Heather and Brian's great short visit

Gosh Heather and Brian's visit was quick! Blink and it's done. Great to have them down and it was Brian's first time in Naples. Wish they could have stayed longer. Next time. Hmmm, next time could be 3 not 2. Very exciting!

Pool time was good. I think it's safe to say Mark's desire to have a pool back was a good one. First time having a pool with an electric heater. A marvelous invention. It will not be needed in the summer however. That Florida heat turns the pool water into bath water all on it's own.

Did some eating out including a good authentic Mexican restaurant nearby, Salsa Brava. We were joined by a crowd coming in via this vehicle - drink and pedal your way around town. A novel approach. We were just finishing our lunch, I might add, good thing as this is a tiny place, and it was a large happy group.

It's that time of year around here. Baby ducklings everywhere. Very sweet.

Another young one. This time I heard a strange bird call over and over from a distance away. Got close enough to take one quick photo. This bird was all brown, which the camera didn't catch, and big. Turns out it was a juvenile sand hill crane sadly all by itself. Those giant exotic birds stay in this part of Florida only for winter and then move up north. I believe he got left behind.

All is going quiet here now. Season is almost over and the locals breathe a sigh of relief. I don't know where we count these days, local, snowbird, maybe resident. Ha who knows...

Spring break visit with the Walkers

Family visit with much fun. Tiffany, Chris, Penny, and Jules just left after a week of very concentrated water activities. Penny's spring break (she's first grade ya know).

The pool was  a giant success. In fact, we had to drag the girls out to eat lunch, then drag them out again for dinner. They have not started back with swimming lessons yet (too early there) but when they do go they'll likely be advancing in a big way. They became mermaids in the water here.

The rules being explained - serious business

Their visit coincided with Easter, so an Easter bunny visit and Easter egg hunt was on!

A brief moment of resting inside. Tablets were put aside in favor of outdoor activity- as it should be.

So sweet,you'd think Tiffany and Chris were all by themselves. Trick of the camera - masses of people everywhere.

xoxo

Just love, love, love these girls. So special that they were able to come down.

Yes, eyes do not deceive. Those are painkillers on the table

Last night was out to dinner at a longtime restaurant in old town Naples - Dock at Crayton Cove. Somehow we had never been but it was perfect for a family waterfront visit. Much fun and sad it's all over. More company on the way. Heather and Brian next weekend yippee!

Spring in Florida- gorgeous sunsets, white sand, and swaying palm trees

Calmer is the descriptive word of the day. That does not mean it's calmer in the city, whoa, between spring break and season still in full swing, traffic is major and restaurants difficult to get into. Now we don't get the really wild stuff- the college spring breakers, Naples is far too sedate for them. So calmer is really all about me and my state of mind at the moment. Funny how all things slow down and you can smell the roses, so to speak when intense deadlines have passed.

Our first guests at the house have come and gone. Brett and Maria, so lovely to have you over. The event was the golf men's member/guest but Maria and I had fun on our own, you know shopping, lunch out, what's not to like...

My first beach visit since the beginning of January. I can't believe it myself - waaay overdue. Great stuff with lots of activity happening. Fishing, boating, skidoo, and a volunteer staff member at the park speaking on unusual findings on the beach. A world all unto itself.

My art table has arrived. Ha - in many pieces. I don't know about you, but this is not my favorite activity. It's the leftover parts that are scary - wish me luck.

Excitement in our family. Some of you have already heard, but we're going to have another grandchild, Heather is pregnant!! I can't express how excited and thrilled we are. Baby fun coming up!👶👶👶👶👶👶👶👶🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🐤🐤🐤🐤🐤🐤🐤🐤🐤

Annnd, we're moved in.

I'm back and hopefully on track now that we have actually moved in the house. What an endeavor for anyone moving. Doesn't seem to matter if it's a short distance or long, just a lot to handle.

