Lots to do!

My gosh, it has been a long time since I've written. Lots has been happening.  We are expecting lots of rain in the next two days and further north of us there are tornadoes. Thank goodness they don't think any of the severe weather will be in Gulf Breeze.  So if I start with the present it go backwards a couple weeks I can let you in on a little bit of what has been happening with the Kaiser.   Mom fell last Thursday and must've hit her head because we needed to call an ambulance once we recognize she was having memory problems. Matter of fact, the memory problems caused her not to remember the last three years of her life. It only lasted for about five hours and then slowly started returning to normal. Thank goodness.

The pool has been warming up and is up to 80°. So I have been swimming for the last five days. It does take a little bravery on my part to first walk into the water but very quickly I get used to it and enjoy it.

We can pretty much determine which plants in our yard are dead from the ice storm and the ones that are going to come back to life. So we have been removing the dead ones and spending money at Lowe's to replace them. I love walking around the flowers at Lowes.  I always have enjoyed going in Johnson's in Portage to look at flowers during the spring time but here it's fun because so many of  the flowers are very different than Indiana flowers.    When ICU plant I might like to get, I can Google it on my iPhone on the spot and see if it looks like it would grow well in this climate. So many flowers die once it gets 40 to 30° and this winter we did have two days that went down to 19°.  Yes, I know that's nothing compared to 10 below zero for over a month at a time. And yes, I know I am getting spoiled.   After all, isn't that why I moved here?

Ron sent us a 3 foot hibiscus tree.  I love their big, bright flowers!

Sunset here are worth driving down to the sound to see!

My shopping buddy

Oh, and guess who is back?   THE BLUE ANGELS!!  They practice every Tuesday and Wednesday morning at 8:30. The other day I was in the pool and they had just flown back from Texas and they went directly over our house in formation.  And I mean directly over. I could not believe how low they were. The next day in the paper it said they had gone all away down the beaches of Pensacola Beach Santa Rosa Island to say to their home crowd "WE'RE HOME!"  The Pensacola Naval base is their home base and where their families are located. Pensacola takes a great deal of pride in the Blue Angels.

Some final thought before I head to bed.

1.  We had to break down and turn on the air conditioning. 80° isn't that warm but the humidity is beginning to be bothersome.

2.  I got the iPhone 5c and love it. It was free through one of their programs. I do like the pictures from its camera.

3.  Kathy and Terry Cox are coming next week for a day to visit and I can't wait. Will be going down to Fort Pickens, to historic Pensacola, one of the beach restaurants, and more. Oh yes and Joe Patties.

4.  Nothing look sadder than a pug getting a bath.

That's it for now!

April wind and showers

I haven't been here for awhile and I really don't have lots of pictures but here is the latest.

We were walking on the Pensacola Beach Pier on a windy, cloudy day and the waves were coming in fast and furious.  Pictures just never seem to do the power of the gulf justice.

Surfers love this weather.

We lost some plants in the ice storm so we will be slowly replacing them.   I bought these at Lowes.  One of my favorite past times is perusing all the flowers and plants in the Lowes garden section.

I bought two of these for in the back yard.

NEW BIG PURCHASE:
Our house was build in 2006 lived in for a few years and then the owner lost the house to the bank.   It sat empty for 3 years (maybe?) and then we purchased it.   The carpeting was the original put in by the contractor - low grade in other words.  There were stains on it before we moved in and the dirt tracks have become more noticeable with my busy family in and out.  So, it was time.  I prices several stores for carpeting and actually thought I would be using Lowes but Mom and I had purchased a rattan chair from Gene's Carpet and Flooring in Gulf Breeze so I stopped there to check.  I found the carpet that I wanted and upgraded the padding, free installation, free moving furniture, and free pulling out and throwing away old carpet.   Once I was down to two pieces to choose from I brought them home and studied them in the dark hallway and by the sunny windows.   Decision made!
          So new carpeting is being put in next Friday!

I actually wanted the ceramic tile but Mom has fallen a few times and I prefer her to fall on soft carpeting rather than on hard tile.

That's it for now - I need to pay some bills and get some coupons ready for the grocery store later.  It is a bit gloomy today so it is a good day to do these jobs.   Happy Spring to all!

Moving Into Spring

It is Spring Break time on Pensacola Beach.    Lot of people visiting, mostly families and the restaurants and shops are filled with anxious tourists ready to spend their money.  The other day, for Dad's birthday, we went to Hemingway's for dinner and I shot a couple of pictures with my camera.

This is taken around 6 pm at the sound.  Calm waters helped to make the evening's dinner relaxing.

Most people have left the beach and the few  stragglers are heading off towards their cars.   Again, this is the Sound.   The Gulf of Mexico is right at the other side of these condos.  

Most days are in the low 70's and NO HUMIDITY.   

Dave is here for Spring Break and we ran over to Joe Patties today.  While driving by the ball park there were the two most interesting kites I have ever seen so in we pulled to check them out closer.   Kite flying is an adult activity here in the Pan Handle and some of the kites cost a pretty penny.    The parrot kite must be 10-12 feet long  and the crocodile below is even larger.  

