I was participating in an online survey recently (I don’t remember why) and this question came up. Option six cracked me up, the creator obviously had a good time devising this one. Or am I the only one who hasn’t built a life-size replica of a spaceship?

While most of my house has the original terrazzo floor throughout, for some reason the laundry room had a bare concrete floor. I decided on vintage wood vinyl plank flooring awhile ago but never got around to purchasing it. My procrastination turned out to be a good thing.

I’m always on the lookout for items by the curb (people place stuff out that they no longer want and it either gets picked up by someone who does want it or by the garbage truck). So I was delighted to find a stack of planking curbside recently.

Yesterday I tackled the floor. As usual, it was not as simple and straightforward as I had hoped. Which reminded me of the t-shirt my friend Karen recently sent me:

My walls are uneven, the concrete wasn’t level, and I had to cut around the water heater (it’s too old to move). Regardless, I finished the floor today. I’m pleased with the outcome and I am relatively unscathed.

Here’s hoping the year ahead is full of good things for all of us!

Wishing you the best gifts of all: joy, peace, and love!

Found these Jingle Bell lyrics on Facebook recently. In my humble opinion, they are spot on (especially the part about tourists driving too slow). A tips of the hat to the creative person that wrote this!

This afternoon I finally took the opportunity to tour the 31 acre Largo Central Park Nature Preserve. And boy, am I glad I did as there was an impressive array of wildlife on display.

They were unusually tolerant of my presence, allowing me to capture some nice closeups. I presume they are used to people, not only those wandering the preserve but the golfers on the course adjacent.

I will certainly be back for another visit!

Top to bottom, left to right: Snowy Egret, Eastern Gray Squirrel, Reddish Egret, Tricolored Heron, American White Ibis, Limpkin, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, American Alligator, Green Heron.

Last night friends and I toured this 1/2 acre, light-filled property in the Oakdale neighborhood just south of downtown St. Pete. Ted Kresge and his wife (along with several dedicated volunteers) decorate their yard with lights, tv screens, an extensive model train display, and dozens of animatronics.

As we wandered the pathways I was distracted by the logistics of it all. According to their signage, they use roughly half a million lights which are connected to three electric meters that incur a bill close to $5000 for the month and half long event. This is the 45th year for the extravaganza and what a labor of love it is!

When Ted took a break from playing the organ he explained to us that he also built by hand all the extensive canals, ponds, fountains, and waterfalls that twine throughout his front yard. My dad, who was born and raised in the Sonoran Desert, is also fond of creating water features – the house he built when I was a child had a waterfall inside and a large pond outside while their current property has at least four ponds.

To commemorate the season, I started putting up holiday decorations shortly after the beginning of the month. As you might imagine about the woman who has moved five times in the past five years, I didn’t have very many items.

So, a couple weeks back when I saw these exterior lights on sale I decided they’d be perfect for my front porch. What I neglected to remember at the time was that I do not have an outside outlet on said porch.

Well, the solution seemed easy enough: turn off the breaker, open up the outlet under the living room window, drill through the block wall, connect a few wires, install an exterior receptacle, and flip the breaker back on. Piece of cake, right? (Insert eye roll here.)

After two trips to the home improvement store (and a few choice words), I finally hung and turned on my lights. As is the case so many times in my life, things may not be easy but I do manage to persevere in the end.

When your route home offers you this view, you had better stop and smell the sea air! It is different out here every single day. One of many reasons why I love where I live!