CHRISTMASTIDE COMES TO AMELIA ISLAND

The little angel frolicking in the surf comes from Pinterest.  It says just what I want it to say-Christmastide has come to Amelia Island.  No Black Friday for us: it is a blue and gold and red Friday with lots of tinsel and sea shells to show for it.  Lights have been strung on pier posts and a message hung on light posts.... that message is one of peace.

Our day after Thanksgiving is not one of rush and bustle.  Matter of fact it is a fun day downtown with folks still dressed in their pajamas...  If you are wearing pj's you get a 20% discount on your downtown Christmas shopping.  Plus, you have a whole sleigh full of fun.  It is a chilly day but it did not stop the fun and good humor.  I think this year there were more grown-ups acting like children then the other way around.  

This next merry gentleman is enjoying himself and is the hit of the day. Just to his right

notice that this year we had a bell ringer making lovely music.

   The shops are all decorated.  Pajama clad and otherwise shoppers stroll slowly among other strollers. There is nothing that looks like an unhappy crowd.  Shops offer free refreshment and around a corner Santa is set up to hear secret lists.  Another corner and lo, a little band is setting up.  A new charming toy store glistens and invites just across.  Look to the end of the street and boats bob in the harbor.

Another Christmas in Amelia for us, the ninth one.  Each year the Christmas scene here delights and refreshes.  No arguments on should if we should call it Christmas! You can bet your traveling elf, not a one. It is a traditional, if quirky season for us here in this southern town and it is all ours.

Christmas is very precious here. We are reminded of it's real meaning, the sense of giving and caring. You can hear the ringing of the Salvation army bells manned by volunteers all over the Island and the sound of giving. If it turns cold our volunteer cold shelters are ready for the less fortunate. Amelia Island is a small town with a big heart especially at Christmas.

Here is hoping you had a good Thanksgiving and 

that your Christmastide is full of blessings.

Happy U.S.A. Thanksgiving!

A very Happy U.S.A. Thanksgiving to one and all!

We have so much to be thankful for..let's not take it for granted

and let's remember those who have little...

YES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS AUTUMN IN FLORIDA

There is autumn right here in Amelia Beach, Florida. Today it is a chilly 46 degrees but then tomorrow will be back in the 60's or 70's.  See. here is a changing tree to prove it.  One of the reasons we love the Island is that it has the seasons....without SNOW and ICE.  This is great for us transplanted New Englanders!

 Still it goes back and forth, you can see it was cooler on this Saturday when we were at the Farmer's Market.  This little lady was wearing her holiday sweater near her owner's booth selling goat's milk products

                                and also quail eggs....hmmm, enticing to try.

There is now a craft alley at the Farmer's Market in downtown Fernandina Beach and I was taken with this crafter's booth shared with her father's wood bowls. The shell candle holders are made of oyster shells and just lovely.  The wooden bowls are carved from a particular type of tree that grows in our swamps here.  The tree is beyond its time but the years have made fascinating shapes which are a crafter's dreams.  

I know a gentlemen here on the Island who makes wondrous canes with them.

                                              A very special wooden bowl ....a keeper.

Our shell artist, Kangee Graham,  with her wares.

All in all,  another lovely Saturday morning in downtown Amelia Island, where

surprises and delights await.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MOMENT ON AMELIA

We have said before that each time we wander downtown we experience  a special moment! In this case, it was a treat.  We have been waiting for Nana Teresa's Bake Shop
to open at 31 S. 5th Street ever since we saw the sign go up.

We had actually met Nana herself before the opening as our taste buds were urging

 us down to see progress on the shop.

We, we wait no more.  Neither should you!  This is such a welcome addition to our little Island, it brings a sense of chic class.  You are in for deserts as you have never seen nor tasted ( of course, other than your Mom's).  The treats are beautifully concocted and displayed but what they taste like is amazing.  I am thinking Paris, folks, or the North End in Boston. 

I have tasted delicacies in both places.

Nana Teresa herself

The shop is in one of our historic buildings and care has been taken 

to respect that in every way.

I loved getting a peak into her kitchen, or sitting out on the porch and letting the afternoon waft away.

Let me say, here, that none of my recommendations are paid advertisements...they are what we enjoy and it our pleasure to share with Islanders and Visitors both.
 My photos do not do Nana teresa's justice so please go see for yourselves....

See Nana Teresa's Facebook page where I found some of these photographs for lots more information. Nicely she is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
You will appreciate the beautiful ambiance just as much as the delicacies!!

Sea Soothings….

Fortunate is the person who lives on a little island where the ocean surrounds our souls as well as our bodies.   They sell recordings of the sounds of the sea!

We get to listen all the time.

Below is a photo taken by my friend Lisa Robertson on one of their recent sailing trips.  Need I add more?  God's glory sung in silence and color.

 A poem to accompany it.

We are entering high season in Amelia, meaning summer, the beach and boats.  The Shrimp Festival has come and gone, not affected by one rainy day.  Tourists are everywhere.  Those of us who live here retreat to our corners of beach and yard and hunker down to tend our gardens.  New restaurants are opening yet to try.  We work in the mornings and nap in the afternoon til the cool of evening. It is summer in the Southland, on a little island of beauty.  Afternoon thunderstorms

 break the heat and send us home to a good book.

                                                   And then the sun comes out again.

                                     

                                               Photo by Trent Strohm on Flickr/Pinterest

The Songs of Amelia

http://fernandinaobserver.com

The song of the sea is not the only song heard by those of us living on the Island of Amelia.

There is an abundance of birdsong filling the air.  Recently, in my Internet wanderings, I came upon The Fernandia Observer  an online publication sharing Island news.  

This video is from that publication and was taken by Bailey Strauss.  It is simply beautiful.  We have a bird bath, but no feeder in our back yard as it brings unwanted guests: namely peacocks who live nearby. I have never seen a Painted Bunting or an Indigo or Blue Grosbeak. 

But, as they are nearby, who knows…one of these days.

The quiet, still art of birdwatching, or watching the sea ebb and flow,

the art of living on an Island.

SPRING COMES TO AMELIA

Though we are in Florida, we are way high north, almost in Georgia.  They say you have to go this far north in Florida to find Southern culture!

Thus, we have the seasons.  Our winter is mild compared to other parts of the U.S., of course.  Still we had a colder than usual winter season and welcome the warmer weather.  Amelia celebrates by showing off her azalea finery.  This year, probably because of the cold snaps, it is awesome.  Take a look at the treasures in my neighbor's yard.  Ours are a bit slower.  It is like we have it timed.

 The light was captured by my iPad camera at just the right moment.  This is one of my favorites.

If you are reading this from a cold clime, I hope that these

photos remind you that warmth and color are not far off.

I call this my watercolor photo.  Again, the iPad did its own thing and nearly transferred

a sort of watercolor of these flowers, ready for the artist canvas.