A Full-time Life

Category: Family

LEAVING BUDAPEST; SEEING SLOVAKIA; ARRIVING VIENNA

Bratislava Castle (Slovakia) as seen from the boat.

Our river ship departed Budapest at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday and would arrive in Vienna at about the same time the next evening, making Wednesday one of the longer days spent aboard the boat.

We were looking forward to seeing Slovakia, the next country we'd pass by. That's where our granddaughter-in-law Maya is from — we would be getting together with her and Jacob when we reached Vienna. We'd pass through one of our first locks just before we arrived at that part of the river.

Our ship was waiting to lock through

We didn’t dock in Slovakia, but at the top of the lock, I was able to reach out from our deck and touch the ground. (I'm not totally sure the boat was actually passing Slovakia at the exact moment we exited the lock, but I really really want to believe that at least I've 'set hand' in that country.)

Slovakia from the Deck — and requisite emergency drill

We boated past Bratislava, the country's capital city and more of the Slovakian countryside – we saw the castle shown in the top photo and other castles as well, old stone fortresses, and scenic river shores.   So, whether I actually touched land there or not, we did definitely see and admire this part of Slovakia, if only from the middle of the Danube.

Wednesday was the requisite safety meeting on the top deck. We had to learn where to go in case of emergency and how to put on our life vest (some people actually did have trouble). It was funny to see every person on board wearing their "Mae Wests" while many of them continued to take pictures of the beautiful scenery. It's really hard to take your eyes off it.

The day on board went by quickly –besides the safety drill, there were program talks and of course breakfast and lunch on board — and always that scenery! The boat docked in Vienna as scheduled and we disembarked as soon as possible to meet our grandchildren.

We caught up with their busy life over a scenic walk, dinner and dessert — Sacher Torte in one of the city's classical coffeehouses. According to what we learned on board about Vienna's cafe society, coffeehouses have been a tradition in Vienna since 1683. They wouldn't have been considered complete without red velvet seating and magnificent chandeliers. Since most people lived in small crowded apartments, coffeehouses were considered to be second living rooms, where people could linger over coffee and conversation. That last part seemed to still be true today. At least it certainly was for us!

Schonbrunn Palace — the next day

The ship would be in port the whole next day … and Jacob and Maya had a hotel room just down the street. I'll show more of what these talented (brilliant and good-looking)* guides to Vienna showed us in the next post.

* I'm a grandmother — what can I say?

LINKING this week to the following, with thanks to all of the hosts:

ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; THROUGH MY LENS; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; SAY CHEESE; TUESDAY TREASURES ; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and FRIDAY BLISS

July 21, 2019
HOME AGAIN — with memories!

Traveling from the Florida Canal Cottage to Oregon was a bit different this year. It was an amazing 'detour.' We're home now and still sorting out our memories … and our pictures from the trip. To get started while I finish that project, here are just a few favorites. There will be more later.

Budapest

We were on a Viking River Cruise for 15 days — boarding the boat in Budapest. The boat docked in a different port almost every day — we visited twelve cities in four different countries, traveling along three rivers to Amsterdam where we disembarked.

Bill in Ghent

After that, we stayed (all on our own) for two weeks — spending more time in the Netherlands and adding the countries of Belgium and Luxembourg. We had a wonderful time — the whole trip was a triumph for the travel planner (who is pictured above, in Belgium).

With Jacob and Maya at Schonbrunn Palace and also enjoying Sacher Torte in old-town Vienna

Hopping backwards to our time on the Viking — we enjoyed and learned from every one of those twelve stops … sometimes we went on the tours the ship offered and sometimes we went out on our own. The very best guided tour of all though was our own private one during our two-day stop in Vienna. Here we were met by Jacob and Maya, our European grandson and granddaughter (in-law), who flew to meet us. It was wonderful to see them and without doubt we had the best possible tour guides in the world, as Vienna is a familiar city to them.

Castles and colorful villages on the Rhine

One of the best parts of a river cruise is that there are wonderful sights to see almost every minute of daylight. These rivers aren't wide and the views from our balcony or on the top deck were amazing. The pictures in the above collage were taken from the boat on one day's travel – between Wertheim and Koblenz Germany.

