We want to wish you all a blessed, happy, healthy, safe and prosperous New Year!!!
January 5, 2012
Last year sure was tough for many people including some of our friends that we care deeply about - deaths, emotional loss, physical issues and financial problems. We pray for them all and all of Americans each night.
I will continue to ask for prayers for all our armed forces and law enforcement officers and their families - especially those who have given their lives to keep us safe.
Well, the insurance company didn't get approved for a rate increase but guess what they are going for now!!! For some unknown reason they think they are in the building business and have decided to tell homeowners how much they have to insure their houses for or they wont insure them. One example - of course, a senior citizen - told that she would have to pay almost double last year's amount to replace her house. First of all the value has gone down LOTS and the example was: Insurance company said it would cost $135.00 per sq. ft to replace the house and a builder said $80.00 per sq. ft. What the heck is going on here? I hope they don't get away with it - the banks are going to own lots of Florida homes because so many people are on fixed incomes as it is and this would take of any last few dollars they might have.
Once again, the state is going to try to cut corners on the residents who can't speak for themselves - the people with disabilities might take a big hit. The state wants to close ADT's (adult training program -where I worked for over 9 years), companions (most of this population doesn't have family to take them out anywhere) and PCA's (personal care assistants). Guess what they want them to do - just have independent living coaches and job coaches. I'm not being mean and I love a great many of this population but come on - some are in wheelchairs, can't speak, can't go to the restroom without assistance, and couldn't even stand over a kettle at Christmas collecting money for a nonprofit that has a large overhead paid to it's top people. What is wrong with this?
We continue to feed our feathered and furry (possums, raccoons and rabbits) In our yard we now have many bird feeders, 2 birdbaths, a butterfly garden, a hummingbird feeder and lots of different plants to grow up and cover the fence. Actually hide under the leaves. The birds are happy that the hibiscus and honeysuckle are growing so they have places to hide from stray and neighborhood cats. Our cats continue to not bother other wildlife that I listed. They seem to have an understanding. They don't bother them and they come in for the seed droppings from the birds and the rabbits enjoy the sweet grass that grows from the seeds. We have seen many new birds this year that we We were sitting on the porch relaxing and Bob happened to notice out of the corner of his eye a hummingbird eating the seeds from the bottle brush tree. We have an ever-growing population of hummingbirds that come to the 2 firebush plants that we planted. What a beautiful sight. We had a few indigo buntings stop buy and eat for about 4 days. This bird has not been seen on the west coast of Florida for 20 years. We spoke to some friends about 5 miles inland and they enjoyed seeing them there too. We have a woodpecker family that comes back each year and our cardinals who bring their growing family here. The birds still come to the windows and peek in (absolutely driving the cats crazy) maybe to see if we are here. Check out the pictures that Bob has been taking. Remember, if you feed the wildlife continue to do so especially when it is cold. They come to depend on it.
Sadly to report that Tabitha, the cat Bob and I got first (13 years ago), passed away on New Year's morning. She had a midnight drink of cream while we imbibed in our adult one big drink of the year and went to sleep and died peacefully. Charlie is going to be 19 years old!!! He looked around outside and inside for her for 2 days crying but finally gave up. The 2 younger ones probably don't miss her too much - we didn't nickname her the "Queen Bith" for nothing. She slept with me right near my face all these years and I got asthma. Needless to say - no more cats in the bedrooms. Of course, we will still spoil them and want their life to be as perfect as we can make it.
Catherine Coulter and Nora Roberts continue to be my favorite authors.
BUT, guess what all of you northern transplants, especially from New England. I found a restaurant (only because I took the time to look through the local sale flyer (which coincidentally is called the "Flyer") and saw a restaurant named the Portu-Greek Cafe in Hudson. The biggest stand out item was "Home of the Belly Clam". I have to say that after eating them I will not eat them anywhere else here in this state.
Bob and I continue to pray for our troops all over the world. We also pray that the smart intelligence people will find those who continue to want to hurt the people of this country and other people around the world.
Remember to say "God Bless You" when someone sneezes. It will catch on.
We pray that all of our family and friends stay safe, healthy, happy and employed.
We say and continue to say "GOD BLESS AMERICA".
Bob and I are looking in to some new adventures. We will keep you posted!!!
Amen!!
Bob & Sue
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