Monday Morning

[asirimarco]

Good Morning to all - it is 10 o'clock here in Pacific time, where is every one? I have run out of energy. Finally got the RV completely unloaded, every thing put away (funny how I couldn't remember how some things went in the house cupboards.) All the laundry is done finally. And the RV is in its temporary parking spot. They are doing a lot of repair work in the storage lot where we usually keep it so when I asked where to put it their answer was "drive around until you find an empty lot with a paved driveway and park it there. The storage area and the empty lots are all here within our community. Guess it will be as safe in a lot as it was in the storage area. Ha! Ha!
Our chore today is get a new battery for my car - as soon as we can get it started to go somewhere.
Both of us are worn out. Him from the drive in the high wind and both of us from unloading etc. So planning on not doing much for a couple of days. I've got a bunch of ironing to do but it will wait.
Went to get gasoline yesterday $4.99 and we were only allowed 6 gallons. Wonder if that is all over town or only where we went.
Weather here is warming up - tomorrow should be 80 then down into mid 70's for a few days then warmer and windy again.
So thats all our news for now.

[MandysMom]

Good morning! I've been awake a while, treating an inflamed shoulder, but not headed out yet. I will get to Curves in a while.weather here in 60's later and probably clouds moving in as showers are expected tonight into morning. Just tryi g to catch up on stuff I neglected while sick, but this shoulder is slowing me down. Hope all have a good day and week.
Velda

[Othersharon]

Good Monday! It was sunny this morning but overcast now but nothing predicted to fall from the sky! At least not until end of the week. But the better news is that it is 50! And supposed to go up each day! The snow that was on the driveway this morning is all but gone. That happened while we were at the vet. I was gone about 2 hours so I’m impressed. Of course now I’ll have to deal with mud for awhile but that I can do! Noticed the bulbs out front are poking up and I saw a robin in State College today so that means spring is coming. At least to me it does! The vet appointment went well. After the week I had with him last week I was pretty sure of a different outcome today so a very nice result and he came home with me. A couple of different meds and discontinued med he was prescribed before by the other practice we were going to. Sure glad I changed practices! Long story! Carol, and here I thought you were going to take your time unloading the RV! Famous last words! I usually say the same thing and do it all at once too! Hope you guys get some rest and recover from the trip. Winds are the worst. Guess I should run to the store since I didn’t want to leave Rascal in the car any longer today, think he’d had about enough excitement for today. Have a great day!

[RitaMc]

Snowed again last night. 5 inches. Grrr. Got the living room back in order yesterday. Since last Thanksgiving it has been shuffled around. First for Christmas tree then for storing Kenzie's toys. Our house is very small so we keep her toys in the front porch but do not like to be going in and out of that front door when it is cold out so the living room becomes a toy depository. Moved all the boxes back to summer storage. The room looks so big now. Was eating toast this. Owning and lost a front tooth from denture. I hate to smile now. Have to go to the post office and the employee doesn't s Ile or chat so I won't have to either. Good thing I have a pressure pot to cook meat in.

[OregonLuvr]

Just got home from finally going to the store. I think I need to go every other day so the sticker shock isnt so great. Good grief, everything is way higher. I need to get some heart pills so I dont suffer a heart attack at the price. I did not buy that much and it was $66, two bags worth. I cruised by the meat and decided I am okay being a somewhat vegetarian. I took some hamburger out of the freezer yesterday so will make a pot of spaghetti sauce and freeze some for later. I had to get more Kleenex, cough syrup, and cough drops. I will be glad when this cough departs my body. I think 2 1/2 months is long enough. But I must say I slept the entire night without my cough waking me up several times so maybe, just maybe it is going to go away.

[chalet05]

Regrouping after being gone a few days. Took the train to the west side of the mountains for BFF's 75th birthday. Discovered I am no longer used to a group of people inside! Took my phone for a new battery and something went wrong so I am without a phone - hopefully not for too long. Not a comfortable feeling. I had a taxi reservation for the 8 p.m. train when I got back last night. No taxi. Two young men obviously trying to figure out how to get to their hotel. Looking for an Uber - doesn't exist here. I was helping them and having them call for the taxi when she pulled up so we weren't stranded!

