One week to go in Paradise

Well, it's finally arrived.
My last week here in lovely, quiet Port Charlotte, Florida.
My to do list isn't too long really but it's amazing all the things I've done, either with The Man, friends, family or on my own.
There are a few things left to do (other than hang out by the pool and read books) and I have a schedule for them all.

First was to finalize some shopping. With the lower tax rate down here buying clothing especially is lovely. New shoes, along with some new shirts and some nifty thermal glasses are all stored away.
I am still on the quest for a Kobo Vox eReader.
I know, I know I can get it in Canada but hey for nearly 12% less I'm going to try down here. Two more Best Buys to check out then I'm going to pack that in and just buy it at home. The book stores carry a version of it called a Nook but since I'm already with Kobo I don't want to switch products or services. Probably could but why? I'm on a quest!!

One tour I wanted to do was a trip to Sanibel and Captiva Island. This little spit of land is supposed to be beautiful and the beaches filled with sand and awesome shells. Of course there are cool restaurants on the islands too so I thought I'd make a day trip of it.

After crossing the causeway to the island. I hung out in slow traffic (only one road really) and meandered my way to the end of the island, called Captiva. I figured the beaches were going to be huge expanses of sand and sea. Not to be. They were small, very crowded and not long at all. Now were did I get the idea they were like Sauble Beach? Hmmm
What was like Sauble was the way the homes were close to the road then there were dunes on the other side of the road. Many, however, were for sale. Interesting.

Causeway to Sanibel Island

Road on Captiva Island that looks like Sauble Beach, without the palm trees!

Busy Beach of Captiva Island

Typical small road of Captiva, note the mist coming from the restaurant to the right. It really cooled you down. Awesome!

Like many of the islands off Florida they were not intended for vehiclular traffic and the roads are very narrow. Thankfully I am so used to the beloved Equinox that navigating the tight turns and small guage of the roads is no issue but I did amuse myself my watching a gentleman manoever a large van (rental?) through the laneway beside the restaurant I had lunch at. Gotta keep your wits about you. A Smartcar would be fantastic to have here.

Captiva Island was hopping on Tuesday. It was jammed with sight seers, beach goers, gawkers and just people enjoying the visit. Nice. Everyone was having a good time. As you can see by the pictures the weather was certainly helping. It was close to 90F (30C) and with little breeze, shade was important.

I had seen in a touristy thing an ad for The Key Lime Bistro. With my continued love of all things Key Lime I had to find this place. With The Man's help the night before, he on Google Earth (love that program) at home in Southampton and me with a map in Port Charlotte, he and I found the place. Then the next day I found it for real. Boy, Google Earth is good because this place is really small and tucked back where you wouldn't see it if you were driving the main road (only road?) on the island.

Seated under the awning I enjoyed a great beverage (hey, it was afternoon by this point) and the most awesome eggs benedict made with key lime hollandaise sauce. Foodie my nature this hit the spot and then some.

Okay I had to get this drink. No, I wasn't driving right after either. Couldn't resist...

OH YUM!!

After refuelling at the Bistro and listening for a while to the great guitar player they had I headed out on a walk of the area. I did ask if I could leave my car in the tiny parking lot behind the restaurant (a real find, let me tell you). Yes! Bonus! Off I went.

The sidewalks on Captiva are so interesting, winding among the palm trees and the lovely flowers. It was a joy just to walk to the beach.

Lovely walk to the beach!

This hibiscus was the size of a dinner plate!

This is a flower not a bird!

The islands of Sanibel and Captiva were very hard hit by the BP oil rig disaster and the affects are still seen in the marine life. There is heavy advertising on the fact that these islands are as lovely as they ever were. It makes me wonder though, with the number of for sale signs that things aren't as lovely as the public relations folks make it out to be.

The dark markings on this shell are from the oil that it was sitting in close to shore last year. I know it's kind of hard to see, I was trying to be a bit artistic with this picture. Ho hum...

The land ward side of the island has white beaches, though they are very narrow and there is a lighthouse at the Sanibel end of the island. In typical fashion I took a picture to add to my collection of lighthouses around the US and Canada. Again, the beaches were busy. For some reason I started comparing it to the now favourite beach at Boca Grande. It just didn't seem the same. Maybe it was because on this side of the island you're looking at the land and large buildings of Ft. Myers.

