Saturday, January 28, 2023

Home Again

Hi everyone. Happy weekend to you.

I'm home again after a few days of reprieve from winter.  It wasn’t  really warm going away, but at least it was warmer than home and we had a few days with no snow (seeing we got close to 18 inches/46 cm while we were gone). 

My husband always says we never take vacations to warm places in the winter (which isn't actually a true statement, just saying). To humor him, this year he took a winter vacation, and we headed down to Florida for a few days. I had suggested other places we could go, but my husband  wanted a short and easy flight, so we booked non-stop tickets from Manchester (NH) and off to Florida we went. And I guess he could say we didn’t go anyplace warm because it wasn’t shorts weather most of the week. Although warmer than home, it was still chilly. Let’s see if next fall he says we need we take a warm weather vacation. 

Originally we were going to just hang out over on Florida's west coast, as neither of us had ever visited that side of the state, but then  Hurricane Ian  blew through the last fall.  We decided instead of spending all our time  in the Fort Meyers and Naples area we'd do some driving around. We spent a couple of days on the east coast so the hubby could visit the Space Center which has been very high on his bucket list for a long time. Later in the week we drove over and spent a couple of days on the west coast so I was able to visit the Salvador Dali Museum which was very high on my Florida bucket list.

Anyhow, more about this trip at another time. By then I'll have unloaded photos to share. And also by then we might be shoveled out from all the snow we had last week when we were away. My poor daughter was house and dog sitting. She kept sending us photos. We certainly came home to winter!

Today I want to share another entry to Mia's Add A Photo challenge at Art Journal Journey because January is starting to wind down and will be over before we know it.


Since the last 2 posts I shared were about my recent snowy owl hunts, for today's journal page I used 2 photos I took last winter when I went to the same beach reservation and actually saw a snowy owl.  

The owl on the fence is one of the photos I took that day. 
I cut the owl and the fence out of that photo and then added it to a photo of the sky that I took that same day.



My background started with watercolor paper and a piece of background paper that was a page I pulled out of an old magazine. I also added some printed tissue paper as well as some deli paper that had some dried white paint on it.I liked the texture that scrap deli paper gave my page. I then added the new photo I created from my  2 old photos.

Although I've been out looking for  snowy owls twice so far this winter, and I haven't come across one. Yet.

Mia's challenge runs through the end of the month, so you still have a few days to join in. 
Enjoy your weekend.

 

19 comments:

kathyinozarks said...

Hi Erika, welcome back from your vacation-sounds like a good time checking out both events on your wish list-I would have enjoyed both.
and it was a warm vacation considering all the snow you missed-that is allot of snow-we got missed here at the lake-which is ok with me haha.
Love your journal page very much Hugs Kathy

Elkes Lebensglück said...

wonderful journal page, Nice that you are back from your vacation. The weather is so different!
Good weekend, hug Elke

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Florida would not be my choice of places to go anyway, but for guaranteed warmth I think the Caribbean or Central America would have been better choices. A few days in Barbados or Panama would have been delightful, Costa Rica or Belize would have fit the bill perfectly. At least you got away from your routine and that's important too. Hugs - David

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Welcome home. Glad you got to visit the Dali Museum. Wasn't it fabulous? Do I remember you went to a Dali Museum in Europe?

Further up the coast is the home of John Ringling. I have always called it the Pink Palace. When I went, it was stunning. They have guided tours, too. I will try to find my photos from when I went.

What a great entry for Mia's theme at AJJ. I LOVE the sewing!



Angie's Recipes said...

Home is the best, right :-) Florida seems to have lots of hurricanes and in summer it's unbelievably hot.
This is such a pretty page with the deep blue background and that gorgeous white owl.

sirkkis said...

Windy and snowy is your awesome collage page with a nice owl.
Here it was for a week very cloudy gray days. But on Friday the weather changed sunny. I enjoyed taking my Nordic walks. Now it's not so sunny but quite nice and not too cold.
I wish your new week is inspiring and good.
Hugs xx

Iris Flavia said...

