Every New Year's Eve, Bill and I call the courthouse to find out how late they'll be open and then we walk down there with about 10 minutes to spare and pay our property taxes. Anyone who knows us knows that we've been working very hard for the past several years toward the cause of lowering property taxes for all Floridians and would not find this childish maneuver out of character at all. Maybe 2008 will be the year.
The kids around here pretend that the flowering trees' last stand for the season is drifting snow. That, and the sand dunes. I'm told that the last time that it snowed here was in the late 80's. I don't mind.
I didn't want the season to go by without grabbing a shot of this pretty Christmas window at Dottie B's Florist. It seemed strange taking this shot in 70 degree night time temperatures but, again, I endured.
Sorry guys. After a very full several days with our wonderful Christmas crowd, I was too pooped to blog last night and I actually forgot. So I missed my Boxing Day entry. For those of you keeping track - and you know who you are - my walk yesterday was up and down the stairs of our 8000 sq ft mansion many, many times due to the number of checkouts that we had. But all is well with the world today, which was (apparently) woodpecker day. We had several kinds showing up all over the place and they're pretty quick so I could only get this shot of a pileated woodpecker, not as large as we usually see around here. There was one that lived around here for a few years that would only travel between Beech and Date and from 6th to 8th - putting it smack dab in the middle of our treetops. Perhaps this is a young'un, as they say down here.
We had a great day here with our guests on Christmas Eve today. We sent everyone out on carriage tours while we all had drinks and hors d'oeuvres and then managed to squeeze in a few sweets (thanks to my niece Jenny's recipe for Oreo Balls) before Bill and I set up for breakfast for twenty nine. Here's Sarge, the carriage horse, showing me his antlers that he's sporting for the occasion.
And a view of the overflow table in the living room. We always get the nicest guests for Christmas and this year is no exception. I'm looking forward to Bill's pumpkin pancakes with a caramel pecan topping for breakfast and a wonderful dinner at Amelia Island Plantation tomorrow evening. Should be a fun time for all. And now for a little shut-eye to make sure that Santa gets to do his thing.
Another thing that I love about Florida is that two days before Christmas we tidy up the inn by mowing the lawn - in short sleeves and a sun hat. No, there won't be a white Christmas here but mowing the lawn on a 75 degree day is a fair trade-off sometimes.
This dummy is a frequent visitor to Centre Street and shows up in a variety of poses in a couple of different locations. This appears to be his "Sunning with Mangled Legs" pose. The other day he was sporting some holiday attire but he keeps us guessing.
I've been unable to upload any photos since I misplaced my cable on Monday and I really had been looking for it, but I knew that it was time to get serious when my sister called to see what had happened to me since I hadn't been blogging. Nice to know my family reads regularly. Thanks, Lu. So, here are the last four days starting with this lovely manger scene on Centre Street.
The front came through today and really started churning things up pretty fiercely. The high winds contributed to pretty high tides and very choppy conditions. And I got a little wet.
Gosh I just love this combination in Florida. When we lived up north you could never a) shop for a Poinsettia in your shorts or b) shop for a Poinsettia outside.
After my run on the Greenway this morning, I peeked through the gate of the city pool and found the water aerobics class just getting started. It was another beautiful 80 degree day but the pool is heated, so the calss goes on year-round. It's open to the public, by the way, so if you're used to temperatures warmer than our unheated pool at the inn, it's very inexpensive to use the city pool. In fact, I saw a sign that said that a month-long membership for a couple was $50. That's not bad even if you're just planning to spend a week here.
I hear that this string of 80 degree days might be winding down soon but I'm willing to wait. This is niiiiiiice.
We have two great bookstores in town - the old fashioned non-franchise kind - and I've always enjoyed being drawn up the stairs of aptly named Book Loft. I find it particularly appealing with the beautiful Christmas garlands. Makes ya wanna climb up there and read "Polar Express".
I love the simple elegance of the Tabby House decorations for the holidays. Pretty.
This church, St. Peter's Episcopal, was built by the same architect that built our house, Robert Schuyler. I'm guessing that he knew that his designs would be around long after he had left this world, so he could put things in his buildings that would be very difficult to maintain i.e. tall towers, just for laughs. Both this guy, pictured, and my husband have a pretty tough job reaching the high points when it comes time to paint. But we all agree that it's worth it. As they say, "he done good". And besides, when we have as many nice days as we do around here to work outside, it ain't that bad...
...but it's just the effect of an eerie heavy mist that came in tonight. I assure you that it was still 60 degrees when I took my walk tonight but the mist produced this cool result when combined with my camera. The locals all talk of a time in the 1980's when it actually snowed in Fernandina. There was about an inch on the street and the whole island closed down until it melted about an hour later. Most of the kids and half of the adults around here have never seen snow. Most of you reading this are probably thinking "lucky".
This collection of water birds was enjoying a morning buffet at low tide on the Greenway. I'd actually seen them at another watering hole/ breakfast bar while on my run and I went to get my camera out of the car afterward, ran back to the spot only to find that they'd moved on. So I had to do a bit of tracking all over the Greenway to find them again. All in all, not a bad way to cool down after a run.
I got a kick out of this Christmas tree aboard this boat at the marina tonight. Some people know how to make anything home-like.
This first mate appears to really be into fishing. Good to have an enthusiastic member of the party to keep spirits up. Or maybe he was just trying to tell me about his costume in the pet parade.
The Happy Tomato is one of our favorite lunch spots in town. They've always had great soups, salads and sandwiches, but they've recently added pulled pork barbecue from their own smoker. And with the recent change in ownership, they're now open until 5:30 for those of you who are just arriving in town to check in and skipped lunch but can't wait for dinner. When I'm in a place called the Happy TOMATO, I can't help but get the BLT, but I've recently sampled the barbecue and shrimp salad and found both to be outstanding. The setting is great too.
...will be starting as soon as all of the spectators have had a chance to gather. They're probably straggling in from the beach on this beautiful 80 degree day. Can't blame 'em.
