Forgotten Coast

I am truly at home in paradise. We are spending the week-end on the forgotten coast in the pan handle of Florida. We love being forgotten. We do not have chain restaurants, souvenirs shops, putt putt golf or water parks. But we love it.

What we do have is heaven. We enjoy the beauty of a natural beach. We are often greeted by dolphins. The experience of watch a dolphin give birth is amazing or seeing a mother dolphin stun mullet with tail for her twin babies to eat. Our house is surrounded by protected marsh lands for bird. We enjoy all kinds of sea birds. Have I mention how much I love it here.

I consider myself a collector of sunsets. I try to take pictures of sunset every where we go. I have done this for some time now and truly enjoy it. You can see God's hand in the painting of a sun set. No two are a like and they are all so special. Hope you enjoy this amazing sun set with me on the forgotten coast.

Accucut Die Contest

Posting for a chance to win a new card die from Accucuts. Click here to see it. Thanks for helping us win.

Audubon House Museum

The Audubon House Museum and Gardens was established in 1960 in Key West, Fl. Although John James Audubon never stayed in the house, he was a fequent visitor and very much admired by the orginal owner Captain John Hurling Geiger. As I toured this mid 1800's American Classical Revival home and listen to the stories of Audubons visits there. I was drawn to what was going on in the gardens.

A slight, elderly man was bringing in the most beautiful gems of the garden. This shy man was sharing his prized orchids with visitors of this museum. I could not wait to try my hand at photographing them. Doris and I had attended a 6:30 AM class of 10-tips for better vacation photos. I would have loved to have had a photo of the man who grew these beauties but he shyed away. He did tell me that he has over 1,000 different orchids in his collection. Can you image? Some of them had the most amazing smell. I would have loved to have had just one formy home. Enjoy a stroll through some of the most beautiful Gems of this Garden.

Our Childhood In Black and White

Our Childhood
Enjoy the Memories

Whomever wrote this, described childhood to a T. Hope you enjoy it.

(Under age 40? You won't understand.)
You could hardly see for all the snow, Spread the rabbit ears as far as they go. Pull a chair up to the TV set,'Good Night, David. Good Night, Chet.'

My Mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread mayo on the same cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem to get food poisoning.

My Mom used to defrost hamburger on the counter AND I used to eat it raw sometimes, too.

Our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper in a brown paper bag, not in ice-pack coolers, but I can't remember getting e.coli .

Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the lake instead of a pristine pool (talk about boring), no beach closures then..



The term cell phone would have conjured up a phone in a jail cell, and a pager was the school PA system.

We all took gym, not PE .. and risked permanent injury with a pair of high top Ked's (only worn in gym) instead of having cross-training athletic shoes with air cushion soles and built in light reflectors. I can't recall any injuries but they must have happened because they tell us how much safer we are now. Flunking gym was not an option .. even for stupid kids! I guess PE must be much harder than gym.

Speaking of school, we all said prayers and sang the national anthem, and staying in detention after school caught all sorts of negative attention.



We must have had horribly damaged psyches. What an archaic health system we had then.

Remember school nurses? Ours wore a hat and everything.

I thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I was allowed to be proud of myself..

I just can't recall how bored we were without computers, Play Station, Nintendo, X-box or 270 digital TV cable stations

Oh yeah ... and where was the Benadryl and sterilization kit when I got that bee sting? I could have been killed!

We played 'king of the hill' on piles of gravel left on vacant construction sites, and when we got hurt, Mom pulled out the 48-cent bottle of Mercurochrome (kids liked it better because it didn't sting like iodine did) and then we got our butt spanked.
Now it's a trip to the emergency room, followed by a 10-day dose of a $49 bottle of antibiotics, and then Mom calls the attorney to sue the contractor for leaving a horribly vicious pile of gravel where it was such a threat.



We didn't act up at the neighbor's house either because if we did, we got our butt spanked there and then we got butt spanked again when we got home.
I recall Donny Reynolds from next door coming over and doing his tricks on the front stoop, just before he fell off. Little did his Mom know that she could have owned our house. Instead, she picked him up and swatted him for being such a goof. It was a neighborhood run amuck..

To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told that they were from a dysfunctional family.. How could we possibly have known that?



We needed to get into group therapy and anger management classes? We were obviously so duped by so many societal ills that we didn't even notice that the entire country wasn't taking Prozac! How did we ever survive?

LOVE TO ALL OF US WHO SHARED THIS ERA, AND TO ALL WHO DIDN'T. SORRY FOR WHAT YOU MISSED. I WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR ANYTHING.

We're Back

We're Back!!!!!!! And man, why did you guys let it get cold? When we left it was 75 degrees and on our return there were snow flurries. What happen guys? My traveling compaions and I have just returned from a warm, wonderful trip on the Ultimate Scrapbook Cruise. Did I mention that Hiedi Swap and I are now BFF. I can even tell you that she is normal. She pack all her shoes on Friday night and was at breakfast on Saturday morning barefoot. I love it. I made new friends in Theresa Collins and Margie Romney-Aslett. Lucky me won an on-line camera class with Karen Russell. I am really excitied about this class. Can't wait to hear from her. I would have been happy with sailing around in the warm weather with just time at sea and 127 of my scrap buddies. Doris and I had a blast.

