Oh boy its today

The sun was shining through the window as we lay in bed as as I , Noel, was the first to notice, it was my time to make tea and so out of bed I trotted and whilst the kettle boiled thought it must be  a good idea to check what date we are due to leave the house.
OH MY GOD, its this morning the 31st January we are due to leave, not tomorrow the 1st, by latest 10.00, and so having made the tea I headed back toward the bedroom with two cups and said Jen I think I have made a mistake , we don't leave tomorrow its today, I am so sorry if messed up!!! or something along these lines. So all hell let loose as we ran about packing suitcases and cleaning the place as we went along thinking all the time we only now have an hour left  but somehow we made it and we left the house at about 10.10 , the cases were packed, not brilliantly, but all was in the car. Next problem was where do we spend the night as as we are booked only for two nights in the Hampton at Clearwater and so communication was made with them and they said they were fully booked for tonight but they had a sister Hotel, within the Hilton Group, at the Hilton Clearwater where they had a room for just one night and so rather then mess around we accepted the booking, rather expensive mind you, and so we left Rotonda West in a bit of a hurry and headed north.

We decided to use the more quieter side roads rather than the US highways and headed North to Sarasota and then on to Whole foods where we purchased two rather excellent beef sandwiches and the headed over to the beach Dido beach area to eat them  where we sat in the sun and enjoyed the sandwich. Then North we headed mostly on highways to reduce the time spent travelling and we arrived at the Hilton Hotel around 15.30 and checked in and we had  nice room overlooking the Hotel expansion and car park, and also to be fair the beach and sea. Although nobody had informed us of the Hotel woks which started at 0800 in the morning which we discovered the next day. I failed to mention that on Tuesday I had found out by chance that my payment to HMRC although made was to the wrong HMRC bank account, how could this haver happened as I though I had checked it multiple time??must be getting old and now messing up the departure date. This is not good Groves’y’

The view from the window of the Hotel was quite nice and it was at this time suddenly my nice Sony DSLR camera decided to play up and stopped working, Oh NO, why as I need it for the cruise next week and why what's wrong with it. So I changed the batteries three times and the last time the camera started showing a battery level of 89% and the halfway through a panoramic shot it shut down never to reopen, Oh bloody hell I don't need this.. So I changed batteries 2 or three times more and nothing would make it start up. Now what to do???. So over the next hour I researched on the web what could be done, who could mend it etc and finally found a place about 35 minutes from here in St Petersburg who did Sony camera repairs but by the time I had found it they had closed. So nothing to do tonight except be unhappy with the camera and so we left the Hotel seeking some food and a glass or two of wine. Just across the road from the Hotel there several joints from pizza to most everything else and so we found a bar  and went inside and said lets look at the menu, for me a Hamburger should be O.K. and how about a bottle of wine?? The waiter looked a little surprised but not as much as us when they presented us with a 1.5 litres bottle of Chardonnay and is this Ok??? well how much we said and actually the price was not to bad and so we went ahead, Jennifer having a Greek salad with shrimps and Noel with a burger and fries, got to watch the stomach problems, and it was quite good really. Then back to the room and sit on the balcony taking in the lights and reflection from the sea.

Oh dear what to do about the camera as that is vital for Noels blogs etc, lets see what the Camera shop can suggest.
Tomorrow should be interesting
.

More of the same

Well its Tuesday and we are due to leave the house on February Ist  I believe , must check the actual booking slip me thinks, anyway we spend most of the day sitting alongside the pool and enjoying the occasional swim , really tough you might think but then again somebody has to do it.

Tonight we finished off the last of the pork chops and together with some nice veggies and a glass of of Chardonnay and then some TV, Not a great deal to report however had a couple of good emails from a friend with some humorous stuff which is worth a laugh.
Anyway must check that departure date he say??? oh well will do tomorrow.

Already planning for next year

Well we have really enjoyed our time in this house in Rotonda West and as always it takes you a little while to get in to the swing of it but overall its been a pleasant experience although the weather has not been to bad, the locals are complaining that its  not to good.
Noel knees were bit achy this morning and as there was also a high chance of a brief heavy shower we decided to forgo the morning walk and caught up on some paperwork, yes we still have to pay HMRC to allow the politicians to have their heavily subsidised food and booze in the houses of Westminster, Yuk.
The weather improved during the late morning and so we headed of to Public Supermarket to by some food and bits and pieces to cover us until we leave here for Clearwater bay area where restaurant life will take over for a while until we get home in mid-February. Decided to finish up the rest of the frozen prawns in sandwiches for lunch and then an afternoon sit by the pool which was quite high following the previous nights heavy rain. At 16.00 hrs, Catherine from the Houser Rental company came to collect us and take us to see a house in Roundwood Golf & Country Club, called Villa White Wash Pearl and apparently it is owned by a Chicago based neurosurgeon and immediately you walk in you can see its been decorated for somebody to live in rather than the current house which has been decorated for rental. The house is of a similar size to the current one but much better furnished and instead overlooking a river with alligators this one overlooks a lake.

