Tres Amigas

BFF since 1961................Carol, Shelly and moi !!! But except for a brief 4 hour visit last winter, we had not seen each other since 1964. We tried to make up for lost time.

It was perfect. First of all, Florida put on a brilliant display with glorious weather, blue skies, tropical breezes and temperatures designed for ideal golf. We spent one day at Epcot and 5 days of golf.

In between, we went to Homosassa State Park where the wildlife are exquisite
and the manatees float freely about.
It was a great week.

Visitors

The guests are arriving. Of late, we have noticed an increase in the number
of the 4 legged variety. The front of the house seems to be a popular place for these tiny frogs....brilliant green, possibly a type of tree frog I think. They surprise me when I water plants and the pop out with their mighty leaps even tho they are all but an inch or so big. Maybe they are good for keeping bugs at bay but I wish they'd call out before they leap.

And in the lanai, we have found a gaggle of geckos taking up residence. We have sealed all visible entries and urged them to go outside. But they are happy and protected from the cranes and ibis and hawks. One was doing a back stroke in the pool yesterday. They also like to scurry among the plants and give me a moment of pause. But my main concern is that they might not be happy with the expansive lanai and plenty of bugs and decide that the soft beds and cool tile might be more to their taste now that the doors are open. Sooooo, as much as I find it distasteful and just plain mean, I have taken to removing them permanently. This is carried out with sticky paper and vicious swats with a pool noodle.

It's similar to the time in Ct when we had an invasion of lady bugs. At first, I would scoop them up and move them outside. As they proliferated, I vacuumed them and then moved them outside. As they proliferated , I said to heck with this nonsense and got the exterminator to deal with them and I cleaned up the carcasses.

Cute only gets you so far.

And yes, the real guests are arriving. The next two weeks will bring all sorts of excitement. Two school friends arrive today, then two of my very favorite grandkids arrive, then friends from Pa. and then..............maybe you'll show up. !!

Remembering

As much as the world hoped and prayed and searched, the balloonists were not found. Not even a scrap of debris or hope was found. It is fitting that the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta is this week where they will be remembered by all that knew and respected and loved them.

Back on earth, life goes on at a breath taking pace. I remember reading somewhere about how to capture time. If you spend your days in a routine of sameness and predictability, time flies by in a blur. One day becomes another and another and nothing defines the time......but , if you punctuate those days with bits of uniqueness and change , you define a moment and later, you can look back and remember special days or places or people and it breaks up the sameness. Sooooo, based on that theory, I am going to make my days unique......today I'm going to get a hole-in-one and tomorrow, I will plan a trip to some exotic locale........

And, for all of you without a blog of your own, a blog is a great journal of daily life. I thoroughly enjoy rereading past years and bringing back fond memories. You don't have to publish the blog, it can just be your personal memoir and keeper of your life. Go to www.blogger.com and set one up.....its free and easy..........if I can do it, so can you.

Hope

The news of late is troubling and it is not known how long the search teams will continue. At this point they continue their search and hope hangs on.
Raggedy Ann is Carol's hot air balloon. Hopefully, it will fly again soon. She and her family and the balloon have given Mike and Jenna and Lizzie, Alex , Becca and Nicholas a gift of joy and friendship and adventure.

UPDATE

The USA2 team in the Balloon Race has been missing for over 12 hours in the Adriatic Sea. Carol Rymer Davis and Richard Abruzzo are highly experienced, well equipped and prepared. Their last position put them in a storm area and no word or information has been received. Italian SAR are involved. We can only remain hopeful while waiting for positive news.

ON the Edge of our Seats........

Over the weekend and into today, we have been enthralled with tracking this international balloon race www.gordonbennett2010.com/tracking . You can get all the info on it from their website. We are cheering on USA2, one of 4 balloons left flying since it's start in England. One of the pilots is a good friend of Mike and Jenna and Paul has also met her. Carol Rymer Davis has a long and celebrated history of flying balloons and won this race in 2004. It is challenging and dangerous. But compelling to monitor from afar. GO USA !! I don't have a picture of the actual balloon, but these are the type used, not the familiar hot air kind. It is filled with hydrogen and uses sand bags for ballast.

Mike and Jenna will head to Albuquerque next week for the Balloon Fiesta. We have always wanted to go but it we have a committment that first week so we will enjoy their pictures.

