Special... Extra Holiday Edition....

Thought I'd just do an blog update with a lot of the pictures from the last couple of weeks...with a little summery of each hope you enjoy some of the great shots we got over the holidays....


On Christmas "The Covey" got matching Flamingo earrings...(three members not pictured)a covey in Florida should be Flamingos...not Quail...at least that's what I think...and besides "The Covey" is beautiful and graceful just like that wonderful Florida icon and I thought that was much better than trying to find Quail earrings anyway...

We all ate very well and had a great time...


I tried to figure out this wine bottle puzzle for about 45 minutes and then decided that it would be much easier if we read the puzzle solution that came with it...it still took us ten minutes even with the solution right in front of us...never try and do one of these when you have consumed more alcohol than contained in the puzzle bottle....
I think Santa is a distant relative...at least that was the consensus of opinion at the party....





New Years Eve was spent at the beach...we watched the sun melt into the sea and had a great time...three little angels came by and entertained us with a song and lots of giggling...it's amazing how much light one candle buried in the sand can give off...we stayed until way after dark to watch the stars arrive on the scene....

Shirley was the opening act at a country and western show here in town..she brought down the house with five country songs and one fantastic yodeling song that really showed off some great talent...congratulations Shirley....now they want her to do a CD.

Some guy in the crowd even threw her several pair of thongs...."I know nothing" as Schultz would say.......

Here she is practicing the night before...we didn't have a mike so we substituted the nearest thing that we had on hand...as I recall we had several on hand....all empty..

A recent visit to Will's Honky Tonk...another favorite hang out when "Smoked Mullet" is playing...lots of fun and some great friends....

I took the kayak out on a fishing and caught some nice trout and a few ladyfish...

We had a great picnic a few days ago....we decided to go to the beach and have a good old fashion cook out....of course with Ronnie along a good old fashion cookout included the proper table cloth..wine and wine glasses...candy...cookies and of course an assortment of munchies....with Ronnie you know nothing will be forgotten...

Here are a few sunsets that I thought you might enjoy.....

This one in particular is a favorite...that's Ronnie on the beach...I thought this was a very reflective and peaceful shot....

This one I call ..."All The Usual Suspects"....they will steal your bait and your catch if you let them....

This is a stained glass mural that is in the local Burger King...it was done 24 years ago ..might like to do something like this myself...

Some very unusual trees that a friend sent along...thought you would like them....

What they are doing in the north right now because cabin fever has set in.....either that or he is snorkling for frozen fish sticks....(I know one fish stick that will be frozen for sure....

That's All For Now...

Live, Love, Laugh, Fish...

Semper Fi...

Monk

The Holidays In Paradise...Oh Yeah !!

Just before Christmas I visited a place called Spanish Point and got to walk in the warm sunshine through a 19th century estate that had also been the home territory of a native American culture that dated back at least 4,000 years...even before the Native Americans that we know as the American Indian...Archaeologists had documented thousands of years of use of a shell mound used by the inhabitants over that length of time....in plain terms it was their "dump" for all that time and everything from thousands of everyday shellfish to pottery and tools were documented...Spanish Point was the home for one of the Sarasota area's founding families and was a retreat for them and many of their friends for many years.

Needless to say that it was a beautiful location along the bay and was a great way to spend the day .... and of course..what is a mansion without a sunken garden..volunteers have done a fantastic job preserving and restoring all of the grounds...we followed a path from site to site that was more beautiful at every turn... I didn't realize how bad I look in those shorts...I look like a guy who needs a makeover in a very bad way.......


Last Sunday was a great day for a breakfast outside at the Dearborn Diner...especially when you can be with some of your nearest and dearest friends...Shirley, Lisa, Ronnie and Richard along with Ronnie's beautiful daughter Cathleen joined me for great food and even better conversation...








Cathleen certainly gets her beauty from her Mom...she is a major player in the world of IT...Lisa who was also in that very challenging field got a conversation going with Cathleen that absolutely no one else at the table understood... one word of....








Kyle had a visit from his friend Galen...we took him down to the fishing pier...guess who was the only one to catch any Pompano...not just one but Two....of course this was the first time he had ever fished salt water....beginners luck is alive and well...good going Galen....Kyle got a ride back to Rochester for the holidays and Galen got a great vacation...






Of course Travis and family enjoyed a first Christmas with baby Callie Jean and Dakota's second...at two she can definitely have a fun time and be old enough to really get into it....



They had eight inches of snow in the dessert...it was the first time in decades that Edwards had any accumulation...A Christmas miracle for all the kids who haven't seen any snow...they even got to make a snowman for the kids....













Callie is getting cuter by the minute and Dakota has excepted her role as the Big Sister...a little jealous but still very much the protector...


Dakota had to make sure the carrots and cookies left for Santa and the reindeer were OK to eat....










New Years Eve we watched the sun set at the beach...we watched the perfect sunset....had a little wine...and after dark had the only fire allowed on the beach...a candle in a hole in the sand (see a future blog for pics of candle)...surprisingly the candle gave off more light than we expected and we had a great time for an hour or so after dark visiting with a local family and their three girls...the girls serenaded us and we all had a few laughs...by the way...never accept potato chips from kids at the beach....I was spitting out sand for an hour...fortunately I had Captain Morgan to thank for finally rinsing it from my mouth....after two-thirds of a bottle it was also completely wiped from my memory.....


That's It For Now...

Happy New Year...

Semper Fi...

Live, Love, Laugh, Fish

Monk

A Little Pre-Christmas Cheer...

