Photo taken on a recent trip to South Florida
Friday, July 13, 2007
Always Breezy
Dania Beach, where I spent most afternoons as a young'un.
Photo taken on a recent trip to South Florida
Photo taken on a recent trip to South Florida
Thursday, July 12, 2007
No Free Ride
When I was a girl, all the carousels had ring arm and you could lean out and try to grab the brass ring each time the carousel went around. If you were successful and got the brass, you were awarded another carousel ride for free. Of course, your horse had to be at exactly the correct height at the right time and place and there were several silver colored rings and only one brass one so it was a matter of luck and skill to grab the golden or "brass ring."
I haven't seen a ring arm on a carousel in years. I wonder why they stopped offering the brass ring? Probably something to do with insurance liability.
No brass ring on the old carousel in St. Augustine, Florida.
I haven't seen a ring arm on a carousel in years. I wonder why they stopped offering the brass ring? Probably something to do with insurance liability.
No brass ring on the old carousel in St. Augustine, Florida.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Move Over, Mothra
As giant crabs attack...
... Kaitlin is whisked away to safety in Yokosuka via Japan's very clean and proficient public transportation system.
... Kaitlin is whisked away to safety in Yokosuka via Japan's very clean and proficient public transportation system.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Boing!
Pink Lily popped up in my yard overnight.
click to enlarge
Must have been planted by the birds.
click to enlarge
Must have been planted by the birds.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Celebrate!
Happy Birthday, Cracker Doodle!
Hope Japan is treating you well today and that they have sparklers there. And yes, I know the picture below is 4 years old. Send us a new one, please.
More of your previous birthday pix are here.
Happy 23rd!
Love,
Momsie ~
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Grand Opening
Hi, Hunnies, I'm home. I know it's been a while but I have been on the road and/or having way too much fun to blog.
During my travels last week, I saw this scrawled in white paint on the rear window of a Nissan in South Carolina:
Justin and Melissa
Just Married
GRAND OPENING!
Made me laugh.
They were very young so yes indeed, it may have been the Grand Opening.
Here's what I am drinking tonight out of one of my infamous blue balls martini glasses. It's Raspberry Sparkletini and Grape Vodka, half and half, very cold, garnished with a cherry.
Yep, I call it Blue Balls with a Cherry on top.
A hearty welcome to all you blue balls and cherry searchers.
During my travels last week, I saw this scrawled in white paint on the rear window of a Nissan in South Carolina:
Justin and Melissa
Just Married
GRAND OPENING!
Made me laugh.
They were very young so yes indeed, it may have been the Grand Opening.
Here's what I am drinking tonight out of one of my infamous blue balls martini glasses. It's Raspberry Sparkletini and Grape Vodka, half and half, very cold, garnished with a cherry.
Yep, I call it Blue Balls with a Cherry on top.
A hearty welcome to all you blue balls and cherry searchers.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Anata no koto wo kangaeteiru
Daughter Kaitlin and her roomie Kim have been assigned to Negishi, a smaller base about 18 miles from Yokosuka. She started teaching swimming today and I believe this is a pic of the pool. She thinks she will be in Negishi through July and them have other assignments in August and September. They put her up in the Bachelors Officer's Quarters (BOQ). Kaitlin is very pleased that she has good digs and maid service.
She has seen her first Japanese ladies wearing kimono and eaten her first real Japanese foods. She told me "I love you," in Japanese. I think I detected just a trace of homesickness in her voice. Still no internet but she and Kim are having that set up on Wednesday. I can't wait to email her and see photos.
"Anata no koto wo kangaeteiru" means "I'm thinking of you."
Love, Momsie
She has seen her first Japanese ladies wearing kimono and eaten her first real Japanese foods. She told me "I love you," in Japanese. I think I detected just a trace of homesickness in her voice. Still no internet but she and Kim are having that set up on Wednesday. I can't wait to email her and see photos.
"Anata no koto wo kangaeteiru" means "I'm thinking of you."
Love, Momsie
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Monday, June 11, 2007
Flip Flops
It's 95 degrees.
I hate summer.
Most of the year, flip flops are my shoe of choice. I have platform ones, high heeled ones, gold, silver, decorated, plain, every color, every style. These were downright pricey at $2.84. Gotta love 'em!
I hate summer.
Most of the year, flip flops are my shoe of choice. I have platform ones, high heeled ones, gold, silver, decorated, plain, every color, every style. These were downright pricey at $2.84. Gotta love 'em!
Friday, June 08, 2007
Sayonara
It's been a while. Been busy running up and down the east coast of Florida for the last month in between various, sundry and expensive dental tortures. Beach pix from the length of the coast may follow if I make time. But important news first - at 5:15 this morning, we sent the kidlet through the X-ray machine to a plane bound for Japan for four months. Who says being a professional lifeguard doesn't have its perks?
