has a jewelry line at Michaels!  My local store didn't have everything, but they had some awesome stuff.  It will be fun to try out some new techniques - like enameling!

Friday Featured Etsy Seller: Sidereal

This shop may have also come to me through Pinterest...  Sidereal is a fabulous Etsy shop featuring lovely little botanical embroidery.  I think it must be doubly awesome because Lynn lives in Skagit Valley (a really great place to visit if you've never been there).  These poppies are so pretty.

Thursday Text: Literary Map of the British Isles

I think I saw this on Pinterest...  (It's not a quote or a book.)  It's a literary map of the British Isles - what a brilliant idea!

Beehive Stained Glass

We went on kind of a spur-of-the-moment trip to Nauvoo this weekend.  We drove down after church and then stayed into Monday (Memorial Day).  It was nice but rainy...  At one of the shops, my husband found this pretty replica beehive stained glass.  I'm still deciding where to hang it, but I'm really excited to have it!