More House and Cat Sitting

We have returned to the Palm Coast of Florida to take care of our hosts two pretty kitties. It was summer, last time we were here, and we spent much time indoors in air conditioned comfort. This time we are heading into Spring and enjoying having all the doors open and the fresh air and breezes flow through the lovely open plan home.
It is such a pleasure to get up in the morning and head down the dock to sit on the swing overlooking the ICW (Intra-Coastal Waterway) and watch Dolphin and Osprey feeding, in the morning light. Some mornings have been foggy first thing, but this just provided me with ample opportunity to photograph the surrounds in the gorgeous light.

 The shoreline habitat is conservation land. These little beaches get a real workout from the boats, large and small that tear up and down the ICW at great speed. There are those who cant go fast, of course, and we delight in their slow progress up or down this water way.

 The swing is on the dock, but the water underneath us there isn't very deep. I still wouldn't like to take a dip therein.

Across the road and down a wee way, there are overflow ponds in the subdivision, for rain run-off and in worst case, for fire fighting, though there are hydrants everywhere. We were somewhat gratified to observe, when we first arrived, late in the day, that the Alligators were still occupying the ponds.
This one is just about 6ft in length. I still wouldn't like to tangle with him/her.

Last year we observed a Raccoon using the sidewalk beside the house as his personal walkway, and on our evening walks observed both deer in the wild jungle like places here, and also Armadillo aplenty. So much wildlife! We know not to be out too late in the afternoon! You also don't want to keep your cats outdoors, or your small dogs. They all make for 'crispy treats' for Raptors and ground dwellers alike.

There are still bears and cougar in these parts, which is good to hear, but they also live close to humans.

Before coming south, last week, we visited one of our favorite places. This is Chamblin's BookMine. What a place!! This is just ONE of so many rows and rows of second hand and new books, in this MINE. Seriously, you can get quite lost in this place, but I can highly recommend a visit. I found some books for special 7 yr olds, in here, and managed to find some of my favorites to introduce them to. James Herriot was one of my favorite authors. A British Vet, he wrote about his escapades as a country Vet in the Cotswolds. The books are humorous and the characters entirely 'real'. Another book was the Hounds of the Baskervilles, which I remember loving. Born Free by Joy Adamson, about the Lioness Elsa, in Kenya was another favorite I found and am sending on to the 7 yr olds. I hope they enjoy them as much as I did.

We  had to return to the Apartment yesterday, which wasn't much fun...kind of a there and back visit, which also included checking on the boat after some windy weather and watering my new house plants...incl. 3 orchids! It was the return trip that was a worry. Torrential rain meant we couldn't see beyond our noses, on I-95 South, and this saw cars pulling off the road to wait it out. We found a Rest Stop and waited for a while, before continuing south. The rain was so heavy you couldn't see either the solid white line OR the dotted lane lines. Not safe to continue.
So many huge trucks continued to barrel down the highway at 70mph. Scared the shite out of me!

We had stopped in at Sam's club on the way south, which meant that dinner was easy. Rotisserie chickens are still $4.99 each...have been as long as I can remember, and that is a looong time! Costco also has them at that price. I dismembered and froze 2/3 of the two we purchased, and we ate the rest for dinner with fresh asparagus, finishing our meal with delightful new season's Florida strawberries on one of my muffin sized Queen of Sheba chocolate cakes (made with Almond flour, so they are good for us, right??:) ) and of course the all important whipped cream!

Sorry...no photo!

With only two weeks at the apartment before we came south, and after our long dog sit in Neptune Beach on the Atlantic Coast east of Jacksonville, we barely had time to organize the apartment into some semblance of order. This we will accomplish on our return. Waz had a hoard of things to sell, so that will keep him busy for a while. Our 3rd bedroom is stacked with 'stuff' that needs sorting.

It is time for our evening walk, and for me to put a road in the oven. Enjoy the evening, and ciao from us, for now.