Rain, Rain and More Rain

Auburndale, FL  (Hi 88   Low 80)

This is going to be a short blog. It was a very quiet week.  I stayed busy but not with anything new. I did a lot of crocheting and the normal stuff like volunteering at hospice Monday and Friday, playing cards and the Wednesday coffee.

Tuesday I took one of the neighbors to Curley and Keel winery for some wine. My sister wanted more bottles and I wanted to get two more. It was a quick trip with lunch at our favorite Cuban Sandwich place, the Strawberry Hut in Plant City.  We wanted to get back before the rains came and we made it with an hour to spare.

It's been raining most of  every day this week. It's now coming in from the West, last week was from the East. Winds can change fast around here. Lightening is super dangerous. Someone was struck on the beach in St. Petersburg area and died this week. Just can't be careful enough.

Friday I had my last dental appointment. The dentist tried to talk me into a crown. I'm not doing it for now. I wanted just a filling but she said I can't have one without a "build up" so I agreed to do it. I have to be careful not to chew on anything hard so the tooth doesn't split. I'll have to chew mostly on the other side. I'm finally done with all the yearly doctor appointments till October and December. I try to go as little as possible.

We have little frogs all over the place. This one is a little bigger then the newborns that's in the carport. They have a very loud croak to them.














My second mouse. I'm going to make a few more, they're selling fast.

I'm trying to debate if I want to sell this sewing machine. I haven't used it at all and I want the room where it's sitting. Yet, I know how to sew and there's a part of me I'd like to keep it. I'll make up my mind before long.

Next week will be a good one. I just hope we have less rain.

Movies - Concert - What's Growing

Auburndale, FL  (Hi  91   Lo  83)                        CHAT ROOM  8:30 pm eastern 

Saturday: We have a monthly game of  Spinners with some friends in the park. It's always a good time and laughter.

Sunday: The monthly game of Knockers Bingo. There were 41 people from the community playing. It's another fun time and good to get out.

Monday and Friday: I worked at Hospice. I'm finishing up one of the projects along with visiting with the patients and their families. It's a great volunteer job. No pressure, no time clocks,  I come and go  when I'm done with what I want to accomplish. It's uplifting and well worth it.

Tuesday: Our car was serviced for it's 90,000 mile check. The battery may need to be changed before long. Florida heat ruins a battery really quick. I notice the water in the golf cart batteries go dry fast too. I need to put in water every few weeks and I don't run it very often. After the car service we went to see the movie Yesterday. It's about the Beatles if they never existed, and this guy was singing their songs. It's a  great movie. Something for the whole family and especially those that know the Beatles songs.

Wednesday: Is coffee day every week. Very few coming, but free donuts and coffee draw in a few people. They go over anything new for the week and introduce new residents. This week there were a few that were visiting.  At noon I played hand and foot with three other gals. I love that game so much that on Thursday  I played again.   Also on Thursday I had the doctors appointment followup for the cat-scan on the sinuses. I can't smell. I have no idea when it happened but I can cut up onions and not smell them. That's a plus. I've always had a stuffed up nose at times, but someone wanted me to smell something and I couldn't. My sinuses are fine, nothing to indicate anything wrong (as tumors and such). I'm fine, just can't smell.

Wednesday night we went to the clubhouse for the movie The Upside. It's about a paraplegic and a guy that takes a job to take care of him. It's great and a family type movie.

Friday: Jim went to the Pink Floyd tribute concert. Jim says it's a super show and he'll go again in a minute. The second half was louder then the first half, but well worth it. (Click on picture to enlarge).

I read that you can grow celery in water. I bought a stalk, cut off the end of it and put it in a plastic container. Look what I have!  I have to transfer to potting soil before long.

ELO Concert - Fast Week

Auburndale, FL  (Hi 88   Lo  77)                      CHAT ROOM

The highlight of this week was the ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) concert on Sunday night. We bought tickets several months ago. I saw the band years ago and was so moved from the music. I was hoping they would do it again and THEY DID!!  It's the best concert ever, to me.
Amelie Arena was packed!

We could barely see the stage but the video to the right was perfect.

Jeff Lynn

Lots of lasers



We got home a little after midnight but it was well worth it.

The rest of the week was normal activities. I had a luncheon meeting at hospice on Monday. I thought it was next week so I almost missed it. I went in half hour early just because I was bored, I'm glad I did. At least I got there for the topic of how to keep the senior citizens safe from falling and  dangerous environments.

