Acu Rite Home Weather Station

One of our Christmas gifts this year was a home weather station from our VT and Washington DC kids. There are a lot of personal weather stations out there, but the Acu Rite 5-in-1 weather sensor is one of the easier to setup and gives you a lot of different readings...indoor & outdoor temps, wind speed, wind direction, humidity, rainfall, barometric pressure and even weather forecast for the next 12 to 24 hours.

Our weather station even came with a Smarthub to get you connected to the internet.  We are able to share our weather information with Wunderground the weather underground site. We will be able to keep track of our background weather even when we are traveling.

"The Fairways of Candler Hills" Holiday Party

The annual Fairway's neighborhood Holiday Party began with getting The Lodge ready for the get-together. 

The members of the planning committee and the decoration committee all came together to get the tables and banquet hall ready for the big seasonal event.

Frank gave a helping hand with setup.....

Sue and all of her holiday decorations added lots of spirit to the festivities.  

Sheila, our fearless leader, kept us all on track.

Carol, Susan, and Mary were three of our helping hands with the decorating and planning of the holiday party.

and the food lines begin......

Kitchen Backsplash- An Early Christmas Gift

The before picture of our kitchen.  Jan had wanted to add a tile backsplash to the kitchen for the last few years and finally made the difficult choice of which tile.

With the help of Brenda at Italian Tile Imports here in Ocala, we think we made the right choice. They sent Lanier, their best tile man, out to measure and ultimately lay the glass tile.

The final product!! We are very happy with the results. Thank you, Lanier, for a job well done!

"Motown in Motion" at Circle Square Cultural Center Ocala, FL

Another sold out performance Saturday night at the Circle Square Cultural Center just a golf cart ride away from our house in On Top of the World Communities, Ocala.

"Motown in Motion" manager just before the show....

Motown in Motion is a tribute to some of America's greatest music ever produced. Motown in Motion is a multi-talented ensemble that performs the music of Gladys Night & the Pips, Dion Warwick, The Platters, James Brown, Martha & The Vandellas and Micheal Jackson.

The grand finale had the audience dancing in the aisles... 

Florida Oranges Have Arrived...

Stella enjoying some FL sunshine

Foster thinks he can eat the whole thing!

While visiting the Fort Myer's area last month we ordered oranges from Sun Harvest Citrus for the Kids and ourselves. The ship date was sometime after Nov 13, so they are now starting to arrive. 

Thank Cameron for these last two photos and yes, some of the fruit does look a little green but still tasty.

Friends-giving at The Lodge in Candler Hills

One week before Thanksgiving The Lodge hosted a Friends-giving for the residence of Candler Hills in On Top of The World Communities in Ocala.

There was a great turn out and we all enjoyed delicious holiday dishes brought by our neighbors and ham and turkey furnished by The Lodge.

We all filled our plates way to high...

Our holiday table included Jerry & Shelia, Mark and Sharon, Jan and, of course, Ted, who is taking the pictures.

Sanibel Island Lighthouse

 The “Sanibel Island Light,” otherwise known as the “Sanibel Lighthouse” is located on the eastern end of the 12-mile long island. The idea to build the lighthouse was first proposed by some of the settlers of the island in 1833 when they petitioned for one to be built. However, no real action was taken until 1883 when they finally received the $50,000 they needed to fund the construction. The building of the lighthouse finally started in February of 1884. Although they faced complications along the way, in only a few short months the lighthouse was finally completed. It was first lit on August 20th, 1884 with kerosene oil. In order to get to the top of the lighthouse, the lighthouse keeper had to walk up an external spiral staircase.

The lighthouse had many keepers over the years but was officially automated 1949

The lighthouse was our last stop on our self-guided tour of Sanibel and Captiva, we headed back over the causeway to the Fort Myers Beach area.

Causeway to Fort Myers Beach in the distance...

J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island

Established in 1945, this wildlife refuge occupies one-third of Sanibel Island and is a prime spot for birdwatching. There is a $5 fee per car to take the wildlife drive.

The J.N. Darling National Wildlife Refuge is part of a larger complex that encompasses the Caloosahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, The Matlacha Pass National Wildlife Refuge, Pine Island National Wildlife Refuge, and Island Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The majority of the lands in these refugees are nesting and roosting islands. The entire complex is approximately 8,000 acres. 

Day Visiting Sanibel and Captiva Islands, FL

The road to Sanibel and Captiva islands is a tollway with a fee of $6/car.

Traveling the Sanibel Island causeway, which is a narrow palm-lined park and beach on a man-made island. You see people fishing, kayaking and enjoying the beach.

Beach on Captiva Island ...

We hit The Mucky Duck English Pub on Andy Rosse Lane, Captiva for a memorable lunch. What a great location right on the beach. 

Jan with or tour guides Doug and Patti ordering up our eats at The Mucky Duck.

Enjoyed a nice lunch outside overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. We all agreed we lucked out finding this great spot....

Patti and Doug on Captiva Beach

and Ted and Jan take a similar pose

a sign warning about the stingrays...