Merry Christmas

Sending you all our love this Christmas.

Merry Christmas

Be Blessed.

My sister Maisie!

My sister Maisie is now my ninth follower! It is nice to know you will be following Rich and I through my blog. I love you Maisie!

I started decorating for Christmas. I took out our tree and decorated it. I put out my nativity that was a special gift from my son Brian under it. I found some battery operated star lights and Rich put them on the shelf on the sundeck. I started shopping, I ordered two gifts.  Pictures will follow soon!

Have a beautiful Monday and a Spirit lead week!

Be Blessed

This picture reminds me of my sister Maisie when she was a child

Happy Thanksgiving

We all have so much to be thankful for. As we get older Rich and I are more thankful for our health. We are so thankful for our family and friends and to Jesus for providing us with with our beautiful  "Morningstar" Rich has been working every week on the "Morningstar". We are getting her ready to head north. I now have a new electric head, all new faucets in the bathrooms, kitchen, and sundeck sink. All the electric and pumbing have been replaced and Rich refinished the gally (kitchen)

I am so thankful for Ally's surgery going so well and the dreams they are about to experienced. I am thankful Brian was able to get someone to trap six beavers on our property. Brian said one Beaver was 65 pounds. I am sad that we had to say goodby for now to our dear and precious friend, Danny Hughes, Lebanon will never be the same without Danny. Oh the joy in knowing heaven is a real place and we will one day see our old friends again. I am thankful that my prayer sisters and I will be starting our new Bible Study on God's Grace" I am thankful for everyone I love and who's friendship I treasured.  here is a photo of me relaxing on board with my Thanksgiving Day sale ads and a cup of Gate Cap/coffee mixture.

Life is good!

Be Blessed!

Hello Fall

Fall is such a beautiful time of year.

I know it has been months since I updated my blog. In fact as I look at my last entry and realize my last post was at the start of hurricane season, I am thankful we did not get any hurricanes in Jacksonville.

Rich, Lucky and I spent our summer in NY. We had a nice time. The weather was beautiful. The only problem we encountered was how to get rid of  the beavers that move onto our land. They took ownership of our pond and stream. They made several dams to make new homes for their ever growing family. Rich was truly amazed at how clever they were in building their dams. Below the surface was so much heavy mud that you actually needed a machine to completely destroy it. They used any type of wood they could find and even had some pressure treated lumber attached to their dam. Since we no longer have a backhoe Rich used a shovel to break down their dam and it was exhausting work. Rich would tear down a section of the dam and get the water flowing but within a few days the beavers had it rebuilt. Our son Brain is going to have some of his friends trap the beavers once trapping season begins. We just spoke to Brian and he said the beavers have the whole area flooded again right now.

 One of the Beaver dams 

We also had to have a new roof put on the house. The winters are so bad in central NY that a 25 year roof shingle only lasted us 12 years. Rich knew the roof would not hold up for another winter without starting to leak. We hired a roofing company and they did a good job. 

We brought our dinghy to NY so Rich could restore it. We took our grandson Adam with us for a sea trial on the Lebanon Reservoir. This was Adam's first time in a boat of any size and he loved it.

In June, Amanda a reporter from the Resident Community News's asked me if I would do an interview. She wanted to know what it was like living on a boat and why we chose the Ortega Yacht Club Marina. I invited her aboard and we talked for quite awhile. She took the following pictures of us for the article. Her story was in the August edition. Since we were in NY in August, Amanda saved us a few newspapers and gave them to us when we came back. 

 We are now back at the OYCM and Rich is starting on the repairs that need to be completed so we can  move off of the dock and begin traveling.

Be Blessed!

Morningstar

Go Away Tropical Storm Debby !

Using sandbags to try and keep the rising water of  Alligator Creek out of homes in Bradford County.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -

After two days of rain, Tropical Storm Debby promises to bring more of the same in the coming days as it continues to hover in the Gulf of Mexico, in no apparent hurry to make landfall. The National Hurricane Center said early Tuesday that Debby was about 90 miles west of Cedar Key and moving eastward at 3 mph. It had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, barely tropical-storm status.Still, the storm made its presence felt Monday, bringing driving rains that caused flooding in low-lying areas across hundreds of miles of north Florida and the Gulf coast. 