Attended a couple of very interesting Christmas parties and had a chance to catch up on all the latest gossip...

I have been promised pics of the party we attended at Merrill and Tony's house and here are a few of the one at Ronnie's...the house was beautiful and the food (we all brought something) was more than we could handle...here are Shirley and Helen enjoying themselves...I'll post the rest of the pics when I get them....




Here is a great pic of "Monk's Covey"...at least that's what Richard called it..I am not seeing all these women..I'm no "player".. but they all are very dear friends...and I adore every one of them...it just seems that I have more women friends than men friends..but it only seems that way...all the men I hang with are on poker nights at the Moose and it's like two .... actually three....different sets of friends...one set never meets the other...then of course there are all the guys I hang with at the fishing pier and that's another whole set of different friends...so I consider myself a very lucky man for having all of them in my life....of course the only ones that draw all the attention are the women...as it should be...it seems that they are the only ones that I like to take the most pics of ....I wonder why that is?....From left to right..Ronnie, Ingrid, Helen, Shirley, Kellie (Ronnie's sister), and Covina...can you blame me for wanting to hang with all these beautiful women...I'll say it again...I'm a very lucky man.....


One of my friends send a couple of shots of some backyard buddies that have been hanging around her house....the Osprey is a young bird that has been hanging out in the trees around her house...we watched up close for a long time the other day and got some great pics...it seems that it was dining on a snake it had captured...the remains were on the ground under this perch...the Armadillo has been hanging around her house for awhile....she finally got a chance to get up close to it and surprise it...when he saw her he didn't run he just buried his head the leaves, closed his eyes and "hid" from her...must be part Ostrich...















While we are on the subject of animals....I took this shot of a Heron down at the pier..I don't believe I've ever seen a bird perch like this...it was a warm day and I thought that it was getting rid of excess heat...if anybody has a better answer...let me know....










Kyle got the Mustang Selene all cleaned up...he was so proud of it that he took a great pic...I told him I'd put it on the blog for him to gloat to his friends...he loves that car...hey the "Monkmobile" ain't so bad either...Kyle's car will however run mine ragged...it's in great shape and for sale if anyone is interested.....If you have to ask how much...you can't afford it.....














Of course no blog entry would be complete without a W.C.G. update...first a happy birthday to my grandson Kevin and my granddaughter Samantha...both December babies...now we have to add Callie to that list and her mother Shannon birthday is Today the 16th...Happy Birthday to you all....






Dakota and the new baby are getting along well according to the reports from Mom and Dad...she is a little jealous and wants the same attention as the baby is getting...she climbs on the bed when the baby is getting changed and rolls over on her back to let them know that she wants to be changed...she climbs into the babies carrier and makes baby sounds to get attention...which I'm sure is hilarious...but all in all she is being a good big sister and trying to help out in her own way...














Dakota still is the star of the show and she wants everyone to know it....

















Well That's All For Now...

Semper Fi

Live, Love, Laugh, Fish

Monk

So Much To Be Thankful For...

I know that last year I referred to this time of the year as the "Holi-Daze" and in many ways they still are a crazy mad rush that either pushes you toward an anxiety attack or just overloads your senses until you get that glazed look in your eyes and begin to mumble a lot...but this year has been very special to me...Callie Jean...the newest arrival on the planet...has come into my life..On December first...she is my son's brand new baby girl and I'm sure she has become a major player in the "World's Cutest Grandchildren" competition...my grandchildren (as far as I'm concerned) will now hold the top five positions in the competition...your welcome to compete but I'm the only judge so your odds of winning are slim and none..and as they say...slim left town...















We had a great pre-Thanksgiving dinner at my friend Ronnie's house...she is a 911 operator and was working on T-Day...so she decided to share with us a little ahead of time...it was a good time and we all ate to the extreme...lots of laughs with my friends and as a special Thanksgiving bonus...I got to spend it with my son Kyle as well...

Kyle and I have been doing some fishing together...before this he could care less about the sport...but I took him out to the local fishing pier here and we just happened to catch some fish that day and that was enough to get him excited about returning to try again...here he is with a nice Spanish Mackerel and a Pompano...there is nothing like success to wet the appetite for more of the same...when we fail and still keep coming back for more is when it becomes a true test of either our desire to achieve, our will power, our love, or..in some cases...our level of stupidity...

Got some great pictures of Dakota's Thanksgiving with her Mom and Dad...she loves to dress up and loves to share with her Mommy and Daddy...I truly believe that when you look into the eyes of a child under the age of five..(before they go to school)...that you are truly looking into the eyes of God....there is nothing more innocent and pure on this earth...

Some additional thoughts and pics...got lunch for this Osprey at the fishing pier...when I laid a nice size Jack on the deck and stood back this magnificent bird swooped down and came in just above our heads to grab it and take it to this perch where he or she spent the next two hours finishing every last bite...all I can say is that the vacationers on the pier that day thought that I talked to the animals...I had told them to get the cameras ready and I set the whole thing up...when I whistled that bird came right down on cue...I was just as amazed as they were..but I didn't tell them that....

This by the way is what someone sent me as a representation of what goes on in a woman's brain as compared to a man's...(it's supposed to be animated but if your computer doesn't show it you can still get a good idea) ...it seems that the woman has all these balls she is using to make decisions and remember things and a man only has "two"....hence the supposed difference of reason between us...of course I don't believe that for a minute..where did I put those car keys?......

Well That's All For Now...

Til Next Time....

Semper FI...

Live, Love, Laugh, Fish

Monk