More April Happenings...

As promised here are a few more stories for April....Speaking of fishing...I was wasn't I ?.....I have been fine tuning the Gyotako Japanese Fish Prints and have added a few of the fish that I have caught lately...pictured in the close up are a nice Spanish Mackerel and a Pompano that I caught at the Tom Adams Bridge and a Sunfish donated by a friend...I framed several and got Shelly to hang them up at the coffee shop...I don't know if any will sell but she seems to think there might be a few people interested in buying them...I do not consider myself an artist but that's what she put on the tags for the prints...I'm flattered but I'm also a realist...but it was nice...

I've also been making good use of the digital camera and have been cataloging the local Flora as it blooms here this spring...I put together a nice poster for Jenny and I'm working on one for my darling daughter Kelsey...the beauty that is this part of the country just continues to amaze me...


A good friend of all of us here in Englewood just joined the Navy and a few of us gave her a going away lunch...Christi pictured here in the center worked at Shelley's (pictured front left) coffee shop with my son Kyle (next to her) ... she will be missed...but she has definitely made a move to better her life and we are all very proud of her....Lisa and our friend Jimmy joined us for the lunch as well....Good luck Christi and God Bless...

The Red Hat Ladies came to town again this year for their annual parade and luncheon...we even had a panel of judges picking winners at the makeshift viewing stand in front of the coffee shop...I believe the winners were the group pushing Minnie Mouse as their favorite Disney character and mascot....every body looked like they had a great time and downtown got a little boost of business...
















My friend Diesel the bulldog even got into the act...I think he might of been a little upset being a guy and of course the Marine Corps mascot...but he didn't get a vote....



My other friend Harley wasn't having any part of it as evidenced by the "Go ahead, Make my day!" look on his face.....

Here is another one that if she had a vote would have said "Nay"....I bet she is not looking forward to the bath that will get this paint job out....


Lisa's brother and his family came to town for a visit and got to spend some time with her ..besides the great beach days here...they spent a day in Tampa at Bush Gardens and the Zoo...for those of you not wishing to spend hours in line for every single amusement ....those are two great places to take visitors or spend a little fun time yourself...

I had a piece of art done for me by a local artist and I think it depicts my life down here pretty well..." If the fish don't get me first, I'm going to catch every one I can." Got a scene you'd like in stone...let me know and I'll get you a special deal.....


Can't leave without an update on my two cuties in California...it looks like Easter was a fun time and I'm sure Callie and Dakota won't remember how cute they were but we will show them all the pics some day....


This may not be cute but it sure is funny....this is one pic that I know Dakota will get a kick out of someday...when mom puts on her makeup it looks so easy....

Just remember this is who you have to thank for the swine flu...


That's All For Now...

Live, Love, Laugh and Dance...

Semper Fi...

Monk

April Was A Winner...

The month started with a wonderful trip to St. Augustine...the oldest city in America...Jenny and I had never been there so we decided to take a chance and play tourist for a long weekend...It was a great trip and besides learning a lot of history we had a super time shopping and exploring in all the nooks and crannies that is "Old St. Augustine"...if you go just pony up a few bucks for a tour on one of the two trolleys that are available and you will have a three day pass that will get you anyplace you care to go...the one we had made 21 stops and you could get on or off anywhere and there would be another along in fifteen minutes or less...I highly recommend the Holiday Inn ...we were only a block or so away from entertainment and restaurants and the staff and accommodations were three star plus...very clean and very friendly....




We took a tour of the old jail....I wouldn't have wanted to run afoul of the law in those days...if you ended up here the likelihood that you would survive for any length of time was slim....even though these are just dummies in the cells and everything was all neat and clean...I had a sense of doom thinking about how it must have been...the prisoners were hard men who lived in hard times...but to endure a stay in this place and live had to have made a person very thankful to be alive and free again....



The gallows right outside was the last stop for many men who had to pay the ultimate price for their misdeeds...the picture is of the last hanging to take place on that particular gallows...after that they used "Old Sparky" for their get together....




As we walked around the old town I took the opportunity to snap some pics of out of the way and unusual settings that turned out pretty well...like this arbor and a great shot of the hand cut wood shingle roofs...



Not to mention one of a sign that I wish I could have walked away with....


We stopped at a museum of sorts attached to a general store...I thought the bait farm was cute..I don't think Jenny thought much of it...


The welcome center was a fantastic center piece in the middle of town...this multi-million dollar complex is a must see for its history and sheer awesomeness...they had a spinning demonstration going on as we walked through this huge main floor....



Jenny and I took her mom to check out a bamboo farm in the Cape Coral area...we were surprised to see that they also had a huge assortment of pottery that was for sale in all shapes and sizes...
















...Not to mention all manner of hand made wall hangings and garden animals etc. ..









Can't leave out the beautiful fish.....

Of course I went fishing in April...almost every day I tried to get out...either in my Kayak or wading up at Lemon Bay park or just fishing off the pier at the Tom Adams bridge....

But the most fun fishing was with Jenny and her brother Jay...we went out several times on the Caloosahatchee River on Jay's boat...and of course Jenny and Jay's mom was not going to let us go with out her...she just turned 86 and really enjoys being out there on the water....


Jenny caught her first big Jack Cravel and along with Jay handling the net...got a nice five pounder into the boat...the Amberjack is one of the hardest fighting fish pound for pound you will find in salt water...and it took Jenny five minutes and some tough determination to get this one to the net...



I managed to get some Jacks as well as a Spanish Mackerel and a couple of nice Snook on one of the trips...


We all had a great time.."Momma" even got to thrill to a fast boat ride with her son by her side..the "Captain" and the "First Mate"..



Every time we go down the river we have to pass through a narrow part where all the boat traffic jams up...a clever entrepreneur has built a floating snack shack and parks it where everyone has to go within a few hundred feet of him....one of those "Wish I had thought of that" ideas...

I'll finish up on April on my next posting...I promise to do it first thing on Monday...


That's All For Now...

Live, Love, Laugh...and Dance...

Semper Fi

Monk