Picture of the Day: The Shore at Amelia Island

Amelia Island, Florida
12.09.2012 

Not At Work Today

I'm not at work today. I'm also not going to work tomorrow or the day after that. In fact, I'm not going back to work until January 3. 

My company doesn't allow people to carry their vacation over from year to year. I had two weeks of vacation left followed by my company's holiday shutdown which leaves me with a nice three and a half week break from work. After putting in a lot of very long hours in the past few months this break sounds like heaven to me.

I've got some wonderful relaxing plans for my time off that I am looking forward to. This past weekend started off my break with a trip to Amelia Island, Florida for the wedding of one of Frank's college friends, Cindy. The picture at the top of this post was the amazing view from our room. It was a truly beautiful event and I will have to share some of the details later.

This week I am at home and plan to work on finishing up making my Christmas presents. Making presents is one of my favorite things to do and I am happy that I will have a solid week to have fun with it. After that I am hoping to have a little time left over to get some more cleaning and organizing done in my craft room and maybe even tackle building the bench in my mudroom. It still looks no different than when I finished building the shelf back in August.

Next week, Frank and I are off to Cartegena, Colombia for a week of relaxing and good food before coming back home to celebrate Christmas. After that we are heading back to Florida (to Tampa this time) to watch Michigan play South Carolina in the Outback Bowl on New Year's Day. That wraps up my vacation plans and then it is back to work.

What plans do you have for the holidays? Are you traveling or staying home? Are you done with your holiday shopping or have plans to make some fun things for your loved ones?

P.S. I am still in my jammies and it is almost lunchtime. I love this! 

Picture of the Day: Snowy Roofs in Shirakawago

Shirakawago, Japan
1.2009 

Picture of the Day: Montmorency Falls Reflection

Chute Montmorency
Quebec, Canada
9.06.2009

Picture of the Day: Lake Pukaki in Early Spring

Lake Pukaki
South Island, New Zealand
9.19.2005 

Pie Crust From Scratch

It is no secret that I love pie. I'll use just about any excuse I can to make (and eat!) one. For me, one of the secrets of a good pie is having a good, homemade crust. Making a crust from scratch may seem difficult but it is actually quite quick and easy. Here is a simple pastry recipe for a two crust pie.

Ingredients List
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp. salt
- 3/4 cup butter, chilled and cut into pats
- 5-6 Tbsp. cold water

Pastry Directions
- Stir together flour and salt in a bowl
- Cut in butter with a pastry blender until the mixture becomes coarse crumbs
- Sprinkle in the water a little at a time, mixing the the dough lightly with a fork after each addition
- Form dough into a ball with your hands, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least half an hour 

Rolling Out Directions
- Divide dough into half, form into a flat disc and place on a lightly floured surface
- With a rolling pin, roll out the dough in a circle until it is 1/8" thick and about 2" larger than your pie plate
- Roll half of the circle onto your rolling pin to transfer the pastry to the pie plate
- Gently lay the bottom half of the circle on the pie plate and roll the rest over the plate
- Trim excess crust 

Tips and Tricks
- For success both your butter and your water must be very cold
- If you don't know how to use a pastry blender, you just hold the bowl with one hand, and push the blender into the dough with the other, repeating until the mixture has become coarse crumbs
- If you do not have a pastry blender you can cut in the butter by using two knives in a scissor fashion (i.e. blades crossing each other like scissors to cut the butter up)
- Don't use too much water or over mix the dough- you want it to barely hold together
- Make sure to store the dough in the refrigerator until you use it as it is much easier to work with cold dough
- To limit how much flour I need to use to prevent sticking I like to roll my dough out on parchment paper
- If you make a mistake transferring the pastry to the pie plate just roll it out again 

If you are interested, check out how to make a lattice top or use cookie cutters with your pastry to decorate your crust.

Picture of the Day: Small Green Frog in Monteverde

Monteverde, Costa Rica
5.28.2005 

Craft Room Cleanup Giveaway: Winter Holiday Supplies

This is what my hot mess of a craft room looked like a month ago.

Here's what it looks like now.

Yes, I know that I haven't made that much progress, but at least you can see some of the floor now! By posting these pictures I am hoping I can embarrass myself into getting things cleaned up faster. As I mentioned before my hoarding problem is your gain because as I sort out my craft supplies and figure out what I don't really need I am giving them away.

Since December is upon us I thought I would load this box up with Winter and Holiday inspired goodies. I've got lots of papers (over 100 sheets) for scrapbooking or card making in reds and greens for Christmas plus some snowy blues as well as a bunch of embellishments like ribbons, stickers, decorative tape, chipboard shapes, etc. I have some items that are specifically winter or holiday as well as some non themed items that have a similar winter tone. Below is a sampling of what is included.