First darlin' daughter flew to Atlanta from JAX (Jacksonville, Florida) and then she hopped a Boeing 777 to Narita airport serving Tokyo, Japan. You can track her here for about the next 6 or 7 hours.
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL55
Click to view large
As I type, She's flying over the Bering Sea and in Alaska Terroritirial waters. I hope she looks for the crab boats featured in Deadliest Catch since that is one of Kaitlin's and my favorite TV programs. (You think she can see them from 36,000 feet?) Upon arrival, she'll take the bullet train to the Navy Command Center Base at Yokasuka, about 40 miles south of Tokyo and have three bases in Japan where she will lifeguard, teach swimming and water safety.
Our daughter comes from a long line of lifeguards: her father and I were both lifeguards as was her aunt and her grandfather. She knows a peach of a job when she finds it.
I will admit that I cried just like I left her off at kindergarten when we watched her plane take off this morning.
Kaitlin will be in Japan until October. She'll celebrate her birthday there on July 4th. I miss her already.
Well, off to watch the shuttle light up the sky here in North Florida.
Godspeed Kaitlin and Atlantis.
.
First darlin' daughter flew to Atlanta from JAX (Jacksonville, Florida) and then she hopped a Boeing 777 to Narita airport serving Tokyo, Japan. You can track her here for about the next 6 or 7 hours.
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL55
Click to view large
As I type, She's flying over the Bering Sea and in Alaska Terroritirial waters. I hope she looks for the crab boats featured in Deadliest Catch since that is one of Kaitlin's and my favorite TV programs. (You think she can see them from 36,000 feet?) Upon arrival, she'll take the bullet train to the Navy Command Center Base at Yokasuka, about 40 miles south of Tokyo and have three bases in Japan where she will lifeguard, teach swimming and water safety.
Our daughter comes from a long line of lifeguards: her father and I were both lifeguards as was her aunt and her grandfather. She knows a peach of a job when she finds it.
I will admit that I cried just like I left her off at kindergarten when we watched her plane take off this morning.
Kaitlin will be in Japan until October. She'll celebrate her birthday there on July 4th. I miss her already.
Well, off to watch the shuttle light up the sky here in North Florida.
Godspeed Kaitlin and Atlantis.
.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Honoring the Brave
Long time, no type.
I've been off doing dental drugs and traveling between torture sessions. Haven't had the time nor inclination to blog but will try to remedy that sooner or later.
In the meantime, it is Memorial Day. It was my family's custom to go picnic at the cemetery on Memorial Day and on Labor Day. Those were the days at the beginning and the end of summer when you cleaned the family headstones, planted flowers and had a sort of mini family reunion and dinner al fresco among the dearly departed. But, that's not my subject today.
I was going through a box of my keepsakes and found my POW bracelets from the Viet Nam war. I could fib and say these aren't mine but I bought them both in the early 70's before we were married, one for W4D and one for me. We wore them for many years, never knowing what happened to the young men who's names were engraved on our bracelets.
I can remember the day I bought these 35 years ago (if not the actual date) as clearly as can be, from a table in front of a store in a neighborhood open air mall in Tampa. The table was decorated with red white and blue bunting and many bracelets were laid out in lines. Three ladies sat at the table and took donations and answered questions. I selected PFC Paul Hasenbeck (MIA 4-21-67) and S2B W4D selected Master Sergeant Marshall Kipina (MIA 7-14-66).
Yesterday, I looked up the service records of PFC Paul Alfred. Hasenbeck from Freeburg, Missouri who was born May 11, 1947. I also researched. M/SGT Marshall Frederick Kipina, born Dec. 14, 1944, who was born in Augusta Maine and hailed at the time, from Calumet Michigan.
PFC Hasenbeck was lost on a sampan in South Viet Nam in April of 1967. You can read more about Hasenbeck here.
M/SGT Kipina was a member of the 131st Aviation Co., a group known as the "Nighthawks." Kipina was an observer and sensor operator in a surveillance plane that went out at night to photogrpah the Ho Chi Min Trail and track enemy activity. He and the pilot (Captain Robert Nopp) were shot down in Laos in July of 1966. There has been a possible photo ID of Kipina some years after the plane went down and some believe he survived the crash to become a POW. You can read more about him here.
Neither body was ever recovered.
Today, I honor them both as well as all the military men and women who have given their lives for our country and the cause of freedom.
I've been off doing dental drugs and traveling between torture sessions. Haven't had the time nor inclination to blog but will try to remedy that sooner or later.
In the meantime, it is Memorial Day. It was my family's custom to go picnic at the cemetery on Memorial Day and on Labor Day. Those were the days at the beginning and the end of summer when you cleaned the family headstones, planted flowers and had a sort of mini family reunion and dinner al fresco among the dearly departed. But, that's not my subject today.
