Yawn Yawn Wakey Wakey 2024

@Liriodendron , Florida is a very long state, I have been to various parts of it. My favorite part is Key West and that is the very tip as it curves. Its 2 hour boat ride from Cuba. We will be going back to Key West in October, used to go every year for 20 years and stay 3 weeks, rented a bike and biked everywhere, its just that style. My favorite thing is riding a bike around the streets with a martini in the basket.
We usually go fishing a couple times when there. We will be meeting up with friends for a couple dinners. We belong to the Mel Fisher Treasure Hunters organization. He's the guy that found the Atocha ship. The ship sunk in 1601, a Spanish ship from Spain (naturally) with a cargo full of emeralds, gold, silver bars etc. If you want to know more, google Mel Fisher, that will lead you to other topics to google

Anyway, and naturally did get to Disney World, and Universal studios. Did see the Harry Potter section at Universal studios. I am finally done with all that. But it is interesting.

Not a huge fan of Florida in general, too hot for me. But Key West during the right month is lovely. The waters are clear blue, can see your toes easy. Good for snorkeling. Ok, well that is it.

 

On one visit to Florida, we took a ride on a small plane from Key West to Fort Jefferson, in the Dry Tortugas. It was a float plane that landed by the beach, and dropped us off for a few hours on the island. Just amazing, as we flew low across the sea, we could see wildlife in the water, sharks and turtles. It was a fantastic experience, and I’d love to go back there.

 

Both myself and a cousin we took a catamaran from KW to the Dry Tortugas, its a 2 hour boat trip. They serve breakfast on the boat and later lunch on the island. We snorkeled around the Fort, got to see lots of interesting fish. Of course did some hiking around the fort. In KW there is a turtle hospital which is interesting to visit. There is a lot to do down there in KW, to me its the best part of Florida. Hope you can get back again and spend time there. Rent a bike.

 

Thanks. Take care all. Later.

 

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A very good morning to you all and safe journey greetings to @redstar.
@Busy-Lizzie I hope you have survived your child minding duties and are getting braced for round 2 - the big wake up!

 

@Ergates, your trip to the Dry Tortugas sounds an absolute dream. As tortuga means turtle (or tortoise) it is obviously a very appropriate name as you were so lucky having seen the turtles in the sea. I visited a turtle nesting beach when I was on a holiday in Mallorca. It was possible to visit holding pens where juvenile turtles are kept before being taken right out into the Mediterranean for release, hopefully to give them a better chance of survival.

 

Good morning all.

We had a good dose of rain during the night, so I will be pulling up weeds from the gravel this morning after my bike/run with Fizz.

Have a lovely Sunday everyone!

 

Good morning @Tui34. How is the painful hip this morning? I hope it won't impede your bike ride. Little Fizz will miss these outings when you have your op but it will be an adequate incentive for you to take care and recover quickly afterwards.

 

Morning all, we have sun today, need to go to the Allotments to see if the rain has done the business.

We can all be guilty of using words and phrases which only make sense to locals or friends and family. To some a Hummer is a monstrous 4 wheel drive vehicle, but also can be a hummingbird. Some won't know what an Allotment, the plots, or the lottie is , but they are all the same thing, in my circle.

 

....and 'Blummin' 'ummers'?
Seriously, I've never really known. Probably a distortion of 'Bloody Hell' which was probably classed as blasphemy once upon a time. I know 'Bloody' was a contraction of 'By Our Lady'.....but 'hummers'???

 

Good morning ladies & gentlemen.

Logged in a few times these last few weeks, but I didn't want to risk posting some mad migrainey-rant. I spent yesterday afternoon reading back on all the posts I missed. Belated Happy Wedding Anniversary to some of you ; and belated Happy Birthday to others; and belated Congratulations to the young relatives of you good people who did well in their exams.

Here someone, somewhere threw a giant switch and Autumn began suddenly on the 16th. Summer was cool and damp, Autumn is even more so on both counts.