Wachau Valley

Every morning of the whole trip, I woke up amazed … the boat, the cities, the food, the scenery all really were the stuff of dreams. But I think even more than anything the charming views out the window of our room enhanced the dreamlike quality.

This post barely touches the seventeen cities in six countries that we visited, not to mention the scenic points between! Needless to say, there will be more! … it was a wonderful trip and it is also wonderful to be home!

Back in the USA – Colorado

To get here, we flew from Amsterdam to Colorado where we spent a week with our son and daughter-in-law –mostly decompressing, for which we are enormously grateful. Then home to Oregon, where our daughter and son-in-law kindly retrieved us from the airport. Because I always include a picture of the first mountain sighting when we return from low-land Florida — and since we our trip was about the low countries of Europe — Colorado once again has the honors! The picture is from a walk on the greenbelt near where our family lives.

LINKING this time to: ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS ; TUESDAY TREASURES ; SAY CHEESE;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY BLISS

Thank you to all of the hosts.

July 9, 2019
WE HAD VISITORS!

It was a great week at the Canal Cottage.

Super Snow Moon.

Skies were clear early in the week and the super moon was beautiful. It seemed like a good omen as we had our fingers crossed for good weather because our son and daughter-in-law were arriving mid-week for a visit!

Although there was a heavy 'shower' the evening after they arrived, weather the next day was perfect for a boat trip to lunch. I told Geoff that he made a better first-mate than I do. (I think the Captain agreed.)

The next day Geoff wanted to see alligators.

The Alligator Hunter

We knew how to oblige. We drove to Big Cypress Swamp Preserve, near the Everglades, where we always find them.

Here is one of at least two dozen that we saw. These were the first alligators of this season for us as well.

Lisa wanted to see birds and we thought they would be as easy to see as the gators at Big Cypress, but it was hot by the time we got there, so there wasn't much activity.

Black-Crowned Night Heron

This was my best bird shot. We also spotted Anhingas, Cormorants, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, and Black Vultures. And turtles.

Swamp Plants

There was quite a bit of water in the swamp … and a lot more humidity than people from Colorado are used to! The pictures on each corner are plants growing under water.

Full view of the Night Heron

We saw more birds on our way to brunch on Sunday morning – Wood Storks, Ibis, and a Hawk in addition to more egrets and herons — as well as several cute baby alligators — but there was food to eat and a plane for our guests to catch later, so I didn't take pictures. The important thing was that they got to see them.

It's always fun to share favorite places with favorite people! We're so glad they came.

SHARING as well with the bloggers at the following linking opportunities. Thank you to all of the hosts.

NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS; MOSAIC MONDAY; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; SAYCHEESE;   WILD BIRD Wednesday; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY BLISS;   SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING

February 24, 2019
LEFTOVERS — AND MORE

We had two wonderful family Thanksgiving celebrations. (Not on the same day — one was an early celebration to include family who wouldn't be here on the actual date). And I took no pictures at all . Because it is hard to eat and talk and enjoy the great company and still remember that I even own a camera. This is the only Thanksgiving picture — November's full moon when we returned home after last Thursday's feast. (We were full too!).

Wild Turkeys

What better week for some leftover turkey(s)? They thrive around here — each of these pictures were taken (not on Thanksgiving Day) near where our son-in-law and daughter live.

Canada Geese

The Canada Goose is another wild bird that loves living in this part of Oregon (most of them don't even migrate). These are contemplating going for a swim along the walking path near us. All the turkeys and geese are from the season's archives. Because I took almost no pictures last week, this post was going to be all leftovers. But then …

Common (red-shafted) Flicker

… as I sat at the desk this morning, I spotted this outside the sliding glass door. The Flicker was right outside near our patio, but by the time I found shoes and camera, of course he had flown. But once outside, I spotted him at the playground here in our complex.   It took awhile to get this picture though.



Oregon Junco and Red-shafted Flicker

He was a very busy flicker — there must be lots of tasty insects hiding in that pile of leaves! There were a lot of Juncos and other birds flying around to distract me as I waited for the flicker to lift his head. I didn't think it was too chilly outside, but I am glad the neighborhood children all apparently thought so. The playground area was empty, except for the birds (and me).

