Chilly Again!

It's chilly again today.  But............they are predicting temperatures back into the 70's again tomorrow.  We went for breakfast this morning and the "kids" had to put long pants and sweaters on!

We haven't done anything too exciting since my last post.  We usually go for a walk each day, but I haven't seen anything interesting enough to take a snapshot.  I did do some surfing (on the web - not the ocean - Hee) and I discovered that this big fellow is a Florida Sandhill Crane.

I did take a picture of these trees to show you though.  When we arrived they had long branches sticking up, with little things that looked like choke cherries on them...and the leaves were all green.  When our freezing spell hit, the leaves all turned brown and fell off.  This was the first year we had seen the trees with leaves and branches, because as soon as the leaves fall off, the gardeners come along with shears and saws and trim them all back, so that they look like this.

Amazingly enough, they grow back up when the weather is amenable, and apparently get lovely little pink flowers - though we haven't seen this, since we are not here in the summertime.  Maybe sometime we will take some time in the summer and wander down to see..... hmmm .... yes, that would be fun!

On Friday evening, we went into Kissimmee to see the classic and collectible cars that gather there on Fridays and Saturdays.  The weather was balmy and perfect for strolling.  They had lots of cars and of course, Poppa liked every one of them.  It was getting dusky and I didn't think the camera would get a very good picture, but I took one just to experiment.....not the best car there, but certainly an interesting one........notice the passenger in the back seat.

Meanwhile, here is Auntie Colleen's first pair of socks from the yarn grab........all finished and ready to go.

And, here is her second pair - just started.  This is Jitterbug yarn by Colinette.  It is 100% merino superwash wool and this colourway is called Sahara.  It is quite wonky and fun to knit up because the patterning doesn't seem to repeat at all, other than a slight striping effect as the background colour lightens and darkens.

Now then, how many photographers can catch a chickadee in flight?  Auntie Colleen caught this one fluttering around her bird feeder, in conversation with another avian regarding who had first dibs on the food that the humans had kindly provided.

Amazing isn't it.........does that chickadee look real to you?  Or did she just hang a lovely ornament there for the photograph?  Awesome, I love it!

Oh yes, I can't forget this adorable picture of our little Munchie (who is growing up waaaaay tooooo fast) trying on Daddee's shirt to see if he will fit into it soon.  Lordee, I love this picture....thanks Mommee.  In this one, notice the little bare toes sticking out the bottom!

Sunny Skies

Yep - a nice sunny day in Florida.  It is a little cooler today - but the sun is hot, so it feels lovely.  Poppa has gone to the driving range again, so Taffy and I are holding the fort.  Taffy is wearing another new outfit that she got last week when we went to the big mall.

Squeegie is still holding out to use his money for restaurants....so he has gone golfing in his Dale Jr. outfit...

The pool is temporarily deserted........When Poppa gets back from the driving range, we'll sit outside and read for a while, and then we'll go pooling.

The other day we went for another walk around the neighbourhood (it is one of the things we like to do - in case you didn't notice - Hee!).  We often see these guys while we are out strolling, but I seldom have the opportunity to get a picture.  That day, they were on our side of the road, and they were incredibly bold - they stayed right there while I snapped.

Munchie went shopping on the weekend for a new pair of shoes.  He and Daddee picked out some nice new shoes and Munchie seemed pleased with them.  Here they are walking down the mall toward the shoe store.  Mummee took this on her cell phone.  She was walking and so were they so it's a little blurry - but I think it is such an adorable picture....big man, little man - too cute!

And - here is a shot from Uncle Shaun which demonstrates his skill at photography, the snow in our part of the world, and Uncle Shaun's ability to grab a piece of history which he knows Auntie Colleen will appreciate.  I liked her comments so well that I will just quote her.  Here is what she said "I think of the pride and work that went into these fine old barns. And to think of the vibrant life and lives they once contained. What an important part they played in the life of a busy farm family. It makes me sad to see them falling into disrepair and neglect. I still see so much grace and dignity in the deteriorating lines. I think of those who erected the huge structures, often with the help of family, friends and neighbours and wonder how those workers would feel to see what the grand structures have become."

Knitting update:  Here are Auntie Muffy's two completed pairs of socks to go out in next week's mail.  I almost got the second pair finished in time for yesterday's mail-run....but not quite.

Pair #1: These are the ones made from Premier Yarn Serenity Sock Yarn....I think they are very nice...I hope she does too.

