Sunday February 15th

I know, I am a lousy blogger. sorry for those few who are actually following this.

Since I last wrote we have been to Vero Beach for a dog trial- lots of fun and a great setting. These Florida sites are awesome as they are undercover with lots of crating space in the shade and great RV sites. Now if only my new England doggie friends were here it would be perfect . although , the Florida people are very friendly and ,as with agility people all over, you soon start chatting and cheering them on , compare runs, etc.

The weather here is lovely with temps in the 80's in the afternoon. It does cool off fairly quickly at night though.

what do I do all day ??? what keeps me so busy that I don't regularly blog ? Well , alot of nothing I guess. My days go like this

7 am-8:15 am , walk the dogs, two at a time

8:15-8:30 am feed dogs who are hysterical that I might actually forget a meal !!!

8:30- finally pour a cup of coffee, check computer, bowl of cereal, let Flee and Nemo out of crates, make bed, start a small wash, sweep all the dirt that dogs have brought in, vacuum

Between 8:30 and 10:30 I am usually doing'stuff' from paying bills on line to vacuuming the dirt out of the crates and yelling at Flee to leave the vacuum alone

One job is checking the refrig to see what I have forgotten. I tend to over buy with optimism that I am going to cook this or that , don't do it and then have to toss it out. Getting a bit better with that but my old ways die hard

Anytime from 11 am on Jim and I will go do errands or just take a ride to check something out- this is also sleep time for the dogs. We plan to be home by 3:30 if we do go out to once again walk the dogs

4:00- bring dogs to play area, Flee loves this part of the day as he gets to run after his dirty old frisbee. I bring Flee and Nemo and then Abbie and Deco- this occupies an hour.

5-5:30 feed dogs

6:00 feed us

7:00 walk dogs for the night- about 4 minutes.

Now what i haven't added is the numerous conversations that you have in passing with many people within the park. This can occupy all sorts of time with hi's here and there. It is amazing how little time I actually have for doing nothing. And, by 9 pm I am usually headed for bed .

What I do is pretty much the norm- except for the number of times I actually walk dogs. there is shuffleboard and card games and other thing which don't really interest me right now but people do keep busy. We have our friends in the area that we see weekly and then people in the park that we talk with and newcomers who are always looking to talk with you. Busy busy

Jim and I are looking into traveling alot more next year and next year will be Alaska for sure.

So friends and fellow bloggers, this is what we do all day.

once again I will promise to keep this more current- good night

superbowl sunday

True to my promise to try and keep this up to date, I am 'blogging' and watching the super bowl - editorial comment- The Boss rocks !

it has cooled off a bit from the high of 80 on Thursday, sweater weather today. Saturday the park had a Pioneer Valley Day and i decided that we should at least go up and see what it was all about. they had 50 cent beer and hot dogs and tacos in a bag- an interesting idea. in the afternoon we sat outside while people did a modified karaoke. Question ?? why do so many people think they can sing- unbelievable. It was fun and you get to meet people. I would say 75% of the park is Canadian and most of them from Quebec so little English is spoken.

I have a whole doggie subculture from the people I meet at the dog park of while walking the dogs. It is all very brief and insignificant contacts. The Canadians move in a group - a large group- but for most of us it is a wave and hello. surprisingly this works great for me as I keep busy doing whatever it is I do all day.

Met with friends today for lunch which meant going to the Moose club and having a burger and beer 9 gin and tonic for me) can't beat the prices but I am beginning to overdose on burgers and it is a good thing I walk so much as this is not exactly healthy eating.

I do miss my home friends, familiar places, and familiar schedule but not at the expense of trading this weather for winter and snow.

We head to Vero Beach for a dog trial this weekend. I am anxiously looking for a hairdresser as it is beginning to get desperate. These are the things that occupy my day

take care folks, and stay warm

Lindsay North Fort Myers superbowl sunday

further adventures of the crew

I have to admit that I am not good at keeping the blogs updated- it certainly is not because of lack of things happening
Last weekend we headed to Miami to an agility trial , beautiful site and fun people. So different having a site that is under cover but open on all 4 sides with nice crating and great footing. Palm trees, sun and great weather . We had a bit of trouble on the road going to Miami as the tire on the jeep that we were towing blew. Jim noticed a piece of rubber flying in the air and we pulled over. One tire was totally rolled back over the rim and the other had been scraped raw. All these years with triple AAA and i finally got to use them. Jim left me with the RV on the side of the road and AAA loaded the jeep on a tow truck and drove him back to get tires. All this put us into Miami at rush hour which is a bit of an adventure when you are driving a 40' bus and towing a car and trying to get from one lane to the other to make a turn. If you miss your turn with the bus you can be screwed as this thing does NOT make u-turns.