Yet another distraction.

Sharing leftovers and new offerings with the following: Thank you to all of the hosts.

NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; MOSAIC MONDAY; THROUGH MY LENS;  WILD BIRD Wednesday;  Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY BLISS;   SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING

November 25, 2018
SEPTEMBER’S END



The last of September was about enjoying beautiful Fall flowers all around the City ….

… and the rich colors of Autumn in the country … here, on a walk to Kirk Pond.

"Leaves of three, let it be."

Unfortunately, those richly colored plants included poison oak. I paid for this macro shot with itches! (Not the best memory of the month, but maybe posting it will help me remember next time.)

Wall Signs as decoration at the home of our granddaughter and family

Like every month when we're home in Oregon, September included family get-togethers. After all, that's really why we're here … the rest is a bonus! For a change, I managed to remember to get a few snapshots. I'm not very good at people photos. It is more fun to just enjoy being together, but I like being able to look back.

More floral beauty of the definitely non-poisonous variety. All of the dahlia pictures were taken on the grounds of the Lane County Events Center (Fairgrounds) on the last day of September.

Out in the country again,  Mom and the youngsters were enjoying wild apples and leftover blackberries in a field near our daughter and son-in-laws' home.

More flowers and below, another blue sky day. We actually need rain and 'they' keep telling us it's coming. But it is hard not to be grateful for beautiful Fall Days.

Thankful for Fall Beauty and family to enjoy it with. And looking forward to October — rain or shine! Thankful also to the hosts of the following sharing opportunities:

   NATURE NOTES; MACRO MONDAY; ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday;   MOSAIC MONDAY; GOOD RANDOM FUN; THROUGH MY LENS; Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY; FRIDAY BLISS; SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  and  SATURDAY CRITTERS;

September 30, 2018
SUMMER PHOTO RAMBLE



This week's post is a bit of a ramble, with pictures from various walks over the last few weeks. We are leaving Saturday morning on a camping trip, so I'm putting the post together earlier than usual. I'll take my I-Pad, but not the laptop. I can do almost everything from the tablet, EXCEPT for writing a blog. Somehow, I have to be sitting at the desk for that.

This bouquet is courtesy of our family. They have the talent and did the work; I just took the pictures. The rose-of-Sharon bush is from our daughter and son-in-law's yard (and the plant came from his grandmother). The other flowers are from their son and daughter-in-law's first-ever garden at the home they bought last year (that's our oldest grandson and his wife).

Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers to "steal" (only with photos). I loved the pure white one, a color you don't see often.

Welcoming sign seen in many yards as we walk around the city. The signs are being sold as a benefit for the Centro Latino community organization.

Another of the many murals being created in a big push by the City to beautify the downtown area. I don't exactly love this one, but it is colorful — and it was fun to watch the artists at work on the lift truck. (It was a hot day too — probably not the most pleasant working conditions up there.)

Here's an artist the City hired for a smaller gig. She was painting a street piano — it will remain on the sidewalk until the rainy season starts. Since I watched her work, I've heard a few "concerts" by passers-by as this piano is placed on a block I walk often, near the Library, city bus terminal, and grocery store.

Nothing but blue sky over the back of Skinner Butte — and some colorful buildings underneath it.

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities. Thank you to all of the wonderful hosts.

NATURE NOTES; OUR WORLD on Tuesday;   MACRO MONDAY;  MOSAIC MONDAY; GOOD, RANDOM, FUN; FLORAL BLISS; ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS; SIGNS SIGNS;  Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD;  and SKYWATCH FRIDAY;



August 12, 2018
HOME AGAIN



It was a triangular, catty-corner cross-country journey home this year. In a little over three weeks, we flew from Fort Myers Florida to Duluth Minnesota to Denver Colorado to Eugene Oregon. With some great stops along the way.

Here, in reverse order, are just a few memories of our trip.

