Share Six: September 2021: Quote

Can you believe it is September? A few more weeks and life is going to change again. I will go from being a parent to a grandparent. It is so exciting and a little stressful as well. Having a baby during covid makes my heart beat a little faster.

With all this going on there has not been a lot of photography done. This year has run me down to be honest. But we did try to get a 2 day away in before the baby comes along and Richard and I traveled up to St Augustine. A place we used to visit regularly but have not been for a few years. We did take a detour last year on the way to Georgia and it was so busy we kind of by passed and went away from the historic district.

It turns out that this month Lynne chose a quote and it work perfectly with our St Augustine trip.

“My life is shaped by the urgent need to wander and observe, and my camera is my passport”

— Steve McCurry

We love to travel. We have been doing the odd get away. Richard has been a little nervous taking his vacation because he doesn’t know whether he will need his vacation. I on the other hand am conscious that I still have 3 weeks vacation to take.

So we hit the road and 4.5 hours later we booked into a quaint little Bed and Breakfast right in the historic district of St Augustine. It was a 5 second walk to the main street and all the restaurants. A 10 minute walk to the cruise. This trip we did something different, something that we have never done in St Augustine. We took in the winery, the distillery and the brewery. And that was all before lunch. Oops, I needed food. Seriously though, they only give you tiny little glasses which are half full. But if you are heading to St Augustine I would recommend you check them out.

Richard loves the sunset cruises and so that was our goal for the first evening. We quickly grabbed dinner at Harry’s and then headed down to the quay to wait on the cruise. The weather was iffy to be honest and I was not optimistic that I would get anything worth while but I did manage capture a few images I was happy with.

When I looked at this picture I thought that Richard looked like he had been out in the sun all day. This is one of the side effects of the immunotherapy. His skin turns really red. The other side effect is that he gets a very itchy rash.

The boat trip was just a intracoastal trip and not out to sea, but I do enjoy seeing the under carriage of different bridges and this was was not too bad.

The company on the cruise was quite fun, and very chatty which made the slow moving boat a lot more interesting, and I managed to get a few sunset images as well.

We were fortunate that we made it back to land dry and we were able to get back to the guest house and to relax.

Day 2 was a marathon of walking. This was our booze walk, if you can call it that. We headed up through Flagler college, which is an incredibly beautiful university in St Augustine. This was the first time I had actually walked through the college.

On the far side of the buildings grounds, there is a fence that looks like it has been made out of old cannon balls. St Augustine’s history is that this is the oldest city in Florida, originally Spanish founded and occupied in 1565. St Augustine has a really interesting fort that you can visit. Richard would try and find a bit of shade while waiting for me. Me on the other hand was just distracted by all there is to photograph.

With it’s history, St Augustine is well known for it cemeteries and we passed one I had not seen before. Just to the side of the bench I see a little squirrel digging deeply for it food.

Our first stop was San Sebastian winery. They gave us a tiny tasting glass and we made our way around tasting wines at various stations. Some I liked and some I didn’t. We each have our own palate. What I did walk away with was a really smooth bottle of sherry. We also decided to buy some cheese and crackers and have our own little cheese and wine evening in the gardens of our Bed and Breakfast.

Next stop was the St Augustine Distillery where we got to taste, gin, rum, vodka and bourbon. I am a rum person and it was pretty good. The distillery has an eating place upstairs but we had one more stop before we planned to eat, so it was back to walking again until we arrived at Dog Rose Brewing Co.

I am also a beer person, but I tend to stick to something like Heineken, whereas Richard likes IPA. So he is at home at these different brewing companies and I find myself really restricted. When we were in Naples I discovered that a larger kind of works for me, and so I asked to taste a larger at Dog Rose Brewing Co, and I was not disappointed. In fact, after all that walking the first beer went down super fast and the second I took my time.

Last stop was a lunch garden before heading back to put our feet up and relax and catch up on the highlights of the Tour de France.

St Augustine is a great place to visit if you are looking for history. There is so many different areas to seek out that we did not visit this time around. It is definitely worth stopping at if you are heading to Florida.

Just a reminder if you are hitting Florida, remember the suntan lotion and a big floppy hat. It is hot here and you want to take care not to get seriously burned. Richard is dealing with the results of plenty of sun and not enough sunscreen. Melanoma is not something to play with.

This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented ladies in the group. The sneak peaks are stunning and I cannot wait to see the rest. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly artistic friend Lynne of Lynne Grant Photography is up next is up next. I can’t wait to see what she has to share. You can see more of her work by clicking on her Facebook page or Instagram page. Definitely take some time to check her out.

Come and share your images  Facebook and Instagram tagging #sharesix_summersun.

You can also find me on Facebook, and Instagram.

30 Minutes in the Life: June 2018

Growing up with an English grandmother living in our home, the ritual of tea drinking was a common place occurrence.  We did not drink coffee very often.  Moving to the USA, I quickly changed to drinking coffee but over the past few years I have reverted back to drinking tea.

Recently my immediate supervisor at work retired, and the ladies in her leadership team decided to take her to the Serenity Tea House for her farewell.  Nestled in among the old houses of West Palm Beach, Serenity Tea House is an interestingly charming place to visit.  Each room is made up of typically English style decor, with knick knacks and tea sets laid out among many rooms.

While everyone was chatting and waiting on the pre-ordered menu of high tea, I took the opportunity to go for a quick walk around the house.  Obviously there were other guests besides our group so I tried to not get people in the images or to disturb their experience at this beautiful tea house.

