Thanksgiving Week and it is chilly!

This picture is from over a month ago.  Today is too chilly to be out in the water except for surfers.  The wind has been blowing a storm across the country and our chill is nothing compared to what other states are receiving from Mother Nature. 

It is interesting how well our flowers have been doing - they seem to like the cooler weather.  But the wind last night blew quit a few blooms away.  

I woke up at 2:00 am and came out to the kitchen to get a drink of orange juice.  Dad was up also and we both noticed the pool sweeper was running.  It shouldn't be at 2:00 am.  So we went out with the wind blowing and noticed it was not only running but tangled itself up.  It never does that.   So off the pump went till morning.   Too late, to chilly, and we were too tired to straighten it out.  

Last week:   I have some great pictures of when Stacy, Jasmine and Nancy were here put can't load anything onto the blog unless it is a previous photo that was loaded on the blog.  They had a great time I believe and kept us running. 
This week:  The Thanksgiving crowd comes in and we are looking forward to their visit.  It sure makes the holiday more special.  We have some odds and ends to take care of before they come but we are basically ready. 
Most of you have a short work week!  That is a great feeling!   Take care and make sure you get your turkey out of the freezer on time!   Bye for now....

The luck of company

WHY?  Why when company comes it either gets cool or rains OR BOTH?  We just had pretty day after pretty day.  And now we have Nancy, Stacy, and Jasmine visiting and it is cool and misty.   Ugh!!   I still can't upload pics and don't know why.   I might have to begin a new blog so this post is mostly words.  Rug was cleaned, tile and grout also cleaned by a floor company.  Everything is a clean as it can be for the guests coming in the next for weeks.  Holiday seasons are wonderful.   For 36 years as a band director there was always the stress of holiday concerts and I would say I would thoroughly enjoy the first few holiday seasons in which I could go enjoy the holiday musical festivities rather than be in charge of them.   And as much as I miss the concerts back at HMS, I don't miss the stress.  
Well, since I can't upload pics yet, how about I do something that I see on another blog with Thanksgiving coming:

     TEN THINGS THAT I AM THANKFUL FOR.........
1.  Family - We are so, so close and always there for each other.  Sometimes we annoy each other but love always wins out.

2.  Move - I am so glad we were brave enough to make the move to Florida. It would of been so easy to chicken out.

3.  Family and friends close - Even though we moved 900 miles away, we still have kept close ties to friends and family members.  So important to our happiness.

4. Kacey - Love my little doggy.

5.  Disney World - Hey!   I finally live in the same state as Disney World but it is 7 hours away.    What a bummer!

6. Fish Dinners - I love fresh fish which is convenient for where I live.

7.  Glasses that don't slip - I have new glasses that never slip down my nose.   Ahhhhh!  One less aggravation in my life!

8.  No frizzies - Don't ask me why but my hair doesn't get frizzy here.  I don't know why but after having that problem most of my life, it is wonderful.

9.  Safety - We live in a pretty safe neighborhood with service men in the air force around us.  Makes you feel pretty darn safe.

10.  The bears -  We have bears living by us but I NEVER get to see the bear.   Everyone else does.   He gets into our garbage, poops in our yard, but will he show himself to me?  NO!!!  But I like knowing they live close.

Getting ready to be busy

Yes, I am getting ready.   Ready for company, ready for Thanksgiving, shopping for Christmas. I'll talk more about that in a minute.

I am happy to say that the flowers are doing great.  But we - meaning Dad and a friend - took down the two sweet gum trees in the front yard.   The had these round bulbs with very sharp needles throughout the trees.   Step on one of those and ouch!  Also, slowly Dad and I are removing these iron stains that get on the house from watering the grass.  (Look above.)  They are especially difficult to remove when on the brick.   Our pump for our watering system runs through a vein of iron and therefore we have stains if the water hits the house or cars every day.   Very annoying but it is what it is.   We have an iron cleaner that we get from Lowes that works great.  Spray it on - wait - and rinse.  It just takes awhile.

