2026 August in Fort Pierce

     As predicted, August has been hot and humid, with lots of pop-up storms that split around us. They are usually accompanied by afternoon breezes that a couple of times became wind just before the storms. We continue to have a “force field” around our boat. I swear that there are times where a storm approaches, only to splits around us, miss by passing within a quarter of a mile (sometimes I believe the rain hits somewhere within our marina!), or simply dissipates before reaching us. Pete has watched a wall of water approach from the south as he walked Tillie. They barely made it under Cobb’s covered porch before it arrived. He only had to wait 10 minutes for it to pass. While waiting, Tillie was fascinated by the runoff tracking through the bricks of the patio. She quickly learned she could still watch the water’s movement while her bottom stayed dry if she sat on Pete’s feet! 

Storms clouds that herald the ominious . . .

 

Storms that break at sunset or challenge the moon . . .

 

Storms that try to block the sunrise . . .

 

These are from sunrise on 8/28. I wished I had gotten up about 15 minutes earlier, 

knowing that the backlit clouds at sunrise would have been spectacular.  

Tracey Kurilla, a local photographer, verified my belief with photos below, 

taken at the jetty and posted on Facebook.

 

 
     The heavy rain showers finally found our boat in the last week or so. Pete had power washed the boat early in the month. It is looking cleaner once again after the storms. I love watching the clouds build into storms. I can see the slow building of the clouds, with white and fluffy changing to dark and menacing. The lightning within clouds after dark is pretty amazing. We have seen storms that were pounding Orlando and Titusville nearly 90 miles away, illuminate with flashes from lightning. Florida’s flat lands and the cloud heights made it easy to be seen over distances.

     On Sunday, 08/23, one of the storms spawned a tornado/waterspout that touched down in Stuart near the Indian River.  There were no injuries, but a lot of excitement on the 6 pm local news as it was forming. There was some damage, but thankfully, nothing severe.  

     With the continued temps in the 90’s, dinners tend to be readied quickly. I either cook a dinner for 3 meals at a time in the cockpit, use the electric grill, opt for sandwiches, or reheat leftovers. This month, Tuscan Chicken, Pulled Pork and Lasagna were done in the crockpot. That is 9 meals of deliciousness! The crockpot and electric grill can be used in the cockpit, with reheating via microwave. That limits the onboard heat and taxing the AC, which by the way, it is running perfectly since it was blown out last month. PHEW!!!

 

    Due to an accident on 95, we had to take the Florida turnpike to make my appointment in Miami.  Shortly after getting on it, we saw dark smoke rising further south. Within a few miles, we hit traffic that was oogling a car fire in the north bound lane.  Thankfully, the family inside got our safely and were assisted by a road crew that stopped. I think it is safe to say that the car was a total loss.  

     With only a few weeks until our daughter, Heather and I leave for a Viking River Cruise of the Rhine, we have been closely watching the water levels on the Rhine and Danube Rivers this month. Facebook has had a lot of photos of the river bottoms that haven’t been seen in years as well as WWII ships that were sunk and “Starvation Rock,” which was a bad omen. When it appeared in the past, lands were too dry to produce crops and support livestock. Cruises are still running, but the schedules have been modified. Some areas are so low that the shallow-drafted river boats cannot pass. Passengers are being bussed to another boat stationed further up/down the river, depending on the cruise. Tourism and shipping are vital to the river comminities.

 
Some of the postings we have seen on Facebook

     Cruise lines are offering substantial credits and onboard perks. Passengers are saying that the boats’ crews have really gone out of their way to make the cruise as enjoyable as possible. We are watching the weather daily, monitoring the website that reports on the water levels, The rainy season is slowly arriving, water levels are rising and the extreme heat that has plagued Europe has finally dissipated. With less than 3 weeks, our excitement is building.

     We continue to met up with local friends to shared stories and great meals. We tried the new-to-us, Fishshack in Vero. They have the best and skinniest onion rings ever! Marilyn, Jon, Miles and we went through 2 servings before we had our lunch. Speaking of outrageous appetizers, The 2nd Street Bistro still has the best ever, nachos with chicken!

