Sparky is NOT a Fuddy Duddy Grandma!

But then, nobody ever said she was! Sparky just wants to go on record as she is still moving to keep from getting "stove up" as Indiana Hoosiers say, and probably a bunch of other folks around the country use that expression, too? She just wanted some proof that she is still moving at the age of 63 going on 64, so her pickle ball playing friends at Sun 'n' Fun took some photos to prove it. Suzette, thank you…At first Suzette had nothing but butt shots---the angle was all wrong. "NO MORE BUTT SHOTS, PLEASE!" begged Sparky. So here's Sparky, playing her favorite game…..

What else is new? We found another cool place to eat on the beach, The Beach House!  They have a terrific fish dip there, one of the best we've ever had. Sparky had the BIGGEST peel and eat shrimp in her life there and Eldo had a grouper dinner which he said was delicious.

The restaurant has recently been renovated, and it looked really pretty although it isn't quite done yet. They will be finished with renovations by the end of this month somebody said. We plan on going back….

Sparky is subbing regularly at her favorite school. This past week, the kids were priming themselves for St. Patrick's Day. Sparky was in kindergarten again, and the student teacher assisting the absent classroom teacher, was helping the kids try and catch a leprechaun this week. It's almost spring break…They were bonkers on Thursday, with one more day to go. But the teachers are coping by having some fun stuff for the kids to look forward to…The leprechaun was very mischevious! He knocked over some chairs in the room, got into her M & M's, (AHEM! Maybe SPARKY got into the M & M's, says E.) Nope! Sparky doesn't care for regular M & M's. Now, PEANUT M & M's, that's another story! At any rate, a trail of green and gold glitter showed the leprechaun making an exit out the back door so the kids just missed him. They were SO EXCITED that he'd been there. The culmination on Friday, was the kids were going to put their traps they had made during the past two weeks out to see if they could catch themselves a leprechaun. Here are a couple of whiz bang traps they made…..Awesome! Even if they did have a little help from mom or dad.

Sparky almost blew it after reading a story about leprechauns and discussing whether is was fiction or non-fiction (yep, learning this in kindergarten), when helping the kids come to the conclusion that the story was made up or fiction, had a little boy ask with a VERY solemn face, "Mrs. Sparkles, are leprechauns real?"  Mrs. Sparkles, a.k.a. Mrs. Sparks said, "Hm-m-m-m-m…what do you think?" And then quickly changed the subject……

Sparky had a visit from her sister, who's had it with winter in Michigan. She and her husband, came just for a day and night visit. Too quick, but we'll return the visit to them soon in Matlache, a quirky little town further south from us, near Pine Island…Wonderful little shops there, great kayaking, and my sister has already seen 1) two dolphins jump totally out of the water while she was standing on the dock, and 2) a sting ray fling itself out of the water, a BIG one! Hope we get to see something!

And that's all for now, folks…See you later…..

Sometimes Blogger Stinks!

You know that post that Sparky talked briefly about the Winn Dixie ad and fuel perks and her crappy cooking? Which has now been deleted because it looked so awful when it published...There was a cute photo of a dog named "Sparky".  Sparky, the dog, was experiencing gas from the dog food, and the headlines read, "Now, Sparky's dinner give you gas".…..Sparky thought the whole picture was there when she published! Darn that Blogger! It was really cute! Oh, well….But wait…Where there's a will, there's a way…A picture of a picture…..And Eldo reassures everyone that Sparky's cooking isn't really THAT bad…Right, honey?  Eldy? Now where did he go?

What's new, Sparky?  Sparky has been busy subbing….First grade…yikes! Second grade, YEAH!…Cute kids, one special class that Sparky keeps getting asked back to sub in and they are in love with Sparky. Sparky loves them right back. How could you not love a class that when they walk in the door, every single time they see you, it's "MRS. SPARKS! THE BEST SUB EVER! OUR FAVORITE SUB! YAY!" Then they told me, "We took a vote, Mrs. Sparks. Everybody voted for you except Lee. " That's ok, Lee….He's a sweetheart, too, and he felt bad for the other sub who didn't get any votes except for his lone vote of confidence. They have so much enthusiasm, it wears Sparky out by the end of the day. Sparky will be back in their classroom this coming Friday….Full moon this week…four day long weekend for the kids with M.L.King's birthday on Monday, and teacher training on Tuesday. They were bananas! But we had fun…

Sparky has been playing pickle ball at least once a week….LOVE LOVE LOVE this game…Great exercise, not as much chance of injuring something as it is a shortened up court game that combines a smaller  than a tennis size court with a ping pong type squarish paddle, a wiffle type ball, doubles play instead of singles play, fast reflexes and lots of strategy on where you should place your ball and how you play. Sparky is hoping it will keep her mind a teeny bit sharper having to keep score (which is a little different in pickelball), and keeping track of that fast moving ball. The only problem is, after playing an average of three hours at one time, Sparky can hardly walk for the next 24 hours, she's so sore. It's that all or nothing mentality--play like a weekend warrior!

