Tag: florida

Snapshots #213 and #214

Studly Doright is playing in a two day golf tournament at his course this weekend. It’s his first tournament since undergoing minor back surgery several months ago. He’s only played a couple of rounds in the past few weeks, so this tournament will be a test of his fortitude as well as his golfing skills.

Rather than sit at home doing nothing, I drove into Tallahassee and bummed around, finally stumbling onto a neighborhood garage sale. It was 10:30 a.m. before I found the sale, and most of the homes were running low on merchandise. In garage sale shopping the early bird truly does get the worm.

I wasn’t searching for anything specific, though, so I parked at one home and walked from sale to sale enjoying the mild weather and visiting with folks along the way.

Then I saw this piece:

It’s a wicker vanity chair with a built-in hamper. I’d never seen such a thing, so even though I have no idea where I’m going to put it I bought the silly thing for $5.00. The chair needs a new cushion and perhaps a coat of paint to cover up the marks on the front of the hamper.

I’m calling the first photo, Studly Doright Will Just See an Ugly Old Chair, and the second one, Surprise! It’s also an Ugly Old Hamper.

Peace, people!

Suffering from a Severe Lack of Oomph

I surrender! I have all these photos of the grandkids’ visit, but not the oomph needed to write about them. My oomph evaporated on Monday afternoon when I left the kids at the airport in Panama City Beach, and I’m not sure when it’s coming back.

Life continues, though, as does this blog, so I’m going to take the easy, less oomph reliant path and just post photos. If the spirit moves me, I might even comment on them. If not, well, make up your own captions. Oh, I started at the end of their visit and went backwards for some reason.

Here are a few from our morning in Panama City Beach before we headed to the airport:

Dominique and friend, Sophia, pose outside Dick’s Last Resort.

Enjoying a pineapple drink on the promenade.

Dominique pushing Jackson in a beach wheelchair so he wouldn’t get sand in his cast. I pushed him out to the beach and she pushed him back to the pavement. Hey, I think I know the moment my oomph disappeared!

Ahhh! The sun and the sand and the water.

Dining at Dick’s Last Resort, where the waiters are rude on purpose and the giggles are non-stop.

From our trip to Wild Adventures in Valdosta, Georgia on Sunday:

Poppa (aka Studly Doright) and Jackson built a motorcycle during the kids’ visit. For some reason I didn’t take any “before” photos, but this bike was in pieces at the beginning of last week:

Tallahassee Museum and Zoo is one of the grandkids’ (and grandparents’) favorite places to visit.

While the two 15-year-olds embarked on the tree-to-tree adventure,

Jackson, Studly, and I explored the zoo area:

At Jackson’s request we went “thrifting.”

And I took the girls sightseeing and swimming at Wakulla Springs:

And that’s about it. The kids and I stayed up late to watch a scary movie one night, but I didn’t document that. I had crafts for us to do, but those ideas were met with little enthusiasm. That’s just fine. I’m not sure my limited supply of oomph would’ve allowed for much creativity.

It’s awfully quiet around Doright Manor since they’ve been gone. The only one happy with the kids’ absence is our cat, Patches. Maybe she’ll help with the oomph issue.

Or not.

Snapshot #212

I own a couple of pairs of Spanx. They’re great for containing, smoothing, and camouflaging parts of my body that aren’t all that firm anymore, like my waistline and my abdomen. I don’t wear them often, reserving them for special occasions. It’s not that I don’t want to look svelte all the time, it’s just that I live in the Sunshine State where more layers equal more discomfort.

So when I saw these new offerings from Spanx in a Tallahassee department store I did a double take:

Am I supposed to wear these with my tank tops?

I think I’ll call this, I Know I Need Them, but No Thanks, Spanx.

Peace, people (and seriously, I should cease wearing tank tops!)

Snapshot #211

I promise I’m not being lazy. Okay, maybe I am, but after hosting two teens and a tween for over a week, I believe I deserve a couple of days of laziness. Honestly, they were well-behaved and a ton of fun, but I’m having difficulty putting together a cohesive post because there’s just too much to process right now.

Yesterday I had to bid them goodbye, and I might’ve cried a little watching them file through the boarding gate at the Panama City airport. Seems like only yesterday two of them were running around my house in diapers. I know the summer visits won’t last forever, so I’m savoring them while I can.

We spent the morning exploring Panama City, and I thought I’d share one of our silly photos.

I call this one, Toes: Both Sandy and Broken.

Two Teens Going Tree-to-Tree

I have two phobias that are somewhat related. The first is a fear of descending escalators. The second is a fear of heights, or to be more precise, falling from said escalators and heights. So when my fifteen year old granddaughter, Dominique, and her friend Sophia, asked me to join them on a tree-to-tree adventure at the Tallahassee Museum and Zoo I politely declined. Instead I offered to document parts of their adventure through photographs. Thankfully, they accepted my counter offer.

Here are Dominique (left) and Sophia being fitted with their harnesses:

Ready to go:

The rest are self explanatory. I couldn’t cover the complete two hour course which went across swamps and over animal enclosures, but I did get a few pictures and videos of their adventure.