My room mate was not so happy. He was truly a hostage. When Doris and I first talked about this trip we kinda thought that she and I would go together. Jamie and Judy were unavailable so we were ready. Doris mention it to Doughboy and he was on board to go. Boo! So I kidnapped my Honey and off we go on a Scrapbook Cruise. Next time I will go by myself. He was good and enjoy a little about the cruise but he is not ready to attend the 2010 Ultimate Scrapbook Cruise. Doris and I are ready to prebook this trip. Did I mention that I have asked Jim West to marry me. Margie and I are going to share him. We have decided that we only need sex about once a year and the arrangement will work perfectly. Can you tell I had a great time on this trip?

We spent two day with our daughter in Del Ray Beach, Fl. The Carnival Freedom sailed down the coast to Key West. That evening we were on our way to Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios. More to come about the ports of call. I need to down load photos and pick a few.

I miss everyone and was sorta glad to get back home. I really do not lie very well. I would love to live in warm weather year round. Tan fat looks better than white fat!!! Sorry I missed you Big Hair Envy. I will check in soon to sign on for your weight lost adventure. How is it going? Off to do laundry and enjoy a cold rainy day in Georgia. See you soon!

Boo-Hooo

Boo-Hoo, This site will be on vacation from January 8th thru January the 18th. I will be thinking of everyone while away.

2008 Year in Review

The past year has certainly been a world wind for me and my family. We started the year off with a trip to New York for the new year. The kids were with us on this trip. My Honey and I then went to Vegas to gamble in the middle of January. I was very lucky to go to Biloxi, Mississippi with my Step-Mother, Aunt, two cousins and a few other friends. We did this in February and August. March brought a lovely cruise to Panama, Costa Rica and Belize with good friends of ours. Of course who can forget our trip in April to Nashville for the scrapbook Event. The Diva's were on a 4 day road trip with all the scrap book stores in between. In May we celebrated all of our birthdays in northern Fla. We also attended the Bath and Kitchen show in Chicago. MY Mom and I helped move my son into a Condo in Savannah. What started out as an over night trip lasted 3 nights and 5 days. June saw my Honey and I off to Key West for a week. We were also back in Savannah celebrating our 22 year old son's birthday. July we were back in Vegas trying to win back the money we lost in January. In August we embarked on a 12 day trip to the Baltic. We departed on Aug. 26th and returned the middle of September. We visited UK, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Russia, Finland and Holland. Boy, what a trip. We had a wonderful time. On our way home we stopped in New York City again for a trip with SunTrust bank. Boy was I ready to get home. For October we visited our daughter in Arizona for 10 days. The diva's and I also attend CPR in Connecticut. My Honey and I spent Thanksgiving in Boca Raton enjoying the beautiful warm weather. It was so nice to ride around in a convertible and wear summer clothes. I could get used to that life. Can you believe that in December we were at home. Thank Goodness! We have truly had a wonderful year with fun every where. Please join us with a short slide show of a Year in Review. Click on the photo above. Some photos are good and some are awful. Some are at home and some are from far away. I only picked a few which was hard to do. Hope you enjoy!

Why Men Should Not Shop At Wal-Mart

Subject: Men at WalMart

This is why women should not take men shopping against their will. After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on her trips to Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, like most men, I found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunately, my wife is like most women - she loved to browse. Yesterday my dear wife received the following letter from the local Wal-Mart: Dear Mrs. Evans, Over the past six months, your husband has been causing quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to ban both of you from the store.

Our complaints against Mr. Evans are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.

1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's carts when they weren't looking.

2 . July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.

3. July 7: Made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women's restroom.

4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, 'Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away. '

5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&M's on layaway.

6. August 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.

7. August 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told other shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department.

8. August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him, he began crying and screamed, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?'

9. September 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.

10. September 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.

11. October 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming th e 'Mission Impossible' theme.

12. October 6: In the auto department, he practiced his 'Madonna look' by using different sizes of funnels.

13. October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled 'PICK ME! PICK ME!'

14. October 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed 'OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!'

And last, but not least .

15. October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited a while, then yelled very loudly, 'Hey! There's no toilet paper in here!'

You just have to love it. When my honey does not want to do something, he can cause a scene. Enjoy!

Crab Legs and the Ladies

Long Branch restaurant, in Fayetteville, Ga is owned by a good friend of ours. Every Monday night, he features all you can eat Crab Legs. Both of our nieces love crab legs. Hence, when the girls are with us on Monday night Long Branch is where we dine. The first serving comes with 4-5 sections of 5 legs. And the feast begins. I was adised to be aware of the splash zone.

Each additional serving came with 2-3 sets of legs. The girls did not want to give up their plates. Those plates were their counters. They accumulated 18 plates of pride at our table. My dinner selection was steak, fries and salad. No crab legs for me.

They were so proud of their over flowing bucket. This one did have to be replaced with a new one. Our waitress was so thankful. I think she envisioned cleaning up legs off the floor.

Does this look like one happy little girl or what? Their was still more to come.

When eating all you can eat Crab legs, all manners are left outside.

This one is on a mission. At this point in the evening they wanted to see how much they could eat. We were there for so long that I was receiving free Heineken.

When we were leaving the restaurant this is what the sign read! The girls saw it and cracked up. Boy can those two little girls eat.