About Time to Update!!!

We have been staying busy over the last several months. My 98 year old aunt has had some physical issues which have meant weekly or twice weekly visits to the doctor. None of the issues have been serious, but she wants to go to the doctor for anything, no matter how minor.

We have also been riding our bikes on a regular basis. We have put over 500 miles on them since we got them the beginning of June. This past week, we've been putting the bikes up on the car and driving south to Venice to bike a "Rails to Trails" trail. It's an abandoned CSX railroad line and is now a wonderful bike trail. There is also a trail along the Venice Waterway which is beautiful. It is so nice to bike along the trail and not have to worry about traffic! We've been riding quite a bit around home also. We have a new nature preserve about 1-1/2 miles from our home that is wonderful to bike through. In the preserve is a 56 foot tall tower that overlooks the preserve and adjacent waterways. It is wonderful to climb up to the top (81 stairs which I'm now able to climb thanks to my new knees) and watch fish jumping and birds feeding.

We were out on our patio the other day and a bird flew over us. It was large and I was pretty sure it was a bald eagle. It landed on the bank of the pond immediately behind the house and we looked and sure enough it was a bald eagle! We wanted to get a picture but of course it flew away before we could. It was majestic! We've also had many ospreys fly over and several times have seen them with fish in their talons. One of the things we love about living where we do is the wildlife we see.

Above I mentioned biking in Venice. One of the parks along the bikeway is Caspersen Beach Park. Yesterday as we were biking across a bridge heading out to the gulf, we saw a bobcat not more than 10 feet away sharing the bridge with us! Unfortunately, neither of us had a camera with us,

Back to Normal

We're finally getting back to normal. Although we didn't take a direct hit from tropical storm Fay, we've had winds all week. Yesterday, we had the first and only rain from the storm - about 2.5", which when you think of what others got, was nothing.

Aunti Vi had cataract surgery 3 weeks ago and Thursday got her new glasses. The doctor was hoping the surgery would correct her eyesight to 20/40 or 20/60. With her new glasses, she is now seeing 20/20!!

Yesterday, Sarah and I went to an all day scrapbook crop party in Tampa. It was fun to sit with 900+ other ladies and crop. We got there about 10AM and left at 6PM. I was able to get 10 pages done and ideas/plans for several others.

Because of the strong winds and possibility of storms, we've only been out twice this week biking for a total of about 15 miles. Tonight we headed out to the beach which is my favorite ride. As we were going over the bridge from the mainland to Perico Key (there are a total of 3 bridges between the mainland and Anna Maria Island), we looked out and there were dolphins feeding in Palma Sola Bay. We aren't sure how many there were, but we saw at least 6. They are so beautiful and graceful! We stayed on the bridge for several minutes just watching them before resuming our ride out to Anna Maria Island.

This week again is relatively quiet which is welcome and gives me a chance to prep for Bible study which starts September 11th. I also hope to get some more scrapbooking pages done.

Fay update

We have had no impact from tropical storm Fay at all - just some wind - not even enough to mention. Dan took the window boards down this morning and we're putting the patio furniture and umbrellas back outside. The storm took very much the same path as hurricane Charlie did in 2004 - came in on the southwest coast and headed straight up the spine of the state. Relatives in Sanford are getting pounded the same as they did with Charlie in 2004.

On another note, this week is relatively quiet - taking Aunti Vi shopping on Wednesday is the only thing on the schedule.

Fay, Fay Go Away

We are under a hurricane warning. However, from the looks of the track and radar, we should get off with just rain and some wind (<40 MPH). Last night it looked like we were going to be on the "bad" side (the northeast quadrant) but the path has changed and now it looks like we'll be on the lighter side (western quadrants). However, we are as ready as we can be - Dan put gas and oil in the generator so we will have backup power if the power goes out. It's not a whole house generator so we'll be without air conditioning if the power goes out. But it will keep the refrigerator and freezer running. It will also support some lights, a TV and fans. Dan also boarded up the windows just in case in gets windier than they're forecasting. We have plenty of nonperishable food, bottled water, paper plates and disposable silverware. We've also brought much of the patio furniture in so it doesn't blow around. Both cars have full tanks of gas in case we need to evacuate (which isn't likely for this storm). Our house is concrete block, so it's solid. Now it's just a waiting game.

A Wonderful Weekend

Last week was a relatively normal week. Monday and Tuesday were quiet. We went bike riding and did some much needed grocery shopping. Wednesday we stopped and picked up groceries for Aunti Vi as she didn't want to go out in the heat. Thursday was the next to last Bible study for this session. We finish Thursday and then will take a break until September 11th. Friday was another relatively quiet day.

