January 25, 2015. Gator Bait, Concert and Landscaping.

There is never a dull moment around here, even the quiet moments are never dull. Mind you, the quiet moments are few and far between. However, last week, Janet was a little quiet about where she was going and why she was going there. Normally, when she jingles her car keys, I am ready to hop in. On this occasion I did join her but was instructed to stay in the car when we reached our destination. It was a few hours later when we were pleasantly surprised to be appointed official crew of her vessel, Gator Bait and presented with hats bearing the name in embroidered hot pink letters. I hope we can get out on the water this week so that I can wear my Gator Bait hat while paddling.

          

     

Two hours full of entertaining moments were spent at a concert Saturday in Sarasota. A wonderful soprano, Mary Wilson, sang with the Key Chorale, Chamber Chorus and orchestra. Billed as The Courts if Heaven and Earth, we were treated to music by Handel and Mozart. It was a great way to spend a chilly Florida afternoon. By chilly I mean around 18 degrees Celsius.

        

     

Today's moments included a landscaping project which we worked on a couple of years ago. We helped Janet expand her patio by lifting, placing, replacing, cleaning and finally lounging on the 30 lb. patio blocks. Doesn't the patio look great?

       

    

January 19, 2015. The Ringling Museum of Art.

John Ringling made his fortune in the circus business as the principal owner of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Shows, which were known as The Greatest Show on Earth. 

Like many wealthy Americans at the turn of the 20th century, John and his wife Mable made annual trips to Europe, where John found new acts for the circus. Together with Mable, John began collecting art by Old Masters that were the beginnings of the extraordinary collection of art that today fills The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. As well as works by such artists as Rubens and Gainsborough, the Museum houses a collection of modern art. 

        

The gallery is huge, with each room decorated to suit the time period of the display. There were so many paintings to see, as well as beautiful artifacts such as a cameo collection and pieces of furniture to admire.

       

Outside, many statues, including a replica of David, adorn the museum's courtyard. In the Dwarf Garden we saw enormous Banyon trees and dwarf statues, perhaps representative  of circus performers.

                              

On Mondays admission to the gallery is free and so we chose the perfect time to go. Although there is much more to see than the Art Gallery, one would need more than a day to take it all in. The Ringling also includes a Circus Museum, the winter residence, the Asolo Theatre, an Education Centre and numerous Gardens. We will save all of that for another time.

January 6 to January 13, 2015. Venice, Florida.

Since this is the third year in a row that we have spent the month of January in Venice, I haven't been writing, thinking that whatever I say will be repetitious. However, the past week deserves a few words and a couple of pictures.

On Sunday we went paddling in Jan's sturdy vessel, Gator Bait. Coincidentally we went paddling up Alligator Creek where we saw lots of birds and fish but thankfully, no gators. The creek is quite narrow and shallow with lots of mangroves and nice looking homes along the water's edge. The bright sunshine enhanced a very pleasant afternoon.

                              

      

                           

                           

We have also played golf where there are alligators in plain sight. For the past couple of weeks there has been, what I think, is a mama gator sunning herself just off the green on the 11th hole. I say mama because just across the bridge from where she was sunning I counted eight baby gators. Needless to say, on the day she looked wide awake, we gave mama a wide berth and didn't concern ourselves with putting.

Other than that, we have played pool, taken long walks, short bike rides, and leisurely cups of coffee at the local coffee shop. Life is good.

December 16, 2014 to January 8, 2015 Auburn and Venice

It has been a busy holiday season for the McDonald, Richard, Strom, Willoughby gang in Auburn, Alabama. Michelle and I arrived on the 16th, Joanna and Lawrence drove from Toronto on Boxing Day and Jessica and Nolan had room for all in their beautiful new home. We had a lot of fun playing card games, sightseeing, walking dogs, going to yoga, going to basketball games, attending several parties and eating great food.

                          

One of the highlights was a road trip to the Whistle Stop district in Irondale, where we ate lunch at the restaurant that was the setting for Fannie Flagg's book and movie, Fried Green Tomatoes. It was a fun little cafe. We added Birmingham to the trip and toured the Civil Rights Museum where we learned a lot about the civil rights struggles that took place in and around Birmingham. 