View from the plane window as we approached the Eugene airport last Tuesday. This is Fern Ridge Lake, where we used to stay in our RV whenever we visited Oregon (during the years when we were full-time RVers).



Red-winged Blackbird spotted during one of our walks in Colorado, near where our son and daughter-in-law live.

Some rare (for me) people shots on a drive UP to beautiful Lake Irwin (10,510 feet elevation) in the mountains above Crested Butte Colorado. (I think in the center photo Bill and I are congratulating ourselves on just staying alive at that altitude — it's very high, especially coming from sea-level Florida!). The top left picture is Lisa and Geoff — our Colorado family.

Old-fashioned selfie from a lunch stop at Leadville (down-hill from Crested Butte) — just another snap to remember exactly how high we were! The four of us were on our way back to Geoff and Lisa's home.

We really do need to drink a lot at that high (and dry) altitude — but find it's better to stick to water (and water-based adult beverages).

Some quick pics from the colorful and unique mountain village of Crested Butte. Geoff and Lisa had booked rooms for the four of us in a charming locally-owned Inn close to downtown. A ski town during winter months, during the summer Crested Butte is transformed into a Paradise for mountain bikers and hikers (them) and slow strollers and photographers (us). And numerous fun places to eat and drink for all of us — everybody had a great time.

Our first stop on this journey was in Minnesota — we rented a car to drive from Duluth to Bemidji, where Bill's youngest sister lives. It was a family reunion for the four siblings (and spouses). We are scattered about the country — from Florida/Oregon to Arizona to Eastern Washington/Idaho to Minnesota. It was wonderful to be together and remember old times. I took the brother and sister picture at Lake Itaska — the headwaters of the Mississippi River.

We thoroughly enjoyed this trip — the destinations were fun and the journeys were uneventful — we're grateful for the opportunity to visit family and glad they live in these beautiful locations. And we're also thankful and happy to be safely at home! There will be more travel pictures later — and I hope some good pictures of beautiful Oregon — from the ground.

Sharing this week with the following:

ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; THROUGH MY LENS; WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY; Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and SATURDAY CRITTERS.

Thank you to all of the hosts.

June 24, 2018
REVIEWING THE SEASON



Our Florida season is drawing toward the end. Although we still have over two weeks before we actually close things up here, we've been busy with all those end-of-the-year home projects that seem to add up … and besides that we've had thunder and lightning storms almost every day this past week (the rainy season has arrived early in SW Florida). So there are no new adventures to blog about. But I have pictures that somehow didn't get used in previous posts, especially from the super-busy first part of the season – and this seems like a good time to use them.

I took (and posted) a million pictures of our November cruise, but most of my posts were about our ports-of-call. We often saw these frigate birds from our room deck but their pictures didn't make it into any of those posts. (Here's a link to the cruise posts, just in case you missed them earlier.)

In December, on our first Florida exploration of the season, we traveled to Homosassa and Crystal River. This owl got overshadowed by all of the colorful flamingos and wood ducks and didn't make it into earlier posts about this trip. But he deserves to be remembered!

We saw the New Year in with boat club friends at Salty Sam's Marina on Fort Myers Beach. And later in January we caught up with other good friends and favorite places … and counted our blessings under beautiful skies.

We were happy to play hosts to our brother and sister-in-law from Spokane, who visited us in February – (I'm pretty sure you can tell from the pictures whose brother our visitor is as he poses with Bill.) We enjoyed seeing our area through the eyes of these first-time Florida visitors. These are some pictures that didn't get into the previous post on their trip — they were taken at Fort Myers Beach (pictures 1, 2, 3), Six Mile Cypress, and after an airboat ride in the Everglades.

We saw damaged boats like this every time we took our own boat out on the water — a reminder of the hurricane that visited our part of Florida during the summer (when we were in Oregon). We were fortunate not to have significant damage to our neighborhood (or any of our boats).

We enjoyed boat club activities every month of the season –boating, beach-combing, exploring, and eating. Being out on the water makes everybody hungry!

Lizards like this one were everywhere on our March car-trip to the Redlands area.    And I took the picture of the little sparrow below on that trip too — while we were stopped by the side of the road to look at maps. You would think that with all the pretty palm trees and other greenery, the poor thing could find somewhere to perch besides a barbed-wire fence.

