We've been quite fortunate down here in the land of heat. Our winter was cool or cold most of the time.

So - we hadn't used our air-conditioner much. This is also the land of untrustworthy repairmen, (not all, but enough) and we've had our share of them here at Circlewoods. So when you find one that is known for his honesty, you grab on to him and make sure he knows how valuable he is to you. We found one. But let me tell you a tale first:

We've had many service contracts in the life of our air-conditioning units. Especially when you're a woman, you have to be on the outlook for people of quality to help you out when something goes wrong. I know squat about air-conditioners. Or most items that need repair. Luckily I have my dear husband who is very (and I mean VERY) knowledgeable about almost everything. I lie not. Nor do I exaggerate. And I have a brother who also knows a lot, but was also, and this was very very important, able to come up with a friend of his -someone honest, reputable, who also repaired and checked out air-conditioning systems. What a winning combination!

Anyway - the tale to tell: We had an air-conditioner repairman, with whose company, I will not mention,we had a contract, who came to service the a/c er. He said it was about to break down, we'd better have it replaced immediately or Heaven only knows what would happen right now or possibly when we went back up north.

Bob's friend, also named Bob, came over, looked at the a/c er and said there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. It should last for a long time. It did. He checked it out for several years. Finally, we needed to replace it. This Bob found a really good new unit and put it in for us this morning. In less than an hour. And we saved a lot of money.

As an aside: My tax refund came in handy.



Our next door neighbors, Crystal and Bob, left for home a couple of weeks ago and their good friends, Hank and Geri, stayed at their house for two weeks after they left. Hank and Geri left this morning for home also. We invited them for cocktails last night as a "good-by." Things are getting quieter and quieter around us, as people finish with their winter here. It really is so nice to see and hear the birds, beautiful skies, flowers - Paul says that the flowers are really growing in our hanging baskets. More so, these past couple of weeks. Perhaps we'll take them home with us. I have recently been aware of a scent outside and realized that it's the flowering citrus trees. Makes sense. Or scents. LOL

Looks like we'll have a good crop of grapefruit next year.

We have someone pick them, at the end of the season. His ladder is still leaning upon the branches, but only a few grapefruit are left. Perhaps he forgot it.

Gracie is lying asleep on top of her favorite toy that Lue got her. She's had a good day so far. Bob, the repairman, has a papillon also, and she enjoyed seeing her and tried to play with her. Older dogs just don't want to be bothered with little puppies though. They're a pain in the neck. Gracie's prettier anyway. So there. Well, we think they're related some way. Teddy is Martini's mom. Lots of controlled incest going on in the papillon world around here. Martini's related to Gracie somehow, but not close.

That's all that's goin on around here. What's happenin in your neck o the woods?