Golf Game at Tupelo Bay, 7 '19

The heatwave that has been gripping the Southeastern United States, gave way to a few light ocean breezes today.  Bruce was anxious to take advantage of the cooler weather and promptly packed our golf gear in the car and whisked us off 9 holes of golf at our favorite Par 3 Executive course.  We were both a little disappointed to see that it was cart path only as Bruce has been having difficulty walking on uneven terrain.  But hey... since we were there.. why not give it a try.  We were glad we did. 

Tupelo Bay is  a well-maintained and relatively flat course'

But it has lots of serious water hazards to keep the game challenging.

  Bruce did really well.  He had no trouble walking, and had no discomfort with his swing 

.....  other than that Cece (pink ball) was consistently outdriving him. 

Overall it was a good day.

Browsing the Hammock Shops 7 '19

We had a nice time this afternoon browsing all the little specialty shops in the Hammock Shop Complex.  It had been a while since we had visited these stores. We were pleased to see that our favorite Eastern European wine import shop had upgraded their services to include sit down lunch menu offerings.  We'll be sure to come back hungry the next time we plan to visit them.

Sous Vide Salmon 7 '19

Dinner tonight is Atlantic Salmon prepared medium-rare in our Sous vide machine with couscous and quick-pickled cucumbers, carrots, and zucchini on the side.  Perfect dinner for a warm summer evening

Beach Alternatives 7 '19

Today was a beautiful warm sunny day. Normally I would call it 'perfect beach weather'.  Unfortunately, it was just a little too sunny for Bruce's sun-sensitive skin,  but it was also far to pretty to be stuck indoors.  

We decided to seek an acceptable alternative activity by looking for spoonbills in the freshwater lagoons at Huntington Beach State Park.  As luck would have it, we went too late to see any wading birds. They had all ceased their foraging and taken refuge from the sun in the leafy shelter of the nearby maritime forest surrounding the lagoons.  The stop at HBSP did give us a chance to check out the beach conditions from the safety of the handicap boardwalk.  And Yep!. It was too sunny, and he was having too much difficulty walking, for us to venture out onto the sand.

Undeterred, we switched to Plan B: lunch in the shade of the umbrellas of the  Litchfield Cabana Cafe where we could take advantage of their beachfront dining without risk of being fried.  It was the perfect remedy for cabin fever!

Pizza Nite 7 ' 19

Yummy Homemade Pizza Nite

 with cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms, and basil.

Post holiday walk-about: 7 '19

Bruce and I managed to get in another walk about  around the block this morning. 

We've been keeping the treks short.  July is the start of our hurricane/rainy season and we don't want to get stuck out in the open in a lightening storm..

Luckily we made it home just  before it started pouring.

.

Patriotic Wreath: 7' 19

We wish a 'Happy 4th of July' to all of our friends.

CC's celebrating the holiday by sharing directions for making her newly crafted flip-flop wreath

How to make this Patriotic door hanger:

You will need:

1 small pizza pan

1 small can of spray paint in color of the door to cover the exposed portions of the pizza pan (I used black paint).

1 generous measure of wire or ribbon; must be strong and long enough to hang the pan and flip flops from a door wreath hanger. ( Give yourself a bit extra so you can adjust the length once the wreath is completed)

2 pairs of solid colored flip flops in red, white &/or blue colors.

2 pairs of multicolored pattern flip flops in red white and or blue colors

1 pair of flip flops that is color of door/painted pizza pan

1 metal star from a garden stake (with wire stake removed)

1 hot glue gun or E6000 glue ( I used E6000 because it gave me a little bit more time to make minor adjustments before it locked the piece in place)

Directions:

• Spray paint the bottom, side of the pan and let dry.
• While the paint is drying lay our your flip flops on a table to decide what arrangement you like best ( See note). I used the solid colors as the bottom layer vertical and horizontal, and the pattern flip flops on top of them on the diagonals.
• Once the paint is dry , insert the wire that will be used to hang the wreath into the holes from the bottom side of the pan so that the wire emerges on the inside of the pan. Loosely tie a knot on the inside ( Keep the knot loose so you can adjust the length once the wreath is completed.
• The center of the holes in the pan is now the top of your wreath.
  • Using this spot as your guide, draw a vertical line to spot on the opposite edge of the pan,
  • then find the center of this line and draw a horizontal line through the center to the opposite edges
  • Your pan should now be divided into 4 equal parts.
• Run a line of glue over the horizontal line, then put glue on the bottom on your your first pair of flip flops and adhere the pair heel to heel across the bottom of the pan. Then repeat process with the vertical pair butting the heels of the verticals against the side of the horizontal pair. ( Note: My front door is narrow so I wanted this wreath to be narrower across. If you want your wreath to be perfectly even, you should have all four heels touching at their outer edges which will leave an hole in the center of the wreath)
• You now have flip flops placed vertically and horizontally across your pizza pan. You also have exposed areas of the pan between the parts you have glued on.
  • Cut up the fifth flip flop that matches the pan color and glue them into those spaces. These pieces don't have to be pretty, as they will not show. They are just being used as a base to stabilize your next layer.
  • Do the same with any scraps to loosely fill in and build a base in the hole in the center of the wreath.
• Now glue the remaining four flip flops on a diagonal across the first layer of flip-flops ( & and scrap filler)
• Glue the star in the center.
• Place some weights atop all the pieces to make sure the glued and making contact with each other, and let the glue dry for however long the glue product directions recommend.
• Once the glue is dryy, adjust your wire hanger's length, and enjoy you new door wreath.

*Note :This wreath only took about 10 minutes to assemble but I spent a good 10 hours studying different layouts and collecting the pieces before I started.

Ready for the 4th of July

Bruce, I and the House are ready for the 4th of July.

Every table,

window,

and flat surface ..

inside,

and outside,

( including us)  are decked in Red white and blue.

Let the celebrations begin!

Moroccan Tangine Chicken 7 ' 19

Bruce made us MoroccanTangine Chicken for dinner with a side of carrots and couscous.