June - Finally Summer!

I tried to post some pictures when were were down in Florida in the middle of May, but Blogger wouldn't let me. So I'll post May now and June next.

Paul's parents came over from Ft. Lauderdale for my birthday. This is Paul's dad with a "bucket o' beers." He thought it was so cool.




















And here is me, with the next night's appetizers. Note the fancy cardboard box for a coffee table with the sprig of plastic flowers in the center. I'm not the "hostess with the most-est" for nothing!















We bought some kayaks online and had them shipped to my friend Leslie's house before we went back down to FL. Had a little mixup because they didn't ship a paddle that was supposed to be included with mine, but Amazon was amazing and immediately credited me the cost of a paddle we had to buy. HIGHLY recommend Amazon.

Here they are: mine is the little one. It dumped me out almost every time I tried to get in off the dock, and I ended up getting stitches when I cut my leg on a barnacle on the piling. Had a cute medic at the ED, though. So all is forgiven, and the kayak and I are still friends. But next time we go down I'm buying a ladder so I can climb down to the water instead of trying to balance from 3 feet up.















Here is Paul headed out fishing. His kayak is bigger, with places for his fishing rod. Right after this he caught some sort of a trout, and while he was trying to get it reeled in (the kayak doesn't have brakes so the fish tows you around a little), a bunch of dolphins (the mammal) started circling and trying to get the fish. Paul said it was a little freaky - not knowing if he'd hook a dolphin and get towed out to sea! At least that's his story...I never actually SAW the rumored dolphins.



But I did see a manatee in our canal. Paul came running up the stairs yelling, "Manatee! Manatee!" Didn't get pictures, but it was right in our boat slip when he was getting out of the kayak. That I DID see.

Wow, it's been a while since I posted, hasn't it? I just uploaded some photos to my Facebook page. Here's the link:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=196325&l=e75d58364d&id=100000394911360

We didn't get snow all winter, and for the entire month of May it has done NOTHING but snow! So for the last 4 weekends straight we've gotten out of Summit County. The pictures I posted on Facebook are of our camping trip to Rifle Falls.


Here's what it looks like at my house.

We are headed to Florida again on Saturday. Gotta do something to get away from this weather. Just hope the airport is open.

Does anyone else have spring. I mean REALLY spring?

Happy Sunday -- it is finally snowing! I know the East Coast and lots of other places in the U.S. have had way more than their share of snow, but here in Colorado, we haven't had a whole lot. The ski areas are open, but the conditions leave a lot to be desired. Hopefully from here on out it won't stop until April. With all the beetle-killed trees, we are going to have an interesting summer if we don't get a LOT more snow.

We went to Florida for Valentine's Day/Presidents Day/Mardi Gras. It was still pretty chilly (for Florida - 60s), but the sun was out, and so were we. Here's me having lunch at the Pier.

And here's my Valentine's Day present. Isn't it awesome? Paul does good work. I think it's Tanzenite and Australian Opal...I don't really care; it's just pretty.
This next one isn't a very good picture because I took it with my Blackberry, but I think you can see the ears....

This is Samson, who has never shown ANY interest in the TV at all. But two nights ago we were watching the Ice Dancing during the Olympics, and he was fascinated. He watched and watched, and kept jumping up to "touch" the skaters. Once Ice Dancing was done, so was he.
Nothing more to post. Have a great rest of your weekend everyone!
T.

More Florida Pics

Paul and Bob with their "Cubanos"

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Les and Bob finding sea urchins on the beach

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Kite Boarders

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Student Drum Core at the Saturday Farmer's Market

(They had great moves; I didn't capture their flair!)

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Birthday in Florida

We spent Paul's birthday in Florida with my sister Leslie and her husband Bobby. It was Bobby's birthday the following Friday, so we had lots of celebrating to do.

First Beer of the Trip

(or maybe it was the 2nd, whose is that on the floor?)

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Leslie Testing Out Her Camera

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Sponge Docks in Tarpon Springs

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Sisters at Lunch

(I look like a poodle; darn humidity!)

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Beach Day at Pass-a-Grille Beach

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More pictures to come...I've reached Blogger's size limit!

What I Got for Christmas

I know that some people will laugh, but I am so excited about what I got for Christmas!

The old toilet in this bathroom was a hideous baby blue with a nasty wooden seat that I could never keep clean. When we moved in, I said it was going to be one of the first things to go. Ten years later, it's finally history.

:-)

We also put in this beautiful kitchen sink and faucet to replace the old ones that the previous owner had just rigged up and always leaked. Wish I had a picture of both the toilet and the sink so you could see the "before and after."

The sink is extra-deep, with the right basin larger than the other, and the faucet is really high with a pull-down sprayer. I LOVE IT!!! It fits really big pots and pans, and is so shiny and clean.

I'm not sure what my next project will be. Maybe refinishing the kitchen cabinets and replacing the blue formica countertops. (The last holdout of the 80's pink and blue flowers that our house was decorated with when we bought it...I have spent years eradicating THAT.) But if I do work on the kitchen, I will want to put in new appliances, so I'll have to think about that for a while. Maybe just a new dishwasher so we don't have to wash our dishes by hand BEFORE putting them in the dishwasher???

Happy New Year everyone!
T.

Long Overdue Update

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know I need to get better about posting. One of the social media pieces I just read stressed the importance of consistent and timely blog postings. The problem is, most of the time, nothing really happens around here. To us, anyway.

I do have a couple of things I can write about now. We spent Thanksgiving in Florida, and it was heavenly. We got Paul a TV so he could watch football on T-Day, and I cooked a ham and scalloped potatoes for Paul's brother Neal and his wife Eva and their son Michael who came down from New York. The next night we went down to Straub Park to watch the lighting of the Christmas tree. Very cold for St. Petersburg -- but then I always seem to bring the cold weather with me!

Here's a picture of the sunset off our deck:

Had a great time and can't wait to go back.

This last weekend, I spent Sunday up at Fremont Pass (by Leadville, CO) for an Avalanche Training Seminar put on by the Summit Rescue Group. Talk about going from one extreme to another! It was -15 degrees wind chill. Here's a great shot of the volunteers around Rescue One. Kindof gives you an idea about what kind of a day it was...

But I had a great time and learned a lot. And I LOVE my new Sorel Glacier boots! They are rated to 100 below zero, and worth every penny! The only thing that got cold was my hands, so I need to do some research on new gloves. I need something where I can get my finger(s) out to take pictures, but not expose my whole hand.

Ideas, anyone????

T.