Update Following a Quiet Week

It has been a whole week since we last posted on this blog.  It has been a very quiet week.  Rob has not been feeling 100%.  We didn't get to the beach this week.  Jack is very disappointed!  We did plan to go one day - about mid-week - but it was blowing quite severely.  That would not be fun at the beach - sand in our faces and Jack even more wary of the waves.  Then the next day it rained!

It was actually quite a heavy rain.  What a difference it made in the landscape!  The greens were much greener and the colours more prevalent and very bright.  Our watering of the gardens now and again doesn't do much more than keep things from completely dying.

The backyard garden is slowly recovering from the frost we had earlier this month.  Rob took pictures of the end results of the frost.  Later in February or March, we will take pictures again and let you all see the difference - hopefully.

We went for a bike ride this morning after Jack and I got back from our morning constitutional.  Rob took me to one of the parks he has found on his numerous, longer bike rides.  It is much more what I was hoping we would find in terms of parks with walking/bicycling trails.  We shall return.  Rob says he took me so that I would know how to get here and go on my own.  I replied, "Not likely!"  We'll see.  I do want to go back and see more of the trails.

We went to Olive Garden for supper on Thursday.  We picked Thursday because of our experience on the trip here of going to an Olive Garden for supper on a Friday night and having a 30+ minute wait.  We even went before the proper "dining" hour.  The place was busy!  We did have to wait - about 3 minutes after we gave our name.  We both ordered the Italian dinner special the chain is offering right now - soup or salad (all you can eat), entree, and dessert for $12.95 each.  We both had soup.  We both  chose the smoked chicken mozarella for entree, and then we had two different desserts.  I had tiramisu.  It was all very good - along with a glass of house red - a very tasty chianti.  We will go back, I think.

Murphy!

3:43 PM 2012/01/22 (still Sunday)

So I went for my bike ride today.  Like a fool, I pumped up my nearly flat back tire, found it to be holding ok, and away I went.  After I'd been gone a few minutes, it seemed ok, I kept going.

I went to the Cattle Dock Point Road.  Nearly at the end you pass a water reclamation facility.  Even nearer to the end, you come to - you guessed it - a No Trespassing sign.  No sign of cattle or docks.

The highlight was a large lake a short way out the road, with no No Trespassing signs, and access.  I saw a large crane, and a fish jumped, but no gators.

I started back home, decided to take the bike trail down toward Rotunda, turned off on Ingraham Blvd., and got lost.  It was about then that I noticed that my back tire was going flat.  By the time I found Rotunda Blvd. East, I was biking on a completely flat tire.  I biked all the way around Boundary Blvd., to Rotunda Blvd. North.  And walked from there home - too much traffic to bike with a flat tire.

I was gone about 2 hours.  I reckon it should have taken 1 1/4 hour max, with inflated tires.

A second redeeming feature was a couple of young fellers out on skateboard / roller blades, with shirts off, as I was walking up Rotunda North; they commiserated over my flat.  I didn't have a camera.

All the way along, but especially after I started walking, I kept thinking that probability theory is crap; Murphy had it right!

rg

Another Day of Rest

8:09 AM 2012/01/22 Sunday

Up at the crack of dawn, and then back to bed.  Didn't really get up until more like 7 AM, showered, had breakfast of oatmeal and prunes, which took longer.

Phoned Maria yesterday.  She was preparing a cake for her 2-year-old granddaughter's birthday party.  This was 2 PM I was talking to her, the party was at 4.  They are off to New Hampshire to go skiing, so I'll talk with her in a week or so.  I gave her my skype address.

We went to supper at the Diner in Englewood.  The food was ok, but not great, the price was reasonable for what we had, and the place was full by the time we left.  We had gone at 4:30 pm, good thing.  BJ seems convinced we should eat out once per week, on principal.  I could agree if the food were different from /  better than what I can prepare at home.  Otherwise, its not as though we're so busy that we don't have time to make supper.

