Pictures for the last few days

So the picture above was made a few days before we left for Florida, a time when we were almost snowed-in.  This was the first time in years that we were home for Christmas, with a few decorations even...

The next picture was made just as we were leaving: first Joan's car is delivered to Christopher, and mine is just warming up to follow. Then we left from Ottawa to head South.

As you can see, there's more snow than we've had for years.  Previous posts have described our trip south.

Now we're happily ensconced in Fort Myers, as we should be.  Of course, Christmas 'down here' is somewhat different.  Here's a local Christmas tree for your enjoyment.

Note the many small and what I would have thought of as personal decorations.

And for the grand finale, here's a bouquet of flowers for you to enjoy as you enter a new year of very good health, filled with laughter every day.  Enjoy!

LANDED Fort Myers Fl.

Just to let you know that we've arrived in Fort Myers and are joining Chris and Peter for a good time in Florida.

Our road trip today started around 9:30am, and we had clear skies all day.  Morning started at roughly 6ºC and ended at 17ºC: just what's needed to get rid of the northern winter blues.

Just so you know, Joan and I are wearing sandals, no socks, and short sleeves.  With luck, we'll get rid of the fleeces tomorrow... and wear shorts soon.

Today's trip was quite uneventful; somewhat heavy traffic, mostly at the 70mph speed-limit, and clear sailing all the way.

We arrived here at 5pm, about a half hour after the original predicted time determined this morning: not bad at all, considering the traffic.

We are now in a gated community containing three nine hole golf courses, well manicured and our place is a very comfortable two bedroom two bathroom condo on the second floor.  The pool is only about 100 meters away and has two large gas BBQs for our use.  We might gain some weight here...

Joan seems to have lost her voice, and supper included a fair bit of wine, so the household will be calling it an early night.  Our good friend Jan Pierce has left Minnesota and is on her way to the state park nearby.  

All in all, a great day!  Hope you and yours are enjoying the same.

Savannah GA, No More Snow!

We actually hit the road by 8am, how's that for an early start?

Overnight, we received a light dusting [1/2"] on the cars, but the roads were only wet, nothing serious.  

Once we were on the Interstate 81S, things started getting more interesting; first there was snow, then there was more snow, and finally, still more snow.  The road never did get covered, but it did get wet and windshield washer fluid was required.  Yesterday, our system was frozen and wouldn't do anything but sputter a few drops, once filled and given time, it thawed and was its usual reliable self.  Today, it was just fine, and kept us on the road all day, but I digress yet again.

Visibility was getting quite short by 9am, and traffic was a reasonable 35-40 mph, with the usual idiots playing Russian Roulette with us as 'collateral damage'.  As it turned out, no accidents, the occasional car in the ditch, but most people getting to their respective destinations safely.  Eventually, speeds reached their limits and all was well.

By 11am, the clouds parted around us, the snow disappeared, and the road dried up; so far so good, we seemed to have once again beaten the predicted storms.  There seem to be serious snow-storms where we had been driving yesterday, and storm clouds were very much in evidence at the horizon in all directions.  We were just lucky I guess.  My Brother Ron's watchful eye on the weather on our behalf hasn't failed us yet...  Job well done, Bro!

Our only travel problem consisted of a few of those strange highway slow-downs that seem to have no reason at all.

Have you ever noticed that fast moving, relatively heavy traffic can suddenly come to a grinding halt for quite some time [like over ten miles! / half an hour or more!] and then, without warning, the traffic loosens up, speeds up, and you never see a visible reason why this whole mess occurred in the first place.  We likely lost about two hours to three of those weird slow-downs today.

At a proper 'supper time', we gassed the car [at about a $20 saving] and had a good meal at Ruby Tuesdays: a chain of restaurants with a great salad-bar for Joan, and wonderful hamburgers [or steaks] for me [I'm an obligate carnivore after all].  After that pleasant break, we returned to the Interstate to head further south and avoid more poor weather.