Sanibel Island Lighthouse

Sanibel beach with causeway and Ft. Myers in the background. I love the umbrella in this picture!

So after a whirlwind tour of the island and checking out the thousands of rental places (I don't think anyone truly owns property on the islands) I headed over the causeway and back home for a dip in the pool.

I'm glad I went. I had heard so much about Sanibel and Captiva and now I know. It's a fun place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there. Kind of reminded me of the chaos Sauble Beach is on a long July weekend when it's really hot!

I have put the finishing touches on my journey from here to Ontario, all hotels are booked and driving times calculated. I have one week to go. Wow, I can't believe it. Really though it's been an awesome time and I've learned so much and enjoyed so much.

I, like many of the other Snowbirds, are starting their trek north. With the recent warm weather up north many decided to leave a little early, at least that was the talk in the grocery store the other day. (I love listening to chatter in the check out line, you learn SO much!)

Me? I'm on schedule and plan to do the things I want to do to finish up my time here. Today I'm off to catch a few of the greyhound races at the track in Ft. Myers. I'm a big time spender, don'tcha know. $6 a race. $2 on what ever dog has a cool name to win, place or show.

Woo hoo! (stop laughing, all of you!!)

The Man came up with this system when we go to the Hanover Raceway to the harness racing. You know what you're going to spend. If you make something great, if you don't you know what you lost. Works for me.

I leave you with a few views of Captiva Island

My lunch spot on Captiva Island. YUM!

Captiva Island Harbour

A tanned me with a shorter haircut!

Cheers all!













Visitors from half a world away!

My cousins, Vlasta and Mirek have arrived from the Czech Republic for 10 days in Florida. They landed in Miami, saw the Keys, went scuba diving, enjoyed the Everglades and with a small agenda in hand arrived in Port Charlotte on Sunday. It has been awesome to show them the hospitality that they showed me last April when I visited their home!

Vlasta, on the right, is my father's sister's daughter. Mirek is her husband. We are enjoying a lunch with "pivo" (beer) and sandwiches at Gator's after being at the driving range testing out the new golf clubs they bought in Florida.

Huh?

They bought golf clubs only to fly them all the way home to the Czech Republic?
Yes.
See, golfing in CR is very difficult. There aren't courses. There isn't really space. Golf courses were not really popular during Communist times so now the whole sport is getting a new awakening. Mirek is addicted to the sport. Vlasta enjoys it too.

Their time in Port Charlotte is only 5 days really if you don't count the day they arrive and they day they leave so it was organization time to get all the things in they wanted to do in the days they had. They arrived with their own rental car so this made things easier. All I had to do was find the things to do and we were golden. They even brought a GPS from Prague to direct them around the area. Perfect.

First, shopping. Sizes and styles are so much more diverse here in the U.S. so off they went to the mall. Packages in hand they arrived back with smiles on their faces.
Then it was finding a fishing trip for Mirek.

He loves fishing.
No, he's addicted to it as much as golfing.
He had asked before they came what fishing trips he could go on.
I found one highly recommended and not very expensive (some range from $1,000 to $60) at $160 for a full day's excursion. Mirek was excited!
I phoned, made a reservation for him and he was over the moon!
Vlasta was equally excited as she could spend a day by the pool in the sun with her Canadian cousin.
Everyone was happy.
Yay!

Then it was to find golf courses.
In Port Charlotte there is enough golfing to keep you occupied for a month and never play the same course twice.
Finding a tee time in the morning was another challenge.

See, it's getting hotter down here (like in the 90's Farhenheit with humidity in the 70% range) and playing in the afternoon is just a killer.
Also many courses are having their club championship as the Snowbirds are starting to pack up their kit bags and head home to the cooler climes. Folks that have been hanging out all season beating the course up need to show their awesome skills before heading to their northern courses. Word of the warm weather and courses opening up there has caused some increase in the departures around here.

