Window Views-Holyrood Abbey

MaryT/The Teach has started a new meme called Window Views. For some reason I have always been intrigued with taking pictures of windows or through windows so this meme was made just for me! Hop on over to to Window Views and do some more window peeping.

In 2004, we took our first of two trips to Scotland. One day we walked down the Royal Mile from Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Palace and Abbey. We toured the palace first. Mr. Snowbird was tired from the long walk and didn't particularly want to go into the Abbey so I went alone. The Abbey is only a ruins today but I loved walking through it anyway. For some reason it made quite an impact on me. One of those deja vous moments almost. I took lots of pictures and of course took a couple of the remaining windows. Enjoy.

Ruby Tuesday-Driver Trainee

When we were in Scotland a couple of years ago, I took a picture of this firetruck. It kind of tickled me because if you look carefully, it says "Driver Training".
OK, I know you are all busy checking out everyone's Ruby Tuesday but take the time to bookmark me and drop back to check out my blog. I am a retired Special Ed teacher who now spends most of her time on Sanibel Island, Florida which is a Sanctuary Island for wildlife. I volunteer for a wildlife hospital. I am also the proud grandma of 5 wonderful grandkids and brag about them often!! I also have a blog called Branches and Roots where I talk about genealogy and my ancestors. OK, enough about me. So if you really want to see red go to Work of the Poet

Mellow Yellow-Bob the Rock Star Builder

Several blogs that I follow participate in Mellow Yellow every Monday so I thought I would give it a try.

My youngest grandson, Luka, loves to wear hats. He also loves to pretend he is playing guitar. And he loves his Lambie. So my Mellow Yellow today is my little lambie loving, guitar playing, hat wearing Bob the Rock Star Builder.

Our Last Pub Crawl for the Season

Tootie, Gary, Tink, Mr. Snowbird and I got together today for the last pub crawl before we head back north next week. Sigh! It was 85 degrees so we opted to Pool Bar Crawl. We met at the Holiday Inn Pool Bar where we enjoyed a variety of adult beverages and some food. We were joined by Karen who Tootie and Gary had "met" on another message board.

Since I had never been to this particular Pool Bar or to the Sanibel Holiday Inn before I took a few pictures.
After a couple of drinks each and something to eat, we decided to head to the West Wind Pool Bar. We have been there several times this winter but for some reason it was REALLY crowded there today. After Easter, the tourist season pretty much slows down around here. I don't think anyone told the tourists that though! (I have to admit that the picture I took of the pool doesn't show too much of a crowd!
We had a great time talking, catching up, getting text messages from friends up north etc. We didn't feel too guilty about the nice warm weather though since it apparently is just as warm up north today. So, until our return to Paradise next fall, this will be the last time we will join in the Crawl. I expect Tootie, Gary and Tink to carry on the tradition while we are gone though!

In the News

OK, so I can't discuss on here what I do at the not to be named animal hospital but I guess the newspaper can soooo if you want to see what we do and how we look doing it--go here.

Smelling Smoke

SW Florida has been under drought conditions for a long time now. We have had several brush fires in the area including on Sanibel. This time of the year is always kind of scary down here. (Sometimes even scarier than Hurricane season!) Right now there is a 3000 acre fire burning down in the Everglades near "Alligator Alley" which is I 75 between Naples and Miami. It was started by a lightning strike on Tuesday. They closed the road down on Wednesday due to the heavy smoke and apparently it is still closed today (Friday). The news last night said that the wind would shift overnight and all of Collier County (south of us) and parts of Lee County (us) would be smelling smoke today. Sure enough, I woke up this morning to the smell of smoke.

Last year there was a huge fire up in the Okefenokee Swamp on the Florida Georgia border. One day the winds were just right and believe it or not that smoke made it all the way down here. (The picture above is from that day.) That fire was over 6 hours driving time away! So I guess it's no wonder that we can smell smoke from the Everglades which is only an hour away.

Fiddler on the Roof

We went to to Barbara B. Mann theatre tonight to see Topol in his farewell tour of Fiddler on the Roof. He first appeared as Tevye in 1967 in London. Then he played Tevye in the movie in 1971. The program says that he has performed this role over 2500 times! He must be able to say the lines and sing the songs in his sleep. Ok, so he's a little older now. My daughter joked that maybe he should be the grandfather rather than the father. And I have to admit that I had trouble understanding some of his lines and he was a bit of a ham but he is still great in the role. And of course, he got applause when he made his first entrance and a standing ovation for his curtain call.

The rest of the cast was excellent too. Everyone in the cast were Equity actors. The choreography was the original choreography by Jerome Robbins. The To Life number in the bar, the Dream scene with Fruma Sarah and the dance numbers in the wedding scene were amazing. They had a special floor with grooves in it and many of the set pieces moved on and off on their own--or so it seemed.

I had hoped to take more pictures. There was no announcement before hand and nothing in the program but after I took the picture above one of the ushers tapped me on the shoulder and told me, "No pictures!" So, at least I got this one. I did get a picture of the curtain before the show started. It is a bit fuzzy but I'm posting it anyway because I thought it was so neat.


Anyway, we had a great time. We are so lucky to have this theatre here in Ft. Myers. They get lots of big productions there. In the past we have seen Les Miz and Lion King as well as other shows. Wicked was there this year but we missed it. Hopefully we can take in a couple more shows next season.

