Watching Melissa brush Maggie on the front deck as well as flowers blooming at the Manatee Center are always good!
And, of course, there is Tillie, who continues to grow (about 24 pounds at present). . .and be so cute!
While we were up there, we popped in and saw my mom and my sister, who are doing better. We also stayed with Greg and Jenn. Heather joined us for dinner at JoJo’s Neighborhood Bar. It’s like cheers where everybody knows each other. The food was delicious and the evening was a great! We did a two-day trip coming home instead of a one day trip up. It was much kinder on all of us, including the dog. She’s a trooper and handles that long ride very, very well.
I didn’t do much cooking over the month, but we didn’t starve. We never get tired of catching Saturday morning breakfast at the Farmer’s Market, where the OJ, smoothies, pastries and the Jamaican bowls are excellent. The music, people & dog watching, fruits, vegetables, flowers crafts, etc., are wonderful. One night we had dinner with Marilyn and John plus Miles, Joe and Glenn at Vero Beach Yacht Club. For lunch, joined Marilyn, John, Connie and Ed back at Taco Dive Beachside. Barb (SV ELAN ), Melissa (MV BOLD RASCAL) and I, from I-Dock enjoyed the Greek salads and the box at Swift’s Grille. Billy and Sue, MV ANGELINA, are still in Stuart, but we had a lovely evening here in Ft Pierce. Kay and Frank invited us to dinner at their home in Jensen Beach. While with Ann and Howie, we also enjoyed some Chinese. Tomorrow, I-Dock is doing Pizza, and another Taco Tuesday is in the works. It was a great month for eating; not so good for fitted clothes!
During the month, I have started Pilates, which I really enjoy and is within walking distance of the marina. There were also appointments both medical and personal so that left only a few free days during the month. For Pete, the second half of the month, work was much less stressed, and he had more free time. It worked out well with the crazy schedule that we were having. Pete and Howie got in a round of golf on an old, but nice course in West Palm Beach. They enjoyed all the folks they met while playing.
Since it is “the season,” there is plenty of things going on. We caught up with Ann & Howie for both the Palm Beach Fine Art Show and the Coconut Grove Art Festival. On our way to the Palm Beach show, we noticed an unusual cloud above the highway. I took these shots with my phone.
. . .and YES, there was rotation!
Thankfully, it dissapated very soon after this.
I have to admit some of the jewelry was really nice, but the modern artwork is just not my cup of tea, but in Palm Beach they were a couple of really cool artist’s displays. The most memorable and facinating artist who caught my eye, was a gentleman who up cycles metal and makes his wonderful sculptures that are extremely detailed. Forks, pitchforks, bicycle chains, wrenches, tin ceiling tiles, shredder teeth, etc. His dragons were phenomenal, I just forgot to take a picture. Sorry about that, but these are from the artists' website ~ https://www.jeffwhittum.com/
Artist: Jeff Whittum
View across the inlet and SV AKAI returning from a cruise.
Terry admiring the view
We were blown away by the Miami Beach Boat Show. They have five different exhibition areas for various types of boats, trawlers, sail, yachts and mega yachts. Buses can shuttle folks to the various areas. The main convention center exhibited not only the run-a-bouts which are under 40 feet. There were also fishing, electronic, engine and prop displays. We were centered on learning all we could about inflatable dinghies, which were also displayed here. We need to make a decision as to which one will replace our Caribe. It is 14-years old and constantly needs to be pumped up in the morning because the pontoon are deflated. We finally decided on an Apex 10 fiberglass-bottom dinghy, which is 50 pounds lighter than our current one. We will pick it up later this week. We spent the better part of three hours talking to different vendors, collecting pamphlets, making notes and spreadsheets, and getting confused as to which, what, when and how. We would’ve love to see some of the big boats, as what’s new in the sailing world. There is also all those things and do-dads that are intriguing.