Found two courses for them to play. They aren't super amazing golfers and I wanted to find long courses for them as they don't have that type in the Czech Republic. With limited space the courses are usually quite short. Also golf carts are very rare as they have to be imported from the U.S. They were excited to have the carts too.

So today (Thursday) they are off to The Palms in the Rotondo near Port Charlotte. We took a swing by there yesterday on our way to Boca Grande beach and they were both impressed with the spaciousness and greeness of it all.
I know they're having fun!

Mirek's fishing trip on Tuesday was a huge success. Spanish Mackeral and porkies (as they call them) filled the cooler.

                                          Vlasta taking a picture of the haul from Mirek's trip.

Thankfully (for me) the crew filleted the fish for each fisherman to take home. There were 6 men on the trip and I think they all had a good time. They certainly got their fill of fish!

You will note the electric knife in the crewman's hand. He was able to fillet a fish in about 20 seconds. It was unbelieveable how fast he could do it. As he held up the knife one time he said "not just for turkey you know". He was funny. Even had a repore with the pelican who came by for a snack.

As you can see this dude is no slouch in the size department. The hooked beak was quite menacing! Once he/she had it's fill it jumped into the water and swam away.

A successful trip in the books it was home to a fish dinner. We certainly have enough to enjoy. Mirek BBQ'd it last night and it was tasty. My creation the night before was putting white wine in the pan. We enjoyed both ways. Who knows how we'll do it tonight. Yup, there's still more!

A trip to the beach and the ocean (okay, Gulf of Mexico) was in order too. Yesterday it was off to Boca Grande, yes, my favourite place.
Vlasta and Mirek enjoyed the lovely waters and snorkeled and paddled around. The manatees were back on the other side of the beach head and Vlasta got a picture of a little nose coming out of the water (for manatees slowness they are still hard to photograph from the shore).
We all came home with much more colour than we started with. Even me and I'm a pretty seasoned veteran of the tanning department but I always get a little more roasted by the seashore, despite the use of sunscreen.

Vlasta on the gulf shores at Boca Grande. Note her pasty whiteness as this was at the beginning of our time at the beach.

Shells were collected but...
What's this???
One decided to crawl away.....

You can just see one pincer and his little eyeballs peaking out in the shell.
Yes, I returned him to the sea.

So, another successful day complete we got ready for their next day of golfing. Never a dull moment on one of their vacations.

In down time Vlasta relaxes by the pool or phones U.S. friends that are ex-pat Czechs and has a lovely time catching up.
This is exciting for her as she can yak away to her pals, with free long distance in North America at the house here she can catch up for as long as she wants and there is no time difference to worry about.

Mirek is parked in front of the Golf Channel on TV.
The Arnold Palmer Invitational starts today so I know what he'll be doing when they get back from golfing.
This is exciting for him as there is no time difference when watching a tournament on TV. Nothing like seeing something "live".

I am enjoying the fact that they are enjoying their time here! Can'tcha tell?

What's also nifty right now is the practice for a huge airshow in Punta Gorda this weekend.
There have been bombers, WWII fighters and helicopters flying their route over the house. It's been so cool to watch and listen to them. There is a visitor at the house diagonal from mine and he seems to know the planes just by the sound or glimpse in the sky. Betcha he was RCAF or something (yeah, they're from Canada too). He calls the names out to his other friends and when I'm outside I get an education too. I hope the airshow does fly over the house. I'm getting my binoculars out for the weekend.

Hmmm I wonder if this guy was practicing too?? Okay, maybe not but it was fun to see at the beach yesterday.

Phew, been typing for a while.
Off for lunch now.
I'm not having fish.
I know that's for dinner!

Cheers all.

The Sound of a Memory...

It is said that sound and smell are two things that evoke memories the strongest.
Yesterday afternoon I had that effect sitting in the back, under the lanai, by the pool.

It was St. Patrick's Day yesterday and for some reason this part of the country seems to go nuts over things green. It's Florida and things are pretty green already but the people seem to want to party.
Guess the Snowbirds are bored.

