March Madness....

It seems like the month of March just flew by...before I knew it I had not made a post in over a month...the eagle story...happened just a few days ago...so I thought I better get that out before another month evaporated....So, the following is a quick look at March and some good times...


My friend Dina came down for an all to short...four day visit...to celebrate her birthday and for some much needed fun in the sun....we had a great birthday dinner party at the Gulf View and got to see another spectacular Florida sunset...

Most of her time here was spent on the beach...but we did get down to Fisherman's Village for some shopping and another colorful sunset meal....

Lisa and Dina got to see each other again...Lisa had come to New York last summer for a special wine class and had met Dina at that time..we all had several meals together during her visit...


One surprise at the coffee shop during Dina's visit was this parrot encounter...a man bicycled up with this beautiful bird perched on his customised bike handle bars...

We all took turns admiring and getting some photo opps...I would love to have a parrot of my own someday...but I know that I wouldn't be able to give it the time and attention that a pet needs...nice thought but this pirate knows his limits....


Bob and Kathy my golfing friends from the Great White North came down to my house to see what it was like living on Lemon Bay...I had visited them for a round of golf when my friend Karen was here ...they have a winter place in the Sarasota area...





Kyle's new love is named Bella and she is gorgeous ...at least as far as dogs go....he got her from the pound...she is such a good dog and as well as very gentle and loving...it makes you wonder why someone would give up a pet this nice...oh well, she and Kyle are together now and it looks like it will be a long term relationship....



Coconut Grove..my favorite hang out for the last three years has finally opened back up with the original owners Tony and Merrill back in charge...myself and all of the old regulars couldn't be happier...the previous tenants didn't do a very good job and the whole mood of the place was different to the point that nobody who knew what it was like before...wanted to go for entertainment or even the food...it just wasn't the same...they did change the name to "Englewoods on Dearborn"....no comment....but I really do think that Coconut Grove was the right name...the new name isn't going to stop me... I'll still go ....it's better than ever with entertainment every nite and a great new menu...the back coconut grove courtyard is open again and the inside has been completely remodeled to give it a warm tropical look and feel...

Ingrid, Ronnie and Lance don't mind the new name...we have had some great meals and dancing in the courtyard....and will again....



Speaking of dancing..."D" Debbie and "D"Bob....for those of you who don't ...remember..the "D" is for Dancing....get up close and personal on the new dance floor...notice Kenny doing that thing that he does so well...in the background...

Shirley and "D" Debbie do pretty well for themselves....once you get Shirley out on the town she has a good time...it's getting her away from all her singing and volunteering activity's that is the hard part....remember Shirley...Live, Love, Laugh and Dance......

My friends Pam and Kyle celebrated an anniversary with Kenny dedicating a song to them....happy anniversary to a wonderful loving couple..

Tony and his new bartender Lee look like a matched set....I'll leave you to guess of what?




Talking about Shirley's singing...she had another "gig" at the Elk's Club in March...once again she was the opening act along with Flo....and once again they were the hit of the show...congrats you two...


The gentleman in this picture...Sid...is celebrating his 86th birthday...Shirley, Flo and I met him at the Gulf View and he is a fascinating story teller...he told us all about how he and his partner started and invented the process for grinding up junk cars...they invented the machine and put together the distribution system for getting all the metal and other components from millions of cars per year...a fascinating fact was that he says there is an average of $1.86 in loose change in every junk car...the last thing on the conveyor belt when they were all done sorting out the different kinds of metals...was the loose change...he said that over the years he has taken millions of dollars to the mint in big leather bags....wow!


On Wednesdays this winter I played an afternoon game of Texas Hold'em with some friends from the Moose Club...it was great fun and now most are gone back north...here we all are laughing our asses off when Dick tried to hide his face in an "All In Moment"...I'm looking forward to more good times with these wonderful people again next season....





I finished my last art class and I had a ball doing Japanese fish prints...I actually think I did pretty well...















I'm going to try and do some more on my own...now if the fish co-operate I'll have some more great prints to show you...














I gave them away to my son and friends ..but I saved this one of a flounder it's my favorite...



No blog of mine would be complete without some pics of my two newest granddaughters...Dakota and Callie are getting bigger by the second...I can't wait to see them in June when Travis and Shannon go back to New York on leave...


Dakota helped her mother make cup cakes and it looks like she enjoyed the end result...good idea mom taking off the clothes before trying out her handiwork...MMMM..MMMM..GOOD...


One last plug if you will...the new book comes out this month...pictured is a rendering of the cover..this it will be available in hard cover from Barnes and Noble and Amazon on line...it contains books one and two combined along with twenty three extra pages of some stories about training before Vietnam...for those that haven't purchased books one or two ...this is the one to buy...thanks to all of you for your support in my efforts to document a very difficult and trying time in my life...I hope you take something positive away when reading my stories...

That's All For Now....

Live, Love, Laugh & Dance....

Semper Fi...

Monk