Finally!

Yesterday was a newsworthy day for several reasons. After many delays for mostly technical reasons the Spacex rocket finally is on it's way to the International Space Station. It was a significant accomplishment given that last years attempt blew up the launch pad causing 50 million dollars worth of damage as well as the fact that this is the first time a space ship and the rocket booster have been re-used ( and can be used again actually!). After liftoff we waited about 10 minutes for the rocket booster to return to the space centre and land perfectly and then a few minutes later we heard the sonic boom. 

Now the crew of the ISS will have literally tons of food and Christmas presents!

That little dot in the sky is the rocket 

 

Christmas in the TGO

I know I haven't Blogged much lately but it is not because we haven't done much - on the contrary we have been so busy that I haven't taken the time to update this.

Christmas in the TGO is always full of activities. The golf cart parade was Friday night and even though there was a threat of rain, the weather was perfect and it was great fun. 

Saturday night we went to an 'Ole Time Social' with a 1920's theme. Lots of food and dancing and fun.

Last night was the Christmas De-lights street party party on the 2 streets that go all out in decorating. I have already included pics of those streets in a previous post but last night included music, Christmas treats and best of all a canned food drive for the Titusville Food Cupboard.

So, back to 'normal' for a few days- Bingo tonight of course. I know John K. is anxious to know how much we have won so far. So lets put it this way John - we have won about as much as the Senators have lately!

Happy Hannukah Everyone!

Walking with Pat and Mary last night enjoying the street party

Our neighbourhood

We went for a little walk around the neighbourhood last night and as you can see everyone has been busy getting ready for Christmas.  

We can share these pictures but it is unfortunate that we can't share the wonderful music, the dancing Santas, and the sparkling lights that are everywhere- it is quite magical!

Happy Thanksgiving!

So, today is Thanksgiving down here or more appropriately Black Friday Eve! It is also the unofficial start of Christmas decorating. Once again Lorraine and Barry made sure our golf cart will be properly decked out with this cute little Santa- thanks guys!

We will be going to one of our favorite restaurants for a Thanksgiving feast with friends. Our friend Jane, however insisted on cooking a big turkey, even though she is Canadian and it's not really our holiday. She has invited a group of Canadians (we unfortunately had to decline) for what she is calling Friendsgiving!
When we went over yesterday for a quick visit she seemed to have everything well planned and organized - typical Jane - except for one thing. The minute she put her turkey in the oven, there was a loud boom outside and the power on her street went out. Apparently workmen hit something and caused the problem.  So here she is cooking her turkey at our place.
Maybe next year she'll believe me - the best thing to make for Thanksgiving is reservations!

Happy Friendsgiving Everyone!

Check out the new wheels!

Our good friend Irma (you remember that little hurricane that blew through here a few weeks ago ) may have been responsible for some tire and rim damage to our cart.

We just got the cart back today with brand new tires and rims. 

Olivier seems very happy with the new ones- now he has four months to figure out how to get them off the cart and on his car!

Another year - same old Blog

So, here we are, back in Florida for another year.

It has taken us a few days to feel settled in but we are mostly there.

We have had a chance to reconnect with many of our friends here but this picture is a great reminder that we have left many wonderful friends at home.

They organized a breakfast get-together to say farewell on a bitterly cold and windy morning and we sure did appreciate that.

So, Monique and Pete, Leone and John, Lorraine and Barry, Jackie and Dave- we will miss you and look forward to getting together in the Spring.

Can you see the light?

How many people does it take to fix an outdoor light fixture? Probably just one if he was an electrician. Unfortunately all we had was a retired plumber, an ex-cop and a former civil servant!

Happy Birthday Neighbours!

Yesterday two of our neighbours were celebrating birthdays and one of our neighbours is an awesome  cake decorator - that's all we needed to have a street party!

Linds'a cake was beautiful and delicious

Bob, Andy, Maryanne, Al and B.J.

Linda took a picture of Al and John (the birthday boys) about to hack into her cake!

Sandy and Andy, our wonderful next door neighbours.

The Canada Party

Last night was the annual Canada get-together - almost 200 of us who spend the winter in The Great Outdoors RV Resort. You could tell it was a room full of Canadians- even though the air conditioning was on, there wasn't a jacket in sight and no one complained it was too cold!

Richard, Joanne and Tina

Guy and Lorne

Lorne and Donalda from Trenton

Joanne and Guy

Carol and Judi from Toronto

John and Margaret from Ottawa

Olivier and Lorne

Love shopping down here

As most of you know, there is nothing I enjoy more than cross border shopping. and who can blame me - they have the most innovative stuff down here. Seriously, a self-cleaning toilet and a crockpot that can be turned on with an App! Of course I have no intention of buying this stuff - but Olivier did score another $50 win at BINGO last night so maybe........

Is that with a touch of a button or butt  on!

This Walmart exclusive is only $35!

Not yet guys!

Every morning now we have been watching the robins gather at our backyard bird bath ( actually hundreds of them sometimes!).

I think they are trying to decide if it's time to fly North but from what we've been hearing from some of you it might be a little too soon. I think we'll wait a bit too!

The Battle of the Food Trucks

This weekend the main street in downtown Titusville was closed to traffic to accommodate the Battle of the Food Trucks. It is an annual event- food trucks come to Titusville from all over the state and beyond to compete for all kinds of awards.
The cooler weather did not seem to keep too many people away but I noticed when I lined up at the ice cream food truck for dessert all the people ahead of me were Canadian! We are a tough group, eh!!

How neighbourly!

As we have been getting to know our neighbours over the past few months everyone thought it would be fun to go out for dinner together and last night we finally did it.

And since a few were unable to join us this time we may just need to do it again!

Gators in all sizes

I know many of you will have seen the pictures and videos of this huge humpbacked gator ( I think he's humpbacked because he swallowed a volkswagon!) on the news and may be worried about our safety. But he is not in our neck of the woods at all.

This little guy is the one living close to us. By comparison we probably have nothing to worry about!

By the way, Olivier won another $50 at BINGO this week. But for some reason he is more excited about the dime he has waiting for him at home after winning a bet with John ( Sens vs. Leafs). Of course they decided to go double or nothing on the next game so who knows how this will end....

Think of the savings!

I'm sure that anyone who knows me has heard me say that down here it's not about what you spend but what you save. So I was very excited to learn that an easy way to save money every time we eat out is to stop drinking ice tea and order a beer instead! And it's not just this restaurant - it's almost every restaurant we go to. And since we tend to eat out often just think of the savings!! Only one problem - I hate the taste of beer. 

Cheap beer, high priced tea!