The added benefits if you rent this house is free admission to the Country Club which has a very large pool and Gym and also access to a seafront club at Manisota Key so overall a much better proposition if we can get it. see link for more info
Villa White Wash Pearl
After the visit we returned home and discussed and other potential travel plans. We are still waiting to find out if we can get on the Silver sea Cruise from Vancouver all the way to Japan in September this year and so we are unable to make other travel plans around it until this is resolved.
Watched an old BRITISH film on Amazon TV last night called Ladies in Lavender with Judi Dench and it was a nice little film with a happy ending, so worth a view.

Sunday BBQ day-no wonder it rained

We had one large rib eye steak left in the freezer which we need to eat up before we leave here Thursday morning and so we decided as its Sunday , that can be BBQ Day.

Well as the title suggests it rained, in fact it rained cats & dogs both in the late afternoon, early and late evening and then overnight so now the swimming pool is close to overflowing and no doubt the heating system will have a struggle to catch up with the temperature change. So after a very successful bibs lunch so rib eye steak, one easily feeds two of us and one huge Idaho potato, even that defeated both of us, and with a glass or two of nice Malbec we were set for the evening. Due to the heavy rain it was quite dark at about 4.30 pm so we decided to watch a film to pass the time of day. Our one month free Amazon Prime and Netflix free trials are coming to an end in a couple of days so we will try to watch what e can if its any good but as with Sky Moving, one film is good and the 85 or so are rubbish.  We stared watching a fil with an intriguing title which the write up said was banned in France?? only to find it was a black & white move that was banned in 1966, could not see why but we stopped watching after ten minutes or so. 
We are now getting to the point of finishing up all the food stocks we had built up as we shall be leaving the house on Thursday morning and heading ‘up north’ to Clearwater area where we shall spend two nights and visit a great crab restaurant called Crabby Bill’s which we had visited several times when staying with Adrian & Joyce, and so we are looking forward to visiting again. Tomorr4ow we are going to look at another house which we might consider for next year should we decide to return to Florida, we shall as we have also thought of South Africa or even stay poss for a few days with friends who are currently building a house by the sea at a place called SEASIDE. Oh well to many choices whilst Florida is easy to get around and its cheaper getting here than to South Africa.
Glad to see Chelsea beat Newcastle yesterday after the disappointment of losing to Arsenal and what with rumours about the Manager Mr Conte and possible new players we shall have to see, somebody started a rumour that Ronaldo wants to leave Real Madrid and would/could play for Chelsea, but let us see as it could be more of Mr Trumps fake news.
The stay in Florida has been good for us both what with regular walking and swimming and Jennifer has lost a little bit of weight whilst Noel refuses to stand on the scales for the moment. Well that's it for the moment and now looking forward tyo rest of the day relaxing in the sun and swimming.

Not much really, just relaxing, walking and swimming

Well the last two day, Friday and Saturday were spent relaxing and taking in the sun and with our early morning walk, well almost early, and then take it easy whilst Noel does his Blogs and other financial stuff and then a light lunch followed by more hard work lying in the sun and then an evening meal and TV.
On Friday were of course quite sad about the loss of two good friends and that tempered the day a bit and then on Saturday we were able to speak to Joanne who experienced not the best situation where the lady in charge asked her to move to the back of the building because Christopher was chucking along, as a baby does, and for some reason somebody took offence., All very annoying and upsetting for Joanne and it was handled very badly. Many people came up to Joanne afterward to commiserate but then the damage was done. Joanne and Sue were very close and for this to happen was not acceptable.

The papers have been full of the sexual misadventures naming just about every bloke in the world for sexual harassment to about every up and coming starlet who wants to get stardom or at very least the name in the paper.TI presume you have now seen the bad news abouty

his matter has got completely out of hand and it about time some of the boys talk about the female harassment they have experience. It does happen a lot, it happened to me when I was just 15 and started work in the account department of a company in Hounslow and whenever I did the filing, yes daily, the comptometer would come up behind me and press her boobs in to my back for several minutes to pretend she was trying to reach in to the drawer. I was a bity innocent in those days and it was a strange experience, but did I complain….
You usually find that the newspapers always make so much stuff up, like the Daily Mail saying that Scotland would not use the Union Jack anymore?? or that Trump’s wife would not go to Davos because of his so called entanglement with a Porn star who just so happens is on hard times and trying to get back in to the business and so any publicity might help her cause. To be honest, nobody takes their wife , of husband in the case of female politicians to this place as its designed for workshop meetings only and not a holiday destination. But do the papers mentions this???? of course not, anything to get at TRUMP.

