The first basil seeds have sprouted and are absorbing sunshine on the window sill. My seed order is ready to be sent to Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. Yesterday was chilly, a breezy high 40's. Cliff fired up the chainsaw, took down one very tall tree that blocks my afternoon sun on the garden, and we thinned out some scraggly trees that needed to come down. We have one more very large tall oak to take down, with our neighbor's help, before birds start looking for nesting real estate or the garden is planted. Winter has been wonderfully mild. Cold fronts last a couple of days and then back to high 40's to mid 50's. Dozens of sparrows, or sparrels as my father called them, have invaded the feeders this winter wiping out seeds as fast as I fill the feeders. Changing the type of seed I used hasn't solved the problem. I don't mind feeding them but there are so many in the flock that they leave dropping everywhere and I'm afraid the excess droppings will inf
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Six years have already passed since Cliff and I make the trek to Virginia for Olivia's birth. It was bitter cold and windy. Hayden, Sofia, and Grant bundled up with mittens, heavy coats, and hoods up. The walk across the hospital parking lot seemed like miles in that cutting wind. Olivia has ensembles for all occasions. This was her soaking-her-injured-thumb outfit. She lives the meaning of "dance like nobody is watching." Happy upcoming birthday, Olivia. It's mid-thirties here this morning with a light snow falling. No accumulation is expected, except in the higher elevations. The gentle flurries are peaceful. Our times at the nursing home only last about thirty minutes now as Dot is so tired she tells us we can go and then she sleeps. Her conversations are dark, gloomy, and dismal. She no longer looks out the window at the birds but still asks us to make sure they are fed. The staff loves her and does whatever she needs to bring her comfor
I found Kevin Costner in my mail box yesterday looking up at me from the latest issue of AARP. The man is better looking at 60 than ever before. Well, the monotonous task of unpacking our dirty clothes and toiletries has begun. Once we got by all the unexpected disappointments , our time away became relaxing and enjoyable. During our visit with friends, I had the chance to do "ladies night out" at the Olive Garden and catch up on what everyone has been doing in their retirement. Wednesday we drove to Port St. Lucie and spent the day with Dick and Patty, friends from Murphy who divide equal time between Florida and North Carolina. Patty is the very creative quilted purse designer who sets up beside me each week at the farmers market. During the winter she does a few shows in Florida and then sews like crazy for her return to the Murphy farmers market that starts in April. Her batik-style handbags can be seen at her Pattyquilt Designs Facebook page. While we were sitti
Monday morning I went on a search for a dive right on the ocean where the salty air would brush my cheeks and sea birds could watch me eat scallops or mussels or white fish. A better variety of restaurants exists up the road in Cocoa and I found a half-dozen on Glen Cheek Rd near the cruise terminals. On our way we passed "I Dream of Jeanie" Lane, lots of touristy t-shirts stores, where I stopped and bought one for our great-grandson, Christopher, and deep-sea fishing charter places. With a name like Fishlips, I had to eat there. Quiet seating was on the lowest floor, inside seating on the street-level floor and noisy, lively covered deck seating was available on the top floor. Up the stairs we went to the open covered deck. There was my sea-bird perched on the sill waiting for me. Patrick Air Force Base is near our condo and a large group of uniformed men and women were dining upstairs adding to the chatter and laughter taking place.
Friends that we met on our morning walk along the water. Ocean and air temperatures were both around 65 degrees, too chilly for me to swim, but three surfers rode the waves. Sandpipers entertained us with their lightning speed movement, running just ahead of the waves. I don't know how they know the waves are so close when they never turn their little heads to see the water approaching. While walking, I did the touristy thing......... took pictures and collected shells to mail to the VA grandchildren. Sunday was a dreary misty day so we drove to Deltona and dropped in on friends. We saw Jim and Sharon, spent some time with Boni and Bill, and ended our day with Mike and Barb before heading back to the moldy condo. Have to share a shot of hideous wall decor overlooking the dining room table. 5' long utensil wall decor Management has no fear of anyone removing them for vacation souvenirs.
In the six years we've been in NC, Cliff gets "itchy" in the few winter months we have here in Murphy and needs to go south. Last summer, before his mother had her stroke and ended up here, we booked a condo week in Satellite Beach, Florida. Cold fronts can settle into central Florida so we decided to go a little further south. I actually started looking forward to getting away, too, after Christmas. A dear friend of ours, who is an RN, volunteered to visit Cliff's mother at the nursing home and socialize her puppy with the visits. We arrive late Saturday afternoon, instructions in hand on how to enter the condo. First thing Cliff noticed was that the window screen looked as if someone tried to jimmy it. He entered the lock box code where a key was suppose to have been placed for us. No key and the office is closed on the weekends. Odd! Because rental dates run from Saturday to Saturday. Instructions were to call Drew, one of the owners, if there were any
HAPPY NEW YEAR! The decorations are mostly down and packed. We're leaving one box available as it never fails that we find a few Christmas items in plain view that we missed. Still have the artificial inside tree to disassemble and pack and the three outside window wreaths to take down. We'll complete this in the next couple of days and then pack our bags for a trip south for our condo week on the east coast of Florida. I'm actually looking forward to it. Our holiday season, starting with Mark and Jen's Thanksgiving visit, was busy and enjoyably spent with family and dear friends. We attended Pat and Larry's Christmas open house, spent an evening with some of our neighbors at their church for the living Christmas tree presentation, and listened to The Christmas Carol reading at the folk school. We hoped Matthew and Taelor would be spending spent Christmas Day with us but at the last minute they ended up packing boxes for a move to their new address. B