Family Day at the Beach

You know that summer is almost here when it is 75 degrees in March.  Tony and I crammed a lot in from Thursday to Saturday and decided that today was beach day.

 

We took Dixie with us to determine if she still had a fear of the water or whether she would love being there as much as we do.  She loved it.  Tony got her close to the water a few times, but I think it was the sound of the waves that bothered her and made her run the other way. 

 

She met new friends, the two legged kind and the four legged kind and was really good.  No scratching, no jumping, just love, running, jumping and getting sand in her face. 

 

For me, it was a wonderful opportunity to capture things with our camera.  The sky, birds, waves...just beautiful parts of the day. 

 

We took a picnic of apples, cheese, pecans and pepperoni and, of course, white wine.   I took individual cheese sticks for Dixie, but she preferred our food with her white wine. 

 

We stayed for a few hours and knew that this was the first day of many happy days at the beach.

We got a few sprinkles on the way, but it was clear when we got to the beach

Tony "tests the water" with Dixie...will she stay or will she run?

Beautiful birds in formation

A hole in the sky

Dixie's ears blowing in the breeze

 

Here I come!!

A pine cone, a pine cone, I found a pine cone....I love pine cones!

Dixie takes a rest

Blue skies and white clouds....love it

Dixie wants wine!

High in the sky

The sun, covered by the sky

Dixie watches her new friends

Dixie against a blue sky

Tony enjoys the say

 

Tell me how you really feel?

A pooped Dixie wants to go home!

 

 

Kat, Sebastian, The Juggling Gypsy, Echo's and Other Stuff

Like all cities, Wilmington has neighborhoods where it is a good idea not to be wandering around them late at night.  The good part for us is that the city is trying to revitalize a lot of these areas and some business people are moving in to change the flavor of the neighborhoods.

 

Yesterday, I had to have an echo cardiogram on my heart.  It's an ultrasound that bounces sound waves off of your heart and valves.  I have been having some shortness of breath issues along with swelling ankles, so my doctor wanted to see what might be identified by looking closer at my heart. 

 

We had to go way across town to get it done and as we were on the way back, we were driving through one of those "not so good" neighborhoods.   We saw a place called the Juggling Gypsy and decided to stop in.   It was 3:00 in the afternoon--what could happen?  Going in was like stepping back into the '60's.  There was a short bar with a local man drinking a beer and hookahs sitting in a corner.  Hookah's are smoking devices that are large (around 2 feet tall) and filter tobacco and tea leaves through a hose attached to a pipe.  

 

Low tables with deep red table clothes were arranged to face a stage where they have local bands, open mic night, belly dancers and a wide range of entertainment.   Paintings of men and women with long hair and colors on their faces dotted the walls and the music was a range of grunge and head banging.  How's this for old--the music was so "banging" that I had to take out my hearing aids because they were crackling. 

 

We met the owner, Sebastian and his significant other, Kat.  They live in the area, right by the Gypsy, and keep the place free of druggies, thugs and "colors" as in, "no gangs allowed." 

They promised that we weren't the oldest patrons to visit the place and after a while, we relaxed and enjoyed the ambiance.  But, while we were there, I had the strongest urge to say things like, "narley, dude," and "righteous!"

 

After "day tripping," (see, I'm still in the groove!)   we went to one of our favorite places, Le Catalan, down on the river for wine and appetizers. 

 

It was a fun day.  Tomorrow is beach day--can't wait!!

 

The Juggling Gypsy interior.  Way to the right are the hookah's.  The paintings were done by local artists. 

 

Sebastian talks to two patrons, under a sign advertising 2017 "memberships"  to the bar for $1.00.  On your birthday, you get a free hookah!

 

The stage, with different colored lights.  We may go back for Burlesque night!  Righteous!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number 7!!

Grandbaby #7 is on the way!!!

 

And will be ready to meet us all in September!!

 

CAN'T WAIT

The Revenge of Cleveland!

For most of the two months that Donna and Bob were down here, the weather was great.  Ironically, it was also good in Cleveland.  Not your typical winter...snow, but warm days too. 

 

Donna predicted that when they went home to Cleveland, winter would come back the way it usually is and she was right.  Many inches of snow have fallen there and temperatures were really cold.

