Still here..........

Not  much happening at the homestead these days.    I'm trying out the new blogger and finding it a bit more of a change than I particularly wanted and I'm sure I'll screw up the blog somehow and have to spend way too many hours fixing something.     I really admire those of you who have mastered blogger and have brilliantly choreographed blogs with all sorts of detail and  exciting headings and categories and links and such.    Mine is the vanilla variety and it's as good as it's gonna be............

 We are finally getting some precipitation.....not of the heavy variety, just more a misty drizzly type.    We are in a  drought and can water just
once a week.   The golf courses are seriously brown and hard-packed and the retention ponds are dried up.    We are entering our rainy season and hopefully, central Florida will once again become tropical.   As the above picture indicates, we are kind of in a donut hole with the heavy rain amounts going around us.....

This is a traveling family.    Some is business related, as in Michael and Jon but this week, it's vacation time.     Jeff and Jennifer are enjoying a break in Cabo from the Washington spring weather.     Mike and Jenna are celebrating 25 years with a trip to Hong Kong.    We will travel along vicariously.
    
And we are also looking forward to some serious traveling in a couple of weeks.     We are awaiting delivery of our shiny new 40 ft motorhome.     We debated many moons over this and decided :
1)   We thoroughly enjoy the lifestyle
2)   Our Suncruiser has many comforts and we know it's quirks
3)   Our Suncruiser is getting to be high mileage, accumulated over 5 years
4)   Our Suncruiser has some issues that can't be changed
5)   Our Suncruiser still has value as a trade-in
6)    We made the mistake of going to a huge RV show in Tampa

So, after debating brands, models and other modes of traveling .........
we decided on the Phaeton model of the Tiffin brand.    Those of you in the world of RVing will know it well....  It is the most popular model sold of all the Class A motorhomes in the past few years.  It has all the bells and whistles and then some.    You probably expect some pictures but the ones available aren't representative of ours so I'll post the real thing in a couple of weeks.    We hope to get it in early June from the factory.  After working out some of the bugs (and there will be bugs), we will head north......and of course, take you along.  

In my attempt to eat healthy these days, I have decided that I will TRY and eat some salmon.   Paul eats it regularly and orders it frequently when we dine out.    I haven't acquired a taste for it in the past and prefer white fish.   But tonight , I will make an effort and have some grilled salmon.   Results on the 10 o'clock news......

Bug juice......

Just got off the golf course and altho the golf wasn't so bad, the company was creepy.   It is love bug season and they are pervasive.    Getting back into the golf cart, the seats are covered in them, as are the windows, your clubs and they are crawling on your legs and your clothes.    Everytime I tried to grab my phone for a pic, they would wander off to some other haunt.    Fortunately, they don't bite .     May and Sept are their season.   

We've been home almost a week.    The train to the bus to the plane was very efficient.   I listened to a conversation in the seat ahead of us on the train.   Two 20 somethings, one hispanic, one kind of scruffy, who didn't know each other at the outset, settled into a conversation for the 90 min ride and I learned that the one had done 9 months in Mexico for cocaine but got out of a 20 yr sentence by paying $8500 to someone....the other was currently in some sort of rehab for drugs and was out again and heading to see his girlfriend.....he had been in rehab 32 times!   He has a brother who "always did what his parents expected" and was now in finance and making 7 figures and altho they loved each other, they had nothing in common.   His goal was to earn enough to go to Costa Rica and live "naturally" with his girl and raise a family on a farm.   The young Mexican seemed to be on a more straight  but very narrow path and initially said he didn't do drugs anymore , just a beer or two but as the chat continued, he did admit to doing coke a bit.      It was fascinating to hear them talk so openly and honest and with no apparent regard for others listening in.   I feigned indifference with my nose in my Kindle and others seemed equally occupied or maybe they've all heard it before.  
Based on what I heard, I don't give the one kid much hope of ever getting to Costa Rica.  

We are working on a new adventure and currently in the 'hurry-up and wait'  period.    Stay tuned.............

Do you remember what you wore....

...to your Prom ???












Bet it didn't look like this !!

( pics are clickable of Alex and Meredith )

Guess who our dates were for our Jr and Sr Proms ..??

Waiting.......

The days are gloomy and dreary and cool.....




The cats and I are waiting for the sun......




In the meantime, the walk from the recliner to the refrigerator is my most strenuous exercise and soon , Madge might look like a role model......




(Oops , I should have given credit for the Madge clip as I lifted it from a favorite blog....www.sandeedee.blogspot.com. )

Location:Sandy Hook, Ct.

Worth the drive

Jon and I zipped over to the Hudson River yesterday to take in the awesome sight as it passed overhead. It was higher than I expected it to be








and Jon was using my longer lens so I shot this with the trusty iPhone. ( pics are clickable). It flew very slow and we saw it twice as it flew up and then down the Hudson before landing at Kennedy.




And despite near freezing temperatures, it was off to the field at 9am to watch the fledging baseball players. Despite wearing a winter coat ( that I keep here) our behinds got very icy from sitting on metal bleachers....you'd think with the taxes we paid and what they pay, they could provide some heated, padded seating.

Location:A cold but sunny place.....

What a difference 2 hours makes.....

Hopped on the early dawn flight and landed in the cold North ..... Altho I am bundled up in jeans, sweater, sox and sensible shoes, I am freezing.
I came up to Connecticut to help out when work schedules collided and I get my grand kid fix. But altho it was 90 last week, it is now about 40, drizzly and gloomy. However, in driving around town, it is evident that spring has arrived. The dogwoods are in full glory, the azaleas are vibrant and the daffodils stand tall ......I hope to get out tomorrow to capture the beauty.




