We left at 9:30 for Bradenton. Stopped at Bills condo and picked them up then headed for Dunedin. Barbara and Libbie went quilt shopping. I walked through the store then went for a walk along the Bayfront. It was beautiful with big older homes, Live Oaks and a one lane road that was dirt at times running along the bay. After the ladies purchased their fabrics we had lunch at the Dunedin Brewery. This was excellent. Libbie and I split a plate of BBQ sliders with beer infused bbq sauce. I had a dark Belgium beer to go with lunch. It was all very very good. We had a long ride back since we had to creep and crawl through Bradenton. We went out at 6:50 for dinner for pub night. Our friends Terri and Su had just been seated and invited us over to join them which we did. We had a delightful dinner. Libbie had fish Tacos and I had the Sheperds Pie. It was good but I wouldn't order it again since it was made with hamburger meat and not what I expected. The top was covered with mashed potatoes. A piano player by the name of Mike Real played an outstanding run of songs including Crying by Roy Orbinson, McArthur Park, The entertainer and the Piano Man.

The sun was out so we loaded the bikes and drove to the Venice waterway for our ride. Drove to the beach then to Sharkys Pier where we made a reservation outdoors for lunch. We each had the crab cake with a Yuengling. Thank goodness for eBikes since we were able to pedal the 6 miles back to our car after eating all this. Dinner was only a bowl of soup and a salad then we watched "Boyhood" which was an excellent movie. At the train station today we found an Osprey nest and also one of the Ospreys on a telephone pole eating a fish. Also met another couple who were retiree first timers. There are so many of them.

It rained all day today. We stayed in which gave me a chance to work on the IOS app and make significant progress getting the pictures displayed and first letter search working. We ate light today, salad and beef pot pie soup for dinner. We left at 6:30 for the next group Waltz lesson. I video taped the review that Stephen and Chaka did at the beginning of the lesson. We got better each time on the waltz steps. I still can't get left and right turns down straight. This needs some conscientious work. During the Open dance portion which started at 8 PM we met a NC couple from Greensboro, Terri and Sylvia. She just retired as an OB and he was an investment banker. We had some snack food during the party - veggies, cookies and cake.

After the morning news shows we loaded up the bikes on our new bike carrier and went to Myakka Park. We met another couple there who were first time Sarasota winter residents. It's amazing the number of people who are retiring and arriving in Florida. We split a turkey and cheese sandwich in the Outpost Cafe which came with kettle chips. It was quite good. We pedaled out to the Audobon boardwalk where a large black bird was interested in our bike packs. I threw my helmet at him to shoo him away. After this we had a leisurely ride back to the visitors center. I was tired but satisfied. We chose to have soup and salad for dinner instead of going out. We watched the beginning hour of the Golden Globes before falling asleep then went to bed and slept well.

We did a little grocery run this morning to Walmart and also topped off the gas tank which was down to 1/4 tank. The price was 2.11 which was the lowest it has been in a few years thanks to low oil prices per gallon. This can't last. Picked up some butterfly mollies and mounted the LED strip light above the Washing Machine/Dryer. I really like it! At 1 PM I listened to Aida live from the Met. Aida was great by Tamara Wilson but Giordano was not great at all. He sounded all wrong. I continued the IOS app, this time reading about how to do navbar and toolbar menus.
We went over to the clubhouse for dinner at 6:30. They were lightly busy tonight. I had the New york Strip steak which was delicious. It came with veggies and mashed potatoes. Libbie ordered a decadent chocolate tort for dessert which I had a piece of accompanied by coffee. It was a nice night out but we have to stop eating like this.

This morning I tried to get a scrolling label working in IOS with no success. Ended up putting the text into a textview for now. Around 10 we left for the downtown bike shop. They had my bike rack which they shipped from Bradenton and had assembled it. I spoke with the guy who put it together. He was very helpful and was even willing to carry it out to my car. I carried it and installed it without much problem. I really like the sturdiness and quality of the rack. Next stop was JoAnn Fabric where Libbie bought a large cutting board for 50% off. It still was $35 but it was a Fiskar which is a good name. We took a local bike ride around the neighborhood. With my pullover it was fairly comfortable although it was cool with air temps around 65. We wanted to eat light tonight so we stayed in and had cheese & crackers and then soup with a peanut butter sandwich. Today I bought Merry Widow tickets for the Pinellas theater. After this I found that the Sarasota theater opened a third screen and had tickets available. Bad timing.

