Home safely

The flight home was uneventful.  We were slightly delayed coming in to Portland.  When we got home I just went straight to bed.  Unpacking and laundry can happen in the morning.

heading home

There is a lot to do to close down the condo.  Dorothy will be here next month to continue this process.  After 4 trips to Salvation Army, 1 trip to the recycling center, 1 trip to Staples to shred some papers and many trips to take trash out there still will be plenty for Dorothy to do.  We turned in our rental car and got to the airport with plenty of time to spare.  We have one extra suitcase and an extra bag.  Because of the extra bag I got to use my travel vest.  No need for a purse.  Unfortunately it is warm.  This gave me a taste of what wearing my travel vest to India might be like.

Nathan, you will be happy to know that George did catch a baby alligator just for you.

We are going through Chicago and won't be home until about 11pm.  I am glad that I came, we got a lot of work done and it was nice to feel connected with Jane as we were going through her things.  We are taking home some treasures.  

 

Monday, Nov 18

Today will be hot but this morning it was cool and clear.  Finally could get a picture of the full moon.

No, this picture is not upside-down.  I left a little bit of grass to prove it.

A lot of pretty flowers around.

This morning a wood stork was at the door.  It did not even flinch when I opened the door.  I think that he thinks that he will get some tuna.  

Personally, I think that they are kind of ugly.  I took a movie of it.  But I can't seem to upload it to the blog.  Probably because of the type of wifi here.  Very limited.  

Right now we are at the rec room.  The laundry is in this building so we are waiting for it to be done before we do the next things on our list.  

Sunday continued

Sunday was another busy day of sorting and cleaning.  George spent some time in the rec room on the computer to send out obituary notices to all of Jane's churches and schools and other groups.  In the afternoon we took a load to the recycling center and a trip to Staples to do some shredding.  Then we headed off on a 2 hour drive to Amrit Palace in Ocala for dinner.  

We were meeting 2 of my high school classmates.  Shanta (right) and Cheryl (left).  I obviously did not get the memo on what to wear.  

Dinner was great.  We were keeping up with our international theme meals.  This was Indian.

The drive home took quite a bit longer - for some reason the freeway was a parking lot.  Then all of a sudden it cleared up.  No evidence of an accident or construction.  We were home by 10:30 pm.

Sunday, Nov17

George and I are definitely not in sync time-wise.  I am on Florida time and he is trying to maintain Oregon time.  This means I get plenty of time to enjoy the sunrise.  Loved the way the sun reflected off the condos.

Finally I think this is a heron. I thought Nathan, at least, would be impressed with all my birds but I guess not.  Oh well.  I have to take pictures of something.  

Tonight is Greek

We drove to Tarpan Springs for dinner.  It is the Greek capital.  Started with harvesting sponges.  We picked Hellas Restaurant.  http://hellasbakery.com/company-info/hellas-restaurant-and-bakery-tarpon-springs-florida Fun website with better pictures than what I took.  It was very blue inside and I don't think my camera could adjust.  Anyway the meal was great.  George had stuffed flounder and I had Chicken Souvlaki: chunks of marinated chicken breasts, broiled, served
wrapped in a pita with tzatziki sauce, tomatoes, and onion.

one more wild beast.

Saturday odds and ends

Today, has been a busy day for George.  Not so much for me.  He has been doing a lot of sorting and other paper work.  We had left-overs for lunch.  I have been on several walks around the lake.  This is the obituary the funeral home used: 

http://www.obituarymanager.com/obititem.php?cust_id=18&id=21577

I hope that link works.  

A lot of flowers in full bloom

Now this I think is a Wood Stork

Chasing the Sand Hill Crane

those durn birds won't stay still

stop

wait

not quite

oops

finally - I got it.  

bird correction

this is an ibis not a wood duck. When George said wood duck he meant wood stork, which they also have down here but they are bigger birds.  I will have to try to get a picture of them too.

Saturday, Nov 16

Wildlife on my morning walk.  It was raining but not hard and it was not cold.  

George says these are called wood ducks.

and then "regular" ducks (how is that for a species name)

We went to run some errands this morning like the bank, the post office and Salvation Army.  Then to the rec room to do emails and blog stuff.  We have more errands to do this afternoon.  

Nov 15 afternoon

After lunch we went back to Jane's room to work some more.  

George sitting in Jane's favorite chair.  Luckily we did not have to do anything with the furniture and we things like the wheel chair.  So we left quite a bit behind.  Plus we threw away bags and bags of trash.  Even still we had a full vehicle going back with us to the condo.  Even though I had not been here often there was still a feeling of sadness when we left.

In keeping with our international theme we picked up Chinese food and took it back to the condo.  

We tried to go to the German House.  It looked fabulous but it was also packed.  We could not even make reservations for Saturday night.  If we had only known we could have made reservations earlier.

George spent the evening going through the stuff that we had brought back with us.  We had a big Salvation Army pile in the living room.  

Nov 15 morning

Jane's end of the lake.

I walked around the lake this morning.  It is 0.79 miles around.

Jane's condo

There is a woman who live near to Jane who feeds the egrets.  

There are a lot of them around

We went to the funeral home.  George had to sign a bunch of papers.

Then to St Mark's Assisted Living place

Door to Jane's room.

We spent the morning cleaning out some of her stuff.  We filled up one car load.  Drove home to have lunch and then soon we will head back to work some more.  

Holiday, Florida

George's mom died peacefully in her sleep Tues, Nov 12.  We were planning to go to Florida anyway this weekend so we kept to those plans.  George has a bunch of paperwork to do and I can help with cleaning out her room at the assisted living place in Palm Harbor.  It was a long day of flying today.  Because I had decided to join him after he had made plans I could no longer go on the same flight.  He left 15 minutes before me and arrived 2 hours before me in Tampa.  Tampa is about an hours drive away when there is no traffic so it was a little longer today.  We are staying in Jane's condo in Holiday.  George has a list of things he has to do like turn on the electricity and water.  We did a little grocery shopping on the way here.

After settling in we walked to Angelo's for dinner.  Spinach lasagna was good.  I am glad we shared.  Darn - I forgot to take a picture until after we had cut into it.

Tomorrow will be busy.

We can only get on Wifi at the rec center so I may not be connecting as often.  Weather is balmy.

home again

We all went to breakfast at Tower Cafe.  I should have taken a picture but I was too hungry.  Jeanne and I split their signature french toast.  Fabulous.  Erin could join us.  Ben had already gone to work.  After breakfast we took Erin to work and then we had a few errands to do like take me to the airport. What a great visit I had.

My flight home was uneventful - I made it safe and sound.

Exploratorium

We drove into San Francisco to go to the Exploratorium

What a lot of fun that was.

Don't do this at home.

A cool shadow screen.

A fog bridge

Jeanne in a perspective room

We sat out on the deck for lunch and then later for a sit-down.  Sean could run around and chase pigeons.  

Sean on a mirror

A toothpick construction

A toothpick construction close up

Worn out - what a day.