Moving Day

 When I checked with registration for our move this morning I found that they had switched us to a high rise.  Not going to happen!

So I "negotiated" with Resort Services and ended up in a newly renovated villa on the Reserve golf course.  This is our view back toward the tee.

And the view toward the green.  There's a ditch to the left of the picture and there is a pond further down on this side.  Mardi will have a heyday ball hawking in the evenings. 

And a couple of Sandhill Cranes in the foreground.  We haven't seen a lot of them so far on this trip.  There are two types of Sandhills.  One migrates as far north as Canada.  But the Florida Sandhill does not migrate and is threatened by the loss of habitat.  There are only an estimated 5,000 or so remaining.

We used to see many more in previous years.  I hope that they are able to hang on.  They're beautiful (and very loud) birds.

------------------------------------------------

The overnight forecast here predicts -4C.  Expect citrus prices to escalate this year!

Stay well.

Treading Water

 Three family members celebrated birthdays today.

Sister-in-law Bonnie and grandkids  Sarah-Jean and Ewen (who celebrated a few minutes after Sarah-Jean).

All the best to each.

The twins turned 24 today.  Ewen is my youngest grandchild, which makes me a really old man!  And I'm feeling it these days.

-----------------------------

We had a few hours of warmth this afternoon so we headed over to the Lazy River.  Water was too cold for swimming and the hot tub was just pool temperature.  So we soaked up some sun for an hour and then headed back to our room.

Tomorrow we move to a two bedroom, hopefully on a golf course with morning sun on the patio.  That's the wish list.

Stay well.

Chilling Out

We're in a chilly period right now (hold off on the tears please) so we haven't done too much outside play.  A bit of shopping yesterday, including ice cream cones and fudge.

But Lori came to our rescue last night with an invitation to dinner and cards.  Dinner was awesome - she is a master chef and hostess.  We were joined by their next door (in Florida) neighbours Sue and Al, who call Wisconsin home.

We played Uno after dinner.  A very enjoyable evening.  Thanks Lori and Frank!

------------------------------------

The cooler than normal temperatures will continue for a few more days, with a high of only 8C forecast for Sunday, when we plan to attend the Mount Dora Art Festival. That will be a record low.  We'll see how that goes.

But, in any case the resort is prepared.  The flower beds are covered.

-------------------------------------

Today we washed and vacuumed the van.

And then headed to the mini putt for a match.

 

Despite having a hole in one, I had to buy the beer - again!

So we headed home and played cribbage.  I was smarter this time - I suggested that the winner buy dinner.  Yes!!!  Pizza was my prize.

Stay well.

An "Interesting" Day

 We headed out this morning, looking for a TD bank in Orlando.  After a half hour the GPS took us to a spot, but no bank.  

Frustrating, but the spot it took us to was very interesting.  It was a preserved neighbourhood around the Church Street railway station.

Including the old Opera House.

So we strolled around for a while before trying to find the bank again.  And a few minutes later we found it.

We were trying to put together a money order to cover the remaining balance of our March rental.  In the bank, I could withdraw money from an ATM out of my Canadian account, but they couldn't provide a money order.

So, next stop was another half hour away to the Post Office.  There a sign told us that money orders were not currently available.  Inside they told us that they have been waiting a month and a half for them.  American efficiency!

But the lady told us to check down the street with Amscot, which we did.  No problem - the money order was provided with no extra cost.

Back to the ranch and getting the money ready to mail to Michigan.

That was the sum of our day.  Sorry that we don't have anything more exciting to report.

Cooler weather is coming.   Stay well.

Lazy.........River.

 Happy Robbie Burns Day!

------------------------------------

This morning we headed to the Lazy River.  Once around with the current, one quarter around against the current.

Met a charming woman enroute.

While the folks at home are fighting snow storms, we have to deal with 30C weather.

It was a difficult decision of conscience to head south this winter, but the weather situation has made it a lot easier to take!  We would have been sitting in our living room day after day looking outside at conditions that would have really challenged our ancient bodies.   

Virtually no physical activity.   And we would have lost our investment in our timeshare.  I think that we made the right decision this year!

Next year?   Who knows?

---------------------------------------------

Dinner at the Olive Garden tonight.  And early to bed - too much sun today.

Stay well.