What else have we been doing or thinking about doing?…Looking ahead to visiting with Pam and Vic Matthews (Big EZ Travels) in the near future, seeing our friends Ritchie and Nick Boersma who are snowbirds, who are in the Orlando area, Sparky's GOT get her kayak into the water, Sparky's best friend is coming the last couple of days of January, and there is lots of stuff going on in Sarasota and Bradenton during the tourist high season, which is now.


Like the six painted pianos that were placed in and around downtown Sarasota this week…..It's part of a public art project. Six spinet pianos were decorated by seven local artists, and outfitted with dehumidifiers to help them deal with Sarasota's humidity. From now until the end of May, you can tickle the ivories, but please don't play "Chopsticks", which is PROBABLY what the local merchants wish when someone sits down at a piano in front of their shop.

Sparky had five years of piano lessons, but do you think she could play anything if she sat down at one of these? Did anything come to mind? Nope! She hasn't touched a piano since 1964, so that's probably part of the problem. The other part is that when taking lessons, Sparky did NOT practice diligently each week, but relied on learning the music by ear, so reading the music is much harder for her. But she sure wished she could have sat down and knocked something out to impress Eldy. The artist happened to be at the circus piano he painted but we didn't get a chance to talk to him. What a cool thing to see and hear and interact with on the street today!

This piano, painted by local artist Jack Dowd, is located in front of Mattison's City Grille. It is decorated with famous musicians who left us too soon….

A lady came and sat down at one of the pianos while we were walking around town today in the beautiful weather, and darned if she didn't whip out her iPad, which had her music on it, and she started to play…not just any little ditty of a song, but a complex piano concerto of some sort. It was BEAUTIFUL! And what a treat to just be walking around town, and hear an impromptu concert outside on the sidewalks of Sarasota! If you head over to Facebook, Sparky posted a short video of this lady playing if you're interested. It's on Sparky's timeline…She was very very good!

Sparky was on a mission to see all six. Unfortunately, because it was a holiday today, two of the pianos were housed in shops for the day and inaccessible to the public. But we managed to see four in all….

in front of Louie Modern

The pianos are supposed to be in the following locations if anybody local is interested in seeing them: In front of Madison's City Grille, Main Street Traders, and Bohemian Bliss Boutique--all on Main Street, in front of Louie's Modern Restaurant on Palm Avenue, at the corner of DiFilippo Kent Gallery on Palm Avenue, and in front of the Sarasota Opera House on Pineapple Ave. These are all in downtown Sarasota within a short walking distance of each other. And if you must, you can play "Chopsticks" or that other piano duo favorite, "Heart and Soul".

See you later…….

What? We've got the Coughin' Crud AGAIN?

Sarasota, FL         High:  72      Low:  46

We're not sure how this is happening, but for 2 1/2 years, neither one of got sick...not a cold, not a sinus infection, we were as healthy as a horse! (if they are really healthy) Now, since we've been in one place for the most time ever, four months, we're guessing there are a WHOLE lot more germs that we are being exposed to. Both of us came down with colds AGAIN, only this time, Sparky has it really light, and Eldy is feeling miserable...Seems to be an upper respiratory infection for Eldy.

Sparky has it so mild she went out and played SIX games of pickleball today....Whew!  Hot tub here we come! Sparky is really lovin' pickleball and so do lots of the ladies who play. They love it so much, they play with artificial knees, one gal with a morphine pump--she has had 18 back surgeries, and many  other ladies have many other assorted physical problems. They really love what pickleball does for you. Sparky loves the fast pace and how it makes her think fast! She thinks her reflexes are getting sharpened by continued play. (We can only hope, says E.) Shush, darlin'....Sparky KNOWS she needs all the help she can get to mentally stay sharp, and pickleball really helps with that. She's mentioned it before, but pickleball is a lot less strenuous than tennis, so there's lots less opportunity to maim yourself on the court! But you still stretch and move so you are getting wonderful exercise.

We didn't do much else today...Eldy laid low and rested....

Not much else to report today other than did you folks who are in Florida see on the news where the GIANT African land snail is making its way to invade the Treasure Coast (the southeastern Atlantic side of Florida)? These look to be the size of softballs! They can carry a parasitic worm that can cause meningitis in humans.  UGH! Apparently the state of Florida spent a million dollars and ten years to try and eradicate this slug, but it's B-A-A-A-C-K!

They eat everything in sight and including stucco on the houses down here in Florida. Stucco seems to be the primary building material covering the cement block house construction here. Yuck! Sparky hates anything slimy.

In the same newscast, they said that this year's mosquito crop is going to be MEGA in size due to the heavy rains last year. Not that the NUMBER is going to be mega, but the SIZE of the mosquitoes are going to be HUGE. It's a good thing we are headed to Colorado this summer! But maybe they are big there, too. There are 75 species of mosquitoes in Florida...We're DOOMED if we stay through the summer, which is probably NOT going to happen...

The things you learn when you are retired! Never knew about all this stuff---we were too busy working! Sparky loves learning new things especially things about nature, even if they are slimy.....

That's it for now...Hopefully, tomorrow, we will be out exploring something new for us if Eldy is feeling better!