Woman next to me on the train says she saw a guy 'mooning' us at his door on the way through a small town. Dang! I missed it.

I have some catching up on here to do. Irmi, I do know I missed your birthday so happy belated!

[JudyJB]

I have not had this bad of a cold for a very long time, and am really miserable. Sinus headache, sore throat, constant cough, stuffed up nose, slightly dizzy, whatever. . . . . I have some Dayquill Daytime, so took one about an hour ago. I was going to go for a bike ride today, but no way as dizzy as I am with full ears!

Went out this morning to Venice to pick up some stuff from my aunt's lawyer we used when we first became POAs. Also stopped at Target and finally got some of the sensitive skin, small nose strips--was really running out and use them almost every night when allergies or this cold hits me. Also picked up some other stuff, but as usual still did not find everything I need. Then on to Trader Joe's for some goodies--good cheese, langostinos I have not been able to get for months, chocolate, etc. so I will eat well over the next 10 days. Heading to Midway, which is way down in the Big Cypress next to the Everglades with only an Indian reservation convenience store and gas within 25 miles. Real grocery store is almost 50 miles away, so needed to stock up. Everything is now put away and no room left to buy anything!! Will head to Midway on Wednesday and will need to make sure I get a full tank of gas before I get there.

It is a nice, quiet place in the middle of nowhere, but with an alligator pond in the middle of the campground and a big ditch across the highway filled with birds and alligators. Also, believe it or not, there is a art gallery about a half mile away that was the original home of photographer Clyde Butcher, so will no doubt go there for a visit also when my cousin comes for a visit. (Think of Clyde Butcher as the Florida version of Ansel Adams.) He no longer lives there and has another gallery in Venice, FL, but they still offer wading tours of the Big Cypress Swamp from his house there.

Check it out here: https://clydebutcher.com/

[BarbaraRose]

Wading tours in an alligator infested swamp?? No thank you!

Judy, you might want to get another Covid test. Sometimes the home kits can show a false negative.

ZiCam works great on getting rid of colds too.

[Acadianmom]

Barbie, a wading tour in a swamp not for me either. I won't even let Sugar or a cat follow me to the pond when it warms up.

My sister said she has had a bad cough for a while and I forgot what she said was helping her. I think she and her son have tried it all. I cancelled a campout this coming weekend because I don't want to be around her.

Tomorrow is March 15 and I haven't started my taxes yet. Time passes too fast, it seems like it was just March 1 the other day.

It looked like rain all day but never did. Now we are suppose to have storms come through during the night.

I think having meals delivered to my house is making me even lazier. I see recipes on Facebook that look good but then I think I would have to eat it all week or freeze some of it.

Martha

[Bethers]

Martha, I know what you mean about the meals making you lazier. Same here. But I don't buy enough to completely quit cooking. And Anita, I was sure i checked to make sure Freshly delivered to where I'll be in Utah. Obviously I didn't, because they don't. Hopefully I'll like the other service I plan to try when I get there.

Ty got me up 3 times last night before he finally got real sleep. He's fine today. I made sure I had him on a short leash when I got to that area of the canals, but wasn't necessary as someone must have cleaned it up. And they did a good job. That made me happy. Ty and I were finishing our after dinner walk when 2 of his favorite dog friends with their dads headed out a few minutes apart so he and I got an extra walk in. He's already sleeping. I'll have to wake him for one last time out before I head to bed.

I was frustrated today when I found a couple small packages of meats in the freezer. I thought I'd used them all and they were just a bit older than I wanted to use now. I hate throwing food away! This week I'll completely organize the freezer again as I'll probably freezer most, if not all, of my Freshly delivery Friday (repackaging most of them first).

I can't imagine wading with alligators either. Yikes.

