Christmas Time!

Family, friends, food and festivities...it's what this time of year is all about!  We spent Christmas in Tampa and were excited Allison and Andrea were able to join us.

During the day, Frank smoked some of the kingfish we caught a few weeks ago and prepared a few batches of fish dip.  Yummy!

To celebrate Christmas Eve we had nibbles and spirits with our good friends, Ken & Victoria.

It wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't continue a tradition Ken & Victoria introduced us to:  Christmas Crackers!  Everyone dons their crowns and tries to figure out the riddle and prize.

Afterwards, we walked around the neighborhood to see Christmas lights and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Ken is the King of Repurposing!  When his garage door opener broke, he didn't pitch it but transformed it into something that would be the talk of the block.  (I couldn't upload the video, but the elf (at the bottom, near the brick wall) climbs to the top of the North Pole.)  :)

On Christmas morning, after the customary breakfast of cinnamon rolls and fruit salad, we packed the sleigh and headed to Winter Haven to share Christmas with Frank's mom.

After returning home, Andrea was going through a bit of baking withdrawal and wanted to make lemon ricotta cookies.  (Editor's note:  they were very tasty!)

Christmas dinner was low-key and non-traditional.  We had eggplant napoleans, garlic-almond green beans, rosemary ciabiatta bread (from Andrea's bakery), salad and Panettone bread pudding with Amaretto sauce.  (It was ALL good!)

Andrea also brought a loaf of challah bread in hopes we could make French toast.  Turned out the day-after-Christmas breakfast was the perfect opportunity!  Thanks Chef Frank!

Wishing everyone a safe and happy New Year!

Wonderful Wedding Weekend!

We spent the weekend in DelRay Beach for nephew Mike's wedding and the whole family was there to celebrate!

We picked up Andrea and Allison at the airport and then headed south where we met Richard and Nan for lunch.

Friday evening was the rehearsal dinner and no detail was overlooked!  Bonnie created a delightful beach-themed party and dinner.  It was a great opportunity to meet some of Jenn's family and catch up with family on the Jones side who we haven't seen in a while.

Rich, Andrea, Frank, Bonnie, Allison, Ray and Nan.

Allison, Mike and Jenn, Andrea and Nan.

The Jones Brothers, Ray, Frank and Rich.

It's not every day you see a bagpiper walking down the street, piping away, but we did Saturday morning!  Right down Atlantic Ave toward the Ocean.

The wedding was Saturday afternoon and everyone was dressed in their finest.  Jenn was absolutely stunning!  Mike seemed to be cool as a cucumber.  Piece of cake!  Onto the pictures and party!

There was a bit of an 'intermission' between the wedding and reception so we took advantage of the opportunity to take some pictures.

Cousin Jackie and husband Matt with Allison, Andrea and Nan.

Jenn did a fantastic job with the reception!  The floral arrangements were beautiful blue hydrangeas with huge white roses, the tables were covered in ivory linens, tasty blue champagne filled flutes for toasting and yummy surf-and-turf dinner.  She added several creative touches including table numbers that weren't just 1,2,3.  There was significance to each of them, like:  17 = Mike's jersey number, 3104 = the address of their new apartment in DC, 8109 = the date Mike proposed to Jenn.

Mr & Mrs Mike Jones

Proud Parents, Bonnie & Ray Jones

Groom's cake -

Mike recently completed his initial training with the Secret Service and reports for duty next week in DC.

Leann, big sister Megan, Bonnie and Tess

The band was fantastic and kept the crowd energized (no line dancing!).

 Everyone danced and celebrated for many hours!

Congratulations to Ray, Bonnie (Mike's parents), Kathy and Rick (Jenn's parents) and

all the best to Mike and Jenn

as they begin their life together with brand new jobs in a brand new city!

Here Fishy Fishy!

The windows have been small, but we've tried to take advantage of the fishing opportunities whenever we can. 

