Englewood Reporting In

It's been a little more than a week since the last post, so here is a report on what we have been doing.

First, let me assure you that the weather has finally warmed up again.  We have had three gloriously warm and sunny days and it is supposed to continue indefinitely.  The temp may drop a wee bit but it should stay sunny and warm now through the end of our visit - that is the end of March.

We went shopping a few days ago and bought a cheap bar-b-q.  It is working fine.  We actually went looking for a new bicycle seat for my bike so that I could make usse of it.  They had seats at WalMart two days previously but when we went back to finally buy one - you've got it; all gone!  We'll try to look again later in our time here.

We have finally had another technician come and look at our TV set up which has been sporadic in its reliability.  All is fixed!  He had to do some rewiring.  The person who did the original set up tried to use wiring that was already in place.  Not good!  Now we have our TV back to normal.  Last night we watched "Joyful Noise" with Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah.  Fun movie!

Our landlords, Peggy and Bud, have been upset about our TV situation.  That was why they took us out New Year's Eve.  They also had us in to their new place for supper this past week.  We had a wonderful roast beef dinner.  Very enjoyable evening.  They have a nice home which will be even nicer once they have it set up they way they want it.  Right now they are still in the moving in process.

Our visitors start arriving this coming Saturday - February 2nd.  Gary will be with us for almost two weeks.  We are planning on a car trip over to Fort Lauderdale while he is here and we have bought tickets to go see a play at the Lemon Bay Playhouse - "The Inspector Calls" by J.B. Priestly.  Then Jen, John Luke, and Kalen visit for almost a week.  Then Bob's youngest sister Karen visits in early-March for a week, and then Barb and Dave King drop in in late-March.  Looking forward to all the visits and visitors.

Otherwise we have been reading, computing, walking - with and without Jack, bicycling, watering the gardens, and sitting in the sun!  What a wonderfully exhausting time!

Two (cold) days in paradise

Thursday, 2013 01 17

Cool day.  

I neglected my bike ride until it got overcast enough that I could use the excuse of impending rain.

Spent a quite a lot of time working with / studying Python (programming language).

We drove to Walmart to look at bicycle seats for BJ.  They have one that only costs $20, that might be prostate-friendly.  Probably should have bought it; we'll be back.

Liver & onions at the Spinnaker Cafe.

Took Jack for a very short walk after supper.  Windy, overcast, cold, threatening rain.  I guess we got only a couple of drops.

Catching a cold... ?   Took echinecia at bedtime.

Friday, 2013 01 18

Awake, getting breakfast ready before 6 AM.  (BJ snores.  Don't tell him I told you.)

Turned heat on for a short time this morning.  Sitting here eating my oatmeal in long pants and a sweater.  No wonder I thought I might catch a cold.  A real drag after the week of great weather we've just had.

6:20 AM, BJ is getting up.  Maybe.

Biked for 2+ hours today, wandered around David, Gulfstream, Albatross, Jennifer...  Wound up in Placida.  Decided against the Cape Haze Road; thought I would be biking into the wind all the way home, whereas on the bike trail there would be some shelter.  I was getting pretty tired before I got home, muscles were thinking about cramping; glad I had the cell with me: (Bob, come get me... I can't walk...)  Made it home under my own power.

The birds are back.  Lots of robins and others, so many in the bushes that when you bike by, you scare them, and they (big animals in those bushes...) scare you.

rg

What's been happening?

We have been keeping busy and enjoying our time in a very warm Florida.  We have had much warmer weather for early-January than we did last year.  No frost this year!  And for the past five days, temps have been 25/26C or higher with lots of sunshine.  The weather forecast indicates that it is to stay that warm for the next couple of weeks.  Very little chance of rain.

We have had several good meals out since our last posting.  We've been to Beef O'Brady's and had very good fajitas.  We went to one of the newest restaurants in town, The Chowder House, and had a very good lunch this past Tuesday.  Rob had New England White Chowder - very creamy, tasty.  I had fish bites, off the Children's menu.  Small pieces of battered haddock with onion rings, cole slaw, and tartar sauce.  Way too much for any child.  More than I wanted.  Very good! 

Tonight (January 11th) we went for supper, again, at Nicola's Italian Kitchen.  Very busy.  We had about a 15 minute wait before a table was available.  Rob had spaghetti and meatballs - two huge meatballs - and I had chicken parmagiana.  Again, very good.  Too full to have dessert.  Fortunately, we then had our evening walk with Jack to help settle our supper.

Last Sunday (January 6th) we went to see The Hobbitt (3D).  Really enjoyed the movie but I can't say that 3D made it any more enjoyable.  Was not prepared for the ending - left you with a cliff hanger so we have to wait until the next installment comes out.

Been doing a lot of reading and sitting out in the sun.  Rob has been doing a lot of bicycling - pretty much every other day.  Only went for a short ride today (almost one hour) because it was too hot.  And this was before Noon!

Our schedule of visitors is now sorted out.  Gary arrives in about 3 weeks.  Jen, John Luke, and Kalen come next, followed by sister Karen.  And then Dave and Barb check in in late-March before time arrives for us to journey home.  More to follow...

New Year's Eve in Englewood

We went with Peggy & Bud to a Chinese Buffet up in Venice, "Hibachi Grill Buffet".  Very good food, great variety, reasonable prices.  I had 'red bean ice cream' for the first time; looks like strawberry, tastes different - I liked it.

Then we went to "The White Elephant", restaurant / bar on Englewood Beach Rd.  We had intended to go to Flounders, but it was wall to wall people overflowing into the parking lot, with loud (good) music.  

