At Last!!

At last I got the mojo flowing and got my LO done! I still find it so odd that you can stare at a LO for so long and nothing happens. Then all of a sudden it gets off dead center. 

Here it the first LO of when Gloria came to visit. It was such a good time. This is when Nancy and her family was able to meet up with us at Cracker Barrel. 

It was great getting to see her and Larry after twenty plus years! It had only been about nineteen or twenty years for Nancy because Gloria and she worked together, also. 

I was pleased at how it finally turned out.

Click on image for larger view

I am going to start on another one. I could kick myself for not taking more pictures and also for not getting better background. Oh well. Live and learn. I will overcome it somehow!! LOL

Nothing big going on around here. Just been pottsing around doing this and that which has amounted to not much. I really don't know where all the time goes; it just does.

It is so nice to see the flowers starting to bloom. I know that you northerners don't think we have seasons here in Florida, but we sure do. Everyone is into planting and WATERING. With not rain in sight for a while, we sure have to dump the water on the new plantings. We do have a rainy season, but not until June.

I told Jim the other day it was not wonder that we couldn't grow flowers very well when we worked. We will leave in the morning to go do a little something and by the time we get back shortly after noon, the marigolds are all wilted already. Well, by the time we would have gotten home from work, the poor little things would have been beyond help. At least we can revive them now!! And they look beautiful.

My plumerias, you know, the ones that they make leis out of , are slow to take off this year. However, there is one with blossoms coming and the poor thing only has one leaf on it. These are the plants that loose all their leaves each year and only look like a stick in the ground until in the spring when they get their leaves and then the beautiful blossoms. I think I will try to go out and get a picture of one of them. You will see how ugly they are. When we first moved here we wondered what in the heck people had sticks planted in their yards. We soon found out why they put up with all the ugliness. Because they are beautiful when they bloom, and they bloom longer then they are barren.

Here is a picture of what they look like when they loose all their leaves.

But then they get these beautiful and very fragrant flowers. It is worth having a bare stick in your yard for a while!!

Guess that is about it for this writing. Hope you all have a great evening and thanks for stopping by.

Oh, we had to go out for a while in between writing this and on the way home the thermometer down the street said it was...95!!!!!!! Can you believe??? It is only April!!! Just had to add that. I thought it was just way too hot!!

Basking In the Sun

Temps in the high eighties!!! Don't like to complain about those, except did it have to get into the 80's so fast??? Feels good, but it went as usual, from winter to summer. No time to get used to the rising temps.

But, I know you won't believe this but it is 79 in the house and I am sitting with a down filled throw over me!!! Don't know why. Took a chill and can not get warm. Just now got feeling in my feet so thought I would blog and say hi!!!

Just watched the news and while the temps are great I am afraid only the northern Spring breakers will be brave enough to go in the water...which is a good thing because a local would never brave the beaches at Spring break! The water temp in Clearwater is only 78. Oh hush. I can hear you all now. While that has to sound beautiful to most of you, we are used to about 93!!!! Wowser!! That's cold. The weatherman said you probably would acclimate after you got in!!! LOL

Da Da!! Now I can tell you!! GLORIA and LARRY, our old friends from Ohio were here!!! Oh my! It was fantastic!!! We had not seen each other in probably twenty-five years or so. It was so awesome. It was like we never skipped a beat. And get this...they look the same. Go figure!!! I felt like a grandma standing next to Gloria. Ever notice how some people never age?? Well, she does wear glasses now...but other than that...golly...she looks the same!!!

I don't have any LO's yet of our reunion. I am in stall mode. I want them to be perfect and I can't get with them. I have changed the color of the one I have started it seems like a million times. I will get it, but I won't stop until I get it just where I want it.

For taking as many pictures that we did we really took a lot of the same pose. I won't let that happen the next time!! 

I was so happy that our daughter Nancy and her family were able to meet up with us at Cracker Barrel. I was looking at the picture that a wonderful customer took of all of us, and if I am thinking right, Nancy's middle child, Siana, is the age that Nancy was when they last saw each other!!! Mind boggling!!

