Apparently I am overloaded with common sense.

For two days I was scared, apprehensive, worried, uneasy. and fearful.

Why?

On the flip side, Richard was not. Hmmmm. Interesting.

These are some of the warnings that were posted.

With our beach house being super close to the water I was worried. Strong winds, possible tornados, flooding. Yes. I was scared.

So what did I do?

I prepared. Followed my old Girl Guide motto. Be Prepared.

Charged all electronic devices.

Packed a travel bag with essentials: change of clothes, medications, toothbrush and paste, laptop, battery pack, and this may seem bizarre to you buy I also packed my hair straightener. Oh sweet vanity. Packed important papers, passports, and money in my purse. Placed my clothes and sneakers close to the bed for sudden dressing in the middle of the night.

Being use to snow storms at home I got out the flashlights and placed them in strategic places: bedside table, bathroom, kitchen.

We had lots of food and water so no worries there.

I even researched what to do in the house if there was a tornado. Only room with no windows was a bathroom. I read you should get in the bathtub, put pillows and blankets over you and keep your head down.

Thankfully we didn’t have to do any of the above.

Our area had lots of wind and rain but that was it. Whew. Thankful.

I was saddened this morning to see pictures of Panama City, Florida. It got hit with a tornado. It’s makes it hard to feel grateful for not getting hit when you see pictures from a place that did.

Today’s weather post.

Now on a different note.

This morning, since everything was all clear, we went to Foley’s Annual Snowbird Coffee 2024. (Foley is about 35 min. away from us.). Remember our misadventure last week going to a snowbird’s coffee meeting. No problem with that today.

It was interesting. We got welcome bags filled with coupons, information brochures, pens, notepads, hot chocolate packets, etc. The usual items. They also had special draws but we didn’t stay.

This was my favourite freebie.

What could that be? An address book for emergency numbers? A note book? Hmmmm

Voila!

Love it. Will be so useful in my voice studio. I’m always reaching for sticky notes. Love how it’s so compact and so organized. Yay.

Oh. And I had my first Krispy Kreme doughnut. Nothing to write home about. Won’t bother ever having another one

Now lately I’ve been feeling old. I turn 70 this month. Ugh. I hate to think about that number let alone say it or write it down. But being there this morning lifted my dark cloud. Not completely but certainly substantially. I didn’t feel as old. I have no idea their ages. I’m not good at guessing ages. They could have been older, younger, or the same age as me. But it seemed, at least to me, that they exuded an aura of aged tiredness. I’m not trying to be mean or toot my own horn. It was just how I felt. Ha. Maybe they felt the same way about me. Who knows.

When It Comes My Turn – David Myles

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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Sometimes a crazy idea can make something special.

Cory Barlog

Sitting on the deck
Enveloped by sun and surf.
Tea is delicious 

How do you like to drink your tea or coffee? China cup? Pottery mug? Insulated refillable cup?

Not me today.

Although I drink tea in all of the above, that’s not what I’m using today.

Mine is in a Tim Hortons cup. Yes you read correctly.

But not in a refillable one.

Oh no.

One of their paper cups.

Oh yes I am. Crazy, right?

Well certainly bizarre.

When I was home at Christmas I saved some of the Tim’s cups (James bought me at least one steeped tea every morning) and I took some of the empty cups back with me.

Now I know you think I’m weird.

But hey.

Think of it this way.

I’m saving those cups from going into PEI’s compost and waste. Aren’t I helpful?

Making my tea I put a very generous amount of almond milk in the cup, plus two tea bags then boiling water. Ahhhh.

Makes me feel like I’m having a treat. Something special. Almost like a latte.

How crazy is that.

You may be right. I may be crazy.

But absolutely delightful sitting on the deck savouring my cup of tea.

Almost tastes like a latte with the almond milk with the added bonus of having a little taste of home.

You May Be Right – Billy Joel

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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Last week Richard saw an ad for a meeting of the Gulf Shores Snowbirds Club at The Wharf. It was advertised in the free community paper, The Mullet Wrapper which is published every two weeks and includes tons of information for snowbirds.

https://mulletwrapper.net/

We were especially excited to attend as the ad said it has members from three Canadian provinces. There are lots of state snowbird clubs here in Gulf Shores but no Canadian ones so this club really interested us.

So today off we went.

Off to see the Wizard.

Oops. Nope.

Off to see The Wharf.

https://alwharf.com/

First we went to breakfast at The Southern Grind Coffee House.

https://thesoutherngrind.com/about-us/

It was ok. My veggie quiche was barely warm. I like my food HOT. But my Chai Latte was tasty. Richard’s oatmeal was good but his coffee awful. Can’t win ‘em all.

