Okay, basketball fans – the women’s basketball team will start the season with a WNIT tournament game on November 13 at the O’Connell Center. As a break away from practice, the team played a scrimmage game during halftime at one of the women’s soccer game. Yes, the ball you see Coach Butler holding was the ball they played the scrimmage with – it was a lot of fun.

The UAA also sponsored an event called “Party in the Park” at Westside Park where fans could come see some of UF’s women teams. You could also join the Gator Back Court Club there – the booster club for the women’s basketball team. Friends, this club rocks. If you enjoy women’s basketball, then join the booster club. There are a number of events that the club sponsors throughout the season. Go to http://www.gatorbackcourtclub.com to learn more.

Above the basketball team is watching a magician/balloon maker. He was pretty entertaining.

So, come on out and watch women’s basketball. They’re going to be exciting this year. Go Gators!

Created by our niece to celebrate Champ’s life.

One of my friends was trying to come up with a new campaign bumper sticker.

Sunset at Clearwater Beach.

We have determined that Boxer and Sydney’s stay at Bed ‘N Biscuit was a success. We are mulling over the idea of introducing Peanut to Mila. Of course, Peanut presents her own issues of fence climbing and escape, so we’ll tread carefully with her.

While on vacation, we did communicate with Mila and want to share with you some her descriptions of our dogs. They are priceless!

“They are taking to their boarding adventure with relish: arguing across the fence with some dogs they despise and giving friendly sniffs to others who are OK by their doggy standards. I marvel how they decide INSTANTLY whom to love and whom to display all their teeth to!”

“Your doggies are troopers! Miss Sydney has some likes and dislikes, and she gives the Dislikes a piece of her mind across the fence…. Then she goes to her favorites and does nicey-face at them. Boxer thinks all that girl stuff is plain silly and would rather watch the squirrels and coax them down from the trees with soulful eyes.”

Spot on, Mila, spot on!

We’re enjoying some down time in St. Augustine. The house we’re staying in is close to one hundred years old and situated perfectly. It’s located in Lincolnville Historic District – “St. Augustine’s most prominent historically black neighborhood.” We are a 10-15 minute walk to downtown and the other more famous historic district.

The picture above was taken while dining at Caps restaurant. The food was good but the view was better. Earlier this evening we went to the famous O’Steens – known for their fried shrimp. Expecting a long wait we brought reading material – but had unknowingly timed it perfectly and had NO wait at all. The food was very good – I enjoyed my side dishes almost as much as my shrimp.

We’ve taken Peanut to the beach twice. This vacation is good for her, too. She gets our one-on-one attention. Hopefully, all these experiences will lessen her nuttiness.

The big dogs are at Bed ‘N Biscuit. Mila, the owner, called to assure us that Boxer and Sydney were doing well. She knew their mamas were having a hard time saying goodbye.

Yesterday, we found a used book store and purchased a few good reads. It’s now time for me to pick up my book and enjoy some quality quiet time.

Ciao.

In the most unlikely of places we were pleasantly surprised to find a delightful new restaurant in downtown Gainesville. The Warehouse Restaurant& Lounge is located at 502 South Main Street. In this converted auto shop you will be treated to some very good food and ambience. While it looks upscale on the inside dressing up is not necessary. We were dressed casually as were most of the other patrons.

Let’s get to the point. We started off with drinks. Mir enjoyed a nice glass of an Australian red and Lisa threw caution to the wind and ordered a Margarita.

We skipped appetizers because we noticed their dessert menu – cheesecake trumped calimari. Mir’s entree was the “Grilled Filet of beef topped with crumbled blue cheese, mushroom fondue and a side of seared yukon gold potatoes.” Lisa’s entree consisted of “Grilled flank steak and snowcrab mac n’cheese made with penne and tossed in a white cheddar bechamel with tender chunks of snowcrab.” Yummo! Our mouths are watering again as we type this. Mir said her filet was cooked to perfection. Lisa’s meal was so good she cleaned her plate which was problematic as room for dessert might have become an issue. Fear not, dear reader, we both shared a raspberry key lime cheesecake. OMG! What a gastronomical experience.

The owner, Richard Yoh, stopped by to chat and thank us for coming. We thanked him for opening up a lovely eatery on our side of town.

Check out The Warehouse website. Directions are on the front page. FYI: they do accept major credit cards except for Discover.

Our rating: two thumbs up! We’ll be back for sure. Why don’t you give it a try?

One of our resident owls. Haven’t seen any babies this year – but it sure is fun to watch and listen to the adults.

Using her phone, Miriam took this pic of an alligator while walking to work – she sees all kinds of wildlife there. This one looks big but was actually only about 4 feet long.

We encountered this weather rabbit during our walk around the duckpond. Forecast sounds pretty accurate don’t you think?

We were thrilled this week to see that the city had erected pedestrian signs and painted the cross walks at the corner of NE 8th Avenue and NE 9th Street. Our neighborhood association had requested this be done and the city did it! Apparently, this intersection had been on the list to be improved – and we think our specific request and follow up may have sped things up. It looks great and will make it safer to walk the area.

Where do all the frogs come from after a rain – it’s like they magically appear. Where do they live when it’s not raining? Anyway, this one showed up on our banister. Take care, Mr. Frog.

Yesterday our neighbor, Mandy, stopped by to chat. While she was here our neighbors across the street called to see if they could check out our remodel and take some measurements. They’re also getting some plans drawn up in anticipation of their own remodelling. So, they came over and we had a grand time viewing their new plans and talking about the remodel, etc., etc. Suddenly, hanging down from our fence was the notice below:

We had monopolized Mandy for so long that Thomas was handing out flyers trying to find her. Of course we invited him over too and had a grand time. Let me report that our new porch was plenty big enough for all of us. Can’t wait til it’s finished. Please hurry, Mr. Contractor.