Things slowed down a little in April and I don't think I omitted any pictures over the past couple of months (and this post is plenty long enough anyway) …..

It has been another great season in Florida and, as always, we are grateful to be able to enjoy nature and friends here in the winter sunshine.

Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting. And special thanks to the hosts of these sharing opportunities:

NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; THROUGH MY LENS; WILD BIRD Wednesday ; Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH Friday; Saturday CRITTERS;   RATHER B' BIRDING; and MOSAIC MONDAY



May 20, 2018
SPRING — IN FLORIDA and in OREGON



This is a morning sky shot taken from our back porch. It's beautiful and very quiet on the Canal now. Most snowbirds have left Florida for their summer homes.

We are snowbirds too, but we usually come a little later and stay a little longer than most of our friends. In the sunshine areas that snowbirds frequent, the six-month season is usually defined as October through April, with the busiest months being January, February and March. We usually don't arrive until December.

So during the month of May we like to pretend we're full-time Floridians. Just like the people who really are, we talk about how thankful we are to get around Fort Myers now that there are fewer cars and fewer people. (And it really is wonderful.) The weather is beautiful here now, but I do start to miss Oregon Springtime a little bit by the end of April.

So I was delighted when our daughter texted a bunch of photos of their yard. All of the flowers in the mosaic below are blooming in their Oregon backyard right now:



The up-side of staying in Florida during May is that we miss the worst month of the Oregon hay-fever season. The down-side is that we miss typical Spring flowers almost completely (it's too hot here for most of them). So I loved the reminder of Oregon springs. (I've showed the beautiful big Black Walnut Tree in the center picture often, because we hang out under it a lot during the summer and fall. But isn't it beautiful in the Spring? (I had almost forgotten myself.)

Now back to Florida for some Spring birds:

Woodpeckers are our morning alarm clock these days. They are fun to see and (usually) to hear. And they are part of the reason why we know it's Spring. The temperatures don't seem much different now, but the birds know what season it is and we start to see Spring migrants here, just the same as everywhere else in the Spring.

Ospreys are everywhere … we ate at the waterfront restaurant on the top left last week — a farewell dinner with friends on one of their last days here. When we came out this guy was sitting on a telephone pole directly above where our car was parked. Every living creature has to eat!

This is a view of Fort Myers from the dock of a different waterfront restaurant. We've been eating out with friends quite a lot lately as people finish up their season. Making more Florida memories to take home until next season rolls around.



LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities: : OUR WORLD on Tuesday; MOSAIC MONDAY; ALL SEASONS; NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; FLORAL BLISS; WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY; Wednesday AROUND the WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B'BIRDING.

THANK YOU to all of the wonderful hosts and to everyone who visits!

April 29, 2018
VISITING THE SWAMPS AND SLOUGHS



We've had company …. and we took them to the swamps and the sloughs. Whoever said we weren't great hosts? Our brother and sister-in-law are visiting from Spokane (the Eastern half of Washington State) where they left frigid temperatures and deep snow. So we've had a great time showing off our Florida sunshine.

In addition to getting warm again (at least for a while), they really wanted to see alligators — and we knew just where to go. And of course we saw lots of beautiful Florida birds too.

Egret keeping an eye on a fellow denizen of Big Cypress Swamp

Anhinga

Birds of Prey

Osprey, CaraCara, and Red Shouldered Hawk (I'm sure about the first two — I think on the hawk)



Green Heron — trying to hide as he preens

Still in hiding!

X

Little Blue Heron

And some more shots of what our company wanted to see!

(And of course I know nobody would believe we were actually in SW Florida until I posted my annual alligator pictures.)

Not a lot of words this week because we're still busy seeing the beauty and fun of our area through new eyes. It is so good to see family! Thanks for coming Rik and Lyn!

And thank you also to the link hosts who give us an opportunity to share with virtual friends even when we don't have company in real life:

SHARING this week with: MOSAIC MONDAY; OUR WORLD Tuesday; NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS; WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY; Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B'BIRDING.

February 18, 2018