A Snowbird in Paradise

When you become retired, so do a lot of your friends.  Over the 12 years of being retired we have seen so many high school classmates retire to Florida that we have had several mini luncheon reunions.  The same thing has happened with fellow teachers.  Now many of my scrapbooking Granny friends are in Florida and meeting for lunch or dinner is an almost weekly affair.  The same thing with his fellow Ford employees. 

This week we met with one of my friends from The Digital Scrapbook Place, Granny forum.  We have met with FulltimeRVer and her husband before, and even camped with them.  This time they brought their full-time friends, Lu and Larry.  We have heard about each other through Fulltime, but it was our first time to meet. 

It was a great lunch with typical Florida Seafood at Lightseys in Okeechobee.  Then the mandatory photos!

 Now, with my own car again at last, I can go to the beach whenever the weather begs for a beach day.
 Most evenings we sit on the Lanai or down by the lake and admire the setting sun.  Ok...doesn't sound too exciting unless you realize we have just talked to our kids and grandkids who are knee deep in snow, or freezing their tootsies off in winter weather.

 I like to "Tablescape" especially in Florida with a nice new table and time to fuss over such things.  This one began with black chine, 4-piece settings for eight.  Although I bought the set from an estate sale in Port St. Lucie for $10, I recognized the china as being from Big Lots at about $3.00 a piece.  So 32 pieces for $10 was a bargain.  When I unpacked the dishes I discovered that one large plate was missing.  Still a bargain, but we went to the local Big Lots and they had ONE black plate left.  So now my place settings for 10 is complete.  I also bought 8 square white plates at Big Lots.  You can do so much with those. 

Also, from that same estate sale, I bought a black centerpiece bowl and candlesticks.



The heart placemats, cups, and flowers came from another trip to Big Lots.

I also "scaped" the breakfast bar.
Besides having fun doing this, it keeps me, and others, from plopping stuff down on the bar or table making the house look more "lived in" than I would like.

This arrangement will stay until the day after Valentines Day.  Then I will put everything away and start planning my St. Patrick's Day tables.

I don't usually photograph food, but we put together two big Botanas for the Superbowl.  They start with a layer of corn chips, topped with ground beef cooked with taco seasoning and re-fried beans.
The next layers are rather personal but we put in lots of cheese (Mexican mix), fresh sliced or chopped tomato, onion, green pepper, avacado, more cheese and back in the broiler for a minute or less.  Top with salsa and lots of sour cream.  With a beer it was perfect for watching an exciting Superbowl.

All of a sudden we decided to take a little drive in the convertible down along Indian River Drive.  I had the little point and shoot camera and wanted to take a couple of photos of the flock of white pelicans that hang around the Judas fish house.  In my Audubon Ap they only show brown pelicans.  Friends who are knowledgeable have said that there are no white pelicans.  Well, here they are!




I WILL go back later this week with the "big girl camera" and get some details on these pretty pelicans.

Then we crossed the bridge and turned left, West, into Little Hollywood.  We drove along the river, a bit curious about what we heard after the 2002 hurricanes, that with the bridge out people had to go all the way to I-95, MILES away, to cross the river. 

What a lovely drive.  We went on and on westward toward Micco and beyond.  There were amazing ranches, and rancheros, small and large, a couple of flocks of wild turkeys, and jungle-like growth everywhere along these back roads. 

We crossed over I-95 and kept going.  We found an interesting Scrub Preserve and stopped for a couple of snapshots.



Circling toward the South we found ourselves in familiar territory around the town of Felsmer.  From there we headed home from a road trip far longer than we had intended...warm evening in Florida...on a top-down day.