Shelllady

Shelllady

Monday, November 28, 2011

Santa Came Early to our house!!

I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love.  For me they are the role model for being alive.  ~Gilda Radner

We have a new family member at our house...her name is Lily!! She is the most precious Chihuahua and such a joy!!
She's smiling at you!!
 
She weighs less than a lb, not exactly sure how much!! She is fitting right in around our house!! She is already Crate trained at 12 weeks old, and nearly paper trained!! We got her Saturday afternoon, and got her a crate and 3 chew toys yesterday!!
Here she is on the way home, paws crossed!!
Here she is with her Daddy...see how she is almost smaller than his hands?!!

New Toys!!

 
See her Smile??
As soon as I put her blanket in her new crate, she moved in!!


...And made herself right at home!!


The end of this video is great....round and around and around...she does it all the time!!
More later!!

::Hugs::

Cheri

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!!

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.  ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy


"If there is one day each year when food and family take center stage, it is Thanksgiving. It is a holiday about “going home” with all the emotional content those two words imply. The Sunday following Thanksgiving is always the busiest travel day of the year in the United States. Each day of the long Thanksgiving weekend, more than 10 million people take to the skies. Another 40 million Americans drive 100 miles or more to have Thanksgiving dinner. "

3 Generations!!


Happy Thanksgiving to you and all your families! I wish you safe travels and warm wishes from our family to yours!!


::Hugs::


Cheri

Monday, November 21, 2011

Happy Birthday to my Daddy!!

“It’s not the age, it’s the mileage.” ~ Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark

Today is my Dad's Birthday!! He has had, and continues to have an amazing story to tell! He is a veteran of 3 wars, fought in 2 of them, Korea and Vietnam as a fighter pilot!! He flew 100 missions in each campaign. He has been all over the far east during his nearly 30 years of Air Force assignment and reluctantly retired in 1972 and replaced his planes with a bass boat!

He is an amazing person, and he is my hero!! The most generous and selfless man I know and I am so proud to call him Daddy!

Happy Birthday Daddy!! I Love You!!

Magazine article sent by a friend of My Dad during the Korean war
This is the picture he made for me is above my desk at work....The 100th Mission in Vietnam, picture taken in front of his plane! (Notice the name!) Bottom picture is me then next to a F105!
Daddy (L) with his brothers, Jake, Steve and Rudy

Same brothers...Jake, Rudy and Daddy!!

Big Bass?!

Jess and her Grandpa, "PahPah"
My Dad and Mom 57 years of Wedded Bliss!
My Dad, Mom, Uncle Jake and Aunt Carolyn at our Annual camping trip....a LONG time ago!!

Me and Daddy at a local air show
I love this picture, Daddy at Jess' wedding reception!

Dancing with his grandaughter!
My Dad, Jess, My Mom at Jess' VT Graduation

Jess' White Coat Ceremony (Induction into Vet School)
4 Generations!! My Dad, Me, Daddy's Grandmother, Daddy's Dad, and Youngest Brother Rudy

::Hugs::

Cheri


Friday, November 18, 2011

Happy Birthday to My Hubby!!

They say that age is all in your mind.  The trick is keeping it from creeping down into your body.  ~Author Unknown


Happy Birthday to my Hubby today!! Bless his heart he is on work travel today and can't leave!  He loves what he does at work, but I think he should get some special treatment today so my plan is to go there and take him out to dinner.  Birthdays have always been very important to me, I think that it is the one day of the year when a person should be able to feel extra special, and my Hubby really deserves it!  If mohammed can't go to the mountain then the mountain will go to mohammed....right? 

He really is a very special person, and I'm lucky to have him and he deserves to have a fuss to let him know that. 

We have been so caught up in things both at work and at home, hopefully he can just stop for a few hours and enjoy a nice quiet dinner. So wish me luck, with all the traffic in the "Big City" (Washington DC)!!

 


Goofy?
Father of the Bride!! 3 times!!
At our favorite place!! Sanibel Island!!
With our Grandaughter Chloe! I love this picture!! Matching hair!



 ::Hugs::

Cheri


Friday, November 11, 2011

Better Days Shelling!!

"Voyage upon life's sea,
To yourself be true,
And, whatever your lot may be,
Paddle your own canoe."
~Sarah Bolton

I got caught up in cleaning shells and packing up today, :( so I will make this a two day post!
 

