5/7 - 5/21/2023 - Fort Myers, Florida - Pet sitting (birthday & Mother's Day)
Down in Fort Myers to watch two tall, thin cats. I've never seen such long legged cats. They are pretty shy, but are more responsive when I bring the treats out. Dusty & Rusty, nice kitties. I'm here for 2 weeks for a friend of a friend and now Diane is my friend too. Got here a day early and we just talked solid for 3 hours. She made me dinner, Manicotti and salad. The manicotti (which I don't think I've had before) was too good. Asked her where she bought it and it was from Fresh Market. I could eat one every day. Loved it.
Gotta show the kitties........................
Dusty
Rusty
So funny, I wrote this twice, LOL.
Taking it easy here. Went to Manatee Park for a visit and a one mile walk, May 9th. Manatees are, of course, gone. Winter is over. Very hot out, just took my time walking. I'm sure in the winter this is the best place, full of manatees that I know tourists love to see. I've seen my share of them so it was OK that they had returned to the ocean. They'll be back.
Barely here and have to drive up and back to Clearwater to get my certified mail with check for mobile home I'm buying for Robert. We had home inspection today that took hours so missed certified mail for my check. Received the mobile home park lease to review. Up and back, 2 hrs. there, 2 hrs. back. Thank goodness not a lot of traffic. I did leave at 3:30 a.m. to drive up and 4:00 p.m. back, not bad traffic either way.
# 1 Has been interesting being alone on my birthday and Mother's Day. I've had so many lovely messages from friends that I didn't feel sad because for everyone I heard from I took time to reflect on when I met them, how, where, and thought about some special thing that we did together. I did get a little homesick for my Boise, Idaho. So the realization that I am, and as I always say, so blessed by the people in my life I can only be super happy. Thank you all for being in my life.
# 2 A first having my birthday alone, but it was quite wonderful. Instead of focusing on "my birthday" I focused on each Happy Birthday wish I received and spent time thinking about the person who sent the wishes. It was so fun -- thinking back to where we met, how long I'd known them, things we had done together. Lots of lovely memories, honestly great fun. Made me a little sad in missing so many special friends and my "home town" Boise. Thanks for all the wonderful wishes. It was a good day and not fattening so that was good, no cake, LOL.
My friend Deb from Englewood drove down Friday for one night. We had a nice, short visit. Drove over to the Four Mile Eco Preserve, in Cape Coral. A wonderful, 1.2 mile loop boardwalk in a brackish water area through mangroves and the trail goes out to the Caloosahatchee River. Quite a bit of shade that was needed since back at my car it showed 107 F (not that not out walking, but that's what my car showed sitting in the hot sun). There was also a Veterans Memorial Area to see. Relaxed and watched a movie she recommended, A Tourist's Guide to Love.
Iraqi children play soccer
Nice boardwalks at park
Big Bird
We saw several uprooted trees, evidence
of the Hurricane Ian in September 2022
....... Back at my car
Saturday I took Deb to visit ECHO, we ate some good home-cooked meals, including shrimp. Before she left we squeezed in two games of Scrabble. Hadn't played that in so long, very fun.
ECHO Global Farm is a magical place that offers hope for many starving people. It trains volunteers to produce food in area that have challenges, desert, lack of water, too much water, urban situations. The interns train for a year and then go out and work with local farmers to teach them how to produce food, or raise animals. I visited there about 4 years ago and never forgot it. I knew Deb would enjoy it and she did. If you get down this way it is worth a visit. We had a two hour tour that was so informative. Deb has trouble walking and they provided a golf cart for us that made it perfect. Of course, it was a very hot day and the ride really helped us. Here is the website. https://echonet.org/
"For more than four decades,
ECHO has been equipping and empowering hungry families with knowledge and the
life-giving grace of God. We’ve impacted millions of lives by teaching
small-scale, sustainable farming methods so families can provide for themselves
and their communities. By tackling hunger at the source, we’re growing hope
from the ground up."
Night of 13th, met up with a Couchsurfer who lives in Fort Myers. Nice gal who made a cake for my visit. When she found out it was my birthday 2 days ago she got a candle and we had cake, candle and birthday song by John Legend. A nice surprise for us both.
New friend
Again, one more trip to Clearwater. Left at 3:00 a.m. Had to take friend for a biopsy and spent about 4 hours killing time waiting. Did have a great meal at Rodies, my first skillet -- vegetarian. It was so good. Robert always eats skillets and this was my first one, so good.
Also, Robert gave me this sweet bouquet. Love the vase with a sunflower and I love the size. Perfect!!!! And someone else is curious about it as you can see. So cute.
Rushed to post office on Monday (May 15th) to hope that my certified letter had not been sent back. All fine and now I have the check in my hands. Going to close on the mobile home on May 22nd, lease and final payment. Now Robert has his own little home. The home inspection was interesting and I asked myself what is right with this place, but it is the best we can do. Affordable for Robert to make lot rental payments, etc. so a start. Busy day, took a mini nap and drove back to Fort Myers at 6 p.m. and home in exactly 2 hours. Not too bad.
I had invited my friend Vicky to come down for a few days so she arrived Tuesday around 1 p.m. I made lunch - a favorite butternut squash soup. Later we went to Manatee Park and I showed her around. It was our one mile walk and pretty warm out, had cloud cover and a lovely breeze. Home for some TV and bed.
Wednesday we drove to the Edison/Ford winter estates. 20 acres of historical buildings and gardens including the 1928 Edison Botanical Research Laboratory. Amazing and we learned so much about these two men -- geniuses. So interesting. The grounds were beautiful and the homes were perfect because they weren't too big or ostentatious. We also visited the museum and read about their great inventions. Seems Edison and Ford were friends and enjoyed each other's company and they lived next door to each other in their winter homes.
Mindboggling banyon tree. Spreads
laterally indefinitely
Home situated on the Caloosahatchee River
Ford home
Labratory
Another lab view, huge inside
A sculpture on the grounds
Happy visitors
Lunch near by in a cute French restaurant,
it was a big disappointment. Service and
quality nonexistent.
Think that pretty much will wrap up this area. Could have done a lot more, but also nice to rest, sleep in and mostly not be on a schedule. Worked a little on water color with Utube guidance. Painted some rocks. Read a lot. Managed to eat pretty decent. So a successful pet sit that I enjoyed. Owner comes home May 21st and I'm not sure what time, but I plan to have everything perfect, my car packed and no matter what time I will head for home. Have closing May 22nd and then I can put the totally nerve-racking process behind us.
