OPA!!

You might ask yourself...what exactly does that mean.  That's what I was asking after spending yesterday afternoon at the Greek Festival.  According to Answer.com...It doesn't really 'mean' anything. It's an exclamation of joy, like "whoopee" or "hooray."

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at the festival.  We passed up the Wine and Jazz Festival; neither of us likes jazz and I only like wine that isn't really wine.  So instead, we decided to spend some time with others enjoying good food and fun dancing.

Lunch was very tasty, although I didn't know what the ingredients were or how to pronounce it.  They were very helpful and provided nice photos and a description of what was available. 

Lower left...spanakopita (spinach pie)  REALLY GOOD!
Upper left...souvlaki (pork kabob in a pita roll) not that good ;o(
Upper right...greek salad (kind of speaks for itself, huh?)  good
Lower right...dolmades (stuffed grape leaves)  REALLY GOOD except they are served cold and I expected them to be hot, so it was a surprise in my mouth ;o)

I had tasted the spanakopita before but it was frozen and this was fresh.  Fresh is better!  I had always wanted to taste stuffed grape leaves and they were really tasty.  These were filled with rice and must have been sitting in a kind of marinade.

Stuffed grape leaves and a tasty beverage 

Greek salad, spinach pie and stuffed grape leaves

For dessert we had Kourabiedes (butter cookies covered with powdered sugar).  We didn't get a picture of these but they were also very good.  However, a word to the wise, don't take a big bite of a kouradiedes because there is so much powdered sugar floating around in your mouth, you can't breathe and IF you breathe, you suck all that sugar down your throat and it's really hard to make enough saliva to wet all that damn sugar.  Take small bites ;o)

They also had Greek music and dancing, which was lots of fun to watch and everyone was having a good time.

Father Ian welcomed those that were interested into the church and gave an interesting presentation about the history of the church, the three sections of the church and the icons. 

From there we headed to Fishermen's Village and had our cup of coffee on the swing by the river.

Our second favorite swing (the marina is to the left)

Our least favorite swing but sometimes it's the only choice

The weather has been picture perfect for the past week and promises to continue through next weekend.  The skies are clear, the sun is warm and bright and the temps are in the low 80's.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

PS...if anyone knows why the videos aren't coming up with the picture and the play arrow, please let me know.  They are correct on the draft ;o(

Orange

Not every day or every post involves a particular color; however, today is ORANGE.  Our neighbors, Bob and Jackie (not to be confused with our neighbors, Bob and Helen), have a very nice orange tree in their backyard.  It's actually our backyard as well since we have no idea where the boundary is and it's kind of like one big backyard.  Anyway, Bob came over yesterday afternoon and brought these...

Four fresh oranges right off the tree.  Yummy!

During our walk, we keep finding these...

See, this is number 20 and we have seen them up to number 45.  Now, I know what this is - a traffic cone, what I want to know is - what is going in each of these spots.  Any ideas?  We'll keep you posted.

We also see these on our walk...

This is an hibiscus tree.  Aren't these blossoms beautiful?  

We got an update on the missing swing - it rotted.  No update on whether or not it will be replaced ;o(

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

That's Not How We Left It ;o(

Last year we were in the habit of getting our coffee at a little shop in the Fishermen's Villages called "The Ornery Attitude" (O.A.).  From there we would wander outside and sit on a swing, overlooking Charlotte Harbor and the Peace River.  Many nights we sat there sipping our coffee, enjoying a biscotti and watching the sun set as we heard the signal for the boat leaving the harbor, taking passengers on the sunset cruise.  You can read more about this favorite spot of ours here.

This is what we found when we stopped today...

The supports are still there but...THERE'S NO SWING!  We asked Dave, the O.A. owner about it.  Apparently, we are the only ones missing it because he had no idea it had disappeared and no one else had asked about it.  However, he is going to check with the maintenance person and see if he can get some answers.  We were very disappointed.