Thursday:  We got up BEFORE the sun this morning, and got out there just as you could start seeing! How about that for dedication?! Crazy you say? The shelling was much better....it was a lower tide, and we got there just before it was the lowest (by only a few minutes I think) and there was much more tidal pool to explore!! I think we did very well!! Hubby got a beautiful big Alphabet Cone!  Actually, it didn't start out beautiful, he thought it was a fighting conch when he first saw it, it was covered in black gook, and had carrier shells on it, he 'slid' off some of the carrier shells and realized he had an alphabet cone...after some work we got it looking MUCH better!!  I guess I should have given you a 'before and after' shot!!



I got two small, but beautiful king's crowns! We shelled the tidal pool and Hubby also walked along the sand bar too!  It was beautiful...not too cool, and the Gulf looked as smooth as a lake!!

Hubby found some Beautiful True Tulips!! Orange was the color of the day!! This are fairly small, but we saw some BEAUTIFUL ones that were HUGE...of course they were alive so we just admired them and left them alone to make more!! :)
Here is the morning's 'haul' pretty good I would say!!

We came in and had our usual pastry for breakfast about 8:45.  Then about noon Hubby cooked us up some bacon and we had BLTs....that's another staple we have here at Sanibel, it's beginning to be a tradition!!  After sitting on the beach for a few hours we headed to Sanibel Grill...we figure this will be our last dinner out before we leave paradise, so Hubby wanted to have his oyster basket, and I had my steak quesadilla!! Some more pictures around the condo....
An Orange Geiger flowering tree

I love the palm trees...so many different kinds, large and small!!



We came home, I cleaned up the shells, and after showers we settled in to watching some HOKIE FOOTBALL!! We were worried about VT since they are coming off of a bye week to play Georgia Tech!! (I sure do miss our HDTV!! We have a small flat screen here and of course it doesn't offer HD so we are very spoiled!!) We did it!! We really needed to beat Georgia Tech to make it to the ACC Playoff game, and we won!!  Two more games....Carolina then Virginia, we need to win these too to keep it going!!  Let's Go Hokies!!


Today (Friday)

We got up early enough to get out there before the sun again, as soon as we got to the beach, we realized that a cold front had gone through...we turned right around and grabbed jackets...figuring we would have to take them off in the next hour or so!! The tide was the lowest this week, down to -.2 and that was to be around 7, so we felt like we would have lots of time to explore the tidal pools and sand bars before the tide came in!  We were right!! We had great luck!! Actually twice as much as the days before!! We each had our own "board!"
This is my 'board'!!
Lots of tulips, Murex, Lightning whelks and double cockles!

Lace Murex
Paper figs...these guys are so thin and fragile, it is amazing the places you find them, and they are in such good shape!! These were buried in the mud at the bottom of the tidal pool!
Mini horse conchs, sharks eyes, and an auger
This is Hubby's 'board'
A PERFECT Angel Wing...a mini...I love these...along with some beautiful Mini King's Crowns!
Sunray Venus....these guys are blue-gray until you boil them, then they turn this Salmon color!!
Millions of Murex!!
He got pear whelks too!!






















We came in around 9:30....and it never really got very warm, we were so glad to have the jackets....Yep!! Here at Sanibel with a jacket on the beach!! The wind blew pretty strong making it seem cooler than it was....I have no idea how cold it was, no not as cold as at home....Cool for here anyway!!

We decided to go back to Jerry's for one last breakfast, and picked up some more pastries for breakfast tomorrow!  We will be leaving early to go to Orlando and will catch the Auto Train to DC, then drive on home from there. Hubby will be back to DC on travel until Thanksgiving :( so we get back to real life all too quickly!  His birthday is the 18th and will be stuck in DC to work, but I'm going up there to take him to dinner (I hope) to celebrate....and My Dad's Birthday is the 21st...then Thanksgiving!! Whew...I'm tired already!! 

I hope you have enjoyed our trip and that we brought you a little bit of relaxation and adventure!!  One last picture from the gardens....Have I told you I love this place?!
Powder-puff plant


Stay tuned....I'll be posting from real life...soon!! 

::Hugs::

Cheri