I did a lot of online research about trailer hitches and decided ?I wanted a Thule T2. Stopped in Trek but they didn't have it. Next stop was Ryder downtown. They said they could get it from their Bradenton store. I went for it and had them order it. They called later and said it was in. I told them I would like it assembled and will get it in the morning. Next stop was the Whimsy Museum. What a delight! We met MAry Lee also known as MArietta. The art on the walls was outstanding. Original paintings by Backus and also Highwayman James Gibson were a thrill. The others are high quality as well. For dinner we went to the club and each had Prime Rib with baked potato and wine. Later I tried to get Merry Waldo tickets but both Sarasota theaters were sold out as well as Port Charlotte. What a disappointment.

This morning I went out to retrieve my water filter which came in. We drove to the Home Depot on Cattleman to get it. We also stopped at Albrittons for Oranges and produce. This is always a yummy time. Picked up a few items such as salad greens at Publix then tried the filter at home. It didn't fix the problem which seems to be in the base unit. This is too bad since the filters cost $40.
Went over to the Clubhouse for pub night. We sat at a table with two other couples and had a delightful time. Bob and Phyllis are from NH are only here for one month. Terry and Su are from Indiana and are here for the season. I ordered the blackened salmon which was outstanding. We stayed way past closing just chatting and sipping our wine. This was a nice night.

This afternoon we hooked up the bikes and drove down to the Venice Waterway. We had a lovely bike ride to the beach. Sightings along the way included a Gopher turtle, a bald Eagle perched on top of a lone pine tree and a scrub jay, my first. Beautiful. Of course we had trouble finding the train station at first like we usually do. The weather was perfect, I enjoyed the waterway and the ride along the beachfront. We did a total of 10.6 miles. In the evening I continued the IOS development. This time I found I need to read separate table for the photo credits. Will tackle that tomorrow. Dinner was at the clubhouse where we had the Cod crusted with dijon pretzel crumbs and veggies. We came home and listened to the Merry Widow which sounds a little below the Met standards. It's more suitable for musical theater on broadway.

Christa is cleaning out her apartment and gave Libbie a Kenmore sewing machine which she is really happy about. We did not go biking today. I played a lot with the IOS app, trying to figure out how to display multiple pages which is different from the way it's done in Android. Weather is still a very comfortable 81 degrees. Dinner was the leftover bean soup mixed with Progresso and our salad which I love since it's a spiced up Ceasar.

We were watching CBS this Morning when Bill called that he was on his way to our condo and was about 15 minutes away. I called the gate to allow him clearance and then went to Publix for Chicken Salad and other lunch fixings including chips and potato salad. After a nice lunch we went outside to get our bikes ready. I pumped up the tires on my manual bike while Barbara took my electric. We went up to the community gardens on the trail for about a 6 mile round trip ride. I did quite well pedaling but it was brutal around the Clubside lake where there was a headwind and I ended up downshifting to 1st gear. Afterwards we rested in the living room before Bill and Barb left. I saw Bill's bike rack and decided I need something better. We stayed in for dinner after thinking about going out to get pizza. We had chicken salad sandwiches and chips and wine, basically the leftovers from lunch.

Worked on First Class some more this morning before we went out to Walmart for more groceries. Had a salad lunch then we went out to Selby. We always enjoy that place. They seem to have quite a few visitors. A wedding was getting ready to possibly start tonight. The ladies were all dressed in Peach gowns. I enjoyed a photography exhibit in the Selby House. The theme was Florida Eden and were all BW images of Florida nature like the Everglades, Myakka, etc. I enjoyed a slide show in the exhibit of more of the photographers work. When we got back Christa and Peter were cleaning out their condo and gave Libbie a sewing machine and a few trays of sewing threads and thimbles.
For dinner we had a salad, this followed cheese and crackers beforehand. We had an early dinner during the sunset then got ready for "Salute to Vienna" tonight.
The performance was at 8 in Van Wezel. I loved it even though the tenor and soprano were miked. It was a combination of light classics, opera in solos and duets, ballroom dance and ballet. The ballet was a little different since there were only 2 guys for 4 girls. There were 4 ballroom dancers, 2 couples. We got out at 10:30 in 71 degrees. It's supposed to get colder later this week.

I made quite a bit of progress today on the First Class program on IOS. I am able to populate a list and swipe through it. Next step is to populate it with violets and select one for display. We were going to go to Selby but remembered that we committed to help take down the Christmas decorations on the building. We already mentioned that we don't have room anymore for storing the lights. Taking it all down was easy. Libbie, I and Sally did all the work. Christa and Peter came later to help. They were out to lunch. We met the neighbors downstairs. They are from Ontario. We also met the NC people directly above us. They come from Southern Pines. We learned that 301 is a usable way to come down without the traffic. For dinner we went over to the clubhouse at 6:30 PM. We both ordered the seafood pasta which included grouper and lobster on a bed of pasta Alfredo. A glass of wine complemented our meal.

