A cold and yucky day. My first task in the cold was to get a wheelbarrow of muddy clay and level the potting bench. I ended up using paver bricks too set the bench on after propping up the low side with the muddy clay. It should dry and be OK. Next I used the bench to lay out the hardware for the storm door and set up a couple of saw horses to lay the door down so I could attach the hinges. Attached the door to the frame, drilled the door for the latch mechanism and basically got everything hung and working today. Still need a threshold and door sweep. Libbie made her nice Pizza. We had an interesting time microwaving peppers. The bell pepper sparked and flamed like it was metal in the microwave. I put some cut pepper on a piece of saran and the same thing happened. This eliminated any influence of the bowl. We ended up having the pizza with only onions and left the peppers out of it. I finished reading the Chelsey Handler book and started reading a Clive Cussler. So far this is a nice read.

This morning I worked on the W2 and W3 for the greenhouse. I need to complete this before our trip. Finished it up and mailed it on the way to the theater. The hard part as usual was getting the numbers lined up on the form. They keep moving the boxes around on the form which means Ii have to add or delete rows or columns on the spreadsheet I use to print this. We drove to Crossroads for the Opera. It's nice getting there just past 12:30 for a 1:00 performance. Libbie made sandwiches which we had in the theater during intermission. We both really enjoyed the Enchanted Island. It was over the top sticky sweet. Nice, nice, nice. It was pouring rain when we got out. I wanted to stop at BJ's but it was too messy, I just wanted to get home. Dinner was very nice. We had scallops with Broccoli and wine.

This was a busy day. It started with a greenhouse trip for cinder blocks and an inflation jumper tube. Next stop was Krogers for a Lowes gift card and the gas. The gift card let me get a 40 cents per gallon discount to 2.99. I needed 10 gallons. Went home and hooked up the trailer and went to Lowes for a storm door and some 2x6's. I used the gift cards from Krogers and also a $15 off coupon received in the mail. Came home and stapled the deadmen plastic. Libbie had picked up a roll of strip tape on her journey today to Wyatt Quarles. Fired up the inflation blower which is on the interval timer. I need to monitor the top to see how far it deflates after 20 or more seconds of inflation. This is an empirical job. Dinner was Bryani. Just before dinner I decided to get Met HD Enchanted Island tickets for tomorrow. Unfortunately, Fandango automatically charged my FIA card. I need to fix this to use the Sparks card.

Nancy came over early. I worked in my shop tracing wires to the relays. I then rebuilt two relays using the new 24 VDC relays I purchased earlier this month. I made two new 24VAC relays by retrofitting the new ones with old AC coils. Installed these in the relay box. Everything is now powered in the greenhouse. In the afternoon Libbie and I put the deadmen plastic up. We don't have strip tape so we only fastened it at the top and bottom. Dinner was chili and cornbread. After dinner I worked on the Social Security taxes so we could get a handle on them. The payroll tax break for Social Security deductions worked to our advantage since we didn't have to pay such a large deduction out, 10.4% instead of 12.9%. This allowed us to cover the payment with the money in Paypal.

Left at 9:25 for a 10k maintenance check at Leith Toyota. I drove there without effort. They wanted to sell me $49 tire balancing for $29 but I refused. The Corolla now has 9,807 miles. Came back home at 11:30 and started wiring the relay box. This went pretty well but took all afternoon. Libbie started making a pot of chili and wanted to turn the heat on downstairs but the new greenhouse is hooked to the downstairs heat which has no power while I work on the wiring. When I was done I fired it up and the top inflated. I found that a significantly less amount of time is needed for the inflation on/off period. Either way less time or blocking the input so there is much less flow, possibly even a block over the output. Dinner was some homemade chili and corn bread. After dinner we listened to tosca live. I don't care for Patricia Racette's rendition of Visi D'arte.

I went on the roof pretty early to try caulking the greenhouse edge. I found there was no room for caulking. Instead I tucked the leftover plastic top material under the drip edge all along the roof. This made me pretty sore. It started raining while I did this task. Went to the grocery store and did the Tuesday old geezer day thing. Later I entered a bunch of click and ship packages for Libbie which she took to the post office. Dinner wad trader Joes BBQ on a bun. Fell asleep to the Enchanted Island in the evening. This was being broadcast live by Sirius. I'm slightly warming up to this opera but if I had a clear choice I would choose to skip it.

