Bailey and Friends

We survived. In fact it was pleasant. He's not interested in anything we have to say, so starting a conversation doesn't work. He's very bigoted and judgmental and it's hard to remain quiet, but you're not going to change him. He did bring me a wonderfully luxurious throw (I am forever cold.) He also brought Bailey a spikey ball that flashes all kinds of different colors, which she loves. We'll be here for another month, so I'm thinking about possibly taking him to lunch or dinner at this restaurant that is nearer where he lives. It's a very unusual place and I know he'd get a kick out of it. We'll see. There is a VERY FINE LINE between where all goes well and where it suddenly explodes and becomes the worst nightmare you ever lived through.

Ryan, #1 son, arrives tomorrow. One more sleep. HOORAY!!!!!:D:D:D:D:D
Love,
Sus

Well I am very glad that it all went well this time.

Maybe you can save the restaurant for your next trip down to Florida. You know, don't Over do it all at once, baby steps.

For now you get to enjoy having Ryan "in the house" and have fun showing him around the new digs and hood. See, I'm getting urban dictionary out for youth speak. hahahahaha

ohh, the new ball seems like it would be fun, can see that baby flashing as it goes rolling around the living room. hahaha

hugs
Sharlene and molly muffin

Thanks Sharlene. The ball is really cool and it's just the right size for her. It flashes bright red and bright blue. I recently read that dogs can see the color blue. Don't know if that's true or not, but it's fun to think so.

Why is it no matter what, you can always make me laugh?
Gosh I love you for that gift.

Missing you and thinking of you. I hope you are enjoying beautiful sunrises and sunsets and life is good for you and Bob and Bailey.

When will you be heading back north? The rumor is that Spring is soon to arrive. I dont think I am believing it.

Had brother visit. Had son visit. Son got snowed in. Had to stay two extra days due to snow back home. Aw shucks! ;):) We ordered blinds and they started coming so we're putting them up. I like to do things right. Bob likes things done. Haste sometimes makes waste.....or do-overs. We got a package delivered to BB from the cruise line so I had our neighbors mail it down here. I think we're going to leave here about 3/27. We leave for our tulip river cruise on 4/14. I have things here squared away pretty well, but I need to get the taxes done before we go home. I had hoped to get time to play with my camera to get more familiar with it so I'd be better able to take beyouteeful shots of all the tulips, but I don't think that's going to happen. I'd love to get out and get some pictures of all the birds around here. That might happen.

This has been a very productive winter here. We got way more done than we ever planned to do in this first year. The place is looking great and is taking on our personalities. I'm very comfortable here. I thought it would feel really crowded and it doesn't. I do think we'll feel lost in all that space that we have back home. I am ever so grateful we were not there for the winter weather. I am feeling quite smug about that. But this winter was mostly work. Not much play. I never got to paint. I never got to work with my cameras. I never even got to watch much on Netflix. I've been exhausted much of the time. I never got into my exercise routine as I had hoped. The bicycling never got off the ground. But the place is pulled together. The stuff is organized. We won't be coming back to any chores that need doing. Next winter should feel like a vacation. If that is the case, this was all worth it. And a bonus is that during the winter months the alligators don't come around all that much.:D And the birds do come around a LOT. :D And next time I'll have a MUCH better idea of how much of what to pack in the way of clothes. 75% of what I packed has not been touched.

There is a fine arts and fine crafts show tomorrow. We've been to one each of the past three weekends. I'd love to be able to spend time on my painting and then be able to enter one of these shows. For years I've walked through them and have heard a voice in my head say "I can do that.....I know I can." And I just have never taken the time.

Daylight will be here before you know it. Have a peaceful day, Addy. I'll be right beside you.

Love,
Sus

Go on over to the condo photo album and see who stopped by today.......:D

ohh, wow, that is something isn't it. :) Gorgeous.

