Saturday, March 29, 2014

A hungry giraffe and my sewing machine




I have never been this close to a giraffe!







We just returned from a quick Spring Break trip.

This week began with a soccer game in Jekyll Island Georgia, where I was fortunate enough to see a dolphin in the water right behind the soccer field. 

Luckily, the bugs weren't too bad this time.  They only got us a few times.

I don't have any pictures of that. 

It's so nice to visit that area of Georgia, but bug spray is a must.  I'm not kidding.




This is the actual Atlantis Shuttle that was in space.  If you zoom in, you can see quilting on the shuttle.




Later in the week, we took a fun trip to the Kennedy Space Center and the Brevard Zoo.

We spent a few days in the Merritt Island, Florida area, seeing the sights and eating some great food.  








At the Brevard Zoo, we were able to feed the giraffes!

It was unbelievable.

They come right up to you and eat, what we think was a sweet potato, right out of your hand.







It was amazing to see these sweet and gentle creatures so close up!

You can see my pink jacket and my pink iphone in this picture.

The other hand is my son's, who fed the giraffe too.








We had been thinking about going to the zoo on our second day there, then we saw the posts by my friend Lois about her recent trip to the Brevard Zoo and we decided we had to go.

I took a picture of the same Giant Anteater that Lois wrote about.

My teenaged son loved the Anteater and he also enjoyed kayaking through the zoo!

We all got in kayaks and took a trip through the zoo!

That was pretty cool!








 The Kennedy Space Center was probably the highlight of the trip for my "math - science boys" and I enjoyed it too.

The new Atlantis Space Shuttle Exhibit was really interesting and also we took an extra tour out to Launch Complex 39A.

It was originally built for the Apollo program and later it was used for Space Shuttle launches.

Ours was one of the last tours to Launch Complex 39A, as it will soon be leased out for commercial use.

There is so much going on at the Kennedy Space Center!



What does my sewing machine have to do with any of this?

Well, I dropped one of mine off for a cleaning on our way to Merritt Island.

 When I picked it, up they told me that some of the issues I had been having with the case for a few years, light hanging down slightly and the buttons sticking, were warranty issues that were easily fixed with a new front cover. WooHoo!

 That's not what I had been told at a different shop a few years ago.  I was told that those things were going to be pricy fixes and I was better off waiting for the light to burn out before I got it fixed.

I'm so glad I took it to this sewing machine dealer for a cleaning this time.  It is usually out of the way for me, but I decided to take it there since were passing by on our trip.

Because of the change in the front cover, this issue leads to a new slide on table under warranty if I bring in my old one.

While looking for my old slide on table in my closet last night, I noticed it smelled a little musty in there.

......insert big sigh here......

So, on this rainy day you will find me cleaning out my closet and getting rid of some things.  I'm thinking I've just got too much in there, most of which I don't even wear anymore, and just not enough air circulation in that closet.

Cleaning out closets is not my favorite thing to do, but I'll be making a run to Goodwill later in the week to give some of those things away.

Maybe I'll take a break later and look at some quilt books that I've been meaning to read!

Not a bad thing to be doing with a sewing machine at the shop!




11 comments:

Jackie's Stitches said...

I loved feeding the giraffes here at our zoo - it seemed SO surreal! I've never been to the Brevard zoo, it looks wonderful!

Anonymous said...

I love visiting zoos! Giraffes are my absolute favorite too! Nice post and great pictures! -Brittany

JoAnne said...

Giraffes are my favorite animal at the zoo! How cool to feed them! We did the closet thing with my husband today. I took out all of his civilian pants and made him try them on. He hates to part with anything (including the socks he was wearing at the time which were full of holes.) However, he agreed to donate probably 10 pair of chinos and jeans that no longer fit and then we went out to buy him new pants (and socks.) We need to get his wardrobe in order for a civilian job! That is great news about your machine, though.

Cheryl said...

Giraffes are my granddaughters favorite animal to feed! Glad you had a fun trip. I was just thinking I need to clear out my closet too!

Terry said...

How cool to be so close to a giraffe! I loved the pictures! :0)

Needled Mom said...

It looks like it was a fabulous trip. How lucky to have taken your machine there before you left!!!

Candace said...

What a wonderful zoo, Michele! I think I just might put that on my bucket list - and to kayak through it would be fantastic! Both Mr. Squash and I would love to see the space exhibit, too. Love the "quilting" on Apollo! You know, I had two terrible services on my Bernina and they told me I wasn't oiling my machine among other things, which just wasn't true. So I took it to a dealer 50 miles away who found what was wrong and told me I should never, ever take it to the other dealer again - and yes, he could tell I was oiling it.
Cheers!

Michelle said...

What a fun post! It looks like it was an awesome trip!!!

Lois Evensen said...

How fun! It's so neat to know you stayed at the same hotel where we stay, too. How neat to see you have some of the same animals in your post that we saw at the Brevard Zoo. What a fun place!

Hugs,
Lois

Dee said...

The giraffes are adorable! It sounds like you had a fun (and educational) trip. And how fortunate about your machine! It's always nice to get news look that. It's a good thing you hadn't paid to get it fixed earlier when they told you it wasn't under warranty.

✾Jamie Lee Cooley✾ said...

How cool to feed the giraffes! We saw someone doing it once at a zoo here and I was so surprised at how long their tongues were.

Glad to hear your machine is under warranty!!!