More weather changes, et al.

The day dawned fair and warm enough. It was not what you might call sunny, but it wasn't too grey either. We were up relatively early for us, and sat with our computers attending to business and mail while enjoying a cup of Community Tea.
Waz got hungry before I did, and put together some granola and banana with Yoghurt, after his shower, and got back to work. The weather was still 'fair'.
I showered and came upstairs to hang the towels out on the laundry line...and shock horror...look what I found....an approaching weather system.  I love how the clouds roll in over the water.

out back towards the harbor.

coming from the Nth West.

It got darker and darker....

 

Here is the weather system approaching the sth west Florida coastline.(the yellow, followed by the green/yellow belt)

These clouds are truly rolling in. Quite dramatic...so of course I had to take a photo.

 

The first drops of rain were big ones....then the heavens opened and it just hosed down. The neighbors didn't seem to be too disturbed by it all...(Ibis)

 

We delayed going out to start out 'to do' list, and the rain was all over in about half an hour.

 

We had a long list to complete today, and it was going to take us a few hours. We seem to walk miles on these out and about excursions, which is good, except that in the meantime we are in and out of the car a million times, also. Gets old fast, I have to say, especially with a bad left hip!

 

The first couple of stops were easily accomplished, and then we got waylaid. We were near Best Buy, and had never been in there, so we went. We probably shouldn't have gone, but you know how these things go! An hour later, having explored almost all the aisles...including and not limited to the domestic appliances (in case we should ever need more modern ones, heaven forbid) the Televisions (yes, again) which we have again decided not to purchase. The UHDTV 4K varieties are on display but the networks are not there to back up the technology. It is coming, apparently. No point in our buying one YET! ...and they don't make them in the size we want (32inch), as there are just too many pixels, and it wouldn't make sense to put them in a small TV.

We also checked out all the new computers, phones, handheld devices etc. We also looked at the TurboTax boxes which are now on sale, with the idea that we would do our own taxes this year. Hmmm...and which state tax do we pay? We are never that long in any one state, so we will have to remain with the accountant for the short term, until we figure all this out. If someone out there has already figured this out, feel free to send us a note!

 

Anyway, the mention of taxes started it's own conversation with no conclusion. Tomorrow!

 

Another stop along the way was to Home Depot. You know how large those stores are!! Well, we had a truckload of small things to find there, and the walking is good for us! I did get to do the one thing I had been itching to do since I saw all the flowering plants outside the store....go to the garden department:)

I cannot have a garden of any kind on the boat as there just isn't room for even a potted plant. The least I can do is take photos and revel in the colors and varieties on show. I love the massed color and had a lot of fun photographing them. Here are some of them, for your enjoyment too.

 

First the Bromeliads...

 

 

 

...and then all the rest....

Begonias are a favorite of mine.

I have a soft spot for Bird's Nest Ferns too.

I forget what these are, but the colors are fantastic.

After 20 yrs living in Hawaii, you would think I would have come across a yellow Bougainvillea, wouldn't you? Wrong! This is the first time!

Lemon tree oh so pretty, and the lemon flower is sweet, but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat....Remember the song? Gorgeous flowers and so fragrant too.

This one is a Meyer Lemon!

These succulents were so tiny and precious. They look eager, here.

Shrimp Plant blossom. What miracles of nature are these plants!

A sea of yellow lilies. How fabulous:) A ray of sunshine on a grey day.

I have never seen these colors in a lily before...stunning!

Up close and personal.

These are all about to open their eyes....

Another color I wasn't familiar with. The lighting isn't good in this pic, but you get the idea.

...and finally, I couldn't resist this pile of colorful large pots.

 

 

Waz patiently waited while I took photos and marveled at all the colors and shapes. Not that he doesn't enjoy them too :)

 

We had one more stop after this....perhaps two. The first was the Pet Smart store. We hadn't been into one of these before, and it just a pet supermarket...including adoptable kitties!...dangerous!

The kitties were a bit large, already and though we admired through the glass, we weren't tempted.

We had just had loves with someone's two fluffy pooches, at Best Buy, anyway.

 

The reason for being there? We were in search of a 'bubbler'. This is for the waste tank and we think...and hope that it will do what we want it to do...create an aerobic environment, so that aerobic bacteria eat the Anaerobic bacteria, thereby creating a non-smelling environment. All boats with holding tanks have this problem. We will let you know if it works!

There are many ways people try to get around this smell problem, and we hope this is successful:)

 

We saw that the McDonalds across the parking lot had a McCafe.

BE WARNED, Ye Kiwi travelers. This is NOT the type of McCafe we are used to in NZ.

A Barista does not stand there and MAKE your coffee for you. They dial the grind and type of coffee (e.g. Latte, Cappucino) and it is spit out of a machine.

 

We have come to the conclusion, after sampling so many different coffees here in the USA, that the milk is what makes the Latte, in particular, nowhere near what we are used to in NZ. We have only had two that were satisfactory...ever!. I think we have chronicled those.

So, instead of a TV, we are now talking about saving for a coffee machine to make our own. Still, nothing like stopping off, at the end of the day, for a good Latte and a quiet sit in a nice café. Don't expect one down here in the South!

 

We have enjoyed a pasta dinner tonight. We don't have too many of them, but it was a good way to use up the spinach and Asiago cheese sausages we had last night. I sauted some onion, garlic (heaps of that!), mushrooms and fresh spinach, tossed in some linguine with lemon infused olive oil, some parsley and grape tomatoes for garnish and threw some parmesan cheese on top. Yum!!!

We have been ploughing through the lovely little mandarins that are on sale right now...easy peel!...and that is next on the agenda, along with a cuppa. It is trash night tonight, so we need to go and organize that before heading to bed.

The temperature has dropped markedly, which bodes well for sleeping, tonight.

 

Photographing such beauty is uplifting, so my soul has been replenished and Waz has all he needs, to have a chore list day, tomorrow...he is happy in his own way with that:)

 

I have a very important job to begin tomorrow....

I am going to publish the first part of our journey, from Houston to Port Charlotte. I need to collate all the blogs and add photos and memories as I go, so this should keep me busy for a while. I will see how far I can get. I know I have mentioned this before...and still haven't done it. Well, here goes!:)

Night, Night