Snowbird Fun

It's been 6+ weeks since we arrived here at our home in the sunny south. Overall impressions are good ones, and I haven't once regretted taking the plunge on buying this place. I am a bit surprised that I've worn long sleeves and sweatshirts far more frequently than expected, but still the weather here is better than back home. Below shows a particularly perfect day.

Since my sewing consists of continuing to make 9-patches out of my 1.5-inch scraps, I thought I'd take a day to show some snow birding highlights. Getting out and being active has been top priority.

Three days a week we play shuffleboard. This facility in Inverness has 10 courts/lanes (I do not know proper terminology) and the gang that shows up generally fills 6-8 of them. Prior to last winter, I'd never played, but have learned the basics and can do pretty well - most days, that is. It is definitely a fun time whether I play well or not.

I've gone out once; Kevin's gone out 2 or 3 times, on this boat. It belongs to friends and a cousin all living here in this neighborhood. The day I went out was cloudy as you can see, but any time on the water is so very peaceful. Here are a few more pictures from that afternoon on the lake.

We cut the engine and pulled up slowly to the shore; those two black "logs" are actually alligators. We waited super quietly for awhile and eventually they moved.

I tried to take an artistic picture of a perfect leaf in the water, and these two pictures are the result of my effort. I liked the contrast of the colorful leaf against the dark water, but in the picture, I also picked up the reflection of the clouds, so that added to the moodiness of the surroundings.

On a different day, DH went out fishing with the fellas; he captured this gloriously beautiful sunrise.

Besides shuffleboard, we take lots of walks and frequent bike rides. All in our gang have recumbent bikes, and getting out on the Withlacoochee Trail (very near our neighborhood) makes for perfect riding conditions.

Evenings often find us playing cards at someone's house or here, or playing Marbles - see the game board below. It was hard to learn all the rules for the game, but we've played it often enough now that we are beginning to get the hang of all the strategizing involved.

We've taken advantage of the abundant fresh fruit, and bonus of bonuses - there's a farm stand just a few miles down the road! We've enjoyed oranges, grapefruit, and strawberries.

This weekend marks the first anniversary of the purchase of our little house in Florida. We celebrated by going out to our favorite Mexican restaurant in Inverness, Los Magueyes. Yum-O!

I've now brought you up to date on the snow-bird happenings here. I will update you on the 9-patch situation in my next post. We are now taking off for an explore of the swampy areas over toward the gulf coast.

Happy Quilting, Friends!