Partly Shuttered

Well, the hurricane shutter guys made it over here today. They could only stay till about 1.30, but they got a good bit done, I think. The one guy had said it was about a 2 day house, and I think they are about half done--or maybe not, but they did get a good bit done. It was a really good thing that Joel, our yard guy, was out with his crew earlier in the week, and they trimmed all the bushes, etc. They had cut back all the plants in the beds along the sunroom wall, and it made it so much easier to get in there to install those shutters! The shutter guys asked if it was okay to leave the shutters already installed up over the weekend. I didn't hesitate, since they are clear and we can still see out, get plenty of light in, etc. Once they get the rest installed on Monday, they will take them down and put them in the garage for me. They don't look like they will take up nearly as much room as I was afraid they might. They are quite light too, so they shouldn't be hard for Mike to put up, or even me, if I were to have to do it---if he were to be TDY, for example.

Our lawn elves (so often, they come and go while Anne and I are out---we come home and comment that the elves have been over again!) came today, right after the shutter guys left. Joel had a crew of 4 guys with him this time. They whipped through the work---I don't think it took them even half an hour to mow, trim, clean up, etc. It is especially nice to have someone who knows what to do with all the bushes, etc. Heaven knows, we sure don't! And everything grows so fast and so much here. It really is different than other places we have lived.

No word from Brian and Co. I have emailed and suggested even an update of photos on the blog would be appreciated. I know they are busy, and he is probably getting ready for his TDY. If I hear anything, I will be sure to pass it on!

Anne is really doing well with the knitting. Now if she can just get more focused, and actually finish one project before starting 3 more!!!!! As you might have noticed if you look at her Wrapped in Chains blog, she has a lot of projects in the works! And I don't think they are quite all listed there. She is one busy girl.

I am getting warmed up on knitting, and will try to get started on Christmas stockings soon. I found a neat little book with knit dishrags, and started one of those as a warm-up. Not really a great choice, since cotton yarn is a lot less stretchy than regular yarn. I am finding that it isn't going to take me long to get back up to speed though, so that is good to know! It has been so long since I last knit anything, I wasn't sure I was going to remember how to do it!

The magnolia is still blooming. It seemed to take a little breather for a while, but now has about 3-4 blooms on it, and is looking really pretty. The hibiscus have all been cut back, but they all still seem to have some blooms on them, if not a lot. The frangipani is still adding more leaves--a strange sight, after it was naked so long, after losing its leaves in the hurricanes last year! It still has those pretty blooms, that Mike took photos of. Joel cut the monstera philodendron way back AGAIN. It had really gone wild and was threatening to take over the whole back yard. Now that it is cut back so much, you can see all the caladiums and other plants that are filling up the rest of that bed. They look really nice. The grapefruit tree is full of grapefruit. I am about ready to thin it out, as a number of the branches are really drooping from the weight of the fruit. The fruit are clustered so much too---in many places there are 5-7 grapefruit all together. In any case, we sure don't want any broken limbs!

Well, you all take care and update your blogs! Or email! I enjoy hearing from you all!!!!