A family in the village who last their Father a couple of years ago have now lost their Mother. There are 6 children and the eldest is 15, the youngest is a toddler. They are not from this County, and strangely there don't seem to be any other adult relatives appearing. What would ordinarily happen now is that the 6 of them would be taken into care and the family would be broken up. I'm trying to prevent that from happening. I have hired a reliable woman who will be a housekeeper in all but name, I have opened a credit account for them which I will settle monthly at the village shop and I have approached the landlord to pay their rent. I'd like to keep the family together in their own home.

My neighbour, meanwhile, is now back at home having spent a little time in hospital and and a longer time in a residential home subsequently. She has been struggling since she lost her Husband, and then she had a car accident. It is good to see her back in her own home, but the confusion which began after the car accident (several months ago if I remember correctly) does not seem to have cleared up as I hoped it would. I'm calling in to see her three times a day, but the situation is very concerning.

Some relatives lost their Daughter in June who had a life-limiting illness. They have other children, including a 9-year-old girl. I've been taking her out on trips recently and doing things with her in my house on wet days, mainly to get her out of her own very sombre and grief-stricken house. The she is a kind and open-heated little girl and it is a genuine pleasure to spend time with her and buy gifts for her. I happen to think children are the best thing since sliced bread, and I'm planning on continuing to do this for as long as necessary. I suppose the only downside to this is how very quiet and utterly empty this house seems after I take her back to her home. I really, really, really should have had children. C'est la vie.

Sorry for burdening you good people with such a downbeat post. On a happier note, my incompetently-grown annuals are still producing more flowers than I deserve.

As always, my best wishes to all you very good people.

 

@Badly_Maintained, bless you for your amazing gesture to those unfortunate little souls. What a beautiful thing to do. I cannot even begin to imagine how they must all be feeling now and the huge pressure on the 15 year old. Please don't you ever feel that you are burdening us. There is not a great deal that we can do to assist but this online community will always be around to just send kind thoughts to you and to 'lend an ear' to your messages. You can come here and offload when you just want to vent.

 

@Badly_Maintained not a downbeat post at all. Quite the contrary thanks to all the positive and constructive help you're giving. Admirable.

Sorry you're having such pain @Tui34 but it won't be long now till you get the relief of a new one. No doubt Fizz will help with the walking you'll need to do recover full use. I met my physio at a golf social do last night and Possum told him to work me over when I go back in September cos I had that bovver with all the steep steps in the Palais des Papes. On the up side, OH understands it'll be another 10 years before I go to another such do.

Sunny spells here today and low to mid 20s but I have to sew a new wall hanging patchwork by Friday so will be confined to barracks for a few days tho I might sneak an hour or so outside each day to try and get my legs brown. Why do they take so much longer than arms?

Have a lovely Sunday everyone.

 

Good afternoon,

It feels a bit cooler today because the breeze has got stronger. Rain is forecast for later on some weather sites and not on others. Anyway, I’ve decided not to put in a second wash load, but leave it until tomorrow. At least I got one load done and it has dried outside on the line whilst I was at church, so is ready to iron later.

@Badly_Maintained, it was good to read your post, and I wish you all the best in your attempts to keep that little family together, and all the support you are giving to other friends and family. I agree with @Obelix-Vendée, your post is not at all downbeat.

I don’t plan a very busy day today, an easy evening meal is planned as I took out a gammon joint from the freezer yesterday and it is now looking after itself in the slow cooker. I’m using cola to cook it in - have used cola before and it works well. I’ll just prep a few veg later and make a parsley sauce to go with it, so a fairly trouble free meal.

Time for a sandwich now, and then a read of the papers.

 

What a generous heart you have @Badly_Maintained.
The world needs people like you.
My cousin and hub popped over to see us this morning. They haven't been to the van before and were amazed how well tucked away it is. Sadly, far too wet and windy to sit out.
They were commenting on the bird feeders and an unusual bird... the nuthatch is back! Handsome bird.
@Tui34 forgive me, but I thought you were British, living in France. No wonder you need to see where we all are.
Lamb and baked ratatouille here tonight. Autumn fayre.
@Blue arbour that's how I do gammon too