Sunday, March 24, 2013

St. Patrick's day

Palm Beach Shores has an annual St Patrick's Day parade consisting of town residents, a few local businesses, lots of mummers with amazing costumes, TWO pipe bands, and lots of enthusiasm! Pretty impressive for a very small town. 

My cousin and her husband volunteer each year to run the 50/50 sales table. The funds help to defray the cost of the parade and supports other local events. They also sell green bling and other festive items. I hung out with them this year.

After the parade, our table was moved to a nearby pool bar where the town enjoyed music, food and drink, and could win prizes from the 50/50 tickets. The big money draw was at 5pm when the winner received over $1000 - pretty good! But it wasn't me - drat.

The weather was perfect and I met a lot of nice people. Don was in NJ this weekend, having just arrived home from a week in Las Vegas for meetings and a trade show, or so he says ... What happens in Vegas ...

Link to local photographer's pictures of the parade.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

The Four Arts

A magical place in Palm Beach is The Four Arts. A place that has all things interesting. I drove in, spur of the moment, on Monday to see the current art exhibit from the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in New Brunswick. It was great - not too huge to be "snoreous" - just right. Saw four Group of Seven paintings that were beautiful, a few from Dali and others that were beautiful. The Group of Seven paintings included Lauren Harris, A.Y. Jackson, Tom Thomson, and the honorary member (the 8th), Emily Carr. Loved it.

Then I walked through the gardens, which were tranquil, fragrant and artistic, with sculptures throughout. It was a perfect afternoon.
I took this photo in the Japanese garden. Note the lizard  sunbathing on the statue!
I just liked how they fit.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

More SI visitors

After a long day of diverted travel, Kathy managed to arrive in Ft Lauderdale by early evening, Feb 27th. A big storm in Chicago cancelled her original travel plans but she made it! A few days later on Mar 2nd, Carolyn arrived for her spring break. Aunt Kathy & Carolyn had some overlap so had a good visit before Kathy & Don left on Monday. Then Carolyn and I had the rest of the week together.

The weather had turned chilly here that week, so it was warmer than home but not Florida's best. Still we managed a bit of beach time.

A day at the beach where Don & Kathy went for a dip. And a day in West Palm Beach at the Farmer's Market.
Kathy buying freesias for the condo! 
Dinner at City Place the night we picked Carolyn up from the airport, and grocery shopping at Publix. Oh, the adventure!
See, Kath, I didn't even mention the zucchini incident :) Well, barely.

Carolyn and I had a fun rest-of-the-week. We did puzzles, walked Worth Ave (saw a beautiful brooch once owned by Elizabeth Taylor at Tiffany's), went to the Jupiter Riverwalk Mkt., and did the usual.

Loving our visitors.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Manatee sighting

I have heard that manatee are frequently spotted along the shoreline but I had never seen them until yesterday. A group of four adults and one baby swam very close to the shore then sent into the inlet. Later we saw two separate stragglers following the same path. It was interesting to follow them and to see the reactions of swimmers as they realized they had underwater company!
Coming up for air
A beautiful day
Going under