Pair #2: These are made from Bernat Sox in a colourway called Wooded Denim.  This is a heavier weight than my usual sock yarn - so they should keep Auntie Muffy's feet nice and warm in that cold part of Canada where she lives.

Last night while 24 was on, I got started on Auntie Colleen's first pair (she was the second to get back to me regarding the yarn grab!).  They are made from Knit Picks Essential and the colourway is called Tuscany Multi.  I love this colourway and the way the dark green is spiralling up the leg.

And now, without further ado, I am off to rescue the laundry!

Careers

After a break from thinking about his career, while turning his attention to more immediate requirements, such as walking, talking and learning to drive his new car, Munchie is considering another avenue.  As everyone in Canada knows, there is a lot of hype about the Olympics being in B.C. this year, and there is lots of advertising on the TV.  And, of course, Munchie watches some of the kiddie shows on the TV while he drives and plays and reads.  So...after some consideration, he decided to ask Daddee to help him learn to swim. 

Daddee said OK - since he thought that was a much better idea than joining the Chippendales - though in this outfit, that might have been feasible too!  So....off they headed to the shower room in preparation to enter the pool.

And then off to the pool they went......

Mummee was taking these pictures for us through the glass of the observation area - so there are some strange reflections off the water and maybe a drop or two on the glass - please excuse.  Daddee did some basic lessons with little Munchie for quite a while, to give him the right idea and teach him the technique.

Then, when Daddee felt that Munchie had practised long enough, they climbed out again.

According to early reports, Munchie loves this activity and is planning on honing his skills.  He knows he can't make the Olympics this year, but is planning on trying next time they are in Canada.  In the meantime, he is doing some strenous excercises to keep in shape.  He doesn't have much time for exercising with his busy schedule, so he takes advantage of any opportunity he gets.

It's Late

And I'm tired.  We've had a busy couple of days!  Big shopping excursion yesterday.  Long walk in the hot sun and a long swim today.  So............here is a clue to a major news story about to break..........

Oh yes............and Happy Birthday to Munchie's Great Gram..... he recently took Mommee and Daddee to her place to help her celebrate.

And...........here is Murfee the Wonder Dog displaying for us what it looks like up north where we live most of the year.

Thanks for the great pics Uncle Shaun..........keep 'em coming!  (This is one of my all-time favourites of Murfee!)

Another Day

The days following our long walk have been more routine.  Lazing around, going for groceries, taking short strolls around the neighbourhood, visiting the post office and watching TV.  There hasn't been nearly as much activity in the community as in previous years.  Last year the construction crews were working on these houses.

If you walk to end of this street you can see that big hotel that we passed on our long walk the other day.  It looks closer from this location than it did when we set out on our walk.

And, this lovely building was destined to become a community clubhouse.  It has a huge pool in the back, tennis courts and volleyball courts at the side, and an area that was supposed to be a play area for little people.  Unfortunately, we assume due to the economy, it has seemingly been put on hold.  It appears that the landscapers are using it for a meeting/lunch area.  The pool sits empty and full of sediment and a few persistent weeds.  Hopefully it will get back on track when things pick up again.

Now back to Knitting Central..........

....which is strategically placed in front of the television.  This is where I sat to finish up Mommee's stretch socks.

Mommee now has two pairs of socks ready to mail.....so that package should be in the mail next week..it takes 7 to 10 days to reach Canada........so start watching then Mommee!  I started Auntie Muffy's socks sitting in the same place.  I haven't used this yarn before.  It is Premier Yarns Serenity Sock Weight from the Debbie Norville collection.  The colourway is called Purple Spirit.....but I'm not sure that the colours look purple to me.  I should point out that the colour in this picture looks a bit more brown-ey than the real thing though.  I really like the stripe-ey way it knits up.  It is 50% Superwash Merino Wool, 25% Bamboo and 25% Nylon.  It is unbelievably soft to the touch.

Now for the big news!  Yesterday the water temperature in the pool was high enough, and the Florida sunshine was hot enough - yep - you guessed it!  We were swimming!!!!!!!!  Yippee!!!!!  Prior to getting in we sat basking in the sunshine - and I didn`t think to grab the camera to get a picture.  Then again today I did the same thing.  If the weather permits - I will try to remember to get a picture tomorrow!

Destination Villa

We passed the bank and headed back the way we had come - there wasn't much necessity to take a lot of pictures this time, except that Poppa stopped to see if he could spot the alligator....