Ooo. Excited to now try out the club.

While walking there a gentleman stopped and asked us a question about how to get to the second level. During our conversation it came up that we were from Canada. His response? “I love Canadians. Do you know…?” OMG. We sure had a laugh afterwards. I’m sure this has happened to many of you. Comment and tell me your stories.

The G.S. Snowbird club was meeting at Ginny Lane Bar and Grill .

http://ginnylanebargrill.com/

Inside the entrance two men were sitting at a table and asked us to pay $2.00 for coffee. I gave them two dollars and mentioned I don’t drink coffee. He quickly countered “Women aren’t allowed.” Hahaha. I laughed. I thought he was joking. Again he said, “Women aren’t allowed.” Whoa. What? He was serious. I couldn’t believe it. Threw me for such a loop I couldn’t even think of a come back. Probably good I didn’t.

After we left we discussed the ad and neither one of us remembered it stating Women not allowed.

Here’s the ad. Can you find that qualifier?

Unbelievable. But ladies remember this.

The rest of the day was much better. Gym. Yoga. Starbucks.

And shopping at Tanger Outlet Mall.

I had such fun shopping for baby clothes. Spent an hour in OshKosh/Carters. Loved it.

Late lunch or early supper what ever you want to call it at Baumhowers

https://www.baumhowers.com/about-us

Food was delicious although there was quite a mixup in getting it. The waitress brought one burger and fries to the table and obviously our faces showed surprise. She though we had ordered one between us. Nope. Doesn’t know us, does she? Like we’d be sharing a burger. Not in this lifetime. So I ate mine while Richard ate my fries. Then 30 minutes later his arrived and he got to eat his burger and me his fries. It worked.

Home again home again jiggety jig.

I’m Every Woman – Whitney Houston

Take care and stay healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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Celebrating the first day of a new year. Seemed so decadent.

It was only 13C but if you look closely you’ll see there were people in the water. What a difference being on the Gulf of Mexico makes. Sun is stronger. Sat on the deck most of the morning and boy was I sweating. And I don’t usually sweat.

What a lovely day. I try to enjoy every minute as no one ever knows what the future holds.

Lovely Day – Bill Withers

Take care and stay healthy.

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Six forty seven

The sun ascends from the ashes

A new year emerging

This Will Be Our Year – The Zombies

Take care and stay healthy.

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Sunday was a very long day of traveling. Up at 5 am, four airports, and finally home at 1:00am. I’m so thankful to Richard for driving me and James coming to get me.

Happy to be home for the holidays. My poor grandson has been under the weather but hopefully I’ll see him soon.

I love Christmas. Family. Memories. Traditions: Christmas baking, homemade Nuts and Bolts, special treats like Pot of Gold, After Eight, Toffifee and more, the decorations, the love put into choosing the gifts, Christmas Eve movies, Christmas breakfast, and Christmas dinner. Yes. Lots of work but also lots of joy. Love it all.

Our Christmas decorations we’ve had for years. The ceramic Santa and Mrs. Claus my mother, Ruby, made with so much love. A macrame Santa head and hanging sleigh bells that David’s mother, Joline, made. We still even hang the Christmas bells we made over thirty years ago out of egg cartons, covered with aluminum foil, and joined together with ribbon.

I especially love our Christmas tree. But I guess what I really mean is I love the ornaments on the tree. Standing there looking at the ornaments I’m flooded with memories. Babies First Christmases. Decorations painted by my mother, knitted by David’s grandmother, or made by my children. Plus musical ornaments, trumpets, and Seagull pewter ornaments given to us each year by my grandmother, Frances Henderson. Many are well worn but they hold so much love. They make me reminisce, sigh, and smile. And yes, a few tears fill my eyes.

There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays – Perry Como

Take care and stay healthy.

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“There are two kinds of teachers: the kind that fill you with so much quail shot that you can’t move, and the kind that just gives you a little prod behind and you jump to the skies.”

Robert Frost

Last year I posted photos of various items I saw in grocery stores that I had never seen at home. One was quail eggs. This year Richard suggested we try them. I was sceptical but willing to try.

Naturally I did some research.

The following was taken from the Manchester Farms website as we bought Manchester Farms quail eggs.

https://manchesterfarms.com/quail-eggs/

Quail Eggs

Quail eggs are a delicious, nutritious treat that can be utilized in a number of ways from breakfast to appetizers to dessert! While considered a delicacy in many parts of the world, many people are discovering the immense health benefits of quail eggs – and the incredible flavor.

