My brother, Mark and his girlfriend, Kristie  - and their beagle Chloe,  gave me a wonderful Christmas present this weekend! Going several hundred miles out of their way, they “stopped” to visit Bill, Karl and I  this weekend on their way from South Florida to Delaware.   I had warned Karl that it would be a good idea to be nice to “cousin” Chloe and both dogs were great.  They are within 2 months of being the same age. 

Chloe made a thorough inspection of the house with Karl following.  Karl tried many times to play but he never seems to get that smaller dogs don’t go for the giant paw trick.  Chloe tried to play back a couple of times and they had a bit of chase - wood floors make things tough also … neither can keep their feet.  Outside Chloe wanted to play with Mark or sniff and Karl with me - ??? we thought outside they would get a game of chase going.  They got along fine and were pretty compatible at the “waiting for food to drop” game…

Chloe was mystified at the “no dogs on furniture” rule and looked extremely put upon to have to lay on the floor on a rug.

The people got along fine!  Mark, Kristie and Chloe live on a 42 foot trawler and took the summer off to cruise the east coast.  Much of the living on a boat and cruising stuff translates to travelling by motorhome so we had fun comparing notes.  Kristie and Bill are extreme music lovers and like much of the same music so they had a great time with a bit of “Name that tune” and a little sing along complete with air guitar!  Bill cooked 2 wonderful dinners - no one went hungry and we just had a good time catching up, visiting and sharing experiences. 

A brother and a sister…

I ran into Chipley yesterday afternoon to get a few things - one of those usually somewhat mindless errand trips with a short list and a plan to run in and out. 

It has been very warm - hot! - at least according to Karl and I -  80 and even a bit humid for north Florida December.  In my defense, even NOAA says the temps are above normal…however locals are running around in jeans and light sweaters and I’m in flip flops, shorts and sleeveless blouse…

Anyway, I was warm and just wanting to get my few things into the Jeep, put the A/C on high and get home.  As I closed the back of the Jeep, the sky caught my eye and despite my discomfort I got the camera and caught the moment as best I could.  I love the photos, I loved seeing the sun coming through the holes in the clouds in those beautiful rays and I’m SO thankful that the sight caught my eye and that I stopped a minute to enjoy and capture a bit of it. 

I’m always fighting what feels like a lack of time - work, errands,  spending time with my family - all the “stuff” of life - it fills and sometimes overfills the day.  And I’m sure that my “to do” list is shorter than most - I have no commute, don’t have to dress up, no kids…still always things to do - things I want to do.  I am so fortunate that I also have the flexibility to take a bit of time to enjoy simple, beautiful moments.

Not really at the beach but I did see St. Andrews Bay of the Gulf of Mexico! - from the St. Andrews Marina:

A fun part of moving to another location is finding the various services wanted…today, after another appointment in Panama City, I went looking for a hair salon.  I like Aveda salons and had an address and map - GREAT find as 2 doors down from the salon is a neighborhood coffee house and driving around the block I was at the marina - FUN!

The coffee was great, nice people, and charming coffee/breakfast/lunch spot.  Below is the history of the coffee house and the building that houses it:

And, oh…I DID see Christmas trees for sale and OMG!!!! - over $50 for them!

Fooling with the sky photo panorama in a previous post ( More sky photos  ) made me remember these Montana Panorama shots - taken in 2003.  I use the winter shot as the header for my business web site (www.beardogco.com ).  The property is a house and a bit over 6 acres that I owned previous to my current place.  I took the photos from a spot up and away from the corner of the property.  The winter photo was my first try at panorama and it was about 4 degrees in January.  My little camera (’02 Canon Digital Elph) got cold and got the slows - which softened the focus just enough to make it look a bit like a painting.  I liked shot so much that I decided to get 4 seasons and I was/am/someday??? going to have prints made that can be hung one above the other.  BUT, I missed taking Spring and then moved….   click here to see all full screen.