The tree-to-tree course looks fun. There’s a part of me that would love to try it for myself. But it’s an incredibly small part and I’ve shoved it way down deep inside where it will never see the light of day.

The girls, however, came through with flying colors. I’ll just live vicariously through them. It’s safer that way.

Peace, people.

Cypress Trees

Studly Doright and I took the visiting grandkids and their friend, Sophia, to visit the Tallahassee Museum and Zoo on Friday. I’m still sorting through photos of our adventure to post another day, but I thought I’d share some of my favorite nature photos from the trip in the meantime.

Cypress trees are beautifully spooky even in the middle of a sunshiny summer day:

This dragonfly followed me for awhile:

Squirrel!!!

Swamp scenes:

I’ll share photos of the kids and Studly tomorrow, but for now, I’m pooped.

Peace, people!

Thrifting in Havana

Havana, Florida, is a prime shopping location for those looking for antiques, curiosities, or just plain junk. On a rainy Wednesday the intrepid Noyz grandkids, their grandparents, and a friend went in search of all three.

Friend Sophia had to try out every typewriter we saw.

Dominique and Sophia took a photo of a piece of wax fruit Dominique had photographed last year. It has a bite mark in it, for identification purposes, we supposed.

Jackson practiced molding a cardboard bust of Elvis. At least the tag said it was Elvis, we didn’t see the resemblance.

Studly Doright had to put in his two cents worth of advice.

I almost purchased these placemats featuring historic sites. Classy, right?

The placemats would’ve been stunning with the candelabras pictured above.

Dominique was perpetually cold.

Jackson loves old cameras. He seriously considered buying this one.

I found lots of cool pieces, but didn’t buy anything.

Loved this telephone table. The kids couldn’t quite get the idea that one couldn’t just talk on the phone from anywhere in the house. I told them I used to have to sit on the floor in our hallway to talk on the phone. Ah, those were the days.

A creepy doll above and another below.

I tried to convince Studly that I needed this green bench.

After an afternoon of thrift shopping we took the kids to a Japanese steakhouse in Tallahassee and then to see the new Mission Impossible movie.

A successful day on all counts, but the week is going by too quickly for Nana.

Peace, people.

Snapshot #209

When Texas grandson, Jackson, comes to visit we always spend some time “thrifting” at antique and junk stores. Neither Studly Doright nor Jack’s sister, Dominique enjoy the activity, but yesterday afternoon they, along with our guest, Sophia, accompanied us to Havana to check out the local goods.

I didn’t have time to go through all the photos I took on our quest for the perfect thrift store find, but this piece caused each one of us to make a face and/or an exclamation of revulsion:

I’m calling it, “Ew! What’s Wrong with that Giant Creepy Doll’s Arms?”

I’m not sure what today will bring. Rain hampered outdoor activities yesterday, so we’re hoping for clearer skies on this Thursday.

Peace, people!

Wakulla Swim

On Tuesday morning I took our granddaughter, Dominique, and her friend, Sophia, to Wakulla Springs. Sophia had never seen an alligator outside of a zoo setting, so we had high hopes for a sighting.

When we first arrived at Edward Ball State Park rain was falling, and tickets for the boat ride weren’t being sold yet due to the possibility of lightning down the river. The girls donned their hoodies so we could go exploring.

That’s the diving platform above.

The small blue markers strung across the river are the only demarcation between swimming territory and all manner of wildlife including gators, manatees, and snakes. According to the park rangers the only real thing keeping wildlife out of the swimming area is the presence of people.

Occasionally an alligator will cross the line and have to be removed. While the girls were swimming I watched two other swimmers each pull a snake from the water. They assured me that these snakes weren’t venomous, but eeek!

Around noon we were cleared for the boat tour. The rains had cooled everything off, so while we saw a good many gators, they were all in the water.

And I managed to fail at getting a photo of anything other than my fellow passengers, trees, and swampy water.

After lunch the two Texas girls swam in the Florida sunshine for over an hour.

Meanwhile I reclined on my brightly colored blanket and read.

The girls slept all the way back to Doright Manor, while I sang along to the 60’s channel on Sirius/XM. Now, I need a nap!

Peace, people.

The Grandkids are Coming! The Grandkids are Coming!

Studly Doright and I have been getting Doright Manor ready to withstand a visit from our Texas grandkids, Dominique and Jackson. The two, along with one of their friends, are flying in to Panama City Beach on Sunday evening to stay with us in Havana for a week. The guest rooms and baths are ready, the cupboards are full, and the refrigerator is stocked with Jackson’s favorite root beer.

Each year when the kids visit, Studly, who goes by “Poppa” around the grands, has motorcycles ready to work on and ride. I usually take the kids to a water park. However, Jackson broke his foot at the beginning of the summer and will still be in a cast. We might have to get a bit more creative with our activities this year.

Arts and crafts, anyone?

Regardless of what we do, we’ll have fun. I’ll post something if I have the energy!

Peace, people!