 

But, somewhere along the line, our family and friends in Cleveland decided we needed to be reminded of their winter plight....they sent us snow.

 

BRRRRRR.....waking up to 29 degrees is not what we signed up for. 

 

But spring is on the horizon--we've had blue birds scoping out our bird house and the flowers in the front yard are budding.  Hopefully we won't be seeing this anymore this year:

 

 

 

Back to Beignets!

 

 

A million years ago, Tony and I went to New Orleans.  I have reminded Tony that this was not my favorite vacation because of the unrelenting heat and humidity, but there were a few things that I did enjoy there--one of them was beignets.

 

Beignets, or French donuts, are fluffy squares of dough that are  deep fried,  with powdered sugar on top.  When they are warm, they melt in your mouth.  When we were in New Orleans, we got a bag of beignets and took them down to the river where a man was playing the saxophone.  It was midnight and it was magic.  What fun that was.   We brought some beignet mix home and introduced them to our kids.  They were a hit!

 

Recently, Tony Jr was in New Orleans for business and rediscovered beignets.   When he got home, he made them for Marie and the kids.  Coleton is a total fan now!

 

Seeing Coleton eating them made us want some, so, since I was off today, Tony made some--yum!  I offered a few to one of the guys doing our shower.  He enjoyed them as much as we did. 

 

Regarding the shower, we are in the water proofing stage and soon, tiling will begin. 

 

I cleaned the house today because I couldn't stand the 3 inches of building dust that has accumulated in the house.  Tony cleaned a few days ago, but it didn't matter, building brings dust and dirt.  For now, you can actually see wood on our wood furniture and our feet don't crunch on the floors.  I'm guessing that won't last long.

 

Work is still busy and I'm working crazy hours--just wait until summer. 

 

Our spring has been beautiful.  Deep blue skies, light breezes and pretty evenings.  It's time for our plants and trees to wake up and we enjoy watching them reach up to the sun for warmth and encouragement.

 

Today was beignet day, tonight is pizza night--it doesn't get much better!!

 

 

Beignets coming out of the hot oil

And now, the powdered sugar

Café DuMonde's Beignet Mix

Here we go....

Yum!

Two thumbs and a mouth full of beignets!

 

 

 

 

 

Next Phase

Tony and I are adjusting to not having a master bathroom, and I admit, it's been difficult. When I think of growing up in a family of 5 and only having one bathroom, I wonder how we survived.  That sounds stupid, but when you get used to having something,  it's a big adjustment to make when you don't have it for awhile.

 

But, the shower transformation is moving forward and it will look great when it's done.   

 

James, our builder, has the actual shower floor space framed out and we know where our bench will be located.  The next step is the plumber coming in to relocate the drain. 

 

We are in week two of demo, take a look:

 

 

The framed shower area

 

 

This is the back, where we will enter

All we have to do now is figure out where to put towels and other bathroom stuff!

 

 

 

New and Improved

Tony and I live in a nice house.  Probably the nicest one either of us has ever had....except for one thing....that master bathroom shower. 

 

The master bathroom is big...it's tiled, well lit, has a big window and a really, tiny, tiny shower.  Because it doesn't get good ventilation, mold grows on the bottom lip of the door and it seems like I can never get the shower liner clean.   Every time I use it, I feel like I am standing in a small can of germs. 

 

We decided it was time to fix the shower and make it as nice as the rest of the house.  From a re-sale standpoint, it's going to be a huge improvement that will pay for itself.

 

The big (literally) thing in showers now is called, a Roman shower.  It's all glass in front, has a bench and you enter and leave from an opening at the other end from the shower head (no mold!!!)  Maybe a Roman ruler invented it!  You can sit and let the water spill all over you, or you can grab an oversized towel and sit down to dry off.  It will be tiled inside (no liner!!) and really pretty. It should be done in three weeks. 

 

The guys that are doing it, James and Ben, are really nice.  Dixie gets her healthy dose of lovin' before they start and then they get to work. 

 

I can't wait to see the finished product.  For now, it looks like this:

 

Before Demo, just a door, with a shower head

The garden tub is on the other side of the wall from the shower

Glass block windows above the tub

The wall separating the shower from the tub

Grab bars for old people

Ta Da....no tub!

 

No shower, either!

No more small can of germs!