Friday and Saturday

Friday was another warm day, not hot; but warm enough to warrant the A/C but with some fog and Saturday morning was the foggiest yet. After a lite breakfast and my quiet time I biked to the Rec. for pickle ball. There were some good moments with some great play but Rec. personnel wanted half of the gym for badminton; when there were no players this week, so we were without half the gym for over an hour, which sat empty. Oh well that's why they make the big bucks and make major decisions.

Amy and Ava came for lunch and then Ava and myself played outside while the girls made more cookies. Wow I'm glad that is over as I can see my waist expanding. I delivered cards and cookies to 6 neighbors through out the afternoon and evening. Ava came back and had dinner with us and then stayed until about 10 PM as Amy and Tyler were at a Christmas party for the college students. Nancy took off an sang with the choir at Seminole Mall so I gave Ava a bath, played toys and read books.

Saturday morning found Nancy and I at Calvary Chapel in Pinellas Park a little after 8 AM to help with distribution of the Angelfood Ministry. There were at least 200 different folks there to pick up food orders and many picked up multiple orders. What a great way to reach out an assist many who are disadvantaged and just be blessing to others. We have enlisted 2 of our neighbors to help in this worthwhile effort as well.

After leaving Pinellas Park we stopped at Sam's Club and filled up with gas at a 1.55 per gallon then picked up a few things; one of which was Mahi Mahi. Nancy baked that in the oven for dinner along with fresh asparagus, rice and a garden salad. YUMMM!!!! Ava came around 5 and had dinner with us after Amy and Tyler took off for a dinner out and a movie. We just enjoy having Ava and she is so cute and smart for her young age.Well will close for now as tomorrow is church day and then NFL in the afternoon. GO BUCS!!! LATER.

Another Warm Day

Well the A/C is on, yuck. I love the cool fresh air with the windows open but no. Oh well that does beat ice, snow and overcast skies. The morning started with the usual quiet time, Cheerios for breakfast with a banana. I biked to the Rec. and got in 2 good hours of play with 7 players.

After the Rec. I stopped by the library and picked up a couple books, one which is Grisham's THE APPEAL. Its a good read and the beginning is much like the movie Erin Brockovich. I'm about half way through and I wonder how much of this buying state supreme court justices could be true.

The garden is really starting to take off with the 1/2 runner beans already 3-4 inches long. I do believe we will have some for Christmas dinner. The greens; beet, mustard, kale and collards are just outstanding. I have several golf ball size green peppers and the eggplant has several blooms. The tomato's are loaded as well with golf ball size green ones. These past few days with warm nights have really matured many veggies plus fresh lettuce is coming out of my ears as well as the spinach. Wow I love gardening in Florida in the fall and winter.

Amy and Ava came for lunch and stayed until after 3 PM. Ava fell and bumped her lip causing it to bleed a little. We put ice on it and she calmed down, once again I reassured her she would be better before she was married. Ava and I played and read books while Amy and Nancy baked 4 different kinds of Christmas cookies. Wow I want to lose weight and eating those things sure don't help. Oh well what a way to go!! Nancy made a superb dinner of grilled marinated chicken breasts, fried potatoes and Dijon Brussels sprouts as well as a fresh garden salad. No wonder I can't lose any weight. Well will close for now. It's hard to believe a week from today is Christmas and 2 weeks from today 2009 begins. Where does the time go??? LATER

Wednesday is a Bit Drier but still Warm

Well the day started out as a spring day with lots of moisture and a bit on the warm side but as the day progressed it started to dry out. It still got into the 80's which made it pleasant. After my quiet time and usual bowl of Cheerios and 'nana I biked to the Rec. Well for a Wednesday we only had 8 players and did we ever play hard for a good 2 hours. There were lots of wet shirts.

Since Nancy cooked at church today Amy and Ava missed lunch with me but they always visited Tyler for lunch in Tampa. Anyhow I was alone for the day and got lots of reading done as well as a little garden work. I picked our good friends the Paynes's a bag of mustard greens. Wow are they ever good and even better when cooked with turnip greens. Nancy made beef stroganof with noodles, green beans,home made biscuits and chocolate cream pie, salad and banana cream pie(store bought). Tonight was our last fellowship meal until January 7 th as the next 2 Wednesday's fall on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve.

Will close for now. Later

It Sure is Warm for December

Hey all!!! I must apologize for being lax on writing the past couple of days. Sunday turned out to be an awful day for the prospects of a play off bid with the Bucs. Once again I think the play calling stunk and the team came up short in overtime. Church found Amy and myself with 3 toddlers in the nursery, of course one of them was Ava. She is maturing so fast, its hard to believe the words she's using and her ability to count as well as she does at 20 months. She is so mature behavior wise compared to the other's kid in her class who are 2-3 years of age.

Monday found Nancy and I leaving around 9 M to head over to Riverview to watch Annsley during the day. Jill's folks had to go back to Maryland for a visit with Brian's mother. They usually watch Annsley when both Jill an Bob are working. Needless to say we had a great time with her and she to is maturing rapidly. We stayed the day and Nancy brought dinner and prepared a meat loaf, new potato's and broccoli.YUMMM!!!! It rained most of the day so we watched Elmo, read books, played toys and hide an go seek. Annsley took a nice 2 hours nap which gave us time to catch up on some reading. I started Bill O'Reilly's book A BOLD FRESH PIECE OF HUMANITY and I must say he is a true patriot and is definitely looking out for the working folks.

