My Spring Celebration - (Nest Give away!)

I made my nests, did my very best- (maybe bit off more than I could chew)!! But- now they're done, let's have some fun- I'm giving one away to YOU!! I'm done - I'm done - I'm done!!! 4 months and 47 nests later - I am done!! (I must surely have been out of my mind~~!!)

Spring is finally here and I am rejoicing in the glow of the sun and the gusty warm spring breezes~

Does this little "neck of the woods" look familiar to you? This is the same place that I did the "Winter Nesting" photo shoot a few months ago - when it was covered in snow and freezing outside!

Hundreds of beautiful daffodils are welcoming you all to my "Spring Celebration"~

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The very last nest is for one of YOU!

To enter please leave me a comment telling me what you love most about spring.

If you are one of my followers - please come right back again and leave me another comment. (xoxo - love you guys!)

Miss Maddy girl will draw the winner on May 25. If the winner is one of my followers - I will embellish your nest with one of these little jeweled birds if you wish.

If you would like to post about my little "Spring Celebration" give away on your own blog - please come back AGAIN and leave me another comment telling me that you have done so. Everyone who posts about this little "nesting" give away on their blog will be entered into a special contest to win this lovely tea towel from my favorite store - Anthropology.

And lastly- you are welcome to come back one more time and tell me that I was totally crazy to commit to make 47 nests! Go ahead -tell me how crazy that was! I can take it - I am totally numb - (or did I mean dumb!)

So- you have 4 chances to win a nest - (and some of you can be entered to win this gorgeous tea towel.)

Are you as happy as me that spring is FINALLY here!!

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Thank you all for being here for me - your comments and emails mean the world to me. Your sweet words about the Gardener's beautiful sea turtle photos have made him beam with pride!

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I have been trying to reply to some of you who I have not had the chance to meet or visit regularly. However - SOME OF YOU have your email specifications set so that I cannot reply to you - the dreaded "no reply blogger". Please take a minute to check your email profile in your blogger account and correct this if you wish. It would make it so much easier for me to reply to your comments.

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Next up- those cruise photos just keep on coming~

I'll take you all to one of the Caribbean's best kept secrets~

the colorful and captivating island of Curacao.

xoxo

Vicki

Barbados ~ Swimming with Sea Turtles

We spent our special time on the beautiful island of Barbados - on the water! We made our own plans for the day and sailed away on a beautiful catamaran. The turquoise waters of this exotic island were crystal clear and the Gardener was able to take some stunning photographs of the sea turtles as we played and swam together~~ Our day was spent with the wonderful folks at Silver Moon Cruises in Barbados. We privately booked their full day cruise excursion that allowed time for snorkeling and swimming with the sea turtles. The Gardener and I had done this same excursion last winter and we could NOT wait to go back again this year and take our friends with us. This is absolutely the best catamaran cruise excursion that we have ever done. (we love it so much- that we are already booking it again for next year!) There were only 12 passengers in addition to the crew on this excursion - one of the things that we love best about this wonderful experience! We practically had the boat to ourselves!

lots of sunshine and smiles!

(it was miserable cold and snowing back home!)

do these folks look happy or what? Jan takes her knitting everywhere she goes! (me too!)

the weather was perfect for our sail~

I'm telling you - this was a fabulous day!

(no photos of the Gardener on this post -

he spent most of his time

UNDER water-

keep watching and you will see why! )

these guys were THE absolute best crew!

not only did they sail the boat, but they waited on us like we were royalty

AND served us a fabulous buffet lunch

that was prepared by

Christian's Mom.

(he's the cutie in the middle)

Pina Colada in paradise

Oh yea!

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love this beautiful church!

what an idyllic setting next to this shimmery blue water

(I wanted to swim over so that I could walk around and take photos -

but couldn't figure out how to get my camera safely over there -

DUH! - why didn't I borrow the Gardener's underwater camera?!!!)

NEXT TIME for sure!

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Are you ready for some serious underwater beauty?

Enjoy these photos that the Gardener took with his new camera~

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(that's my leg in the top of the photo

the turtles swam right between my legs!)

the crew fed the turtles

they were swimming around us like crazy!

(I love sea turtles!)

they are so graceful and beautiful in the water~

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Beautiful - huh?

The Gardener is so thrilled with his new camera!

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(UPDATE - I have had SO many people to email me and ask about the type of camera that the Gardener used - so here is the info and some links to Amazon.)