     Things in the marina continue to be relatively quiet. There are lots of vacant slips and even fewer people still onboard their boats.
     I did finally asked about the AC in the ladies’ bathroom. For months, it has been hot and humid even in the evening after the sun goes down. I avoided showering in the bathhouse as once out of the shower, I really couldn’t get dry. One evening, the temperature inside it was 84! The AC service people we called and, low and behold, it is once again cool and drier, and it's better for showering than the boat. YIPPIE!!!

     On a slightly negative note, Pete received an email from TowBoat US. Our membership of 27 years has been cancelled due to “abuse of membership.” Needless to say, we immediately enrolled in SeaTow. I am so angry, I wrote a letter to the VP of Member Services. After doing some research, I found that during those 27 years, we used Towboat 14 times, unfortunately 12 of them in the past 5 years due to our major issues. During the 14 round trip cruises from Annapolis to Florida in the past 16 years, we traveled 36,000+ miles. Those tows average out to one tow every other year and approximately every 3000 miles. It is probably an exercise in futility, but I needed to vent my spleen.

     On Saturday, 08/15, there was an evening launch of the SpaceX’s Globalstar’s initial batch of HIBILEO-4 replacement satellites. There was a unique arial display, which I tried to photograph, but it was too far away and extremely blurry. The NSF website did a much better job in capturing the “exhaust nebular” and boy, it was impressive! It is something we have never seen before. 

  

     This was their final flight from Cape Canaveral using the Falcon Rocket. SpaceX will be using their facilities in Louisiana for future launches to place/replace the Starlink’s satellites in orbit. That means that the frequency of launches from Cape Canaveral will decrease substantially. However, Sunday, 8/30, the Roman Space Telescope was launched shortly after 7 am. It was too overcast to watch from the marina, but Pete watched on the NextSpacecraftFlight app.

"They're back!"

      Friday, 8/28/26 ~ It has begun.  Seed pods have begun their annual migration on Tillie's hair.  Yup. . .  Those troublesome little green spots are appearing on her legs, paws and face. Today's yield took Pete a good 25 minutes and it was impressive.

    Chrissy and I met up for a couple of walks out at the jetty. There were also a couple of mornings, where it was possible to catch a walk before “The H’s” (Hot, Humid, and Horrible!) climbed and the sun came out from behind the clouds. Of course, there were also a number of photo ops.

 

These mushrooms were growing around a tree stump. Thought they were pretty amazing!

               

Sunrise in the marina and Sunshine Mimosas backlit

Raindrops on Roses . . .

 

View from the marina walkway by the office

 

Chrissy's and my sunset walk out at the jetty was definately memorable!

    Staff here confirm that September is pretty much like August. Time will tell. After a hot summer all over, I hope September brings cooler temps and fresh breezes to all of us!

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~ K & P

2026 Summer in Fort Pierce ~ July

 

DC Building prepped for the 
AMERICA 250 Celebration

   Wednesday, 7/1/26 ~ We are continuing the trip to NJ after a very limited hotel breakfast. No meat, eggs, or juice, but the waffles were great as usual. We were on the road by 8 am. The AC behaved better today. Once started, we did not shut down the engine during the entire 12-hour trip, including stops.
     True to form, we did have a couple of construction areas, but our delays today were not as bad as last night.
     Knowing Greg and Jenn had a previous commitment at the studio, we stopped in Delaware for Chick-fil-A's salads for dinner. Their Cobb salad with crispy chicken is one of our all-time favorites. The Frosty Lemonade also went down really, really well on a hot day. Pete adopted for the Dragon Fruit and Pineapple Frosty, which was equally as good and had a slightly strawberry tasting.
     We arrived at Greg and Jenn‘s around eight. It felt good to no longer be on the road. Splitting the trip into two days makes the drive seem eternal. Somehow, a 19-hour drive doesn’t seem as bad, especially when we have good audiobooks to listen to.