What a lovely area that is

hugs,
Sharlene and molly muffin

Trish-I'll get a picture of an alligator before we go back home. We saw a huge one yesterday and a baby one several days ago. I need to have Bob drive me around the various ponds and let me get out to picture the wildlife as we see it. Last week the sand hill cranes were walking down the middle of the street.... two of them, side by side. They didn't care about a car coming up behind them at all. Sharlene, it really is a magnificent place for wildlife viewing.

Beautiful photos Sus. How wonderful to sit out winter in such a lovely location. Maybe you should wait until mid April to go back to BB.

This afternoon I had my first instance of "I've had it" here. Although I'm not wanting to revisit 40 degrees....and that's on a good day. I can't stay until mid-April. I'd miss my flight for the cruise!!:eek:
We are in the process of trying to hang the last set of window verticals. After that I have to finish the taxes. After that we are "free" to go home. That or two weeks from Thursday, whichever comes first.....or last, if we want. I'm getting very excited about the cruise, but the taxes have to get done. A few things need to get done. I'd like to have all my ducks in a row. I've never had all my ducks in a row. Never. Ever. It's very possible. What a wonderful feeling that would be.

Bailey got groomed yesterday. Doesn't look as nice as the first time. Still looks nice....just not quite so nice. It's a strange shop. Three women in there. I have no idea what their names are. They let the dogs run loose in the clipping area. I have no idea if one of them is in charge or if it's run by committee. I need to talk to a neighbor here who goes there with her dog. See what her experience is like. I know she really likes them.

Interesting grooming shop. As long as the dogs get along together I suppose it could work. I really wouldn't know since molly only gets along with her friends she has to be alone in the room to get groomed.

hmm, I always try to get the ducks into a row, but there is always one or two that want to go off and do their own thing, making the row not such a good row, definitely now straight.

Wayward ducks, the bane of the "I wish I could get organized group"

I think the cruise will be very exciting and it's a good thing to be looking forward to. Plus it makes you go home. LOL

hugs
Sharlene and molly muffin

Oh you silly Sharlene. :D I'm missing home now any way.....but I do wish I had another month here......but that's for next year. I'm already looking forward to next year because that will be the year to play with the photography and the painting.

:DTwo new Bailey pictures.............:D

You said Bailey pictures and here I am!! LOL Those are just way too cute! Her haircut looks wonderful by the way. Not sure how she could be much cuter than she is already!

You been playing around with the camera? Think you're doing an excellent job of it!

hugs,
Sharlene and molly muffin

[QUOTE=molly muffin;
You been playing around with the camera? Think you're doing an excellent job of it![/QUOTE]
I looked back and see I neglected to tell you all that I met a woman at last week's art show who does portraits....people, nature paintings (which are pretty good also) and then portraits of pooches. She had one there that looked eerily like Bailey. We spent some time talking with her and I'm considering having her do a painting of Bailey. I didn't think to ask while I was there, but she works from jpg files. I think what she does is takes the jpg file, print it on canvas, then add paint strokes. I think that's cheating, when it comes to painting, but I tend to be a purist. Despite all that, her results are amazing. So that's the long way around to explain I am trying to get a picture of Bailey to send to her for her possibly to use to make a portrait of Bailey. Then way back in the corners of my mind, I'm thinking I might try that on our two previous dogs.....painting their portraits from pictures printed on canvas. It would be a real challenge for me, but something I'd love to try.

It turned chilly again. A good day to work on taxes I guess.:(

I was SOOO excited. Bob told me there were a couple of Sand Hill cranes out back. I went and got my camera and went outside to see if I could get some pictures. People aren't supposed to be on the golf course....only golfers...but they do have a paved path for the golf carts and if you watch yourself, I figure it's pretty safe. So out I went and proceeded to snap away. They were walking away from me so I wasn't getting very good shots. I started talking to them and asking them to face me and let me have some better shots and to talk to me. They did! Boy those birds are loud!! They stood up tall and proud and squawked away. I got some GREAT shots. So long as they weren't blurred, they might even be award winning shots (at least award winning in my eyes.) I got them both in the same frame. I got them talking. I got loads of pictures. Then I walked on back and past the condo was a bird I'd not seen before, so I started snapping shots of it. I even was so lucky as to get a shot of it mid-poop. (YUK!) I was staying out of the way of golfers and they didn't see me, but when they drove by me, I got reprimanded. The bird flew off and I came inside to see my treasures....eager to post a picture online. Popped open the card door only to find.........no card inside. NO CARD INSIDE!!!!!! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Oh No Susan!!! What a bummer. I'm sure they would have been lovely photos too. Okay, put the card in, and get that camera charged up and on stand by for the next photo opportunity!