The good thing is that we're now in Savannah Georgia where the temperature is 44ºF, well above freezing!  We're trying out a Cambria Suites motel, and so far, Joan is in love with the comfortable tub, and I'm surprised at the fastest internet access I've ever had on the road. great!  This exit has all the motel chains in spades, the Cambria Suites is not the biggest, but it does have four floors, a bar, a pool, and a restaurant.  Joan might want to stay another night...

We heard Killdeer and saw many hawks, the world is unfolding as it should.  Great!

Tomorrow should see us in Fort Myers, beyond any snow, most rain, and with good friends to celebrate New Year's!  How much fun is that?  Hope you have good friends and family to celebrate with, especially people who make you laugh a lot.

Southward ho!

As usual, a crack of dawn departure is always loosely planned, and this year was no different.  While we left the Folly around 10am, our actual departure southward was at 11:15 with an expected arrival time of 11:40, twenty four hours later, but then you already knew that.

Our first delay was on the 401, near Brockville: a good 50km at a snail's pace.  By the time customs arrived, our trip had lengthened by a half hour or so.  By the time we reached Scranton PA, we ran into, or should that be walked into another unnecessary slow-down, and another hour or so was added to our trip.  If we hit much more traffic, we may never get to Florida, but I digress.

Much to our surprise, the roads were mainly clear and dry, until we reached the lower half of NY.  It was also clear skies, and even a full moon tonight.  Gas in the states saves us about $20 a tankful, the more you drive the more you save!

We're still hoping to beat the snows predicted for tomorrow.  We're not that far south and already the temperature is at freezing, but I guess I shouldn't rub it in.   ...much.

Maybe with faster internet I'll be able to add a picture tomorrow.

Christmas Letter 2012

We hope this note finds you hale and hearty, and that you are looking forward to celebrating Christmas and the start of a new year. 

We survived the angst of buying a new condo last year while trying to sell our ‘old’ condo in center-town.  The overlap lasted three and a half months before we finally moved to our ‘Folly’ in mid-December. Our new digs in Stittsville are now about 30 minutes closer to Frankie, Joan’s well loved steed and pet.  The Folly is a semi-detached bungalow, with a full basement.  It’s also a condo where all the exterior work is done for us [for a fee of course].  All in all, the move went very well, we fit in the condo very nicely with room to spare, including a spare room for guests.  We managed to attract birds at our feeders and our world is unfolding as it should: we both enjoy life at the Folly very much.

Last summer, we enjoyed a great boat cruise to Alaska, a long-standing Bucket List item.  We were a group of four couples [two from a previous cruise, one from the barn] and with the good company, great food, pleasant excursions, we all had a very good time. Our land excursions included the White Pass train, a smaller boat ride to the face of a glacier, a photo shoot for Paul that included a rain forest, glacier, whale and seal watching, and ended up with 8 or so bald eagles in one shot.

As usual, time flew by, and in the Fall, we drove to Thornbury to visit Barb & Norm, friends we met in Grayton Beach well over ten years ago.  Thornbury is on lake Huron, beyond the escarpment, where beautiful scenery is 'the' standard.  They even have a sizable micro-climate where apples, peaches, and grapes grow very successfully.  The Fall colours were at their best for our return trip.

Paul flew out to Okotoks to stay with Colleen, Nick and play with the boys, just before school started.  As usual, Jacob [12] and Eric [9] are growing up way too quickly and continue to be fine grandchildren, a credit to their parents.  

Both are doing well in school after a little help from Kumon, a private tutoring firm.  What is really fantastic is that the boys are now picking up books, just to read as a pastime.  This will serve them well forever.

Colleen aced her medical office assistant course and is out working.  She’s now happily working at the Foothills Medical Care Centre.  It’s a long commute from Okotoks to the North West part of Calgary and the hope is that with experience, Colleen may transfer to a new hospital at the South East end, saving a half hour travel each way.

