Keep Your Shirt On!

My beloved nephew, Dana, seems to be following in his father's (my oldest brother) footsteps, sharing his penchant for Jimmy Buffett, grass skirts and shell bras:

He seems to be searching for his dignity.

More pics from yesterday:

Mom with her head in the clouds; she had a fall during the island excursion of the trip... not a bad one, but she's sore today.

A couple of pelicans took pity on me and stood still long enough for me to snap a picture. The bubbly area to the middle left of the photo was hiding a very shy manatee.

Another dolphin; the younger ones were quite exuberant and would approach quite closely. We also spotted one of the subjects of their study: Rocky, an adult male dolphin.

Before we left on the cruise we had a light lunch at Snook Inn, this is alligator with a spicy remoulade. We also had conch chowder, Manhattan style, with a nice hit of heat. The kidling had shrimp followed by a slice of chocolate mousse 'cake' topped with chocolate-toffee bits. It was all delicious. 

Fortunately, we were on the last leg of the trip when we saw this heading toward us; we made it back to the dock and had just jumped in the car when it began pouring down. Seriously, it cracked the sky!

Tomorrow is the kidling's birthday and we are, at her request, going to Medieval Times... I spent much of the day today preparing her birthday cake: layers of chocolate cake moistened with a fresh black cherry/peach moscata sirup. It is covered with white chocolate ganache and served with the peach moscata-infused black cherries and the rest of the sirup ladled over. 

Never heard of Medieval Times? (Lucky you! lol) Here's a link where you can see what you're missing---> Medieval Times We'll be eating our dinner with our bare hands . . .

No Photos

Yet, no photos yet! Please don't strangle me! I'll put just one up tonight, of the kidling, but I'm also sharing a link of a video she did today of some of the dolphins playing in the boat's wake.

Watch the video and you'll see why she's looking a bit, well, smug; great job using just her cellphone!

Oh okay, just one more photo! (Obviously, I'm not as good as the kidling.)

You can see Jenn's video here ---> Dolphins!

All Booked Up, Uh Huh Huh

Poking my head in and waving; the kidling has arrived so it's go like crazy time. Tomorrow we're going on a cruise with the folks of the Dolphin Explorer; they're studying the dolphins of the southwest Florida waters and we lucky souls get to go along! (Expect lots of photos.) (Oh, and expect to read a bit about Rufus the Toothless vampire and a book review next week.)

Here's a teaser:

For image source, more photos and more information about the cruise, go here: LINKY! (This is just what I'd do if I could get away with it.)

Going for Baroque

After nearly a month of non-functioning laptops for my mother and I, (hers stopped working and mine mostly died three days later-ala The Princess Bride, I thought it was completely dead) my laptop is up and running again! Yes, I can once again whine, pout and be silly in your general direction. Both my phone and Kindle were working but were quite recalcitrant regarding the blog... occasionally I would see a link on Facebook and be able to reach a blog from there, but that was it. Anyway, that's all over, thank goodness! I do have a few photos to share, along with a couple of lovely bits of good news.

The basil and rosemary are coming along, the rosemary is soon to be transplanted to a permanent spot. The tomatoes are thriving; the branches are nearly 4 foot high and are covered with baby cherry tomatoes!

We've already gotten a half-dozen fresh tomatoes and more are busily ripening; they have a lovely tanginess.

The various tropical storms have made sky-watching even more fascinating than usual, although there have been interesting sights on land as well; think I'll close the photo section with a lovely lobster bisque...

It was a sample of the restaurant's new recipe and was deliciously creamy with a surprising little 'kick', yum!

As for the good news: The kidling will be here soon to spend her birthday with us, it will be SO good to see her. (Oh, and she recently got a significant raise!)

Also, next Tuesday I go for an interview and facility tour with a potential employer. This is for a desk job, full-time, with a company which provides decent remuneration and benefits. Considering how long it's been since I worked, I couldn't ask for a better way to get back on the work force... I decided it was time to go for baroque, lol.

Last, but never least, I live a bit over an hour from Orlando, Florida now... please keep everyone who has been affected by the tragedy in your thoughts.