 

   Thursday, 7/2/26 ~  It felt good to be able to sleep in a bit this morning.  Besides being the 3 H's (hot, humid, and hazy,) it was a lazy, chill, decompress kind'a day. 

      Pete called a local auto shop, European Motor Works. He explained our situation to Alex, who invited Pete to bring the car over now. He said he can check the freon and top it off immediately if needed. Unfortunately, 2 valves are leaking. They can be replace on Monday. The shop is only about 3 miles from the house. It is clean, well-organized shop with about 8 bays in a warehouse, with mechanics who are very accommodating.  

     Friday, 7/3/26 ~ Greg was supposed to be working the Sail4th celebration in NY harbor. Unfortunately, his Coast Guard boat is out of service due to issues. They were

supposed to be anchored north of the Verrazano Bridge  as support for all the small patrol boats. It is a perfect spot to view each ship and plane as they enter New York Harbor.  Instead of the heat, craziness and really cool sights, he stayed comfortable with us on the sofas, watching specular views of the Parade of Sails in wonderful air conditioning!

     I took "screen shots" off the TV. NBC did a great job using drones for spectacular shots!  The others were from Facebook with credit to the owners of each. Poor Tillie. We interrupted Tillie's beauty rest as we watched!

 

 

 

 

 

     Some additional Facebook posts regarding the SAIL4th and the storm last night that blew through the Sandy Hook anchorage where the ships were anchored.  Again credit to the wonderfully talented photographers. 

 
The tall ships in the storm!

     Heather came over to hang out with us. She also spent time showing me how to style my hair using my natural curl. For most of my life I swore that my hair was thick, wavy, and frizzed a lot. But curly - no. Now, I learned I just need wet hair, product, a curl separating brush.  This should come in handy for those hot, humid days to come.

 

     America 250,  also known as America's Semiquincentennial, (Just read. Pronunciation is optional and tongue-twisting!) It coincides with the  the FIFA Soccer World Cup 2026 being hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico. There has been some really exciting games. Currently, the US team is still in the running, heading to the “Round of 16.” What a time for people to visit the US! 

     Saturday, 7/4/26 ~ Greg & Jenn had plans with friends to do a bar crawl over in Lambertville. I was glad we had no plans. It was very hot, 101, humid, with little to no breezes until the powerful thunderstorms rolled in later in the day with strong, damaging winds, torrential rainfall and intense lightning & thunder. They did considerable damage throughout the Northeast. Trees toppled and power lines went down, lightning strikes set a number of homes ablaze, cars crashed on slick roads, while high water damaged property and disabled cars. As for the America 250's Sail4th in NY Harbor, the USCG Eagle had one of her sails rip and a number of ships dragged anchor. The Mall in DC was emptied around sunset, as people were evacuated into the large buildings along The Mall’s perimeter. Fireworks on the Hudson and East Rivers in NY went off early in between storms, while in DC, they began at 11:15 PM after waiting for the storms to pass. Both shows were non-stop for 40 minutes from multiple sources. DC reportedly set a record for the most fireworks in a single show ~ over 800,000! Facebook lit up with many of the celebrations around the country.

Las Vegas

 

    

The air shows with the Thunderbirds, touring the Tall Ships & 

The Ball Drop in Times Square signaling "July 4th" has arrived!

The NY City Library and Lady Liberty with light shows & celebrating aboard 

the International Space Station!

And then came the fireworks . . .

      

Washington, DC                                                          Mount Rushmore

Due to storms, NY's fireworks went off 30 minutes early . . .

 

 

while DC's held off for 2 hours  & where Mother Nature insisted on contributing to the display!

     Monday 7/5/26 ~  I took advantage of the cloud cover and cooler weather after a downpour to walk Tillie. Of course, I found a few photo opportunities, too!

    
Cool raindrops and a bee seeking shelter from the rain.

     Pete dropped off the car to European Motor Works for the AC repair. They were finished around four and the AC is running great!

     More showers came late in the afternoon. We ordered dinner from JoJo’s. Their thin crust pizza is now one of our all-time favorites! Totally Delicious!