I cannot say whether Trump is a good or bad President but the American people do themselves no favours by slagging him off all the time and overseas other voters around the world feel he should be respected because he was appointed President of the USA by the people of the USA and if you side lost, tough-live with it and have a go next time.
That's enough of politics and now back to sitting in the sun and later on Sunday for a BBQ.

Two old friends-Rest in Peace

Well its a a sad day for the the family today and we are thinking of all those who have been affected by the following people who have now passed on.

1- Sue Pettinger-RIP

We first met Sue together with her husband Ed when we  first returned to the UK from Hong Kong in 1990 and moved back in to our house in Wey Road, and at that time  Joanne our daughter was approaching 15 years of age, and had done babysitting in Hong Kong, and was of course anxious to earn a little money and Jennifer met a lady called Sue who had recently given birth to their first child, actually eighteen months earlier, Emma and was looking for the occasional baby sitter and so Joanne obliged. Over the years the relationship and friendship developed and then a new child by the name of Ben appeared on the scene and so Joanne went back to her baby sitting tasks. Of course during this period we all got to know the family well and we would meet up for the occasional BBQ in Piplin House and they would attend Joanne wedding and birthday parties etc. Both Ed & Sue worked for British Airways and that was also a lovely contact for Joanne as Sue could perhaps help her with seating when she you was able to fly off and see her friend in Canada.
Over the past few years Sue has been in ill health with the dreaded big C and it finally is caught up with her and she passed away on January 15th peacefully at home with her family with the funeral taking place today in Beaconsfield. Unfortunately  we could not attend as we are in Florida but Joanne and family of course attended this sad occasion.
Sue will be very much missed by family and friends alike and she left this earth a better place for being here.

Charles (Charlie) Woodhatch
I first met Charles when I joined a company in London called ASA Aeroservices Ltd as an aircraft cargo charter broker in the Jardine Matheson  Head office in the Minories, London EC3. My days in this office were long and strenuous and you never knew when you would get home or even get to bed when trying to finalise some charter or another. I spent two years doing this job and one day was called in to Charlie who together with my direct boss were sitting there looking very serious and I thought , Boy this does not look to good. Only I was wrong, as they said, was I happy in my job and how would I like the idea of working in Hong Kong?.Well as you know we moved there on 13 th September 1975 and the rest is history. We cannot forget this date as the BOAC flight departed at 13.00 hrs from Gate 13 on 13th September, luckily it was a Saturday.
Over the years Charlie visited Hong Kong and he had amazing energy after a 24 hour flight would say lets hit the bars, and after several hours I would have to say Charlie I have had enough and need to get some rest and the next morning I might struggle but he was on the ball. After Charlie’s retirement many years ago we only saw each other occasionally but sadly he passed away within the last week aged 96 so clearly the late nights and booze did not hamper his long life.
A great loss to the Industry and a man with always a tale to tell. Charlie Rest in Piece.

Got you Apple!!!

Well after an early start, well early for us, we set off at about 10.00 to visit Best buy and hopefully solve the IPod issues. We got there on time and had to wait for a few minutes but after them spending about twenty minutes it became clear that problems could not be resolved and they said we needed to visit an Apple Store. We know there is one in Sarasota and we we sais we would call in there en -route to Clearwater next week but they said it is wise to book.
As we are still looking for dresses for Jennifer and before we go back to the we visited Kohl’s and also Walmart but still no luck an then it was time fo an early lunch and so we settled on a burger at the chain called ‘FIVE GUYS’

and the burgers and fries are about the best you can get and certainly very tasty with great fries.  Then back to the Town Centre Mall and finally on the sale rack we found found three suitable dresses all marked down and so the three outfits cost about £ 30.00 so brilliant.
Then back to house for a cup of tea and a sit by the pool  for a while and  then  Noel decided to try and book an appointment at the Apple Sarasota centre, but the centre is fully booked until mid-February, what is going on with Apple products one wonders???. S now what to do. Apple have a phone help line and so we set our selves up for a call back which happened at about 5.30 pm which eventually took one, one basic trained assistant who was unable to resolve and the boss who could also not resolve the matter. So looks like a complete factory reset but we do not want to do that today as we would lose all the music on which Noel wants for the cruise next week. In Noels business history he did a lot of work with Apple Europe , good business but hard work, so now I could get my own back. I told the guy from Apple that I had a hammer hovering over the unit if he could not fix it and that was the end of Apple for me . To try and reset a password or Apple you need a degree in Advanced Electronics and Software so overall we started on the problem at 5.30 and finished around 7.30 , B ridiculous so will most likely find another MP32 player without all this complicated Apple security stuff which is really not needed when you only use it for music. Oh well.
The rest of the evening we watched a short series starring Daniel Craig, the James Bond man, quite good but it was filmed in 2011.