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS2 14.1 MP waterproof digital camera

AND the Gardener's favorite thing to use with the camera - the Orange life preserver strap that I bought him to go with the camera! - Olympus strap float

Thought you might want to see a few photos taken on the ship~~ we clean up pretty good sometimes~ (doesn't the Gardener look dapper?)

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(my beautiful necklace was handmade for me by my best friend Mary. She makes absolutely stunning jewelry. This necklace means the world to me and I love, love, love wearing it. When I wear this necklace - people truly walk across the room to ask me about it!) (You will be able to enjoy some of Mary's spectacular bead handiwork on a very special designer nest coming up SOON!)

My favorite ice cream that I have enjoyed on past cruises is honey apple. Unfortunately, it is no longer on the menu~~ so my sweet waiter requested to have it made for me by the chef! He surprised me with this on the second night of our cruise. The chef made enough ice cream that I enjoyed it for the entire 2 week cruise! (That is why I am NOW on a big DIET!!)

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Our group - hanging out in my favorite wine bar. My evening dress was knitted by ME! I loved making the dress and want to make another one. And you thought that I could only knit nests! (the slit in the dress is actually on the side - I did not realize that it was twisted to the middle when we took the photo.)

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(love you guys!)

Bob's favorite desert is bananas foster - so the chef made it special for him several nights while on the cruise~~ sometimes he even had more than one serving!

The traditional last night of the cruise~ Baked Alaska. We had the most wonderful waiters - these folks worked so hard to make our cruise special - I always want to take them home with us. Those of you who have been on cruises know how important that the staff and crew are to the enjoyment of the cruise experience. These guys were fabulous!

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Are you tired of cruise photos yet? I hope not because I have saved the very best for last - gorgeous Bonaire and beautiful, colorful Curaco. BUT before we visit there in pictures - I am going to take a little spring break~~

Coming up next - a springtime CELEBRATION!! A giveaway to celebrate the completion of my latest "nesting" session! You know what's coming up now don't you! See you here in about a week~~

Vicki

Beautiful St. Lucia

We spent a fabulous and relaxing day in beautiful St.Lucia. The weather could not have been better for our day on this lovely island~~

Some early morning harbor views. St. Lucia is one of my favorite ports to visit. The beautiful harbor is truly so picturesque.

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The Gardener and I, along with our friend Jan, hired a private boat driver to take us to a resort where we spent the most fabulous day. Jan's husband, Bob went on a diving expedition that day.

The Gardener clowns around with one of our boat drivers.

The boat that brought us to this wonderful resort~~

look at that gorgeous blue water!

Jan's new best friend!

We spent a quiet, peaceful, relaxing day here on this beautiful beach.

2000 people on our cruise ship~

we were the only ones from our ship here on this beach.

this is how crowded it was the entire day!

The resort sits up on top of the cliffs.

You can see the bungalows up on top along the edge of the cliffs.

the beach bar restaurant.

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we ate our lunch at this table

what a view- huh?

~~ one of the "locals" selling shells on the beach.

He went right out in the water and brought these in to polish and sell.

the Gardener wants to show you his new underwater camera!

His favorite thing?

the "orange life preserver" that I got him for the camera!!

the water was wonderful and warm

ahhh!

another view of the resort on top of the cliffs~

I took this photo while standing out in the water

There are 110 steps that lead from the beach up to the top of the cliffs where the resort is located.

(OK - if you are going to be whiny about it - you can call for the shuttle)

I have a thing for stairs - seriously - I love to climb stairs - so off I went - had to see what was at the top~~

Here is a view looking down at the beach from the first landing~

and from a little further up~~ I am at tree top level here~~

the view from the top of the stairs!

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love this shady deck that overlooks the beach below

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the bar for the resort~ what a beautiful view!

the open air restaurant at the top of the stairs~

beautiful!

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a cute little pool area

I took this photo while standing just outside the restaurant

the sitting area that adjoins the restaurant

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So - you got to see what was at the top of 110 steps and you never even had to climb!

Did you like the tour? I wanted to stay there longer than our time allowed!

Sadly, our day had to come to an end. Here is a view of the resort as we are leaving - headed back to our ship.

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almost back home to our ship~

We sailed out of the beautiful port of St. Lucia just as the evening sun was beginning to set. The good thing about a cruise is that you get to visit so many wonderful places. The bad thing is that you never get to stay as long as you want. I could have stayed on that beautiful beach until the sun was set below the horizon~~

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Up next - some photos of our wonderful day spent in Barbados. I will treat you to some of the Gardener's underwater photography - (we went swimming with sea turtles!)

Vicki