The weather has been in the mid 70's to upper 80's.   I even went in the pool a few days ago. It was 74 degrees but immediately I began my exercises and warmed up.  I hate that the water is too cool most days right now and for the next 3 months it will be colder.  But when the warmer weather hits - I am ready! 
But the grass is not really growing very much right now.  I do love wearing shorts and T-shirts in November.  Oh, we found a great new restaurant in Pensacola.  It is called Cheddars. The food was great,they give you a lot of food, and the prices were wonderful.  I suggest anybody going think about getting the spareribs.
Notice the pool picture and that the landscaping needs to be finished.   Our neighbor across the street has a garden/lawn business and bought way too much sod to finish off his landscaping.  We bought the rest from him and a great price and finished off out landscaping with the sod.  It looks so much better.   So this picture is the before picture and in a day or two I will put up the after picture.

I mentioned up above that I have been getting ready. That means getting schedules and house finalized for company and starting my Christmas shopping. No, I am not some kind of nut. After all, it sure looks like Christmas in the stores.  But because of being on a budget, it is much easier for me to buy some gifts now so that I don't run out of money in December. It's just the smart way for me to do my Christmas shopping.    Every gift I have purchased so far has been on sale and at a great price.  Mom and I are even watching the sales in the paper for items in the grocery store that will go on sale for Thanksgiving day dinner. We will have a lot of people here and so we are watching the money.  So my early Christmas shopping and Thanksgiving shopping is to save money and yet have wonderful gifts for family and friends.   I actually enjoy trying to save money with coupons and deals since I have the time to do so now.   Today I went to Family Dollar and saved $8.00 on a purchase of 12 items.   A blog that I read is how one family saves their money for their yearly Disney trip.  When they use coupons, for example, they take the money saved and add it into their Disney trip account and that works for them.

Something else to look forward to is Mom and Dad's 60th anniversary.   Here is a picture of them at Strongbows in Valparaiso, In. (I heard it closed a few months ago.   So sad.)  We had a wonderful family dinner in celebration of their 50 years and now we are just short of 60.  Crazy - where does time go!?  Married on Christmas Eve, Dave and Ron will be here for the anniversary.   Sorry, today I have been rambling on and on........I certainly have not organized my thoughts on today's blog.  I can hear Dad trying to wake up Kacey to take her outside for her last nightly potty trip.   She is half asleep and has been known to fall into the pool so he watches where she is headed.   A wet dog before bedtime is not good, no it is not!   Trust me, I know!

HALLOWEEN - SPOOKY FUN!

Halloween is always fun and I fondly remember the days at my brother Ron's place where a grave yard, guillotine, flying witches and ghosts would appear in his yard every year.  This mixture with the cooler weather and falling leaves really made a wonderful spooky effect for all.   He even had talking monsters that were at least 9 feet tall that would have conversations with  the kids - some loved it and some where totally spooked by a conversation with this creature.   To top it off, sometimes there would be chili, grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, chips, and hot chocolate for those that were helping with the haunted presentation.   So hauntingly fun!!!  It was a bit different here.  Warm - upper 70's and humid and the mosquitoes were biting me but happy children and parents were making their rounds and gathering their loot.  The usual was knocking at out door - beautiful princess, pirates, super heroes, frightening figures that, well, you really don't know what they were.  We try to make our house inviting to these welcomed guests.   (And all said thank you and were wonderfully polite!)

These pictures were taken at night but the flash makes it look like it is in the middle of the afternoon.

A mixed for fall and beachy awaits you at our front door.

Our pumpkin ghost greeted trick-or-treaters as they knocked at the door.

Pumpkin pals.

A happy crow waiting for visitors.   (This is from Mom and Dad's craft show days.)

In a month this will become all Christmas.

This is a fall wreath that I made for the front door.   Some how it just doesn't have the same feel as Halloween in Indiana.  The cool breeze blowing colorful dried leaves down on you add to the scary atmosphere.   Here trick-or-treaters are walking by palm trees and hibiscus.  Just not the same.  Oh and I never got that fried apple donut from the Hobart Apple Orchard.  Soooooo good!
Happy Fall, - y'all!