Thursday, July 25, 2013

A Big Day For Al

 

Wesley Chapel, Florida

We awoke to heavy rain this morning.  Some people like to sleep during storms, but I’m not one of them.  Fortunately, so far, it hasn’t been too strong, so I haven’t had to break out the wine.   Yet.  

Yesterday, was a big day for Al.  It was his last day of work.  It’s official.  He is completely retired!  He came home about 1pm and we went out and did some shopping, and then off for a celebratory dinner.  It turns out Al had already been doing some celebrating and came home with a few presents…..for himself!  

We went to Outback Steakhouse for a nice “vegan” dinner.   He had steak and snow crab and I had a steak dinner.  We had a few drinks and had an enjoyable time.   We got home and enjoyed another drink out on the patio.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera because two deer came and posed nicely for the picture I couldn’t take. 

When we awoke to the hard rain this morning, we were sure glad that Al didn’t have to get up and drive in the bad weather.   Ahhhhh….retirement!

Now, we have to decide when we can leave for Georgia, and pray nothing changes our plan.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

He’s Back

 

Wesley Chapel, Florida

 

It’s back…..with a vengeance!   Baxter's appetite, I mean.

The vet told us to feed feed him small meals of meat baby food for 2 days and then a bland diet.  At the time she said that, I was thinking to myself that if his appetite came back, he would not be satisfied with small, bland meals. 

I was right.  We were gone for a few hours yesterday and when we got home Bax was hungry.  Normally, Baxter is always hungry and when he quit eating, we were extremely worried.

Early Tuesday morning, I got up to check on Baxter and he was starving. I finally gave in and gave him some dry cat foot and a small amount of canned food.  He inhaled the dry food  without even chewing and was begging for more.

Unfortunately, he begged and pleaded so much that I may have let him eat too much and later in the day he didn’t seem to be feeling too well again.  Oops.   No more vomiting though.

By last night, he was better and eating more normally, but not quite as ravenous as usual.  He played a little last night, so we’re hoping he’s on his way back to normal.

 

Baxter

 

We’re trying to wrap up things here and get everything taken care with the business.  Al hopes to be finished with that today, so this should be his very last day!  He’s going to be real glad to be done with it all.  I might even take him our for a celebratory dinner tonight!

We’re still planning/hoping to leave Florida and go back to the Georgia mountains, but for now, everything is up in the air.   Now, there is a new player in our plans in the form of a tropical depression…..soon to be tropical storm/hurricane which is heading west from the African coast. 

I guess we’ll play it by ear for now.

 

Summer is rainy season in Florida and this year has been a particularly wet rainy season.  We haven’t had much opportunity to sit outside and watch wildlife.

Our site backs up to a beautiful wooded area that is teaming with wildlife.

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We try to keep our birdfeeders full, and we have a lot of bird activity.

Last night,  for the first time in quite a while, it wasn’t raining and we got to sit outside and enjoy the wildlife.

Al snapped a photo of this pretty male Cardinal.

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This next picture was taken a few months ago when the fox appeared just a few feet from us and was eating the seed that had fallen from the bird feeders.  The orange dish you see is a bird bath.

 

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We’ve seen deer,foxes, birds, otters and most recently turkeys.

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We understand there is a coyote around here, but so far we have not seen it. 

Last night I saw something brownish in color across the water on the edge of the woods.

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I zoomed in with my camera for a closer look and was surprised to find these guys.

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They seemed to be inseparable.  I thought they were youngsters, but our neighbor thinks they are a mating pair. 

 

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They appeared to be munching on something in the grass and didn’t appear to be concerned with us watching them.

There is always a lot of wildlife in this area.

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We sure enjoy sitting outside watching our wildlife, and despite the rain we haven’t been bothered too much with bugs.  Maybe they have all drowned!