After dinner, we took a drive down to Fort Pickens and saw this incredible cloud formation in the sky.   People on the island were standing and gazing up at this picturesque formation in the sky.

I am going to end today's post with a crazy. fun camping bus that we enjoyed looking at in the Fort Pickens Camp Ground.  This old bus has an old Volkswagen van connected to its roof.   This is down right crazy fun.  Maybe not my style of camping though.   I would prefer one of those RVs with air conditioning, heat, microwave, oven, flat screen tv, etc.    You get the picture.  

With Dave here this week I am sure we will have a busy 5 days.  And can you believe it?   It snowed in Indiana again.  Mother Nature has really been showing off this winter.   I hope everyone is having a great Spring Break and ready to see some of those pretty tulips poking through the ground.    Take Care!!

More Rain? Really!?

Today was a day of rain.  Pouring, driving rain in the morning and continuous softer rain in the afternoon and evening.  Cloudy skies make you feel like vegetating on the couch reading a book - which is what I did.
(My spoiled doggy has an umbrella held over her in the rain so she will go potty.)
Tomorrow I have a man from the carpet store coming to measure the living room for tile but I am afraid the cost will be too much for me right now.  At least I will have the correct measurements and price.  We also had a sales rep from one of the lawn service companies stop and talk to us about our palms.  They are sad because of the ice storm several weeks ago.   The ice was thick enough to allow kids to sled down streets and pull branches and palms off of trees.  Since it was 19 degrees, some of the palms can't live in the frigid temperature so it is questionable if they are going to live.

Shot from in front of our house to the east.  Lots of fast moving clouds.

Actually, this palm is not too bad.  Half of it is still green and the stems are all green.

This is the top of our palm tree.  I WAS beautiful.  It has a lot of regrowing repair to do.  It makes me sad to look at it.

Our banana trees have been stripped but they tend to grow quite fast.

 My Disney Souvenir:   I bought this at the Flower and Garden Show last week at Disney World.  Notice the Mickey hat on this cute pink flamingo.   He has quite a personality and nose.  

It is like I said in an earlier post.  This day after day cloudiness seems to effect me more and more.  I so want to see the sun and I believe Tuesday and on that will happen.  

Dreary

It has been just a dreary day.

I have found on days that are cloudy and rainy my energy level drops.   No sun, ugh!

We ran over to the SUBWAY on Pensacola Beach for lunch since I wanted SUBWAY and to see what the beach area was like with spring breakers.   They were walking around - it had not started raining yet but you knew it was coming.  I always feel bad for people that spend their money for a week in the sun and then it rains.  Just one of Mother Nature's tricks. 

Later at home I worked on paying bills and checking out the budget.  Then Dad and I visited a neighbor down the street that has had health issues.  The final stop was a craft store that has opened up down the road, maybe 3 miles away.   It is a sort of a consignment craft store and Dad is going to make some napkin rings to sell.  He has orders for three different items so he better get to work.

So it is raining, nothing on television that I wish to watch, and dinner is finished.  I think that I will read for awhile.  Not that I don't have things to do.   I just don't want to do much at all right now.   That is what a rainy, cloudy, and windy day does to me.

                

Hello Disney Flower and Garden Show

Yes, I love Disney World.   I love reading about Walt Disney, planning our trips, looking for the cheapest way to make our trips, and then the time comes for the trip.  To me, it is the happiest place in the world.   Everything is beautiful - especially flowers- and clean and pleasant. 

So this post will be about Disney World and our latest trip.   We went again so soon because we had some free tickets.  I made reservations in All Sports and the room was very clean, right by the food court, on the first floor so Mom's scooter was easy to use, and the beds!   We wanted to take the beds home with us - they were so comfortable!

 When we arrived, housekeeping left us a Mickey design on the bed.

My Disney Purse.

We purchased the Disney Mug.  Free refills for the duration of your trip.   I keep track and it was a definite money savings for me rather than buying individual drinks.

Some Mouseketeers.  

We each had a Magic Band.  This opened our room door, allowed us to charge to our room or a credit card without having a card with us, and was used to get us into parks.  No carrying a ticket with you anymore.   I loved it! It uses a pin number that you make up so no one else can use it but you.

Kacey was also on vacation.   She stayed on Disney property in the BEST FRIEND'S KENNEL and loved it.  Three walks a day - comfortable bed - a 3 by 6 room - and lots of love!   She was happy.

I have 2012, 2013, and 2014 t-shirts now.  

The next set of pictures are from the Epcot Flower and Garden Show.   How beautiful it was and the topiaries are gorgeous.  Here are some pictures I took.

Of course, the beautiful EPCOT fountains just add beauty.

I am hopping on the monorail to meet Mom and Dad at Rain Forest Cafe for lunch.  

Wednesday night was wonderful since we met Kathy and Terry Cox at Disney's Boardwalk for dinner.   Then we walked down to the bakery and got some scrumptious desserts.  Since we all were staying at the same resort, we went back to the food court for coffee and enjoyed our desserts.   

It was warm weather, colorful flowers, good friends, and lots of fun!   Ah, Disney, you are my home away from home!