Nick’s business is doing well and keeping him too busy.  In September, Nick turned the magic 'four-o' and treated himself to a Harley Davidson.  He’s a responsible driver, enjoys riding both for commuting and relaxation, and is developing deep laugh-lines from smiling all the time.  Another successful 'tick' on his Bucket List.

Kathleen and Phillip are still happy in San Diego.  Kathleen is enjoying life as a successful massage therapist, and taking courses to learn new techniques.  The satisfaction of helping people keeps her working harder than she should at times but after some rest to overcome the exhaustion, she’s back at the table.

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Phillip is still hard at work solving problems with the added challenges of new management directions such as off-shoring. ‘nuf said.  We now have a glimmer of hope that they might actually move closer, stay tuned.

In Ottawa, Nancy is still teaching crafts at Michaels and loving it.  

Sophie [8] and Caitlyn [6] are being spoilt gently by Grandma and are learning the joys of sleep-overs with us, at the Folly. Both are talented painters and Sophie loves reading.  The girls have very limited access to TV and are completely transfixed to the exclusion of all else when the TV is on.  We have discovered that while we can eat and watch TV., the girls can’t...  Both are enjoying French immersion and test Grandpa now and again..

Christopher is still suffering some ill effects of a bad fall last year.  He lost some of his sense of taste and  hearing in one ear.  A hearing aid helps, as do spicier or stronger tasting foods, but this has not been easy for Christopher and we are very proud of how he is handling it all.  Nancy and Christopher have decided to live apart, and Christopher bought a condo near the house. All seem to be adjusting and adapting to the situation fairly well.  All concerned will suffer somewhat, as will friends and family; together, we’ll muddle through.

Christopher is working very hard at the office and is actually flying to Orlando today [if the freezing rain doesn’t close the airport] to moderate a conference in the hospital accreditation field. We are amazed at how he is dealing with all the stress.

Joan is still enjoying riding, taking lessons, going for hacks with friends, and just being at the barn with all its horse-smells, tack, and chores.  Her barn life also includes being the wise confidant to many young riders, and basically having the time of her life. 

After earning the provincial championship in her class of dressage, Frankie is retired now.  Retired just means no more competition and a somewhat easier schedule.  At 16 or so, she’s still boss-mare and can be strong-willed at the hands of a weak rider.  Frankie and Joan are a good match and share very good times.

I have found new space to spread out in the Folly, and spend lots of time in the man-cave, sorting out pictures, pixels, and getting ready to do some serious printing eventually.  I have too many pictures and am slowly learning to be harsher in my deletion of the bad pictures.  The problem is, I should be brutal and delete everything but the very best: I’m not there yet.

With Winter at the door, Joan and I are starting to think about beaches and warm weather.  We’ll host Christmas here with Kathleen and Phillip joining us and the locals.  With Colleen at the bottom of the seniority list, it’s unlikely that the Okotoks bunch can make it this year.

Caitlyn and Sophie, with a little hoisting from Christopher, just decorated our first tree in years, 

Joan has been cooking, baking, shopping and making all the arrangements necessary for Christmas to ‘just’ happen.  As usual, there will be family and friends, too much food, deserts, and snacks, and everything will work out just fine as people enjoy each others company and laugh a lot. 

We wish you the same and good health for the coming year.

Watercolor and Dewey Destin

We arrived in Grayton Beach a week ago Wednesday after a nine hour drive from Sanibel. My back had been in spasm for a couple of days, and I'm sure the trip didn't help matters any. Joan schlepped the packing / unpacking routine, then we found a doctor and a chiropractor. The combination worked wonders and I'm well on my way to being back to normal, whatever that is.

Our good friend Jan Pierce joined us last Sunday, so the puzzle making has started with a vengeance. So far: five puzzles in four days. These ladies are quick, and manage to laugh a lot in the process...