I went out early and started running the thermostat wiring even t though it was cold out. Temp this morning was in the thirties. I made all the runs of the thermostat wire. Next step will be to mount the relay box on the porch that the thermostat wiring will control. Libbie and I made a Trader Joes run this afternoon. We also researched doors at Lowes. Saw somebody laying in the parking lot being worked on by EMS. Bought a pipe to be cut up as table leg extensions in our pack and ship room. This went very well. I ended up putting the smalll blue chair next to the table to raise the Ott light now that the table is raised. The Lowes parking lot and the Trader Joes parking lots were pretty full because it was MLK day. I didn't count on the crowds but we got through it OK. Dinner was Lobster Ravioli from Trader joes.

I got up late, it was after 7 when I got out of bed. Went downstairs and found Miss Wisconsin won Miss America. Her talent was the operatic aria Il Bacio by Isit. I found Anna Netrebko singing it on YouTube at Versailles. We first hooked up the trailer and went out to the greenhouse and picked up the potting bench and 4 2x4's and pieces of 2x4's for the first of the growing benches. Next I hit the rototiller and leveled half of the greenhouse. It's ready for the potting bench, growing bench and stairs. Libbie and i then moved the potting bench into position. It needs some cinder blocks and leveling but next task is going to be wiring of the thermostats and then the power from the relays. We watched the Golden Globes red carpet while having Libbie's wonderful pizza made from scratch dough. Afterwards we watched the Golden globes. It was bright and sunny today but cold with temps only in the 40's.

I spent the morning painting the thermostat mount and covers and the Stevenson screen for my temperature probe. It's cold out but I put the cover on the kitchen duct and planted the Mondo grass from yesterday. Libbie took out some more Mondo grass which we planted next to the greenhouse wall. I got out the rototiller and did a first pass leveling of the area where the potting bench will be. We need gravel on the ground but I don't want to buy a truckload. Dinner was ribs, broccoli and a very nice Chateau St Michele Cabernet. This is an outstanding Cabernet. After dinner I watched Miss America with mute turned on while and Beethoven Fidelio playing on Sirius/XM.

This was a productive day. Ann came over for an ag inspection. I went outside and hooked up the inflation blower. It's mounted near the heater and attached via a 4 inch dryer pipe to the top. Next I put plastic on the rest of the sidewalls. I finished the job but ran out of strip tape. Still have a few other strips that need taping including the deadmen. Libbie worked on removing mondo grass. The Wall Street journal subscription began today via Home Delivery. Surprising. Dinner was crab cakes on buns with tomato. I lost 3 pounds, down to 243. It's cold out today but nice and sunny so it wasn't that bad. My fingers were cold installing the inflation but stapling the plastic all was well again.

I didn't do much today. Nancy came over in the morning and played Violets with Libbie. I went outside and spent 2 hours removing Mondo grass and transplanted it to the front yard. Dinner was the 15 bean soup which was excellent. We went to the greenhouse and removed the inflation blower. This was while I waited for Walgreens to fulfill my Potassium prescription. I had to illegally join the W club to get the stuff at a discount, $30 for 90 days. Kroger wanted $27 for 30 days worth. It's a very windy evening tonight.

Outdoors it's a miserable day. Cold, dreary and rainy. I had a physical at 9:30. this went well, my weight is too high and Blood Pressure is up. They doubled the diuretic to 50 mg. My challenge was to find this generically priced. Next was the Home Depot fence estimate. The guy came out at 12:30 when it was raining pretty good. The estimate was way over what I ever thought it would cost. The price was $2590. Ouch! Next we went to the greenhouse. I took down the cool cell interval timer to use on the inflation blower. I wanted to take down the inflation fitting and blower but the realtor showed u p. We listed with Brad after talking with him a little. He sounds like a nice guy. We went with $100 on the lot/orchard and $500 on the greenhouse property. It really started raining harder when we concluded. Dinner was left over quasadilla from La Cosina and then Libbie's Ham 15 bean soup. Good stuff! We enjoyed Aida which was a classic performance from 300 years ago.

Picked up groceries this morning and emailed the realtor about listing the greenhouse land. Outside I cut down the roses and Lantana. The meeting started at noon. Sheila brought a nice lunch.
The subject was Gesneriads. Everyone brought their favorite Gesneriads for show and tell. I showed a few slides from the Dr Clark presentation about Gesneriads, the beginning has what countries each type comes from. It's pretty educational. Dinner this evening was a trip to La Cosina for Quasadilla and a margarita. At home we listened to some of Tosca live from the met before going uopstairs. I'm reading a Cast Memoir of Disney world.

