Another Day....

.... in Florida, is how Poppa described Feb. 10, 2015, which happened to be.....

............. his birthday!  You can see his cards, received from people in Canada!  We went out last night to have supper at Longhorn Steakhouse for his birthday dinner.  Tomorrow is Squeegie's birthday (and also Uncle Shaun's!), so we chose a date in between for them to have their steak.  While we're in Florida we frequently...........

...... head out to go for a stroll.  Poppa stopped to chat with our next door neighbours - who just put their house For Sale.  Then.....

............. we headed out of our community..........

............ and up a long incline.  At the end of this road there is a Walgreen's.  Sometimes we stroll up there to have a look around or pick up some toothpaste.  But, this day.....

.............. we decided to walk through another development up the road - which required trekking up another hill, before....

............ we arrived at the top and had a nice shady downhill stretch of sidewalk which led to....

......... that scenic circle of palms leading to other sections of West Haven (where we stay).  We passed the ....

......... wetlands area, where Poppa spotted..........

...... this well-camoflaged fellow searching for lunch (he's right in the centre of the photo!)....

............ who moved quickly to the right when this larger (and easier to spot) bird startled the grey fellow away and I think stole his lunch!  Further up the road.........

............. we were amazed to see.....

......... how many new houses had sprung up in the newest area of West Haven - called the Dales.  Where last year there were a few houses in the middle of a sandy tract of land, now there are very few empty lots remaining!  We've noticed this trend all around this part of Florida.  Developments that seemed to have stalled for a few years, are suddenly being started up again.  I'm hopeful that this is a sign of a recovering economy for Florida!  On the way back to the villa.........

.......... we checked out the wetlands on the other side of the road........

.......... and were delighted to find these little ducks swimming around in there!  When we arrived back at the villa - ready for a rest and a beverage...........

........... Squeegie had his bathing suit on and was outside enjoying the sun, while back up in Canada.....

.......... Munchie was out enjoying the weather there and Mommy...........

......... seemed to be doing an Eskimo imitation!  I get the distinct impression that it is kinda cold up there!

A Pic from Home

This morning I received a picture from Canada.  When Daddy opened the door to blow away some snow from the driveway.....

....... the wind had been so strong that some of it got trapped between the inside door and the screen door - so when the door opened it fell into the house!  I'm so glad we're in Florida!  Squeegie is busy writing .....

........... a grocery list - as usual he is starving.  Taffy has been spending a lot of time....

.......... playing games on her tablet - like all young people these days it seems!  The weather has been very nice with lots of sun.  We came home after getting the stuff on Squeegie's list, to find this....

........... lovely white bird in our front flower bed.  I took the picture through the car window since I didn't want to startle it away.  But it stayed there until we walked towards the front door, and then took flight!  I think we have everything sorted out with the insurance company and the body shop and now we are awaiting the arrival of the necessary parts to get the car fixed.  The expectations are that it will be next week.  I hope so!

An Incident

Nothing much has been happening....

..... we've been relaxing and....

............. watching TV..........

....... and eating......

............. Poppa has done a chore..........

............ or two!  But, on Sunday, since it was too cool for pooling, we decided just to take a drive and we headed towards St. Cloud because there is lots to see along the way.  We were almost at St. Cloud, sitting stopped at a red light and chatting.  Suddenly there is a crash and a jolt!  Looking out the rear window there is a large white vehicle looming.  We both get out to have a look..........

......... Oh!  Poor Spiffy!  The police were called by the other man, since he was a Floridian and knew the protocol.  He readily admitted that we were stopped and he just ran into us.  I didn't hear why this happened, but I suspect that he was on the phone talking to his wife.  We waited for about 15 minutes and the St. Cloud police arrived.  They checked to see if anyone was hurt (everybody was fine!), they chatted with both parties separately, made a report and told us all to wait for the Florida Highway Patrol.  The man's wife and son came to wait with him - they lived about 15 minutes away.  Another 10 minutes or so and the Florida Highway Patrol officers arrived.  After a repeat of the same process, and another 15 minute wait while they checked us all out and printed out a very brief version of the report, they said we could all go home. Because....