It was an expensive month. Not only did we purchase the dinghy, we also had Georgia install the new canvas, (Bimini connector and dodger), and had rather extensive work done on the car, We are just glad the car issues didn’t arise when we were traveling north. Hopefully, that’ll be the end of our big spending for a long while. I will be making a new enclosure this summer as the old one needs new Isinglass and doesn’t match the new geometry the new dodger and Bimini. Considering the current enclosure the Isinglass needs to be replaced, it is better to start from scratch then modifying the current enclosure. Watching Georgia, I understand how to do the patterning, so I’ll be ahead of the curve much more so than when I made the original. It’ll look great when it’s all done! For the return trip North, we will be able to adapt the current enclosure using tent poles through the original slats from when I first made it without zippers to attach it to the Bimini.
I can’t believe with a wink, a blink and nod, the entire month of February has flown by. March should be less busy, and we will be heading north towards the end of April, so the adventure continues. . . .
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| Saturday morning music |
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| Art work by the municipal building |
Since it is “the season,” there is plenty of things going on. We caught up with Ann & Howie for both the Palm Beach Fine Art Show and the Coconut Grove Art Festival. On our way to the Palm Beach show, we noticed an unusual cloud above the highway. I took these shots with my phone.
. . .and YES, there was rotation!
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| The Palm Beach Show |
Artist: Jeff Whittum
An upcycling group of artists make Steampunk Art machines that don’t do anything, but are intricate, with a lot of moving parts, and looks really cool.These are once again from the artists' website https://bartholomewsbrilliantboxes.com/ ~
Bartholomew's Brilliant Boxes
Coconut Grove Fine Arts Festival had a lot of unique jewlery, paintings, glass, sculptures as well as photographs. We fing that most of the modern art is just not for us. The painter Anne E London was once again at this show. We had seen and bought Old Soul from her in 2011. She continues to create amaizing wildlife paintings. I love visiting her website https://a-e-london-studio.myshopify.com/
Other sites at the Coconut Fine Arts Festival include:
We were able to meet up with Sue and Terry, SV LEEWAY, who are on O Dock with us back in Kent Narrows. We had a lot of catching up to do. They have spent the last couple of months at Cocoa Village after a very tiring trip down the ICW. They were in a great spot to see the launches from Cape Canaveral. They have now seen many launches. After a late lunch at Cobb's, we opted to head over to the inlet. It was a beattiful time as the sun was setting. We will see if we meet on the journey north. If not we will catch ip with them once we are back.
Clouds with crepuscular rays or "God rays"
View across the inlet and SV AKAI returning from a cruise.
Fisherman and "fishing" pelican on the jetty
. . . and what a view!
If it is the 4th Saturday in February, there will be The Cracker Boys Parade her in downtown Fort Pierce. It celebrates the cowboys, who moved the cattle from Fort Pierce to Bradenton, on the west coast, using their whips, which “crack” as they hit the ground. There were at least 100 different horses and their riders. It’s just amazing to see.
We were blown away by the Miami Beach Boat Show. They have five different exhibition areas for various types of boats, trawlers, sail, yachts and mega yachts. Buses can shuttle folks to the various areas. The main convention center exhibited not only the run-a-bouts which are under 40 feet. There were also fishing, electronic, engine and prop displays. We were centered on learning all we could about inflatable dinghies, which were also displayed here. We need to make a decision as to which one will replace our Caribe. It is 14-years old and constantly needs to be pumped up in the morning because the pontoon are deflated. We finally decided on an Apex 10 fiberglass-bottom dinghy, which is 50 pounds lighter than our current one. We will pick it up later this week. We spent the better part of three hours talking to different vendors, collecting pamphlets, making notes and spreadsheets, and getting confused as to which, what, when and how. We would’ve love to see some of the big boats, as what’s new in the sailing world. There is also all those things and do-dads that are intriguing.
The crowds
And the expensive art work!
Unfortunately, there just wasn’t enough time to see more. We were tired when we went back to the roof to reclaim our car. After an hour of searching, we couldn’t find it. Pete sent me down to try to figure out which elevator we initially went down. Everybody told us there’s only one roof parking. How wrong they were! There was a second roof and that’s where our car was located. Thank heavens Pete found it. I found him and we were glad to be in the air conditioning again and heading on home.! We arranged for sitter for Tilly. She came home filthy, tired and happy.
I can’t believe with a wink, a blink and nod, the entire month of February has flown by. March should be less busy, and we will be heading north towards the end of April, so the adventure continues. . . .
~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~ K & P