More on the dog dodo slinger. I was sitting in my infamous chair looking out my wonderful patio door the other morning, and what now do I see? A NEIGHBOR...walking their dog. OK. But, doggy decided to go dodo...and he LEAVES it and walks away!!! Now I have to think...which is worse? The lady that at least picked it up and put it in a nice bag...or one that leaves it there for you to step in? None of this is what I would hope a dog owner would do. Oh well. I can't change the world. 

You know, the Internet is great. We have been so hungry for a dish that TGI Friday served over twenty years ago when we moved down here. Santa Fe Pasta. Oh, my. It just really hit the spot for us. Restaurant owners should be scarred if Jim and I like a dish. It is always the kiss of death for it!!

So the other day a neighbor gave us a big bunch of Cilantro, which was a main ingredient in the dish, so I decided to search the Internet for the recipe

I had searched for over a half hour, changing my search terms, and thought I would check one more page...and I FOUND IT!! Oh my. I made it the other day and I think I could have just laid my head in it and breathed for a while. Have you ever wanted something like that and thought you would probably never taste it again?? So I am sure I will be making it again...and soon!!!  Needless to say, not the healthiest, but isn't that always the way it goes???

Hum. Due to the fact I can't satisfy myself with my scrap page, I only have two LO's that I haven't posted. At least I don't think they have been posted. 

This is one of Brian when he was on this Mediterranean working tour and decided to get his scuba certification while he was there.

And this is my date and nut bread recipe LO! I only make it at Christmas as was the family tradition, but I would just love to have a nice thick slice with cream cheese on it right now!! LOL I go through these food desires about twice a year LOL Every sale that came on TV today, I had to tell Jim what a great deal that was. Well, come on. You don't get calories just dreaming!!! LOL

I love that Santa. He was at a mall in the area last year!!! One of the few that I have liked out of his traditional red suite.

Hey! I am finally warm. I am going to go turn the air back on!!! I am beginning to glow! That is what one of our ministers used to say. Men sweat. Women glow!!! I thought that was sweet of him!

Take care. Have a great night. And enjoy!!!

So Many Things I Never Knew!!!

The longer I live the more I realize I am so uninformed about things, which doesn't bother me, but still makes me wonder what I do know!! LOL

We were watching either the History or Discover channel the other night and they were talking about the center or inside of the earth. I was reading at the time so I was only catching bits and pieces of the show. But I did catch this part.

There are holes or caverns into the earth and this particular one was the size of the Empire State Building. Well now, that was exciting enough but not the clincher for me. What really got to me was...that people parachute into the silly thing!! They only have, if I recall, twelve seconds to pull the cord or they will not land OK. Then after they land at the bottom of this they are hauled back up to the surface with a harness and metal cable. Positively does not sound like fun to me, but to each his own, I guess!!!

They did not elaborate on what happens if you don't pull the cord soon enough and crash land. Maybe, I hope, it has never happened! I would think that you certainly would remember if your life was depending on those twelve seconds!!!

Anyway, all these things that I don't know. And then when I watch more TV and see people talking about all these astronomy things, all the weather details, all that is known about plants and medicines...just to name a few...makes you know that you really don't know much at all!!! Life is fascinating. 

Haven't been doing much of anything. Just watching the bad weather roll in and out. Had company in, two different sets of people, both which we haven't seen in about twenty-five years!! It was unbelievable!! We had so much fun but it was just too short. More about both of those in a later blog!!

I have decided to do a quote scrapbook album. There is a friend that is doing one for each of her grandchildren using pictures of them for it, but I thought I would use random pictures. I am a quote nut and love them so much. They say so much in such few words.

I am probably going to use this one to start: "There is never enough time to do all the nothin' you want", Calvin, from Calvin and Hobbs!! I saw it on a LO of another friend, Laura, on Designer Digitals last week. I love it and thought it would be a good place to start. I just need to find the pic that I want to use. Take a look at it. Laura is a great scrapper and I think it is a beautiful LO!

I have been scrapping, scrapping, scrapping. It feels so good when it all "happens" for you. Let me see what I have to post.