We went to our preferred farmer's market today, along with most of Punta Gorda and the surrounding area.  Where did all of these people come from?  It was never this busy last year.  We bought some crab filled homemade ravioli, which we had for dinner along with vodka sauce and they were fabulous!  I forgot to get the name of the vendor but we'll get it next week and find out where the business is located.

We also came across a new vendor displaying some of the cutest little dresses I have ever seen.  I commented to Mr. Bill about one that I thought would look especially cute on my granddaughter, Ella.  However, when I looked at the back, there wasn't anything there, other than a little strap, which I found odd.  Luckily, it only took a split second (okay, maybe a couple of seconds) to figure out that it was designed for a dog, not a child.  duh  This little booth belonged to Koolnani's, owned and operated by a very pleasant woman by the name of Theresa Diaz.  I did ask if I could take a couple of photos for my blog and told her about one of the volunteers at the shelter, Beth H., who designs outfits for the shelter dogs.  She explained that she owns a couple of Yorkies and started designing outfits for them, then others asked her to make some and next thing, she was in business.

This is only a small section of her display but gives you an idea of how cute these outfits are.  Mr. Bill spotted the next one, which makes us think of Wendy Bee...

How freakin' cute is that?  She also had collars, bandannas, small animal beds and other animal items, along with some very cute aprons for people.  There may have been other people items but her space was getting busy so I didn't get photos of everything; there was a lot more to see.  She doesn't have a website but her card says "Kustom Apparel For people & their pets".  If you see something you like or want to get in touch with her regarding something for your special furry friend or yourself, you can email her at - koolnani@centurylink.net.  I did place an order but it's a surprise, so I can't tell you about it.

It was a very nice day here, 72*, mostly sunny and windy.  We had a great walk along the river but came back a different way, just for a change of scenery and because we can. 

Titan is a little out of sorts today; hope he's back to his usual self tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Pretty, pretty

Mr. Bill seemed to think that if we actually ate dinner by 7 I could find the time to create a post, so here it is.  


To catch up...
Saturday we had volunteered to take a dog from the shelter to a Pet Day program at AAA.  They had lots of things planned including micro chipping, nail clipping, photos, etc.  It was cloudy with rain in the forecast.  We took Apollo, an Akita mix that can be a handful.  He was very good last week but not so much this week.  First of all, he had diarrhea!  Great way to start the day.  And, he was kind of hyper, getting hold of the leash or jacket, or whatever got near his mouth and not letting go.  We no sooner got everything set up and it started to rain, then the wind started blowing, then it got cold.  I mean cold!  47*  We were shivering, the dogs were shivering, the vendors set up in the parking lot were getting soaked.  It started at 10 and was canceled at 11:30.  Didn't have to tell us twice, we packed up and returned to the shelter, which was a mad house.  Apparently the full moon effects everyone.


We came home and took a little rest on the couch, right after we turned up the heat.  Later in the day we went to get a coffee and drove down to Ponce de Leon Park (PdLP) where the sun came out and it was a nice evening, although chilly.

Yesterday we went to the shelter where it continued to be crazy.  There were lots of people there walking dogs.  It seems that the weekends are the days when parents bring their kids to the shelter to play with the dogs.  That means that the dogs are w.i.r.e.d!!!  After walking several dogs each, Bill took Will (a red nosed pit that can jump out of his pen) and I took Buddy, a small brindled pit that's very cuddly and we spent some extra time with them in the sun.  It was a nice, quiet time for all of us.


Then Mr. Bill decided, that since we didn't walk at all the day before, we would walk extra.  We parked at Fishermen's Village (FV) and walked 2.5 miles to PdLP where we used the bathroom and had a rest before walking back.  It was a pleasant walk in a different direction.  We enjoyed coffee on our swing by the river before making a trip to the grocery store.

View of Charlotte Harbor from "our" swing









It was about 7 by the time we headed home from the grocery store.  Being so late allowed us to see this as we passed over the bridge between Punta Gorda and Charlotte harbor...

 

  

  

It was the most spectacular sunset I have seen in a long time.  Then, as we turned into our complex, we spotted this...

It was quite a show, I'm glad we didn't eat till late.

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)