It's now the end of February and we have finished renovating my Mother's old house and had
a realtor give us a listing.  I have been to the beach only twice.  Those were the best warm days
we had.  One in December, and one a few weeks ago in Feb.  I love the ocean.  I wish we could afford our next house on the beach or a block away. 

I don't really think anyone but Cynthia reads this one.  And she can follow me on Facebook.  We put in all new flooring and carpeting.  A new front step, a new front gate, pressure washed the entire house.   And inbetween we got to visit my son and his wife in Gainesville.  And we had some company from North Carolina on their way home from Miami, and some relatives from Winter Park
Florida.  So, it has been a nice chance from spending the entire winter in Franklin, N.C. in the mountains.  Unfortunately this has been their coldest winter in years and the temperatures went
below freezing for days.  Our lawn man called us to say a pipe burst in our well house and water
was running down our hill for a few days. Which is why our electric bill jumped dramatically.
we will have to get that pipe repaired when we get back home. 

It has been a roller coaster winter in Florida.  And I had the worst cold after Christmas.  I think
the drastic constant change of temperatures is actually worse than continuous cold.  I am trying to
watch Grimm while I type this.  It's really sad tonight.  This is about all the news.  Some photo's of
my stay here.  The beach, the house.  Who knows when I'll update again.  We'll be home soon.

In Florida for the Winter

So. Wow.  I  have been AWOL.  I had no idea August was my last post.  Since that post. I have had my yearly checkup at the ENT and still no evidence of my cancer coming back.  Then we packed up everything, shut the house in the mountains down for winter, and headed for my Mom's old house in Florida.  We got  here just in time for Thanksgiving dinner with our son Paul. We are here to fix up my Mother's little house and put it back on the market to sell. Once we sell it, then we will look for a house along the Gulf coast of Mexico around Panama City Florida.  This will put us in the winter between three of our kids.  The one in Pensacola and the other two in Gainseville and Palatka.  At least that is the plan.
We packed up everything we thought we would need down here in Florida.  So far we have put in new flooring in the bedroom. Bought two chairs, two beds, a washer and dryer.  This should be all we will need for the winter.  The kitchen already has table and chairs.  Then we had a yard man neaten up the property and clear out weeds and underbrush.  Next painting the house is in order.

We spent Thanksgiving Day with our son in Gainseville and the next day I cooked a Thanksgiving meal for my daughter Kim who had to work on Thanksgiving night all the way through to Black Friday.  I am not a fan of that.  And I do not shop on Black Friday as my protest.  Holidays should be kept sacred.  We also put new wooden flooring down the hall and in living room.  So, here we are for the winter.  Later.

Rainbows

I saw my doctor for a recheck and we discussed my health.  She suggests I attend a cancer support group meetings at our hospital.  I think its a good idea. I am too isolated here.  We do not go anywhere or do anything.  I thought the whole point of getting a retirement home in the mountains was to enjoy the mountains and the waterfalls etc Now I find my husband does not like to drive on these mountain roads.  The only new waterfall I have seen was when my son Robert came to visit and took me to Tallulah Falls in Georgia.  If this keeps up I want to move back to Florida. At least I have friends and family down there.  I am seriously worried about my husband.  Last night he called me to look at this light outside the living room window. It was just a reflection from the lights in the computer room. Something I would not even have noticed. What scared me was this.  His mother at 78 started calling us over to her house in Florida (she lived right behind us) to look at this light reflection. We would get there and try to explain to her it was just a reflection in her tv screen.  She passed away at 78 but I am sure there was either some dementia or alzheimer going on.  This is the second time my husband has
mentioned a strange light.  The first time it was in the middle of the night.  And it was across the woods behind our house near the airport runway.  Very worrying to me.  I hope it does not escalate.

So, my doctor said I could not really take any bone enhancing drugs to build up my jaw bone because
of my past with cancer.  Something about, that which makes bone regrow also could make cancer regrow.  So I will just pray a lot and hope I don't outlive my jawbone.  ha.  Then we dealt with my panic attacks.  Like when my neighbor died suddenly and I felt like I was having a heart attack.
And just the other day when my tooth broke off and I freaked out.  So I now have anti anxiety medicine to use as needed.  I have not needed it yet. But the day I see the dentist you can bet I will take
one.

So, this post was about rainbows.  Since we moved to the mountains with such a gorgeous view I have
watched for rainbows.  Because stretched across our valley they are just so beautiful. If only I had
a camera which would take in the entire rainbow.  I believe they said we are 30 inches above normal in rainfall.  Isn't that unbelievable?  Also, the Fall leaf color will be drab due to all this rain.  Dryness makes for better leaf color. So sad that the tree's have to suffer so we can all see beautiful Fall leaves. There is an analogy in there somewhere.  Maybe suffering creates beauty.  Not sure.  We will be going back to Florida in November.   We are not sure about seeing Glacier Park in Montana this September due to all the fires in Idaho which is very close to the top of Montana.  Sigh.  I feel the clock ticking. Tick Tick Tick.  There are only so many chances to do what you want.  Grab it.

Spider identification for a professional

This is a wicked spider I saw in Florida with a beetle in his grasp. At first I thought black widow. It has a sort of hour glass on belly.  I just know, I gave him healthy distance and respect.  He was a bit fascinating.  My husband wanted to kill him.  He always wants to kill spiders.  Me, never. They are good insects. they keep the bug population in check. 

Life took a Turn

I apologize for not updating since my return from a trip to Florida to visit children and grandchildren.  Just after I returned home I developed a rash that then turned into blisters. The next two weeks were about the worst of my entire life, including cancer treatment.  I am recovering from shingles.  They have all dried up now. And I am not drugged out of my mind anymore.  But for the  entire first week of blisters I took ever drug the doctor prescribed. Hoping on one ever has to experience this nightmare. The chicken pox were mild compared to shingles.  When I see my doctor
again we are going to work on why my immune system is weak and how we can improve that. 

