Who says it's too hot in Florida?

People seem to complain about the weather no matter where they are. Our son loves Florida weather so much, he bought a house here and does not plan on leaving. He has a motorcycle also and loves to ride and rides all year.

Is it hot? You betcha! But we left Red Bay, Alabama, last week on a day the forecast called for 97*. Now 97* is Red Bay is pretty miserable. The forecast for Melbourne, Florida, the same day was 87*. Melbourne sits right on the Indian River south of Cocoa and there seems to be a breeze most of the time. It does get hot and humid during the day, but it is nice enough mornings and evenings to sit out. Very few bugs have bothered us, an occasional mosquito perhaps, but in the evening the frogs are the noisiest. Perhaps that's why there aren't any mosquitoes. We did clear up one mystery for Brandon. He talked about seeing some kind of strange "mold" on top of the water in his swimming pool every morning. "Son," I said, "that isn't mold . . . those little black dots in the water are froggie eggs." Hah. A quick start of the filter gets rid of those top floaters. The frogs are out at night and they hang around the pool. They aren't too shy and you can usually see them. They are loud! We are usually in the pool for a midnight swim and they don't seem to like it. Something about being in a swimming pool in the dark surrounded by jungle-like plants and hearing this really loud croaking sound makes you think you are in a scene from Jurassic Park. Then you might also see a little skenk dart across the pool deck. Speaking of which, I caught one yesterday in our bedroom. Just a little guy and he was heading for the dog's pen. I got him cornered then called for backup. They are so fast! I think they are cute, but don't care to have them in my bedroom. They usually die in the house because they can't find food.

The work continues on the house. You should have to pass an IQ test to buy a house and then paint it. Grrrr. Brandon's house was a foreclosure and the only problems with it are purely cosmetic. That's good. But the goofy guy who had it painted the interior and never masked out a thing. He painted the top edge of all the woodwork the same color as the walls and that looks really tacky. So, with my steady hand, I have been slowly repainting that top edge. He also slopped paint up at the ceiling which has a popcorn finish and that is also requiring my talents. This is the most time consuming task we have had. . . well that I have had. He also had holes in the ceiling where he intended to put lights, etc. The holes are now history, thanks to Terry's drywalling skills. He had mounted a TV on a wall in the bedroom and just cut out a humongous hole apparently looking for a stud. That is filled and finished now. He stole about half the light switches and in the living room, put in black boxes with covers on a green wall. Looked really trashy. Just switching all those to white made a big difference. All the light switches and covers are now fixed and the mystery of what switch does what has been solved. Most of what we are doing now is touching up the paint and cleaning. Brandon has a new ceiling fan in his bedroom that works by remote. Very nice.

There is still stuff that needs to be done, but we are about done with what we can/will help with. I think he will eventually repaint, but with his job, he frequently has to travel a week at a time, and that doesn't give him a lot of time to plan a big painting job.

Not quite sure when we will leave. Perhaps Wednesday. I want to finish the trim painting. I will take pictures when we are done.

Till next time. . .

Dale