Every year over the holidays I gain 5 lbs. because “life is too short to eat carrots at Christmas”. Then after the holidays it just goes away.
Because I don’t normally eat sweets, I prefer vegetables over meat, and I actually like to exercise.
But this year, those 5 lbs have refused to budge. I’m still wearing yoga pants and hip length sweaters. What’s going on here?
Well, I figured it out yesterday. The holidays aren’t over! New Year’s Day open house is quickly followed by Gasparilla, Ground Hog Day, and then it’s Superbowl Sunday. Next up Valentine’s Day. The holidays aren’t over until Presidents Day! That’s when those 5 lbs will magically melt away.
Skinny jeans—give me a couple more weeks!
SuperBowl Day Breakfast! If the day started out like that, you can imagine what I ate during the big game!
Another subject.
Organizing. Why do I do that every year? In January. Is there some kind of brain thing that makes me what to clean and put things in pretty boxes only that one month a year? I started clearning out the garage and February showed up a couple of days ago. Done with that!
February is the month for sleeping. And gathering the stuff for taxes.
And then it’s MARCH! And I get to replace all those flowers that were murdered in those nasty freezes of January.
I didn’t post last Friday because my network hard drive crashed. Pieces everywhere–not really. Very sad. And I hadn’t backed it up since the middle of December. Heavy sigh. Live by PC. Die by PC. I’ve spent some time on the phone with first level techs who told me to do everything I had already done. (Once upon a time I was a network specialist so I’m not clueless) Now I’m waiting for a call back from second level tech that will tell me that the drive is bad and send it back for a brand new replacement. Which I can’t do because there is data on there that I’m not sharing with our friends in India. Heavy sigh. Live by PC. Die by PC. Now I’m looking at cloud based storage. And I had all my photos for the past few months on the card in the camera so I was able to retrieve those so it’s not a total loss!
Okay. On to better stuff.
The squirrels are in retreat since Terry has covered up every possible spot that they could chew through. They still run across the office roof sounding like tiny elephants in full charge.
The Old Homosassa Heritage Council has a big event coming up– “Cocktail Hour for the Tower”. My friend Connie is running it and has it amazingly under control. She is very detail oriented plus an experienced caterer and pulled this together in a very short time frame. This will be FUN! Almost all the tickets have already been sold!
Sad News. The Yardarm and Monkey Bar closed down on Tuesday. Locked the doors and sent everyone home! This 50 year old restaurant/bar had significant damage from the last hurricane plus sitting right on the Homosassa River the foundation has rotted away. The owner says that they will replace it with an outdoor structure by scallop season. I probably haven’t been there for two years so, while I felt bad that another local landmark was being replaced, I didn’t think it would effect me. Well. It does. A group of us went to the Old Mill for dinner on Wednesday and couldn’t get a seat. We ended up at the shiny new Margarita Grill. It’s on the other side of the river–on the other side of the bridge! Surprisingly, we got parking and a table to seat us all. Guess 8 o’clock on Wednesday is the time to go!
That’s Tommy Piliourous, the owner, setting something on fire.
The food was good. Just like the old restaurant before it burnt down. There is outside seating but it was a little chilly that night.
Mentioning the “bridge”, it’s been one lane for quite some time now. (Which has caused at least one medical emergency) I can’t remember when it started. Supposed to be done this month! There was even an article in the newspaper a few weeks ago with an official quoted as saying February 2018. Ha! Maybe February 2019. They haven’t even finished the first lane and will have to divert traffic over to it when its done and then work on the other lane. They’ve had all kinds of issues–starting with an osprey making it’s nest on one of the cranes. They are protected. Just can’t move a nest! Then the water lines burst washing out a lot of the ground around the foundation. And they issues driving the pilings in. More to come in the future on that subject!
The ukulele group is growing. I was calling it the Ukulele Ladies and Laddies just because I like to say it, but someone referred to it as the Homosassa Ukers. Funny? So that’s who we are now! Playing uke is relatively easy–not like picking a banjo. I just wish I could sing!
The empty seat is mine. 14 ukers!
Last big announcement. This is an event still in the making. Haven’t even got the graphic done yet. The 2nd Annual Old Homosassa Community Day! April 7, 2018. Put it on your calendar. There will be a giant yard sale in the Homosassa Civic Center with all proceeds going to the Old Homosassa Heritage Council to paint the water tower. The American Legion 166 will be having a hog roast and poker run–proceeds going towards getting a building for them. Open mike on the stage–the ukers will be making their debut. Gil Watson, local artist, will be setting up an artist and farmer’s market. Our local community groups will have information booths. The Homosassa Civic Club is sponsoring this event.
Okay. Enough for today!
Have a great weekend. Enjoy the commercials and halftime at the SuperBowl!
It’s a constant battle against the squirrels here.
Maggie used to keep them under control but now she just sleeps all day. She’s 18. No more squirrel chasing for her!
Here’s Maggie, protecting the gardens from the squirrels 5 years ago.
Once upon a time I had a vegetable garden.
In the “squirrel-proof” bird feeders.
Chewing the twinkly lights we have on the trees.
On the hummingbird feeders.
Playing a wee banjo.
I didn’t get enough snaps of the most recent incursion. This guy was sitting on the downspout and then jumped up into a hole he had chewed in the eaves. Fortunately there was no attic in this part of the house and Terry was able to get him and his girlfriend out before they started a little family.
What!
Terry went to Ace and got some cage wire that the guy recommended and covered the screen with that.
But this is a very determined squirrel and promptly got back to work. He not only chewed through the cage wire but also chewed through the wood. Terry put up a metal plate. So the squirrel moved onto another spot that was directly into the attic and chewed right through the wall!
FULL OUT WAR WAS DECLARED!
We even missed the Gasparilla Pirate invasion on Saturday thanks to this little fat rodent.
There is now a rat trap in the attic and another metal plate covering that hole. BB gun is ready!