We have company coming next week (Brett and Maria) and shortly thereafter Tiffany, Chris, and the girls are coming for a week (Penny's spring break - how funny that sounds but she is in 1st grade after all), followed by Heather and Brian for a short weekend trip down. It's a fabulous time of year here so thrilled we have so much company right away. The condo remains for sale with no buyer yet. Keeping fingers crossed it will happen soon. It's a cute place and all redone, we just wanted back in a house, and then there's the pool and grill thing...

A mass influx of tropical birds has been happening the last couple weeks. They gather at the different ponds hunting. I have given up the water view at the condo but happily my newly adjusted morning walk goes by 7 ponds. Gotta have that nature fix. We also have a small back yard past our pool that I can already tell is full of birds. Tis the kind of thing that makes me happy.

Orchids, art, and moving soon

The house/condo craziness continues but I was able (due to previous scheduling)  to attend another 3 day watercolor workshop with my favorite teacher and now friend, Patty. It turned out to be a great distraction and I came up with a painting that meets my framing criteria. Wonderful to see a lot of the art crowd I've taken classes with there too. Patty has quite the draw even though she's moved to the "other side"- Orlando, and not back in Naples that often.

My orchids are in full bloom and I'm thrilled as I bought them last year. They bloomed for 3 months and then I cut the stems as instructed, and viola magnificent bloom a year later. I'll have to find a spot for them at the new house. Different light pattern will come into play.

Things are marching along nicely, and with any luck, we'll be in the new house in 10 days. Moving truck scheduled and all the fun that goes along with that. We're moving most of the furniture in the condo, leaving some for "staging" as it's for sale and no offers yet. Crazy process the whole buying and selling homes thing. Sending positive thoughts out to the universe for our buyers to show up soon.

House mania

Oh, my, what can I say - life is just chaotic leaving very little time to do other things, as in a post on the blog. But here I am with a slightly different theme than my usual litany of fun activities to do in Naples.

The condo is up for sale, lots of people looking, lots of great comments, but no offers yet. Anyone who's sold a place while still living in it knows what I mean when I say living in a fake perfect house is exhausting. The exception would be if your particular market is so "hot" that you can make up your own rules. My sister has informed me that Seattle is one of those. There, you put your house up for sale in whatever condition, have a couple of open houses and then, a single day is scheduled to take offers. You then sit on your throne and royally decree who wins the right to buy your house. Really.

This is most certainly not the case in Naples. I have been painting, scrubbing, organizing, and cleaning out every nook and cranny in this small place. Somehow it feels like my closets and cupboards have magically reproduced and there is no end to them. It all needs to be done for selling and for moving regardless. We close on the new house March 1, so time's a marching.

I'm not a newbie to this fun endeavor and had some tricks up my sleeve already, but sharing some new tips I have discovered this time around.

White vinegar- most of us know this is a good, natural, environmentally safe cleaner but I didn't know that it can take off hard water stains on shower floor tile with no effort, when other cleaners have no effect at all. Double thickness paper towels are put on the shower floor, saturate the towels with white vinegar and leave overnight for at least 8 hours. Wake up, squeeze out the towels and discard, and turn on the shower. All the crud goes right down the drain. Amazing. Only drawback is there is a lingering vinegar smell for a day (but that may be because I'm in a humid climate).

Baking soda - another multi purpose product. Make a paste with it, smear it on a glass cooktop and cover with a towel soaked in hot water and wrung out for 20 minutes. Most, if not all, of any burnt on food stains will loosen and you can scrub off.

I already knew to wrap a paintbrush in aluminum foil and store in the frig between painting sessions. Cleaning a brush each time you stop is enough to keep you from starting in the first place. The brush lasts a week or more without drying up. Heather, you know all about this. What fun we had...

And microfiber cloths are your friend. I assume everyone has them, but if you don't go buy them now. A pack is not expensive and they last forever, at least a bunch of years for me so far. I use them on everything and they don't streak.

So you can see where my head has been. Quite thrilling. The prospect of the new house is so exciting and I can't wait to move in but there's a lot to be done before that happens. I will be forced to focus on other things as I have another 3 day watercolor workshop coming up, given by my good friend Patty. I will put my brain on other things at least temporarily.

Thanks to all who are hanging in reading my lame and late posts...