All good things must come to an end....and now the end is near
Our stay in Venice Florida is quickly coming to end. We've squeaked in about 12-15 more caches in the last couple of weeks, along with about 4-5 good days at the beach. I say "the" beach as if there were only one, but there are actually several in the area. Each little town has one or two of its own, and we've tried them all out. Since our beloved Sunny is no longer with us, we have been able to visit all of 'em, not just the doggie beach, and we have not had to rush back home to walk her. That, by itself is a bit bizarre, and we're still not fully adjusted to it mentally, but we're working on it. Periodically, I'll ask Dick if we can get a giraffe, or a llama, or an ostrich, thinking that a puppy would be an easy yes, after all those other weird requests, but he never falls for it. Answer is always "nope."
Our most recent geocache (and 160th, for those that are counting - TIM) was hidden almost 2 miles from the beach parking lot, under, what else, a palm tree frond. It was a hot, sunny day, and we walked & walked. And walked. We were almost there, when I happened to notice a 2-headed snake by the side of the trail. Whoa! Turned around & pulled my camera out to take its photo, and daggum if it didn't jump up in the air!! Not only was it 2-headed, but now, it was obviously 2-bodied, too! And about 3-4 feet TALL. Yeah, TALL, as in, up in the air tall. Oh my gosh, one was sand-colored and one was a bit darker, and both heads were black, or at least dark brown. Turns out, they were simply 2 snakes having a good old time, doing what snakes do when they're not sunning or attacking.....they were making baby snakes. Not sure who scared whom most, but I stood my ground while the "ran" for cover. Doin' it all the while. Weird. Got a video I'll try to post out on photobucket, so be sure to visit the Photos page of the website to see it.
Meanwhile, while we've been lounging around, I've been doing some sewing. I went on a shop-hop at the end of last month and stimulated the ocal economy...to the tune of about $100. Of course, I just HAD to have some of this, and then some of that, and then I found a book/fabric kit that would make the prettiest of wall hangings. Never mind that we have no walls on which to hang anything...it was PRETTY! and we all know my fondness (weakness) for all things iris...well, they were irises. Then, while I was waiting for the other ladies to get back on th bus, I pulled out the book & instructions to discover that the kit included only enough for ONE hanging, while the book had FOUR patterns. What a goofball I was for thinking it would all be included. So, I hustled back into the shop & purchased enough coordinating fabric to make the other three. Of course, that about tripled the price, but did I care? No, they would be SOOOO pretty. And at one of the other shops, I fell in love with some pretty flowered fabric, so I had to purchase it, too...and some coordinating pieces for it as well. Our neighbor, Gail, was kind enough to copy a pattern for me to make a table runner with them all, but since our table is so small, itjust didn't make sense to make a tablerunner....so, a little alteration, and voila! Two placemats were born! I've never quilted before, so I felt a terrific sense of accomplishment at how they turned out. Never mind that they don't "go" with our decor or color scheme. They're PRETTY! And, even if I do say so myself, very well sewn. So, that & walking around and biking and geocaching have been taking up most of our time.
We have been watching for alligator babies, bu, about the only "baby" we've seen is about 3-4 feet loong, as opposed to 12-14 feet....We *did* visit the rookery again, and we privileged to watch great blue heron and great white herons feeding their wildly growing chicks. Gotta remember, these birds stand abut 4 feet tall, so their "chicks" are about 2 feet each! How'd you like to have to feed THAT kind of appetite?
The housing bubble has about hit rock bottom here, with approximately 2 houses out of every 10 somewhere in the foreclosure process. We were browsing a Homes magazine just yesterday, and we were seeing page after page of cheap houses, most WITH pools, and most short sales. Either they were hovering just under or just over 100k, or they were just over 1 mil. Yeah, million. But, the really NICE ones, well, they were more like 7-8 million. And *those* puppies were SELLING! and we saw were some dude was just signed on to a football team (or was it baseball? who knows, who even cares!?) for some 45 million!!! Guaran-dam-teed!!! Geesh. What is WRONG with our country!!?? I am sure that there are plenty of people who work HARD and don't get a measly fraction of that kind of money. I am so concerned for all my friends who are "lucky" enough to still be working at Wachovia/Wells Fargo — with they still have a job this time next year? I'm sure the fat cats that made all the poor & unsound business decisions that got 'em where they are now are doing fine. Now & later, too. ARRRGH.. STILL burns me up!!I pray for ya, guys, I really do. I hope that you all are doing well and have enough ground to plant a garden. Many, many months ago, I mentioned to Dick that I remember my parents referring to their Victory Gardens. Break out the tiller, guys, y'all are gonna need it.
Some of you know of my pain in the butt - well, I had my 1st permanent shot about 2 weeks ago and my 2nd one yesterday. The first one was God-AWFUL, but yesterday's wasn't really all that bad. I've been up & about all day today, even rode my bike to the dumpster and back, then on to the laundry house. Last time, I was about incapacitated for a week, and in quite a lot of pain. Thankfully, not so much this time. Too bad I won't be here long enough to get the 3rd & final shot in the series - it would probably put an end to all this mess. Oh well, we'll see what happens.
