2/7/17 Tuesday

Another busy day at the ReStore.  Dave finished bringing out items in the storeroom and I priced them.  We are now caught up - until tomorrow when we will get more donations, of course.  It was a hot day today - 80 degrees!  We came home to have lunch and change into shorts and sat outside in the shade to catch the breeze.  Carole and John came out and we chatted for a while.  Dave and I went for a walk down by the lake before dinner.  There were lots of ibis, ducks, geese, and red squirrels.  I took a picture of a flower hanging from a tree - very pretty.  We came back for dinner and are now relaxing before bedtime.  They say it is supposed to rain tonight, but the weatherman is only giving it a 30% chance, so we will see.

2/6/17 Monday

Work started out a bit slow this morning, but quickly picked up.  Dave found several carts worth of items in the back room that had never been priced, so I priced and we tried to get another volunteer to put them out on the shelves, but she, a young woman here under court order, was too busy being on her phone.  She would put a few things away and then get back on her phone.  What she failed to understand is that she can have her hours cancelled if she fails to work - just showing up is not enough.  Dave finally got disgusted trying to track her down and shelved most of the items himself.  We worked hard and before we knew it, it was time to leave.  We stopped for a salad and then went to McGough Nature Park.  They have 26 acres of trails and are also a rehab center for injured birds of prey.  We saw owls, kestrals, hawks, and a bald eagle.  We also saw a wild bald eagle sitting in a dead tree, but he escaped as I tried to get his photo.  He flew overhead, but I was never fast enough to get a picture.  Some minutes later, a turkey vulture took his spot on the tree and I did get his picture.  Today's photos are of a kestral, Spanish moss covering a tree, the turkey vulture, and an anhinga.  We came home and did some laundry and relaxed before dinner.  The temperature got up to 80 this afternoon so we changed into short as soon as we got home.

2/5/17 Sunday

This morning we decided to meander up the coast to Dunedin (north of Clearwater).  We crossed the causeway onto Honeymoon Island and then took a catamaran ferry over to Caladesi Island State Park.  We started at the Ranger Station and walked the nature trail (3+ miles after all the loops).  It started inland through palms, pines, live oak, and even a stand of red cedar.  We saw an osprey on a nest high up in a tree and when we got to Cat's Eye Pond, we saw egrets and a Great blue heron.  We then cut over to the beach for the last mile and collected shells while we walked.  The pictures today are of the trail, the osprey on the nest, a Great blue, egret, oyster catchers, a shot down the beach and some plovers.  It started out a bit foggy this morning and we were nearly frozen on the boat ride over, but the walk quickly warmed us up.  The shoreline was lovely - lots of shells, gulls, and shore birds.  We chatted on the beach with a young couple from Kansas City, MO.  They were excited to talk with someone from New England as that is one place they want to visit.  We got back to the starting point and had a late lunch at the small cafe next to the Ranger Station before boarding the ferry for the trip back to the car park.  We had a nice chat with the captain of the boat and found that he is coming to Mystic in May for the Sea Chanty weekend.  We gave him our card and hope that he gets in touch with us.  Caladesi Island and Honeymoon Island were one island (Hog Island) before a hurricane in 1921 broke it into the two islands.  We took a more direct route back to Largo and are now relaxing before dinner.  I have washed the shell collection and put them out to dry on the patio.  I think we will have a light dinner tonight as we had a late lunch.  The temperature did get into the mid 70's once the sun came out this afternoon.  It was a great day.

2/4/17 Saturday

As you can see, the first thing we did this morning was to go to the Farmer's Market.  It is also a flea market - some booths inside and some out - and it is huge!  We spent a couple of hours walking around enjoying the sights and smells of the market.  We bought two baskets of the strawberries and had some of them for dessert tonight - delicious!  After the market, we headed to the beach and had a lovely, but windy walk on the shore.  We didn't venture into the water as we could feel the cool breeze coming off of the water, but it was nice to walk along the hard packed sand.  On our way home this afternoon, we stopped at the supermarket.  One problem with living in the RV is that the fridge is fairly small so we can't fit a week's worth of groceries in it - so we have to shop more often.  We picked up shrimp for dinner and with the strawberries for dessert, we are very content.  We spent the afternoon reading and relaxing and enjoyed the down time.  We still have the windows open as it is cooling down outside at almost 7 PM, but it it is not too cool yet.  Another day off tomorrow so we will see what turns up.