I am getting blogging lazy- so three days at one shot

On some days we do a lot and on another not much and so its good to save it all up and give a report covering a few days and it makes it easier for me as I don't want to spend all my life on the computer whilst on holiday when I could be sitting outside in the sun.

Monday was a quiet day around the house with the morning walk along the White Marsh Lane before breakfast, we do this first thing as it can get to hot later in the day. Then some swimming and then a light lunch and evening meal with the odd glass of plonk followed by an evenings TV, all quite a nice way to spend the day really.
On Tuesday we decided to go shopping in Port Charlotte and as Noel is looking to change the Apple I-Pod which is and has given some hassle of the last few months decided that a trip to ‘Best Buy’ might be worthwhile and also Jennifer is interested in getting a couple of long relaxing dresses for the cruise and so of we toddled to Port Charlotte.,. We spent some some in the large electronics store and they have a section to help with issues called the GEEK SQUAD, but it tuned out that you have to book an appointment for them to help you and so we made an appointment for Thursday, see separate Blog, We then toddled of the the Town Centre Mall where we had a Subway sandwich lunch and Jennifer did a tour of Beales, J C Penny and Dillards looking for the long summer dress but all of the stores seem to only have separates which are no good but some further visit is required. Noel is also looking for a Haircut and the only shop in the Mall could not do it for about six hours and wanted 24 Dollars, way to much so we gave that a miss. There is an amusing sketch by Michael Mcintyre about the American use of words primarily for describing an article, I will try to link it, but we saw a typical example of this as per this photo. We have also seen in the past that you should not put your dog or cat in the microwave to dry it off!!!as there is a slight chance it might explode.
So during our walk around the Mall we happened upon these baby prams which you could bortrow which on the back was a small bag where you could pur say a handbag, but No there is a sign which you can see on the photo.

DO NOT PUT CHILD IN BAG

On Wednesday morning Noel went to the local Barbers, none of this scissor cut stuff but just straight over with the electric clippers, still it was all ok in the end.
We have now finished all the episodes of ‘The Crown’ on Netflix and we both agreed it was very good indeed. We do understand that they plan further episodes but skipping a few years so lets wait and see.
Looking forward to tomorrows visit to Best Buy to see what they can do with my IPod touch

A weekend of Sun and Swimming

Well the weather this weekend has been really great and the temperatures hitting 27 Degrees Centigrade and so sitting in the sun and going for walks has been the name of the game for the past two days.
With the heat it makes it easier in Noel’s knees and so each morning we have been for a walk before breakfast which is the coolest time of the day,
evening can be cool but we are not sure what bugs are around and Jennifer and mosquitos are really not the best of friends. We did a quiet day around the pool on Saturday and then on Sunday a quick dash to the shops to get some milk and also get some fuel for the car, its so cheap here.
Using American Petrol stations with a UK credit card can be a pain as the machine asks you for a ZIP Code, Trip Advisor is full of suggestions how to overcome and we have tried most but this time thought I would try again. The US Zip Code is five numbers and where we are  staying is Zip Code 33947 however using a combination of our UK Post Code numbers only so 138 I then added two Zeros making 13800 and low and behold it accepted the card, this is the first petrol station that I have been able to do so will return.
Sunday again was spent around the pool after the morning walk, and then some swimming and finally in the evening we had a BBQ with some great steaks from Publix, the local supermarket, together with some salad made for a a great day. On Sunday evening we watched another two episodes of the Crown where Charles was sent to Gordonstoun School in Scotland, where he was sent as a boy, and Philip does not come well out of this and is shown as a very poo father. In the film there is a cutback in time where Prince Philips parent died in an air crash and he was forced to walk behind the coffin with the streets lines with German Nazi’s and SS and even brown shirts and seemed to hate this. It makes one ponder then why he did the same with Diana’s boys??? The Royal Family do not comer well out of this.
With our Amazon Fire Stick giving access to YOUTUBE Noel can watch some of the football games taking place in the Uk within a couple of hours after the game so was able to watch the goals when Chelsea defeated Brighton..
Oh well another hard week ahead.
By the way who says FORD cars do not last.

A Nice boring and relaxing week really!

