A New Place to Call Home...

 A New Home...

MacDaddy and I were so sad to leave St. Augustine, but we are loving our new home in Palm Harbor.  It's not the beach but we are on the water...a canal that runs from Tampa Bay to Lake Tarpon, the biggest lake in our area. We have a daily show of wildlife...birds, deer, raccoons...and the occasional gator.

Condo living is better than I ever expected... We love not having to do maintenance and lawn care. Yes, we downsized, but we are actually in a larger place. Having 3 stories to climb each day (several times) is great exercise! It's quiet here, too, yet we are in the middle of "civilization". (We have 8 Starbucks in a 5 mile radius.)

This is one of our daily visitors.

Most mornings, these lovelies are part of a herd we see almost daily. This is across the canal. We also have deer visitors across the street every evening...right now there are a couple of fawns making their debut...

Early morning on the canal...the water is still, except for the occasional jumping fish and the nesting coots. I love how the vegetation reflects...looks like mountains. This view is from the balcony off our bedroom. I love greeting the day from here...

So even if we're no longer on our beloved Crescent Beach, we are in another kind of Paradise...

near our granddaughter and the rest of the family.

And it's wonderful!

Jane

Reflections of the Night Sky

The sunset over the Matanzas River is reflected in the skies over the Atlantic...truly magnificent.

I have been living here for the past three months... 

and will be leaving in a couple of weeks.

The thing about the sea...it truly has helped me get back to being "ME". 

Good Morning from The Breakers

Good morning from The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida!

Once again, I had the privilege of accompanying MacDaddy to The Breakers...one of the oldest and most beautiful resorts in Florida. The original hotel was built by Henry Flagler in the late 1890s. It burned down in 1903...was rebuilt, and burned again. The structure we see today was built by Flagler's family...and was designed to 

never burn down" again. The "new" Breakers has worn many hats...beginning and ending with a luxurious hotel. During WWII, it became a hospital. (Can you imagine saying you were born at The Breakers???)

Today, this beauty has been totally refurbished and is the most beautiful hotel I have ever seen. The artwork is absolutely amazing...and the gardens are beyond compare. 

Take a few minutes and search images of The Breakers Palm Beach. There are many beautiful photos of the interior. The ceilings in the lobby are a sight to behold!

Here are some of my photos taken in the early morning... Enjoy!

Sunrise on the Atlantic

Tankers arriving at the port

An osprey hunting for breakfast

One of the many walks to the ocean. 

One of many pools...Love the turquoise umbrellas! They match the color of the water...

My favorite spot...the place I love to read and sketch

A taste of the foliage...garden tours are given most days

One of the many planters surrounding the pools...

The "breakers"...There is not much beach here. But it's lovely.

Even midday...there is occasionally a misty view

Before the Storm

Storm clouds were forming...closing up the sun-filled sky. 

It was a truly amazing sight!

ONE MORE CHECK ON THE BUCKET LIST... TURTLES HATCHING

I FINALLY SAW BABY LOGGERHEAD TURTLES HATCH! 

Well, actually, I missed the hatching, but at sunrise, I saw the Turtle Patrol emptying the nest so they could count the hatched eggs... We found 4 little hatchings still in the nest. With gloved hands, the rescuers picked them up, placed then in a cooler, for transport.

The Turtle Patrol dug out the nest, counted the hatched eggs (over 100!), and the "spacers" (unhatched, probably unfertilized eggs), then replaced everything back into the nest and covered it back up. It was a fascinating process...

Empty shells...

"Spacers"

We released the babies onto the damp sand, near the surf, where they quickly headed for the waves, and floated away...

TURTLE HATCHING...CHECK!

TIME FLIES WHEN YOU'RE HAVING FUN!

TIME FLIES...when you're having fun.

I don't know where the time has gone. My last post was in MAY!!!

What have I done since then???

     End of May - traveled to Miami Beach with MacDaddy. I love when I can tag along! We stayed in the W Hotel, right on Miami Beach. We had a beautiful suite with a wonderful view of the ocean and the city of Miami.  I love going to south Florida! It's so much fun getting into the car and exploring on my own. There are great restaurants, incredible shopping and interesting museums. (It's a shame that MacDaddy has to work and cannot explore with me.)

   
   
     June was filled with lots of granddaughter days. Eva and I had "Shammy Tuesdays (and many Thursdays). These days were full of excursions to visit Greatma, visits to The Fresh Market ("to get some peanut butter"), and playtime and clothes at Stellie Bellies. And, of course, we made up songs for each adventure. Gosh, I miss these days!