Laser Joe (neighbour diagonal from me) was ramping a party up around 3 pm. Though you can't see into his place (privacy fence, tall trees, you know the type). You know when a wing ding is starting.
The music starts.
This time is was Irish tunes. The kind with accordians and penny whistles.
Not at all unpleasant.
Then the dog starting barking (their door bell) and the people arrived.
Many people arrived by the sound of it.

Then I was struck with a flash back memory.
I've heard this before.
Whoa, it's been years!

When I was young my family would host huge cocktail parties on the side lawn at the cottage. The white picnic tables were the bars, there were bar tenders (I can't recall who really by I know one cousin BM and friend MT were quite often) and the yung'uns (me and my pals) were servers. The gigantic lawn umbrellas were up (remember the fringe on the edges of them? Why I remember that I'll never know) and the metal lawn chairs had been all washed and dried prior to the party.
There had been a flurry of activity the morning of the event with loaves of sandwiches (yum on the peanut butter and bacon ones) and making sure the plates were ready to go in the kitchen.
I can, to this day, make up a plate of hor's d'oeuvers in seconds with what ever is in the fridge. Rarely though did we run out of food. It was dinner for a few days after.

Everyone was dressed in their summer finery. Men in white pants, blazer and (horrors!) white patent leather shoes. Women in what ever bright, flowery summer dress thing they could find and jazzy sandals.
Yes, I wore a skirt for all of these extravaganzas.

I don't remember any of the conversations, I suppose I wasn't supposed to. But I remember the noise of all the friends visiting and gabbing away. That noise was all around me yesterday with Laser Joe's party. The snippets of converstation, the clink of glasses and the laughter.

I was transported back in time....

I remembered that my friends were usually at each Southampton cocktail party, as this was a circuit thing.
There were parties just about every weekend at one cottage or another.
We all were recruited (conscripted??) to attend as servers.
We dreamed of the day we could attend as guests and not as daughter's of hosts.
We didn't complain, of course, it was an expected aspect of the summer.

The back roads in Southampton were always a challenge to negotiate when there was a party going on. The roads were narrow then. Everyone drove to one of these shindigs, drinking and driving was not quite as taboo as it is now. 
Huron street was essentially a gravel road as many were at that end of town. 
They were pot holed and bumpy for the most part.
And the town oiled them.
If you don't know what that is (it's now banned of course) it was a truck that slowly came down the road and sprayed oil on the dry road bed to keep the dust down.
It worked.
It really messed up your car though.
Especially if it was white.
Or any colour for that matter.
The oiling schedule especially down our stretch of Huron street could make or break a party. I only have recollection of one debate on date change due to the oiling of the road.

Why the heck am I remembering this now???

The memories were there I guess, but I haven't thought of that time for, like, ever and now...?

The Sound of a Memory....
 The gathering crowd at Laser Joe's was SO distinctive of those summer parties many moons ago. The 30C weather and sunny evening didn't hurt either.

Weird.

I hope that, in the future, I'll have distinctive memories of my time here in Port Charlotte. The birds, the smell of the flowers when the breeze is right. I may not have palm trees to jog my memory but if I close my eyes I might be able to see them. Hear them with their distinctive rustle.

Hmmmm
Nice.

A Prom Dress, Some Shells and a Bunch of Manatees

So a few action packed days have just concluded with the departure of my friends from Mississauga. LSNBMNHM came for just a few days of sun. HM also known as The Godkid (GK from here on) had a quest while in Florida.
Buy a prom dress.
This is important for Grade 8 graduation.
This is the beginning of teenage hood as we know it.
It's also important as GK has a friend of the boy kind that is very sweet to her.
Gotta look your best ya know.

The GK parents needed to get away from all that is normal work, life and craziness that is their life. A few days in paradise is just what they needed.

This is BM, 15 minutes after arriving at the house. A total of 1 hour after landing at Ft. Myers' airport.
You'll note his pasty whiteness.
This was replaced by a pretty good tan in just a few days.
What you can't see is the beverage, in a thermal glass.
It was the second thing he did, after getting on the bathing suit, before getting in the pool.
No point wasting time....

I had researched things for us to do, with their limited time here, and had a perfect agenda that could be modified if need be.

