January 27-February 2, 2016 - Jacksonville, FL

• Jan 27
  •  We picked up the mail at Post Office that was on hold while we were out of town.
  • We met our good friends, Audrey, Harold, Rosalee, Clark, Mary, Brenda and Jack, at BJ’s Brewery off Gate Parkway for our monthly lunch gathering.  It was supposed to be our turn hosting it this month, but we were out of town for 3 weeks, so Brenda and Jack took our place.  It was great seeing them again.  The foods were excellent.  It is our turn to host the lunch gathering for February.

  

  Erwin's dish: Salmon on quinoa and roasted vegetables

  

  Edith's dish: Personal Pepperoni Pizza

  • After lunch Erwin picked up a jar of salted whole cashews at Costco and we went to Home Depot to check out base cabinets that might work for our Lil’ Home.  Unfortunately, the depth is too deep and won’t fit well.  
  • Erwin did the laundry and there were three loads from our 17 day outing. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Jan 28
  • It must have rained during the night because it was very wet outside when we went in the house. 
  • It started to mist when we left the house and it turned into rain when Erwin dropped Edith off at Starbucks (her temporary office). Erwin wanted to check out Woodcraft store that had moved to a new location not too far from our house.
  • After lunch we went shopping at various stores: Aldi, Home Goods, Michaels and Bed, Bath & Beyond.  Aldi is the German-based grocery chain and is reported to be better than Trader Joe’s. It is a self-service store and you bag your own groceries.  The former Circle K furniture store on Southside Blvd. was converted to Aldi last year. We wanted to go in and see what it is like to shop there. Aldi does not accept credit cards.  Most of their products are their own brands.  They had bananas for 29 cents a pound (Publix sells it for 69 cents a pound).  We picked up cauliflower, blackberries and bananas
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • Home Goods did not have plastic placemats we wanted for our LH.  Michaels did not have a good selection of colored pencils and gel pens. 
  
  
  
  
  
  • We checked out portable vacuum cleaners at Bed, Bath & Beyond and it has Shark Rocket for $99.  We did not buy it today, but will get it after February 2nd.
  • It was very foggy when we got back home.  Then it started to rain on/off all evening long.
  
  
  Jan 29
  • We overslept til 9:45 am.
  • Edith worked on two travel blogs at Starbucks while Erwin stayed at “home” to work on his new woodburning project.
  • In the afternoon we went downtown to check out street art or murals that Edith saw on Instagram, but she could not find the specific location that one of her Instagram followers told her about.  She will have to ask him again.
  • We had a nice visit with Rosalee and Clark, returned the portable vacuum cleaner that we borrowed from them
  • Erwin wanted to go to Chamblin’s Used Bookstore, not too far from Rosalee and Clark’s house. It is off Roosevelt Blvd (RT 17).  It is a big store, has millions of books. Erwin bought a few paperbacks.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • Edith went to the Cork District on Kings & Roselle Sts to see if there were any new murals added to the sides of a building. Roselle Street was the street that Edith’s parents had a house and Edith grew up there for few years. The house is not there anymore, was demolished to make room for I-10. The first section of I-10 was completed between Sanderson, FL and Jacksonville, FL in 1961.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Jan 30
  • It was a very lazy morning for us.
  • We visited and had supper with Bon, Marilyn, Helen, Tina and Julian. The dinner was very delicious.  We spent time around the fire pit before dinner was served.  After dinner we went outside again and had toasted marshmallows.  A lovely time with them.
  
  
  Jan 31
  • We spent the morning grocery shopping at Aldi and Winn Dixie.
  • We went back to Bed, Bath & Beyond and bought Shark Rocket HandVac to be used in the Lil’ Home. It is portable and easy to store in the closet.
  
  
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
  Feb 1
• It was a very beautiful morning and the temperature was 80˚.
• We shopped at Costco for other stuff that we did not get at Aldi and Winn Dixie yesterday.
• We spent the afternoon figuring out a way to set up filing system for Edith to use to store documents and mails. We finally figured it out, but that is a temporary thing until we have a desk built in.
• Erwin cut down the Crape Myrtle trees while Edith pulled out weeds in the front lawn.  There were more dandelions that we remembered. That was because we cancelled the lawn service and they have not come to treat the lawn since last November.

• In the late evening a deaf guy representing Rainbow vacuum cleaner company stopped by to check with us.  We filled out a form at DeafNation Expo in March 2014.  That is over a year and half.  We told him that we were not interested and asked him to have our names removed from the system.

Feb 2

• It was another beautiful morning with lots of puffy clouds.  
• Edith decided to go out for a drive to Evergreen Cemetery to pay her respect for her parents who are buried there.  The cemetery is one of the oldest in Jacksonville area.  Her ancestors are buried there, also.  

Top pic: Edith's parents
Middle pic: Edith's maternal grandpa
Bottom pic: Edith's maternal grandma

• Edith went to another cemetery, Greenlawn Cemetery, to pay respects to one of her favorite aunts, Aunt Rose (her daddy’s sister).  While there she spied a small raptor on the head of the statue of Jesus.