The high tea started out with a tomato bisque soup and then the tower of food.  We had two different pots of tea and I was able to order one of my favorites vanilla tea.  That reminded me of my dear friend Gavin who has now passed away.  I would go to visit and he would only share his vanilla tea with me.  Said I was one of the few who really appreciated.  I sure did.

Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018: 5238Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018: 5177Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018:  5179Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018: 5183Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018: 5173Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018: 5181Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018: 5189Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018:  5187Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018: 5186Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018: 5180Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018:  5190Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018: 5184Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018: 5196Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018:  5195Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018:  5194Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018: 5198Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018: 5199Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018: 5208Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018: 5478Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018: 5210Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018: 5216Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018: 5202Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018: 5233Serenity Tea House:  June 5, 2018: 5234

If you have not visited a traditional English tea house I would certainly encourage you to do so.  Pricier than a coffee shop, the experience is always worth the little extra you may pay.

Thank you for joining me for this month’s 30 Minutes in Life.  For the rest of the blog group, please take time to visit my friend and fellow blogger Sarah  of Sarah Keene Photography .and see what she has for you this month.   Keep following the circle of photographers to see what the other photographers, from the US and around the world,  have shared this month. Don’t forget to leave a little love on their pages.

You can also find me on FacebookFlickrInstagramViewbug and Google+

 

 

10 on 10: April 2018

We have had some pretty spectacular sunrises lately what I am seeing on my drive to work.  It’s a bummer because I am always on the highway and not able to stop.  So on my day off I decided to drag myself out of bed and head to the beach while it was still dark.  Deerfield Beach is one of my favorites because of the pier.  So I settled in to wait and watch the sun make it’s appearance once again, and to be grateful for a new day.

There was plenty of cloud cover and I was not sure I was going to get too much, but I loved how the sky changed color as the sun got higher.

Here is my morning on the beach watching the sun show it’s face.

Sunrise at Deerfield Beach: March 23, 2018:

 

Sunrise at Deerfield Beach: March 23, 2018: 2518

 

Sunrise at Deerfield Beach: March 23, 2018: 2515

 

Sunrise at Deerfield Beach: March 23, 2018:

 

Sunrise at Deerfield Beach: March 23, 2018: 2525

 

Sunrise at Deerfield Beach: March 23, 2018: 2557

 

Sunrise at Deerfield Beach: March 23, 2018: 2560

 

Sunrise at Deerfield Beach: March 23, 2018:  2580

 

Sunrise at Deerfield Beach: March 23, 2018: 2592

 

Sunrise at Deerfield Beach: March 23, 2018:

Thank you for joining me for this month’s 10 on 10.  This is a circle blog.  Please take time to visit my fellow blogger Lexie Merrit and see what she has for you this month. Keep following the circle to see what the other photographers have shared this month. Don’t forget to leave a little love on their pages.

You can also find me on FacebookFlickrInstagramGoogle+ and Viewbug.

10 on 10: March 2018

The 10th snuck up on me really quickly.  I suddenly realized that today was the 9th and I still had not written my blog.

So last weekend Amy and I headed south to a Scottish Festival.  There is a wee bit of Scottish history in our family on my father’s side of the family.  They emigrated to Australia, and then story goes that my great grandmother was homesick and wanted to go back to Scotland.  So they boarded a boat to head home.  Halfway home she became very ill and they ended up docking in South Africa and never leaving.  My grandmother married my grandfather in South Africa.  He though was also of Australian decent.  So we claim that wee bit of Scottish blood running through our veins along with the Australian, South African and Irish blood.

The Scottish Festival was fun.  Lots of kilts, marching bands, bagpipes, dancing and pole tossing.  Actually, pole tossing aside, tossing rather large metal blocks and hessian bags filled with straw and various other things got tossed as well.  So we experienced our mini highland games.

The highlight for me was English food and I automatically gravitated and salivated over the English Sausage Roll.  My all time favorite and something I miss here in the US.  And of course, beer was plentiful.  It was a great day and added to that we stopped home at the South African shop and filled up on home goodies as well.  A day well spent.  So here are 10 images from the Scottish Festival.

Scottish Festival: Plantation: March 3, 2018: 1916Scottish Festival: Plantation: March 3, 2018: 1988Scottish Festival: Plantation: March 3, 2018: 2024Scottish Festival: Plantation: March 3, 2018: 1975Scottish Festival: Plantation: March 3, 2018: 1991Scottish Festival: Plantation: March 3, 2018: 1932Scottish Festival: Plantation: March 3, 2018: 1996Scottish Festival: Plantation: March 3, 2018: 1997Scottish Festival: Plantation: March 3, 2018: 1995Scottish Festival: Plantation: March 3, 2018: 2040

Overheard as we were walking by a group of men talking was the words of the famous song “The Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond”.  The song was written by a MacGregor of Glen Endrick

“Ye’ll tak’ the high road and I’ll tak the low road 
And I’ll be in Scotland afore ye”

Today we had our little taste of Scotland.  A first for Amy and a second for me.  I have visited and loved Scotland.

Thank you for joining me for this month’s 10 on 10.  This is a circle blog.  Please take time to visit my fellow blogger Lexie from Alexis Merritt Photography and see what she has for you this month. Keep following the circle to see what the other photographers have shared this month. Don’t forget to leave a little love on their pages.

You can also find me on FacebookFlickrInstagramGoogle+ and Viewbug.