Other then that we have been soaking up the sun, 80 degree weather. Today the RV park had all sorts of events and Jim and I went up with another couple and had some 50 cent beers and bratwurst and watch the cloggers and line dancers. I learned how to play shuffleboard- harder then it looks. It was all good fun and our first participation in a park social event.

Dogs continue to run my life. We go play frisbee at 4 in the afternoon and have a small group with 3 poodle/yorkie crosses and Flee and Nemo. 90 % of the dogs in the park are foo-foo beyond belief, all those little toy dog things in every cross imaginable. There are goldens a lab or two, poodles, a chow, and yorkies yorkies yorkies. One beagle and i have seen 2 German Shepard's. I have the market on corgis and have become the dog guru- people stop by and ask questions. I am also very vocal on what I will allow at the dog play area and that is no big dogs with my dogs - just not worth the aggravation.

so that is life amongst the old folk- damn I guess I am one of them now aren't I . We were at the pool and Jim pointed out that all the chlorine had turned every one's hair gray. Cute-

Next weekend we head to Vero Beach for a dog event. That should be fun

take care friends and I will try to be more current with my blogs

NEW POST FINALLY- We Have a New President!!

first I will apologize up front about the delay in posting. I had trouble signing back into my blog to post, who knows why except maybe the web gurus. So, here I am back , happy and blogging

today is a momentous day !!! How can I describe how I feel- Obama's speech hit all the right notes for me, foreign policy and might does not make right ! Hooray for that and for what i hope is more attention to the needy of all countries. I know time will tell but here is a man who's beliefs are so much closer to mine and those of many of my friends. I have such hopes for him although it is not a job I would want, you have to be special to get to the presidency and to bring the support of millions of people with you . almost a religious experience .

Now on to the Florida stuff. It is cool here today, like long pants and sweater cool The wind is blowing and it is cloudy which adds to the long pants and sweater feel. As I had planned to spend the day watch the festivities in Washington , the weather is no problem.
We seem to have settled in. Actually Jim settled in early , he likes the warm weather and visiting with the RV 'men'. It has taken me a bit longer to get use to the schedule or lack of schedule. i have the dogs in a routine that works, I have had a haircut and pedicure, so things are looking up.
Jim and I have taken little road trips down to Punta Gorda and over to Bokelia. We have visited with our friends in Fort Myers and Pine Island. We have had a small Mystic party with friends who were down in Sarasota. There are quite a few people form Ledyard/Mystic scattered around this area and many of them have found their ways to our site.

Days go by rather quickly and yet you aren't doing much. We leave Thursday for Miami and a dog trial- that should be fun and interesting and the weather man promised warmer weather. tomorrow is going to be cold with lows in the 30's tonight so the heater will be going. Hey, it isn't 5 degrees with snow on the ground so I should just stop whining about it - right!

I am not sure I could go "full time" that would be living in the RV full time but it has just about everything you need except a fenced in yard so the dogs can play independent of the leash.

Promise to keep the blog up now that Google has allowed me back in

Happy New Year- finally

I haven't kept up to date and for that I apologize. Again , for someone who does little but walk 4 dogs by the time evening comes I am ready for bed. Actually , it is not just walking but keeping them quiet and exercised.
We had a quiet New Year's Eve- also our 14th anniversary ( and they said it wouldn't last). We had friends over on NYear's day and another set of friends today. Tomorrow is for me to sit back and read.
I need to get a bit more creative about cooking- can't do grilling every night. I have cleaning down to a science. We have decided to get a small TV for the "basement" so we can sit outside and watch TV if the urge gets us. Today with UConn on we could have used it -
Deco is getting better and is barking instead of those little 'woofs' and he wants to do the stairs in and out instead of being carried. I do think he bruised his ribcage and that the rimydil (sp) is helping. The vet called Friday to check on him- they are very attentive at this vet office.
We will not trial next week as I don't want him to re injure himself but I have hopes for Miami the end of the month.
We are looking into moving to the panhandle next month- I have always wanted to see that part of Florida.
other then that- not much to report. Life in the RV park is quiet unless you have a site next to the Canadians- they raise H every night. I am getting very lazy so I need to find something to do that isn't just walking the dogs- which still takes a better part of my day.
Well, when all is said and done , it is warm and sunny each day and that sure beats cold and snow.
TaTa
Lindsay

