Sister & Husband visit

We visited my sister and her husband this evening.  She made vegetable soup and home made bread.  Mummm, I had 3 bowls full with a slice of bread for each bowl.  Afterwards, SAM made a fruit dish and it was good too.  Lee looked good considering he was at death’s door last week with double pneumonia plus other complications.  We had a good 2 hour talk about all sorts of things but mostly centering on our Florida winter and looking at condos in St. Petersburg.  An enjoyable evening.

The clean up

[singlepic id=146 w=320 h=240 float=left]I did not sleep good last night.  I awoke about midnight and did not hear any sounds so I went to the front window and there was SAM shoveling packed snow trying to get the stuck car out of the middle of the driveway.  I went back to bed after saying to wait until the morning.  When I got up about 0400 the car was out and parked.

This AM there was a continuation of the church event so I was left to clean the remainder of the driveway.  I tried using the snowblower and it worked pretty good if a little muscle was applied so I did the whole driveway and then went over half of it again.  The temperature is 38° right now so it is melting off a bit.  Now I have to do shovel the back porch and then I can have lunch and dry the whites that are washing right now.

I wish it was a bit colder so I could go X-C Skiing.  It would be a perfect day if the temp was about 30.  Ah well, you cannot have it all.

Today’s Storm

The day started out as just another Indiana overcast winter day. I did all the mundane things today like get the company taxes, fill up the gas tank, go to Walmart for stuff and get the mail.  By the time I was returning to the pad, it started to snow and blow.  I guess we received about an inch or so but it was really blowing around.

I worked on some of the commercial websites and talked with the new Florida account.  SAM was out for a church event and I stayed at home to mind the store.  It looks like the snow is over and a quick shovel full of snow shows about an inch more or less thus proving my estimate.

I watched Hulu for more than a couple of hours to catch up on my queued Fringe series.  I had a problem with Episode 14 as it stopped at 7:25minutes and would not load any further.  This probably means it is a teaser episode.  Now I conclude the evening by reading Cassidy by Morris West.  BFN.

Kayaking: Hillsborough River, Tampa, FL

[singlepic id=144 w=320 h=240 float=right]The Hillsborough River has to be one of the great rivers to companion kayak.  Last Tuesday we did Trip 1 with Canoe Escape.  There remains Trip 2, 3 and 4.  However, Trip 1 is through a prime evil swamp with lots of Alligators, turtles and birds. I think we counted 50 Alligators on our 4.5 mile trip.  The picture is one of the many we saw.

The day was the best of the trip.  Temperature 75° ,light winds, full Florida sun with river canopy providing about 40% shade.  What else could a kayaker ask for?  Not much.  There was a slow current that added 1/2kt to the trip so paddling was very light and tide was not a factor.  Normally the current is less but since we had so much rain it was running higher.  However, it was very easy to paddle against the current as required.

We stopped about 2/3 of the way through the trip on a piece of higher ground on the shaded side for lunch.  We had [singlepic id=145 w=320 h=240 float=left]a  meal of hummus,  sausage wrapped in a corn meal tortilla and pretzels.  The shady side was used to avoid the Alligators on the sunny side of the river.  After lunch we encountered a canoe coming upstream with a man/lady who seemed to be confused as to direction to go.  We said to turn around and follow the current and so they did.  It seemed like our two boats were the only ones on the river.

A great day, in great company and on a great river.  I am blessed!

Fort DeSoto

We went to Fort DeSoto yesterday and watched the kite surfers for a couple of hours and then it was down to the North Beach which is a very nice beach on the open Gulf side.  It was a windy and somewhat cool day and we were driven off of St. Petersburg Beach by the cold and partly sunny skies.  SAM walked the beach North to the end and back while I was sunbathing with my jacket on (at least I had shorts).

Today we go to kayak the Hillsborough River for a few hours.  Temps are supposed to be in the low 70’s and partly sunny.  As I write a dove is coo-ing outside and it sounds nice – like home in the summer time.

Post dated Sunday adventure

Sunday afternoon we kayaked Weedon Island Mangrove swamps.  We started at marker 1 and then proceeded to 38 via 2.  We got down to where marker 34 was supposed to be but could not find the entrance to the interior.  After passing, re-passing and re-re-repassing 35 trying to locate 34 we just returned along the route to 2 and went up to marker 5 via this 100% canopied, narrow cut at 9 there was supposed to be a lake but we did not get that far.  The tide was coming in and we were not too sure how strong the current would be so we returned to where we rented the kayaks via a circuitous route.

Later in the afternoon we walked the trail to the 9 marker lake and around the whole “red” circle.  It was a nice walk around the mangroves on a stilted platform that has been recently re-done and is in great shape.  It certainly is worth the time to walk.

I am becoming a pessimist.  Florida will not get warm before we return to the frozen North.  Today was a repeat of cold days with partially sunny skies.  We wanted[singlepic id=143 w=320 h=240 float=right]kayak the Hillsborough River while we were down here but it has been so cold that we were afraid we would see no activity.  Why bother?  Tomorrow may be our last chance.

Today’s activity consisted of repairing Martha’s dishwasher.  One of the spring assemblies that assisted in lowering the door broke so we called around and located a replacement part and installed it.  This is a story in itself  but I won’t bore you with the details.  I also installed a key hangar by the door so it is easy to spot the keys you need to lock the doors.

That is the story for today.  Exciting no?

One cold day after another!

[singlepic id=142 w=320 h=240 float=left]We are here in sunny Florida and this winter has been real cold down here – like 40’s nights and 50’s days.  The days are rolling by and pretty soon it will be time to launch the boat.  We cannot wait for the gentle bobbing of the water underneath us.

We looked at some more places down here and it is exciting but I wonder about the practicality of having a permanent land base.  Still…

Went to get a tooth cleaning  this afternoon and they used an ultrasonic cleaner.  It fet strange and the water was spraying in my face most of the time.  SAM said I had it done before but I surely do not remember.  It was not that pleasant of an experience.

I got paid for the site I worked on down here for a friend.  It does look pretty cool and I got to use some new tools too.  I bought some new tools before I started the job so all my profits have been spent.  That is the problem with being a techno guy – the technology is an end to the means.

A picking day

We picked Kumquats today and some Oranges too.  The neighbors allowed us to pick the fruit from their trees.  They said they would not be using any of them.  We picked several boxes of Kumquats and these are ready for transport back to Indiana.  We used about half of the oranges picked for juice tonight.  It was very good.  I’ll make some more tomorrow.

This afternoon late we went down to Gulfport Geocaching and found 1 but got skunked on 2.  We must be getting old or rusty as we rarely get skunked.

The time to return home will come all too soon and the cold weather on our return will not be welcomed.  This winter down here has been cold and wet.  The promise is for this continue until we leave.

2 Chronicles 7:14

An internet brother sent me this message in the AM today.  It is from 2 Chronicles 7:14 and depending on which version should say something like the King James version:

2Ch 7:14

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.