BACK TO REALITY ~ ~ ~

Isn't this just a beautiful view? This was off the veranda at our friend's Lemon Bay condo one afternoon ~ such a fun spot to watch the seagulls and pelicans when the fishermen would bring in their catch in the afternoon. Those birds came out of nowhere to scarf up the little fish tidbits (nicely worded, hm?) left after the fish were made ready for dinner!! We didn't do a lot of sitting ~ we were on the go a lot and that works for Sonny and I! We walked every morning except the first two ~ it was pretty chilly those days but compared to what we left in Ohio, it was heaven!!

Two of our days, we went to the beach, which really were in walking distance ~ but you have to drive to take all the gear necessary to enjoy the beach ~ our chairs, umbrella, beach bag, hats ~ holy crow, people look like they're moving instead of just going for the day!! I just took a picture of Sonny's 'great shark tooth' find!!! He found a new hobby within minutes of landing on the beach ~ we watched this older gentleman, with a homemade gizmo, walking along the water's edge and scooping up something ~ of course, we had to ask! ~ and found out he hunts sharks teeth. He showed us what to look for and Sonny was off and running! On his two trips, he gathered enough to make up a little bag of teeth for each of the young grandkids and kept this nice big one (about 1 1/4") to take to the lake ~ we have a table made from an old window and have created seascapes in the windowpanes ~ so this big one will be a nice addition!!!

With the help of our friends, Diane and Greg, I gathered a nice bunch of shells ~ Grandpa Sonny decided it would be nice to give each little person a bag of those, too ~ so I kept the most unusual for the lake and bagged up the rest for the kids!! Luke & Luci got theirs last night and were quite happy!! Actually, they were quite less expensive than buying everybody t-shirts and they won't grow out of them!! We're getting pretty creative in our old age and of course, the crazy economy helps!!

We did have a great time with our friends and got together with three other couples from Ohio at various times ~ we were on the go a lot, of course!! We ate lots of good seafood ~ I love grouper ~ and had lots of afternoon cocktails! One day, I begged them to stop at a little watering hole that we passed ~ I took a picture of Sonny and our friends on the porch of this place to put on the blog but decided I probably didn't need to be advertising for them!! It was a 'honky tonk' with a notation on their sign that it was a 'sunny place for shady people' !!!! Perfect ~ we had to go in!! There were eight or so local characters sitting at bar in a smoke-filled haze and when I asked the barmaid (yes, that's right) for a cocktail, she said "you'll have beer or wine"!! Okay!!! She could hold her own for sure! As we entered, my friend noticed they had smoked mullet on Friday night (although they didn't serve food) ~ not that we would be able to be there that night ~ and then the gal behind the bar said 'oh, you must come Friday night ~ the Smoked Mullet band will be playing!!!! Oh, we had a big laugh over that one! I bet those people all wondered what planet we dropped out of ~ we were a little out of place there! It was fun for me but I don't think our friends or the man I live with, will let me go back!!!

So, as the blog title says, back to reality ~ laundry, office work, cold weather and of course, rug hooking!! We are ever so grateful to our friends for giving us a week's respite from Ohio weather ~ we notice that everyone is so happy and cheerful in Florida ~ and we know it's the warmth and the sun ~ it's a wonderful thing!!! Thanks Diane & Greg!!!
Alice