It was a relaxing day today as we pondered last night. The evening was not what we expected but the food was good. The band and the slobs at our table were not great. This morning we watched the Rose parade then went to the clubhouse for lunch. After a shrimp roll and a beer we went out to Publix for groceries. After groceries I tried some more on installing the bridge on IOS and finally succeeded. I had to use Chrome to do the job instead of Safari. We then went for a bike ride up the legacy trail North to Culver Park and back. Dinner was the rest of the shrimp roll with chips and a glass of wine.

We didn't want to get too tired today so we relaxed. Took an eBike ride out to McIntosh and then all around through the wetland area where we stopped for a while then back to the condo. I got dressed up in my tux early and we headed over to the clubhouse at a little before 7. We were seated all the way at the far end of the dining room. The hand passed hors d'oeuvres were outstanding. The meal was excellent. It started with a course of lobster followed by salad greens. We had a sorbet in champagne then Filet Mignon. The dessert was a chocolate raspberry and meringue concoction which was over the top. The people at our table were awful. What kind of person puts ketchup on Filet Mignon? Libbie said her table manners were terrible - no napkin, elbows on the table etc. Her conversation was one run on sentence all about herself. He was wearing a golf shirt. The band was terrible. Christa warned us. The music was not danceable. We left after dinner and didn't stay for midnight. We watched fireworks on the Lanai and then the ball drop on TV. This was too bad since we always enjoyed New Years Eve at the clubhouse.

We didn't want to get too tired today so we relaxed. Took an eBike ride out to McIntosh and then all around through the wetland area where we stopped for a while then back to the condo. I got dressed up in my tux early and we headed over to the clubhouse at a little before 7. We were seated all the way at the far end of the dining room. The hand passed hors d'oeuvres were outstanding. The meal was excellent. It started with a course of lobster followed by salad greens. We had a sorbet in champagne then Filet Mignon. The dessert was a chocolate raspberry and meringue concoction which was over the top. The people at our table were awful. What kind of person puts ketchup on Filet Mignon? Libbie said her table manners were terrible - no napkin, elbows on the table etc. Her conversation was one run on sentence all about herself. He was wearing a golf shirt. The band was terrible. Christa warned us. The music was not danceable. We left after dinner and didn't stay for midnight. We watched fireworks on the Lanai and then the ball drop on TV. This was too bad since we always enjoyed New Years Eve at the clubhouse.

This morning we went out to the Bike Shop on Osprey. I put the bike rack in the trunk in case we got a bike. Otherwise we were going to go to Selby. We talked with the owner for a while and eventually bought a Pedego 36V/10A for $2095 plus rented a second one for 30 days for $200 which was a savings of $350 over the normal monthly rental. We took a ride down the Legacy trail but around the bike sculpture at Bay Rd Libbie stopped to observe a Hawk sitting on a picnic shelter. She stepped in an ant mound disturbing the nest. She was bit many times. Since we were on Bay Rd we chose to go down this road towards Tamiami Trail and bought Benadryl at Walmart. We were pretty tired as we got back but it was a good ride on the Pedagos. Libbie reheated the Christmas Bean soup along with corn bread and salad greens. I really like the Spicy Ceasar dressing. It's a new favorite. We had a Schroeder Vineyards Melbac with the meal. Earlier we had a glass of wine with triscuits and sour cream which was left over from the dip I made over the weekend.

Today was a little bit of rest from the drive. We made one Walmart trip for groceries then took a walk around Stoneybrook. Did not do too much else today. An incredible fog rolled in just before sunset making it dark early and doing away with the sunset. We went out this evening in the fog to the Spanish Pointe Pub. We each ordered the fish and chips special which was made with Black Grouper, a local fish. I had fries with it, Libbie had Onion rings. A couple of Yuenglings accompanied the meal. Aida was live from the Met this evening on Sirius. I fell asleep during the last act.

Libbie made eggs and ham on english muffins for everyone this morning. Sue and Bruce left first at 9:30 followed by Bill and Barb at 10. We decided to try to make the drive even though it's the Sunday after Christmas, Christmas weekend. We left at 11 and got stopped right away in Dunn. Fortunately it was only an accident so we got going again in pretty heavy traffic but maintained the speed limit. We stopped for gas in Florence and got going all the way till Lake Marion where the phone was shopping red ahead. We got off onto 15 right after the lake and stayed off 95 all the way till Ridgeland using a combination of 15 and 17 alt. W got back onto 95 and went stop and go all the way to the GA border. Once we hit GA we got going at 70 MPH again although there was light rain on and off. We got gas in St Marys, GA and stopped for dinner at Wendys. I had a single which was very good. It's been a while, the onions, tomato and lettuce in the burger were quite good. We got going again and only slowed down a little around the Disney complex although traffic was unbelievably heavy. We got in to the Condo at 11:35 PM. We only took one carry on inside plus the food and left everything else for the morning.