I was going through a box of my keepsakes and found my POW bracelets from the Viet Nam war. I could fib and say these aren't mine but I bought them both in the early 70's before we were married, one for W4D and one for me. We wore them for many years, never knowing what happened to the young men who's names were engraved on our bracelets.
I can remember the day I bought these 35 years ago (if not the actual date) as clearly as can be, from a table in front of a store in a neighborhood open air mall in Tampa. The table was decorated with red white and blue bunting and many bracelets were laid out in lines. Three ladies sat at the table and took donations and answered questions. I selected PFC Paul Hasenbeck (MIA 4-21-67) and S2B W4D selected Master Sergeant Marshall Kipina (MIA 7-14-66).
Yesterday, I looked up the service records of PFC Paul Alfred. Hasenbeck from Freeburg, Missouri who was born May 11, 1947. I also researched. M/SGT Marshall Frederick Kipina, born Dec. 14, 1944, who was born in Augusta Maine and hailed at the time, from Calumet Michigan.
PFC Hasenbeck was lost on a sampan in South Viet Nam in April of 1967. You can read more about Hasenbeck here.
M/SGT Kipina was a member of the 131st Aviation Co., a group known as the "Nighthawks." Kipina was an observer and sensor operator in a surveillance plane that went out at night to photogrpah the Ho Chi Min Trail and track enemy activity. He and the pilot (Captain Robert Nopp) were shot down in Laos in July of 1966. There has been a possible photo ID of Kipina some years after the plane went down and some believe he survived the crash to become a POW. You can read more about him here.
Neither body was ever recovered.
Today, I honor them both as well as all the military men and women who have given their lives for our country and the cause of freedom.
Friday, May 04, 2007
Run for the Roses Saturday
Kentucky Bourbon -- check.
Simple Syrup -- freshly steeped and chilled
Fresh Mint -- potted and on the sundeck ready to smoosh and sniff.
Julep Cups -- washed and polished
Roses on the table -- check
Tomorrow on Derby Day, we'll drink to the memory of Barbaro and all who fought so hard to save that magnificent horse.
I hope the Queen wears a lovely hat.
Okay, who is gonna invite us over for the race?
I'll bring the julep fixin's and the cheese straws.
Simple Syrup -- freshly steeped and chilled
Fresh Mint -- potted and on the sundeck ready to smoosh and sniff.
Julep Cups -- washed and polished
Roses on the table -- check
Tomorrow on Derby Day, we'll drink to the memory of Barbaro and all who fought so hard to save that magnificent horse.
I hope the Queen wears a lovely hat.
Okay, who is gonna invite us over for the race?
I'll bring the julep fixin's and the cheese straws.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Shucks
It didn't go well at the dentist, nor later at the endodontist. I will be getting anesthesia from the oral surgeon next week. This weekend, I am going back to a little cottage on the beach until Thursday when the surgeon does his thing.
Since I can't think of anything but dental tortures, here's some more pictures of St. Augustine. This is the view looking south from the outside of the Fountain of Youth, which is really a spring a couple of hundred yards from the Bay.
Same spot but looking north. These live oaks are only about 100 years old. That gray shaggy stuff in the trees is Spanish Moss. The tabby (oyster) wall sourrounds the Fountain tourist attraction.
The wall is taller than I and I could hear peacocks screaming inside. Peacocks are beautiful but they are mean.
I wonder how long it would take W4D and I to eat enough oysters to make a tabby wall? I guess we would eat about 6 or 8 dozen a day, every day. At that rate, it would take us about a year to make each section if we could eat them year 'round, which would be impractical and unhealthy. One doesn't eat fresh local oysters in the summer time.
Instead of a wall of oyster shells, I am going to make walkway and garden borders in my yard out of wine bottles. That will surely add to the value of our house and delight our neighbors.
Since I can't think of anything but dental tortures, here's some more pictures of St. Augustine. This is the view looking south from the outside of the Fountain of Youth, which is really a spring a couple of hundred yards from the Bay.
Same spot but looking north. These live oaks are only about 100 years old. That gray shaggy stuff in the trees is Spanish Moss. The tabby (oyster) wall sourrounds the Fountain tourist attraction.
The wall is taller than I and I could hear peacocks screaming inside. Peacocks are beautiful but they are mean.
I wonder how long it would take W4D and I to eat enough oysters to make a tabby wall? I guess we would eat about 6 or 8 dozen a day, every day. At that rate, it would take us about a year to make each section if we could eat them year 'round, which would be impractical and unhealthy. One doesn't eat fresh local oysters in the summer time.
Instead of a wall of oyster shells, I am going to make walkway and garden borders in my yard out of wine bottles. That will surely add to the value of our house and delight our neighbors.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
