The Crane

I got to spend two days at Captiva Beach, Florida this week. This guy walked right past me one afternoon - I could have touched him - with the most annoyed look on his face. He clearly felt I was intruding.

  

Our New Place

We almost did it. A few more boxes, some adjustments and our new home will be ready. I have already found my new favourite spot, right under the roof:

This is the view from one tiny little window under the roof:

Same window:

And same window:

Last meal at our "old" apartment. Buddy and his mom came by with a delicious home cooked meal and snacks: 

Little Helper

That is how I found her one morning. I had been busy in our "old apartment" and she was waiting for me to load the car.

R.E.M.

To help us move, my very sweet cousin came to stay with us. She has been entertaining daughter and been all over town with her. In the meantime husband and I have been moving boxes from one apartment to the other. We took a break from painting.

One evening husband managed to get very good tickets for us and a backstage pass for himself to a R.E.M. concert. They played right downtown and it was very special watching the band playing in the middle of those old buildings.  It was daughter's first concert and she definitely had a great time! 

 

Walk II

More white paint, another walk...

Walk

After buckets of white paint we needed a change...

Painting

Someone is missing her brother...

 

Nik, this is a picture of you and your sister. It looks like she got a dog and a bowl of ice-cream. You got a hot dog with lots of ketchup and a new pair of shoes. We miss you a lot!!!

Do Not Enter

Painting...

And since it is summer and it is vacation time for every one else I took her to a pony farm:

 

Guess who walked behind the tiny pony, the girl leading pony and daughter? For one whole hour? In a muddy forest? 

Mice

With most of her possessions packed, daughter is getting inventive: "Swings" for her mice. Thankfully she picked a wall that hasn't been painted yet. 

 

Couch gone, beds gone...

Then, there are people who thrive amidst chaos. If they haven't already caused it.

Simplify

Sign by "Ox Pond Press", Webster, NH

I bought this sign in a museum shop somewhere in New England just before our last move. It was one of the first things I unpacked and hung in the kitchen, right above the sink, so I would be reminded of it on a daily basis. I was under the impression that I was doing fairly good - minimizing my possessions, trying to concentrate on the important things in life and not getting distracted by the little stuff. Yeah. Right. Looking at all the boxes that will move with us, I just realized that I can start all over again.

Moving II

Our apartment is a mess. There are boxes and piles of books everywhere. Some pieces of furniture are already sold or given away. The others will be soon. For my sanity I need to have order and a system around me. My job, and especially husband's job make our lives unpredictable and chaotic often enough, living in this mess turns me into a miserable person. 

I remember when we moved into this flat. We had been looking for months and months for a place to live and had found absolutely nothing. I guess it is hard to find a nice place in any larger city especially if you need something for a family. But here, people just shook their heads when I told them we NEEDED to stay somewhere! At one point husband was so frustrated that he wrote a note with the title "HELP" and our wishes for an apartment. He also offered a high amount of Euros for the rent. Husband and son pinned copies of the note on every single tree in our city. And trust me, there are lots of trees here. 

 

Not one single person called to offer us a place.

But a week later we got a phone call from a friend telling us to read the newspaper. A journalist had seen one of our copies and had written an article about how impossible it is for families to find a decent place in cities like ours. He quoted our note and commented on the high amount of rent we were willing to pay.

Still, no one called to offer us a place.

A week later, purely by chance, we found this place on the internet. I remember begging the real estate agent to pleeeeeeease rent it out to us. Nik was cute and charming and husband was perfect and oh, thank you, thank you...they let us rent it! (They had a whole selection process down with a lot of forms we had to fill out and an interview.) 

  

And now it is time to leave again. I hope the new renters will like it here as much as we did.

She did it!

She can swim!!! No easy task, considering she hates water on her face. We are talking a drop of water...

A Perfect Summer Day II

So, your big brother is vacationing in Florida, visiting his grandparents. Being, without a doubt, spoiled beyond belief. You, are spending the summer at home, helping us move into our new apartment. Your summer will be about boxes, paint and moving vans.

When I asked you today what your perfect summer day looks like you told me that your day, no matter what the season, would be spent at a farm. So off we went, just us both, to the one and only farm close to our city. We scratched the backs of little piglets, we watched the horses, the cows and the ducks. Then we picked ripe raspberries and ate most of them. We picked sunflowers, had a picnic on an old wooden bench and bought corn cobs from the farm stand.          

 

I hope your summer day was everything you imagined.

A Perfect Summer Day

A perfect summer day to me is one that I repeat as often as possible. Thankfully, in Southern Florida it is "summer" all year long, so if I am lucky I get a few of those perfect days per year...

My day starts early with a drive to Captiva Island, which to me has the most beautiful beach, the most perfect waves and the biggest shells. After a cup of coffee from a coffee shop around the corner, we lay on the beach, read books and enjoy the ocean. The water is always greenish blue, almost looking fake. You can see dolphins swimming by and pelicans looking for fish. Life passes slowly and peacefully here.

After hours on the beach we head to the "Bubble Room", a Captiva institution. Someone once called it "outrageous" and it really is. It looks like something out of a fairy tale and the food is truely magical, too, served by "bubble scouts" in funny looking uniforms.

It is ok to go there directly from the beach, with your swimming suit still drying on your body and sand sticking to your feet.

This, to me, is the perfect day.