First stop would be the fancy schmancy dress shop for GK to get her dress. Monday morning we were off and running early to the mall. With March Break on, not only for some Canadians it's also March Break for the school counties around here. I figured it would be a zoo. 
Wrong.
Crickets were chirping in the fountains when we arrived. At 10 am!
No matter, we had a quest.
Dazzle Too had a lot of selection and GK had fun trying on different looks.
2 favourites emerged and 1 was decided on. We put a hold on it while Macy's was checked out and a couple of other stores were too. The decision had been made.

No, there are no pictures of the dress as it is under wraps until the June event but I can tell you it's a lovely teal colour with beading on the front that makes her look lovely.
Ah to be 14 and have a size 2 body.
Wait...
I don't think I was ever a size 2 but yes, I was 14, many, many years ago. Ho hum....

The Port Charlotte mall was a boon for all, things were found and new things added to the lists. LS and I decided we'd go back in the afternoon. BM and GK wanted to lie by the pool and read.
But first!
Chubbyz wings.
Ya know, there weren't a whole lot of people enjoying the wing thing at 12:30 on a Monday afternoon. This is the time to go. Wings are still awesome!

Remember the pasty whiteness the new rookies displayed. Well, after an afternoon by the pool.....

 Aloe, cucumber cooling cream helped out.
Ah, yeah, I'm not sure sunscreen was applied at the onset but I'm not gonna say anything more.

I had to include a visit to the beach in their travels. Boca Grande was my favourite place so why not go there with a picnic and call it a day.
Off we went.
Sun screen was applied before we even left the house this time with more packed away. Towels, picnic lunch packed in the cooler, shell collecting bag and chairs crammed in the beloved Equinox and off we went.

Arrived around 10:30am to a lovely blue sky, lovely blue water and no waves. Right on.
My point and shoot camera doesn't do it justice and I hope BM's fancy schmancy camera really captured it all.

What was really cool were the Manatees. Yup, the sea cows were hanging out here today.
I didn't get a picture because a) they look like huge black blobs swimming under the surface until they come up for air and b) if you're really patient and have a really fast camera you can catch them doing that.
Since I don't have the fast camera I was oh so intent on just sitting and watching them move through the water and dive and rise for air. Soooo awesome.
Right, if manatees are also called sea cows does that mean when there are a bunch of them swimming around they're known as a herd?? Hmmmm. Have to look that up.
I digress....(or as The Man says, gone on a tangent...sorry).

This was my perch. The wind storms we've had recently have left a cliff of sand. Our stuff was parked on top of one of these cliffs (about 6 feet tall) and I could over see the ocean.

Note the lack of persons. Yeah, yeah, this is one of my shoe/foot shots to add to the collection. Not a cloud in the sky...Ahhhh

The group went off shelling. I held the fort at our perch. Many more manatees were seen by the visitors, many shells collected and they came back from their hour long jaunt on the beach to sandwiches and cold drinks. The beach had certainly filled up by then.

The official shell collecting bag had a substantial number of shells in it for drying at home.

We also had a little dude visit us. I don't know if he was looking for a hand out but boy could he move fast.

If you look carefully you can see Casper, the ghost crab. He was hanging around the cooler then took off when we starting moving around. BM nearly stepped on him, not knowing he was there. Casper was well camoflaged. Neat.

Afternoon at the beach done it was time to head home and the line up of traffic waiting to get in to the parking area at the beach was crazy! I'm so glad we arrived when we did.
Before home there was a trip to.....

DAIRY QUEEN!
Oh yeah, not quite the same as wearing mitts and touque on Victoria Day weekend in Sauble as we slurp our traditional Blizzards or peanut buster parfaits but it was the same stuff! My Heath Bar (think Crispy Crunch and Skor bar mixed together) Blizzard was awesome and LS was much excited to see the Banana Cream Pie Blizzard on the menu. BM did not stray from his usual Peanut Buster ("I have to try it in another country don'tcha know") and HM silently faceplanted in her chocolate icecream blizzard thingy and loved every second of it.

Tired from the sun and surf, and full of DQ we lazed around for the rest of the afternoon.

Up early on the final day of their visit it was off to Fisherman's Village for the shopping and sight seeing there. A few nifty things purchased (like light changing nail polish) and we headed home for lunch.
Getting anywhere during March Break should be done earlier rather than later. Places get packed around noon hour. We got out before it got nuts.