2/3/17 Friday

Today was the last day of our work week.  We got to work with both Doug and Glenn today.  The morning started out a bit slowly, but picked up at about 10 o'clock.  Again, I ran the register, but also priced glassware, which is located up front so I could keep an eye on the register.  Dave and crew spent the morning putting new donated items out on the floor.  Many things get bought very shortly after being put on the floor.  Dave moved a number of new medicine cabinets onto the floor and I sold 3 of them right away.  We came home for lunch and both decided to put our feet up for awhile as we were both tired.  We went for a walk before dinner.  It was a beautiful warm day again today.  I think we will walk on the beach tomorrow.  The pictures today are from the ReStore and from our walk: a flock of ibis, an anhinga drying his wings, and a red squirrel.

2/2/17 Thursday

We left a bit earlier for work this morning and that was a good thing as we encountered much less traffic.  We worked with Glenn as the manager today and it was really busy.  Dave and the crew unloaded 2 truckloads of furniture and tile before noon so they were very busy finding places to put everything.  I ran the register again, but also tested a cartful of small electronics to make sure they were in working order in between customers.  We were both busy so the time really flew.  We came home and had a light lunch and relaxed a bit before heading out again.  Our friends Lana and John are down here visiting with Lana's daughter Kelly and we all met at Bern's to celebrate Lana's birthday.  Bern's is an amazing steakhouse that has been in business for 60 years.  They have their own ranch and farm and have a huge wine cellar.  All of the beef is aged so is amazing tender.  We all had wonderful meals - French onion soup, salad, filet mignon, baked potato, veggies, and onion straws.  We then took a tour of the kitchens and wine cellar.  Our waiter was telling us that there is a grueling training period to become a waiter - over two years - and only 20% of those who start make the final cut.  Our waiter had been there 22 years.  After the tour, we went upstairs to the dessert room.  We sat in a private room shaped like a very large wine barrel.  I took pictures of the fanciest ones: chocolate mousse and a cake called, chocolate-chocolate-chocolate.  Everything was delicious, but we had big doggie bags for both dinner and dessert.  We all had a lovely time and it was a great way to celebrate a birthday and we had the added pleasure of seeing Kelly again.  Now we are so full, we will have to wait quite a while before going to bed.  By the way, the traffic is horrendous here:  Bern's is in Tampa and it took us an hour and forty minutes to get there, but only 45 minutes to get home.  It is a good thing we left extra early or we never would have made it on time!

2/1/17 Wednesday

Lasr night before dinner we decided to go for a walk before dinner.  Just a block away is Seminole Lake.  We had a lovely walk and chatted with a few people sitting on benches.  There were quite a few waterfowl - mostly ibis (see pix) and some coots.  Apparently, there are also gators and otters, but we did not see any.

We woke up this morning and got ready for our first day of work.  As you can see by the photo I took of the TV weather this morning, the weather is fairly consistent - we have no complaints.  Mike was the person in charge this morning.  I told him I was able to run the cash register and he was happy as that left him free to work on other projects.  Dave helped customers and replaced stock as it came in the back door.  It was fairly busy today, which was good as the time flew by.  We are working from 8:30 to 1 five days a week.  When we finished today, we stopped for a salad (Dave had a sandwich) at Chick-fil-A and then went to the Florida Botanical Garden.  The pix of an American egret and water lily are from the garden.  We walk around and found Heritage Village next door.  It is a collection of older houses, stores, etc. from the area.  One of the homes featured quilts, embroidery, weaving, and baskets.  The rest of today's photos are from this house.  We stopped at Target on the way back and bought a mattress topper for the bed - it is a bit hard - I hope it helps.  We came back and sat by the pool for a while reading before dinner.  It was chilly (for here) this morning, but was in the high 70's when we finished at the ReStore.  It was a lovely afternoon and we really enjoyed our walk.