Miss Eva certainly has style! She's wearing Auburn pajamas with her tutu and princess crown.

    July (my birthday), MacDaddy took me to Vero Beach and the cutest boutique hotel...owned by Gloria Estefan....the Casa d'Este. We also had a great visit with dear friends...and new friends. It was a great way to spend my birthday...and the 4th of July.

     In early August, MacDaddy had another meeting in Orlando, at the Gaylord. While he worked, I hung out with our son, Music Guy. He and his friend joined me at the hotel for dinner and exploring the massive atrium (we got lost!) The next day, he took me to several of his favorite haunts. It was so much fun!!!

(This was in the atrium...and they even had feeding times for the guests to see.)

     The rest of July and part of August was spent packing up our home of 20+ years. I tossed and donated at least 20 carloads of stuff...and still filled a huge dumpster, a moving van, and a gigantic storage unit. It was a well orchestrated (HA!) move of storing our belongings and packing our cars for a temporary move to St. Augustine. We moved into our condo on Aug. 16 and will stay until November...and maybe longer. This is a great opportunity for us to see if we like living here...

     Now I wake to this every day...

     And I'm loving every minute! Our son, Drummer Boy, and his beautiful wife, Kate, spent 9 days with us. Boy did we have fun! And our other sons, WineGuy, his beautiful wife, Julie, and Miss Eva, Music Guy and his friend, CS, all joined us for Labor Day weekend...and the first Auburn football game. WDE!

     Now it's back to work...for MacDaddy. And relax and regroup time...and hopefully, painting... for me. I'll also be searching for a new place for us to hang our hats...back in Clearwater. Or maybe we'll stay in St. A. 

Time will tell...it's a new adventure!

It's been so long since I blogged (with the exception of posting one I wrote months ago). I have missed all of you so much! Sitting for long periods of time is still difficult...and taboo (according to my doctor!), so I have avoided my computer as much as possible, using it only when I needed to do some actual work.

Like many of you, life has become so busy! With trying to sell our house (and keeping it clean!) and making decisions where we want to live for the next couple of years, I have felt a bit overwhelmed. We have a buyer...but the bank is dragging its feet. We are so OVER this! All I want to do is close this chapter of our life and get on with the next. But we wait...knowing God has already settled this matter and we just need to sit back and let Him deal with the mess... We've decided to stay local, for the time being. We love being near our kids and granddaughter. But all these ideas may change. We'll see...

As I mentioned above, I'm still dealing with sciatica, so I don't sit at the computer for long periods of time. That's one of the reasons I have not blogged in awhile...  The good news with the sciatica is that I am really exercising and I've lost a lot of weight...and three sizes! And I am getting better each day. My treatments are down to one day per week...and soon, the doctor/adjustments will be twice a month...then once a month. (Think I'll keep going for the massages, though...they feel soooooo good!) Had a bit of a scare this week...the massage therapist noticed a possible clot in my calf...had the sonogram, but have not heard the results, yet. I assume since I was not called on Friday afternoon, that there was no clot...but I will be calling the DR. tomorrow morning to make sure.

In the past couple of months, I have catered two events...a baby shower and an engagement party. It was so much fun planning and researching menu ideas. I used the Billionaire Bacon-Wrapped Chicken  (from an earlier post...HUGE hit!) at both parties...along with an assortment of other delectable dishes. Both were successes...and at both events, it was suggested that I make this my business. NO WAY! That would take the fun out of cooking. But I'll do it for special friends... (The photo is Chicken and Apple Salad in Wonton Cups. Yummy!)

And recently, I have had the privilege of caring for my granddaughter one day a week. Oh the fun we've had! (and oh, how tired I am when she leaves!!!) Little Miss is 2 years old. I cannot believe how time has flown...

Painting has not been a part of my life for awhile...somehow, I have not been able to create anything. But that seems to have come to a halt...I actually painted a commissioned piece and delivered it this weekend. It really felt good, using my brushes. Can't show what I did...it's still a surprise for the recipient. But here a couple of my favorites:

Our "travel season" is just around the corner. I'll be accompanying Mac Daddy to South Beach (Miami), Atlanta, and Jacksonville in the coming weeks...then later in the summer,/fall , we'll be heading to St. Augustine...for a long visit!. MacDaddy can work from there...and I can paint and spend time on the beach!

Now that I've begun blogging again, I hope to see you more often...

With love,

Jane