We (BJ & I) ran out of steam, and declined the offer to go to yet a third place.  Peggy thought we were giving up awfully early; we told her it was later for us than last year, so she was happy.

rg

A Long Overdue Update

Here it is almost the end of 2012 and we have not shared a post with our friends in over two weeks.  So, we best bring you all up to date.

We have now seen three movies and enjoyed all of them very much.  "Lincoln" was a very interesting take on that President's efforts to abolish slavery.  Very well acted.  Excellent story.  "Skyfall" was, in many ways, a typical James Bond movie but it was an intriguing story.  Lots of action, of course.  In fact, the opening action scene was quite exciting.  Wonder how they did the motorcycle chase on that very thin wall?  As much as I enjoyed all three, "Les Miserables" was the best - and the longest; though it did not seem long.  This was a very good way to spend a significant part, 3.5-plus hours (if you include driving to and from the movie theatre), of Christmas Day!  The singing was very good in most parts - though Hugh Jackman, in that regard, was a bit disappointing.  Good acting.  At many points a depressing story - I was not very familiar with it - but a totally enjoyable experience.

Health-wise, I am doing fine.  No further issues since December 4th.  I am endeavouring to behave and, though I regret I will not be doing any bicycling, I will prefer to look after my health and hope to bicycle when we get back to Canada.  Lots of walking.  Lots and lots of reading.  To-date, December 29th, I have read fifteen novels (varying from 51 to 600+ pages) and currently have two other novels on the go and a commentary on the gospel of Matthew.  For the year 2012, I have read slightly more than 22,000 pages.

We had a good Christmas!  It was different - as was expected - but nevertheless quite enjoyable.  And Santa found all three of us.  Imagine!  As well as being out for the movie, we went out for supper to a steak and seafood restaurant called Howards.  They had steak and seafood on the menu but they also had a turkey dinner which is what we ordered.  It was very good.  Lots and lots of turkey and dressing...and cranberry sauce.  The place was very busy.  We shared a half-carafe of a decent chablis, and also shared a shrimp cocktail.  Which was good because the dinner include a trip to the salad bar, rolls, and lots of main course.  We opted out of dessert although they sounded very good and may have to return for some another time - carrot cake, key lime pie, cheesecakes, and a chocolate dessert that would probably kill you on the spot!

Rob got a portable scanner for Christmas.  That came in handy to send my medical claim off to the insurance people.  I got a Wii and "we" are enjoying it.  We have done some of the sporting activities and watched some Netflix.

We have had a bit of an issue the last few days with internet, telephone, and TV service.  We think the internet is OK now.  A repair man is coming to see about the TV service (DirecTV) on Wednesday, January 2nd.  The landline telephone we will probably not bother about since we have a skype phone and a cell phone.

However, because of all this "upset," our landlady and her partner have asked us to be their guests out for dinner and the evening on New Years Eve.  We are going to an Asian restaurant in Venice for dinner and then to their daughter's place for a bit of the evening.

Well, this is getting to be long enough.  I will close this with some pics (and a short video) we took of the outside decorations of a nearby home.  In total, there are 21 of these "blow up" decorations in the front yard and across the street in the front of an empty lot.  Really lit up the space.  Trust you had a good Christmas and that 2013 unfolds peacefully and productively for you!

Rentals & Presidents

MONDAY, Dec 10

I biked in the morning, a short ride, we had so much to do.

At ~ 3 in the afternoon, we 3 drove to Punta Gorda to look at a possible rental for next year, about a 45 minute drive.  This was in a re-built trailer park, a storm had demolished everything about 5 years ago.  So the pre-built house was a tad small, a two bedroom, nice new appliances (including dishwasher), two bath.  It would be fine for the three of us, smallish when we had guests.  It was on the water, really nice views from the deck and screened lanai, a small bit of lawn (for Jack), and a boat dock.  There was a storage shed, which would be needful.  There were included community facilities, including a pool.  It is located on the Port Charlotte Harbour waterway, a few miles east of Punta Gorda.  Not much in the way of shopping close by, the nearby road appeared to have only light traffic.  Not sure that there would be much biking.  $1500 per month.

We drove back to Englewood, to have supper, and drop Jack off.

Then we drove back to Port Charlotte to see Spielberg's Lincoln.  The 2 1/2 hours passed quickly.  Mayhap this Lincoln offers hints for legislators trying to avoid an 'economic cliff'.

rg

Wonderful Weather, Blooming Gardens

Here is a bit of an update from Englewood and some pictures of the gardens in our back and front yards.  They are blooming very nicely and adding a lot of colour to the scenery.  Many more blooms than last year when we first arrived - a month later, of course.  Mind you, there are also a lot more plants!!

The first four pics are from our backyard.  The last two are from the front yard - in front of the landlords side of the duplex.  The red bottlebrush (2nd pic) and the purplish-pink bougainvillea (last pic) are even nicer in real life.

We have been fairly quiet in our first week here in Englewood, FL.  That was pretty much dictated by the fact that BJ had some health issues with bleeding probably related to his prostate surgery last September and aggravated by going bicycling and doing more than he should.  The matter is now under control though he does have a follow up visit with the urologist (who was confident the matter would correct itself) next Tuesday (Dec 11th).  Otherwise, we have been doing a lot of reading, walking - especially with Jack, Rob has been doing some bicycling (BJ probably will NOT until we get back home in April), and shopping (getting some groceries most days until we have all the basics). 

We were out for supper to Olive Garden in Port Charlotte last night.  They never disappoint.  The chain is currently having a 2 eat for $25 promo:  soup or salad (we both had soup - zuppa toscana), shared appetizer OR dessert (we chose mussels napoli - absolutely delicious and fresh), and then Rob had ravioli marinara and BJ had sausage and peppers with pasta.  It was all very good!

Enjoy the pics.  We will send more...along with further updates as our sojourn progresses.