Fans and Fun

 First off, we send birthday greetings to Mark Richardson, my Dofasco/Tromper friend, and to Esther, Malcolm's squeeze.  Best wishes to both.

--------------------------------

Thank you to the folks who have praised my bird pictures.  There is a story behind the quality of those pictures.

Last year, my phone gave up the ghost and I bought a replacement down here.  What I didn't realize was that the quality of the camera depends on the price you pay.  And the quality sucked - anything farther away than a few yards was too fuzzy.

Enter my lovebird.  Mardi doesn't use her phone much as a camera, whereas I do it a lot for the blog.  So, she volunteered to trade phones.

And that's how the quality of my pictures improved.  Luckily, I'm man enough to deal with a phone with pink in it 😎.

Thank you Mardi!

---------------------------------------------

This afternoon we played a game of putt putt.  Scores are redacted but I have to admit that I had to buy Mardi a beer after the round.

Mardi found a Minecraft shoe button on the course and gave it to a young girl.

Then we headed out for a walk on the street that we will be moving to at the end of the month.  Decided which side of the street we wanted to be located on.

-----------------------------------------

Life is good!  Sorry about the snow.  Remember, Porter flies out of Hamilton every day.  Don't let the child king rob you of your winter sun.  Love to have company.

Stay well.

The Wetlands

 First off, we have to wish A.J. and Michelle a happy anniversary!  Hope your day was more than just shovelling snow.  Enjoy!

------------------------------------------

We headed to the Orlando Wetland as planned today.  A one hour trip, but well worth it.

First off we took a tour of the property with the driver/guide explaining what we were seeing and pointing out various birds and gators to us.

The rides are free, but the volunteer organization pays for the $32,000 tour "buses" so donations are welcomed.  Free tours are provided on Friday and Saturday, but the area is open every day but Monday.

Following about a 45 minute ride, we headed to the boardwalk to see the birds.

The feature bird today is the Roseate Spoonbill, a real beauty.

When they land in the trees all you see is a wild flapping of wings.

But they are certainly beautiful to watch.

I wasn't able to catch them flying, but the best picture that I've seen of that was taken by Jim Maguire when he and Monica were staying in Florida.  Share Jim?

Dozens of alligators in the wetlands and this guy would argue with me about the feature bird of the day.  He's enjoying an Anhinga.

It's a bird watcher's paradise.

Trying to be a bit artistic with a reflection of the bird in the water.

The wetlands are constantly moving.  It takes about a month for the water entering the wetland area to exit into a small river that joins the St. John River.

Most of the ponds are only about a foot deep and eventually they clog up and have to be restored.  Here is an area under restoration.

The soil will be removed and mother nature should look after the rest.

...................................................

Dinner at Miller's completed our day.  

Stay well.

Getting Warm Again

 A warm day so we decided to donate $10 to the bingo fund.  Met some nice folks from Michigan.  Got some fresh air.  End of story.

-------------------------------------

Today's feature bird is the Lovebird, known for its beautiful song and friendly nature.  Kind of cute too!

I joined the bird for a tour around the Lazy River and a hot tub dip.

------------------------------------------

Tomorrow we plan to visit the Orlando Wetlands, a 1650 acre man made facility for further treating reclaimed water.

Orlando treats its water, but doesn't discharge it into the local area.  Instead they pipe it 70 miles to the east where it flows through the wetlands before entering the St. John's River and eventually the Atlantic.  It provides a haven for water birds such as the Spoonbill.

Free tram tours are provided on Friday and Saturday, but a lot of walking is still required to enjoy the whole facility.

------------------------------------------

Talk later.  Stay well.

Tread Lightly

 Today we decided to try the 9 hole walking course.  Pretty hilly and we were pooped by the finish.  As usual, scores were redacted.

No pretty birds today, just these mowers in waiting.

Once the grass starts growing they'll swing into action.  At the further reaches of the course the mowers are powered by solar panels.  Neat!

----------------------------------------------

Tonight we headed back to Breezes to see Tommy Treadway.  His gimmick is memorizing the names of folks in the audience, but we were disappointed that he didn't remember our names from last week.

At our request he played one of the songs he has written - "Valentines Day".  A nice way to spend an evening.

And he passed on his best wishes to Roger.  