You're going to have to create one of those photo web pages of all the wonderful photos you are going to get!!

hugs
Sharlene and molly muffin

An alligator got a 10 year young doggie today near the 11th hole of the golf course. I think it's time to go home. :(

Head for the hills, Susan, time to pack it up if it is the start of alligator season. I have not picked up my pains or a canvas in 14 years. Maybe I should think about it again.

I like the idea of a portrait. I have a pix of Zoe and Koko I would love to have turned into a portrait. Let me know if you try this person.

Enjoy your weekend and stay away from the 11 th hole.

Addy-I haven't looked at her site yet, but here's the link..........
www.ArtByCaroleRose.com

Her phone number is 905-735-9043
She is supposed to send me an email. I'll let you know if we start talking specifics.
Love,
Sus

Bird picture in condo album

They certainly do look regal don't they! And big, those are some big birds!

lol
sharlene and molly muffin

When they stand up tall, they're about 5 feet tall. You wouldn't want to mess with one of 'em. And LOUD?!! They sound like bull horns! :eek:

Oh gosh, does Bailey have allergies? Is this new for her?

Molly gets periodic unwell days too. Usually associated with some tummy upset.

Have to admit that snow is no way to entice someone home from warm weather, or even warmer wet weather. LOL

I am getting more hopeful for us up here in the great white north. (this year I remembered why it's called That!) We're suppose to have some days above freezing! whooo hooooo

hugs,
Sharlene and molly muffin

p.s. those birds are something and oh my god 5 Feet Tall :eek::eek:

sharlene and molly muffin

The vomiting has been an on and off thing-but mostly off for some time now. She's been bugged by her butt for the last day or two and I think maybe that had something to do with her getting sick this AM.

The itching thing is a mostly on thing at home but was something we did not have down here until the last month or so. I think it's an allergy issue but have no clue as to what the source is.

A new bird photo............:)

Whew, after seeing the last birds, I was almost scared to go look, but I did! Not as tall as the last ones. Thank goodness. You have to have a fair running chance with the birds! This one looked like he'd been swimming?!

hugs
Sharlene and molly muffin

OMG a alligator got a doggie?? Oh dear, that would be it for me... what say they walk out their rivers and are camped on your lawn when you wake up in the morning??? I would be running screaming out to the airport!!

Your bird photos are so lovely, you must have a great camera and also photography skills as they are really fabulous! Who needs to visit the zoo, we can come visit you instead!

Oh dear I missed that post about the alligator getting the dog. I saw what Trish said and was like huh. What!

That is not good at all. A risk of living in Florida?

Keep bailey safe!!!
Hugs
Sharlene and Molly muffin

Yes, apparently so. I don't think you can sit by any pond or lake in FL and consider yourself safe. You know that doggie must have made some horrible sounds and the owner will be hearing those sounds in his head forever, never mind the images that are carved in his brain and the guilt he must feel. I just feel so badly for everybody except the stupid alligator. You can report aggressive alligators and the gaming folks will come and remove them. I don't think I'd want to be here during the warmer months when they're mating and crossing roads.

I'm getting ready to post a couple of new pictures. :)

I left you some comments on the pics Susan.

I like the pictures. LOL

hugs
Sharlene and Molly muffin

Yikes, me not like Pat! :p

I think we need to hire a hit man to wipe Pat out!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cant even go back and read what happened to see what you are all talking about. It is giving me the heebeee geeebees just imagaining it.