Off to the airport one final time for me and got the now not pasty white visitors checked in and ready to go. All with books in hand, snacks packed and looking forward to a longer snooze (LS didn't get a long one in the car to the airport) it was just a short wait until the boarding started.
Back to reality they went.
It was a fun visit and kind of surreal to have friends that I usually hang with in Southampton around the campfire or on the cottage porch to be hanging by the pool here. It was nice to have the company too.

Notables from the visit of LSNBMNHM, with my replies in brackets...

--"just got another purple bag for MW's trumpet squelchy things"...(huh?)
--"the air's cold when you come out of the pool"...(Yikes!!! LS hadn't overheaded yet)
--"the dress won't get squished will it?" (we test drove the packing of said dress)
--"socks, I need white socks, new white socks"...(BM had a quest too)
--"you mean Stella only costs that much down here?" (Oh yeah baby, and it wasn't even happy hour)
--"it's soooo quiet at 7 am while I'm doing my Tai Chi" (I don't think I've seen 7 am while I've been here)
--"noooo, I'm nearly out of Coke, what's a man to do?"... (I bought more, problem solved)
--"ahhhhh this is awesome..." (yes, it is!)

For right now it's back to my quiet world. I'm actually starting to think about how I'm going to pack all the things up in 3 weeks. I have my time in Memphis booked but not the rest of it.

I have one more set of visitors planned but don't know their time of arrival exactly. They'll have their own car and thus will travel around more on their own. I really think that Fisherman's Village and the airport have seen the last of me. I do like those places but I'm done there. The Mall and any beach I will happily visit again. I have to pick up some of those thermal glasses we've been using and I can sit by the ocean shore for hours. We'll see what they want to do. Then I have a couple of weeks on my own to do a few things then it's on the road again.
I do sort of miss home, I was even watching the Leafs play the Tampa Bay Lightening last night on TV which kind of brought me back to reality. Though the commentary was all Tampa Bay they did refer to things I knew from home. Started me thinking of TO and Southampton.
Ho hum....

But for now, it's 82 F or 28C out, the sun is shining (as it has been every day but three of them since I got here) and there is a nice breeze from the east. The bottle brush tree is really blooming and the mocking birds have built a nest nearby which makes for a continuous sing song warble all day and into the night. It's all good.

                                             Bottle brush tree going berzerk! Very pretty!

The hibiscus plant that hasn't stopped blooming since I arrived is STILL going nuts. Wow!

So the weather report is actually calling for thunderstorms today. Guess I'll keep my eye out for those. Weather has been super nice down here and I know that the storms up north of here have been brutal. A tornado in Michigan last night?? What's up with that. I see the temp in Southampton is supposed to be 20C on Saturday. Huh??? Break out the shorts man! Weird. It has been record warm down here too and the lack of rain is worrying some folks.
We can't change the weather, we can only watch it and see what happens. I'm prepared down here for anything. Emergency pack ready to go. Yeah, yeah, I'm a Girl Guide, can't ya tell?

But for now I'll go back to my pool side perch with a book and enjoy what the weather is giving me right now.
Nice.

Until later....

One Month to Go.

As the wind blows the beach balls around in the pool I reflect that I have only one more month to spend in lovely Port Charlotte as a Snowbird.
Oh my!
First of all I can't believe I've been here two months. It seems like ages since The Man and I arrived, pasty white and eager to enjoy the pool, sun, wing nights and all the rest of the area.

Crazy!
But I've got lots of time still to do some of the things I want to check out.

Yesterday I took me to the beach. Packed up my towel, sunscreen (yup, still need it after all this time in the sun), book and chair and headed for Venice Beach. Was there nice and early but there were still a lot of people parked in their sandy spots already at 10:30 am. I had checked the tide charts and knew that the tide was on it's way out. This is important information because you don't want to set up your chair knowing you may have to move it because the water is rising.
Once you're parked, you're parked!

Sunscreened up, book in hand this was my view for the day.