Health Benefits of Quail Eggs

• Quail eggs contain 3 to 4 times the nutritional value of regular chicken eggs.
• Quail eggs contain 5 times the iron and potassium of chicken eggs.
• Quail eggs are known to prevent the symptoms of associated with allergies, hay fever, and sinusitus.
• Quail eggs improve digestion, immune system function, and detoxification.
• Quail eggs are considered a delicacy in many countries, including western Europe and North America.

Today’s recipe was found here. Have a look and tell me what you think.

https://www.springcreekquail.com/recipes/scrambled-quail-eggs

The most difficult part: cracking the eggs. Good lord. I couldn’t believe how difficult. Those suckers have incredibly tough shells/membranes. Guess that’s why I saw an advertisement for quail egg scissors.

My verdict? They tasted delicious. I thought quail eggs tasted a bit richer than our usual chicken eggs.

(FYI peppadews are sweetened pickled peppers from South America.)

When searching for an egg song the following sentence plus a fav Muppet, Animal, sealed the deal for my using it today.

“The song’s title and lyrics reference the shape of a rugby ball, adding to the playful and uplifting mood of the track.”

Happiness is Egg Shaped – The Seahorses

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Just a quick little post.

Today opened and closed with nature’s beauty.

A fabulous way to start the day.

Looking out the window this morning at the breakfast table we had the exquisite delight of seeing our local heron, Fred, land on our deck railing. Absolutely thrilled.

And a breathtaking way to end the day.

Thinking of PEI and hoping everyone is ok during this huge wind storm

you’re having.

I Got the Sun in the Morning – Bernadette Peters

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“The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.”
Richard Bach

And I did.

Some lovely moments from these past few days.

Yesterday:

* After the gym a little stop at a fav cafe, Happy Pappys.

http://://www.facebook.com/happypappycoffee

* Sunny afternoon on the deck. Sweet.

* While on the deck we were lucky to watch seven dolphins swimming by us. Richard has a great eye for spotting them. But sadly no photos.

Today:

* Morning shopping at Tanger Outlets. Loved shopping for my grandson, David.

But I showed great restraint. I only bought a few things – this time. There will be many more shopping excursions. Such fun.

https://www.tanger.com/foley

* Richard stayed home and watched his football club Nottingham Forest.

* An afternoon reading and sunning on the deck. 24C. Loved it.

Dolphins – Tim Buckley

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I see the opened door. Finally.

What a saga.

Last April we booked a condo for the month of March as our beach house rental we have from Dec.- Feb. wasn’t available for that month.

A month ago the condo owner emailed me to say it had been sold and we needed to find other accommodations. Yuk! (Instead of you know what word)

We decided to wait and look once we were down here in Gulf Shores. Last weekend I posted on a Gulf Shores/Orange Beach Facebook group what we were looking for. Boy! I received so many responses. Took me hours to search through them and send correspond correspondence. Most were way above our budget. A few looked promising.

A lovely woman messaged me that friends of hers (the salt of the earth) had two condos in Orange Beach and she’d talk to the them and see if they’d agree to her giving me their number so I could call them. She did. They did. I did. I talked with the owners and they were so friendly and accommodating. Said they would make one of the condos work for us at the rental fee we could afford. They had their friend show us one condo on Tuesday. Wow. Unbelievable. All 2400 share feet of it. We loved it. Said we were interested. I called the condo owner saying we’d love to rent it. She seemed happy and said we’d get a call that night to make arrangements. Ugh. You guessed it. No call.

Went to bed feeling very discouraged.

No call on Wednesday.

Meanwhile I received a message from another person who had a beach house she’d rent us. Now it was more money but it is right on the beach. We’d be going from one beach house to another. So we planned on going to have a look on Thursday after yoga.

Strangely Wednesday evening, after having a wonderful evening with friends, I received this strange text from the condo owners phone number.

I hope they got in Touch with you today about PG 301 ! Please ket us know if we can help
Yall.

Who the he_ _ is Yall?

So I messaged the owners asking if I’d missed the call or if they had changed their minds. And shared the message I had received.

How stunned am I. And embarrassed. Yall was not a persons name but Y’all. What everyone down here says. Well we all got a great laugh out of that. They even sent me a picture of them titled “The Y’all’s”. Great sense of humour.

So good news. The owners said they’d recontact the rental agency and remind them to contact me and send the information and contract to sign. She did. They did. I did. All wrapped up. We have the condo for March. Now I can breathe easy.

I Can See Clearly Now – Johnny Nash

Take care and stay healthy.

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