December 10, 2013

Another beautiful sunset this evening! As picturesque as that looks, the following picture better represents what I've been doing with my life lately:

Louie and I have been watching our way through The Office on Netflix! It's been a lot of fun. :-)

Our Visit to Paradise

Hidden Paradise, that is! Over the July 4th weekend, Louie & I went up to Ainsworth to visit Louie's brother & sister-in-law (and their cute baby, Blake). We visited Smith Falls, went tubing down Pine Creek, and just generally enjoyed the scenery of north-central Nebraska. Unfortunately, I didn't take very many pictures...

I didn't have my zoom lens with me, so this was my photo of Smith Falls:

Luckily, I got a better shot with my iPhone:

This is Brutus. He likes to snuggle.

Anyway, we had a great time and hope to go back either later this summer or next summer to go tubing down the Niobrara. And now for some random photos from around the farm:

Griffin is one of the most ridiculous creatures I've ever met:

(Poor Man's Strawberry Shortcake, gratuitous amounts of whipped cream not yet added)

That's all for now! :-)

December 28 & 29

On Friday we took a boat tour around Lemon Bay. It was a little chilly and overcast, but we learned a lot about the area and got to see many different birds, as well as several dolphins. Unfortunately, they weren't trained to pose for pictures! ;)

Last night it poured, but we still managed to have a good time! We went to a restaurant called Sharky's on the Pier in Venice, which has great food and a nice view of the ocean. Today we drove down to Gasparilla Island and saw the lighthouse at Port Boca Grande.

Somebody made a nifty sandcastle on the beach near the lighthouse:

When we got back to the condo, we went over to the beach and Louie played in the ocean.

Then we drove up the key a little further to watch the sunset.

Finally, here's a video from the other day...the waves are so peaceful!

December 26 & 27

So,  I decided I'd like to finish out the month. I mean, why not? :-)

Last night we went with my parents to see The Hobbit movie. It was great! I still haven't finished reading the book yet (re-reading, I should say... I read it many years ago but have forgotten most of it!). I've got about 40 books on my Kindle Paperwhite; it's wonderful to have the selection without the weight in my backpack. :)

On the 26th we drove down to Papa's condo on Manasota Key. Louie and I have the place to ourselves for the next few days! Today (the 27th) we went to a nearby park called Cedar Point.

It had lots of nice walking trails. I fiddled with the coloring in the photo above... (I'm trying to see what curve adjustments result in a "yellowy" effect) This is what it really looked like:

Later we drove up the key to check out the beaches. Unfortunately there are some red tide problems at the beaches around here... the algae release toxins into the water which kills some of the fish, and also gets carried into the air by the sea spray. It's known to cause respiratory problems, so we've been coughing a bit when we go outside...it's just a tickle in your throat though, nothing too bad. Here's Louie by the ocean.

Later we ate at the Gulf View Grill, which was quite yummy and had a nice view of the water. Then we went across the street and watched the sunset:

December 2

Here's Daisy taking a Sunday afternoon corgi-nap!

Also, the sunset this evening was excellent: