Deb and Joe left for home this morning. We had a great visit. Didn’t really do anything extraordinary. I probably should have arranged more sightseeing opportunities but I just didn’t have the energy. Seems like this Reno project has sucked the energy out of me. I am missing having my own place and my own space and stuff. And so many decisions leaves me fatigued. Besides it was nice to just have some sister time.
After they left I did some laundry and started packing for our move to another temporary home. We don’t have to be out of here till 3:00 tomorrow so we can load the car tomorrow. Then off to the beach just to get away from all the chaos! Something so calming about the ocean but there were a lot of people on the beach. The sun and nice breeze were awesome.
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A new adventure to spend our first Holiday in Florida. A special treat is that Debbie and Joe came on Tuesday afternoon to spend the holiday with us. We took them on a tour of the house so they have a first hand look at where we will soon be. Yesterday, Richard and Joe played golf. Deb and I did some shopping and a walk on the Juno Beach Pier and took this picture with the local Pelican. There are a lot of people who fish off the pier and this bird is always there on the railing. I am sure he gets plenty of food from the bait and fish that are caught. Later in the afternoon went and sat on the beach. It was a lovely day, 80 degrees with a little breeze but not much surf. Today we are off to Ruth Chris Steak house for a thanksgiving special dinner. Tomorrow Deb and Joe will visit with his sisters Barbara and JoAnne. Then they are heading home Saturday!
I spent a lot of time this week trying to find a restaurant that had Thanksgiving meals. Most of the reasonably priced ones were booked. I just couldn't justify the big Thanksgiving brunches that cost $100. We just don't eat that much anymore. Then a delightful surprise when Debbie called to accept our invitation to spend Thanksgiving with us. We agreed that eating out was a good option so the search continued. I found a couple of great places on the water but they only had 7:00 PM reservations which is too late to eat a big meal. Finally success as Ruth Chris has a Thanksgiving three course meal for a reasonable price or you can order from the regular menu. So we have a 2:00 reservation for dinner!
Trips to the house every day to get mail and check on the progress has been fun this week. Lots of activity. cabinets, painting, trim and yesterday countertops. We will go today to take pictures and will post on the Reno page. Nothing much else going on this week. Both cars were due for service, Mine at 15,000 miles and Richard's at 30,000. The dealership is about 30 minutes away so I took the cars in on Tuesday and Wednesday and waited for the service. They offered a loaner but by the time I drove back and forth, the wait was not much longer. Took my kindle and had a peaceful morning reading! It has been a little cool in the morning so I have not been at the beach too many days. When I don't go to the beach, I usually try to get to 8:00 mass. Nice way to start the day. I am in search of stool for the kitchen counter. We put the overhand on the end of the island so we don't have a ton of room. Found a nice wooden small stool but I am second guessing if I want a cushion top or if the wood one will be fine. I think I am having decision fatigue as i can't seem to make a decision very fast. FOMAM- Fear of making a mistake! LOL I also need a cabinet to put our TV on. We are going to look at it and hopefully buy it today! One more week at this place and then on to our last rental. If all goes well the reno will be done by the 14th of December. Not sure when the furniture will arrive but that is a worry for another day. We was the new movie Ford vs Ferrari and I thought it was incredible. I don't remember a move that evoked so many emotions. There were parts that were funny, scary, sad, anxiety, compassion. Even if you are not into racing, I recommend this movie. It will have you on the edge of your seat in parts and holding your breath. Although Richard knew the story of Carroll Shelby the designer and Ken Miles the racer, I didn't but we both enjoyed the story unfold so expertly. Matt Damon and Christian Bales were excellent in bringing the story to life and their unwavering confidence, belief in what they were doing was spot on. I highly recommend it to all ages! Without spoiling the story, there is a little sad event toward the end but I think everyone will enjoy seeing it with the kids, it will give you a lot of dinner table conversations about this story.
I thought the weather forecasters in CT did a terrible job but I think the ones here are worse. Or maybe the weather here is more unpredictable.