Window Views-St. Augustine

MaryT/The Teach is starting a new meme this week called Window Views. For some reason I have always been intrigued with taking pictures of windows or through windows so this meme was made just for me! Hop on over to to Window Views and do some more window peeping.

I have visited St. Augustine a couple of times and absolutely love the city, the old houses and yes, the windows. Here are just a couple of examples of those windows.

Ruby Tuesday-See Rock City

Remember the barns you used to see along the highway with See Rock City ad on them? When we were at Rock City a few years ago, I didn't see a barn but I saw this little barn birdhouse. And since this is baby bird season and I am a baby bird feeder at the wildlife hospital, I thought this was quite fitting.

OK, I know you are all busy checking out everyone's Ruby Tuesday but take the time to bookmark me and drop back to check out my blog. I am a retired Special Ed teacher who now spends most of her time on Sanibel Island, Florida which is a Sanctuary Island for wildlife. I volunteer for a wildlife hospital. I am also the proud grandma of 5 wonderful grandkids and brag about them often!! I also have a blog called Branches and Roots where I talk about genealogy and my ancestors. OK, enough about me. So if you really want to see red go to Work of the Poet

Easter Pictures--Just a Little Late

I took lots of pictures when Mr. Snowbird and our friends, Steve and Diana, and I went to the Old Captiva House at Tween Waters for their Easter Buffet. I forgot all about them until I downloaded some pictures from camera today--and there they were! So, a tad late but enjoy anyway.

We sat in the room with the desserts and appetizers. I got lots of pictures here but none of the main meal. But trust me, the main course was as delicious as the appetizers and desserts.

A gorgeous ice sculpture--not such a gorgeous picture of it, however.

Lots of yummy shrimp, crab claws, oysters, cheese, crackers etc etc etc

The dessert display. You couldn't take what you wanted but had to ask the waitress for your dessert. She did give us an extra, though, since we wanted to try all of them. How does one choose???
After dinner, we walked across the street to the beach.

And of course, Diana and I can never hit the beach without looking for shells.

A great time was had by all and we have already decided where we will eat next year's Easter Dinner--and Thanksgiving--and any other holiday that comes along!!

Mellow Yellow--The Yellow in Yellowstone

Several blogs that I follow participate in Mellow Yellow every Monday so I thought I would give it a try.

Several years ago we spent a week in Yellowstone National Park and I was amazed by the colors in the different thermal pools. Here are a couple of examples.

Camera Critters-Spiders!!!

There is this great meme called Camera Critters. Everybody gets to post pictures of any critter they want be it a cat, a dog, an alligator, a bird or what have you. I would like to have you hop on over to Camera Critters. There you can either sign up for your own post for Camera Critters or see lots and lots of other great critter pics. But don't hop over there until you've checked out my Camera Critter for this week.

I'm definitely not a spider person. I don't particularly like them. But there is something fascinating about them. Awhile back when we were down in the Everglades, we were on a path and I saw this spider and it's web. Huge web and a pretty hefty spider too. So here he--or she--is.

You Can't Judge a Book by it's Cover

This just proves you can't judge a book by it's cover. This actually gave me chills and brought tears to my eyes.

I'm a Star--Kinda

I just had to sign a release form for an ad agency to use a picture of me in a national ad. It is a picture that my daughter took of me and my grandson, Ethan, on my birthday a year ago. I can't say who the ad is for, what picture it is, where it will appear, when it will appear etc etc etc. Does this sound vaguely like a form I had to sign for a wildlife hospital which I can't mention either??

Anyway, I'm gonna be a star! Hopefully when it is all released, I will be able to tell you all about it.

Ruby Tuesday-Rocco and Scarlet

I live in a trailer park and the guy who owns the park has about 200 exotic birds, some of which he has on display--along with numerous lemurs. This is Scarlet and Rocco from a few years ago.


OK, I know you are all busy checking out everyone's Ruby Tuesday but take the time to bookmark me and drop back to check out my blog. I am a retired Special Ed teacher who now spends most of her time on Sanibel Island, Florida which is a Sanctuary Island for wildlife. I volunteer for a wildlife hospital. I am also the proud grandma of 5 wonderful grandkids and brag about them often!! I also have a blog called Branches and Roots where I talk about genealogy and my ancestors. OK, enough about me. So if you really want to see red go to Work of the Poet

Happy Easter

Since I don't have any pictures on my computer of my kids at Easter, I borrowed these pics of Noah from Karen. I just want to wish all of Blogging Buddies a very Happy Easter.

Camera Critters-My Shilo

Awhile back, I found this great meme called Camera Critters. I love the pictures and decided that with my wealth of critter pictures down here in SW Florida, I would join in and I have for several weeks now. I would like to have you hop on over to Camera Critters. There you can either sign up for your own post for Camera Critters or see lots and lots of other great critter pics. So, now that you've done that--here is my critter.

Three years ago this month, my beloved kitty, Shilo, had to be put to sleep because of cancer. I still miss her. She always seemed to know when I needed a "kitty kiss". I would pick her up and she would lick my nose. When she first entered my house and my life as a kitten, this was the first thing she did when I picked her up. I miss those kisses!