"SLAINTE"

Slainte is the Irish toast most commonly used

and it means "Health". This was heard a lot last night.

Friends gathered at "The Pawn Shop" on 54th Street.

Brian featured below is the proprietor. He

treated us well as we are connected to the Willis'. We

had a nice outdoor table warmed by a heater.

Enjoy some of the photos of people who were sighted.

Notice the multi-generational crowd.

We were given Jameson shot glasses that lit up.

Barb claims St. Patrick's day is her favorite holiday.

You don't have to buy gifts, cook any meals, or decorate

your home. You simply have to eat corned beef and cabbage,

wear green and drink green beer.

Bagpipers arrived at about 8pm and they stayed awhile and

played the usual Irish Classics such as "Danny Boy", "Amazing

Grace", and even "When the Saints go marching in".

This is a mother/son combo who performed in the pipers.

Do you know why people wear green on St. Patrick's day?

Green makes you invisible to leprechauns who pinch

people regularly. So the wearing of the green is to avoid pinches.

As I hate pinches, I had to wear green starting at the office.

Here is bill who claims to have some Irish wearing a kilt.

He is one of the computer gurus that we share a suite with.

He is a great guy who is so helpful with my computer woes.

So till next year "Slainte" to you.

Movie review "The Stoning of Soraya M"

I got a blue ray DVD and now have free movies that stream in from Netflix.
It does not cost anymore for this option and I love it because I get a choice
of over 17000 films, many of which are foreign ones. Last night I watched this
movie and was literally in tears. It is a true story about an Iranian woman
in a remote Iranian village who is stoned to death by the village
because her husband trumped up charges of infidelity against her.
It is a story told to a French journalist played by James Caviezel,
because one woman took the risk of making sure the world would know
about such atrocities. The journalist got the word out and wrote a book
and made a film . The film was a runner up as best movie to
"Slum Dog Millionaire" in that year in the foreign film genre.
What was most interesting was the power that Mob rule had
when even the woman's 2 young sons threw rocks at their
mother when encouraged by the crowd. This is a great movie which
I recommend to you. This kind of thing still unfortunately happens
in the middle east where women have no rights. It is a very harrowing
tale and if you are not moved then you are made of stone.

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous!

Ever wonder who lives in these homes?

I think there must be 10 or more bedrooms and wonderful parties

happening in them. Most of them have yachts out front and 2 Lexus'

in the garage.

Some are Italianate

Some have staircaises going nowhere just for show

What would a cave dweller from Afghanistan think of this opulence?

Except for the 1st two homes these are on an island on a bay in St. Petersbugh

Florida. They all front on the water but our walk was from the road side.

Rumor has it that one man had the light coming off of a street lamp into

his bedroom window. He had the road diverted.

It is fun to walk here and ooh and aah over the wealth and wonder

how these people got all their moola.

I got friends in warm places!

Rob and Diana live in a high rise condo on one of the bays in St. Petersburg

Florida and this is the view from their living room

Here I am perched in my favorite spot next to the picture windows

with the panoramic views.

I am often reading, having a glass of red wine,

playing with their cat Sugar and

sometimes even napping.

Here are the girls on spring break.

There is a wild life preserve within kayaking distance where I

observed many local birds like blue herons, cormorants, and ibis.

Rob was hoping we could see a spoonbill roseate but I was not that

lucky. However when I came back this bird was just standing close

to our landing dock so I had to photograph him.

The above photos show kayaking scenes as well as my self portrait in the kayak.

Pool time is very important when you are in a 55 plus community.

You have to catch up on the latest gossip. Dinner is usually early bird

because you have to get back in time to play euchre, bingo, bunco, bridge,

mah jong or gin rummy. Tennis usually occurs daily from 8-10am.

Retirement can be very busy.

Coctail hour is very important when girls are on spring break.

If someone calls from Florida complaining that it is a

bit chilly do not feel sorry for them. LG - Life is Good

would apply to this lifestyle.

At home with Jill in Florida

Last week Saturday March 7, I flew to Tampa to visit friends Rob and Diana.

While there we all paid a visit to Jill my

tennis coach who moved there. She totally revamped a house on

one of the St. Petersburg bays. The home is gorgeous and so

comfortable.

Below jill and husband Gary prepare mimosas with a great Mumm champagne

for us to take out on their boat.

Diana and Rob pose in front of their swimming pool.

The porch which faces the water has

a fish motif as Gary loves to fish.

I could envision spending hours curled up on this

sofa reading.

Here Jill poses with Madeleine and Betsy who also came along.

The boat is very large and holds 10 people

comfortably. As you can see 6 of us are seated

up front with our jackets on.

Some of the beautiful views are shown here of the Vinoy.

Jill's dog is called Boodle as he is a mix of Boston terrier and poodle.

Boodle and I were getting along till he decided he didn't like me and

snapped at me twice.

Although it got chilly out on the water the mimosas, sun and views made up

for the temperature.