Happy New Year from Port Charlotte!

New year for all of us! Let's make the best of it!

My personal motto for this year...

"Live, Love and Co-exist"

Okay, I'm sure this is a bumpersticker somewhere but I like the way it goes. Good motto for the whole world.

Anyway, as promised some pictures for your enjoyment....

This is a cotton plant outside of the pecan farm we stopped at in Georgia. I just loved how white and snowy it is in real life. The pods are really sharp and I can see how difficult it was (is?) to pick. Ouch!

This is the pool area at the south side (back) of the house. It's screened in to protect from bugs and leaves getting in. Everyone has these structures. Very cool!

This stately palm tree is in the back yard and gives a little bit of shade to the pool area. I think it's just so neat to have a palm tree in your back yard.

These spikey, red plants are called "Red Sisters" and they are Asian in origin. They are also a drought resistant plant, which is important around here. They are very, very red, the picture doesn't do it justice but there are a number of them planted by T (owner) in his quest for an incredibly beautiful place to call Paradise.
In the background of the picture you can see the other "lanai" of the neighbours. That's what these screened in porch/pool things are called.

As you can probably guess, we've been spending a majority of our time in the lanai and in the pool. It's stunning here and soooo quiet. I decided that for New Year's Eve I'd ring it in in the pool! What a new way to do things!  So, yup, in the pool at midnight, a glass of bubbly in my hand (plastic wine glass, T has everything here), and fireworks going off all over the neighbourhood. Very fun!

I took some time to go through all the maps and things to do information that T has here in the house. We needed a little down time but we'll get going and do different things in the next couple of weeks. There are beaches to explore, harbours, golf courses to check out and other sights. It's just deciding when to do it all.

Well, as I see by the weather in Ontario, it's snowy and cold. They're "bracing" for 40F lows here (about 5 C) tomorrow night. The locals will be in parkas and we'll just have a sweat shirt on. It's much more humid here and the cold feels different, that is if you call 5 C cold.

So, as promised, my research on Snowbirds....
As I observe them in their "wild" state, I see that they are a very tame, calm sort. Rarely go out at night and are most active in the early day time. As noted by the number of cyclists and walkers going by on the next street behind us.

They like kids, like to spoil them, like it when they visit, but like it when they go home.

There was a moment of diress noted in their kind when it was over heard from the New Years party going on behind my observation point, that there was no more white wine. Obviously not a good thing. But it was nearly 12:30 am and this is much too late for a Snowbird to be up. Out of their norm, their element, this would cause issues I'm sure.

Research today will include a trip to the local Walmart. It is noted that this facility is open 24 hours but I believe it would be the locals that would be there after 10 pm, Snowbirds may actually be scared of the dark. I will provide my results in due time.

So, here we are!
This Florida life is GREAT!

Sorry for the pastey whiteness, I'll work on that for you all. :-)