Florida living

We have lived in Florida for almost 8 years now. It still seems like a vacation! Sure it gets hot, but not really any hotter than the rest of the country in the summer. Our summer's just start earlier and end later. We lived through 3 hurricanes, one right after the other, our first couple of months here. We still love it. You will only find our ac on occasionally, if at all.
Today, just a mile from our home, we had lunch in a park by the water.  It was beautiful, with a nice breeze off the water. And we can go as often as we like....paradise.

Cheeky Pelican

Bill and I tried to go to the beach on Sunday. The beach closest to us is Canaveral Shores Natl Park. It is right next to Kennedy Space Center and in very close proximity to the shuttle launch pads. Because the shuttle Discovery is due to launch this Wednesday the park is closed. Since we couldn't go to the beach we decided to just sit by the river for awhile. The river is actually an intercoastal waterway with dolphins and manatees. The dolphins have learned they can chase fish towards the wall by the boat dock and corner them.
We were enjoying watching a dolphin feed. As it locates a fish you can see a streak under the water, then the fish jumps and the dolphin jumps out of the water to catch it. A pelican showed up and we noticed he seemed to be watching the dolphin too. Soon the pelican was following the dolphin, trying to steal his fish as it jumped from the water. Fascinated, we watched for almost an hour. The pelican never managed to get a fish but he kept trying. I managed to get several good photos. We were glad the beach was closed because we got to watch an interesting show.

What's up?

I haven't posted in a few days for a couple of reasons. The first being out of town company. My husband's cousin and his wife were actually in town for a month. Florida is a great place to visit to get away from cold winters. They had other family in the area so we all got together several times over the month. This week was their last week and we took them to the beach one beautiful day then had pizza and Bill's homegrown strawberries for dessert. The next day we babysat their wonderful dog Fenway the Golden Doodle(Golden Retriever + Standard Poodle) while they took their grandson to Kennedy Space Center. Fenway was a joy, being only a year old and very sweet. Lexi & Lucy, being old ladies, weren't too sure about her.

Another reason for not posting is, what I believe, an inflamed nerve in my right thumb. When I use scissors or hemostats(for stuffing critters) it goes numb. Sometimes it's just a shooting tingling. So I have been trying to rest it and it is driving me crazy because there are several critters screaming to be made!

The last reason is this is my 99th post and I wanted to do something special for my 100th post. I have been wracking my brain trying to think of something. So tomorrow be sure to check in -- I will be giving a little critter away.

Brrrrrrr!

Last night was the coldest night this winter here in central Florida. Several areas got a freeze although locally it didn't go below the mid 30's. Yesterday and today the high is in the mid 50's. I know all you people who are suffering snow and below zero temps are laughing at me. I am all bundled up in several sweatshirts and drinking hot chocolate. They say after you have lived in a warm climate like Florida for several years your blood thins and the cold bothers you more. I can tell you the cold always bothered me. I hate the cold! To me, temps below 70 are cold. Tomorrow it will be back in the lower 70's and up to 80 by Sunday and I will be warm again.

Florida in February

It was so beautiful here today we decided to head for the water. We live close to the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge which actually surrounds Kennedy Space Center. As of 6pm today the area is closed until after the shuttle launch scheduled for Feb 7.

But today we drove through, looking at many varieties of tropical birds. We have spotted gators before, but none today. Heading for Haulover canal which connects the intercoastal waterway with the ocean we settled in along the shore. Bill got out his crabpot and fishing pole and I pulled out my beach chair. The temperature reached 80 with a soft breeze and no humidity. We just chilled out as Bill "drowned" a few shrimp. There were dolphins playing and feeding in a laggoon like area on the other side. A crab strolled up near the beach but moved away too fast for me to get a photo. The big white bird watched us from really close by. A nice relaxing afternoon!

Everybody in that below zero weather....SORRY!