                       

        

We left Auburn on January 5 and drove to Venice, Florida where we will stay with a good friend of ours until the end of the month. We always have a lot of fun here; playing golf, going for bike rides, long walks, concerts, exploring and just hanging out.

December 12 - December 15, 2014. Bedford, N.S. to Auburn, Alabama

  Driving through the Northeastern United States in winter is unpleasant at best with most of the unpleasantness coming from the unpredictable weather. On days one and two of this trip we encountered snow and rain which made the driving challenging. Another complaint I have is about the condition of the Interstate through Massachusetts and Connecticut. All that aside, we made it as far as Harrisburg, PA on day two. Listening to and singing along with Christmas music while driving helped pass the long hours on the road.

Fortunately on day three we drove in fair weather and on highways in good condition, ending up just outside Knoxville, Tennessee for the night. I always enjoy the scenery through Virginia. As I was admiring the rolling hills I noticed a lone Santa in a sleigh on an enormous green lawn; such an unusual site where one would normally see horses and cows.

         

Day four was a breeze. We left Knoxville, Tennessee and decided to avoid Atlanta by driving to Auburn on state highways instead of the interstate. It was very pleasant with the temperature rising as the morning wore on. By the time we reached Auburn it was around 18 degrees. It felt good to outside without a hat, gloves, heavy sweater and vest.

Monday & Tuesday, November 17-18, 2014. Homeward Bound.

There were many good byes said on Monday with our group of 10 women who spent the last 12 days together all heading off in different directions.  What a great group!

                           

Our songtaew arrived at noon to take us to the Chiang Mai Airport for our 2:50 departure. We traveled with Thai Airways to Bangkok and then transferred to Jet Airways and flew to Delhi, then Brussels and then Toronto. It was Air Canada from Toronto to Halifax.

Thai Airways was great. However, I cannot say the same for a Jet Airways. Jet is a low cost, Star Alliance carrier based in India. Leg room was limited,the flight attendants didn't smile and were rather abrupt and worst of all, many of the passengers were rude.

 A woman sitting behind me tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to put my seat upright when it was obvious that I was trying to sleep. I watched a man bully a young woman when she was trying to put her bag in the overhead bin. He admonished her, in a very rude tone for moving his bag. If that wasn't enough boarding and exiting was a zoo, a regular free for all. Very few people paid attention to the boarding announcements. Consequently, when the announcement was made for "those traveling with young children or needing assistance" most just pushed ahead. When trying to exit people literally pushed past us as we were getting our carry ons out of the overhead bins.

Needless to say, I will do my best to avoid Jet Airways in the future. 

In spite of the long flights and airport waits; about 40 hours in total, we survived. Quite frankly, I can't wait to get moving again. I so enjoy being retired and on the road.

Sunday, November 16, 2014. Thai Cooking School.

After breakfast we boarded a songtaew and along with chef Sammy, stopped at a market. At the market Sammy showed us the various kinds of rice grown in Thailand and also took us to a booth to see how coconut milk was made from fresh coconuts. From a list we chose the foods we would like to cook and while we roamed the market, Sammy's Organic Cooking School staff gathered up the few needed items that did not grow on Sammy's farm.

    

At the farm we we were introduced to various fresh herbs and spices. We learned about all the fresh ingredients that go into Thai food, such as lemon grass, sweet basil, garlic, ginger, and coconut milk, to name a few.

After doning our aprons, our cooking lesson began with using a mortar and pestle to make curry sauce. We chopped, diced, sliced and ground and pounded. We were then led over to our individual cooking areas where we proceeded to make the first dish of our five course meal. I made hot vegetable soup, green curry, pad Thai, mango salad and banana in coconut milk. All were delicious and such fun to make. 

      

   

In between our first few courses and desert we took a break and relaxed out by the garden. Some of us rested in hammocks while others chose to relax on lounge chairs. Swinging in a hammock while watching rice plants sway in the breeze and listening to birds fly overhead is a great way to relax.

We left Sammy's with very full stomachs and a copy of his cookbook. A cruise on the River Ping in the evening rounded out our day. 

Tomorrow we part company with a wonderful group of women and start the long flights back home.