Approaching Spring

It's been a while since my last blog post, but really not too much has changed - a few minor health issues (i.e. catching a cold from every little kid that walks past me and the progressively worse back pain that comes from aging).  I actually like Indiana Jones' line: "It's not the years Sweetheart, it's the miles". But life still goes on, whether I drag myself out of bed early or late, or even at all.


I did see some posts on Facebook from an old friend I had not heard from in about a year, but since she has made it rather plain she does not want any contact with me I left it alone. It hurts to have lost this person as a friend, and especially so since I do not even know what it was I did to hurt her or make her so angry that she completely closed me out of her life, but I wish her well and I will continue to include her in my prayers.

Most of my projects have been on hold for one reason or another, and a couple only need a few things done to finish them; I just need the energy to get moving and get them done. The lawn side of the driveway is ready for the red lava rock, and I am about ready to form and pour the footings for the retaining wall on the other side of the driveway. I have the flytying desk ready for the final coat of lacquer and hope to finish it this week. Then maybe I can get a couple of flies tied before heading to the Keys next Thursday.

Enjoying the beautiful Spring weather in South Florida.

This time of year we have highs in the mid 70s to low 80s and lows in the low-to-mid 60s.  It's not too hot during the day, and not really cold at night - Instead of running the a/c I just open the doors to the screened-in front porch and to the patio  with the screen room over the pool each morning until about eight-thirty and again in the evening from eight until ten-thirty or eleven (whenever I wind up going to bed). 

At the same time, it has been warm enough with that (with the thermal cover and new solar panels) the pool has been warming up to 92 each afternoon so the heatpump doesn't have to run for it either.

The Wahoo (a type of fish) are running offshore, Pompano, Spanish Mackerel and Speckled Seatrout are in the inlets and intercoastal, and in the canals and lakes the Largemouth and Peacock Bass are beginning to bite.

In a couple of weeks I'm headed back down to the Keys for another camping trip; this time two nights :D

I really like this time of year in South Florida!!

Projects Progressing on and on

Today I finished up the drip irrigation for the planters, Palm trees and Oak tree in the front yard.  I still need to imbed the scalloped edging around the Oak tree, cover that area with landscape fabric and red (lava) rock.  On the other side of the driveway I need to set twenty-four feet of double forms and pour a concrete base for the staggered-block retaining wall, form a three-to-four inch drain-rock and landscape fabric layer inside of the wall and finish back-filling.  I already have about one-half of the fill from the red rock walk area on the house side of the driveway.  The rest of the fill will come from the area adjacent to the storage shed in the back yard – I need to have eight inches of footing exposed on the side for the inspection.  The ends will be OK with a concrete apron three-to-seven feet wide.  It will be nice to get at least one of my multiple projects completed; maybe some time I can actually spend some time fixing up the boat (25’ center console) to do some fishing and diving.

Missionary Moments



Papas con Chorizo



The second Tuesday of each month I have the full-time missionaries over for dinner and afterwards we go on splits. One of the dishes I fixed this evening is a common Mexican cold salad; Black Bean, Cilantro and Sweet Pea Rice. It makes a nice tangy counterpoint to the Papas con Chorizo I served as the main dish.

The Missionaries in our Ward are not Latinos, one is from California, and one is from Utah, but are both learning/teaching in Spanish. There are several Latino members in our Ward and quite a few Latino families within our Ward boundaries. But, I have noticed that although there is a large population of Latinos in Florida, very few are Mexican, many come from Guatemala, Argentina, El Salvador, Columbia and Panama as well as Puerto Rico and Cuba. 

Black Bean, Cilantro and Sweet Pea Rice



Sunday before last (5th Sunday in January) our Ward Theme was on missionary work, and the Ward Missionaries were the Speakers in Sacrament meeting, with Full-time Missionaries giving the opening and closing prayers. The youth speaker and the 2nd and 3rd speakers gave their talks in English. Our Ward Mission Leader (a Guatemalan) recently acquired US citizenship and his wife is going through the process now. His wife was our first adult speaker and gave her talk in both English and Spanish. He was the concluding speaker and gave his talk entirely in Spanish. I know some of our other members did not understand his words, but the spirit carried his talk to all in the chapel. The Full-time Missionaries had an investigator family in the meeting, both Latino, who expressed surprise and some amazement that our church would have Spanish speakers. So, the missionary 5th Sunday talks probably helped the missionary work in the Ward; now if we can just figure out a way to get all of the brothers to do their Home Teaching . . .

Florida late-winter/early-spring weather –

It’s 9:00 pm and it’s still a balmy 81 degrees with a slight breeze outside. I am trying to get in the habit of spending at least fifteen minutes in our hot tub each evening before bed. I had it built into the deck at the same time as the pool – about 2 1/2 years ago – but since I usually keep the pool at 89-91 degrees I really have not used the hot tub as much as I should- we had some cooler weather a few weeks ago (40s to low 50s) and my lower back has started bothering me again – probably hasn’t for some time because of the Celebrex I was taking for my arthritic right shoulder. With a total shoulder replacement almost three years ago it feels great, and I really do not want to be on Celebrex continually – too hard on the stomach, heart and liver. So, I am resolved to make myself sit in the hot tub and watch the stars, clouds and occasional plane through the screenroom roof each night. I really love living in Florida . . .

Projects, Projects, Projects

The weather is supposed to be nice for the next week-and-a-half, and I really need to get the shed finished. My second biggest project will be to get the boat emptied out and cleaned up so we can get it up for sale. I will need to spend some time, probably only one morning cleaning up and prepping the garden so Jeannine can plant when she gets back next weekend. And, when I have the rototiller going I might as well go ahead and make the trench for the retaining wall alongside the driveway. Then I will be ready to pour some concrete to set the interlocking retaining wall blocks, and move the soil from around the shed slab out to the wall area, and top it with filter fabric and red-rock. That should give me more room to park the Kia and I will be able to move the boat over about a foot-and-a-half. Then I have more room to park the Jeep in the driveway, but I am still thinking about making a red-rock area with stepping stones on the side towards the front door so people will be able walk around the vehicles parked in the driveway without having to walk in the grass.