A Snowbird in Paradise

No, I didn't fall off the planet in April.  I have no excuse for being so far behind in blogging.  DF (Dear Friend) Lisa Wingate encouraged me to do an end-of-year blog post with her lovely entry today so here goes.

January saw us leave frozen Michigan on the 3rd headed for sunny Florida.  We stopped to visit my brother in Georgia and a daughter in St. Augustine.  Within a few days, we were feeling back-home-again in the warmth of Sebastian, Florida.
February and we missed watching the grandgirls' skating competitions, but certainly enjoyed the wildlife around our breakwall.  We appreciated the birds especially, since they were so scarce when we had a 6-week emergency stay here last October and November.

March gave us some heavy weather but that just made for great surfing.  The local joke is that you can't get anyone to do any work or open their stores if the "Surf's Up"
Also in March, we finished our improvement project of the laundry room.  What had been a real chore, doing laundry in that old nasty room, became a pleasure.  The cabinets let me empty the overcrowded ones in the kitchen.  It was a WIN all around!
My brother and sister-in-law made their first visit with us and we HAD to compare Seabring  convertibles.  Mine, the dark one, is new to me this year.  I just love driving around in it, but it stays in Florida.
The last thing in March was our yearly Easter visit with my daughter, her husband and our precious granddaughters.  First order of business is always a pedicure for each of us.
Easter Sunday was early this year, March 31.  We had dinner for 13 people, surrounded by family and a neighbor.  Other neighbors entertained the kiddies with their baby miniature goat.
April came in while the family was still with us for their 10-day break, but too soon had to return to Michigan.
May we packed up and came home to Michigan, staying overnight with daughter and son-in-law in St. Augustine and then Judy and Pat in Tennessee.  The photo-walk with Judy and our friend Shawn and her family was a highlight of the year.
By the end of May, summer was urging us to plant and decorate, and visit Daughter's and Son-in-law's Lake House.  Annuals were all over their lakehouse and my garden back home.
June and the family was swimming and fishing both at the lake and here at home.  Wherever they were, the girls would find the water and swim, swim, swim.
July first and a combination of heavy rains and negligence of the DPW to start the city pumps resulted in our having brief lake-front property.
The Fourth is always a big homecoming in our little town but, with the grandgirls and their parents with the other family at The Grand on Mackinaw Island every year, we celebrate quietly.
August, both girls tried sewing, but only the older granddaughter was ready.  She made pillow cases, pillows, and some clothing.  It has been so long since I sewed, I had to relearn right with her.
October, our little city moved the old Bob-Lo Dock from the marina to the center of town to be re-purposed as a pavilion and Farmer's Market.  It quickly became the center for holiday decorations, and gatherings.
November, and we settled in for cold weather.  Thanksgiving was quiet, with one daughter living in Florida, another living in New Jersey, and one son busy with a mission in Detroit.  The daughter and family were with the other grandmother this year so it was just Him, his son who lives next door, and me for dinner.
My beloved Michigan State University Spartans won an invitation to the Rose Bowl and I celebrated.  The house has been hung with Green and White all fall in a neighborhood of University of Michigan fans.  However, more and more Green and White is popping up as we get closer to the end of the year.
December we celebrated the Christmas season with a Polar Express excursion out of Owasso, Michigan on the train pulled by the REAL engine...Pere Marquette 1225.  It was emotional for me, since this is the same kind of engine my grandfather tended as yardmaster when I was a little girl.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were lovely and lively with the two granddaughters.  The decorations were down and put away before January first as we started to prepare to leave Michigan and more snow than we have seen since we started wintering in Florida, 11 years ago.

We just miss Abby's birthday every spring so we celebrate in Florida with a breakfast at Disney Vero. 

Several years ago, we planted a couple of little "pups" of banana.  In spite of frost scares a couple of years, we soon had the first bananas.  The individual trees die after producing a stalk of bananas, but they put up more "pups" that will bear in about 2 more years.  Now we are getting two or more nice stalks of bananas every Spring.  Fortunately, at least ONE stalk ripens when our granddaughters are here for their spring break.

 It didn't seem to matter to the girls that it was a rainy day, they insisted on swimming anyway.  It looked like it was going to be an all-day rain but in the afternoon, the weather cleared for several hours.  We chose to spend those hours at the Wabasso beach.  The waves were more than the girls had ever been in before.  At first they were cautious, holding hands and staying beyond the reach of the surf.  Finally, Gabby was brave enough to let the waves crash over her.

What fun to let the girls use the camera and take the mornings' photos.

Abby and "Captain" Rich on the boat in St Augustine.

The girls and their parents went to St. Augustine the day after Easter for a visit with Aunt Tiff and Uncle Rich.  The visit included a ride on the boat, and a tour of the ancient city of St. Augustine.

I had that nasty laundry room in mind and figured just to clean it up a little, but then we found a sale on cabinets at the local home store.  I figured just to set the cabinets in place, but one thing led to another, and He got into the details of crown moldings, floor molding, another cabinet, extra paint jobs, etc.

Here is my finished laundry room.  I do wish I had taken a "Before" photo.