All you have to do to enter is comment on this post telling me a favorite holiday memory or what you love about winter.

You can submit additional entries with separate posts doing one of the following:
- Like my page on Facebook (Post what name you liked me under)
- Follow me on Pinterest (Post what name you followed me under)
- Pin one of my posts to Pinterest (Post a link to your pin)

Only posts on my blog (not on facebook) will count as entries and you can have a maximum of five total entries.

Some Rules:
- To be eligible you must be 18 years of age or older and have a shipping address in the US  (sorry, international shipping for such a heavy box is really pricey)
- Entries will close on Friday December 7, 2012 at 12:00 Noon EST
- The winner will be chosen by a random number generator based on the posts
- I will notify the winner by email and they will have 72 hours to confirm with a valid US address  
- This prize is being provided by Home and Away With Lisa from my craft room stash and I am not being compensated in any way for this giveaway

Updated to Add: The winner for the giveaway is Sandy. Thank you all so much for sharing your holiday memories with me. I loved reading them all! 

Picture of the Day: Temple Figures in Hong Kong

Hong Kong, China
11.13.2006

The Baths at Virgin Gorda

Last week when I was visiting my sister one of the things we did was head out to the British Virgin Islands on a boat trip to visit The Baths National Park on Virgin Gorda.

The name of the park comes from the gorgeous rocks that line the shore called batholiths. Batholiths are formed from cooled magma deep in the earth's crust. Through continental uplift and erosion batholiths can be exposed on the surface.

The batholiths at Virgin Gorda are made from granite and are special due to their location on the sea as most batholiths are inland. The unique formation creates a maze of grottos, tunnels, and arches right on the shoreline.

As interesting as the geology behind The Baths is, it is really even more impressive to see and explore them in awe of their beauty. I had visited them with my sister on my first trip to visit her in the Caribbean back in 2006 and requested to go back on this trip because they are such a beautiful sight.

At the visitor's center, which is a short distance south from Spanish Town, you pay your entrance fee ($3 for adults, $2 for children) and can choose between two paths down to the rock formations. We decided to go to the right and follow the Baths Beach trail to the water.

As you start to head down the trail you can start to see some of the batholiths surrounding you. The vegetation is also interesting and I particularly liked the cacti that we saw scattered along the trail at various points with a bluish hue to it. It looked so striking again the bright green foliage.

At the bottom of the trail is a lovely beach. The waters were too rough that day for swimming, but the views were stunning.

After enjoying the beach it was time to head into The Baths. The path can easily be followed by the ladders and ropes that were put in place to help people navigate the slippery and sometimes steep areas. In places where it still may be unclear there are some yellow arrows painted on the rock as a guide. 

One of the first amazing formations you come across as you enter the baths is known as The Cathedral. Two enormous boulders barely touch to make a gorgeous triangle shaped cave with the water rushing in and out with the tide. No pictures can do the experience of being there justice.

Continuing on we were lucky to be exploring with no one around us. We ran into a few people occasionally but luckily we were a little ways away between tour groups so we had the rare privilege to be alone with only the sound of the water as we marvelled at The Baths.

The rock formations were fantastic with beautiful coloring and interesting shapes.

At a few points along the path were had glimpses through the rocks out to the sea and then eventually the trail opened up a bit more. The views were spectacular.

At the end of the breathtaking trail we reached the beach at Devil's Bay for more amazing scenery to explore.

Eventually we needed to head back. We could have gone back the way we came but due to time we opted to go straight from Devil's Bay back to the visitor's center via the Devil's Bay Beach Trail. The trail seemed to have less batholiths along the way that the trail we took on the way down but we did see more of the pretty blue tinged cacti.

Back at the top if you are in the mood for some food or drinks you can stop at Top of The Baths for some dining with wonderful views. There is a small freshwater pool as well as some gifts shops there.

Even if you are not interested in getting anything to eat I would strongly recommend taking a peek of the view from their verandah over The Baths and out across the sea to other islands in the BVI. It is really spectacular and a nice way to end a visit to The Baths.

My sister and I had a wonderful time visiting The Baths and our only regret is that we didn't have more time to enjoy them. It is a truly amazing place to visit and quite an amazing natural wonder. If you find yourself in the Virgin Islands, I would definitely recommend making a concerted effort to visit.

Note: The Baths are located in the British Virgins Islands which means that if you coming by way of the US Virgin Islands you will need a passport to visit. American travelers only need their driver's license to enter the USVI or Puerto Rico, so don't forget to also pack your passport if you also want to make a stop in the BVI.