I have come to the conclusion, I am a city girl at heart. Wild life is nice once in awhile but I dont like living with all the critters. I have had to stare down and challenge coyotes to protect Koko, we can never allow him out in the yard alone. Now we have some non Wisconsin species owl hanging around the house. At first it was fun to hear him WHOOOO WHOOOO but now he does it all the dang time and then the mean old crows come and squack at him and create such a racket circling him until the owl leaves. We have a half of a dead bunny body under our giant blue spruce. Do owls eat bunnies?

I think I would rather experience all of this at a zoo. I dont know how many critters we have had to fish out of the pool and one time I used bird netting for one of my gardens and almost strangled a small red squirrel to death, I had to cut him free and hope he did not bite in the process. That does not include the giant crane that decided to hang out in our pool for a week or the ducks that thought it was a nice swimming hole for them:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: Or the deer with all the deer ticks sleeping in our far back yard.:eek::eek::eek: We dont even go back there anymore.

Uggg- nope, give me the city lights:p:p:p:p


Yup, I would not handle alligators well

Addy, are you making the case for that move to the city you've been talking about? :) :) :)

Remember when you and your hubs were there and had gone walking around looking at places. I could just picture that.

I know there will come a day when we don't want to take care of the house and the pool and all the maintenance that goes along with that. Then we'll probably move to a condo or something, where there is someone else to take care of things and we just show up and enjoy. Well that is the thought anyhow.

Susan would probably tell us there is a lot of work that goes into having a smaller place in a complex area too. Still... yea, it does sound like a dream sometimes.

You seem to have an awful of critters around your place I must say and Susan with the alligators and all. Yikes. The birds aren't too bad, but a 5 ft bird, might not be pleasant if they decided you were in their territory. You know like Geese and Swans can do.

Have a good day gals
Sharlene and molly muffin

LOL, Sharlene! And these Sand Hill Cranes practically stand there and put their wings on their hips, as if to say...."Yeah? Where do you think You're goin'?" Add that to the racket they can make when they decide to talk and it's enough to scare the *$#@ out of ya. This is my first experience with condo living and it is nice (so far) having all these people show up to cut the grass and prune the bushes and sweep the sidewalks, etc. We had our first (for us) Homeowners' meeting last week and what made me UNcomfortable was the part when they started talking about the need/or lack of it to raise Homeowner's fees. In a community this large, you're kind of at the mercy of a few people you don't even know. AND, it turns out, one of them we had a run in of sorts at the clubhouse at dinner one night when we sat at the table next to his on a night when he had had way too much to drink and though himself to be very funny and foulmouthed.

On the other hand, today there was a select brunch for people from Delaware, Maryland and Virginia so they could meet one another. They have been having various state groupings throughout the winter. A gentleman sat next to me who lives in the summer at BB. Very nice man who just lost his wife this past December. He lives very near us and I tried to encourage him to call us once he gets back home. There were four tables of 8 of DelMarVans. The clubhouse always has a nice brunch on Sundays.
-Susan

Well, yes that is a problem with homeowners associations. Do they have to issue a vote to raise fees though?

Oh that is really nice that they are proactive about getting people to meet each other from similiar areas, etc. I think that is nice. Especially for anyone new and then you can branch out from there to closer neighbors, etc.

Do they have an area for the dogs to be off leash and run and play there? Maybe that would be a good place to meet other doggie lovers.

hugs
Sharlene and molly muffin

Well, you can do what my dad did, he became a board member of his association.;);) Well, maybe they dont let you do that if you dont live there full time. :confused::confused::confused:

There is no area for doggies to run. That is called going back home for the summer months. You can be a board member if you don't live here full time-they were trying to recruit Bob....but he does not want THAT job. I don't know if that means you have to come here for the quarterly meetings or not. The condos have their own officers and then the whole association has a Board of Governors. All I know is that we are very fiscally sound and run really well, especially comparatively. This is a golf and country club and I'm thinking maybe next year I'll maybe take some golf lessons. I've played before. I even had some clubs that I gave away just last year. A large part of our dues covers the golf facilities. I had quit because I had progressed as far as I could on my own and needed some lessons. I wasn't improving at all. I'd like to get to know more of the people here and that would be a good way. We'll see.
-Susan