Author Archives: Sparky
New Year’s Eve – almost ushering in 2019
We attended the New Year’s Eve party at the resort. 208 people dining on prime rib or chicken, with steamed vegetables and baked potatoes. Cheesecake for dessert. A 5-piece dance band. All cooking and entertainment provided by residents of the park. Jett and I did our part by prepping the baked potatoes. Over 200 potatoes … Continue reading
NYE fail
Jett and I have been volunteering a lot at our new home. It is a good way to meet our neighbors and is fun, too. Mostly. Cleanup from the Thanksgiving dinner was a lot of work – over 2 hours. Prepping for the New Year’s Eve dinner (mostly preparing the 240 baked potatoes) was only … Continue reading
Letting my (freak?) flag fly
Jett has, for years, wanted to get a large American flag that we could display at our site. On taking up residence for at least 5 months – perhaps longer – it seemed like a good time to make it a reality. So we ordered an American flag and a new “thin blue line” flag … Continue reading
Ghosted by my printer
I have published the first four volumes of the blog – 2011 through 2014 – and have the 2015 volume ready for print. But my chosen printer – printi.com – has disappeared. Apparently they have been gobbled up by VistaPrint. Their website now redirects me to the VistaPrint website. But I have been unable to … Continue reading
Rusty the goofball
We have been a one-dog family for nearly a year now. That means that all of our loving attention has been lavished on a single dog. It is a heavy burden for a dog to bear, but Rusty seems to be able to tolerate it. As you can see from this photo, he can thoroughly … Continue reading
“Night School” by Lee Child
Copyright 2016 by Lee Child, published by Delacorte Press. This is the 21st book in the Jack Reacher series. I like all of the Jack Reacher books. He is larger than life, sometimes tender, sometimes brutal, always analytical and never predictable. All of which makes for a good read. In Night School he is in … Continue reading
Stats for Jett’s American ancestors, 2018
Number of American ancestors: 549 Location of graves, by state: MA – 443 ME – 42 NH – 16 NY – 12 CT – 7 VT – 6 NJ – 2 RI – 2 VA – 2 FL – 1 SC – 1 Canada – 1 England – 1 Barbados – 1 unknown – 12 … Continue reading
Jett’s American ancestors, 2018 update
I have gone through Jett’s Ancestry tree, reviewing new hints, correcting some errors and adding a few newly-discovered ancestors – specifically the ancestors of Mehitable Williams (a 6th great-grandmother). In the course of reviewing these new hints i discovered some new things: She has several new direct links to Plantagenet royalty (specifically Edward III). She … Continue reading
First footers, of a sort
It is not yet The Season in southwest Florida – that starts Jan 1 – so the park is still only about one-third occupied. The 3 sites to our north are all empty and the neighbor to our south has gone away for the holidays, leaving us feeling a little lonely and isolated. So it … Continue reading
Sunsets in Fort Myers
One of the best things about southwest Florida, right behind the (usually) great weather, is the sunset. More often than not the sun sets in a blaze of color. Enough color to make you stop what you are doing and just watch. Free theater.