Sugar Mill, Shabbylocity, and Apology!!

 

Wow!!  I am finally back!!  You know…back from outer space!!  Sure was a busy week, but a great week as well!! 

Missed all of you chickies out there!!

Today, me and my oldest daughter, Sam, went out to breakfast at a really neat place nestled in Deleon Springs State Park in the town of Deleon Springs.

The place is the Old Spanish Sugar Mill, and it was just that once upon a time.  I didn’t take any photos inside, but it is very charming, and very popular.
The setting is gorgeous, and this morning it was chilly here so they had a fire burning in our part of the dining area.  Aaaahhhh!   LOVE that!!

There are griddles at each table and you cook your own pancake and egg breakfast!  Quite a unique experience and FUN for all ages!

You have to arrive early or you will have to wait…an hour after opening the wait was 40 minutes.  We arrived 3-4 minutes before they opened the doors. 

 

Now I can’t tell you how it all worked, but that is indeed a waterwheel, and it utilized the 16-18 millions gallons of water that flow from the spring to crush sugar cane.  Amazing, huh?  You can see small photos of the inside and read a little more about it here if you’d like.

The water coming off of the rocks is water that has come from the spring, and it flows into the St. John’s River.  The spring is 72 degrees year round, and a great place to swim.  There are scenic boat tours, canoes, kayaks, and all kinds of wildlife on the property.  We watched otters play one morning!

 

Me and Sam!  No make-up with the sun in my eyes!!  Be kind!! LOL!!  Sam is our daughter that resembles me the most.  Even her hubby mistook photos of me after having Madison for her!! 

OK, nature photos, right?  You knew there would be some trees!  And these aren’t just any trees!  These are hundred year old oak trees that are simply AWESOME!!  My pics can’t really do them justice.

Here is a close up that will give you a little bit better perspective of the trunk size!  Each branch is as thick as a large trunk! 

Lady Katherine…here’s a tree for us to climb up in!!  A boy was up in one of these today!!

A little bit of fall color even here in Florida!!

After we left the park, we stopped at this little statuary and antique shop I have driven by for years, and never visited.  Today, I found that I have really been missing out!!  This is my new favorite place!!

Look at this fetching fella!!  What is it about gnomes?  I used to really dislike them, and now I think they are so cute!  He was just laying there in the leaves watching the clouds go by!

Never thought of putting an antique sewing machine in the garden, but I think I like it!!

I thought this metal Christmas tree was interesting with a chain as garland!  I love that people think of this stuff!!

What about this found object singing angel??  That is a weight from a barbell for her face, and her wings are saw blades.  I know she is singing because she is holding a hymnal!! 

I have no idea what these are but I thought they looked neat stacked there!

 The inside was packed full of treasures and delightful shabbylocity!!

 I thought this was really cool, but a bit scary at the same time!!  HA!!!

LOVE this display of mostly vintage dolls!!  Such fun!

And finally…a basket full of “duchess dolls”.  They are so cute and colorful!!

There was so much more that I couldn’t capture because of all things…my memory card was full!  HMMPH!!  A tad frustrating, but I got over it!!

That just means I’ll have to take my camera back and show you the rest next time!

AND NOW FOR THE APOLOGY!

I said I was going to do posts on destressing for the holidays, and you know what God spoke to my heart?
He showed me that I shouldn’t make a commitment to post regularly leading up to the holidays because it could create stress for me!  I AM SO SORRY! 

What I will do is post on what I am doing, and I hope that will help some of you.

Right now I am planning out my menu, and deciding on what the table will look like.  One of the things I’ve read that I really liked was to serve dinner buffet style…we’re going with that this year, so the table will have only a couple of side dishes and condiments on it.

I have decided to make handmade place cards, and may tie bows around the back of each chair.  When I get them done, I’ll show you.

This has been really long so I’ll stop here.

I am going to go visit YOU ALL right now!  Have a joyful Sunday filled with praises to our Lord!!

Hugs n Love,

Becky