After Diner, we stopped at the Pet Supermarket.  Jack got a couple of things: a throw / pull toy that BJ thinks will float when we take him to the beach, and a metal comb like the one Gary Moore has.  Not that Gary Moore has as much hair as Jack.

I'm learning Python (a programming language), but very slowly.  The videos are good, (MIT courseware), but don't cover ground very fast.  And I must admit I haven't been doing the exercises.  Still, much of this is pretty elementary for an old fart like me.

We watched a Britsh shoot-em-up on NetFlix last night: Blitz.

The good guys won.  The bad guy didn't.

BJ's computer just doesn't crank out the volume necessary.  We had to pause the movie while Jack had a drink.

We tried without success to fix that last year.  Time to try again.

So, today's agenda: (busy day)

TESTER2

Invoice

Hourly exercises, starting at 8:30.

Bike Ride

Sun screen, read in the sun.

Menu for the week (my turn to cook).

Make supper, salmon & veggies.

Find and do some "Exercises" in Python.

Next Python lecture.

TV / Movie ?

rg

"Don't forget the toes!"

Yesterday we went for a drive in the afternoon.  We headed south of Englewood to see Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda.  Both communities - as you will no doubt readily discern - are on the water.  As we drove along, it became readily apparent that Northport, Port Charlotte, and Punta Gorda are pretty much one humungous shopping community.  Stores, stores, stores, restaurants, etc.  There is one main intersection we passed through that has a large number of outlet stores and some restaurants that we will go back for - Olive Garden, Red Lobster.

Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda are separated by a body of water.  We went over a very nice, divided - four-lane bridge.  Put me a bit in mind - on a much smaller scale - of the bridge coming out of Saint Petersburg, you know, "the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge."  Some beautiful - and no doubt expensive - homes on the way.  Two or three gated communities.  But mostly what we saw were commercial establishmemts. 

One thing I noticed in particular, there is a "Nail" shoppe at almost every mile.  By that, I mean a manicure/pedicure establishment.  I can't imagine that there would be enough business in that area to warrant so many establishments.  Oh, well, it is important to have pretty fingers - and toes, don't forget the toes!!

Checking In

Just so you know that we are still around and alive.  I guess you could say that we have been settling in to a routine.  Rob does work for Point LePreau in the mornings - two or three times a week.  Jack and I have our morning walks.  We have both been reading - that's Rob and I; I am on my third novel.  We also spent some time catching up on "Being Human" - a scifi show we started watching just before Christmas.  The new season premiered last night (Jan 16) and we wanted to be sure we understood what was happening.  It is an interesting TV show about three roommates: a vampire (male), a werewolf (male), and a ghost (female).

Our landlady and her partner left on a cruise on Sunday.  They have a friend of theirs staying in their unit so someone is around to look after the Yorkies.  We have both noted that the Yorkies are quieter with this fellow looking after them.  He tells them to behave and they do.  The owners are not as lucky.  Fortunately for us, the Yorkies all sleep through the night.

We haven't got back to the beach yet since our first foray.  However, it is suppose to be a glorious weekend coming - highs 24/25C Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon - so we might just get for a swim.  We will keep you posted.

A Jack Walk

We hiked in Myakka State Forest. i.e., we took Jack for a walk.

It was quite warm, not what I would consider hot, perhaps 76 F, with a slight breeze, not much shade.

Jack pulled and tugged, especially after we were overtaken by another hiker. He was a total ass. Jack, not the hiker.

He was quite polite for the last 200 yards on the way back to the car, when his tongue was almost reaching the ground.

We accomplished about 1/3 of the North trail. And there is a longer South trail. BJ is thinking we should take our bikes next time, and leave Jack home.

We saw almost no wildlife in the park, although we saw tracks from some small deer.

And then, driving in the car almost to the park exit, what should cross our path but an armadillo.  Don't see many of them in New Brunswick in January!

rg

Day of Rest

2012 01 08 Sunday

I biked to the intersection of Winchester and S River Rd. - about 10 km each way.

