Florida Isn't HALL ways warm!

For you who follow my Blog, you must be wondering why the lonely picture of the cute little heater and no explanation. I will now try to tell you.For you Northerners,I must tell you it is not always sunshine and bliss down here in paradise. We, too, have our winter and often we have freezing weather and lots of wind,. Never the less, we are not happy about this, and often complain and whine. We must admit that we lack sensitivity to your "much worse" situation up North. A year ago we were invited to a little party on the Island and it was a really cold night. Having never been there I dressed sensibly, but found that the hosts must have come here from the Arctic and had all sliding doors open and so we could get a view the pool and gardens. I was miserable (I have Raynouds) and all toes and fingers were snow white. Just as I was about to duck into the bathroom to put fingers and toes under warm water the host wanted to give us a tour of the house. Burr, this was the last thing I wanted to do, but as it turned out it was good. When we got to the master bedroom, over in the corner was the sweetest little portable fireplace with four legs and what appeared to be a wood burning fire. It looked like something out of Mary Poppins and was a lovely shade of dark red, plus it shot out lots of warm air. While the rest of the group wandered through the rest of the house, I lingered awhile with my hands as close to the device as I could. The best part was that it was all electric. I vowed at that point I would look into finding one of these gems. Naturally, as the weather turned warmer I forgot all about this until a month or so ago when we started getting cold down here. I went on line looking for what I wanted and found a number off little stoves but not dark red until I came upon Plow and Hearth....whoopee. We now have this life saver near our TV and our Stressless chairs and we can say that life has taken a turn for the better. Most evenings we curl up in our chairs with Bella taking turns on our laps, warm air circling us, while we watch a movie on Net Flix.
What a life!
P.S. For those of you who are new to this blog, scroll on down for the story, "Bella and her Bone".

THE HALLS ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF MUSIC

Yes we are and thank God for each day we have. He has blessed us in so many ways and even though we will not have family here with us at Christmas, we are content and look forward to what God has in store for us.
It has been awhile since I have written in our Blog and one of the problems I have had is finding out how to get back into it to add a new post. Why I am so persistent with something that really is of no importance is a mystery to me. Since I probably have no more than one or maybe two followers ( Thanks Molly and Katie) I just don't want to let them down.
This year I had good intentions to write a Christmas letter but Christmas came to early for us. I decided to just share our thoughts on our Blog. Well, maybe no one will read it, but here goes.
Each year God seems to remind us of a truth that we may have forgotten. There are so many! While trimming our Christmas tree I played Handel's Messiah and was over come with the words and music. Yes, I had heard this music many times, but this year it really touched my heart.

FOR US A CHILD IS BORN, TO US A SON IS GIVEN, AND THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE ON HIS SHOULDERS. AND HE WILL BE CALLED WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER, PRINCE OF PEACE. (Isiah 9:6)

Now, here is the part that blows my mind. The prophet Isiah wrote these words about 700 BC. Think about these words and that God had put these words in Isiah's heart 700 years before Jesus was born...Incredible!
So, why don't you go to I-Tunes, download The Messiah, turn up the sound and praise God!
Merry Christmas from Lee and Nancy

A STORY ABOUT A SPECIAL

DOG AND HER BONE

Once upon a time there was an old man and his old wife who lived in a comfortable little cottage near the water. The weather was almost perfect every day and they wanted for nothing, but they felt that something was missing in their life. They lived far from their children, grandchildren and sons in law, and they missed them terribly. The old woman yearned for a baby to hold and cuddle. The old man loved to be cuddled, but he was so tall and skinny that it just was not the same.

One day the old woman saw her neighbor’s little dog and she fell in love with her. The old lady begged her kind Husband and he finally agreed that they would go visit these puppies that were such a very special breed. Even the old man was captured by the sweetness and beauty of these little darlings. They were shown pictures of the father who was a champion and they read all they could about the breed (Havanese). The Havanese once were the lap dogs of royalty in Spain.. The old man and his wife decided that they would adopt a little girl and she would be named “Isabella of Harrington Lake.”

Their precious little bundle weighed only 3 # when they brought her to her new home. They had spent hours at the Pet store buying the best food, a good size crate, a special padded bed for the crate, beautiful pottery dishes for her food and water, plus a number of expensive toys to keep her happy. They were told that Havanese were very bright, so they always used the correct name when they gave Bella her stuffed animal. They wanted her to know that when they called out “Bunny”, Monkey, or Squirrel she would pick up the right one. Unfortunately, the old man and his wife were up in years and they could not remember the names so had to settle for just one word “toy” for all of the animals which by this time overflowed from the large basket they bought for her.