Went to karate with the boys.......who knew they would play Aerosmith to practice their moves?? I thought it would be a bit more zen-like.

Meanwhile, P stayed home and is able to spend another day with Dean and Diane. They introduced us to the RV lifestyle 5 years ago and held our hands and showed us how to empty the grey and black tanks and how to drive and especially, how to relax and enjoy it all. Living in Pa, they have finally been able to shed some of life 's restrictions ( like jobs !) and get out on the open road... We had a fun two days catching up and hope to meet up again soon around a campfire somewhere.......




Meanwhile, I'm really glad there's an electric blanket set on high pre-heating my bed. I'm going to go sink into it.

Location:Someplace cold

Yeah, well raisins have wrinkles too......

.....but no one turns down oatmeal raisin cookies !!

It was birthday week around here. Is it really possible that we are this old ?? And next year, we will fall over into that next decade which brings on all sorts of challenges. But for now, we are younger every day and vibrant and life is good and we continue to be optimistic that somehow the golf game will get better.

Generosity was abundant, including these flip-flops with more Bling that any girl deserves......they definitely match my inner sparkly self :)
Roses, orchids and magnolia blossoms stopped by.......and a wealth of good wishes.

Despite my determination to learn my current lens for my new camera before looking at anything else, a delicious 60mm 2.8 macro lens showed up and it is amazing. I have tried to avoid lens lust but....... . Can't wait to find bugs !

And to top off a great week,.......IT'S RAINING !! yeaaaaaa!

Contemporary.....

We met Shelly and Bill at the Contemporary Resort at Disney for brunch on Monday. (Shelly being my roommate all those decades ago.....and still looks exactly the same !! ) They had just spent a week on a private yacht with crew in the Bahamas with their family....nice to hear how the other half vacation.... We had last been to the Contemporary 37 years ago when we took the boys and Mike celebrated his 12th birthday. It was the days of the "E" tickets and I think the only other hotel on grounds was the Polynesian. I thought the Contemporary looked quite dated on the lower level and in the restaurant.... looked dark and spare with low ceilings.
On the 4th level where I remembered these colorful tiles and where the Monorail stops as it passes thru the hotel, it was obviously updated and bright and had many art
installations. The food was very good tho and the conversation was lively. Too bad we couldn't have brought them back here for a few more days of catching up.

Meanwhile, back in the bubble, one of us is cleaning out closets and cupboards of stuff after 4 years of staying where I first put it. Downsizing isn't totally complete until you get rid of the stuff you don't need but just couldn't do away with the first time. I find it all very liberating and refreshing. And the benefit is more room in the closet for more clothes and shoes and handbags !! Today I tackled the shelves in the garage and I threw out with abandon..... Unfortunately, I picked the afternoon and a western exposure to do this task and had to give up due to heat prostration....meanwhile the other side of the house is refreshingly breezy and comfortable. Hopefully, Goodwill will be happy to see me tomorrow with my big load of goodies.

Sebastian Inlet State Park

It was a relaxing week, despite the itching, and we found the area to be remote and quiet
except for the noise of the dredging in the inlet. Above is a picture (not taken by me !) of the inlet separating the barrier island. At the top is the inter coastal waterway and on the bottom is the Atlantic. The current was strong, depending on the tides. We were camped in the area on the left. It seemed to be very popular for fishing and the only restaurants were also bait shops !

Camped next door to us, this little cutie gave us pause the first time we saw her....she is a carbon copy of our Laddie and like her, he would have loved the lifestyle and sitting up front.
The area is populated with pines and oaks but mostly sea grapes. I have always been fascinated with the leathery, plate sized leaves but didn't know that they turned such brilliant colors.
We went to a museum along the coast where the sea grapes covered this walkway.
Speaking of the museum, it was to commemorate an event in 1715 when 11 Spanish galleons, loaded down with jewels for the Queen, sank during a hurricane. Over a thousand men, women and children died. In the early 60's, coins were found on the beach and diving teams began the search and found millions of dollars worth of gold and silver and unimaginable jewelry. It is felt that most of the treasure is still buried and occasionally, after a storm, items are still found on the beaches. One company has the rights to the wreck and the search continues. We set up our chairs but after a few minutes, the sand flies drove us off despite more bug spray. We'll search for treasure another day.

After a few days of eating my cooking (remember, no restaurants), we headed down to Vero Beach for our Panera fix.... love the bread and the salads. We stopped by a small Botanical garden dripping with ginger plants.....not sure why the lily is so dark except it was almost under a bridge and I like the look of it so didn't edit.
And , while we are home , the Scotts headed over to Hilton Head to tag along with the golfers on their practice rounds for this week's event. And Freida just knew that she'd get in the blog again with this picture of her and Boo Weekley.

Hi again

We've been home for a few days but the blog has taken a back seat to all sorts of boring stuff. We had a great time and I have a lot of pictures to prove it....well, it's hard to capture a picture of just laying on the beach doing nothin and watching the birds scampering along in the surf and waking up to the mockingbirds overhead and sunshine every day....but this one kind of sums it up a bit. But alas, not all was great......I became the Sunday buffet for no-see-ums and am covered in bites. I was diligent in the use of bug spray but it must have attracted them. I'm am one big welt and the itching is extreme. The other person on this trip has nary a bite !!??

More pictures when I edit a few......I tried to post the blog from the iPad but for whatever reason, it failed but at least I tried to take you along...............