Return to FL

We left South Carolina at 4:45 am Friday, 10/17/25, and arrived in FL by 3 pm. We stopped about 3 times for the rest area and ate lunch at McDonald's. We took down the hurricane shutters, and Bob and Donna helped us raise the living room and bedroom awning. When we arrived, the AC was not working, and I texted Lucas (neighbor who works on our HVAC system) to see if he could put us on his list for Monday. He said he was able to come right over, so he found a broken wire on the condenser (maybe from the lawn company?) and had to add refrigerant to the unit. Now it works beautifully!

On Saturday, we went grocery shopping, and in the evening, we went to the car show. Donna and Bob had entered their trucks in the show, and Donna won a trophy for the best decorated.

On Sunday, I dusted and vacuumed. Don cut the candlestick bush that had overgrown. We put out the patio furniture and put away the hurricane shutters. Then Don moved the hose reel next to the laundry room door, and it is much easier to use the hose now.

Monday, we trimmed the bushes under the bedroom window and the Golden Dewdrop bush in the front yard. I’m glad we finished before it got too hot. We went to Home Depot and I bought 2 plants: a milkweed and an impatiens.

Tuesday morning, I went shopping with Donna.. We went to Rorabecks (I bought a beautiful tomato plant and a lantana flower). For lunch, Don and I went to Flanigans because we had a 20% off coupon for our meal. It was good to see our server, Jeff, again.

Wednesday morning, I did a load of laundry before Don woke up. After breakfast, we went to the beach. It was a beautiful morning, and there was hardly anyone there at 9:30. We got in the water for about an hour, and we were the only ones in the water the whole time.

On Thursday, one of Donna’s new kittens came to visit us. It was a little orange and white kitten that I call Nosey because it seemed very curious. We sat on the swing, and he explored the back patio. And when we moved to the front screened room, he followed us there. He spent the morning in our screened room, and I asked Donna where I should take him when I went in for lunch, so she came and got him. A few minutes later, he wandered back to our door, and I let him in. He spent the rest of the afternoon taking a nap in the screened room. A guy knocked on our window, who said he was a contractor with the electric company. He needed access to our backyard because they are going to replace a utility pole in the back corner behind our shed. They can reach it from the other street, even though it is on the other side of our fence. We stressed that they better not tear up our yard or our irrigation system, and he said they wouldn’t. It should happen within the next 3 weeks.

Today is Friday, and I’m sitting on the front porch enjoying this beautiful breeze. They say it will get cold next week, but I’m not sure what they consider cold.

Original photos by Pat Hensley