We did not do to much this week however we did spend some time shopping, going out for lunch , relaxing by the pool and looking at what we might want to do next year at roughly the same time of year. Its so nice having the sunshine and warmth rather then the cold and wet as it gets to the old bones.
In the past we have considered Cape Town for a period of time after Christmas but the flights are extremely expensive whilst a house and pool similar to what we have here in Florida, does not appear to exist in our price bracket. We pay approx. $ 200.00 per night for a very large three bedroom  house with private large swimming pool, see link,  Our rented house in Florida and its easy to go shopping and drive around and its quite a safe area compared to other areas in USA.
Flight prices to Florida are much lower than to CPT due to the competition and so we are looking around the area to see if there is anywhere also we might want to stay next year which we could put a deposit down on before leaving here . Anyway we shall see what happens. We would most likely come in February next year as we would like to be in UK for NYE and also our grandson Christopher's Birthday which is on the 13th of January , also the weather in February tend to be a little more reliable than January we understand.

We notice in the river by our house that we appear to have a local alligator who sort of hangs around all day waiting for something, not sure what, perhaps somebody to fall in the river perhaps. As usual with Alligators , they are like icebergs, in that you only see a small part of them.

According to the papers this morning the US Government are having the regular yearly budget approval problem, always screwed up by politics and its the normal person that suffers as hundred of Government employees could be out of a job next week it seems unless an agreement is reached.
Knowing how full of adverts US TV is our Amazon Fire Stick has been marvellous and we have had hours of TV without interruption. Worth every penny. One other bit of good news is that the Rate of Exchange between the USD and Sterling has improved to post Brexit levels, still not as high as it has been but better all the same. Anyway that it for now, its Saturday morning and tomorow is BBQ day and Monday its time for a haircut for Noel in the local barbers.

A day out in Sarasota- our old hunting ground

We have stayed at a friends place in Sarasota, well I say Sarasota as its massive area and where we really were was in a place called the Meadows about 25 minutes from the beach, but we thought that we would have a day around town with lunch and do some shopping.

So we left around 10.30 and headed North and it took about one hour and we headed for a well know area called St Armand's Circle, which is basically a very large roundabout with lots of restaurant’s and expensive shops around the outside and it was very, very busy and was going to be difficult to park. So we did not stop but continued on the main road down to the beach area where we found a nice place to sit in the car in the sun and enjoy the view. We could have sat on the beach but sand on your normal clothes is a pain whilst the wooden seats looked a little hard. However there was also a very cool wind blowing but the views were very nice.

We drove back in to the main town crossing the causeway, see video, and headed for Whole Foods store which is easy to park and they have a very large range of foods you can buy and eat on the premises, the choice was almost overwhelming but unfortunately Noel has to watch out for very spicy food, of which there was a lot,  and avoid any sign of Garlic which seemed to be in most things so after looking at various types of chicken, beef, fish and curries and/or salads we decided to go for sandwiches, Noel ordered a Roast Beef baguette whilst Jennifer had Tuna and something sandwich and both were excellent and washed down with a large bottle of water.

After lunch we wandered the streets and headed for the Library only to find it was closed as it was ‘Martin Luther King’ day and so most government facilities were closed except in the private sector everybody carried on as normal. Whilst waiting outside the Library our daughter called with some sad news which seemed to put a blot on the rest of the day.

As previously mentioned , we are due to go on a cruise on 4th February and of course Cruise Ships have a strong policies for taking one’s own wine on board as they want you to buy there rubbish on on board, a normal low priced bottle of wine on board is a minimum of USD 30.00 plus tip. whilst they do allow, unlike some other carriers, you to bring on one bottle each of wine, and for any more you pay a USD 18.00 corkage, which is not cheap. When we first arrived here we visited Costco and purchased some of their Malbec, which we know from Costco UK, and also some Sonoma Valley Chardonnay and both are very good and only $ 6.99 per bottle. So whilst in Sarasota we dropped by Costco and stocked up with wine for the next three weeks and sloe some for the Boat trip as $6.99 plus $18.00 is still a lot cheaper than on the boat for a quality wine.
By 16.30 we headed home and stopped by Publix and purchased some of their excellent sushi which we ate that evening with a glass of Chardonnay, ah heaven!!
Another evening of TV with two episodes of The Crown and also Two episodes of the Nightwatchman. And so to bed after a really great day out

A quiet day at home

Yes, we decided to have another quiet day around the pool and the weather was perfect with plenty of sun and warmth.  The good thing is this time of year its not to hot and normally around 20-26 C so always a comfortable temperature.

we had been to the shops the previous evening to buy some bits and pieces and also purchased a leg of lamb from Australia, why they don't do sheep in this country defeats me as you only see cattle of one sort or another. Buffalo and alligator meat are specialities around this area and to be Frank we are not sure about trying these out, well to be honest Noel would prefer not whilst Jennifer is a little m,ore adventurous with food.
In the evening we phone home to talk to Joanne and kids following Christopher's party and we subsequently received some lovely photos taken during the event

. In the evening we started to watch a BBC series called the Night-watchman which is very good and well acted and it has about 8 episodes and so we will watch that over the next few days. We also watched a further episode of The Crown whish is also good and got to the bit where Der Duke went chasing the Asian babe’s , or that is how it was indicated, who knows the truth.
Tomorrow we have decided as it might be a little cooler that we will take a trip up to Sarasota and also do some shopping whilst there.