Yesterday was a good time to snoop around the neighbourhood so checking out the Park's prescribed burn behind Watercolor was in order. Here's a view of the burn from the Watercolor side of Eastern lake.

Of course, water means water-lillies right? Here are a few in bright sunlight.

Further down one of the many walking paths, this snag stood proudly against the bright blue sky. Just the spot for birds to hang out, unfortunately, they were elsewhere as I walked by.

One of the shocks of revisiting a favourite place is that time moves on; in this case, a fire last October destroyed a good restaurant in a fine building. The good news is that I made this picture before the ruins are taken down [sometime this week].

Today, we drove off to a restaurant named Dewey Destin. It was mentioned in this blog last March when we survived an exciting hurricane-watch while having lunch there. This time, the fog was everywhere and we were able to eat outside in great comfort. The food there never lets you down, this time being no exception.

Of course, our two fashionistas were perfectly colour co-ordinated for lunch as we sat under the umbrellas.

The umbrellas actually served us well and protected us from the birds droppings of these hungry scavengers; you didn't want to leave your food unattended for more than seconds, otherwise, the armada would swoop in to raid what they could.

As you can see, our view was quite special. We managed to see two loons in their winter plumage, many anhingas, pelicans, sea gulls, as well as a half dozen dolphins doing their spring dances.

I saved this shot to close this restaurant adventure because this is the restaurant entrance: the first trailer is the kitchen, the next building being the restaurant itself.

Not the most inviting place, and no valet parking. But who cares, the seafood is without equal.

Further down the lane is this fish processing place with it's collection of herons. Here's a challenge for the grandkids, and anyone else who wants to play: how many herons can you find in this image? Don't forget to let me know, there could be a prize.

To walk off our food we drove over to the marina nearby; they have fishing boats for hire, and more than a bit of a Coney Island flair...

You may have noted that sometimes I make pictures of weird things, like staircases... Hope you like this one.

Florida has a pretty harsh sun and if you live here year 'round, some of the plastics in older cars just plain disappear. Here's an older Cadillac Eldorado with the plastic inserts between the bumpers and the bodywork completely gone. The trouble is, everyone else's' have disintegrated too, so there are few if any replacement available. It is quite weird to see these vintage cars in great shape but missing their inserts. UV is really bad!

Here's another puzzle for the grandkids: help me figure out what this is a picture of. I can tell you it's not any part of a pine tree or a pine cone, but it is part of a tall plant that grows well in Florida. Good luck, and don't forget to let me know, please.

I guess that I could give you a small hint: look at your hands, turn them over...

Odds and Sods

As the title suggested, this will be an eclectic bunch of photographs, all made on Sanibel Island.

Our rental unit is in a fairly quiet area of the island, a good distance away from shops, restaurants and tourist areas. We walk to the beach and have access via a public access path. On the way there, we've watched this house getting the attention of all the usual suspects like painters, decorators, landscapers, etc. Not a stick of furniture yet!

New houses in Sanibel must have their entrance 10.5 feet above sea level. Some builders make a very big deal of this, after all, you only get one chance at making a first impression, right?

Note that there are a couple of masons, busy installing and adjusting the stones on the balustrades.

As you enter the driveway, you see the above through a slightly different angle, as shown below. This is a very different 'first impression' don't you think?

A week and a half ago, the landscapers arrived with truckloads of plants: everything that you see here, except for the line of trees at the neighbours, was planted in the last ten days, and there are still many pots to go, as well as some bushes, etc. Virtually an instant landscape.

Here's a view of windows on the main level, 10.5 feet above sea level.

The palm tree you see above was one of the many planted recently. What a difference landscaping does to a building site.

People shelling aren't the only ones on 'our' beach: this heron was just standing there, feeling the breezes, and checking the chicks...

Away from the water's edge, the shells are usually pretty broken up. Here they make an even backdrop for this five armed starfish.

Of course, no seaside would be complete without a fine selection of sea gulls, and other water birds.