Libbie ran around vacuuming and cleaning in general. I did outside raking of the pine straw off the mondo grass and off the deck. I also blew out the garage and the turnaround. The driveway wasn't too bad so I let it go. I ended up taking down the cam I installed in back porch since I couldn't get it to reliably work. I was able to get a camera installed in the plant room using the old wireless cam from Stoneybrook. I'm using it in wired mode. It has tilt and pan which is useful for monitoring the room. We kept getting updates during the day from both Bill and Sue. Bill left RI at 5 am to get through the NY area but was stuck first at the bridge in DE and then stop and go in VA. They ended up arriving at 8:30 PM after almost 16 hours of driving. Sue and Bruce took 8 hours to get from DC. They arrived at 8 PM. We had wine with chip and dip. I made the dip using the mexican dip mix I got from judging at Plano. Libbie said it was too hot for her family. They loved it!!!!! Afterwards we had bean soup, corn bread and salad. Bruce brought lots of wine which we drank. We had almost a bottle each. Bed at 11 PM. Bill and Barb downstairs, Sue andBruce in Joe's room.

The day after Christmas. I went to the grocery store this morning to get wine and other foods for our guests tomorrow. Libbie's menu is going to be 15 bean soup with the ham bone, corn bread and salad. I found the wiring error in the porch sprinkler. One of the ethernet connectors has 2 wires swapped. It doesn't look like I will be able to get Meistersinger replaced before we leave for Sarasota. I made reservations for Savannah for Sunday night so we can get a head start. Libbie went away to her Mardi Gras party tonight. I stayed home and had a ham sandwich for dinner. Dessert was a nice piece of fruit cake.

Libbie and I opened the gift from Joe and Christa - it was their Family portrait and a smaller pic of Joe and Paige. I put both of them on the wall where a pic previously was located. The watercolor of a barn window then went into the Dining Room replacing a moldy pic of a Bob Timberlake mountain snow scene.
Libbie opened the box of Russel Stover that Santa brought. Libbie called Joe and christa. During this call we did a Facetime chat and luckily Paige was getting up. It was fun to see her, she had such a big smile on her face. She is one happy baby. Then it was time to get about our activities. I replaced the bad connector on the Porch sprinkler connector and also labeled most of the cables in the process. It tested good using the LAN tester which was a step forward.
Christmas dinner was slices of ham with Butternut squash, apple sauce and a glass of wine. Libbie invited Sue and Bruce to join us on Saturday night when Bill and Barb come through. They accepted.

I tried out the new wiring and no go. The sprinkler timer won't work. I suspected the card got corrupted so I spent a few hours preparing a new sprinkler but the new card wouldn't work either. I next put a battery in the LAN tester and found 2 wires were crossed in the line from the shop to the sprinkler control. It was dark when I found this, will deal with it tomorrow. Yesterday I sent Arlene a check for $800, her share of the Aunt Helen life insurance. We got a total of 1293 each which was the leftover amount after the funeral expenses and the grave marker. Arlene sent a pic of the stone, she went out to the cemetery with Ellie in the rain and took a picture for me. It poured here. We had 1.5 inches today and over an inch yesterday. Dinner was ham again with Yam, Apple Sauce and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc.

Picked up the normal Tuesday groceries. The store was packed and parking was difficult since tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Hopefully I got everything we need. I had to chat with the pharmacist since my prescription auto renews but I won't be here next week so I wanted it early. I told her I would be in later to pick it up. I spent the time at home running ethernet cables from the sprinkler control on the porch to the workshop. This line comes directly from downstairs. I'll put a switch in the shop and run the sprinkler off that as well as a web server on the shop switch to report greenhouse temperatures. Dinner was ham and sweet potato. Neither of us was hungry after the eggnog, cheese and triscuits before dinner. I set up my multimedia PC, Orlofsky, to record Meistersinger. This was a task since I needed cables, the receiver as well as the software which I downloaded. I stayed up past midnight when it ended an turned everything off before bed. Will edit the results tomorrow.

I had lots of success configuring the Alamode for my home automation server. I found that I can call a Flask task using a cron job. This will fix the problem of periodically reading the serial port so data can be put into a web page from global variables that are current. Woo Hoo. Next big task is physical in nature. I have to get ethernet up to the shop where XB Enviro is located. There are a number of options - locate the switch in the greenhouse or locate it in the workshop.
We went to the Post Office this afternoon then stopped by Kroger and got a Christmas ham early. Dinner tonight was the ham along with sweet potato and peas. Accompanying the meal was a single glass of Chardonnay.