Bella Carta

Fun foto for your Sunday!

*I have a TON of new SU projects to post next week!  While I get them photographed and ready for the blog, enjoy this photo in the meantime.

 

Rainy days

It looks like we are getting the outer storm bands of tropical storm Fay, which most likely will become Hurricane Fay before the weekend is over and impact Florida. For now it's keeping me inside and hopefully by tomorrow when I'll be driving home won't be too intense. For now the power keeps surging at the hotel, and hoping we don't lose power!

True American Hero

If there is an upside to having had to go out of town unexpectedly, it was having the opportunity to meet a hero in real life! Many of you might not recognize him in real life: this is ASTRONAUT James Lovell! (Tom Hanks played him in the Ron Howard - Apollo 13 movie!).  But I am willing to be that you will most likely recognize this phrase ... "Houston we have a problem".  These words were uttered by him on his *third* trip to the moon, where things went terribly awry. There is nothing more inspiring than this (true) testimony to American courage and can-do spirit in the face of incredible adversity. Yes, I bought his book, that's him signing it.

If you haven't seen the movie recently, go rent it! Its a "titanic" size story, with a happy ending.

A few more from St. Thomas

Here's one of the ship - Mariner of the Seas - from the top of the sky ride.  I love the low clouds in this picture!  And the second pic is the Mariner - shown from another vista.  The third pic - St. Thomas as we were leaving at sunset.

I took over 300 pictures ... so I've tried to show off just a few of the photos.  I hope you have enjoyed them!

St. Thomas

Here's a few from the Island of St. Thomas.  First up, a view from the mountain top of Magen's Bay, one of the top rated beaches in the whole world.  Check out the wonderful turqoise water AND those cotton clouds!  And a common tropical scene - bananas on a tree.  If you've never had these bananas - you're really missing out.  They are so sweet and yummy, and much smaller than store bought bananas.

Monkeys of St. Maarten

Okay ... so I have a thing for monkeys also!  The first is a Golden lion tamarin - really a pretty monkey.  As one woman put it "you can tell she's a troublemaker in the jungle!" LOL - I'm sorry I didn't get a better shot of her, she was a bit shy.

The next, a capuchin monkey.  And the third .... I forget, but very cute!   All of these are found at the St. Maarten Park Zoo and Botanical Garden.

And a few more of St. Maarten

I have a thing for birds ... these were local finches that hang out by the cute little coconut shell birdfeeders.

More of St. Maarten

Macaws of St. Maarten

Here are some of my favorite shots from St. Maarten -  wonderful little french/dutch island - & the red and hyacinth macaws.

Looking for a LSS while on vacation this holiday?

I met these folks last weekend at Orlando at the Memories Scrapbooking Convention!

They are a company dedicated to promoting locally owned scrapbooking stores (many also carry rubber stamps and complementary products!).  And, if you're traveling - you can go to their website and find scrapbook stores that will be in the area you're visiting!

Plus - they have a regular drawing for FREE products donated by manufacturer's!

So - take a moment, check them out - even if you're not traveling, you might find an undiscovered store in your area or win one of their drawings!

http://www.maps2memories.com/index.htm