As alluded to in the title, the weekend was wonderful. Saturday Eric and Sarah and his sister, her husband and their 5 children came over for a pool party. They are home on furlough from Grenoble, France (they're out under GEM). The children range in age from 13 down to 5 and all are "water rats." When they arrived, their eyes opened wide and they turned to their parents and said "they have a BIG pool. Can we go get our swimsuits on?" It was so cute (the pool isn't all that big but to them it was). They proceeded to play in the pool for about 2 hours. We finally got them in the house about 7:00. Dan grilled steaks and chicken for dinner and we also had corn on the cob and potato salad. The finish for the evening was "do-it-yourself ice cream sundaes." A good time was had by all!

Today we got up and went to the early service (Bethel has 2 services - the 8:15 service is traditional and the 10:45 service is contemporary - we prefer the early service). After the service, we went to Sunday School, then came home and collapsed! After waking up, we headed out on our bikes. We've been wanting to do a long ride, but figured it would have to wait until the fall when the temps cooled down. We left, started biking and 1 hour and 25 minutes later we had put 17.25 miles on our bikes. When we got home, we "fell" into the pool and enjoyed cooling down! Our next goal is 20 miles.

This week is scheduled to be a quiet week - shopping on Wednesday and Bible study on Thursday are the only things on our calendar this week. We're hoping to get in more biking also. We are both enjoying biking again and look forward to getting out and exploring.

Where has the month gone?

It doesn't seem possible that July is almost gone - 1 day left. It seems like just last week was July 4th and our anniversary.

July 3rd Bible study started. There has never been a summer Bible study at Bethel before, so I didn't know what to expect. When the spring study ended in March, the ladies all said they didn't want to wait until September to have another study. However, I knew I needed to take some time after surgery (March 24th) for rehab and healing. We prayed for the Lord's leading in this matter and His leading was to do a summer study. We also prayed asking for leading in what study to do. The Lord definitively led us to Beth Moore's "When Godly People Do Ungodly Things." I then prayed that the Lord would put the ladies He wanted in the study. I had very low expectations as far as numbers went since it is summer. However, the Lord had other things planned. There are 14 ladies in the morning session and 12 in the evening session. I figured considering normal attrition of 50%, after the first couple weeks, there might be 6 ladies in the morning and maybe 6 in the evening. Again the Lord had other things in mind. There have been absolutely no drop outs! I am humbled and thankful. I enjoy leading the studies and the ladies keep me challenged with their questions. I love research and generally I wind up with at least one or two questions that need more biblical research after each session. It's hard to believe that there are only 3 weeks left.

Something else that has been keeping us busy is running to the doctor with my 97 year old aunt. She is developing aches and pains that are normal for her age, but since she's never had aches and pains she wants to go to the doctor each time something new comes up. We have been to the doctor's at least once each week since the beginning of June (he has found nothing wrong). Besides the visits to the medical doctor have come visits to the ophthalmologist for cataract surgery. She had her right eye done 4 years ago and has procrastinated getting her left eye done. She finally made the decision in June to have it done. So since July 14th, we have been at the eye doctor's each week. She had the surgery July 22nd. She stayed with us for 2 days following surgery to be sure everything was healing the way it was supposed to (which it did). She had an appointment today for her 1 week post op visit and the doctor was very pleased. She has one more appointment to get new glasses the middle of August. Hopefully we won't be running to the doctor's quite as frequently now.

We are also trying to get out and ride our bikes every day or every other day. We have biked over 200 miles since we got our new bikes June 2nd. Our longest ride so far is 14.5 miles. We are routinely biking 10-11 miles. Our average speed has increased from 9 MPH to 12 MPH. We have many bike routes that we enjoy. My favorite is biking out to the beach which is about 6 miles each way. The route takes us along the edge of Palma Sola Bay and it's interesting to see the different birds that inhabit the shore. We routinely see great blue herons, brown pelicans, egrets, ospreys, roseate spoonbills.

Well, I'll close as this post is long enough.

Wa-Hoo!!

Today we biked 12.5 miles! We have been trying to get past the 10-11 mile threshhold for several weeks. Today we did it! We biked down along the eastern edge of Palma Sola Bay which was just beautiful. There are many beautiful homes along the shore and looking out over the bay with the accompanying wildlife was just fantastic. The road along the bay is lightly traveled and the pavement is smooth for biking. Our next milestone will be 15 miles.

Tomorrow night we're supposed to do the same ride with friends. That will also be a milestone - biking 12+ miles 2 days in a row! However, the weather is supposed to be dicey at best, so we'll see if we can get the ride in.