What's Blooming?

I don't know what it's called because I left our Florida nature book in Maine (duh!) but I think this is a really neat blossom.  I see it blooming in several locations around town; this one is located near the hospital where we walk Titan.

January 15

January 20

January 28

It reminds me of fireworks.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

I'm in the Money $$$

I struck it rich on our walk today.

Yep, I'm 51 cents richer than yesterday!

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Guess What I Did Today

If you guessed dog food, you are absolutely, 100% correct...23.5 containers full!

Plus 2 frozen treats.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Thank You Greg

One of our Christmas gifts was a gift card to The Ice House Pub in Punta Gorda.  We love this place and after three weeks, decided it was time for a visit.

We got there early, before 5:30, and were the third ones on the waiting list.  We don't mind since it gives us time to play darts.

One of us got very lucky with a come from behind win but I won't mention any names.

Bill ordered the cheeseburger with cheddar and bacon

and I had the fish and chips

Both meals were delicious!  We also got lucky and scored our favorite waitress, Valeria.

We have been seated at this same table in the past and there are two of these creepy photos, a bride and groom.  When you view it from the front, it looks like this...

but when you view it from the side, it looks like this...

Creepy, right?

Thank you Greg, your gift was very thoughtful and appreciated and we have enough left on the card to go again.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Manatee Beauty

I might have posted some of these before but it's always a treat to see what it's wearing...

Nice Lips!

 

And my personal favorite...

Someone is very creative and has a lot of time on their hands.  I wonder how many coats of paint there are!

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Things That Make Me Go Hmmmmm...

I'm right handed.  There isn't much I can do left handed.  However, I am able to apply mascara to the tiny little lashes right next to my eyeball with my left hand.  Hmmmm....

Oh, and I can push the button to make the automatic window go up and down in the car.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

The View From the Bridge 1/16/15

Along with the "View from the swing" and the "View at lunch", I've decided to add the "View from the bridge", just because.

I'm also going to take it in black and white, just because. 

To be honest, I took a black and white photo on my iPhone but when I transferred it to my laptop, it was in color.  Not sure where I made my mistake but I just went ahead and edited the colored one this time.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

View from the Swing 1/13/15

Checked out Fisherman's Village today, got a coffee and sat in one of our favorite swings.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

The View at Lunch 1/9/15

Charlotte Harbor Beach Park

Ahhh, it feels good to be back, although it was cool (69*) and mostly cloudy.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

The Harborwalk Revisited

After walking Titan this morning, we decided to walk the Harborwalk this afternoon, without him.

We started at Fisherman's Village.  The last couple of years there were some areas along a newer section of the walk that were covered in "fake" grass and we wondered about their purpose.  We found new exercise equipment in the one closest to where we parked. 

It's kind of like playground equipment for adults.  It appears you can do a quick full body workout on these machines.  I told Bill to try one of them so I could take a picture.

Go Bill!

He got going and I took the photo, but I didn't tell him I was done so he just kept going and going.  He finally looked over and asked if I "got it".  Hahaha, yeah, I got it, a while ago.

We walked from FV to the hospital and back, a total of 5.75 miles, in just under 2 hours.  Last year a section of the walk was closed due to construction so we were anxious to see what had been done.  They cleared a lot of brush and completed this new area, which is open to the river.

The entire project has something to do with flood mitigation.  I think I read something last year about the company doing the work getting into trouble for removing too many mangroves.  Based on this, they removed A LOT.  I think this is actually kind of cool and it allows people to walk right to the river.  

They also did work on the other side of the walk, although it's not quite as picturesque.

There is a sign advising of alligators so we kept our distance.

As we approached the pier located at the end of the walk near the hospital, we were met by Mamie, whose owner was fishing.

I asked if she was the guard dog and he laughed, saying he just hoped she could complete the walk back to the car, which I think was parked at the end of the ramp to the pier.  Mamie is a 14 year old Corgi/Alaskan Husky or Eskimo Dog mix.  I wouldn't say she actually greeted us but she did eventually get up and waddle over for a quick sniff and a scratch around the ears.

Mamie was one of the 19 or 20 dogs we saw on our walk, which is the reason Titan doesn't walk this with us.

We said farewell to Mamie and wished her owner good luck, then returned to the car, each of us wondering during the remaining hour, whose bright idea it was to walk the Harborwalk this early in our winter, before we really got our walking muscles tuned up.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Safe and Sound

We have arrived!  The trip was quite uneventful (thankfully) with very little traffic, except around Charlotte.  We got hung up for about an hour just south of Tampa thanks to what appeared to be a minor fender bender.  Traffic was backed up for about two miles.

It was frustrating to be so close, yet so far but since the accident didn't involve us, we thanked our lucky stars and didn't complain too much.

Titan was exceptional on this trip!  He slept most of the time in the car and was well behaved during the evenings in the motel rooms.

We are happy to be here and anxious to get settled.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)