Back Home Again in Indiana

We just returned from a week long visit to Hobart, Indiana and Monticello, Indiana - where I lived and where Mom and Dad lived prior to moving to FLORIDA.

• 18 hours going up to Hobart on a Thursday
• 15 hours returning to Gulf Breeze Florida on a Sunday

The first rest stop in Alabama going south is by Huntsville and this rocket ship is a real one.   I highly suggest you stop there and take a break.

Here we are driving through Tennessee.  Pretty green yet.  

Up in Kentucky the leaves were changing more and we began to see more colors.  This was on October 9 - 2014.

We finally made it to my brother, Ron's house. Very nice home and newly remodeled kitchen.

Back Home Again,  In Indiana,

And it seems that I can see....

The gleaming candlelight, still shining bright,

through the sycamores for me.

Finally arrived and doggies are sitting in the same chair.  Not to happy, what do you think?

Sunday we went to Monticello and ate at Sportsman's on Freeman Lake.  Soooooo gooooood!  Then off for a boat ride on Tammy and Joe's boat on Shafer Lake.  A bit cool but really pleasant for most of the trip.  Tammy teaches in Dave's block at Roosevelt Middle School in Monticello.

We ate lunch with the Cleavers and these are Mitch, Nick, and Alex.  I am sorry for spelling.

I have spent 36 years of my life on Shafer Lake boating.   Matter of fact, the first thing I bought with my money the first year of teaching was a boat, not a car.

We, the Kaiser's, owned a resort across from Indiana Beach Amusement Park.   8 cabins, a large pool, and the grounds kept us busy.  We had named it Anchor Bay after all the boats that anchor in the bay and people enjoy swimming, floating, fishing, and grilling.  This picture is the main house that Mom and Dad lived in and to the right is cabin 1.
I can't tell you how many beds I have made, toilets I have cleaned, garbages I have emptied,  yuck!

There is more than corn in Indiana BUT I have seen corn much taller than this.

Mums, Mums, Mums,   They are everywhere up north and in vivid colors.

Indiana Beach.   On of the roller coasters - over the water - fast - scary!!

The next night we met my cousins Sandy and Jim at Marty's on the river in Hebron.  The lake perch is #10!

See the mums.

The river is beautiful.

It is a very, very long restaurant.   Long.   Very.

Colin, Kelly's little boy was given a homemade marimba of sorts made by my Dad.  I can see that he enjoys anything with noise.

Colin and Natalie, Kelly's daughter, and engrossed with the IPAD.

Ok, there is a story about this one.  When I was a little girl, we used to shop downtown Gary in Goldblatts.  There was a 5 cent horse but I NEVER GOT TO RIDE IT!    Mean Mom and Dad!  So we are in the new Meijers in Portage and here it is.   For a penny.   My horse.  I could of taken it home but I believe that is called stealing.

Off to lunch to - you guessed it!

Ah, notice the leaves are changing quickly.  

And beautiful red, yellow, brown, and orange leaves gather on the ground.

So much more to show, the beginning has just begun.
Look back tomorrow, to see so much more fun!

All ok!

NO MORE HOSPITALS - PLEASE!
  I took Mom to the hospital to see her doctor and he sent her to for another sample to make sure that her infection is totally gone.   YES IT IS!  But while we were there I get a call from Dad - "Now don't worry and don't rush but my blood pressure is way up and I am shaking and need to go to emergency."   So I rush home and off we go.  He has many tests for his heart and head (for stroke).   After being there all day long, he is put on high blood pressure medicine and told that there is no stroke and his heart is healthy.   Thank you God!
But when you see his eyes because of his broken blood vessels, you will understand why we were so scared.

Poor guy!   We teased him about being ready for Halloween.  He had a great sense of humor about it all.
So in the last week and a half, Mom has been in the hospital four days, Dad in the ER, and Kacey at the vet 4 times.  All are great.  And can we please, please stay out of the hospital.   Please.

***   ***   ***   ***   ***   

I am very proud to introduce you to my home grown orange mandarin that grew on my very own tree.  It peels very easy, no seeds, and very sweet.  I had a lemon tree - I killed it.    Now you know why I am so proud of this juicy little orange mandarin.

Nicole and I went to dinner Saturday night and shopping at the mall.  I wanted to buy a pair of 9W Sperry boatshoes and found out Sperry does not make Wide shoes.  I found these for half the price of Sperrys in a 9W, comfy as can be, and so cute with the pink plaid trim.   Ah, Saturday night shopping is a fun activity -we closed the mall shopping so long.   Must remember to spray with leather water proof spray.  