The old woman started noticing changes in her husband He never had an interest in cooking, in fact he avoided it, but suddenly he became passionate about fixing gourmet meals for Bella. He bought the most expensive dog food and only used a small amount in her dish and then covered it with small pieces of cooked chicken and topped that with a nice cheese. If that did not please her he would open a can of broth to make it more appealing. He insisted on being the one to take her for walks. (There was never a bit of poop in the yard because he meticulously picked it up all of the time.) The old woman was able to sleep late in the morning because her husband wanted to be the one to walk Bella.

When Bella became two years old, the old man and his wife felt that Bella was about the smartest and most perfect dog in the world. They referred to each other when she was in the room, as Mommy and Daddy. They were not aware of it, but some of their friends had real concerns about their stability. They tried to control themselves but one day the old woman had to share what an unusual dog they had. She told the story that a week after Easter 2010, she found the Leg of Lamb bone she had given to Bella under her bed sheets (the old women’s sheets). She had forgotten about the bone and had no reason to think that it would appeal to Bella after it was “bone dry”. She put it in Bella’s basket and forgot it until the next day, when she found it under a pillow on the sofa. Each morning after Bella finished her breakfast, she would remember where she hid her bone and then get it and place it somewhere else. She did not want the old man or the old woman to watch her. If she thought that they saw her, she would hide it again, so some days she might hide it two or three times. The old man and the old woman found it great fun to look for Bella’s bone each morning. They often could not find it and would coax and plead with her to show them where she hid it. They thought it amusing when they saw Bella’s attempt to place the pillows back after a “Hiding Ritual.”. It was a dead give away. To this day, Bella never forgets where her bone is and each morning puts it in another place.

Veterinarians will tell you that it is in a dog’s nature to dig and hide a bone outside in the dirt, but since Bella is an indoor dog she does not have that opportunity. The old man and the old woman still believe that she has inherited a unique talent from her ancestors in Spain and they do believe that Bella is the only dog with such talent. The question that the old man and the old women ask it this: Bella is now 2 ½…how long will Bella keep hiding her bone?

Hall about Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of our blogging friends, and anyone else who happens to find this at all interesting.....
Since we are really busy right now, we are just going to send a Christmas greeting that you may find a bit interesting. You will be able to see what 60 years does to two people. The third party in the picture is not quite two and has the ability to keep these two oldsters happy!
We wish you all a blessed Christmas and a New Year full of happy surprises.
Our love.....Lee and Nancy

Dear 9 faithful followers....
Forgive me for not communicating sooner. Our life down here in paradise can get pretty busy. I did promise you the "Endless Soup" recipe, so will try to remember how I made it. Actually, it was a soup that I just made up one day when we had no canned soup. I threw together a can of black beans and a can of stewed tomatoes, some vegetable broth, garlic, and cumin. I topped it with some nice garlic butter croutons. The next day it needed something else, so I threw in some more tomatoes, more broth and some cilantro. By the third day, we needed some change so I put in a can of creamed corn and more black beans, cilantro, a small can of chopped green peppers and topped the soup with some corn chips. We had another day of the soup and I added a very ripe avocado, cilantro, and grated cheese over all. I know I have forgotten something, but just be adventuresome and do your own thing. Canned store soup is too expensive!
Before I show you an adorable photo (maybe a video if I can figure how to do it) of our Bella, plus a photo of some gourds (I painted in the eyes) that we bought at our church's Pumpkin patch, and a picture of our court yard. That's all, truly!
The next news I have for you, is that I am now a mentor for a young lady from Venice High School. I am working with a program originated with Big Brothers Big Sisters. The program is called "Decisions To Win" and it is to help young people graduate from high school. The students who choose to enter the program know that the way they are going there is no chance they will graduate. The Decisions To Win has a 98% success rate. So, I am pared up with Taylor who is a delightful young lady and we are committing to meet once a week for 16 weeks. I pray that God will guide me to be the right kind of encouragement to Taylor, and she will realize how unique she is.
Now I am going to try to send you a few photos of things that have blessed us.
Thank you for reading my ramblings. Keep in touch and God Bless you all.....Lee & Nancy