Great day for it: sunny, warm, light breeze, not too hot.

Of course a headwind developed for me to bike home into.

Looking at a map, I suspect I could have biked to 'downtown' Englewood in about the same distance. Maybe my next trip.

I saw several interesting birds: a small blue heron; a huge heron of some kind (its back was 3 feet high); several smaller birds.

I chatted with a gent who was just dragging a dead coon (the kind with tail-rings) across the street to get it off his lawn. He had been stationed in NFLD for awhile, and had driven up there since retirement with his wife; he knew quite well where St. Stephen NB was. He agreed with my assessment that a drive to Mexico should be postponed until the shooting stops.

I think Jack may have been bitten by a tick. He has a red circle on his belly, with what appears to be a bite mark in the center. We're going to ask Peggy if she knows about such things.

rg

Mama's (Italian Restaurant)

We did indeed go out for supper tonight to Mama's Restaurant on S. McCall Road, about 5 minutes from where we are staying.  It was a restaurant we had noticed and it was recommended.  Our driving time, getting seated in the restaurant, eating our meal, paying the bill, and returning home all took less than one hour.  It was all very good!  Here are the details.

This is a relatively small restaurant, open six days a week - closed on Sundays.  They have daily specials.  Rob ordered one of the Saturday specials - Veal Parmagiana.  I ordered Shrimp Paisano.  Both came with tossed salad (or soup) and garlic toast.  We ordered a half-carafe of Chianti (a red Italian wine).  The wine came before we had hardly blinked from placing our order.  It wasn't quite what we were expecting for a Chianti but it was okay.  I had scarcely finished pouring our two glasses of wine when the salads arrived.  Very fresh - ranch dressing - good.  They were served with pre-packaged saltines.

We were nicely enjoying our salads.  Watching other folks being speedily served.  Then, almost hocus-pocus, our dinners arrived.  Well, I say they were our dinners but I am sure the chef thought there were at least four people sitting at our table.  Talk about generous portions!

Rob ate about half of his dinner, as did I.  We brought the leftovers home.  Too good to leave behind!  Total bill, including tip, just under $40.  That folks, would be four meals and 4 glasses of wine!  We will return!

Venice, FL - a quick visit

We three drove to Venice this afternoon.

We really just guessed, so far as where to go, but Venice Avenue took us 'down town'.

And a very friendly lady in a tourist kiosk helped us with a map, info about an art fair in March, a bicycling route out of Venice and where to rent bikes, and a dog beach (almost all beaches prohibit animals that won't pick up after themselves.  Of course the bipeds they do permit don't do a great job of picking up after themselves either, but that's another story.)

So we drove to the dog park, took Jack through the fenced dog-lock into the scoop water and wash area, and through a second dog-lock onto the beach.  He had fun.  When we got braver, we let him off his leash, and he ran and played with a couple of dogs.  No surprise, he was less aggressive off-leash than on.  He and I went into the water, he got almost as wet as I (I was in walking shorts, not swim trunks, so I didn't dive in.)  The water was cool, but I've willingly gone swimming in colder water.  We will certainly go back.

Then we drove around a bit, discovered another park (again no animals).  And then came 'home' to Englewood.  We're going out to supper tonight.

rg

FROST

Wednesday morning, per the forecast, there was a tad of frost here on the gulf coast.  Peggy had covered most of the flowers, and everything survived very well.

But the forecast for the following night said it would be warmer.  Instead, Thursday morning we saw a hard frost, and not everything had been covered.  In our yard we now have sick looking banana palms and other such.