You'll note this is one of my "feet" shots. I have them from all over the place now. I'll have to make an album of just my feet shots. Okay, weird but what the hey....
You'll also note the lack of clouds. The wind was blowing off shore (from the east) so there aren't big waves except for the sea swells coming in. There was a good undertow taking you out though as I saw by a couple of guys snorkeling by the pier and they kept drifting farther out.

I went for walks to the pier, beyond the pier and about a kilometer in the other direction than this picture. Simply awesome!

I watched people with metal sieves going through the shells at the shoreline in search of shark's teeth which are supposed to wash up here. Some folks found some but they were very, very tiny. Guess it's all in the hunt.

I watched rookies, very pasty white, enjoy the day knowing full well they were going to be hurting units when they got home. I was actually burned in places I thought I was tanned in. I don't think I've been this tanned for 30 years! I look like a Snowbird now. The Man had a substantial tan when he left. I've now met his by just one visit to the beach.

The water was a lovely light blue/green colour but a little chilly. I didn't go in as the thought of sitting in a salty wet bathing suit didn't appeal. I was enjoying sitting. Didn't even read my book much, there was too much to watch.

Today, I've been reading. Yup, just hanging out, reading a book. Did a few puzzles too. The pool is lovely to sit beside and just hang out. Mind wandering with the plot of the book, listening to the wind in the palms and thinking......

I could get used to this......

Oh, I already have.

Nice!

Let the wind blow...

Some observations from a Snowbird....

Right, from my usual seat by the pool today (note book in hand, crocs on the deck and beverage close at hand) I have gained the following tidbits of information that might, or might not, be deemed useful.

1. Palm trees do not bend in severe winds. With the storm that went through early this morning bringing copious amounts of rain and wind only to clear around noon and have huge gusts of wind, it is noted that the 30 foot palm tree in the back yard doesn't bend an inch. Or lose a leaf. Not one. That's strength.

2. Everyone in the neighbourhood as all their windows, doors and even garage doors open during the big winds. Hmmm. Living with airconditioning 80% of the time down here it's absolutely blissfull to open all the windows and doors and let the breeze through. Okay, so a number of my newspaper crossword puzzles when flying through the house after I opened everything up it's super nice to have fresh air wafting (like that word??) through the abode.

3. Wind whistling through the lanai sounds like the snow storm wind you hear in a movie. Right, we all know it. Movie screen filled with a white, blizzardy scene. Sound effect is that whistling wind that just makes you cold hearing it. Well, here in Florida, inside the lanai (yeah, like I didn't know that word either until I became a Snowbird), the wind really sounds like that movie sound effect. HEY! I wonder if that's where they got the sound from? No blizzard here. It's 25C out today.

4. Humidity is a killer for asthmatics here in southwest Florida. For those that know me know that sometimes the old girl just don't breathe as well as she oughta certain days. Buggy things for my lungs: change in altitude, dramatic change in temperature, certain chemicals and yes, humidity, high humidity. Well, yesterday it was a not a happy breathing day. Maybe it was the storm coming through, maybe the tail end of a head cold I've had or maybe it was just the little airbags being tired of being in the humidity but it was a "stay in the airconditioning" day. No worries, lungies fine and my tan hasn't faded from being inside for a day.

5. Rookies arriving everyday around here. Yup, I guess this is what you call the busy season. Nearly all of the houses in the neighbourhood have cars out front and people wandering around. You can tell the rookies. They have yet to change from their pasty whiteness to that auburn colour of us seasoned Snowbirds.

6. Rain makes everything come out of it's shell. The flowers are going berserk, the grass has grown 2 inches (I swear it has) since yesterday and everything is GREEN. What a transformation!

I think all of these flowers decided they had to go nuts today. The hibiscus' only last a couple of days but the bouganvelia (the purpleish bed of flowers) has been going nuts since I arrived, it just looks much happier now.