We were in Bath and Body works for a long time smelling all the wonderful scents.  This is a soap and I will wait and put it out in November.  (My Dad will hate this.  He says - "Soap is shaped into a bar, not put in a bottle.  Who wants to wash their hands with pumpkins!")   Yep, that's my Dad.  Ya gotta love him.  

Do you know what this is?

No, not something you pee into.  It is a holder for the scent bulbs below.  You can buy almost any scent imaginable and they last a month.

VISITOR AT THE FRONT DOOR

I stepped out front to take a picture and we had a visitor.  These tree frogs are so funny.  They have a good jump in them - this one was in the front porch fountain and jumped on the brick when I stepped out.  And they are LOUD little guys.

I am going to guess he lives in our banana trees during the day.  They have really grown this year.



Fall decoration time.   Instead of decorating Halloween, then Thanksgiving, I like to decorate for Fall and it will stay until the Christmas decorations go up.

(Ha Ha --You can see the frog on the left side of the door.)

Scarecrows on each side of the door.

Fall wreath I made last year.

 Time for bed.  But I have to fold clothes first.......not my favorite thing to do.   Thank goodness for Downy Wrinkle Spray since it does a great job on cotton tops.

So off I go to take Kacey outside - dodge the frogs - fold the clothes and then I can go to sleep.  Take care all and enjoy these beautiful fall days!

"Bling"

I called this post "Bling"  because I went to Pensacola today to pick up my ring.  It had a spot that was rubbing against my finger and actually causing my finger to bleed.  After also being cleaned  - it looks like new!

Thursday Mom was sick....long story......but we knew she had a urinary infection.  Once the fever hit, we decided to take her to the emergency room.  Yes, she was very sick and needed to stay.  Mom was in the hospital from Thursday and got to leave at 2:00 on Monday.   Lots of antibiotics were pumped into her.  We are now home with oral antibiotics and she is looking good.  

This is a picture called LET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!!!!

Friends and family are wonderful!.  These yellow flowers were from the Thomas side of our family.  Thank you all!

These are beautiful purple blooms, aren't they?  They are from Nicole, Lamont, and Kray and we enjoyed a visit from them also.

I said earlier that I went to Pensacola.   I did take a few pictures.  This is a wonderful town - so clean and pretty.  It reminds you somewhat of New Orleans and is very artsy.  There are many balconies down the main street of Palafox.

Many luncheon spots and outdoor places to get a glass of wine and a sandwich.

The Globalgrill is a restaurant with lots of art work displayed.

Picasso's paintings, drinks and jazz music.  Wow!  You can't go wrong there.

Even the designs on the buildings are beautiful to look at.

More balconies.  They have Gallery Night four or five times a year in which they close off the street to traffic, the wine shops serve wine and drinks and you can walk up and down the street enjoying music, art, the people, and wonderful food.   There are bands playing - some are up in the balconies and some on the street.  Their music tends to overlap each other.

Every corner has these bicycle forms that are for people to lock their bikes up to ....needed because there are many people on bike enjoying the town and the waterfront.

Off to a new story.   Our friend's son, Kray (a junior) wanted to ask a girl to homecoming in a special way.   So he found a large, very heavy rock and painted NO.   Then an easy to carry in the palm of your hand rock and painted YES.   After letting the girl's father know, he placed the rocks on her porch with a note instructing her to give him the rock with the answer to the question - "Will you go to the Homecoming Dance with me?)

Well, the answer was...............

That's it for now.   We are going to run out for a hamburger.   Take care!

Fall in Florida feels like Summer

Yes, it is about fall but fall in Florida feels like summer.   Still hot and many days humid.   The biggest change is in the evenings.  The temps go down into the 70's.  Lots of pool time - I never miss a day.

We ran over to Peg Leg Petes last week for lunch.  The smoked tuna dip is our favorite.

These two people are being silly again.

Last Friday we had 8 water spouts around us.  They are not dangerous unless they move to shore and then they become tornadoes.  Here is one right by our house and stayed there for over 30 minutes.  They closed the zoo for the rest of the day.   I am sure the animals were not happy.

This picture is taken from our street.
It was over the sound - inter coastal waterway.


And then it was my birthday!!!!   Happy birthday to me.......
I got so many wonderful birthday wishes and I can't thank everyone enough!
We went to Bagelheads for breakfast.   I LOVE BAGELHEADS.   I get the orange/cranberry muffin.  

Mom got the plain bagel.......no imagination.  And Dad got the blueberry muffin.   Another winner.

Then we came home and Mom and Dad gave me my gift.  Loved it!!!  Pool time and my Aunt Sandy sent us money to go celebrate at Hemingway's for a birthday dinner.  Wish she had been there, too.  Cake was delicious carrot cake.  Soooooooo goooooooood!

