The Old and the Restless

Megan made a delicious leg of lamb for dinner this year. She isn't in any of the photos because, when she wasn't preparing or serving dinner, she was feeding Thomas. Her absence from the pictures only became apparent when I viewed them today.  Margot was kept busy reading to Ella and Joshua. Michael's parents, Pat and John, drove from Ottawa to join everyone for dinner. Here is Pat with Thomas just after arriving from the 6 hour drive. Who is examining whom? Whenever Thomas became fussy, we gave him to Michael. He has just the right bounce. 

Margot had a birthday dinner for Ella with both sets of grandparents plus Megan, Michael and cousin Thomas. Sometimes the bag is just as good as the present. Joshua was having fun too. The window from the kitchen is handy for watching everyone. Grandpa H. is in front. Thomas enjoyed playing with the paper napkin. Ella didn't really like wearing the birthday tiara so... Michael wore it. Birthday cake with fancy candles. By this time, Thomas was all tuckered out.

Back from Florida, we were anxious to see how the grandchildren were doing. Thomas, wearing a sailor suit that Bryn sent him. Ella likes to try on her mother's boots. A nice smile from Joshua. Margot is dressed up to sing in a special three choir concert. Playing with Mark after Margot left, Ella bumped her head. Oh dear!

Since the Forsyth Inn was having a Valentine's special Paul and I, along with Maureen and Ramsay who live in Atlanta, Georgia, decided to celebrate. There was, apparently, an offer to have the beds strewn with rose petals but neither Paul nor Ramsay took advantage of this "special". As I was trying to think of a theme for the photos, Maureen suggested verandahs. Here they are. Dressed warmly as we leave the Inn. Although tiny, this house still has its shaded verandah. Note the ivy on the steps of this mansion. Maureen, walking by this house with the double staircase. One side is for women, and the other is for men (so that they would not catch a forbidden glimpse of an ankle or leg under a hooped skirt). Row houses have verandahs too. A lot of work has gone into restoring these houses to their former glory. Rather than having the beds strewn with rose petals, a far better choice was to reserve at Noble Fare, a small restaurant which had a delicious 9 course,...

On their way to a cruise of the (hopefully warm) Caribbean, Nick and Julie came to stay with us for a few days. On such cold days as we have been having, the manatee come into Blue Springs to avoid hypothermia. Here is a mother with scars on her back and her calf.  At Winter Park we went for the traditional boat ride of the three lakes. It was sunny but quite chilly in the wind. Although Julie was wrapped up, she was remained chilled for a long time after we returned to New Smyrna.  The next day we went to Merritt Island where we had a good view of the rocket launch at Cape Canaveral. The rocket is in the upper right of the picture. Below the smoke from the launch is visible. Sentinel vultures in a tree and... ... an ugly one on the ground. A cold egret hunched up to keep warm. Anhinga in the grass. There were a lot of alligators trying to get some sun to warm themselves. And here we are... Sandra, Nick, Julie and Paul, hands in pockets to keep warm. Th...

After Thomas returned home, Sandra began to try to use her new camera for bird pictures (rather than people pictures) - trying different locations and settings. She is now up to chapter 5 (of 10) in how to use her new camera and she tries to get out every day to experiment with the settings as she reads her way through the camera manual. First, we went to the new bird watching park to try to get birds in flight. Spotting the ospreys through the viewfinder was hard at first because the field of vision is so small. So, I spotted them soaring and told Sandra where they were so she could focus in on them using "sports mode" high speed setting to stop them in flight. Amazingly, both these pictures of ospreys are so in focus that the yellow eyes can be seen clearly. She also took many pictures of pelicans searching for schools of fish. Last Tuesday morning, Sandra went back to the bird park to have a guided tour. Here are a tri-colored heron and an egret side by side ne...