Our little piece of Eden on Earth … Florida!
I received a call from a delightful lady who lives in Indiana yesterday afternoon. While we were talking her husband asked what the temperature was. Initially I said that, although I didn’t know the temperature, it was quite comfortable. Then I started laughing when I realized I was outside talking on my portable phone!
We were sitting in the shade (in T-shirts) in our yard here in Sanford repotting my plants. (Yes, I told each of them how absolutely beautiful they will be this spring!) My husband cringed each time I cut off their lovely blossoms. I acted as though it didn’t bother me to give them a “crew cut”, but I could relate to his discomfort. (That’s probably why I allowed them to get so “leggy” in the first place.) It was a positively glorious January day here in Florida!
In addition to our neighbor Neill (one of the best neighbors on earth) we also had some “company”. Our friend Steve who owns Holt’s Mobile Service was here to work on our truck brakes and keep us all safer on the roadway. By the way, if you ever need someone who is knowledgeable, thorough, and honest to work on your vehicle, consider giving Steve a call. He’s been in the biz in the Lake Mary, Florida area for decades (his website is: www.holtsmobileauto.com/) It was a productive, social, and very, very enjoyable afternoon which continued until after nightfall.
Much of the country has been buffeted by snow and ice storms for weeks and I feel badly for what they’ve had to deal with, but, I gotta tell you, I’m sitting here in Florida in January and it’s is heaven! I looooove living in the Sunshine State!
The weatherman says there is a slight cold front moving in. He’s projecting rain tomorrow and temperture highs in the high 70’s with low’s in the mid to high 40’s so it’ll be a bit cooler, but not too severe.
…gotta go feed and water all those plants today while it’s still nice outside!
http://www.SunshineStateRetirement.com/
Affordable Florida Retirement
While so much of the national news has been focusing on surplus housing, mortgage foreclosures, and all sorts of dire housing predictions, we sit here in sunny Florida and consider the lives of our “neighbors”. We may not know them, we may live hours from the communities they are in, but our hearts hurt for them.
So many have come here to live out a dream turned nightmare.
I guess it may be true there is a glut of $200,000, $300,000 and up homes on the market. People got in when the market was too high and loans were easy to come by.
It is sad to think of this dark time so many are having to endure because of decisions they made based on those factors or, in some cases, just bad advice.
I think it is important to remember that as a culture, whether in business or in our personal lives, we need to give great value. It is only in making our business or personal relationship stronger, and more whole that we strengthen the fabric of our society. … enough of the take, take, take mentality.
There is nothing more comfortable than living within your means in a friendly and supportive environment and we all deserve “the good life”.
The last thing we need, particularly at the latter stage of our life, is to be worrying about adjusting mortgage rates, dramatically increasing real estate taxes, or downward spiraling shifts in market value.
I am grateful to have the opportunity to live surrounded by so much beauty both natural and “man enhanced”. I am grateful to be in a community where supermarkets and restaurants are so reasonable. I am grateful to live where so many CAN live affordably.
I wish good things for us all.
Retire to Your Own Piece of Paradise!
Florida Resort Living
I can’t believe the “season” here in Florida has started picking up so significantly in even the past week!
Each time I answer the phone, I feel as though I’m opening a present. I know it’s a gaily wrapped gift of some sort, but, until I actually tear into it, I have no idea what it may be.
I’ve had such joy talking to callers. It has been an absolute delight to discover where these people are from, what their plans are (in some cases what their dreams about moving to Florida, or of owning a vacation home in Florida, have been), and what their current circumstances are. The life path we are each own weaves the most fascinating stories!
It always amazes me how much common ground we all have. This experience has been another exercise which affirms that we are all truly a brotherhood of mankind.
www.SunshineStateRetirement.com/3.html
We had to make another trip out to the Panhandle yesterday. I was amazed at how much more colorful the woods were in just the past eight days! Last week the wild fox grapevines were turning and created beautiful mottled patterns in shades of greens and golds.
This week it was more that just the grapevines in transition, it was the wild cherry, the willow, the sweet gum trees! There were not only golds, but reds as well! It is a subtle change in north Florida, but dramatic all the same. I can’t imagine what changes must be already occurring in the northern states!
We got back to Ocala late yesterday afternoon and had “new eyes” with which to savor the green rolling hills and beautiful horse farms.
We’ve had inquiries about the home from several Canadian couples, and from others in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Michigan, and a number of other places. We’ve had “company” several weeks ago from Wisconsin and we have a gentleman coming in from Key West on Monday.
I guess I usually think about people moving down to escape the cold. It doesn’t readily occur to me unless I really stop to consider that others, who have already discovered and enjoy Florida’s favorable climate, are discovering that Ocala is a much more afforable area of the state in which to live!
I have been lovin’ this Florida weather this week! It has been cooler and a bit less humid making it a joy to be outside most of the day.
It’s important to remember this is coming from a Floridian; if you’re coming from up north y’all still be sure to pack your shorts and T-shirts!
At least for me, I can already see (and smell) changes in the season. Add to that the big yellow monsters (read that school buses) are back on the road and I even heard a marching band at practice the other day.
It’s funny how much more enjoyable those things after having reached a stage of life where I don’t have to get children up, fed, and dressed for school. There is no stress about get stuck behind a bus on my way to work … ahhhhh retirement. I also don’t have to pick someone up from band practice (and probably deliver a friend home as well). … that band sounded mighty good by the way.
Suffice it to say, life in paradise has been gently moving into another phase and it is approaching the time when so many from the north enjoy (or dream of) being here.
http://www.SunshineStateRetirement.com/3html
Affordable Florida Retirement
No More Snow
Are you one of the thousands who, in the late summer and early fall months, start dreaming of leaving the brutal cold and retiring to Florida, the Sunshine State? We envision (and dread) the icicles hanging from the car bumper, the snow piled along the walks, the biting winds, the dangerous roadways … and we dream.
We dream of basking beside the pool in the warm sunshine, of green grass swaying palms, open roads, and unconfining clothes, BUT, that’s usually all we do. … sometimes because we don’t have answers, sometimes just because there is no concrete destination in mind, and sometimes because we’re convinced we can’t afford it.
Well, it just so happens that we don’t have to be a captive of winter! An even bigger surprise may be that we CAN afford that dream. Ocala, Florida has, for several years, been listed by Money Magazine as one of the best places to retire. It is affordable, it is friendly, and, in addition to its local gems, it is a day trip away from most of the rich experiences Florida has to offer.
Winter Some Place Warm -
Bask in the Warmth of the Sunshine State
Buy Low, Live High -
Resort Florida Living for Less!
