Summer Project

I'm in the middle of a summer destruction / remodeling project. The tile in the shower area of our tub is 18 years old and tired. The former owners had moisture issues because the let the grout go. Problems have continued for us with mold in the grout; I've pulled out and replaced sections of grout several times. On Monday I began to rip out the tile and backer board. As with any home project, there were curve balls. I found three ant colonies in the wood; I guess they liked the damp wood. Terminix is coming tomorrow to dry out the wood with a dessicant, and we are now on an every three month cycle for pest treatment. I didn't anticipate the glass-like quality of the ceramic tile splinters -- I went through a bunch of band aids for finger cuts! I also broke one of the marble window sills while I was trying to clean the old mortar off the back, so I guess we'll get new sills. Good thing they're not expensive! Everything is back to the studs and I should have the backer board up by Saturday. Next week I'll get the new porcelain tile up. The old 4 inch tiles had a large curve on the bullnose edges. The tile setters had put 1/2 inch plywood under the backer to bump the whole project out. I plan to put the tiles flush with the wall.

JADIP Part 2

We continue to have great weather and our week at the beach continues to be wonderful. Beach time is dictated by the afternoon thunderstorms that roll by, but we adapt well. Morning with the sand and water, and afternoons with a good book or a little sightseeing. We have enjoyed breakfast on the balcony, watching the dolphins feed. On our evening walks, we watch the snowy egrets feed in the shallows -- we can get quite close to them as they look, run, snatch, and swallow minnows. Shells on the beach are different from the Gulf; lots of coquinas, some scallops and arcs but no roller types. Waves in the middle of the day are nice for body surfing.

We took a short trip north to Ponce Inlet yesterday afternoon while the thunder rumbled. We toured the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse, tallest in Florida at 175 ft. It has been beautifully restored and was well worth the $5 admission. We were fortunate to be able to go up to the top -- it was closed because of lightning in the area when we arrived and again as we were leaving. The fresnel lenses are huge and amazingly complex; they shoot the light out up to 20 miles in a specific pattern for each lighthouse along the coast. The picture is the original lens for Ponce lighthouse that was restored; it's about 9 feet tall. The characteristic of the Ponce lighthouse is 6 half second flashes in 15 seconds and then a pause for several seconds.
Monday night we used the 3rd grade class gift card to Garlic, a wonderful Italian restaurant. We ate in the garden, an open air area. We were under an overhang and enjoyed really comfortable temps as the afternoon rain ended with a drizzle as we ate. Live music, plants all around, great service, and wonderful food. Yesterday on the way back from Ponce Inlet we stopped at a Mexican restaurant near the condo and had an excellent meal. GB said that the lighthouse and the Mexican food would be good end points for a bike excursion with friends.
We're ready for some beach time...

Just Another Day in Paradise

The title of this blog is on a decorative plaque on top of the entertainment system in our condo on New Smyrna Beach. We're about 3.5 miles north of Canaveral National Seashore and maybe 4 miles south of the main part of the town. We got in just before noon on Saturday, got settled, and enjoyed a warm afternoon on the beach. Our condo is on the fourth floor, right on the Atlantic. We've enjoyed an evening walk on the beach as the sun was setting and a 7 AM walk this morning. We body surfed in the waves this afternoon -- great fun! It was interesting to wake up last night and listen to the waves. I just had to get up before sunrise this morning and catch some pictures of the sunrise. Straight east across the Atlantic is southern Morocco...whoa! What fun!

The top picture is a view from our balcony to the north.

The second picture is this morning's sunrise...

Third pic is of our condo -- it's the tall one on the right side.

The last picture is an interior shot -- GB working on one of the projects she brought along.

First Week of Summer

We have had rain almost every day this week, and enough so our rain sensor turned off the sprinkler system this morning. 9/10 inch yesterday evening will do that!
My new bamboo culms are like rockets. The Asian Lemon is over eight feet tall, and my Black Timor (not even four weeks old) is more than 8.5 feet skyward. Amazing stuff...
GB and I rode the bike to school today. We both had a few things to do and it was such a nice morning to ride! GB is now in Sanford at a quilt shop searching for fabrics for a 2009 wedding quilt done in Bargello. I have no idea what will come of this, but I have a hunch that it will be spectacular. (Just saw the 20 colors -- all I can say is, "Wow!")
We continue to meet on Wednesday evenings with our three young Christians - supper together and then a couple of hours of Bible study. We're working through a series of seven lessons on a Christian world and life view using an overview GB got to know at Providence Christian School in Cape Coral. It's a great way to cover the big ideas - who is God, who am I, where am I, what's wrong, what's the remedy, how do I know? Our friends are not bashful about asking questions, which makes both of us grateful for the good grounding in the faith that we have had.
Sean McKenna is coming for supper tonight. His wife Vanessa and 2 yr old son Jonathan are in Mexico visiting Vanessa's family so Sean is batching. GB had compassion on him...

School's Out!

Friday was the last of two in-service days; we had the students for the last time on Wednesday. We had some wonderful days...the end of the year parties were amazing! We have some very generous parents who can get really creative. GB and I are spending a week at a condo on the beach in New Smyrna, FL. It was arranged so we could do that over our 35th wedding anniversary, which was really thoughtful! GB also received anniversary wine glasses (along with 2 bottles of wine), a monogrammed tote bag, a gift certificate to a restaurant in New Smyrna, as well as gift certificates to Barnes & Noble and Joann Fabric. Yes, the parents really appreciated GB's hard work with their children this year! My 5th graders enjoyed an end-of-elementary celebration at a local park. We had games, food, pictures, and more food. And they were very generous in saying thank you to me, also.
Last Friday evening we had a date night with George & Linda Bruneau from church. the Henry Leu Gardens sponsors this every other month during the summer. We took our picnic suppers and set up on a large lawn with about 200 others. After sunset, we watched Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster in Maverick. No mosquitoes either! We got home after 11:30 Pm but it was great fun. We fell into bed, tired and ready for summer.
One of the problems with falling into bed tired is that I was not in my end of the day routine. GB got up early Saturday and started the laundry, and I got ready to take the car in for an oil change. I couldn't find my cell phone, and realized that I had left it in the pocket of my cargo shorts...the ones that were currently in the washing machine. #@%^!!! Water and phones just don't mix. So I had to get a new phone. The good news was that we were almost to the end of a two year contract period; I signed up again just a few weeks early and got a new phone free. What a deal!