| Xmas is nearly here and I am late doing
this. For us, 2007 was less hectic than 2006; maybe we are
slowing down? These are the highlights of our year. If you click on any of the
underlined words it will take you to a photo album
on flickr where I dump my mostly unedited pictures. Each album may have a handful or a few hundred
photos. The small photos below will enlarge if you click on them. |
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January
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Graham, Nancy, Stephanie, Eric, Brian and Julianne came.
In addition to the usual Disney trips (not for us) they did some fishing,
kayaking (Eric and Brian quickly became expert in the single kayaks), and visited
Don Garlitz hotrod
museum.
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February
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In February we went to a reunion of the World Bank
retirees group, at South Beach, Miami.
We also made a second foray into sausage production with Doug &
Carol
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March
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During the week, Joyce walks 3 miles starting at about 5
am. Peter waits until the fitness center opens at 6 am, then works out on
a spinning bike or an eliptical machine. Saturday we heal. Sunday mornings
we go for a gentle 14 km bike ride for 45 minutes.
In March we went on our first camp
out, 3 nights, with the Spruce
Creek RV Club. During the stay we visited the Fantasy of Flight Museum,
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and the Dade County Battlefield Park (Seminole War) and
the Lakeridge winery.
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April
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Went on our second RV Club trip to Saint Augustine, the
oldest city in the USA.
Joyce tends orchids too
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May
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May is our month to catch up with physicians and dentists
before our summer travels.
We kayaked the Itchitucknee, with the Spruce Creek nature Explorers.
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June
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In June, Peter, Warren and Graham met in Montreal to
spend three days at the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Canada. We had a good time
(and got very sunburned). Here are about 40 pictures of the thousands we
took.
Joyce and Peter organized the RV and left on June 22 for
Saskatchewan. We did not make any side trips, and arrived at Warren's
house on the 29th, in time for the Labor Day weekend at the cottage on
Emma Lake.
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July
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The usual routine at the cottage on Emma Lake is quiet
weekdays and hectic weekends when Warren, Sandy, Keiran, and Hoodoo (dog)
arrive, often with Bill, Joan, 2 more dogs, and assorted other friends and
children. we also exchange visits with the Chartier and Reynolds families.
We stay active, cutting trees, biking, canoeing, sailing, hiking and
stuff.
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August
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In August we were delighted that Doug & Carol joined
us for three weeks. Unfortunately the weather changed to overcast, cool and wet. We
played a lot of Scrabble, but did surprise Doug & Carol by persuading
them to do some canoeing and hiking to Spruce River Highlands, Kingsmere
and Anglin Lake. We also tried mountain biking but only once.
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A highlight of their visit was shopping in Prince Albert, an city of
about 35,000 people. We were impressed to find Durien, from Thailand, in
the local Superstore. We all remembered these from our times in the
tropics, so we bought one and tackled it.
We visited a couple of major tourist sites like Batoche
(Louis Riel), and then it was time for Doug and Carol to leave, and we
were alone in the cabin again.
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September
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September started with a bang on the Labor Day long
weekend. Warren arranged a canoe
camping trip on Kingsmere, and we persuaded Joyce
that she would enjoy it. We had three canoes: Joyce & Peter; Warren,
Sandy & Keiran; and Kim, Karin and 2 children in Chris' old aluminium
Springbok. Chris came along, partly canoeing and partly hiking with Bill
& Joan with their 2 dogs and Hoodoo. There was no shortage of fit
young men to split wood, and many excellent campfire cooks.
But it was cool.
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Summer is short in Saskatchewan. Warren split wood
so we could have fires every day, but eventually the time came when it was
time to begin to leave.
Warren & Keiran sailed the Laser back to Pratt's, and we took
the dock out of the water.
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It was time for one last drink on the deck, suitably
garbed against the chill wind. And then we headed south. By the time we
got to Kansas City, it was again warm enough to sit outside |
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October
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We arrived home to the usual jungle of rampant
growth.
Almost immediately Greg & family arrived (Lori had a conference in
Orlando) so we got them out kayaking on the Silver
River. Lucas and Greg
were thrilled to see alligators on the banks.
On the third Sunday of every month, Joyce and I join the Golden
Hash, based in the Villages, linked to the international Hash House
Harriers. Since nearly all of the Golden hash members are retired, most
participants are walkers rather than runners. But everyone participates in
the Down-Downs (ritual beer drinking). The October Hash was a Halloween event.
Other than that we were back into our usual routine.
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November |
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In November we began to get psyched up for our first cruise. (We are
novices, some neighbors have been on 30 or 40).
We left on November 21 and
returned on December 10. We flew to Athens (a very uncomfortable flight on
Delta), toured Delphi, and Athens and then boarded the ship and sailed to
Kusadasi, Turkey; Istanbul; Rhodes; Limassol, Cyprus; Alexandria for
Cairo; Heraklion, Crete, Rome and Barcelona. Several hundred pictures are
on flickr.
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December
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So here we are in December and it is time to write the Xmas
newsletter.
We hope this finds you well and happy. We look forward to hearing from
you. Our co-ordinates are: 9385 SE 125th Street, Summerfield, Florida,
34491, USA. Telephone (352) 307 2705. But the best way to talk to us is by
E-mail to peter.long@longsworld.net
Happy Solstice, Joyce
& Peter
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