Our Grandson Christopher James Denovan-Smith is ONE YEAR OLD Today

Well we will continue to remember the 13th January for quite some while as Jennifer and I were in France, Rouen actually for a short winter break prior to Noel’s next operation due on the 8th of February.

We had decided to leave Rouen for a day trip along the River Seine and as Joanne was due to have her baby on 29th January we thought no problems about being away from home at this time, Only we was wrong!!. The shenanigans of that day are blogged already last year but on returning to the Hotel we received a call from Joanne announcing the birth of Christopher. So one year old today and with a party planned for Sunday 14th which unfortunately we will miss by being away in the USA. However we do have a photo of the Birthday cake

SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTOPHER-HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY
For us in Florida it was a quiet day with some swimming and relaxing after a long days in Port Charlotte where our step count was very good but we both felt a little tired after the day. In the the afternoon we went to Walgreens Pharmacy to pick up a few things, some they had and some required prescription, apparently you need a prescription to purchase Voltarol which surely cant be correct but will have to check. Its been a lovely warm day today but the temp will be going up and down over the next week however for tomorrow Sunday we plan a pretty quite day again, a swim before lunch and then a call to the family in Shepperton to see how Christopher's parity went.
We continued watching ‘THE CROWN’ on Netflix and we are at the point where the ‘Duke’ is on a world trip apparently opening the Commonwealth Games in Australia but checking on the local women en-route, not sure how accurate this is but his life was rather difficult to imagine really. We also watched the first part of ‘The Night Manager’ which is also  very good, and so we have a few good nights TV ahead of us. Tomorrow the temperature in the morning will be about 5 C bumping up to about 17 C then the rest of the week will be warmer.

A semi relaxing week

Well the week has been filled with lots of doing nothing to a day out to Port Charlotte.
The weather has been quite good this week and so we have spent quite some time by the pool and some swimming of course and lunch by the pool of course.
We had a visit from a large bird, photo taken through Lanai so perhaps not as clear as it could be.

We came to use the BBQ and discovered that it was quite filthy obviously not cleaned for several weeks, possibly months, and so we complained and the response was not quite what we expected. First of all they were sending somebody round that afternoon and he never arrived or even the next day but at 08.30 on Friday the lady boss turned up and she tried to explain the BBQ can get very rusty in the Florida weather but as I showed her it was nor  rust but a great big thick layer of fat and meat juice and no doubt BBQ sauce, I had cleaned the actual grill by this point as we wanted to use it, but she also went on to say that you don't actually cook on where this muck was, I was incredulous by this statement and told her so. Later in the day she popped round and left a small present as an apology. Her excuses about lack of time and the owner does not pay her to do this I told her was not my problem as we had contract with her company. Oh well that’s the end of that saga.

We also visited the local library so that we could complete the on-line check-in in for our Caribbean cruise as we needed to print boarding cards and baggage label's.. Its a very nice library and it was quite busy with about 16 Pc’s available for free use and you have to pay fro printing which is no problem. A visit to Publix Supermarket took place a couple of times and then on Friday a day out to Port Charlotte.
Port Charlotte is about ten miles South of where we are staying and we wanted to visit the Shopping Mall as it would appear that Noel needs to have a jacket and tie for the cruise and he did not bring either. So after trolling around Macy’s and a couple of other stores we found the required jacket in J C Penny and at a 60% discount, and what with two for one offer’s (bought two shirts) and tie and pair of socks for less that we would have to pay for a jacket in Macy’s. We then had lunch in Ruby Tuesday’s and it was excellent and the amount of food on the plate was about right, not like the Venice lunch, and the quality was also very good.
Following lunch a further look around the Mall which was not busy, perhaps because it was Friday, and then we went to the Cinema to see a film called ‘ Darkest Hour’ with Gary Oldman playing Winston Churchill and the prosthetics were brilliant and the acting was also superb, well worth the visit. The fun thing was at the very end of the film just prior to the credits the screen informed us the Churchill stayed in power for five years after the war, that Neville Chamberlain died about six months after Dunkirk  and that Viscount Halifax who was a thorn in Churchill's side and was all for negotiating surrender with Hitler got posted to the British Embassy in Washington DC to which the all American audience, excluding us, all laughed out loud.
Then home and we watched a film on Netflix called a ‘Trip to Spain’ quite humorous really but some lovely places they visited including so we have also been to.
We plan a quiet weekend in the house and will visit Sarasota either next Monday or Tuesday. Right now Noel is monitoring the Chelsea vs Leicester game.