....but I wasn't really that keen on finding that alligator, and I got so far ahead of him before I noticed that he was still looking for a prehistoric reptile....

.....that I got bored waiting.  Using Uncle Shaun as an example, I looked around for something interesting to photograph, and found this.......

...which I thought was very interesting........take note of the palm trees, they're everywhere!  Eventually Poppa gave up waiting for the reptile to put in an appearance, and he caught up to me.  Up the road we went, only to be hailed by this guy who was asking for directions to the nearest Longhorn Steakhouse.

Poppa gave him directions to the closest one we knew of and we continued on our way.  The only other item of note that we encountered was this meter on the end of a water pipe, just sticking up out of the ground.  Of course Poppa had to stop to check it out.  He said it showed 45 pounds of pressure, and I guessed that must be enough for whatever purpose it served.

I had to take this next picture.  It shows the growth along the side of the road, quite close to the meter above.  For some reason, whenever I see this Spanish moss hanging in the trees, my mind inevitably goes to Scarlett O'Hara and Gone With The Wind.  And then there are the palmettos, they take my mind to Florida!  They seem to grow like weeds down here, you see them everywhere....they appear in the north end of Florida, long before the real palm trees make an appearance.

After another 45 minutes or so, we got to the entrance to the gated community where "our" villa is located.

And very shortly, we arrived back "home".  It was quite a welcoming sight for both of us after that long expedition!

Thanks for sharing our stroll with us!

Destination Publix - #4

Eventually we reached our destination...

....but we were kinda warm by then, so we decided to stop here for a drink before we did our shopping...

I'm quite sure everyone recognizes the logo on the front of this building.  Hee.  In the background you can see another building.  That is a Walgreens....basically a pharmacy, but kinda like Shoppers' Drug Mart in Canada....there are all kinds of stuff there..... so we browsed over there for a while and bought a few things.  Then we strolled over to Publix and bought some groceries.  Then, we decided that since it took about 50 minutes to walk that far, we had better start heading for home.  Heading out of the parking lot, we saw this bank that seemed to have a familiar logo on it too.  It was now after 4pm so of course it was closed and we thought it might be interesting to stop in one day and see if they were amenable to changing Canadian funds and such.

Notice how brown the grass looks!  Florida lawns and plants are just not used to freezing weather.  Along the edge of their parking area we saw these poor little palm trees - which were rather obviously damaged by the below freezing temperatures that we experienced last week.  Hopefully they will recover and re-grow in the near future.

Next stop, the villa.

Destination Publix - #3

Way up ahead of us, we could see the lights at the corner where we would turn to reach our destination.  We passed a police radar set-up.  They had five cars stopped - pulled into the lane that was blocked due to construction.  One policeman held up the radar gun, another walked out into the road and waved the offender in.  There were about six police cars there - we guessed that was to cover the possibility that the driver kept on going - they were ready to give chase.  I wanted to take a picture, but Poppa thought that might be unwise, so I refrained.

We finally arrived at the traffic lights and tunred onto the boulevard leading up to the Publix.  These tall palm trees were just planted last year, and the cold weather was not kind to them, but regardless of the sparseness of their fronds, I love palm trees and couldn't resist the shot.

As an illustration of the fact that there is more than just tourism in the state of Florida, there were some cows laying in the shade across the field.  As you can see, they were quite far away, keeping in the shade of that little clump of trees.

And then, off to our left was that big building that was a distant image in the early shots.  It is quite a fancy and expensive resort which is quite well known in our area for the lavish accomodations and the pro golf course.  Poppa hasn't golfed there - its too expensive for his wallet, but he often looks longingly - maybe some day I'll treat him!

A few more steps up the bouldevard, and we were passing by a pond in front of the resort.  With his propensity for long-distance vision, Poppa spotted an alligator reclining on the bank of the pond - apparently waiting for some unsuspecting prey to pass close by.  Can you see him, just to the left of the cement out-take pipe?  I was too nervous to get any closer.  Poppa guessed he was about six feet long - he was definitely a good size!

As Poppa (who is much braver than I) got closer, the gator spooked and jumped, with amazing speed, into the water - splash!  We could see his progress across the pond - his eyes were sticking out of the water.  At first, it appeared that he was following Poppa, but soon he headed in the direction of some birds on the other bank.  If you click on this picture and look closely - you can see the eyes in the centre of the picture.