Update on my life

It's a Florida Lifestyle! I am sad to say it is time to put a drop sheet over my palm tree, cover the furniture and set off bug bombs. I head back home next Friday (April 17/09) and leave my home away from home for the next 7 months.

Don has been home for awhile already as he flew back March 26. Allergies were at an all time high this spring and it was very difficult for him the last few weeks. Puffers, antihistimines, etc did not help too much, so he was glad to head back to the cold northern regions of this great continent. He has been keeping busy and has ripped up the broadloom from the master bedroom of our home and put down wood floors. When I get back I will pick out paint and trim to do a complete makeover.

A friend of mine from home has flown down to stay with me and drive back with me acting as navigator. We are using every day to it's fullest doing the pool, the beach, the stores, the flea market as well as bingos and casinos. What a life!

This week the packing has to be done full steam ahead. I have already done some sorting, throwning out and give aways. It happens every year that I shop too much and now with a small car instead of a van I just cannot bring it all back with me.

this was what a packed van looked like in past years, now my little Dodge Avenger has to hold it all (LOL).

We will manage I am sure and what doesn't fit stays here. I am looking forward to going home, but I will miss it here. I'll write again after I get back to Canada.

Winter in Florida 2008-9

Myself, Ellen and Arlene on a sightseeing boat trip up in Tarpon Springs. We arrived in Florida this year Mid Novemeber and the weather was perfect. We always have a good time together

Christmas in Florida is the only way to go. Turkey can be roasted outdoors under the carport so as not to heat up the house. Flowers are outdoors as well.

The picture to the right is of me in the center with my

friend Arlene's granddaughters at Sand Key beach

My sister Marg from Surrey B.C. visited again in February and we attended the Palatka Bluegrass festival . It was wonderful anyone wanting information should go to

http://www.aandabluegrass.com/Festivals/PalatkaBluegrassFestival.html

The music was great, weather co-operated

and we had a good time together

The food was good too.

Today is March 1, 2009 and it is National Pig Day. We had Breakfast at SkyWay JAck's in St. Petersburg and here is a picture of Don with Miss Piggy.

If you want to see more pictures of Pig Day and my time in Florida see my Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/72938403@N00/

This past summer was great. We enjoyed our kids, grandkids, many barbeques and lots of company. We made a trip to the East coast spending some time in the Eastern states as well as in Quebec. Don's family is all well, and we managed to see all of them that are still down East. A stop in Kitchener on the way home proved productive as we were able to bring Don's sister to our place to visit for a few days.

Now the visiting is done, and we are busy getting the yard and garden ready for winter. Bushes and trees are cut back, leaves piled around rose bushes, and garden dug up for next year. Work, work, work!

Fall is here, the leaves have changed color and are falling faster than they can be mulched up with the mower. Before you know it, this scene will be covered in white. But, the good news is I'll be in Florida so I don't care.

There was snow a couple of weeks ago in Saskatchewan, and snow earlier this week in Northern Ontario. That is getting too close for comfort. As much as I love our Canadian Seasons and the changes that our foliage undergoes, I would much prefer just Spring, Summer and Fall. Winter is a 5 letter word to me. I guess growing up in Saskatchewan where -40 was the norm for so much of the winter has something to do with that feeling. I do have 2 siblings that decided to stay in that fridgid provience and be tough, but whimp that I am I decided that Florida is the only place to be during the months that have Snow in them.

CATCH UP TIME

It has been a long time since I posted anything. Needless to say it has been a very busy summer. We had a few grandchildren stay with us at the beginning of the summer. Don's 72nd birthday in July called for a big dinner and 5 out of 7 of the kids attended a big barbecue along with spouses and children for a dinner for 16..

My garden this year may have been small, but it was very productive. We have been eating cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini and okra. Herbs include parsley, thyme, basil, and chives. We are enjoying the fruits of our labour.

Don's sister Doreen from Kitchener visited towards the end of June and again just last week. We always enjoy her visits. We took the first two weeks of September for a vacation . We travelled through New York, Main and up into New Brunswick for a visit with Don's siblings.

Some pictures of our vacation were posted on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/72938403@N00/ My camera was left in Kingston so I'll post more later.

A couple of days were spent in Rimouski, Quebec reuniting Don with a friend he hadn't seen in 53 years. It was a touching reunion. We then spent a couple of days in Cornwall, Ont and visited friends from Florida and had a grand tour of the countryside including Moose Creek and St. Albert where we visited a cheese factory. I ate Poutine for the first time. A couple of casinos were visited over in the U.S. across from Cornwall and we played dice for hours with them. We spent one night with Don's niece in Amherstview just outside of Kingston, Ont. Her husband will be shipping out to Afghanistan early in November for 6 months. We learned how to make beer can chicken. It is excellent!

Lots to do when we got home as Doreen was with us and lots of catching up to do. Everything is now back to normal, Don keeps busy in his garage and I am back working at the local Food Bank and meals on wheels kitchen. Bingo on Wednesdays is the biggest game in town.

Heat Wave 2008

If you can't read the temperature it is 35.7 C. That is in the shade outside my livingroom window at 3:45 pm June 8/08

As soon as the heat breaks I will get back onto my Blog and fill in the blanks since March when I made my last entry.

A Cruise to Remember

The Royal Caribeean "Mariner of the Seas" Mar -29, 2008 visited St. Marteen, St. Thomas and San Juan, Peurto Rico. This picture may not be our vessel as we saw so many and I took so many pictures, but it will give you an idea of the size. There was a total of 14 decks the top two being only part the size of the whole vessel. We were in the center of the 10th deck and that was just about a perect spot to be. Hardly any motion felt at all.

The service aboard the ship was outstanding. This is a picture of just a few of the waiters and assistant waiters in the dining room. They performed for us a couple of times during the trip. The food was great! We had prime rib, Lamb T-bones, lobster, lamb shanks, chicken, tenderloin, and just about everything you can imagaine inbetween. Breakfast and lunch most days were in the buffet, but dinner (2 formal nights) was in the dining room.

My sister, Margaret and I did a tour of the Is. of St. Martin/St. Marteen, I shopped on St. Thomas and we just took pictures from the ship of San Juan.

Many hours were spent reading on a chaise lounge on the upper deck, a few relaxing turns in the spa, as well as many miles traveled up and down the halls. The ship was huge. There was a parade on the Royal Promenade, an Ice show one night on the skating rink, several musicals, as well as the Casino and bingos. We were kept busy.

This is sunset over San Juan. The color of the water changes as the sun goes down.

Here you can see the true color of the Caribeean. This is a view from a hilltop on the French side of St. Marteen. We did a bus tour of both Dutch and French side.

A 45 min. stop at a small flea mkt. to shop made the trip well worth taking. We saw wildlife (sheep that looked like goats to me) , and the salt lakes that used to supply the island with an industry before tourism became it's mainstay.

It was a week I will not soon forget.