89 Degrees at Cocoa Beach

That's right - 89 in February. It was 90 a few miles south of us in Melbourne. There was only one thing to do today - go to the beach. The sea breeze made it seem cooler. Here we are:

And the rocket did launch this afternoon, but we missed it as we went out to an early dinner. We felt it and heard it at the restaurant. Tomorrow the temperature drops to the 60s again. Did you say it was snowing in northern Maine??

Life on the Beach - Watching the Sky

We have spent two evenings at dusk watching the skies for a launch of an Atlas rocket. Both of the launches were scrubbed, and the next try will be tomorrow night. Here you see Gary out on the Merritt Island causeway looking towards Cape Canaveral.

Here is a photo of the sunset on the causeway overlooking the Banana River.

Louise received some lovely flowers for Valentine's Day, as you can see in this photo.

We have had beautiful weather and want to share a few photos of life on Cocoa Beach.

Our place is behind the shrubbery. Beside it is the new house that was being built last year when we were here. Gary has come down with a bad cold, but otherwise life is good in Florida.

February is here!

Yesterday the Coles traveled to Mount Dora to visit the Mount Dora Arts Festival. The number of people there defies the imagination! The streets were shut down, and artist's tents lined them. Artists from all over the country were part of the exhibit, which is considered the largest art festival in the state of Florida. Here we have a picture of the crowd, and one of the most interesting houses, home to the Masons. They served lunch and we ate there.

It was 80 degrees and the heat finally got to Louise, so our visit did not cover all of the exhibits. The drive was a good one, except for the tolls every few minutes. We discovered why Florida has such nice roads - tolls every few miles!
In other news we saw an interesting plane this week at Patrick AFB. It says United States of America on it's side, so it appears to be Air Force One. Perhaps there are several in the fleet or it was here for repairs.

And finally Louise completed her sweater #2 for the year last week. Here you see a photo of it.

Life is good here in Florida, and the temperatures are very warm. It is hard to imagine 80 degrees in February!

Splendid Saturday

This post is meant for all of our friends and family in northern Maine who are having very cold weather and snow. Just to cheer you up, here is a glimpse of our world today.

Cocoa Beach 1/21/12

It is supposed to reach 80 today and the sun is brilliant. It would be hard to imagine a nicer day.

We found a hibiscus bush by the front steps and want to share the beautiful blossom we have found.

Louise has been sick all week with a stomach upset, so this is where she plans to sit and knit today.

Sweater #2 is nearly done!

Sweater #1

Louise has signed up for a challenge online to knit 12 sweaters in 2012. Finishing sweaters that are already started and children or baby sweaters are OK in the plan, so she has at least 4 with her in Florida to work on. The first one was finished yesterday. This cardigan came along just in time for the cooler weather.

Gary is painting a winter scene in Washburn from a photo taken by Jon. Here he is on his birthday, which we celebrated with dinner out at the Olive Garden.

Cold Weather in Florida

Yesterday only reached 49 here, and it fell into the 20s and 30s in the area last night. To those of us from the hearty north this is not such a freeze as it seems to be to the locals. The news was full of advice for bundling kids up to go to school and covering plants. More serious was the strawberry and orange growers trying to protect their crops. 

When the temperatures get so cold, the manatees seek warmer water. There is a canal in Satellite Beach where they seek shelter. We stopped by there this morning and took a few pictures of the manatees in the canal.

Here is Gary looking over the canal. Louise went to her knitting group in Eau Gallie and met up with knitting friends she hasn't seen since last March.

A New Year

This blog has been sadly neglected over the past few months. Perhaps the new year will provide the inspiration to get some posting done.  Today we started the new year by moving into our beach home in Florida. We have been on the road since last Wednesday, so it has been a long trip.

The weather is so great it is unbelievable. It is almost 80 degrees outside with the sun shining. Here we have a picture of the water, glistening in the sun. People are on the beach today and in the water.

The quick change in climate caused us to unpack quickly and find cooler clothes. The jeans and turtlenecks with socks and sneakers were too warm. Out came the sandals. Our first stop in Cocoa Beach was at the Farmer's Market where we found some great naval oranges and ripe, red tomatoes.

We are mostly unpacked and the grocery shopping has been done. Gary is sitting down to watch TV.

It is like a dream come true to be in this beautiful place again.