     Tuesday, 7/7/26 ~ I had an appointment for a procedure scheduled today. It was canceled by the office two weeks ago because of my blood thinner. Believe it or not, the doctor wanted to see me before the procedure. I  asked for an appointment for 7/2 or 7/3 as the procedure was on 7/6. I told her of my 2-week time frame in the area, but the first appointment they could give me was the end of July. She already canceled the procedure, which will only be rescheduled one I meet with the doctor. No way are we making another trip up for the procedure that I arranged seven months ago! I will simply reschedule with an office when it’s more convenient. Grrrr! Instead, I worked on the blog and downloaded pictures. I made a lot of progress.    

     Wednesday, 7/8/26 ~ We were up and out by 6 AM, leaving Tillie behind and off to the dentist we go!  Did well with no traffic and were there in plenty of time. Once finished, we went to First Watch in Newark; a first for us. Breakfast was delicious. Then we were off to Dick‘s Sporting Goods and not one of my favorite things - shopping for good walking shoes. I did my research, which Pete thought was crazy until I explained how the shoes were built differently: placement and type of support, makeup of the soles, heal/toe drop, construction, materials and innovation supporting various parts of the foot. Hence, I went in knowing the specifics of what I needed. Alex, my salesperson, fully understood my parameters. Even with a HUGE selection of shoes, a couple of my choices weren’t in store, but could be ordered. Out of the 10+ pairs I tried on, one pair fit the bill perfectly!
     While we were out, Pedro texted. His son, heading to work on our engine, smelled smoke as he passed the electrical pedestal on our dock. Our splitter and one of the power cords are burned. He agreed to purchase new ones for us and add it to the engine install.
     Tilly did well while we were gone. We weren’t hungry for lunch and barely hungry for dinner. Don't mind blaming our delicious breakfast!

     Thursday, 7/9/21 ~ I woke up around 5 this morning, realizing there was to be a launch from Cape Canaveral early this morning, so I checked my app, NextSpaceFlight, just as the rocket launched.  I was able to capture screen shots, hoping and succeeding capturing the climb as well as the jellyfish created by the rising sun illuminating the vapor trail. Since this launch headed to the northeast, it appears heading back to the horizon. It was still early, but I managed to catch a few more winks before Pete and Tillie rose and headed for their walk.

 

The moon also made her appearance  & booster separation

 
SpaceX has unbelievable cameras onboard that captures remarkable photos. 

Then there is the NSF's ground base cameras that capture the launch 

and the jellyfish vapor trail from Cape Canaveral!

     We headed down to Chris & Kel's to go through some things in storage and of course visit with the kids and grandkids. Their basement is now finished. They did a wonderful job and I love every choice they made. It’s beautiful, welcoming , homey, and comfy!

 

     Pete and Chris were able to cut open our safe. The lock became frozen a few years ago and access was impossible, even for a safe technician. 

     Heavy, flooding rains hit around dinner time as we spent some time with Chris, Kel and Riley. Hadi is with friends at an amusement park & campground. Hope they made it back before the storms arrived!
     On our way back to NJ, the 'check engine light' lit, with the side mirrors' warning lighting up when braking. The warning light hasn’t turned off, but nothing else negative happened and no problems getting back.

     The America 250's Sail4th is now heading to Boston. One of the things I learned is that there is a lot of camaraderie between the crews of The Sisters. During their stay in NY, each ships' chefs headed to another ship to cook some of their nation's favorite foods for the crew. Rumor has it, everyone enjoyed and ate very well!

 

Credit for these 3 beautiful photos goes to the US Coast Guard

     Early this morning the crews weighed anchor and began the race. The unique feature of the Five Sister's Race is that it is reserved exclusively for sailing ships built according to the same legendary design at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg, between 1932 and 1958. The U.S. Coast Guard Eagle, Portugal's Sagres, Romania's Mircea and Germany's Gorch Fock are four of the so-called Five Sisters. The 5th is the Gorch Fock 1, which is preserved as a museum. They are all square-rigged tall ships. The four crews raced around Cape Cod before gathering with other ships on Friday, and then joined the Parade of Sail into Boston Harbor on Saturday. Germany's Gorch Fock claimed victory in this historic race of tall ships. It is the first time in 50 years that these vessels sailed together.