Yesterday they said 70% chance of rain all day today. Big front moving in! Ha! It was sunny and dry till about 2:30 and then cloudy and a sprinkle now and then. Go figure. The front is bringing with it a COLD front. Richard walked to the Juno Beach Pier today and was resting before heading back when he overheard two gentlemen talking. "They say it's going to get down to 57 degrees this weekend. I am going to have to get out my woolens and long pants and leather jacket. It's going to be COLD" I guess people like him are the reason the stores only have fall/winter clothes available. You can barely find a pair of shorts! So funny. I think we might have worn jeans a couple of times last winter and maybe in a few years we will adapt and think it is cold too, but for now we are loving Florida Fall weather. We saw the new movie out called Playing with Fire and it was teriffic. We laughed enough to bring tears to my eyes. It is a nice clean feel good happy ending moving. The kids especially will get the giggles over this movie. It has a predictable story line and will probably get bad reviews but we enjoyed it!
Even funnier, we were the only ones in the theater! I guess not many people go to the movies on a rainy Wednesday afternoon!! They delivered all the cabinets and are installing all the base ones. Counter template happens tomorrow! Wahoo. I will post pictures on the Reno page.
Today I am working on closet and laundry area design. So many decisions. LOL Sunday we went to an open air Fair in Juno Beach. There is a section of Route A1A (Also called Ocean Drive) that borders on the Loggerhead Marine Life Center and some Natural Dunes preserve they can close off to hold the fair since there are no streets off of that portion of the road. Last winter we went to a huge Art Fair that stretched the entire length of that road. Sunday was a smaller Fair and we parked at the north side of the closed road thinking this fair was as big. Turns out it was much smaller so it was a long walk to get to the booths. But it was a great day and my ankle was not too cranky! I bought a purse that I love. Lots of pockets, reversible fabric and washable and it will hold my water bottle. We also tried some body/hand lotion that was so amazing, that I had to buy some. And turns out I really love how my skin feels with it.
Looking forward to the great weather and other Fairs this winter.
First South Florida cold front finally arrived with lots of rain and wind yesterday. This morning it is 75 degrees with a humidity in the 50's and won't get out of the 70's today. This is why snowbirds flock here. I have to admit, I don't miss the New England cold. We went to see Harriett at the movies yesterday. It was an excellent movie and I highly recommend it. An awesome story about the courage of one black woman who helped so many slaves to freedom and went on to lead a combat group of black soldiers in the Civil War. A true portrait of courage and determination and belief in God and her cause. Although Florida does not have falling leaves to rake in the fall, turns out the palm trees are very messy. I had no idea that they drop fronds throughout the year but especially in the fall after the summer drought. Homeowners simply collect them and put them out on the curb every week and the trash collectors take them away. There are a lot of hedges in this area of Florida and those require constant pruning as well and collection of all those cuttings. I have not done any planting in our courtyard as all the tile cutting and mixing of mud to level the floor and thinset to put in the tile has created a pretty big mess. Apple Tip! I went to a couple apple classes this week at the Apple Store. I always learn something. If you have an apple iPhone or iPad with IOS 13 there is an update on the photos app. Open Photos and look for the little search icon. You can now search for pictures. I can search for cars, food, water etc. It will bring up a list of places it found those pictures or you can choose to see all of them. Really handy when you are looking for a specific pictures. Check out the Reno page. Some of the floor is in and cabinets get delivered Monday.!!!! Sat down with our builder yesterday to get a projected calendar for the renovation completion. Looks like we won't be getting in at the end of November, but actually December 14th is the date he is pretty sure is a solid move in date.
