Reading More Dan Brown!

DAN BROWN.........Lost Symbol...

There are days when I am just into reading and Dan Brown is a favourite author of mine...I enjoy reading Dan Brown's work but am thinking that this one seems to be starting in much the same way as the Da Vinci Code, with the gruesome demise of a friend of the lead character....

What is interesting to me, with my background in science, is the discussion of Noetic "Science" and the links to mysticism and the Free Masons. I know there will be a movie...I always like to read the book first... I havn't finished it yet. When I do I will update the post to give my take on it...

Walk to Eden Condominiums 5Km round trip...

We got up very early this morning to see the sunrise on the beach! The sky becomes the most brilliant shades of pink, blue and purple...
The sun is just about to rise over the water ... it is a bit cloudy so we won't really see it up for a while. this morning we are walking about 5 kilometers round trip so no worries...we shall witness it all...


When it finally breaks past the clouds the colours change from misty, and muted tones to bright and vibrant ones. The sea is shimmering and there is the promise of warm weather ahead. As we walk we have our hoodies zipped up to the neck and hoods up ...


Richard picked up on these footprints and said well these are the footprints of a true beachcomber... I thought ' why is that ? '... he said "look closely" and sure enough the perfect footprints are of two different shoes, worn by the same person! Was it too dark when he ventured out...

Our destination...the EDEN Condominiums...get it? Eden in Paradise on the lost key....

This morning another thing happened as we walked. I had spotted a large Shark's eye shell protruding from the wet sand, just 'asking' me to come and pick it up. I ran over to get it and turned around to show Richard. Just then another beachcomber, who seemed to appear out of nowhere, came walking up to me quickly with his hand outstretched. He was tall and had a ruddy complexion, like he lived here by the sea, and his clothes were warm but worn around the edges. His outstretched hand was covered with fingerless gloves so that he could shell without getting them wet. As he approached me he said "here these are for you, they are just like that one you found" and he gave me three amazingly large and perfect samples of Shark's eye shells.

As quickly as he had approached me he was gone again in the opposite direction to us down the beach. I couldn't find his footsteps in the sand as we moved away from him nor as we returned on our walk back to our familiar surf...

Beautiful, Beautiful, Planet...

Beach Today Warm and Sunny!

Today was a gorgeous day in Florida with great weather finally...after several days of really cold weather, below 0 C overnight! We welcomed the warmth with a walk on the deserted beach! Beautiful white sand and deep blue sea...

Mist off the Gulf of Mexico...

This morning Richard ventured out in the weather in 22F (- 5.5 C) to see how the beach was and he saw "steam" coming off the water. The water is warmer than the air! He also saw fish jumping out of the water and birds feeding on them...Neat!

Arizona is looking better and better!!! :-)

Florida is Cold ...STILL!

Hey there...I told you that I figured out the convection microwave and I managed to bake a banana bread that was rather good the other day. Check out the picture...:-)

We have been wishing we had packed more warm clothes this year since it has been hovering below zero Celsius in the overnight and around 5 or 6 C during the days. We did get up to 18 C (65F) yesterday during the day with sunshine and we all came out of our mobile houses to get some air. We did a thorough cleaning in the Airstream and actually did several loads of laundry. We soaked up the sunshine bracing ourselves for the sub zero Celsius weather overnight!

We heard that there was a bad car pile-up in Atlanta because of the snow and even though they were threatening snow for this area yesterday we only got rain. Hopefully this will break over the weekend..I will keep you posted. This is a great time for me to do some of the research I have to do for my projects and I am taking advantage of the desire to hibernate to do just that!

Orange Beach Alabama Weather - Snow Thursday....

Well, well, well! Snow here???? I will believe it when I see it but it has been cold! Today was sunny but the temp dipped below 0C overnight so we unplugged the water and plugged in the heater! The report on Weather Underground says 30% chance of snow Thursday! Okay I know we should be saying it is not as cold as Ottawa, but really! This is toooooo much! We had a great day today cleaning around the RV and finding our long underwear...just kidding!

Rudy did not want to get out of bed and frankly who can blame him when cozy beneath a down comforter?

In Ottawa ...De-Iceing the plane - The Weather Network

Your Weather: De-Iceing the plane - The Weather Network I saw this while checking the weather in Ottawa this morning and it left me feeling a little more chilly! We have had cool and sunny weather here on the panhandle with the next couple of nights dipping below freezing...but the Airstream is nice and warm and so are we. This little de-icing clip is chilling and it made me think about why air travel in the winter scares me a bit! I was thinking of another trip home to see the family in February but now ... not so sure...

Inspired to Use the Convection Microwave today!

Well after the nice restful day we had yesterday reflecting on the year behind us and the year ahead I decided it would be fun to try the Convection Microwave again.  I didn't want to forget how to use it!  I pulled out the Coastal Living Cookbook and made Chesapeake Bay Crab Cakes with  Fresh Field Greens (plus Cranberry and Almond) Salad, and Rosemary Shortbread for dessert with fresh ground coffee.  What a treat... The recipes in the Coastal Living Cookbook are truly wonderful, easy to make and have been a hit with us both.   Richard, being from the maritimes, knows a great crab cake and so I was hoping these would be as good as any he had had before and he was very impressed. 

Happy New Year and Oh My It Is 2010!!!!

Well folks, as we ring in a new year, Richard and I are so thankful for wonderful family, good friends, enchanting pets, and a lifestyle that is both comfortable and relaxing.  When I remember the turn of the last decade from 1999 to 2000 all I can think of is the craziness around Y2K and how that decade ended sadly with the loss of my Father.  For us, 2009 brought a new baby to the family in little Madison Christina. She joins her sisters Payton and Brooklyn (all children of the last decade)!  The last decade brought great jobs and then retirement for both Richard and I, as well as two Airstreams and a boat (:-)); it brought Louise back to Ottawa from British Columbia to study and she rekindled her passion with Yoga and horses, making it her life's work, and she also bought her own Airstream...good stuff!  The past decade also saw Lisa finishing her university degree, beginning a great career, getting married, having children and moving into her dream home. 

Our family lost a wonderful young woman in the past decade to cancer.  Johanne was my nephew Scott's wife, and mother to two wonderful little girls, Leah and Sarah. She has been sadly missed by all who knew her.  Things somehow have a way of working out and Scott found new love and married Patty, my new niece.  Scott's sister Christine finished her Nurse Practitioner's education and now we can all hope for great care (should we need it!) The amazing thing is that she did it while adding to her family of 4 children! My nephew Paul married his Victoria in a beautiful wedding in Niagara on the Lake so the new niece count went up. :-) Welcome to the family to both Patty and Victoria.  This past year my nephew Nathan proposed to his girlfriend Carrie (a childhood friend of my daughter Lisa) and so we are sure to see more weddings and children this next decade!  The last decade saw Rachel, my niece in Ottawa, completing her degree and landing a great job. Deanna, my niece from Guelph, branched out to a new job and bought her first home - a major life event.

A decade like that is hard to follow but we are sure hopeful for lots of fun, some hard work (we have a project or two ahead of us) and good times as the year progresses!