     Friday, 7/10/26 ~ On Greg’s recommendation, Pete went to Auto Zone. They did a courtesy, computer diagnosis and printed out the report along with error codes. I know where Pete will be spending sometime on the internet!
     Pedro texted Pete. The boat engine works great, and so does the AC onboard. YIPPIE!
     We met up for dinner with Jim & Effie in Freehold. What a cute main street, with great architecture, great vibe, plenty of eateries, but no time to explore. Storms were closing in again. Instead, we had great burgers at The Court Jester. Lots of catching up and time passed too quickly.

     Saturday. 7/11/26 ~ Now with some free time, Pete researched the error code, which corresponds with an engine air leak. 

   Pete washed Tillie as I did some Amsterdam hotel research for Heather and I before we cruise up the Rhine in September. Then I headed off to Lambertville for lunch with Carolyn. The Lambertville Inn and Restaurant, has become our go-to. It is a good halfway point for us, with great views, delicious food and great service. Our server, AnnMarie, enjoyed going toe-to-toe with Carolyn. We commented on the large number of birthday celebrants, to which Carolyn commented that birthdays are important and should be celebrated. She mentioned that she had multiple celebrations over multiple days for her recent birthday. Ann Marie then brought over a dessert with candles for Carolyn to have a final celebration!

     Sunday, 7/12/26 ~ Pete met George for lunch. Their meetings always take place at Red Robbin. Both men enjoy the great burgers, the streak fries, discussing a little bit of business and catching up.

     Monday, 7/13/26 ~ Today, I had another 2 of my medical appointments. We left at 6:30 am. It is a 2.5-hour drive. With no traffic, we made the 9:20 appointment in Rehoboth, DE with a bit of time to spare. Yea, I know it’s crazy to travel so far for medical appointments, but I have great respect and a wonderful relationship with my doctor. Having the portal for communications makes things easy when we are cruising.
     On our way heading back north to Newark for the second appointment, the engine began running rich and almost stalled numerous times. This “running rich” was one of the symptoms of an air leak as the computer tried to compensate. Pete called European Motor Works while enroute. Once back in NJ, Pete and Greg dropped off the car. Well, we definitely will not be heading back to Florida tomorrow!

     Tuesday, 7/14/26 ~ The car was repaired. When Pete went to retrieve it and pay, Alex told him that when the engine cover was put back after the AC repair, there was an area where gasket had folded on itself. There is no charge for this repair. WOW! We can now add “honest and reliable” to our Yelp review!
     Jenn, Greg and we headed to JoJo’s for a farewell dinner. Once back, the car was loaded and we went to catch some sleep before our 2 am wake-up alarm.

 

Bridge in Jacksonville

   Wednesday, 7/15/26 ~ We were up and out by 2:35 am. Traffic moved well all day. There was only 3 brief slowdowns. We arrived back at the boat shortly before 9 pm
     The car was unloaded, and and the AC turned on. It just took a while to cool down the boat, but the AC is working great! The canvas went up and the “stuff” was relocated from our bed. Then it was time for showers and then to bed.

     Thursday, 7/16/26 ~ Pete returned from walking the dog and reported on the redecorating the birds have done on the boat while we were gone. What a mess!
     The awnings went up. Then Pete kept his medical appointments in Boca while I cleaned the aft cabin and put the “stuff” back into our “basement.” The galley was also thoroughly cleaned. Now, it’s time to make up the grocery list.

    
     Friday, 7/17/26 ~ No rest for the weary! Shower pump died and, oh yea, I forgot to mention that yesterday, we smelled ‘burning plastic’ and thought the AC had additional problems. Thankfully, it was only the microwave giving up the ghost!

