A New Album

Well, my point and shoot digital camera has bit the dust. Display won't work, and pictures will not record. It's lasted me a good long time. I've been keeping my eye on this Nikon Coolpix P80: 10.1 Megapixels and 18x optical zoom. (My old Canon had a 2x optical zoom.) We went to Best Buy yesterday and I got it!

We took a brief walk last night around the neighborhood to try out the night pics. Lots of homes decorated already for Halloween.

These condos are near North Shore Park along Tampa Bay in St. Pete.

These shots are from Mirror Lake area, not far from downtown St. Pete.

This was the old Saint Petersburg High School, now gone condo.

Some details.

A nearby building.

There is an ice cream store in this building, but it wasn't open yet. This was taken around 10:00 am.

Then I went over to the Coliseum where an antique show was going on this weekend. Did a lot of browsing but no buying. I guess times are really rough. Many of the booths had almost everything half price. One vendor was telling me that he just made the cost of the booth, and this was the third day of the show!

Saw this apartment building on the way.

This house is near Round Lake, not too far from the Coliseum and Mirror Lake.

On Round Lake.

House for sale.

Six blocks from my apartment. I paid $3.51 last Tuesday!

Front steps of the house next door.

The old homestead taken with new eyes.

Quick Trip to the Beach

I wanted to try my camera out at the beach, so went to Sunset Beach for about an hour around 3:00 pm. Loved the zoom!

I ran into Gary and Billy, so set up my chair and umbrella next to them. It was a bit warmer than normal...felt around 90.

My Dinner With Andre*

When trying to come up with a post title, this one (My Dinner with Andre) popped into my mind. Not quite sure why, but maybe it will become more clear as I write.

Wayne and I met 10 months ago today. He came over tonight and I made dinner. I was hoping to post a pic of Wayne or the two of us, but couldn't quite get one that passed the test. I guess it appears as if I dined alone. Hmmmm? Am I fooling anyone? Am I delusional? "You know we have rats in the cellar?"

Anyhoo, now I'm thinking maybe I should have titled this post "Waiting for Godot"?

Chicken filets with Southwest marinade, sundried tomato & basil rice pilaf and spring vegetables in citrus sauce. (Think, Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee)

Sunday Afternoon in Tampa

From October 2 - 12, the 19th Annual 'Clip' Tampa International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival is being held. One of the films shown today at the Tampa Theatre was a documentary entitled "A Song of Courage". It was made to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of GALA, Inc. After the film, both Una Voce and Crescendo performed.

This is a drinking fountain.

Wayne made some cupcakes for Linda and Debbie.

Go Rays!!!

Open Air Season Again

I'm still loving how the seasons are reversed from up North. Now that the autumn is here, outdoor activities are kicking into full gear. The Saturday Morning Market in downtown St. Pete started up again on Saturday. This year it was moved to a new location a few blocks from where it used to be. It's now next to the Progress Energy Park, which offers a bigger space and much more room. Wayne and I walked down from my apartment in Old NE. As you can see, some of the homes are already getting ready for Halloween.

These are some of the new condo buildings still going up. I don't know where the occupants will be coming from! There are still other new ones that have lots of available units.

Lots of produce. Fresh garlic...

And look who put in an appearance!

We went to Cafe Alma for brunch after leaving the market. Our first time there. The food was great and it was nice to sit outside in the courtyard. There was a tiny 'craft' fair going on in one section of the courtyard...where you could see how things were made. These acrylic buckets were for sale. I liked the Halloween idea. Made me want to start eating a bag full of Halloween candy . . .

Waiting patiently for our food . . .

This Westie was eyeing my food . . .

An artsy shot . . .

This banyan tree is huge!

Later in the afternoon we headed up to Clearwater. We went to the Fresh Market to look for fresh rhubarb. Wayne was planning on making a strawberry rhubarb cobbler as dessert for our supper. Unfortunately, rhubarb is not in season...so frozen it was!

For dinner, Wayne made macaroni and cheese. Those are cheese bread from the Fresh Market.

Strawberry rhubarb cobbler for dessert . . .

Friday on the March

Father's bragging rights . . .

Joe shot some marching bands for ESPN for a Battle of the Bands competition. Check out his post at Y & E in NYC and the ESPN link.