My Preference

I like to be in a place where..........

........... the streets are lined with palm trees......

....... when they aren't lined with traffic cones indicating road construction.  They do that year-round in Florida and there always seems to be at least one stretch of road under improvements while we are here.  But, once you get past all those cones....

............ there are stores that look like giant toy boxes......... and some.........

......... displaying giant images of ocean denizens, and some...........

.......... that are just designed to catch your eye and convince you to stop in and spend some money.  You can cruise past..........

........... one of Squeegie's favourite places to eat - Chick Fil-A.  This is a fast-food restaurant where the food is really tasty, reasonably priced and the staff are always friendly and polite - and it is closed on Sundays - not many places do that any more!  Even further down the road.........

......... is one of my favourite stores!  Jo-Ann is a large chain store which specializes in everything crafty - yep - you guessed it........

......... I bought a ball of yarn and a few nifty knitting gadgets.  The craft supplies at Jo-Ann are endless and varied - everything from fabric to stickers to scrapbooking supplies to artificial flowers and all the stuff in between.  Then we head back to the villa.  Along the way we see.........

........ trees coming out in flower.......

........... lovely clumps of palm trees in a busy restaurant parking lot...........

.......... fruit trees blooming for the spring crops........

........ and turning into our community, we notice that the landscapers have planted begonias....

......... the hedges are bursting into bloom, the decorative grass is luxuriant.....

... and the palm trees at the entrance are very regal (and tall!) ........

......... and the villa looks inviting!  It always feels good to get "home".......

........... from the screened pool area, I can look one way and get another view of those tall palms, and....

....... in the other direction are three different varieties of palms in the yard next door - we have watched them grow tall enough to see them peeking over the fence, into those tall trees you see now!  Of course, from out there I can also.........

......... check out that little hedge that Poppa was so carefully taking care of last year.  The landscapers trimmed it earlier while we were here, and it is already sprouting up again!  Finally after a swim.....

 and some sun, I hang up the bathing suits and towels and go back inside to make supper....

.......... this turned into left-over pork roast stew - it tasted quite good!  Then it is time.........

.......... to grab my knitting and settle in to watch some TV until bedtime!  This is definitely the place to be when it is below zero and snowing in Canada!  Yaaaaaaaaaaawn!  But.........

.......... what is Poppa doing???????