Tuesday, the seas dropped a bit to a range of 3-5 feet (and our hope was they would be closer to the 3 foot end of the range).  We left the dock at 7:30 and so did some of our neighbors.

We ventured down the river and out the inlet.  (The inlet was a bit choppy, ok, it was rough!)  We went slow but eventually made it out to where we could start getting things ready to fish.  Frank barely got the line in the water and ZIINNNGGGG, there was a fish!  He pulled it in and we determined it was a kingfish (mackerel) which was something we hadn't caught before. 

We continued on for a while, with a few knock-downs, but nothing got hooked.  We heard several reports of sailfish jumping and a few releases.  Try as we might, the closest we came to one was seeing it jump several times across the bow of the boat. 

Thursday was another good day and seas were forecasted to be 2-3 feet.  We headed out at our usual time and heard that fish were being found in rather shallow waters (60-110 feet).  We get everything set up and they must have liked what we were serving because we had a fish relatively early.  Although it was a schoolie (small dolphin), it qualified and found a new home in the fishbox. 

After getting things cleaned up and lines back out, we had another bite.  We fought it for a short time and before we could get it close to the boat, another line was hit.  We brought the first one in and it was a bigger dolphin.  Into the box it went.  Now our attention turned to the second line.  No jumps or splashes but Frank got a pretty good workout trying to bring it to the boat.  For a moment, we thought it might be a bucket!  Once we got it to the boat, we could see it was a small shark that had gotten hooked in a very unconventional way.  That one DID NOT get into the boat.  We cut the leader and sent him on his way.

We also caught a bonita (but didn't keep that one either.)  The last fish of the day was a nice bull dolphin.  Lots of jumping and aerobatics which took place in front of several other boats too.  It seemed like I fought that fish for a half an hour before he finally made it into the box!

All in all it was a good day.  We tried a few different techniques and baits along with another secret trick, and we were handsomely rewarded!

Getting ready for Christmas - West Coast and East Coast

During December, we plan to spend time in Tampa and Stuart.  And of course a little decor is needed to get both places into the Christmas spirit! 

In Tampa,  our neighbors had their houses decorated by Thanksgiving!  Not to be shamed too badly, a few wreaths and some garland were hung out front.  The dock was decorated with a few twinkle lights and our FSU-colored tree.  Guess Clarkette got a little too carried away because one of those itty-bitty fuses blew and so she had to reconfigure the lighting scheme in order for there to be more outlets to share the load.  ;o)  The inside was also done, but the photographer was off-duty.  (Pictures will be added later.)

In Stuart, where we say "Merry Fish-mas", the tree has a 'Fish Camp' theme and twinkle lights on the balcony.

Historically, the outside of our building had a few twinkle lights, but nothing like some of the decor the other buildings had.  One of the neighbors, Geri, called a decorating meeting.  What a wonderful surprise!  Nearly every unit was represented and everyone shared their ideas.  It was agreed this year we'd go with a "simple and classy" theme.  A game plan was prepared, necessary decor and lighting items procured, and the group reconvened the next day.

Before:

Circle Bay Elves at work:

Peter and Jim work on the palm trees.

Rex holds the ladder while Geri, Barney and Marie work on the tree.

Betty and Pat work on the wreaths.

Jack, Peter and Jim work on the powering-up the twinkle lights and wreaths.

Jack, Peter, Geri, Leann, Pat, Betty, Marie, Barney, Rex and Jim.  The Terrific Ten from Building Ten 10!

Many hands make light work!  In under two hours, we had electricity to the flower-boxes, wreaths were fluffed, bows added and hung, twinkle light were strung in and around the flower boxes, palm trees were wrapped with rope lights, and finally, a Christmas tree assembled and lighted. 

Wine, champagne, and snacks at noon to celebrate a job well-done!

After:

What a great group effort!  It looks fantastic!  (And no wires showing like some other buildings!)

 

 

 

 

 

Now if only Florida would get a little cooler weather! 

Merry Christmas!