A trip to Venice, the one in Florida

As many people are aware with so many immigrants in the USA from all over Europe, plus of course other places, many of the places here have European town names. So just near us in Venice and and also Naples and it was Venice that we decided to visit.

The sun was shining and the temperature is rising again after a rather chilly bout and by the time we left at about 11.30 the temp was about 18 C and due to rise to possibly 21 or 22, now that's what we want. We headed north to Venice and it took about 35 minutes as the roads are very good in Florida and so far never blocked like the M25 and we arrived in Venice and drove around for a while and parked by the sea front which was not really inspiring and so we went to the old Historic part of town, and walked around there for a while. There were a number of restaurant on the road but many virtually empty except one big place with the usual loads of TV screens showing American football and the like but the tables were quite busy and so we opted for there.

So we ordered the coconut shrimps for a starter to share and the the mixed seafood grill, and it was really excellent and the amount of food they give you on a plate is quite ridiculous and we shall remember in future to share both the starter and the main course as neither of us could finish of all the food on the plate. So after letting the food go down and understanding that restaurant prices here seem to be about 15% higher than we are staying whilst the recommended  tip is anywhere from 18% to 22%, at least 2% higher than near us, Venice is expensive place to live and very popular.
We continued with some walking after lunch and then as the sun was nice and warm, showing 22C on the car temp gauge we opted for returning home and sitting on the patio next to the pool.
About two hours after the meal it looks like either the coconut or there might have been some garlic on the seafood so it caused Noel a few problems for about an hour, what a shame as the food was excellent.
We shall an evening of TV from our new Amazon TV Fire Stick where we can also get films of Netflix and so the choice of what to see is endless.
Tomorrow is a not much more than shopping and cleaning, how exciting can life get?

Goin’ cruis’n tonight!!

Well we had easy day about the house in the morning and finalised our hotel requirements leading up to our Holland American Lines Caribbean cruise and we needed to find Hotels for a total of five nights, three before the 4th of Feb and two after we return. This we have done and have booked two nights in Clearwater, which is north of here and then a night in Fort Lauderdale in advance of the cruise,.

Jennifer did some house sorting and we plan to give the place a bit of clean on Monday and just wanted to know what is is here in the way of cleaning stuff, chemicals and cloths etc., and so we have that sorted we had a nice lunch of Alaskan Cod with , I must say, lovely mashed potatoes from a potato brand you don't really get in the UK and finished with a nice apple strudel with chocolate ice cream, really excellent.

We left the house at around 4pm to check out one of the many golf clubs on this estate to find out if they had a decent bar and restaurant but the one that we visited did not and so we departed for the old Historic Town of Englewood where we had read that tonight will be Crusi’n night, not of the gay type, but with classic and other vehicles. So we found the place and there several hundred people standing around sipping beer whilst cars of all types were either parked or crusin’ up and down the street and those with a particularly noisy exhaust system, seem to do is the most. There was a guy in a truck playing music from films and if you guessed the the name of the film you got a free beer. Anyway we wandered up and down taking photos and looking at the people and cars as they moved up and down the street and after about 90 minutes it started to feel a little chill and so we headed home to watch a fil and have a nice smoked salmon sandwich.

A nice day and very interesting to see so many old cars including an old Morris Minor Countryman.

Where does time go- The last few days just went!!

Well I seem to have missed blogging for a few days and on one hand we have been taking it easy, on the other hand we have quite a few things to do.
Well we have booked this house until the end of January and have 16 days to do something else in Florida but as we have discovered, and so we have spent some time on the internet looking at other houses to rent , checking out Hotels and also Caribbean Cruises and after all is said and done we have decided on a Cruise with Holland America Line leaving from Fort Lauderdale on 4th February and returning on the 14th Feb. An so we needed to book hotels between leaving the the current house and whilst in between arriving back at Fort Lauderdale and leaving on the flight to London on the 16th should we decide to go. So hopefully it should be good and works out price wise in line with good resort Hotels in Florida nice places but include the food and Jennifer has no cooking or shopping to worry about.