We are about all packed up now, all my sewing stuff is stashed, the bikes are hanging off the ladder in the back, the dishes are packed & we are planning Chinese take-out for dinner, since the grill is getting cleaned up now. I'd like to head out tomorrow, but Jose says we need another day yet. Since he's driving, I guess I'll wait. I'll wrap this up now & head to Photobucket to see what I can upload. Internet's been a hassle today, so who knows how successful I'll be. 'Til next time, travel safe & stay happy!!
Our most recent geocache (and 160th, for those that are counting - TIM) was hidden almost 2 miles from the beach parking lot, under, what else, a palm tree frond. It was a hot, sunny day, and we walked & walked. And walked. We were almost there, when I happened to notice a 2-headed snake by the side of the trail. Whoa! Turned around & pulled my camera out to take its photo, and daggum if it didn't jump up in the air!! Not only was it 2-headed, but now, it was obviously 2-bodied, too! And about 3-4 feet TALL. Yeah, TALL, as in, up in the air tall. Oh my gosh, one was sand-colored and one was a bit darker, and both heads were black, or at least dark brown. Turns out, they were simply 2 snakes having a good old time, doing what snakes do when they're not sunning or attacking.....they were making baby snakes. Not sure who scared whom most, but I stood my ground while the "ran" for cover. Doin' it all the while. Weird. Got a video I'll try to post out on photobucket, so be sure to visit the Photos page of the website to see it.
Meanwhile, while we've been lounging around, I've been doing some sewing. I went on a shop-hop at the end of last month and stimulated the ocal economy...to the tune of about $100. Of course, I just HAD to have some of this, and then some of that, and then I found a book/fabric kit that would make the prettiest of wall hangings. Never mind that we have no walls on which to hang anything...it was PRETTY! and we all know my fondness (weakness) for all things iris...well, they were irises. Then, while I was waiting for the other ladies to get back on th bus, I pulled out the book & instructions to discover that the kit included only enough for ONE hanging, while the book had FOUR patterns. What a goofball I was for thinking it would all be included. So, I hustled back into the shop & purchased enough coordinating fabric to make the other three. Of course, that about tripled the price, but did I care? No, they would be SOOOO pretty. And at one of the other shops, I fell in love with some pretty flowered fabric, so I had to purchase it, too...and some coordinating pieces for it as well. Our neighbor, Gail, was kind enough to copy a pattern for me to make a table runner with them all, but since our table is so small, itjust didn't make sense to make a tablerunner....so, a little alteration, and voila! Two placemats were born! I've never quilted before, so I felt a terrific sense of accomplishment at how they turned out. Never mind that they don't "go" with our decor or color scheme. They're PRETTY! And, even if I do say so myself, very well sewn. So, that & walking around and biking and geocaching have been taking up most of our time.
We have been watching for alligator babies, bu, about the only "baby" we've seen is about 3-4 feet loong, as opposed to 12-14 feet....We *did* visit the rookery again, and we privileged to watch great blue heron and great white herons feeding their wildly growing chicks. Gotta remember, these birds stand abut 4 feet tall, so their "chicks" are about 2 feet each! How'd you like to have to feed THAT kind of appetite?
The housing bubble has about hit rock bottom here, with approximately 2 houses out of every 10 somewhere in the foreclosure process. We were browsing a Homes magazine just yesterday, and we were seeing page after page of cheap houses, most WITH pools, and most short sales. Either they were hovering just under or just over 100k, or they were just over 1 mil. Yeah, million. But, the really NICE ones, well, they were more like 7-8 million. And *those* puppies were SELLING! and we saw were some dude was just signed on to a football team (or was it baseball? who knows, who even cares!?) for some 45 million!!! Guaran-dam-teed!!! Geesh. What is WRONG with our country!!?? I am sure that there are plenty of people who work HARD and don't get a measly fraction of that kind of money. I am so concerned for all my friends who are "lucky" enough to still be working at Wachovia/Wells Fargo — with they still have a job this time next year? I'm sure the fat cats that made all the poor & unsound business decisions that got 'em where they are now are doing fine. Now & later, too. ARRRGH.. STILL burns me up!!I pray for ya, guys, I really do. I hope that you all are doing well and have enough ground to plant a garden. Many, many months ago, I mentioned to Dick that I remember my parents referring to their Victory Gardens. Break out the tiller, guys, y'all are gonna need it.
Some of you know of my pain in the butt - well, I had my 1st permanent shot about 2 weeks ago and my 2nd one yesterday. The first one was God-AWFUL, but yesterday's wasn't really all that bad. I've been up & about all day today, even rode my bike to the dumpster and back, then on to the laundry house. Last time, I was about incapacitated for a week, and in quite a lot of pain. Thankfully, not so much this time. Too bad I won't be here long enough to get the 3rd & final shot in the series - it would probably put an end to all this mess. Oh well, we'll see what happens.
We are about all packed up now, all my sewing stuff is stashed, the bikes are hanging off the ladder in the back, the dishes are packed & we are planning Chinese take-out for dinner, since the grill is getting cleaned up now. I'd like to head out tomorrow, but Jose says we need another day yet. Since he's driving, I guess I'll wait. I'll wrap this up now & head to Photobucket to see what I can upload. Internet's been a hassle today, so who knows how successful I'll be. 'Til next time, travel safe & stay happy!!
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