     Pete purchased a new shower pump after verifying it wasn’t a bad float, which he replaced a few weeks ago. When the new pump didn’t work, further investigation revealed the wire connections had been compromised with water. The wire connections were no longer waterproof. After rewiring the new pump and rechecking the old pump, both work fine. The new one is installed while the old pump will be in reserve.
     Research was done and a new microwave was ordered. We have a limited cubby into which a countertop microwave must fit so the dimentions are critical. It will be 2 weeks before it arrives.

    Saturday & Sunday, 7/18-19/26 ~Heat, humidity and storms, and more days of hibernation!

    

Tarpon seeking coolness and shade  ~ Dramatic clouds before the storm

      Sunday was a good day to hibernate and watch the Soccer World Cup finals. Spain waws dominant over Argentina, but were only able to score a goal in extra time. The games were fun to watch with their talented and dramatic teammates (faking all those supported injuries!), the massive crowds, and to hear of the record ticket sales and prices that were exorbitant. However, I think it was the memorable social media from soccer fans from other countries, who posted their experiences of fun, great food and genuine friendliness they found here in the US: Buc-ee's, Target, Waffle House, ranch dressing, regional BBQ, super-sized food portions, and the Viking Ro(w). 

 Borrowed from the lifestyle section or the Associated Press ~

     World Cup tourists from other lands have taken in more than just the food and the size.

     Their views of the United States — in many cases forged through the sometimes distorted establishing shots presented by the news media, TikTok and fuzzy word of mouth — are now informed by what they’ve seen with their own eyes. And in many cases, the spectacles have contradicted — or at least augmented — what they knew when they arrived.

     Many landed expecting the politically fractured country that global headlines often trumpet. Instead, they found Uber drivers brimming with recommendations and locals willing to open their homes to strangers. Even as game attendees grappled with the sticker shock of ticket prices, some Americans they met didn’t even know the World Cup was going on — or didn’t care.

Now for the impressive STATS! (Thanks, Google!) ~~

• The were 104 matches with 16 host cities ~ 
•      In the US: New York/New Jersey (9), Dallas (9), Atlanta (8), Los Angeles (8), Miami (7), Boston (7), Houston (7), Kansas City (6), Seattle (6), San Francisco (6), Philadelphia (6)
•      In Mexico: Mexico City (5), Guadalajara (4), Monterrey (4)
•      In Canada: Vancouver (7) and Toronto (6).  
• Average Attendance      65,490 per match. 
• Stadium Occupancy      99.7%, 
• Total attendance/tickets sold for the matches:       6,810,966 fans (Yup! that is almost 7 million!)
•      Previous total attendance record:                     3.59 million fans (for the 1994 World Cup                                                                                                hosted by the US)
• Fan Festivals: More than 9 million additional fans attended official FIFA Fan Festival Events across North America.

And with all those people at all those venues, everyone was safe and had a great time! Many also caught some of the celebrations for America 250. What a fantastic, interesting and non-boring time to visit!

 

Proof Mother Nature is
 having a bit of a tantrum!

  Week 4 ~ A Busy Week ~ Between the two of us, there were appointments for labs and X-rays, physical therapy and return of the 02 Generator. Though our paperwork stated that the machine was purchased, we were billed for rental. After speaking with 6 different reps, being disconnected twice and missing calls that went to Pete instead of me, I finally spoke with a person who could help us. Improperly marked on the paperwork, the company only rents durable medical equipment for 36-month periods. Please note: We could purchase a portable Oxygen Generator without insurance for $1900. However, that is not an option when insurance is involved. Instead, insurance pays the rental fee of $400+/mo. for 36 months. That $1900 machine is now costing $14,400 AND must be returned! Talk about waste and abuse of the system! Add to that anger, I had to take the machine down to Stuart, about 45 minutes away. As I was leaving the facility, we realized that I didn’t have the power cords. So . . . I did this trip twice! At least on the way back, I was able to pick up groceries, so it was productive.
     The microwave arrived earlier than predicted. This is good!!! Pete was able to install it on Saturday, but not before removing the old one and repositioning the fluorescent light from above, to the side of the cubby.

     Sunday, 7/26/26 ~ Another hot, humid and no air kind’a day. Good day work on the blog.

