Make novelty bowls from your old vinyl LP's

I recently saw a really neat thing at a Farmer's Market........beautiful bowls made from old records!!!!

Last week, on a rainy day, I decided to try it for myself.  I went online and looked up "vinyl LP bowls", and there are literally hundreds of tutorials and videos on how to make these things.

Check out a tutorial online for yourself, but here's how mine turned out......

First, choose a record

(NOTE--I did not use any of my Bruce albums, I just took a pic of that one because it's a favorite)

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.  Select a glass or stainless steel bowl and place album on top, being careful that album is centered on the bowl.  Place a large tin of veggies on top to keep album in place as it starts to soften and droop.  As it starts to soften, reach into oven(with gloves on) and put a little pressure on the top of the can of veggies.  This will sort of force the softening vinyl album down into the bowl as it softens.  This is how the LP bowl gets it's shape.

Wear a pair of gloves (gardening or heavy duty rubber kitchen gloves) to handle as you remove from oven to do final shaping.  Since oven is only at 200 degrees, oven mitts are not required.

Here's the final result........

Pretty great little conversation pieces...nice little gifts too...

Find a tutorial you like, and start making bowls!!!!!!!

Cheers

:o)

Bread & Butter Pickles

 It's pickle season!!







Of all the pickles I make, I love bread & butter pickles best.

The crunchy cucumbers and all that vinegar--yummy:o)

Here's the latest batch that I made.........

This is the easiest recipe I've ever used for pickles....here it is:

Cheers

:o)

Last Port of Call---Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the last port of call before the ship heads back to Dover.  Words cannot express what a trip this has been.  We couldn't believe that this was the last day of our much anticipated 12-day Baltic cruise. It far exceeded all of our expectations in every way.  I really don't know if I could pick a favorite port---they have all been magnificent.  I do know that I would love to get back to each one someday!
Have a look at a few shots of Amsterdam..........

This was a picture from our balcony just before the ship came in to port......

the canals are totally magical....

there are beautiful old buildings on every corner.......

I totally fell in love with this building.......

Below here is the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam-(The Museum of Tbe Netherlands).....

Cheese making is huge in Amsterdam,

and we REALLY enjoyed all the tastings we had.......

it was so hard to decide on just a few to bring back.........

We watched as people just sat out on their tiny decks, then hopped in their boat or arrived back from the market.....just dreamy.

Bikes, bikes everywhere.  Every manner of business is carried out by bicycle.  It's just amazing to see men in business suits and beautiful women in fabulous clothes and high heels on their way to or from work and meetings.....on their bikes!!

Of course a visit to Amsterdam wouldn't be complete without checking out the Coffee Shops and the Red Light District......yep, it's all there---just like you read about!!!!  

That part of Amsterdam was totally amazing, so different from our cultural norms.

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As we made our way back towards the ship, we had one last stop we wanted to make.  

We had heard about a fabulous rooftop bar at the Okura Hotel in Amsterdam, and..............

we found it!!!!

and look at the view........

Amsterdam was AMAZING!!!!!

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Cheers

:o)

Girl's Road Trip

Myself and two very dear friends (Sharon & Linda) decided we'd have a "Girlie Road Trip" this past Sunday.  We decided on the Twillingate area, and we were not disappointed----It is simply gorgeous in that area.

Twillingate is close to a two hour drive, so we met just before 10:30 am and hit the road.  What is it with road trips that make us need to stop at every Tim's or coffee shop along the way??  We were driving all of 30 minutes when we made our first pit stop--ha ha.

Once we got off the main highway and settled in, we had a lot of laughs and the scenery was just spectacular.
Some of the place names are so quaint, but these little towns are breathtakingly beautiful.

This is the Twillingate Lighthouse --- hopefully you'll get time to check out the link -- it's awesome.

Here's a shot of the ocean below from the lighthouse area viewing point...

This artwork is on the side of a whale watching tour business...isn't it neat??

This sign was posted inside one of the gift shops we stopped in, I couldn't resist posting a snap of it---I thought it was so cute......

We ate lunch at RJ's in Twillingate.........DELICIOUS!!!!  We each had fresh cod (caught that morning) and chips.....yummy.  The view was great and the service was real friendly.

Last stop in Twillingate......Auk Island Winery.

This place is certainly worth a visit.  Since I was 

the driver for the return portion of our trip, the 

other two took advantage of the opportunity 

to do the wine tasting.  

After much fun and many tastes, they decided on 

the wines they would buy.

I had tried several wines from this winery 

before, as they are sold in all local liquor stores, 

so I bought two of my favorite----

a bottle rhubarb and a bottle of goosebery.

We enjoyed the drive home and decided that we should do this more often, so road trips about 

every 6-8 weeks is our current plan......we'll see how that goes--ha ha!!!

Cheers

:o)

Tallinn, Estonia

Tallinn is very unique, and very beautiful.  It's cobblestone streets and medieval buildings are amazing.  

There is still remnants of the city wall intact.

The narrow, winding cobblestone streets are leading you in every direction.  We walked..........

and walked.....

Tallinn has many towers---you can hardly look up from anywhere without seeing a steeple of a church or a huge stone tower.  

It was like being in another time.  I felt like we could bump into Robin Hood and his merry 

men around any corner.

This is right in the old town of Tallinn---isn't it amazing???

I could have stayed here for days.  I would have loved at least one more day to explore, and climb to 

the top of some of these amazing buildings.

I literally wanted to go down every alley......

and climb every set of these fantastic stone steps, to see where  they would take me.....

 Can you imagine if these steps could tell of the people who walked over them ????

After a very full day of exploring, it was back on the ship.  

The sun was blasting out of the sky.  Unfortunately, to get photos of the city, I had to be looking directly into the sun.  Therefore the quality here on this is not great, but you can certainly feel the majestic vibe of the city.

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Indeed another day leaving me wanting desperately to stay longer or, better still.....to come back.

Tallinn was absolutely beautiful!

I hope you enjoyed the few photos I've posted to try and give you a feel for the place, as I saw it.

Cheers

:o)

St. Petersburg, Russia

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.....this proves it...........

I made a little sign because I was afraid we would forget the exact time.

This was the view of St. Petersburg, from our balcony on the ship at 11:20 pm!!!  

 One of our tour guides told us that late June has the shortest day of the year with only three hours of twilight---it doesn't even  get really dark at that time of the year.  We couldn't believe our eyes...and it was hard to not sit outside much longer---it just didn't feel right to go inside and go to bed when it looked like it was still suppertime!

Tallinn, Estonia, next stop!

Cheers

:o)