We got back after 9 PM last night so I flipped on the NFL and gave up on any correspondence. Today was a warm one. Nancy had the a/c because of the humidity. The skies were bright sunshine after the light rain that fell most of the night. After my quiet time and breakfast of Cheerios and banana I biked to the Rec. There were 6 of us and we had good fast play for about 2 hours. Yep, a wet shirt was evident. I got a little garden work in before lunch and the arrival of Amy and Ava. After they left for her nap Nancy had to take her dad to the doctors for a chest x-ray. Nancy fixed a fresh turnip casserole for dinner(thanks to Stacy and Jerry) along with a fresh garden salad and ground turkey burgers. She is now getting ready to head out to church to sing with the choir for the ESL(English as a Second Language) Christmas party. Well the temp's here are really warm comparing to the rest of the nation. Lets hope this cold front heading our way for the weekend will keep temps down for Christmas. Well will close for now. LATER!!

Cool Saturday with Beautiful Bright Sunshine

We met the Ross Family around 11:30 at the Botanical Gardens in Largo. This property was part a friend of ours, The Gus Whitesell Family owned for several years. When Bobby was a young lad(8-9) we use to fish from another larger lake at the back of this property. He has since given the land to the county and they have made the gardens a beautiful place to visit, have weddings and just enjoy the flora.

The weather was bright sunshine and cool temperatures which eventually warmed to the high 60's. Long sleeve weather but just a great day with no humidity. Ava was in her glory as she loves flowers and did manage to crop a couple while we were distracted. In the pictures you will see a yellow rose she cropped then carried this rose around for most of the pics. She is such a "ham" as she smiles and squints her eyes when she knows your about to snap her picture. We visited the gardens until after 1PM before heading out to do a few errands. After a light lunch at 2 PM Nancy headed out to copy a few pics so we can get them into a few Christmas Cards that don't have access to the computer and our blog.

Around 4:30 we headed out for a brisk 2 plus mile walk. We really "picked them up and laid them down" with no stopping for about 45 minutes. I won't make pickle ball on Monday as Nancy and I will travel to Bobby's and babysit Annsley for the day. We will also take dinner along and have it ready when Bob and Jill get off work.

Well tomorrow is nursery day at church then we will have the Ross Family for lunch before settling in to watch the Bucs play the Falcons. GO BUCS!! Will close for now. Later!!!

Thursday and Friday

Well Thursday was a wet one with some much needed rain; so much so that I parked the bike and took the truck to the Rec. After my quiet time and usual breakfast I got in 2 plus hours of hard pickle ball play Thursday and Friday. Friday was a little different as I played the last hour of badminton. What a work out that is. Anyhow back to Thursday evening; Nancy and I drove over Riverview(south of Tampa) to Jill's folks house for dinner and domino's. Most all of Jill's family was there as well as some other close church friends and of course Annsley. She was having a grand time with all the Christmas decorations and attention.

Susan and Brian have a beautiful home and set a variety of dishes to satisfy one hunger. We all brought a few choice morsels as we kinda grazed through the evening. This was our 3rd annual domino's get together, however we missed last years as we were fighting some kind of a bug. We brought out the double 18 and managed to get 3 rounds in(18-15) before calling it a night at nearly 10 PM. By the time we exchanged gifts and said good-by's it was nearly midnight before we got home. We had a great time and thoroughly enjoy our in-laws and of course Annsley.

Friday afternoon brought a sudden drop in temperature with a steady breeze that made it feel colder than it actually was. By evening and nightfall it was downright cold(no freezing). We hooked up with our neighbors,Dan and Carol and went to their house for spaghetti. Nancy made a fresh garden salad with; lettuce, kale, mustard greens, beet greens, spinach and basil from my garden plus other stuff. We played domino's(double 12's) and I was back to my old form of smoking the field with a solid win after the 7th round. We then played 2 games of "oh hell" a card game and Dan smoked us in both games, so it was a boys night of victories. It was nearly 11 PM before headed out.

Saturday morning was quite unusual for us as we slept in until after 8:30 AM. Wow that doesn't happen often here in Florida; but in the mountains that was a frequent occurrence.

I finished the new Nickolas Sparks book"The Lucky One" yesterday evening. Again its a tear jerker but a good read. Well, will close for now and I apologize to those who read my daily ramblings for being a little lax the past couple of days. Today we are meeting the Ross Family at the Botanical Gardens (Ava's parents) for Christmas pictures then a few stops after that and a quiet evening at home. Later

Wednesday was a day we never got to play with Ava

Wow it sure warmed up today with a little more humidity. The morning was our usual routine; I had my quiet time, a bowl of cheerios(no banana) then headed out on the bike to the Rec. for pickle ball. There were 14 players again and we got in some good play before the the majority showed up.There was a little wetness on the shirt.

After play I rode my bike down to the church(Nancy was cooking) and picked up the truck to have it serviced. Afterwards I did a little gardening and read until it was time to head back to church to help with the fellowship meal. We fed around 55 people; baked chicken, new potatoes, mixed veggies, salad and carrot cake for dessert. We got out of there around 6:45. Nancy had to go back to church to practice with the choir for some Christmas Music. Oh well we both sure missed seeing little Ava today. Hopefully she will visit tomorrow. Well will close for now as we are expecting some rain and wind in the morning then turning cold again on Friday. Later