Rain Rain Go Away. Lucky needs to go out to play!

Be Blessed!

Dudley the Dolphin

I saw a dolphin this morning. I only saw it for few seconds and I wished I had my camera nearby.  The heavy rains from Tropical Storm Debby had just stopped. Rich walked out of the boat with Lucky and I followed them out to the sundeck. I wanted to see how wet it was.  The river was running fast and to my amazement I saw a dolphin fin. The dolphin was swimming very quickly and I only saw it for a moment and than he was gone. I decided to name my new dolphin friend Dudley. I called out for Rich but he was out walking Lucky. Last week Rich saw a manatee by the captain’s lounge. It was eating off the grasses by the dock. Rich found Myron and showed it to him.  When he came back and told me I was disappointed. I have yet to see a manatee. Since we have been living at the OYCM I already saw a baby alagator and a very large turtle but I have never saw a manatee. I wasn't the first to see this dolphin. Vince told me the other evening he heard them.

Living Aboard the Morningstar is a blessing!

Be Blessed!

A nice evening aboard The Hye Life

Rich, Lucky and I were invited to join Bob and Beth Jones aboard their 41' Power catamaran last night for cocktails. We decided it might be a good idea to leave Lucky on our boat. The Hye Life is docked right next to us. We are sharing a finger pier with them. Even though we have lived at the OYCM  marina for almost three years this is the first time we were ever invited aboard someone's boat for cocktails.  I guess if you are getting invited aboard someone's yacht this was the one to start with. "The Hye Life" is  a beautiful power catamaran but  Bob and Beth are even more beautiful than their yacht. Bob and Beth have been married for 31 years and seem to be just as in love as the day they met. We shared some life stories and enjoyed each other's company for a few hours and since we are all old folks were ready for bed by 9:30 pm. Bob and Beth are from Austin Texas and only stay on their boat a few times a year. They use a hired captian to bring their yacht to the Islands or Florida Keys and than just fly down to it We bought our dinghy from them a year ago and this is the first time we ever meet them.  I didn't bring my camera so I couldn't take any pictures but I found a picture of their boat on the internet..

We had our drinks on their bridge. The weather was perfect.

Today we are headed for Rick's 4th of July party. He is having it at a hotel pool so the boys can go swimming. Life is good here in Jacksonville . Be Blessed!

Heavenly Intervention

This picture is just amazing. How could anyone ever disbelieve the presence of God after looking at this amazing photo. I have no idea who took the picture or where it was taken. My friend Diane (who is a nurse) put it on Facebook. I am not sure but I believe the person on the grown was killed in the accident and it is his spirit standing next to the angel. The angel was sent by God to escort him to heaven. What an amazing picture of the Lord's love for us to let something like this be seen through a camera photo. This family must have been very special to Him.  I know all families are special to the Lord but when we are truly born again children of God the Lord blesses us with amazing displays of His love. Why am I putting this on my blog? Because I love the Lord and want others to see God's hand at work.   Be Blessed!

Grandchildren are great.

Colton , Seth, and Jeremy with the Jacksonville Jags cheerleaders.

Rich and I took the boys to a Jags rally at the Jacksonville zoo on Friday night. It was a surprise for them and a surprise for me when we saw how badly they planned the event. The main attraction was a meeting with their newest player Justin Blackmon.  The whole event was poorly planned and resulted in groups of people pushing and no one knowing where to go.  We waiting in lines only to find out the lines went nowhere. The space they used was too small for the amount of people who attended. We only stayed for an hour and the boys never got a chance to see any players except one retired football player and that was from a far distance. I'm not really a jags fan. I would have become one if they had of been smart enough to get Tim Tebow. So my fairy tale dream of a night of autographs and pictures only resulted in these few. The boys had fun and loved being with us and that make it all worth it.

Colton (future Jags quarterback) 

Seth

Colton

Jeremy

After a fun night of movies, eating and playing we went to bed around midnight. In the morning Colton and Seth wanted to try net casting. After only one lesson from a experienced net caster Colton was doing it like a pro.

Seth was so excited he wanted to clean it himself and eat it. So of course we let him.

Seth cut the fish up into filets and Rich spiced them and grilled them

The fish was delicious!

Here are a few more pics

We had a great time with our precious grandsons. 

Happy Father's Day!

Be Blessed!