Celebrating Our 49th

To celebrate our 49th wedding anniversary, Arne and I drove to Siesta Key, just south of Sarasota, on the Gulf side of Florida. Siesta Key claims to have the #1 beach in the USA. I didn't think it was better than others I've seen but maybe it's the fine, white sand which makes it #1. While the weather wasn't great, thanks to Tropical Storm Debby, we were able to walk on the beach Wednesday evening, as well as Thursday and Friday mornings.

On Thursday, we went to the Ringling Museums where we spent almost six hours. We spent a couple hours in the John and Mable Ringling Art Museum. It is a beautiful legacy which John left to the state of Florida after Mable died and they had no children. The 66 acre grounds consists of their art museum, two circus museums, Mable's rose garden and Ca' d'Zan, House of John, the mansion they completed just three years before Mable died at age 54. John Ringling was born in McGregor, Iowa but grew up in Baraboo, Wisconsin. I thoroughly enjoyed the history of the circus and John Ringling, the second youngest of six brothers. Only thing to ruin the day was a downpour around 3 PM which lasted for a couple hours.

On Friday, we stopped at an art store and then the Ringling College of Art bookstore, where Arne looked for art supplies and I ended up buying 9 books off the 75% off shelf. We then took a driving tour of Lido Key and Longboat Key, two more islands off the coast of Sarasota. We had our anniversary dinner at the Chart House on Longboat Key with a view of Sarasota Bay. I had fresh swordfish which was delicious.

We checked out of our resort before 10 Saturday morning and were home around 12:15 with no rain. Today, we have had rain ALL DAY! Right now there are tornado warnings not far from us. We are ready to head to our closet if necessary.

The Big 7-0!

On Thursday, June 14, Flag Day, yours truly celebrated a milestone. It was a memorable day, thanks to my wonderful husband. The day started with a few games of pickleball, a trip to the fitness center, with a manicure and pedicure finishing out the morning. The afternoon consisted of a massage and refreshing facial. The evening included dinner at Outback with Arne, my dear Villages friend, Ginny, and her husband, David. We came back to our house for cake, coffee and Amaretto.

Sister Marla sent me a lovely book with pictures of my trip to New Mexico and Arizona in early April where I did an early celebration with family and friends. I'm told the stars and arrows were chosen by Marla's 4-year-old granddaughter and Marla couldn't change it to a leather cover. Should I believe that story??

 Arne's latest orchid acquisition. Isn't it beautiful? And it has a scent!

Corvette Road Trip

The Corvette was in the "hospital" two weeks ago getting a new rear end. (I'm next) Last week, Arne had new tires put on so we decided to take a road trip and test out the new ride. Much smoother than before!

We drove to Orlando for a short visit with our niece Marla, nephew Stan, and their families. They are spending the week in a time share and visiting DisneyWorld and Sea World. Today was their day to just hang so a few hours with the old folks was on the docket. It was great to see them all...first time seeing Liam and Serena, the two youngest.

We left just as a storm was moving in so drove in rain and lightning for the first half hour getting out of Orlando. Other than that, it was a great afternoon.

California Cousins Visit

May 22, Marge and Eileen, cousins from Northern California, made the long trek to The Villages. For five days, we showed them our "town" as well as central Florida. They seemed to enjoy it and hopefully will come back one day.

We experienced our first tropical storm this past week. Fortunately, we had very little wind and much needed rain. Our ponds and lakes are once again filled to the brim.

 Marge and Eileen as we entered Homosassa Springs Nature Park

 Looks like a rock but actually a manatee.

 Manatees grow to over 1000 lbs. eating romaine??? They are vegetarians.

 Two of Arne's latest watercolors. Above is based on photo from Sedona.