I can hardly wait for guests to arrive who we might meet at the St. Petersburg / Tamp airport.  We would then get to drive across the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge back into St. Pete... Such a thrill!  The bridge is considered the "flag bridge" of Florida.  (And the name is only part of the reason!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Skyway_Bridge

rg

Chilly in Florida

It's downright cold today.  Jack and I went out for our morning constitutional and I had to come back to the house to get a sweater before we could continue.  I still had shorts on; my legs were OK.  But my upper body and arms minded the fact that it was too windy and too chilly.  However, the sweater made it possible to go for a decent walk along Pendleton Avenue - that is where our unit is located.  This walk had no barking dogs on it.  In the other direction on Pendleton there seems to be numerous barking dogs.  We have not seen many of them but hear them from their yards and houses.  Jack and I found a large church property with a very large yard and parking lot.  Zoom!  Jack got in a good run.

We went in search of beaches yesterday and there are several fairly handy.  We are quite sure we can bicycle to them.  However, the beaches we found are not dog friendly.  We will have to continue our search to see if we can find one for Jack.  It would be a shame to get him way down here in Florida and for him not to be able to frolic in the ocean.

Our unit is quite comfortable.  The master bedroom (no pic yet) has a king size bed, two good size dressers, and a double closet.  It has a flat screen, HD TV.  It also has lots of windows.  The guest room has the twin beds, a large dresser between them, a double closet, and a portable TV.  The living room has large, comfortable sofa and chair (with ottoman - which is too big for the room and too high to be comfortably used).  There is a large cabinet with flat screen HD TV and a small sitting area where Rob has been doing his computing.

Rob commented that the bathroom is very nice, especially the shower.  The shower is spacious and has two shower heads pointing in the same direction.  You cannot turn one off or the other but have the benefit of both of them.

The back yard is a good size but has a lot of gardens and too much furniture.  We are contemplating what to do about that.  There is a large side yard with a sitting area for smoking or just enjoying the warmth (when we have it) and the flowers.  The only minus is the uninstalled dishwasher sitting in the closet in the master bedroom.  The current dishwasher, two hands - don't you know, some times complains.  But all in all, really quite nice.

Englewood, FL

So, finally, here are a few pic's of the place we rented.

We have the RHS of the building.

There is a back yard, fenced as promised; a side yard as well (for smokers), a good sized living / dining / kitchen area, two good sized bedrooms (the picture is # 2), and a bath with an excellent shower.

Peggy & Bud have Yorkshire Terriers (we had mistakenly thought they had corgi's.).  The little bundles of fluff do bark some, but that is a joke compared to the barking dog we endured in Mexico last year.

rg

St. Pete

2011-12-31  Saturday

Good morning, St. Pete.

Relatively easy drive here from Savannah yesterday, only a couple of slow-downs in traffic.

Nice weather; 24C, had to run the AC to save Jack from melting.

Dinner last night was at a Red Lobster. Food was good, generally too much, and too salty for my taste.

BJ changed into shorts after he got back from breakfast this morning; "I'm hot already!"

A totally adequate breakfast at the La Quenta here in St. Pete. Bikes are still on the car, nothing got stolen overnight.

Just had a phone call from Frank Schenkels on Skype. It seems he is still doing well enough, teaching adults in Manitoba now.

Well we did! We did visit the Dali Museum. Huge and impressive new building. $21 admission per person.

I was a bit disappointed in the display; some things I remembered from years ago were missing. Still, it was worth the visit, if only for Columbus, and for Adolescents.

We bought gas, and got some water (St. Pete's water is mostly chlorene).

And we went on down the road to dinner at The Olive Garden. No parking spaces in their lot; I parked on a street behind. (Keep in mind, this was New Year's Eve).

About 1/2 hour wait, to get a table.

But service was very good (Thank-you, Susan), fast, helpful, and reasonably priced.

The food was good, but over-salted – this is getting to be a stuck record.

There was still a long lineup of people waiting to get in, when we left.

Back at our room we watched TV until 11, and conked out. I'm sure midnight happened just fine without us.

La Quenta Inn, St. Petersburg, FL

• small room, adequate, bathroom clean, carpet is visibly dirty.

• low price

• swimming pool closed

• adequate breakfast

• next door to Denny's Restaurant

2012-01-01 Happy New Year!!!

rg