Summer has arrived and the rain finally.

As I type this. It is raining.  We have been in a drought situation in North/Central Florida all winter. So the rain is welcome.  My azalea bushes had almost no flowers.  I have fifteen bushes.  Two bloomed. It had to be the drought.  As I type this, we are almost to April.  After my checkup April 19th in Tampa at radiologist we will leave for Murphy N.C. and be gone all summer.  We will not be back until we buy a new place to live.  And then, if we find and buy a place, we may be gone through the Fall.  I miss seasons living in Florida. 

The hummingbirds have arrived.  But my mulberry tree's are full of ripe fruit and no Cedar Waxwings this year.  The fruit is going to rot.   I should go out and pick it and make a pie.  Mulberries are delicious. Most people won't plant them because they are messy. But I love them.  I plant anything the birds like. I can't wait to get my farm in North Carolina and plant fruit and Berry ash tree's.  We were feeding one stray cat we named buddy.  He was beautiful.  Then suddenly four more stray male cats showed up. Now Buddy had disappeared. We have a bob cat, a black and white tuxedo cat, and a grey persian.  I have no idea who they belong to. Or if they have a home.  I would like to be able to have the magical gift of finding who owned these animals and making homeless and hungry.  I know, I have revenge issues.  When it comes to animals, my kids say I love them more.  Could be.  I could have worse issues. 

So, we will be leaving the end of April. But I will keep posting.  In fact I will be posting more. When we are camping I have less daily jobs to do.  Here are my photographs today and recently. Oh, my last checkup with my family doctor.  All my blood work up lab work was excellent. For the first time in two years since radiation treatment.  My WBC and RBC are in the normal range.  Later.  Enjoy your Spring wherever you can find it.  <3

Daytona Beach Meet Up

I met some online friends in Daytona Beach yesterday.  Now, I don't go to Daytona Beach as a rule because it's not my kind of beach.  And now I remember why.   Wall to Wall highrise hotels.  Even the pelicans don't go there.  Really.  As I drove from Flager Beach to Ormond Beach on A 1 A I noticed that there were huge flocks of pelicans flying right over my car roof all across the road.  And why is that? Because that stretch of highway is sand dunes and two lane roads.  No buildings.  I got to Daytona and while visiting and walking the beach with my friends, I asked if they had seen flocks of pelicans during the week.  They had not seen a one.  And it was then I looked up and out, and there were no spaces between the buildings, no sky except out across the Atlantic.  I hate construction and hotels.  Daytona Beach is horrible.  My kind of beach is just sand, ocean and sky.  That is it.  I don't even want wall to wall umbrella's.  Fishermen are fine.  They are there for a true purpose.  I want no cars parking on the sand.  I don't mind sand castles or jelly fish.  But just give me a natural beach.  Not wall to wall hotels with cabana's.  Meet Penny and Fred from Maine. 

So, on my drive back it was too late to stop at my favorite state park,  Washington Oaks.  But I still got to walk miles on the beach, and breath deep of the ozones.  The air is better at the ocean.  I don't know what it is.  But as soon as I open the car window I breathe deeply like no where else.  So, here are a few snapshots. It was a bit windy.   A high of about 68.  Not as warm as the last few days but still plenty of sunshine.  In February.  Love it.  I hope I can manage to keep a house in both places.  I would miss this beautiful February weather.  

If this is still Florida. It's way too cold.

It rained all night. And I believe the high today will be lower than the low this morning. Just went out to pick up the morning newspaper and it is cold and damp out.  All grey. No sun. I have friend who are vacationing in Daytona Beach in March and I sure hope this weather takes a change for the better. Because they are coming from Maine and do not want to vacation in cold weather at the beach.
I got my hair cut.  It was time.  It was so long and unmanageable.  Now it is about the length that it is in my profile from a year ago. Hard to believe that it has been almost a year since our big round trip camping trip all across the country.  If gasoline were not so high I would want to do it all over again. It was an awesome experience.  I definitely want to see Glacier Park in the Fall.
We have a new listing from our realtor. It is four acres, a house sold as is, a spring for the well, and another building that used to be a pottery shop.  The house needs a lot of work. But the land is beautiful.  And the price is fantastic.  A bit over 50.000 and up next to a mountain.  We need for winter to be over so we can go back up to North Carolina and buy a place.
I was just listening to Crystal Bowersox's new cd. She was a contestant on American Idol last year and in my opinion she was the winner even though she came in second place.  Tiny is experiencing skin allergies. So far the Vet keeps giving him an allergy medicine. But once it is used up he goes right back to scratching his skin raw. While we were on the trip he never scratched. We have changed his food to lamb and brown rice, organic.  The Vet thinking it might be a food allergy. Still scratching. I am lost for what to do.  I think it could be something in his environment but it seems like it started after our dog Girl died and all our cats died.  I think we are getting another dog soon.  This is all the news.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NR8tH9tDGQ

Tiny needs a Friend.