----------------------------------------

Stay well folks.

What If?

 I'm not sure how far the Alberta petition calling for a vote to leave Canada has gone, but it makes me wonder.

If Minnesotans were given a chance to vote to become Canada's 11th province, given that they are currently under attack by their federal government, how would the vote totals compare with Alberta's?

Minnesota has twin cities.  Maybe they could become a twin province by marrying up with Manitoba.

Won't ever happen, but.........

--------------------------------------------

Along those lines, Gary forwarded a speech of Mark Carney's to me and it is really powerful and meaningful.

 https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/carney-davos-speech-9.7052725

--------------------------------------------

No feature birds here today so I'm forwarding a picture that my three daughters and two granddaughters sent to me (now that's a really scary group - but I love them all).

A majestic presence.

---------------------------------------------

Tomorrow we may break out the golf clubs again.  We certainly have anough golf balls at this point.  It will be either the 9 hole walking course or another try at Crane's Bend.

Stay well.

Hawks and Other Birds

 Yesterday was a stay at home day - cold, windy and driving rain.

Today it's cool but sunny, so we took a walk on the nine hole course, hawking balls.   Found 17, gave three away (two to a cute little guy golfing with his dad).

Saw our feature bird of the day.

Worn out after that workout we needed a drink.  

Tomorrow we plan to golf the nine hole Legends Walk.  That should be the last cool day.  From then on it should be in the mid 20's C.  

Sorry folks.  Y'all are still welcome here.

Stay well.

Staying Busy

 We started the day at the Sunshine Flea Market.

This is about a tenth of the market.

Didn't find what I was looking for, but Mardi bought a package of socks.  Oh well, it got us out of the house.

Next up, a visit to Beall's, where I found a pair of jeans for $10 U.S. and Mardi bought a pair of shorts for $12 U.S.

On the way home we stopped at Webb's Candy Store for goat milk ice cream.  Yummm!  Better than Hewitt's in Hagersville!

And we had to get a couple of these as well.

I'm really sorry that there won't be any left by the time we get home.  My apologies folks.

---------------------------------------------------

For dinner we headed to Sakura Asian Fusion, one of our favourites.  And our favourite waitress, Joy, was on duty.

Every table has an Orchid plant.

 

My sweet and sour chicken was great.

But, the chef loaded Mardi's szechuan chicken with little bits of red dynamite and she had some issues.

That's all folks.

Stay well.

Service and Shopping

 This morning one of our TVs decided to shut down some channels - antenna issue the screen said.  So we called the service folks.

The guy on the left showed up first.  Couldn't fix it.

So, his supervisor, the guy in the middle, also came.  He identified the problem but couldn't fix it.

So the guy on the right showed up with a replacement part and we were back in business.

Pretty good service!

------------------------------------------------

We headed out for a Costco shopping trip (got your order filled Matt).  And we found our feature bird of the day.

Time in the hot tub after our return.  Too cool for a swim.

But, we're not complaining.  Maureen sent us this picture.

And Jo-Ann took this picture from inside our unit.

We're not homesick yet!  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

---------------------------------------

Stay well.

Chilly Eh?

Today was cold and dreary, not a good day to see alligators, but we have to do something to fill  in time, so we headed for the Circle B Bar Reserve anyway.

The Circle B Bar was originally a cattle ranch, but it was taken over by Southwest Florida Water Management to control the headwaters of the Peace River.  Unfortunately, today it was closed to the general public because 2,000 grade 2 kids were visiting.   Sounds scary!

So, we headed to the nearby Marshall Hampton Reserve instead.

We followed what was essentially a bridle path (and saw physical evidence that horses had been by 😒).

The lake is to the left of the above picture and you don't get very close to the water on this 3 mile trek.  But we did get close a couple of times and saw our bird of the day - Anhinga.

  
Not sure what this structure is all about.  Looks like a duck blind but I'd be surprised if they allowed hunting on a municipal preserve.

Not an exciting adventure but it did get us out of the house for a while.  Don't have to do it again.

--------------------------------------------

Tonight we headed back to Breezes for dinner.  It was Karaoke night.

Tonight the temperature will be down to freezing, but I don't expect sympathy from the folks back home who are dealing with a lot of snow apparently.

Stay well.