a couple of interuptions

I had gotten off to a good start with the Italy posts when I found myself interrupted by life...LOL- it happens...

first we had friends over for dinner (shrimp & mango salad, sea bass, roasted broccoli, and potato kugel and a trifle for dessert) then we had dinner at friends (along with a visit with their almost three year old) and then dinner with friends (out at a restaurant-LOL) and then I went to Florida to get the condo ready for winter...scheduled the pressure washing guy, the cleaning woman and the pest guy for the three days I was there...

I was lucky enough to enjoy a few lunches outside while I was there- the first lunch was at Star Fish - and i also took home stone crab claws for dinner- from the market there---

the next morning I had my toast on the porch and here was my lovely view-

the UPS boxes arrived and I unpacked my newest little mermaid - and she joins the other gals in the kitchen of the Florida condo-

I hung a couple of small palm trees in our "hall of palms" (LOL)

hung a couple of more paintings in the "lanai" the former screened porch that is now glassed in and serves as the Phil office location-

then I just got the furniture out of storage and into the courtyard and on the porch - so we can use it upon arrival...

then because the day was too beautiful to stay in, I went to the beach to have lunch at the Beach House (grouper tacos)

it was really not at all crowded- just wait - season is coming!

you can see what a fabulous day it was-

then yesterday I flew home to Chicago - arriving about 5:30 PM in time to head out to 42 grams for dinner... separate post on the meal but here is the menu to entice you to read on....

so come on back... no only do we have 42 grams, we have next:Trio 2004 and goosefoot also coming up in the next few days and the Italy posting will return with Venice and Bologna as well!

world's cutest 65 year old guy!!!!

so Angela and Lee came to visit and Larry came up from Miami... the number one choice of attractions on Angela's list was to visit Snooty... he lives at the Parker Aquarium in the South Florida Museum. We did stop to take in the Star Talk at the all new planetarium (which was great) now we know not to miss the solar eclipse August 21, 2017 in Murfreesboro TN! but on to Snooty- the main event!

he is 65 and incredibly slobbery cute (we are the ones slobbering over him- he is quite neat and very much the ladies man...)

a painting of a manatee- so you know what to be looking for- see his sawed off trunk (their closest living relative is the elephant) and the whiskers which act like tiny fingers and his nostrils for breathing when he comes up out of the water they open up and take in air--- he can stay submerged for 20 minutes or so. Their eyesight is bad but they have good hearing. they have nails on their flippers that resemble elephant toe nails... amazingly cute! look for his belly button on the photos of him rolled over on his back...

he eats romaine lettuce as his main food source which from a nutrition standpoint is pretty much the same as the manatee food source in the wild...

his belly button is to the left of the lettuce leaf he left floating for a snack later- LOL - he is munching a carrot which is his cue to roll over for inspection- it isn't a trick it is so his keepers can examine him daily as he is by far the oldest living manatee.  they only live about 15 years in the wild so the museum had a big celebration for his 21st birthday (LOL 44 years ago!!!)

OMG look at that face! how cute is that???

 this is a 66% life size statue of Snooty himself...

there is a great time line of Snooty's life posted near his tank...

although the museum is small, it has other collections as well- including a current exhibit about Florida tourism in the earliest days of its development focusing on the "healthy climate" - there were some pretty amusing items in that exhibit....

another exhibit focuses on Bradenton area business in the early days -

Wow - this looks dangerous - riding right on the gas tank!

one exhibit explores medicine in Manatee county-

a tourism sign on permanent display -

other areas of the museum focus on natural habitat for sea/forest/river wildlife-

a quick tour of the gift shop revealed many manatee items for sale (no surprise here!)

we pretty much closed the museum somehow managing to spend three hours there- so we headed west for the sunset at the beach house-

then because we had dawdled our time away had to rush to dinner- LOL  then the following day it was off to spring training for a game between the cardinals and the tigers at Joker Marchant stadium in Lakeland...

the local strawberry festival in Plant City is going on right now so strawberry short cake was sold off trays by people walking through the stands just like the beer hawkers (now this is the was to enjoy a ball game!)

the cardinals lost but the day was beautiful and Angela & Lee got to enjoy some sunshine and warm weather.  their flight left shortly after the game so we said goodbye at the airport and headed home to prepare for our next round of house guests...LOL