I returned home to rain, rain, and more rain.  I feel like I live in Ireland. I have never seen the mountains or valley's so green.  Of course with rain, and at present 27 inches above normal for the year here. Comes flooding.  Not at my house. But many roads were closed going higher up in the mountains and lots of landslides.  Not sure what Mother Nature is thinking. 

My garden was almost water logged. Gardens need rainfall but they also need sunlight to grow. Many
of my tomatoes would not ripen so I picked them and brought them in the house.  I did get some amazing photographs of my hummingbirds.  Some of the best of my life time. 

We are looking in to trading in our 31 foot Rv for something smaller and compact which we could get through Glacier Park in Montana in.  I cooked fried green tomatoes today and they were not so good. I had never made them.  I did not have the cajun seasoning and  salted them too much.  Next time I will get the right ingredients for the recipe.  This year I have had gold finches all year round.  This is so amazing to me.  As in Florida the goldfinch was only briefly a late winter visitor.  These appear to have nested in the yard and raised babies.  Also we had off and on throughout the summer Waxwings which also were just migrating and passing through when we lived in Florida. We will be going back again and fixing up the flooring in my Mother's little house in Florida.  I miss my chickens.  My neighbor Mike's father lost his wife.  Ambulances racing up their dirt road just panicked me. She was only in her 50's. It was so sudden. And aneurysm.  Very frightening as that is what took my Mother at 83.  I guess it's quick.  So, a few summer photographs of my phlox and female hummingbird.  I'll try to update more often.  For my three fans.  lol. Maybe I have four if Dee drops in. 

The Ocean calls my name. Along with London, Oregon, Maine and Sanibel Island.

We were traveling for a few weeks. We went to the East coast of Florida. We set up a lawn service to keep my Mother's house in Interlachen neat and mowed.  We talked to Palatka flooring and got an estimate on new flooring.  We had a nice dinner with my son and his wife.  We visited with my daughter.  And then we drove over to the west coast of Florida and visited my other son in Pensacola. It was wonderful to see my granddaughter Felicity after a year away. My son Robert said he wants to bring her up here to the mountains in November and see some snow.  So, I guess our trip back to Florida this winter will have to wait until his November visit. 

That is Felicity and son Robert at their home.   After visiting Pensacola we then stopped in Panama City Beach Florida and looked at a few houses for sale.  Then we camped on the beach.   I do love the ocean but I miss the mountains when not here.   I came home to a very weedy garden.  My tomatoes have still not ripened to red.  We have apparently had too much rain here in North Carolina.  We are having our kitchen painted this week.  I invision eating take out for a few days. Not going to cook around a painter.  This is about all the latest news. Sorry I have been absent but it was wonderful to get away on vacation.   Here are a few pictures at the beach. 

Tomatoes, Peppers, Yellow Squash, Asparagus, Oh my.

We are now into Summer.  And it's still raining more than not.  My vegetable garden never dries out. Now rain is essential to growing things. But sunshine is also needed. I have to pick the yellow squash quickly because the ground is so wet that the squash will rot where it lies.   My asparagus will not produce this year.  And I need to purchase a cultivator to keep the weeds down between the plants.

Yesterday our construction crew had almost finished painting all our outdoor decks and then the rain
started.  They had to stop.  And one deck may need to be repainted as it did not have a chance to dry.
It's really hard to get anything done in a very rainy summer. I am beginning to feel like we live in Washington or Oregon on the west coast.  The unusual rain we had all winter (we are now 17 inches above normal for rainfall so far this year)  That is a lot.

I had my hair cut on Saturday and colored.  They never cut my hair like I ask them to.  I asked for layered on top of my head and bangs.  I have a scar on my forehead from an old surgery I would like
covered.  She cut my hair exactly like the lady did last year.  Except she did add a bit of layering on the
sides.  The best thing she did was low lighted my white hair.  So now my hair looks more like it used to
look.  Except not as much varied streaks. But the sun will take care of that.  My hair always gets more
blonde streaks in the summer.

I am thinking I might like to purchase a miniature horse when we stop traveling and for a companion a miniature donkey.  http://www.circlevilleacres.com/salebarn.html

They seem really popular.  Ralph has one more week of recovery from his gall bladder surgery and then we can head to Florida to see the granddaughter.  It has been more than a year.  She does not even look the same.  We must get a winter place closer to our son.  She is my last grandchild and she will be five years old this October.  I am missing it all.  They grow up so fast.

My best friend Helen since I was age 11 stopped in for a visit on their way to Boone North Carolina to visit her partners sister. And then they are going up to New York to an English Country Dance meet up in the Adirondack Mountains of New York.  She and Ed love English Country Dancing. I tried it once with Helen but I just felt self conscious.  Helen said that as I learned the steps I would not feel that way. And there is also the fact that my husband would never participate.  Which would make me partnerless.


I just purchased new yarn for a knitting project and new craft supplies to do some crafting with my granddaughter.  At only age four she loves crafting things.  I am trying so hard to spend less time on the internet and more time doing constructive things.  With visitors stopping in, I am more appreciative of my gorgeous views.  I have taken them for granted.  It is a beautiful place to live.  Every morning the mountains look different.  It's like living by the sea.   Both dogs are doing very well. And we are getting all of our outdoors renovated.  They pressure washed the garage, the house and peak of the roof. It all looks so clean and beautiful.  And just two more decks to paint and we are done.  Now we just need a gardener because I just can't trim all these hedges.  Hope everyone is having a bit of summer and not all rain.  Will try to update my blog more often.  This was my hair before the haircut.  A bit long.