Saturday Dec 2 7th

I was told that I needed to update my blog- for someone who doesn't have much to do i keep busy.
First of all the weather- in the 80's it is warm and sunny , feels great to be in shorts and drive in the jeep with the windows open. I bring the dogs out in the afternoon and put them into ex-pens while I read for an hour or so. Keeps them quiet and I get some quiet time as well.
The RV park is an older one which basically means that the sites are a bit roomier then in a newer park where they plop you side by side. Mixture of people , that is true at most places. they have shuffle board- a biggie here with teams and tournaments, horse shoes, line dancing , etc etc.
I have dog walking . You figure each pair gets walked 4 times a day - that is 8 walks, who needs aerobics !!
Jim found a fenced in yard that apparently can be used for running the dogs. What a guy. We brought Flee and Nemo for some frisbee play. It is a bit far to walk but I can drive over and let the dogs run. Flee does not have an off button and it is getting worse since he discovered the SQUIRRELS ! He is a wild man and can't wait to go for a walk to check out each and every tree.

We had a scare with Deco who apparently hurt himself, I think he launched down the stairs and bruised himself . He was very sore and quiet on Xmass day and yesterday he would barely walk and cried if you got near him. We called a vet that was located fairly close and they said they would see us. We brought him in and left him for x-rays- can you imagine this is a place I know nothing about !!! However the dog -god must have been with us as the vet was very good in listening to me and explaining what she found, showing us x-rays etc. It does not appear to be his back or at least a disc but he is sore and sprained something. He is on pain meds and an anti-inflammatory and will go back Monday. As she cautioned me, discs don't always present themselves on x-rays- this I know.
He seems in less pain today and we are keeping him confined to the bedroom as I am afraid he will hurt himself on the steps. so after 4 days we have already met the vet and all the $$$$$ that entails.
Other then that we are exploring in the am and then I sit outside with the dogs in the afternoon.
Jim found this great fenced in area on the other side of the rv park where I can run Flee and Nemo and play frisbee. That was great and should have tired Flee out but nothing tires Flee out. Message to all- traveling with 4 dogs is alot of work and keeping them quiet is alot of work. But they are mine and we will make do even if it kills me.
Had some great strawberries that I bought at a roadside stand for supper. Monday we are going for some fresh fish - will head down to Pine Island where our friends live for fish.
We actually bought tickets to the New Year Eve celebration at the community center. Heck with enought champagne I can handle almost anything !!!!!
Pictures to come later. Keep me in mind blog-followers.
Lindsay and Jim on the road

Monday in ocala- chilly but then again everything is 'relative'

It was in the high 30's this am when I got up at 6:29- the usual waking time for the corgis. We have all the shades pulled inthe bus but at 6:29 sharp Nemo starts chirrping and i know I might just as well haul a** out of bed as it is not going to get any better. Walk Nemo and Flee and then back for Deco and Abbie, feed them and then back out with Flee and Nemo. Deco and Abbie have a longer walk in the am so they are pretty well set. this RV park has a fenced in dog run so i brought flee and Nemo do there for some frisbee play- flee loved it !!!
Beginning to relax, vacuumed the bus , showered and just puttered. Jim washed the outside of the bus . Then we took a ride to look at the horse farms down here- Unbelievable places.
cool today , jeans and sweatshirt back on. tomorrow down to fort Myers.
I am feeling more at ease and beginning to get into the "gentler" life style. I have cooked meals every night and think I have this silly oven figured out. told Jim not to expect turkey for Xmass, have to figure something out or maybe we can just drink champagne !! Now that is an idea.

Heard from my Uncle Bob last night- 92 years strong. He lives in Hawaii and is actually our only family relative that is still alive- we had small holidays. Maybe one reason I married my first husband who had a large, noisy Italian family and I loved the 'idea' of that as it was so different from what I was use to.
Regardless, Happy holidays to all who are out there , friend and family alike- all my love
Lindsay - feeling sentimental on Dec 22.