I'm back

So here I sit at my table eating lunch and this is what I see going by. Luckily they stopped for a minute giving me time to grab the camera.



We quickly followed it down the road and watched as they set it on the lot and in the process met many of our new neighbors. They all seemed as excited as we were.

Doug did get an opportunity to climb in with a step ladder. They say they will get me in tomorrow, maybe with a forklift!! We'll see. Then I'll get more pictures.

Well, it's been over a year since I last posted here, sadly reread the post about Olive. Still miss that little pest.
So for anyone who hasn't heard, we have decided to make our stay in Florida a little more permanent. We purchased a park model (that means a mini trailer) at Sun n Fun resort where we've stayed the past 5 years. This way we won't have to drive the motorhome all the way down here, saving the hassle of packing in freezing cold and snow.  It comes fully furnished including dishes and towels so we will just need personal stuff.

This is what it will look like. The unit is 13' x 38' then there is an attached 10' wide lanai (porch) with a shed/storage room on the end where the washer/dryer will be so ends up being about 800sf of living space. We are having it custom built so that it's fully accessible for me. Unfortunately the lot we chose has a camper on it till April 6 and they have to then get the site ready so we will stay a couple weeks longer in April to at least see it before we leave. Probably a good thing since last year our road was too muddy to get home and we had to leave the motorhome down the road and unload from there.

 

In the meantime I've been busy with sewing, scrapping and exercise/swimming and Doug has been - you guessed it - fishing! the weather has been unusually cool (yes I know 50's and 60's isn't cool) and therefore the water was cool and fish weren't biting. Now that we are back to 80's the fish are back. Yeah! Oh and my keyboard lessons and practice. phew!

Sad Day

    We finally had to say good bye to Olive today. She's been a trooper the past two months but we knew she was going down hill and showing her age which was at least 19 years old. She had a fast growing mass, so there was no prolonging it at her age. But just last week she has her nose to the books.

And she always wanted to be on my lap, even when I was standing! We had a lot of rides together in my wheelchair.

And we have had a lot of fun over the years saying "Where's Olive" and "you won't believe where that cat is now!" Like Waldo, she would hide in a conspicuous place and until she moved we wouldn't even see her. Just yesterday I jumped when I reached for something on my night stand and got cat instead. Here she is snoozing on my sewing desk. Never went there before, but must have thought she belonged there.

We will miss you, Olive.

Doug finally got to go deep sea fishing. A 10 hour trip, 34 miles out yielded this haul. Six amberjack (limit),  12 king mackerel (limit allowed) and some red snapper (good eating). He had a great time with 5 other fishermen but unfortunately the season for grouper (lg fish similar to haddock) ended Jan 31. He's hoping to go at least once more before we leave in April.

In the meantime, while all our northern friends and family were dealing with massive snow falls, we were treating ourselves to a lovely lunch at Myakka River Oyster Bar where there was a car show/cruise in. Not too many cars but it was nice to see some cars besides the ones always at our car club.
 We mentioned several times how we wish you all were able to enjoy the balmy breezes and warm sun with us, sorry.

 We've been busy and were happy to have family visiting for 2 weeks in January. We love showing off what we love about Sun N Fun and all the things to do here. And we loved getting to know our newest grandson and spending time with Karen and Dakota.  Janet and family visited next and they got to go to Disney - finally - for a day. Jennifer and Janet spent time giving me tips for swimming (I'm now practicing a butterfly stroke) while Steve and Corey played games.

So Doug saw someone fishing down the road and asked what he was catching. Turned out there were lots of catfish. He went back the next day and caught several of these catfish. He only kept this one but we couldn't identify it so we didn't want to eat it.

While he was fishing I took a fiber arts class. I had a blast, because this was right up my alley. The instructor let me use her sewing machine and my finished project is a post card that can be mailed. Haven't decided if I can give it up to mail or not. I might make another one and keep this one.

Next I took an oil painting class. Despite a love of crafts, I have never used a paintbrush that wasn't on a wall. So in 3 hours and a Bob Ross technique (you may have seen him on TV years ago) this is what I ended up with. I might try again but certainly not my cup of tea. I'd rather be sewing or scrapping which I have also been doing weekly. You can see me online with the others in my class at http://www.ucanpaint.com/Student-work.php

The day after Christmas we went to view the light show at Marie Selby botanical gardens. It wasn't too crowded at this time so we had a leisurely stroll through the gardens with lights and some music.

 
This tree was fun, it looked like melting icicles all over it.
I was able to catch a couple in the camera.

Even Santa takes a fishing break down here. It says "Attention Elves, take a break", Santa

We found one other place that has lights too but they weren't open after Christmas. Maybe next year we will check it out.

Last weeks post

 Imagine a beautiful warm sunny day and you are so thankful to score a parking place under a huge shady oak tree. You take a walk, maybe fish awhile and








This is what you come back to!

 

No, thankfully it's not my car but I'll bet there was a very unhappy fisherman at the end of the day. There
must have been 15 pelicans perched on the top of the tree. This isn't so bad, we've seen some that are much worse.

My Christmas tree

I looked and looked for my mini tree before we left home with no luck. I knew as soon as I bought one I'd find the other but then we saw these little live pines at W/M and thought it would be perfect. It's covered with glittery sparkles and I added the drums.

Doug finally got his fishing license so he will be at the fishing jetty soon. He's only been waiting 8 months to get back out there.

Olive is still hanging in there, but probably not much longer.

Today it was 84 but down to 47 last night. We aren't suffering too much though. Only 5 more days till Christmas! Really?!?!

We've had off and on showers the last couple days but I guess it's much needed since we've been told it is the first rain since October! We are still doing things around the park while waiting for our car to be delivered on Friday (it's Weds now). Today  I'm going to go  learn how to play Bunco and Doug is going to try to tease the fish onto his hook at the lake.

Thought you'd get a kick of our UPS delivery "truck" here. What a job! Every day till Christmas we see her driving around the park. After the holidays the big brown truck will be back.

Olive is still not her usual self she kind of rallies and then stops eating again. We're taking good care of her though.

Our Second Home

We have arrived in Sarasota for our 4th winter in Florida. We got here a week earlier then last year. (I seem to sense a pattern here) and plan to stay till the end of March. This time we were able to take off during a mild spell at home and only encountered scattered showers. Luckily our muddy road froze the night before (even though it doesn't look like it) we left or we may have been stuck there till spring! 

We left on a Tues and arrived Fri afternoon for an uneventful trip. Our car is being transported down for us and it should arrive by next Friday.  


We had a scare with Olive last night, she hadn't drank or used the litter box all day. Luckily she did eat a little wet food so I added some water to it to try and keep her hydrated. She still isn't herself but is better today. She's still able to jump on the sofa where her bed is so she isn't too weakened but I was worried. Especially since we won't have a car for another week.
Today it is almost 80 and so very nice.We'll  be thinking of all of you. . . .

So far behind

 

Saving the best for last.  Our best February news was the birth of our newest grandson. He was born Feb 22 and weighed only 5lb 3 oz. named Synjin Riece. This picture is in his first week - love the wide open eyes. Can't wait to hold him - he is just precious to us.

Jewelry making

I have been taking some classes in beading while down here. The coral/brown bracelet is called kumihimo and is a form of weaving with the beads. I just finished the matching necklace and just need to put the clasp on it. 

The second necklace is a spiral beading technique that I made with 2 kinds of crystal beads and black faceted beads. Very sparkly. I finished another last night, goes quickly.

Next week I will take another class to make a wire crocheted bracelet. And then sadly the store is closing but the gals doing the classes will still do some so I will get to try more new things next year!