46 cm, oh boy!!!
I remember 19...77? the snow to the sides of the pavement was so high I could not see the street.
We were wearing socks over our shoes in hopes we won´t slip and fall. I really do remember that (I was 5).

Never had that here luckily again.

Florida can get chilly?! Woah, all the things I do not know.
We tended to go to Perth for Christmas. 38-42C, just my weather :-)

OMG. That reads like us! Driving around back in the day. And Ingo last time in Perth insisted on visiting the Airplane museum (again!!) - I went with my friend Sami (Monday Murals) and we had other fun things to see.
Space Center sounds interesting, though!

Yes, and even if no snow.. coming back from Perth to German winter always is a pain.

Great saying with the birds and finally a snow owl. If like that. Yet. Wishing you luck for a real one visiting you (or vice versa).

Hugs!

Rostrose said...

Dear Erika, your snowy owl picture is beautiful! Too bad you didn't have it warm in Florida. But at least you were able to tick something off your bucket list. When we were in Florida in the 1990s, we also visited the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg. I really like Dali's style! Maybe you'll choose Costa Rica again next winter? ;-)
ALL THE BEST! Traude
❤️
https://rostrose.blogspot.com/2023/01/manchmal-kommt-es-anders.html

Iris Flavia said...

P.S. I just watch a modern version of Cinderella, which we call Aschenbrödel, as she had to work in the ashes of the kitchen.
Here it´s not pigeons, but an owl that´s by her side, taking care of clothing and the horse.

DVArtist said...

It's so mice that you are able to take these trips. I love the Owl. Have a very nice Sunday.

pearshapedcrafting said...

I'm sorry it wasn't so warm in Florida. Your page looks wonderful - your Snowy Owl has a great Wintery setting. Hugs, Chrisx

Lowcarb team member said...

I think it's nice to go away but always good to be back home ...
Welcome back from your vacation :)

All the best Jan

PS I like your art page.

Mae Travels said...

We often went to south Florida in early January because of our late brother-in-law's birthdays. The last one was his 100th in 2020 (very lucky that the family gathered just before the world shut down). Sometimes we were lucky and it was sunny and nice, other times it was cloudy or raining a lot -- but it was never really warm! SO I'm not surprised at your experiences.

best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

Barbara said...

A snowy owl is a majestic creature! I hope to see one someday. Thanks for sharing yours!

Anne (cornucopia) said...

Ugh on that 18" of snow. (If it had been snow instead of rain where I am, I would've been in that same amount.) And I hope you didn't look at the forecast for later this week: bitterly cold temperatures are coming. I like your art and Snowy Owl photos.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Welcome home, Erika, and while Florida would not be my personal choice, you and Dave did each get to visit a place on your bucket lists, and hopefully enjoyed each other’s choices. It’s never easy returning home to winter weather and you did get so much more snow than in our part of NH and it will be around for awhile with the bitter temos later this week. Stay warm😉

Jeanie said...

Welcome home, Erika. Probably smart, going to the east side and nice that you got to visit a couple of attractions you hadn't seen. The weather is doing a number on the whole country it seems! Glad you're back.

Divers and Sundry said...

My Florida FB friends are unhappy with this winter's temps. That's not what they moved there expecting. They're predicting ice storms here this week, though, so my sympathy for them complaining of the cold has reached a limit ;)

It must've been exciting to have seen the snowy owl. I imagine it gives you hope for future sightings.

Aimeslee Winans said...

Hiho, Erika! No wonder you go searching for snowy owls! They are magnificent creatures, I see that now on your lovely snowy art journal page with gorgeous textures, colors and feel. Welcome home from your vacay getaway. I'm glad y'all got to see some Bucket List sights and short flight times too! This is such a coincidence that you went to Florida and I just posted an art journal spread about Florida! HA! Gotta love that! XOX