     At just before dinner, we went to our MyNextSpaceFlight App to watch the launch of Starship 13 and their link to the SpaceX  / National Space Federation for the Livestream. Everything went well until T-02 seconds.  It was interesting to watch the engines suddenly shut down while the launch bay filled with steam from the cool down water bath. It was later reported that the computers aborted the launch due to 3 of the engines failing to ignite. The launch has been postponed for at least a day.  

     Monday, 7/27 /26 ~ Another hot, humid and no air kind’a day. Good day work on the blog. Afternoon storms once again split around us. Too hot, too humid, and no breeze to groom Tillie. 

     Yes, Starship 13 was able to launch this evening.

     Tuesday, 7/28/26 ~ It is nice to be popular. Heard from kids, sibs, family & friends with lots of birthday wishes. I hate adding the years, but never all the love and wishes!
     With Heather and I cruising the Rhine in September, I don’t want to run into problems with walking, especially on the cobble stones of the old towns we will be visiting. I started physical therapy for my knees. I was very surprised to find that my knees are strong and healthy. It is my ankles and flat arches that are the problem! Hopefully, the PT should also help with my balance.
     It was another day of no breezes, so no dog grooming.

    Wednesday, 7/29/26 ~ I made Crockpot Turkey using 2 small turkey breasts. I never checked when I bought them if they were boneless. They weren’t, so I needed to debone the one so both would fit in the pot. We now have lots of leftovers in the freezer, enough for 4 main meals and a couple of lunches. Not bad for 45 minutes of prep time and another 30 of carving and packaging the leftovers. Oh yea. . . I also needed to reorganize the freezer so it all would fit. Definitely worth the time!
     We were able to catch a 2-hour window where the breeze came up and the sun hid behind the clouds. Tillie finally reclaimed her eyesight. We knew that her hair was getting long when she couldn’t catch the treat we tossed to her. Getting groomed is not one of her favorite things. She hits the “that’s it!” mark about 20 minutes before we are done. Once done, we have a ton of hair to remove from the cockpit as well as ourselves. It’s worth it as she’s back to being cute.

     The highlight of our day was running the engine! She is back to purring and running beautifully. We didn't realize how much noisier she had become over the years.  We look forward to taking her out for a spin, but the weather will need to cool down and the daily storms take a break. To not disrupt the universe, we are celebrating. . .  quietly.  This is us whispering, "whoopie and hallelujah." 

  
Sunset and the rising full moon made interesting with the clouds

     Thursday, 7/30/26 ~ We were up and heading out the door by 8 am. Tillie wasn’t happy we were leaving her. Pete had a follow-up with the pulmonologist at 10 in Atlantis. It takes 90 minutes without traffic. Unfortunately, around 9 the office called and needed to reschedule as doctor is out sick. We will see her next Wednesday.
     I used the time to do some sewing projects while Pete did the laundry. One of the fitted sheet I made for our mattress has blown out one of the corner seams. I hand-stitched it as well as repairing Tillie’s bed. Her bed is made by Kong, which makes near-indestructible items for dogs. This bed might have held up better if she didn’t try to dig her way though it. Over the weekend, she was able to split the rear zipper, access the stuffing and make mounds of green clouds under the table.
     More storms continue to roll through the area in the afternoon. It is called Florida’s rainy season for a reason.

Sunrise on July's last day!

     Friday, 7/31/26 ~ My body is announcing rather loudly, that it is being abused by PT. Yea, that is a bit of a strong word, but my body is usually fairly accommodating when one area has discomfort. Right now, it is complaining about multiple areas: arches, ankles, knees, hips and back. It is easy to forget that they are truly related when walking. I know that this will all be a bad dream in another week or two as the PT strengthens lazy muscles and ligaments. As they say, “A tincture of time. . . .”

. . . And with that, another month in Florida come to an end. The one thing to look forward to in  August is that it will be hotter and stormier, BUT on the plus side: we are also getting closer to the cooler and calmer months of the "season" in Florida and return of our friends come November!

~ ~ ~ /) ~ ~   K & P