Here's Peter holding a Welk egg casing. The casing can be close to 2 meters long and in made up of little round egg-cases, each containing up to 20 live shells, each joined to the next casing. It takes the Welk a few days to make this string of eggs which can contain as many as 20.000 live Welks and the food necessary for their development. Magic or what?

On one of our drives to the neighbouring island, Captiva, we encountered these birds all in the shade. I must admit that we were kind of hot too.

Another drive brought us to these two horse sculptures. Brings a whole new memory for wooden horses.

Restaurant decor varies a lot: some windows have a great view, other windows are the great view.

Here's another restaurant where windows have a view.

This is after lunch, looking back at the restaurant. We sat in the tower on the right side of the main building.

Walking to the beach, we saw these pelicans in this Australian Pine tree.

And this was the view on the beach behind the restaurant. Lots of broken shells here too.

And now, another question for the grandkids. Jacob and Eric got the last photo challenge: upside-down kayaks, and kayak paddles, good for them. I've played around with these two a bit, but you still should be able to figure them out. The first is actually in one of the photos above, and the second could be part of another picture above, you'll have to let me know.

The best hint is look down for one, up for the other... Good luck.

Tomorrow we head off to Grayton Beach while Chris, Peter, Cragen, and Chance head back to New Brunswick, back to Winter.

Sanibel Stoop, Market day

At the East end of the island, near the Lighthouse, this tree is quite photogenic, in my humble opinion.

One has to realize that it's really winter here, mid-February, when trees should be dormant. This guy is definitely awakening and will provide welcome shade later in the season.

One of the big events for Sanibel this year was an attempt at getting into the Guinness Book of Records by having at least 500 people participate in the Sanibel Stoop; one of those postures required to look for and find local shells. Since we were already well practiced in this art form, we registered and participated.

Here's the line-up to sign in after registration, a long line-up where Joan saving me a spot, in the far background in the blue shirt [click to enlarge].

After the line-up we qualified for our 'T' shirts, which we are now proudly showing off.

And the reverse side:

The hope was to get at least 500 people to participate so that we could qualify for the Guinness Book of Records. I'm not sure wether we qualified or not, but 500+ people is a massive group to control...

After about a half hour, the helicopter arrived and the signal was given: we were all to stoop in search of shells in the local posture known as the Sanibel Stoop. Most tried their best, but there are always a few that need to photograph or look to see what's going on.

I assure you that I was stooping as I made this picture, honest!

After the Guinness attempt, Sunday rolled around so it must be market day!

Here's a neat way of keeping hydroponic lettuce healthy: the water is pumped in from the left, drains through the lettuce, then returns to the tank where the pump recycles the water back to the top. Clever way to display the lettuce too!

I've always enjoyed kettle corn but I've never seen it being made. Here's a guy stirring the corn in a super heated large kettle.

After most kernels have popped, they are dumped onto a counter, salted, stirred, and packed into bags for sale,

Here's something neat, water soluble crystals for plants. They come in various colours, absorb water which leaches out slowly over a few weeks, then the crystals can be re-hydrated to repeat the process. How neat is that? A small finger sized vial can fill a salad bowl when hydrated. We saw this concept being used in Grayton when they were planting thousands of sea oats on the dunes.

Here's our group heading out [Peter is holding the purchases!].

Markets and such have many hand made signs, one of the many interesting ones was this one: imagine the greens from a 'weed' being worth more than common 'organic' lettuce.

Later on, we went shopping and this fountain caught my attention. Note well shaped natural fig tree in the background.

Shortly after that, the volunteer came to clean the fountain. Imagine my surprise at the colour co-ordinated equipment and uniform.

After a little shopping, we went to a very good restaurant for lunch. Here we are enjoying ourselves just before the bill showed up.

Here's a little gecko doing its spring thing. Look carefully and I'm sure you can find this well disguised fellow. You can click on the image to enlarge it.

Hope you enjoyed our adventures, more to follow sometime soon.