I feel for all your colds and coughs. I'm sick of my sinus problems and sinus headaches but pretty much have lived with them for so many years now that I'm surprised when I have a good day. I think they've been a bit better here, same with my asthma, than in the desert, so that's something.

[snowball]

I was surprised when I unpacked the box that the air fryer was in that I couldn't find the to cooking racks I think was the term.. so text my dd and told her we would need to order that when I took out the garbage I thought perhaps I ought to check the box just in case.... and as I was looking at the box it lists what is inside and 2 cooking racks are mentioned so dug down and under some Styrofoam was the two racks... so glad to see them and having followed through on looking.. so let my dd know that we didn't need to order the cooking racks...
but I did this after supper which wasn't with the air fryer.. had breakfast for supper I actually didn't burn the bacon for me needed to be a bit crisper but eatable I'm just on of those crispy bacon people...
didn't go get the milk either was just more or less lazy did get the levis in the washer and into the dryer...
it seemed weird to see the daylight at 7 PM but didn't notice when it was actually dark
so tomorrow milk and give supper a thought as I didn't get anything out to thaw... here we have a reduced section in the meat dept which is where I look first is if I can find what I wanted hmm just remembered think there is meat balls in the freezer might do speg
I don't have anything to report for the day it's just been a super lazy day
you all have a great day
sheila

[JudyJB]

The water in the Everglades and Big Cypress Swamp is very clear and only 10-12" deep so no self-respecting big alligator would be hanging around anyway! Mostly would see birds and plants and some very small fish. And strangely enough, in a real swamp, the little fish eat mosquito larvae so that is limited too. But I don't want to get my shoes or clothing wet, so I won't bother, at least this time.

I took a COVID test last night and will take another in two or three days. The thing is that my friend and her husband, before I visited her (he was in bedroom) both had home tests, as well as negative PCR tests a few days before I visited them as a result of their worrying about their colds, so I know it is very, very unlikely they had COVID. I can still smell and taste stuff--just a bad cold. No fever either.

In this Midway Campground, there are campsites only around the edges of a fairly large pond. Campsites are on outside, then roadway, then pond in middle. They moved out a couple of big alligators, but they do recommend that you use a flashlight if you go for a walk after dark, and no small dogs running free. This place is a dark sky campground, so no outdoor lights after dark except over the restrooms. But you cannot believe how fantastic the stars and the Milky Way look in the dark there!! Edge of pond is at least 50' from campsites anyway.

One of my favorite places is about 12 miles east of Midway, at Shark Valley, where there is a 17 mile paved tram roadway which doubles as a bike path. Check out the birds and alligators here: http://grandmajjb.blogspot.com/2017/02/ ... again.html and here: http://grandmajjb.blogspot.com/2020/01/ ... -ride.html On the western portion of this 17 mile paved path, there are almost always alligators sunning themselves along the roadway or even on the roadway. They won't bother you because they just want to get warm so they can digest their food. Mostly, they just are snoozing.

And pictures of Midway Campground and the resident alligator is here: http://grandmajjb.blogspot.com/2020/01/ ... press.html. The pictures of a lot of big alligators at the end were taken were taken at the nearby visitor center where there is a deeper pond.

By the way, I walked down to the lake here at Myakka yesterday and watched about 20 alligators sunning themselves on the river bank across from where they had removed a dam. (It was a sunny morning after a cold night, which is exactly when alligators need to sun themselves to warm up.) A big sandhill crane that was strolling around jumped up, flapped its wings, and screeched loudly at absolutely nothing, causing about 3/4 of the alligators to panic and jump into the river! Pretty funny.

[SoCalGalcas]

Judy, Loving all your talk about Florida. I’ve been to each place you’ve mentioned. Is bringing back very fond memories. Another place I went to is in Fort Lauderdale. The home of the Stranahands. I read a good book about them so had to go visit their home. Although I think their home may have been moved to a new site as it was sitting on some very expensive real estate!
Nice in the pool this morning. Lyn

[chalet05]

Judy, I'm with Lyn! Loved those places and always thought I'd go back.