Click for larger view

These are my flamingos. I don't know why but I love to scrap them. Guess it is the color. No matter how many times I go to Busch, I always come home with more pics of them. So you will always see more and more pages of my flamingos.

Click for larger view

Of course there are the lions. I love them, too. Guess maybe I just love the animals!! LOL They never put on an act. They are just being themselves, and I love that. I hate fakiness, and animals don't do that!

And the last one is of one of the beaches by us. We only live about twelve minutes away from the beach and just love them. The entire side of the coast of Florida where we live is just one beach after another. They are all different. Some have boardwalks you have to use to get to them, others you can get to just from street side. Just get out of your car and there you are. Jim and I promised each other never to get used to the peaceful beauty of the 'oce'...short for ocean as we call the Gulf of Mexico!!!...the fine white sand beaches and the palm trees. We often go there just to unwind for a while...or watch the sun set. 

Click for larger view

That is about it for today. Have a few things to do and then I think I am going to read. I haven't been reading much and have missed it.

As always, thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!!

Boy! I just don't know what I feel...

Yesterday I was sitting in my rocking chair at the patio door in our living room watching the world go by. Oh the joys of retirement!!! LOL

I heard some dogs barking so I turned a little and saw a young lady about in her late thirties with two beautiful, very large dogs across the street at the side yard of our neighbors.

She is making them stand still as she pulls of a doggy bag to pick up their deposit in the yard. I thought, well that is nice, she is cleaning up after her dogs, which is not only what the park says you will do if you want a dog, but what is the nice thing to do!! No one should have to have their yard used as the potty for YOUR dog!

So, I turn back around and watch her go past the side yard, past the neighbor's and get to the side yard of the neighbor diagonally across from us. Then...picture this. She takes that rather large blue dogie potty bag, swings it around two times and heaves it into the side yard right next to the neighbor's car!! Can you even believe?

If I could have gotten to her fast enough I would have screamed at her!!! I guess because she had a double leash in one hand and her water bottle in the other, the doggy bag was just not what she wanted to carry. After all...she did at least put it in a bag for them. Unbelievable. To make it even a little worse, this man, who I think lives alone, is partially disabled. I need to go over and pick that up today. Sometimes he is not out for days at a time.

I had thought that the guy I worked with was bad. He would walk his dog. Clean up after her and them put it in someone's garbage can as he went by. You see, he always walked the dog with a beer in one hand and the dog leash in the other. He didn't have a free hand to carry the filled bag!! Yuk!! But at least he put it in the garbage; but I still don't approve of that move either!!

People. I just will never understand them!

Well. My gripe for today. That just really made an impression on me.

I have been scrapping. It feels good, but I am getting way low on pics to scrap. I do have a few of friends that came to visit so I think those will be the next.

This is the one I finished last night. I took these when I still worked. Joe and Buck had wanted gas money and they had brought me the money box. I guess they were in a hurry. They grabbed the box and off they went. The journaling tells the story. I laughed so hard at them. They were always doing things like this!

Click to read journaling

This is not one of my favorites but it is OK. It is of the kangaroos at Busch Gardens, Tampa. They were so cute. Then I found a quote by Erma Bombeck that I just loved and decided I should pair them together.

Click to view larger image

                                                         

And the last for today is My Home. It is a bird that I saw at Busch Gardens that I loved. He looked so happy and like he was very much at home where he was.

 

Click to read journaling

                                        
Don't really know what else is on tap for today. We have had a very wonderful week with friends visiting from Ohio. Haven't felt the best yesterday and today so I think we will probably just hang around. I have not been reading...I know...really strange for me...so I think it is time to revisit my Kindle.

Uh...might I just say...it is supposed to be 89 today and tomorrow!!! Wowser!!! It is about time!!!!!!! I know that is way too hot for Serene, but for us Floridians it feels soooo good! Maybe my bones will decide to start moving again without a groan from me!!!

Savor the rest of the day. Back to the grind stone tomorrow. But that isn't so bad. Everyone needs to be needed!!! Someone is counting on you.

Thanks for stopping by.