We have to be out of our town house the end of November but our landlord referred me to another unit in this complex that might be available for a couple weeks. Hopefully that will work out instead of going to a hotel. When we moved form Andover I had a choice of using a company that would store our stuff in CT and then move to FL or a company that would move our stuff to storage in FL and then deliver when we were ready. It was about to be hurricane season and by storing it in CT we didn't have to pay for the big part of the expense until we actually took delivery, so we opted to store in CT. With the big scare of a cat 5 category in Florida this hurricane season we were happy to have our stuff safe and sound in CT. Now that we are ready to schedule delivery, I find out that they will only give me a 10 day window starting on the 14th of December. Because we only ended up with 5500 pound we only fill about 25% of a truck and they don't really want to make a trip with just our stuff. So they wait to schedule other jobs going in the same direction. Or we could have our fixed date if we want to pay for the whole truck but the cost would be more than double!! The good news is that they always schedule their people to be home for the holidays, so hopefully they will be able to get our stuff to us close to our date. Either way, we plan to move in on the 14th. We bought new bedroom furniture and bed, have a new dining/kitchen table. Planning on getting a TV stand and a small TV we can use till our big one arrives. I can pick up a couple plastic chairs and we can mange till our stuff arrives. I have my coffee pot and am buying some new cookware for my new induction cooktop. I think we can survive for a few days till our stuff arrives and maybe we will get lucky and it will arrive on time. Coolest morning so far this fall! And more cold weather coming. Might get down to 69 next Friday! Of course with the cold front comes more showers and wind and awesome surf, but most days there is more sunshine than showers. This is perfect weather and the reason snowbirds flock here! Today my first baby Jennifer, turns 50. I can't even wrap my head around having a 50 year old child. She was the joy of my life born far away from family and friends in Hinesville Georgia at the Fort Stewart Army Hospital. It was an adventure to learn how to be a mom with her and I am sure I made so many mistakes. But I was in love with my wonderful little baby and that love continued for the last 50 years. She was a fun loveable little kid and grew up to be an awesome mom and wife and remains a wonderful daughter and friend. She welcomed Richard with loving open arms into her life and her family. Happy Birthday Jenn.
DraculaToday we went to see a production of Dracula a Comedy of Terrors at the Maltz Jupiter regional theater. It was an original production and so funny. Incorporated modern references like Alexa with a old story. Lots of laughing out loud made for a fun afternoon. Snow BirdsNovember marks the beginning of the return of the Snowbirds. First wave starts November 1st, then some come Dec. 1st. But the onslaught happens January 1st and last through April. I can already see the uptick in traffic and Costco was packed last Sunday and Monday. The locals don't like the influx of people, but I suspect the only reason all the great restaurants and golf courses can prosper is because of the snowbirds coming and spending their money here. Rates at the golf courses double in the winter and it is harder to get a tee time at many nice public courses. Richard has a membership in a local course and plays there several time a week but also likes to play different courses when the prices are low. His friend he met last year from NJ will be here December 1st and his CT friend will be here in January so that will be fun to play with them. I have not really settled into a routine yet. Seems like every day has something going on with the house. Meeting with the contractor or shopping for stuff for the house or just groceries etc. Anxious to be in my own place with my own stuff. I think I am supposed to be learning patience from this adventure!!! Happy Birthday to Kyle-yesterday and Jim today. I hit the son in law jackpot with all my girls choosing awesome life partners. Yesterday was a magnificent beach day. Went early to walk the beach and then sit and read. It was cool, low 80s with a nice breeze, low tide so easy flat beach to walk on. A perfect beach day. This is a picture of Juno Beach Pier and across the street is a parking lot and bathroom, so it is a great place to walk and sit on the beach. As you can see beach is pretty empty. Under the pier is a popular photo spot for bridal and engagement pictures. I see them often and always am amazed at the pictures they take with the feet and bottom of the dress in the water! We have had a fair amount of rain lately which for florid means more showers than normal. I think there are showers somewhere around almost every day but they last 10 minutes and are done. But last few days have been more intense and frequent. Richard has still been able to play golf but when the fairways are wet, the carts have to stay on the paths and hitting the ball on the wet ground can sometimes be muddy. And sometimes he has to sit in the cart for a quick shower, but here it is like a warm summer shower and he is still enjoying getting outside to play. The rates in the summer are super low and there are few people playing, I for one am ready for the elimination of the time change. There are places in the US that don't change to daylight time. Seems to take several days for this old body to adjust. I actually prefer the Standard time with light earlier in the morning. I know there are lots of arguments pro and con but where we are we have almost an hour more daylight than back in CT so I don't think the time change is as impactful here as it is in CT.
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Author: Penny
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October 2020
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