MV Eurodam of Holland America Line

we have had one day out touring around to Boca Grande and Gasparilla State Park and it was quite nice and some very expensive houses by the side of the water which you can see when crossing the bridge. From there we headed to Manasota Key and drove all the way along the island strip with nice houses either side but no sign of any damage caused by the Hurricane last last year. We stopped in a Diner for a snack lunch and the chicken breast in a burger bun was really excellent and perhaps one of the best we have ever had, would go back If I can remember where it is. When topping up the fuel in the car its always a bit of a hassle as unlike UK when you can fill up and walk to the payment station, in US you can put your credit card in but it would accept cards from overseas and so you have to go to the payment counter and leave you card, walk back to the car and fill up, then back to the payment station each time having to wait in a queue. However this time the petrol pump data entry pad was not working and so we had to call out the guy from the payment station who seemed to know less than I on how it worked and in the end had to change pumps, what a palaver.
On Wednesday night we had a steak BBQ, the steaks we bought from Costco on the way here are great except the first one we tried we were not to impressed but we had just purchased them and perhaps it was not hung enough or to cold, however this was was really good and cooked to perfection with a grill I am not used to but it really turned out well.
We decided to order and Amazon fire stick so that we could watch programmes without the usual hundred of Adverts which you get on USA television but the one we brought from UK could not seem to understand it was now in USA and did not work properly and so when the new one arrived we hoped all would be well. Well it wasn't and after about 30 minutes on the phone to the excellent support  we discovered that due to using a UK based credit card it assumed you were inn UK not USA, however matter is now resolved and the Amazon prime choice together with a months trial of Netflix will provide more TV and films we ever watch.
We also had to wait for a courier envelope to arrive from the UK containing some urgent paperwork which Noel needed to sign and then return it back to France and so it arrived and we had to find a courier office somewhere and there happened to be one right next door to the Publix Supermarket we use and so twenty minutes in the shop and all was done. Total cost of courier from Uk and Back for one small envelop is about £ 85.00 which is a lot of money but we cannot rely on the normal post for a thing like this. Oh well. This courier office was also across the road from the Super Day Deli and Pizza joint where we had decided to visit to test a pizza for lunch. What a place it was and it was so busy and they had a huge amount of staff serving so they must do a big trade. Compared to the pizza joint next to Public which was empty this one was very active and so we bought three large slices of various pizza’s and two large chocolate éclairs and came back to the house and sat in the sum  by the pool end enjoyed the food.
Well that's about it at the moment and its Saturday lunchtime when writing this and we are off to the old town of Englewood later this afternoon to watch the Cruisin’ party of old cars, should be fun
w

Lets go out for lunch

Well the grey and wet weather has set in a bit, its a bit chilly by Florida standards but not to bad for us. The house is very nice and with a few little niggles but nothing to worry about. eg the shower takes about five minutes to get warm and so there a complete waste of water whilst is gets warmed up, such a shame when you waste so much water.
Anyway we decided to have lunch out today and after loo9king at Trip Advisor we settled on a place Leverocks Grill which is only about 15 minutes away by car and overlooking a marina and the sky was a little bit blue for a while

. Jennifer had the crab cakes and Noel the Calamari, this is the first time in two years that he has dared trying fried foods and slightly nervous as to the outcome, and then we both had the ribs and FRIES of course and the portions here are always so large that initially we forget to share a single dish but always learn from the experience. However we could not manage any desert and the tummy was full. There was a lot of food for the 60 bucks we paid but most enjoyable. However tipping in the USA is quite with an absolute minimum of 15% with the norm 20%  whilst in the really big cities its more like 30% and if you don't pay up watch out for a knife in your back.
Still waiting for the company unblocking my phone to advise what is going on as it should not take so long.
After having such a large lunch and evening snack was off the menu apart from a bowl of crisps and some water and three episodes of ‘The Crown’. This is an excellent series and really gives the viewer a great insight in to the shenanigan's of Royalty.
Its a little cooler tonight and so wrapped up warm with a blanket, very comfortable.

Well we start another year 2018 lets make it better

We start the new year with renewed hope for peace and well being around the world, yet I fear it will not be this way.
From a personal point of view that last year was tough but improved steadily through the last three months of the years and so we hope that the health will continue to improve over the next few months and so we say a ‘Happy New Year’ to all our readers.
we had an easy day starting with a morning swim before breakfast which was most enjoyable and the first swim for Noel for quite some while for reasons that are well known.  we had some roast pork for dinner with roast potatoes and veg and some chocolate ice cream to round it off, however the Choc ice cream we have is not so nice so may get dumped and we can get a different variety.
The weather here is changing over the next few days and we expect a little rain and being a bit cooler but this is not unusual in Florida as many years ago we did have the same experience.  
We have started the watch a NETFLIX series called ‘The Crown’ which is very good indeed and gives a great insight into the challenges of the Royals over the years and I guess we are about halfway through the first series so we have hours of watching ahead over the next few weeks. I am still trying to find a way to watch premier league football but so far without success.
Still having a little trouble with the Amazon Fire stick that we brought with us, it works for Netflix and a couple of other things but it works, then the next days it doesn't??? Oh dear may have to find different solution