We are searching for another dachshund to be a pal and friend to our doxie Tiny.  He seems lost since our big dog Girl passed away.  And the pet psychic Sonja told me that Tiny wanted us to get another dog.  I wish Tiny could talk.  But I can tell he is sad.
We have been looking on the rescue Dachshund websites.  But it seems there are not a lot near here. The closest one we found was in Ocala.  And I think their dog was almost a year old and not really all dachshund.  I am thinking we will just buy a dachshund.  The rescue ones cost almost as much as getting a new puppy. But then they have done all the medical.  Spaying, shots, heartworm. So, they have to pass that cost along because they are volunteers.

We are also still hoping for a farm in North Carolina or Tenn. And there are a lot more homeless Dachshunds up there so maybe we will just wait until we move.  Because most of these rescue places do not allow you to move very far from where you adopt.

I just found out that Tim Tams are now being produced by Pepperidge  Farm cookies.  They are so good. A chocolate filled and iced cookie.  Very much like a little candy bar.  Tiny has been climbing into the folded towels again.  I must find a closed bed that he likes which gives him the feeling of an igloo.  The weather has been topsy turvy.  That is Florida for you.  I hate it.  If it's cold,  I want it to stay cold, if its hot, stay hot.  But we have had below freezing for two weeks, then up to 80 degree's and warm, then back down to 23 degrees for a week.  I am very tired of it.  I am ready for a move to a new climate. After 25 years of Florida winters I want something different.  And just maybe I'll be able to grow vegetables in the summer without them burning up.

I cooked Christmas dinner for seven family members and I survived.  I usually get very nervous if I volunteer to be a host for a holiday meal. I have never been good at timing things or getting multiple dishes on the table at the same time.  My husband was a great help.  He suggested getting casseroles ready and putting in the refrigerator until time to cook. This helped me not panic.  Our meal turned out very nice.  I wish everyone a Happy New Year and a healthy one.   So far so good.  One day at a time. That is all we have anyway.

I want to be Farming.

We tried to buy this farm in North Mountains.  But someone made an offer before we could.  The piece of property is over 8 acres and has an old farm on it.  It is the most beautiful land between the mountains on Shoal Creek.  The deal has not closed. I am hoping and praying there was a hang up and it did not go through. Our realtor is checking for us as to why it has not been closed yet. Maybe they wanted to subdivide and it was not allowed on this land. 

http://www.trulia.com/property/1082833847-605-Shoal-Creek-Rd-N-A-Murphy-NC-28906  

We had a nice Thanksgiving.  And I am doing the cooking for Christmas. I have never cooked for eight or more people so I am very nervous.  But I did not want my daughter in law to keep cooking the dinners as she works long hours.  Our weather was bitter cold for a week and a half.  Bird baths froze, my tropical gingers and orchid tree's froze.  I do not know if they will come back this time.  I want to live where it is constant cold in the winter.  I hate this constant weather extremes.  Very cold then almost hot.  Florida is crazy. I am ready to move.  I hope everyone has a nice Christmas.  I will be busy cooking and shopping and mailing.

My nephew Jonathan and his Mom Pamela

I forgot to add this picture and one of the deer in her back forty.  She has 15 acres behind her home.

Judy Garland said it Best. There's No Place Like Home Toto.

We got home from North Carolina/Tennessee a few days ago.  It is nice to be in my own bed. But I want a house up in the mountains.  Already I am hating this humidity.  I breathe so much better up on the mountains.  The air is much drier than Florida.  And now after seeing Mindy I want another dachshund for Tiny to play with.  We stayed over a week in Hendersonville.  Hendersonville N.C. is just too touristy for me.  Too much traffic.  Although I do love all the history there and that Carl Sandburg has a goat farm there.  I covet his goat farm.  LoL. How I want goats and chickens.  Karen our realtor was so nice. She has sent us more listings.  We will be going back and taking a car next time and staying longer.  I want that house in the mountains like an ache in my heart.

So, we visited my cousin and I got to see my nephew Jonathan whom I had not seen in years. He lives up in Greensboro N.C. where he graduated from college.  My cousin Pam flew down to Miami, Fl for a college reunion so Ralph and I took care of her dogs  and cats until he son got there.  It started snowing the day before we left which I loved. But Murphy or near there is where I want to find a place.  I loved Murphy.  A few pic's  I'll write more later.   Maybe a new poem.