Wednesday,  I went to the coffee meeting at the clubhouse. There's nothing going on but it's a nice social time with people in the park. It's free donuts and coffee and if there's anything important it's brought up.

Thursday was the monthly massage and chiropractor appointment.  I've been having massages every month since 1999. It's well worth it and the chiropractor keeps my hip back in place. I turned wrong in the golf cart a couple days ago and it slipped out of joint. Just a normal thing for me. I do a wrong move and it goes out.

This week went fast, guess I stayed busy enough to not be bored.

Five Days with Sister

Auburndale, FL (Hi 92  Lo  77)                       CHAT ROOM

My sister, Doris, is down in Florida for a few weeks from Missouri. She stayed with us for five days and we didn't sit still long. It's a two day trip so she used Monday to get rested up and adjust to our heat. She loves Florida so that didn't take long.

Monday, we went to Keel and Curley winery. We both bought a couple bottles of wine, and we got two free. Great wines and they also have beers. We had dinner at Ford's Garage, one of our go to places. The Ford outside the door with both of us.   (Click on the pictures to enlarge).

Tuesday, we stayed close to home but went to Lakeland to see the swans at Morton Lake. Read about how they came to Lakeland HERE 
The black swan is gorgeous.  None of them are afraid of people till you try to touch them, then they move.



There's several swans and some other birds and ducks. It's a great place to relax and watch.


Wednesday, we were up early and headed to Kennedy Space Center. The traffic was stop and go on I- 4. It took about two hours to get there. The crowd was nothing like it was in December. No waiting lines even for the tour bus was quick. When we were with the kids in December, the Government had shut down part of the activities. We got to see the launch pads and drove all around the VAB building along with the what we did before. It was so different and wonderful.
At the entrance

At the bus tour entrance.

The vehicle assembly building, back and front. There's a lot of activity inside and out.

Transporters that take the rockets to the launch pads.





Both tracks are gravel for the transporters.

More on the way to and from the launch pads.

The new Space X assembly is built horizontal instead of vertical. They move the rocket to the launching pad differently and it's closer.




The launch pad for Space X

This is minor but if you enlarge the picture there's a bird on each pole. It's as if they were watching over the complex.



Back at the Kennedy Center we went through the other complexes. The Atlantis was my favorite.





Control Center









If you're interested in more info on the Kennedy Center the blog from December has more info when we went with the kids.
https://tumbleweed-jimdee.blogspot.com/2018/12/christmas-with-kids.html

We left about 4:00 to head to Patrick AFB for the night.  The traffic wasn't real bad and we made good time in getting our room and eat at the mess hall. We were too tired to walk around the riverside so went back to the room and crashed. It's really hot in the 90's and I had enough of being outside. We went to bed early.

Thursday, we thought we'd go to a few wineries, but came up with the idea of going around the base, walk a small section of the Indian river and the ocean, get breakfast at the mess hall. We didn't get up in time for the mess hall. It's the fourth of July and it closed early. We did talk to a couple people on the river edge working with a horseshoe crab it had been turned upside down and down a high bank so no one could get to it. We watched them work with it for awhile which they did get it back in the water and turned over and it took off. Nice to see that happen. We went to the Base Exchange thinking we could get breakfast. The food court was closed. The BX was open so we walked around that awhile then went on A1A for a nice drive down the coast. It took awhile to find somewhere to eat. Almost everything was closed for the holiday.
Very little traffic

I wanted to stop at the beach and pulled into a parking lot just to see the ocean. It happened to be a portion of the beach (Cordova beach) that allowed dogs. That's the first time either of us had seen so many dogs. The owners we forcing some of them in the water and one poodle was burnt. That pup was miserable.

This one had swimming suit on.

The water was quite warm.
We continued down A1A to Vero beach. There were cars everywhere along the road at any opening to the beach. The parking lots were full.  That's why no traffic on the road, they were already on the beach for the day. This is the one of the state parks. (Click to enlarge)

We turned west on 60 and headed back home. We arrived at 4:00 and drank some wine and chilled the rest of the evening.

Doris left on Friday morning to head to Okechobee to her winter place. She loves the lone time and has some friends that are in her park she has fun with.  What a great five days with her.

Just something to add, our neighbor has a very cool plant.  Not sure what it's called  but thought to be a lifesaver plant.