Rain today and tomorrow which is always a nice change. We did some planting this weekend so help from above is always appreciated.....plus, I'm deep into a new book and don't mind skipping the golf course for the couch. It's "Cutting for Stone" and I think has been out for awhile. Highly recommend it.

Garages, golf and garters............

Look what's heading right for P's golf bag ! ! ! It was encouraged to go outside and the welcoming door was closed behind it.

Where's a mongoose when you need one ?

Improving the view.........

The last 3 mornings, after my early walk, I have spent a bit of time pulling weeds. I am not a gardener and I'd rather do windows. My nice neighbor has decided to improve the view on the side of our house that faces his side, and he takes care of weeds on that side. We supply him with a favorite beverage and we are both happy. I decided to document my activity for the blog and Binged (you're welcome Michael) 'weed pictures'. This is what popped up....... Would I enjoy the back breaking work more if it actually grew in my yard ???

Meanwhile, while I am toiling away, our BFF, John and Freida, are spending a few days in Sin City and sent these enticing pictures to make us jealous of their time in Las Vegas.

Here's Freida (closest to the larger than life hunk )and her friend Vicki, enjoying the scenery.
We've been looking for statuary for the pool..............what do you think???

It's always something........

First , the pretty picture.............. We wandered around Transylvania County one glorious day and looked for waterfalls that required little effort to enjoy. We're not opposed to a hike but we were without adequate water and bug spray (essential in those woods). You can judge the size by the hiker in the red shirt at the base. Someone took a couple of pictures of us but they looked too much like reality so I won't post them.

We are home once more. Did the 600 mile trip in 11.5 hours again. Each time we say we aren't going to do that but it is an easy drive and we share the driving and snacking so it's not terrible.

The moving house preformed admirably again. There is always something that needs some attention but one just hopes its not a slide (done that already), or a tire or an engine or the refrigerator (again). This time it was the plumbing.

A short primer on RV toilets: given by a non-mechanical woman. The toilet is just a receptacle that drains into the black tank. It has a foot pedal at the base to 'flush ' it with water and a flapper thing that covers the hole with a rubber seal around it. We always keep an inch or so of water above the flapper to avoid having odors come up from the tank. We also use deodorizers in the tank and there is never any odor. Well, a few days ago, the flapper refused to close.......not good.
Plumber Paul did his best to fix it. We went searching for parts to no avail and ended up ordering the needed item. But what to do in the meantime.

Here's our solution.
Take a pink plastic glass, because pink works better than the green one we had, then add to it a small water bottle (left over from the 72 I accidently bought) filled with rocks for weight. After flushing the toilet, quickly place the new plumbing device into the opening and allow the last bit of water to make a seal. (No water in this picture). It worked very well except at night when one is not quite awake and the process needs to be repeated to get a seal.

We're home for awhile. We might try and slip away for a few days to one of Florida's lovely state park next month but now it's time to get to work on the golf game once more.

We'll be back............

Do those mountains make me look fat??? Never mind, it was a rhetorical question.We drove up to this chapel, in Dupont State Park on the NC/SC border as our neighbor here said we had to see this "Pretty Place". That's what it's called at the Visitors Center when we went in to get directions. It's also called Symm's Chapel
and has been there for many many years. It is popular for weddings. The views are extraordinary. We asked another visitor to take our picture with the view in the background. The first had no view and 2nd put us in the dark.

We did the Urban Trail yesterday in Asheville. It meanders about this lovely city, highlighting architecture and history.
Poor picture of a cat on this light pole. There were many scupltures, abstract, historical and parks and monuments. And the weather was amazing.
We wandered about the hills and lakes and artsy towns once again. I stopped by two yarn shops (so far, I have not added to my projects) and in two of the shops, there were men , happily knitting and answering the questions of their customers. One was elderly, wearing a tie dyed shirt with a beard and he knew everything about every type of yarn and pattern. The other guy was younger and grumpy but was doing cables !!

I finished reading "Freedom" by Franzen. A really good read about a disfunctional family. His earlier book, "Corrections" was also a favorite several years ago. I may have to rediscover it. I also finished "Empire of the Summer Moon" about the rise and fall of the Comanche tribe. It was excellent altho a bit text-bookish at times.

Despite wanting to escape the heat of Florida for a few more days, we'll be heading home soon. Even in retirement, there are responsibilities.