Today is cold and miserable outside. I painted the kitchen vent cover inside my workshop and studied some Arduino hardware. Did not do a whole lot today. I bought the ingredients for broccoli salad for the violet club tomorrow. libbie helped me make it. We scrambled around cleaning for the club meeting tomrorow. Dinner was Lobster pasta from Trader Joes.

I'm running a little slow today. After the morningnshows I went to Home Depot for some gas pipes. Redid the gas line to the greenhouse heater and hooked it up. Leak tested the gas and all is well.Libbie made her excellent pizza with dough she had frozen.

We got up early, packed the rest of the car and got moving in the car at 6:30 AM. The sun started rising as we approached Tampa on I-75. We stopped for McDonalds biscuits on I-4 at the second exit after getting on I-4. Traffic was normal the whole trip, we had no delays. It was also warmer than normal. Although it was in the early morning 50's throughout Florida, when we got up into GA and SC the temps were in the 70's for a beautiful January day. I had to get gas at the last exit in FL for 3.44, I couldn't make it to GA for cheaper gas. Our next stop was Florence where we had McDonalds snack wraps for lunch and topped off at 3.18 per gallon at the Raceway. We arrived home around 5:30 which was a quite normal 11 hour trip. For dinner we had tuna sandwiches. Before dinner we had cheese and crackers with a glass of Shiraz. Everything looked good at home, the plants, the fish, the watering system.

We spent the morning working around the condo. After lunch we hooked up the bikes to the car and drove to the Venice train station. Took a bike ride along the waterway to the Gulf. Along the way we saw a bald eagle on a dead tree and many gopher turtles along the road. Turned around at Caspersen beach and rode back. Tried to come back on Honore so we turned up 681 but found you can't get onto it from 681, It only goes to 681 on the Southbound side. We ended up taking I-75 to Clark to get home. We next tried to go to Yoders for Honeybelles but got there one minute after closing. At Publix next we picked up wine and some prepared pineapple chicken with 2 eggrolls. Libbie is having stomach problems from having too much food (or beef the night before?) We packed up as much as we could for an early take off tomorrow.

It's a chilly day. We took a ride downtown and walked the bayfront enjoying the Season of Sculpture. I photographed every piece. I will do a slide show when we get home. Bill made some very nice slide shows of his safari trip. I can envision a media center attached to our TV with a selection of these movies for our own entertainment.

We enjoyed breakfast with Bill and Barb. We then took a walk around the block with them before they left later in the morning. They are going to stay with her Dad in Jensen Beach. We then had lunch at the club house, I had a BLT with fruit and a glass of Yuengling. Later we went back for pub night. I enjoyed the flank steak with a glass of Cabernet. I finished the Stephen King 11/22/62 book. It didn't end the way I thought it would but was an excellent read.

We spent the morning cleaning the condo. I took care of spots on the rug and also cleaned the windows. I ran out of cleaner so we did a run to Publix and also returned the telephone wires to Sears. Came back and touched up the place including vacuuming. We stopped at the clubhouse on the way back for Yuengling and sandwiches. I had a BLT and sweet potato fries. Bill and Barb came around 4:30. They both were getting over a cold. We found that both Jeff's wife Carrie and Corrie were pregnant. We went to dinner at the club. I had Horseradish crusted Salmon with veggies and rice. Very nice. We stayed at the table and chatted a while.

We were going to do a bike ride today but ran out of time. I worked on VB Express 2010 a little in the morning. It doesn't seem much different than VB6. We had some cheese and crackers for lunch then left at 1:50 for Ted and Lorraines. I stopped in Walmart for a new clock and aspirin (81 mg aspirin a day stuff). Got to Port Charlotte a little after 3. The address is not in the GPS. Instead we took Tamiami to Cornelius at the Circle K. Turned right and went until we found a major BLVD. Went down a half mile and found the entrance to Riverwood. After the gate took a left at the second Stop sign onto Club. Took that to Silver Lakes on the left. They live on Silver Lakes Circle, 14435. Had a glass of wine at their home then Ted drove to the Lock and Key on Manasota Key. The Seafood restaurant was very nice. I had salmon topped with Papaya and Mango. Perfect. Some squash and other veggies complete the $22 dish. Total bill with tip was $51. It was an enjoyable evening. Their son Brian is engaged but no wedding date yet. Fiance is Nicole. We came back shortly after 9 after stopping at Lorraine's house again after dinner. We stayed a few minutes then started back.

