Monday, December 7, 2009

Monday Catch Up

Thanks to all of you, it is nice knowing I was missed. I'm so glad the new computer is in place and now the blogging process moves on.

Activities on Sanibel certainly didn't wait for me. There have been all kinds of newsworthy things happening. A couple of cold fronts passed through, which made us bring out some long sleeved clothing, and we got a nice amount of rain. The downside of the rain, was that it continued all day on Friday and through that night which was Sanibel's Annual Christmas Luminary Trail.

A good friend came to spend the weekend and we had planned to travel the Luminary Trail. Early that evening we went to Jerry's for dinner, where we could park under roof to avoid the rain. The tropical view from inside the restaurant is very pleasant with all their Christmas lights glowing outside. After we ate, it was still raining, so we went back home thinking we wouldn't go to Luminary, after all.


After sitting at home for a while and thinking it over, we decided there probably wouldn't be much traffic on Periwinkle Way because a lot of people wouldn't be out due to the rain. We drove to Tahitian Gardens and the parking lot was full of cars. Luckily we saw someone leaving so we got a place to park.


Some of the stores had placed their luminaries on the railings, which looked pretty. I took some pictures of a few of the store windows. Their displays were all bright and cheery. I had a problem with the rain blowing in, so some of the pictures are not too clear. I took them in a hurry because I didn't want to get my cell phone wet.

The Sanibel Cafe wasn't open, but it's pretty stars were blinking as we passed by.

Santa, Mrs. Claus and an elf arrived in a firetruck.







Love the Sanibel Snowballs. :-)

Just a sample of Sanibel winter attire.







Someone was trying to get a photo of Mrs Claus in her short skirt. Hope Santa didn't notice. You just don't see her wear this kind of clothing up North.





Next stop was at the end of Periwinkle Way, where we browsed through a couple of shops. The rain was coming down a little harder and the wind had picked up. Rain was blowing in under the roof, making it even more difficult to stay dry. I was surprised to see two bikes parked under the roof, with packages in the basket.



After stopping by a very crowded Biddle's Bucket for a drink, we went home. I think a lot of people stopped there with hope it might quit raining, and since it didn't, they just stayed. It wasn't the most pleasant Luminary I've been to here, but considering the weather, no luminaries lining Periwinkle Way and other adjustments made, it was still fun.

Sunday morning my friend Chris and I went to have breakfast at the Sanibel Cafe. We found the Sanibel Farmer's Market was in full swing in the Tahitian Gardens parking lot. Of course we had to do a walk-through. Ms Chris saw a beautiful pot of Bromeliads and wanted to buy it, but decided she could live without it. I, on the other hand, thought I couldn't live without some German Bread Pudding and another bakery item, which I carried away in a bag.

We made our way into the cafe, where we enjoyed a yummy breakfast and pleasant chat with Richard and Bonnie, even though they were very busy with a full house.

On the way back out, we did another walk through the market. This time Ms Chris decided she couldn't live without the plant! :-)

Actually, it was more like 10 plants in the pot, and very pretty.

Over the past few days, I had heard there were a lot of shells on the beach, nothing spectacular, but fun shelling just the same. This afternoon, this is how the beach looked at West Gulf Resident Access 3. The water was pretty calm and there was only a slight breeze. The temperature seemed warm, even though it was only 73 degrees. The water temperature in the Gulf has cooled down to 68 now. I wasn't there long before the noseeums started bothering me, so I left.












Best viewed in HD on Youtube by clicking on the screen below.

If you want to go back to view any of the videos that have been on my blog, without going through the old posts, just go to http://www.youtube.com/my_videos and you will find them all, plus more, thanks to Gary. You'll want to save that in your Favorites.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

So glad you are back online. I was having beach withdrawal. I've missed the nearly daily blog you so graciously provide. Almost like being there. Thanks. Hugs, Tanya

Dot said...

Tootie, really enjoy your blog! I love Sanibel and visit often...thanks for sharing your view :o)

Caroline said...

Glad to see you back, our computer was in the hospital over the weekend, not serious, just annoying trouble.
We've never been in Sanibel during holiday time, fun to see familiar places all dolled up.
73F sounds pretty good to me, it is about 5 here and feels like Siberia. :o)

Kathi said...

So happy to see you again! I love the photos today, rain and all.

Deb said...

so glad to see you back. I have missed your daily update. We are having 23 degrees and snow so seeing your blog certainly lifts my spirits.

RottenMom said...

You sure know how to make a COMEBACK!! I especially love the pictures of the stores decked out for Christmas. Not only were you missed in the blogging world, I am sure Gary has told you that you were missed on TA as well! You ROCK!

sue in mexico mo said...

Thank goodness you are back! Like Tayna, I was having serious Sanibel withdrawal. :-) My next visit isn't until July. What kind of new computer did you get?

Little Black Scrap Cat said...

Nice to see you back, Tootie!! Thanks for all the updates, and the great pics of Sanibel all decked out for the holidays!! Hope you have a wonderful Holiday Season!!

Unknown said...

Yay!!!! So glad you're back!!! This chilly girl from Massachusetts needs my Sanibel fix!!! Hope you like your new computer, and thanks so much for doing this blog. Counting down to April....

Best Wishes and Happy Holidays!!
Liz

Snowbird said...

I went to Access 5 this afternoon and there were big shell piles. I found a few goodies including a couple of wentletraps.

Unknown said...

Great to see you back again, Tootie!! I can't go shelling for a while because I pulled a leg muscle the last time I was there (over 3 weeks ago) and have been hobbling around on crutches ever since. I'm determined to do some shelling sometime soon, though, even if I have to crawl, darn it!