7. Snowbirds watch/listen to the local news and weather. There are interesting things to heed in these broadcasts. Such as the rip tide warning issued today for Venice Beach and all the gulf beaches. Due to the severe winds we've had for the past 12 hours the undertows, sneaker waves (didn't I see these somewhere before??? Hmmm California!) and riptides at these beaches are severe as well. This is all tempered by the fact that they let you know that tomorrow afternoon and Tuesday will be some of the best "shelling" days on the beaches. What this means is that the storms bring up some of the really good shells to the beaches to be picked up. Some folks get to the shores before dawn. Right, that's dedication. Hmmm I'm not doing anything....so.....we'll see.

8. Grapefruit league baseball dominates the sports reports down here. Being only a few miles from the Charlotte Sports Park where the Tampa Bay Rays have their training camp it's only natural that the local news is all about who is playing and who's back and what the "atmosphere in the clubhouse" is like. Snowbirds and locals (yeah, there are a few of them) REALLY go nuts over spring training. Okay, we do the same with hockey so I guess it's only natural. Gonna try and get to a game since the park is so close. Hmmm sunny day, brewski and a ball game. Sweet!

9. Condos STILL for sale. Over the time The Man was here we heard on the radio every weekend a remote broadcast from Bal Harbor condos. "2 Bedroom/2 Bathroom condo, never lived in, for only $129,900. Original price $325,000. Complex foreclosure. Only a few units left." Well, there are still only a few units left and now they're advertising on the TV as well. They never announce how many are left to sell but for two months they've had units available. This is indicative of the real estate down here.  I wish them luck.

10. Snowbirds don't go out for ice cream. I have seen one Dairy Queen (yes, MW I will go for a Blizzard when our fellow Nutty Buddie pal comes down in a week or so, we have to research what different flavours they have!) and one other ice cream place. That's it. Guess it's not a big thing down here. I figure with all the Snowbird grandkids arriving it would be the place to go! Hmmm interesting.

I think that's all of my Snowbird observations for now. I did find ten for you!
I'll be out and about in the coming days to seek out more information for you all.

Hey, I think "Let the wind blow" is a song title? The Man will have to confirm....
I impress me!!

And then there was 1....

After 4 months, several thousand kilometers of travel, tons of fun times and a few quiet times, a great tan and wishing he wasn't going, The Man has boarded a plane for TO. Eventually he will be back in his world in Southampton but he really didn't want to go today. Who would? It's already 80 F by the pool and very humid (again).
I had a very quiet drive back to Brazil Ave and the house seems quite quiet right now. I'm surprised that I notice it.
If I had told him he'd be not wanting to leave this lovely spot after just 2 weeks here he'd say I was crazy. He took a little time to adjust but then he started to love the Snowbird lifestyle. The Man devoured 17 books! I think that's more than he's ever read in his LIFE! It was sitting by the pool, in the sun, with nothing else on his agenda that did it I think. We spent over $400 on books (thank God for the discount card at Books a Million) and he loved every second of it.

I think this whole experience gave him a chance to see what it would be like to be retired. Though he did keep track of work on line from time to time and was even getting a report ready in his mind for an event that's happening on Saturday in Saugeen Shores, he did take some mental time away from that gig and just enjoy doing nothing. Oh yeah, getting a great tan was part of his agenda too I think.

We spent more time together in the past several months than most working couples. We learned more about each other and it was a great time I think. Sure, I like my solitude, but that's all I've ever known and it certainly was nice to have someone around to yak with, bug, cook for and do things with.

So now I have my time to re-adjust to the solitude, for a little while anyway. I'll have to come up with a new routine of things to do and I'm sure I will. Since I've been entertaining for the past few weeks (The Bro and The Mother). I'm going to take some time and read some books by the pool. My tan's pretty good but it could use some real establishing!

Here begins the quiet life, for a few days anyway, until one of my Nutty Buddie pals and family come down for a little taste of paradise.

I'll include some pictures from the past couple of weeks for your enjoyment.....

The Mother resting by the pool. Note the tan lines! It doesn't take long down here to get some colour!

The Man, in his usual spot in the morning. He'd turn around later in the afternoon to face the sun again. Note book in hand.

Warnings on golf courses in Florida need to be heeded.

Greyhound #2 came in big for me. This is the parade of racers with their handlers before their event. The dogs all wear t-shirts with their numbers. I want to adopt a greyhound!

                                           Smooth waters of the pool at sunset. Ahhhhh!