I got up early this morning at 6:15 but Libbie slept in till 9. We had a high calorie night, with lots of wine last night but I was OK this morning. Started using VB 2010 Express to rewrite the Great Violets program. Took a walk around the block. We decided to go to the clubhouse at 3:30 but found they only had cold cuts on a buffet table. Instead we ordered a pizza from Valentinos around 6 PM. They're on Clark in the Expo center. We got a Large for $14.40. I ordered the relays for the new greenhouse this evening. They should get there by the time we get home. After 60 minutes we watched PBS New Years in Vienna concert. Nice. Comcast switched to a digital system and gave us a box of junk to hook up. The lower channels work fine as analog but for the upper premium channels we need the boxes hooked up. I want HGTV for the Rose parade tomorrow. Hookup was a pain in the ass. The set top box is overly complicated and a piece of shit. I counted over 50 buttons just to watch TV. It's going back to Comcast. The little adapters are better - smaller remotes, smaller box.

We spent some time this morning working in the condo washing towels, putting some of the new stuff away. Called Lorraine and arranged for a visit and found out that the other phones do not work in the condo. Investigated and found the Ooma was hooked up wrong. When it was hooked up right, the Scout device didn't work. I found the Scout output needs to be put on a second set of wires in the telephone cable, a jobe for a splitter. Looked at them in Radio Shack but I rejected a $10 splitter. Bought some parts in Sears but still wasn't happy. Went to Walmart and bought some junction boxes and made the splitter I needed. It worked but the light wouldn't come on in the Scout device. Took apart outlets in the house to trace the wiring and then found that the brightness was turned down. Turned it up and the light was working all along!!!!
Left at 7 for the party. Ordered a wine at a table in the lobby then went to the horsdouevres. We had scallops, duck, cheese, fruit, beef on a skewer, etc. This was a meal itself. We had another wine then they brought out lobster followed by strawberry sorbet. We then had a salad of cucumbers, tomatillo, pecans and lots of stuff. Next course was the desert of chocolate covered raspberry mousse. We ended the evening with a champagne toast at midnight. I was tired and had too much to drink. After our second glass of wine we ordered a bottle of Ravenswood Zin but had to sub Clove Zin which was $36 but they gave it to us at the $27 price. We sat with Hort and heidi from MA, Tony and Siggy from Germany and Hurda and ??? from Canada.

We left this morning at 9:30 for Dunedin. Had not trouble at all finding the Rainbows End quilt shop on Broadway. We followed GPS up 275 to 19 to Dunedin. Travel was easy. The shop was unbelievable. I have never seen so many bolts of fabric or notions. It was colorful. We drove through the little downtown and then stopped at a Micky D for snack wraps for lunch. On the way home stopped at Bobs Cleaners to pick up our comforter which came out excellently then stopped at Michaels to get cutting supplies for Libbie's quilt. Rested at home before going out to our favorite Thai restaurant, Bangkok Thai. Our server was a tiny and petite Thai girl with the unlikely name of Nicole. I had a mixed seafood Pad Thai. We each had a glass of Merlot. Nicole had a little baby voice, it was cute.

This was a lazy day. We did stuff around the condo and took inventory of our sheets and towels. We took the queen comforter to Bobs Cleaners behind Publix at Clark and Tamiami for cleaning. Left for a quilt shop in North Sarasota called Quilters Stash. It has only been open 7 weeks and was very nice but didn't have much. Libbie wanted a cutter and board but no dice. Next we went downtown to Whole Foods and had a slice of pizza and a bottle of generic water. We then went to Selby which is always a treat. Had a nice talk with one of the volunteers about Gesneriads. Came back via Midnight Pass. Stopped in Kohls to get the towels and pillows we decided we needed. The cashier was a very pretty young girl who gave me an eyeful with her low cut top and extremely short tight skirt. It was actually the shortest skirt I have ever seen. When she bent over to put the pillows in the bag I was treated to a view of everything. Wow. We stopped in the Publix liquor store and got some individual bottles of Rum for our egg nog. Had cheese, crackers and egg nog during sunset then went to the club for Rib night. I had a half rack with baked potato and salad. We each had a glass of Shiraz. The food was great, our server Kevin was not so great. We were pretty much ignored. We noticed he wasn't very good with his other tables either.