2/15/17 Wednesday

It was a weird day today at work.  It started out extremely slowly, but then we got a huge crush of people.  It was also very muggy today for the first time.  We came home for lunch and the clouds came in and the breeze picked up.  We had a ten minute downpour and then the rain stopped as suddenly as it started.  We went grocery shopping this afternoon and by the time we got home it was too late to go for a walk.  No pix today.  It is cooler tonight so hopefully it will be more comfortable at work tomorrow.

2/14/17 Tuesday

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!  The ReStore was having a staff meeting this morning and wasn't due to open until 1 so we chose to take the day off.  We drove up to Homosassa Springs and visited the wildlife park.  Years ago, this park was privately owned, but when the state took it over in the 1980's, they decided to find homes for all of the animals not native to Florida - lions, tigers, etc. - to other zoos.  The problem was that no one wanted the very large hippo that lived there.  The governor solved the problem by making the hippo a citizen of Florida!  Mainly we were there to see the manatees, but there weren't too many around since the water temperature has been warming up.  We saw a few and a very cute baby.  Unfortunately, my camera battery chose to die today so I didn't get too many pix and none of the manatees.  We did enjoy the many shore birds and flamingos in the park and had a lovely time walking along the boardwalks.  We also saw our first alligators of this trip here.  We just got back home and are ready for a quiet night.  I know from working as a waitress for many years, not to go out tonight for dinner.  It is the second busiest night of the year - Mother's Day is the first.  Today's photos are of turtles piled up on a log, a baby gator, the hippo, a great blue heron, azaleas in bloom, and a spoonbill.

2/13/17 Monday

An unusual Monday - we were very busy today - even had a line at the register, but most of the sales were small ones so I doubt we made too much money.  We came home to chill out for a bit and then went for a nice walk down by the lake.  I put on a few pix of our walk.  The most exciting sighting was of a Great blue heron in the water with his/her mate sitting on the nest on the top of a nearby tree.

2/12/17 Sunday

Another beautiful day today - not a cloud in the sky and temps in the mid seventies.  We took a road trip down Gulf Boulevard next to the inter-

coastal waterway down to Fort DeSoto.  On the way we passed the Don Cesar hotel - a pink behemoth from the 1920's.  We spent most of our time on the pier.  We had a lovely chat with an older couple from England, who live here (St. Petersburg) from November through April.  They were fishing, but not having any luck.  We continued to the end of the pier and saw four dolphins playing very close to us.  One man was pulling in a big fish and the dolphin came out of the water and tried to get it, but the man was quick and pull the fish up out of the way.  I put a picture of the fish on here - the man said it was a sheepshead.  He actually caught another one while we were standing there.  There were plenty of gulls, terns, and pelicans feeding nearby.  We then walked over to the fort and listened to a volunteer talk about the hardships encountered while building the fort (built as protection during the Spanish-American War).  They had no water on the island so had to ship it in barrels from Tampa.  The water wasn't just for consumption by the soldiers, but was used to make the massive cement walls that made up most of the fort.  I put a couple of cannons on.  When we came back to town, we decided to go to the movies.  We saw "A Dog's Purpose" - funny and sad - a good story.  We came back to make dinner and do a load of laundry as we go back to work tomorrow.

2/11/17 Saturday

We decided to drive up to Dunedin again this morning as there was a craft there today.  It was huge  almost as big as the Mystic Outdoor Art Festival!  We got there early and parked a couple of blocks away in a church parking lot - $5 for the day, a great deal.  We spent the morning walking around and looking at a variety of crafts.  It was a great morning, but as the hours rolled by, the crowd grew and the temps rose.  We left and made our way back home.  We sat outside in the shade by the pool and read until the sun got to our area and have now come in to take a break before dinner.  I have posted a few pix of the fair.  I am curious to know if any of you can guess what the object in the second picture is - I had to be told and no, it is not a breast pump!

The fifth picture is made of shells and the last one is a real person imitating a statue standing next to a chocolate shop.

2/10/17 Friday

A busy day today at the ReStore.  We had a constant stream of customers come through the door.  We had a fewer than normal number of volunteers so Dave and I were both busy all day.  We stopped after work and had a salad and then went back to Heritage Village to finish touring the houses.  We also walked a bit in the Botanical Gardens.  The weather was lovely again so we enjoyed walking in the sunshine.  There was a nice breeze - that was a bonus.  We came back and had dinner and a quiet night - we were both tired.  We will come up with a plan for the weekend when we wake up tomorrow.  I got a kick out of the advertisements at the general store - records with music on both sides and pig's feet - 5 for a penny (I wonder why it wasn't 4 for a penny?), a stork near the edge of the creek, greenman on a tree (the birch trees in the background look like his arms, a beautiful rose, and an hibiscus.

2/9/17 Thursday

We had another busy day at work today.  Dave and I did a lot of pricing and putting things out.  I priced a really cool mirror with a sun motif at $25 and it sold within three minutes!  The building next door is a dinner theater and they must have had a wild crowd last night.  There were beer cups and wine bottles all over the parking lot.  Dave stepped on a wine glass and jerked his foot back before he knew what he had stepped on causing something to happen to his calf muscle.  He limped around on it all morning so instead of going for a walk after work, we came back and he elevated his leg.  It seems to be much better now.  I did a bit of laundry this afternoon and then sat outside and read for a while.  We heard on the news that you folks back home were getting slammed with a big snowstorm - sorry.  Stay in and stay warm if you can.  We grocery shopped late this afternoon and have just finished dinner.  Sorry that we have no pix today - will try to do better tomorrow.