.......... Spiffy's muffler was hanging danerously close to the road, we drove up the highway a short distance and Poppa went into a Pep Boys and got a plastic zip tie to hold it up temporarily, then crawled underneath and got the muffler up approximately where it belonged.  Since this all took place on Sunday, Monday was spent on the phone with insurance representatives and repair shops.  We went to Jarrett-Gordon Ford, which is about three miles up the road.  They have an in-house body shop there and an Enterprise Car Rental - so Jaime - from Jaime's Collision Center gave us an estimate and Melvina at Intact Insurance arranged for us to have a rental car today so that an adjuster could look at the car.  Right now we have a Chrysler Town and Country van.  Spiffy is over at Jaime's awaiting the adjuster.  He estimated about $4,000 damage!  Poor Spiffy!

A Day in the Life....

.... of a bear in Florida.  Over all the weather here has been quite nice.  The day Taffy posed for this picture was just a little cool, as you can see she has her shrug on over her romper.  We have had some....

.... chilly days when the bears put on their sweat shirts and long pants.  And.....

........ the twins, Smoothie and Crunchie, stayed tucked into their blankets for the day to keep warm.  Then again...

.... we've had days that were hot enough to play in the pool with Wilson, sit in the sun and read, and drink lots from our new insulated cups.  Aren't they nice?  As usual....

...... Squeegie's favourite part of the day is snack time - he can be seen here sneaking some cheese puffs from Poppa's dish........and.....

............ he has taught the same tricks to little Crunchie - who is seen here relishing a bite of the cheese and crackers I put in Poppa's dish while he was computing.  Meanwhile, Auntie Colleen made a comment about the twins looking like little bare bears compared to Squeegie and Taffy.  Crunchie, being a boy I suppose, didn't care and is quite happy.  However, Smoothie, being a little girl....

........ immediately ran to search through Taffy's drawer to see if she could find something to put on!  Then both the girls sat for this photo of Smoothie covered up a bit, and Taffy in the newest outfit she bought at the Build-A-Bear store in the Florida Mall.  For all you folks asking, Poppa has been feeling pretty good.  He still reacts poorly to stress - yesterday we were rear-ended while sitting at a red light - but more on that later.

Days in Florida

We have settled into our usual comfortable and leisurely routine here in Florida.  The roads....

It felt good to ..........

......... see Spiffy parked in the driveway at the villa.  Poppa was already inspecting the garden lights to see why some of them were not working.  David had left new batteries for them to see if that would work.  The bears....

.......... got comfortable while they waited for us to......

........... return from a walk around the neighbourhood to see if anything had changed.  We noticed that there were still some sand cranes around.  There was....

........ an adorable little grey squirrel in this oak tree - can you see him just sitting in the V in the centre of the photo??  Further on ...........

........... we found another pair of sand cranes - they must have thrived last year - there seem to be more of them wandering around - and this new batch have a tendency to walk down the centre of the road - I hope they don't get into a collision with any traffic.  One day Poppa had to come to a complete stop to let a pair of them cross the road in front of the car.  When we got back to the villa....

........... the slow cooker was working to get supper ready, and....

.......... Squeegie had rounded up the bears since he was already starving!  After supper...

....... as usual Poppa and Squeegie did the dishes - this year Crunchie is also helping.  Later....

............. Poppa and Squeegie were playing games on the computer, while....

........... Taffy took the little bears (Smoothie and Crunchie - the Kraft Bears - I found them in a Christmas package I received from Auntie Colleen and Uncle Shaun - how did she know I wanted them??) and watched TV.  One afternoon Poppa was kind enough to help me....

........... roll some of my skeins into balls for knitting.  We've done a couple more since then - and only have one left to do.  I had a few pairs finished at home - I brought them with me for picture-taking.  I've finished a few pairs here....

........ and I'm working on another pair....

.... which is now finished.  I've started another pair.  Yes - I'm knitting!  Hurray!  Imagine that.  It will be a while before I have enough socks ready to send out, but as soon as I do, the people who said they would like to buy a pair will start receiving pictures so that they can choose. One more thing....

 

.... I received this picture from Canada, with the following paragraph.... "The weather has been so undecided lately. Until now, it would seem, when it has decided to be winter with a vengeance. This is Gus and I a few weeks ago when the ice was actually breaking up.".... I'm really glad we're in Florida now!  We've been in the pool, the grass is green, the plants are flowering, the palm trees are swaying, we're warm, all is good! 

New Arrival

On January 4th, 2015 at 3:01pm, we are pleased to announce the arrival.....

.......... of Audrey Rita Piruzevski, weighing in at 8 lbs, 1 oz.  She is the granddaughter of Denis & Liz - Poppa's cousins who own property here in Florida.  Needless to say, they did not come to Florida for Christmas this year, as they were anticipating the arrival of this little girl.  Happily, Grandma sent me this picture!