This blog may not seem organized.  It is not.   Just thoughts and pictures but that is the way my day is.  This is a recipe I saw for banana pie.   If you have ever been to the Das Essenhaus restaurant near Shipshewana, you then have enjoyed their amazing pies.  I always get the banana.   So I thought I might try this out for the holidays.      www.essenhaus.com

So true and worked for me many times when I was teaching.  

Bed time is soon and Kacey and I have the same routine every night.

1. Clean the ears with ear cleaner

2. Put eye drops in the eyes.

3. Put a pill in a chicken McNugget.

(Here is why.   This dog can taste any pill no matter how you hide it.  We have hid it in pill pockets, peanut butter, cheese, bread, spaghetti, meatloaf - she can eat the tasty part and walk into the living room and spit.   Out comes the pill. UGH!!!!!!!   BUT she absolutely loves chicken McNuggets so much that she gobbles them down fast and the pill goes right down with it.)

4.  Go outside.

5.  Stand and wait for a treat even though she had a chicken McNugget.

6.  Finally go to bed.

I HAVE LESS THINGS TO DO WHEN I GO TO BED!

Got my hair trimmed and I said - "Not too short, PLEASE."  Gee, I am so glad they listen.

As I said at the beginning, it is warm and I love it.  Flowers blooming everywhere and hummingbirds are gathering at our feeder.  They like to almost dive bomb you when you are in the pool.  Everyone here is great and I do not take that for granted.   It is 11:02 and time to begin Kacey's bedtime routine.  Miss Kacey needs her beauty sleep.   Take care all!

Kacey is sick!

Kacey is my 12 year old pug that is a member of the family, some call spoiled, very stubborn and persistent, and certainly a little diva.  

We have always said the expression "Sick as a dog" and I now understand how bad that can be.  Friday night my Kacey ate her supper and seemed fine.  By eight o'clock she was going downhill fast.  Kacey was gurgling when breathing and that scared me.    I was up part of the night because I was so worried about her.  SO..........off to the vet in the morning we went.   After x-rays, blood tests, heart worm tests, ear swab test,  and more she had two problems.   One was inflammation around a disc in her back.  Oh, that must of hurt.

But the worst problem was that she did have a little congestion in her lungs.   Her inner ear was greatly infected and the ear drum had separated.  (from what, I don't know but I have been told it happens to may older dogs.)  The vet was very concerned that the ear problem will lead to pneumonia.   

One sick dogie!   She stood at the vet with her tail straight down and was miserable.  I cried.

The vet gave her two pain pills to take, one pill that was an antibiotic for the ear, eye drops, and solution to clean the ears twice a day.

The rest of Saturday and Sunday and into Monday she was a sick little dog that wanted to be held at all times.  The vet wanted her back Monday morning - which we did - and did another ear swab.

Today, we are seeing improvement.   Thank goodness!!   We have a ways to go with the ear and another appointment Thursday but I hope we are going in the right direction.

She never has problems relaxing.

Some humor to be added here.   She is a pill popper.   What I mean is any pill that goes into the mouth comes back out.  UGH!!!!!   Wrap it is cheese - NO, peanut butter - NO, bread -NO.   We had to get those pills in her so I have a bright idea.  (Please don't judge me.)  Off we go to McDonald's to get chicken McNuggets.      Pulled off the coating and stuck the pill inside and down the throat it went.   DON'T YOU DARE TELL HER OUR SECRET.

Friday night I put her on my bed so that I could hear her breathing.  Guess where she wants to sleep now!?
Really Kacey?

The money spent at the vet - that alone can make me cry.  But she is a member of our family and if it looks as if she can be cured, then I will do my best.

Kacey sleeping in the car.  Kacey has traveled many a mile!

As of Tuesday night at 11:30, she is sleeping next to me while I type.    We are not over the woods with the ears and pneumonia but I feel so much better.   Love my Kacey.  

If Kacey could talk, this is what she would say:

• I am sitting there.    Please move.  Yes, you.   Move your leg over three inches to the right.   You are crowding me.
• Do I really need to whine to get your attention?  You know, I can keep this up all day long.
• You expect me to eat that!   I don't think so.
• I don't snore.   Princesses don't snore.
• Do not put Halloween costumes and Santa hats on me.  It is embarrassing.
• I want outside.  No, I don't have to go - I just want to sniff.   I don't care that there are only 10 minutes left in the movie  you are watching.
• Never should everyone leave the house at once......someone should stay home and cuddle with me.  Where are your priorities?
• I love my family and I know they love me.