Monday 17 November 2014

A Grand Time



We have just returned from a very long awaited holiday, spent in Florida with Sister3 and her hubby.
 I was supposed to be working on the Saturday, home, then down to Gatwick on the train for an overnight stay and flight on Sunday morning. BUT...... Friday night brought the mother of all Migraines - you really don't want to know the details - but Mr T called my VERY good friend L quite early Saturday morning (early for L anyway) to ask of she could open up at work and hopefully I would be in a bit later.  L kindly held the fort (my hero). Three prescription pills (normally only need one) and I was still out for the count. 

Thank goodness we hadn't booked the Saturday flight!  By tea time, I felt considerably slightly somewhat better, so armed with nappy sacks (just in case) and every type of medication I could ram into my bag, we headed off to the station and to the hotel. 

I could elaborate further, but it wasn't pretty. BUT we caught the flight and arrived in fairly good order.

Brother in Law is very organised and had a calendar filled with things that he had planned. Put paid to that! We had a fairly quiet day on Monday and then I felt back to normal. 
Let the holiday commence

We headed off to kennedyspacecenter on Tuesday. We have visited before, quite a few years ago when the children were 10 (ish) , but we knew that there was a new exhibit, Atlantis and as we had previously actually seen Atlantis launch, we wanted to see more. 
 Now, you may now that I am a bit of a quilter, and as we looked at the ACTUAL shuttle, Mr T and I looked at each other  and then again at the shuttle,

IT'S QUILTED!!!!! 
Honest to God, those panels are made from the same sort of fabric that they make Fireman's uniforms and the protective gear that racing drivers wear. Three layers stitched with what looks like (but most certainly isn't) Perle thread.

 We chatted to a charming gentleman, who had worked on the Atlantis missions and he showed us a sample of this 3/4" thick piece of history. Using this fabric enabled them to contour the shape, and they are able to replace worn parts, rather that the whole panel. 
This is the flight that we saw launch
 If that was the only thing we did this holiday, it was worth the trip in itself.

There were dozens of these "buzzards" flying around. They are actually Turkey Vultures. Reminded us of those three in the Jungle Book film.
What d'ya wanna do?
 Wednesday was Guy Fawkes night.  Sister 3 had invited their neighbours round for a bit of a do - We had made a Guy, and one of the neighbours had Googled and had also made one. They even painted their faces to look like the Guy!

I was so worried that the dry trees would catch light, but B.I.L has a thing about fire and everything went very well, with marshmallows heated in the flames, and food consumed when the flames died down 
We spent some time cycling around their distinct, which is beautiful. Full of trees, with the spooky Spanish moss dripping from the branches
  

Lots of lakes, with so many birds, turtles, and of course, alligators

  
And if you cycle a certain route, 

you end up here
where it would be rude not to participate in a certain food category!



I can do the maple syrup or molasses, but I do draw the line to adding bacon to the mixture

  
And as we made our way though the park - I bumped into one of my customers!! How small is our world!

 
 I did pop into a couple of quilt shops - just to browse -

 This one is HUGE and they were so accommodating
 and maybe one or two purchases made.

The weather was glorious, sunshine but not too hot and not at all humid, which suits me so much better.  Evening meals were taken sitting watching the sunsets.
 this pic made me laugh, looks like he has brought his own torches!

 A bit of a hiccup when we visited Magic Kingdom.
 We hadn't even got into the park, when I realised that I had lost my very nice new camera!!!
I ran around for a bit trying to retrace my steps, and asking the "cast members" at the lost and found. But no camera. Filled in the form and left the phone number if the said camera was handed in. No phone call the next day, so I had to accept that it had gone.

 :(((((

But we did meet one of the neighbours
 O M G!!! Fancy having this beauty living down the garden!!!


After nephews arrived a few days before we were due to leave ( the sailor and the one from "up north"), we had great fun on the beach, watching the Pelicans fly past, and swimming in the Atlantic  It was great to see them all together.


 And after packing up on Sunday morning, I thought just one more call to Lost Property. Just in case. AND .......
They had had my very nice new camera handed in!!!! How lucky is that!!!
God Bless America!!  
It is now back in my hands and I promise to be more careful with it in future!


 Lots going on now both at home and and work but I will tell you more about that later.......