The Old and the Restless

  Prepared to bike ride... However, wearing a mask while riding is difficult especially when going up a hill. The protocol became: wear the mask when going indoors to a washroom (if available) or  restaurant (if open) or when talking to other people.At this time washrooms were not open and restaurants were only drive-through. Alicia made a COVID cake Alicia, Apache and Tryskel Pets are popular during isolation. When you live in the country in Switzerland it's handy to have a dog and a horse (and another dog, and rabbits and love birds) Showing social distancing at Rosetta McClain Gardens Bike riding had to be put on hold for a while. I am now more careful and WALK through the styles that are on a walkway. The swallowtail butterfly on the mock orange in my garden was missing a tail. Front garden The lavender was beautiful this year. Echinacea prefers this spot to where it was before. Joshua chose to have a Bl...

Driving back from Florida, with two nights on the road (one with Maureen and Ramsay in Marietta, Georgia and one at a hotel in Windsor), we arrived 6 days ago on March 16. Paul stayed isolated but I went out for food. Twice. I went this morning too as soon as the store opened and wore disposable latex  gloves (I had an old stash already). Linda, next door, had left a mask for me... Megan decided that she would bring a supplies, rented a car, bought a shopping car full of groceries, drove here and left them on the porch after we had a Zoom conference which Margot had arranged with Bryn, Megan and us. Too bad I did not take a photo of all the bags that covered the porch but this is a picture of a small portion of the groceries after I had divided the chicken and pork into smaller packages. This should last for a few months! BUT... They said a mask and gloves were enough to go to the grocery store. They lied. Everyone else had clothes on! 😉

Leaving in a few days, but first a ride on the beach. to see what we can find. Another willet A black skimmer. We were wondering where they were this year  Pelicans and a gull at the inlet Enlarge the picture to see the fish in the claws of the osprey

While Dinsmore went for a longer loop, I rode with Arlene and her husband, Rick, around Lake Monroe with a stop at Green Springs. Can you find the baby alligator? We actually saw two of them. I wonder where the adult was... Another day, another ride. Above, Arlene and Dinsmore at our lunch stop on the Tropical Trail Lite ride. It was colder this day.  So much colder that since he had not brought warm bike clothes,Rick did not ride with us.  Marie, Dinsmore's wife, is recovering from knee replacement surgery. They enjoyed a Thai lunch while waiting for us in Cocoa. A rose between two thorns or the reverse? Doing the 5 cities ride near Orlando, we stopped at beautiful Lake Sybelia. Two Muscovy ducks waddled by. Dinner? Practising with my new camera, I found the birds at the beach to be good subjects. Here are two ruddy Turnstones. A willet...a type of sandpiper A sanderling A snowy egret (has yellow feet)

Maureen and Ramsay came from Atlanta to stay with us for a few days. At first the weather was nice enough for a visit to Green Springs Park and then a picnic lunch at Gemini springs. The sulphuric green spring pictured, is 72 feet (22 metres) deep and was once part of a 19th century health resort. Now it is a park that we visit yearly on a cycling trail. Apparently it varies in colour according to the time of year, appearing more turquoise in the summer. The next day was cloudy and cold. Paul thought it would rain. Even so we went to Blue Springs to see the manatee. Because the day was so overcast, there was no line-up to get in but because of the cool weather it was the perfect day to see the manatee. I have never seen so many in the spring, so close to where we were viewing. Even the sun began to shine through. Back at the beach, though, it was still windy and cloudy. The next day was cloudy with a rough ocean and high tide at the beach again b...

Reflecting on Christmas 2019 This was a Christmas that highlighted dogs. Brandon is holding a Shiba Inu, a Japanese breed. Brandon's girlfriend, Karem is feeding "Sushi" (the dog). As Paul and I were cycling in Florida yesterday, I stopped when I saw a man with a small dog that had the face of a fox. I asked him what kind of dog this was. Sure enough it was a Shiba Inu. He said that she was very easy to train ( I think he meant housetrain). A Shiba Inu is very smart. When I asked if she came when called, he replied, "Only if she wants to". Tryskel, a springer spaniel, a new addition to the Maire family in Switzerland. Alicia teaching Tryskel to turn.  Zucco is watching. A Triskele or Triskelion is an ancient Celtic symbol. it dates back to the Neolithic era. Margot came with Mark, Joshua and Ella and made dinner on my birthday. She made a beautiful cake which I finished by the end of the week. I gained five pounds. Molly, ...