Tuesday, Dec. 18 - Tomorrow is our grand-daughter Clare's 21st  birthday. We are and will be thinking of her, and will try to get a call through to wish her a happy happy day.

We've had a fine time visiting Joyce and Lily since Sunday. We are staying a day longer than planned, as two days simply wouldn't have been enough. Lily is a great little pup, full of life, and very well-behaved, so it's been fun to get to know her better. Joyce dotes on her, for good reason, and truly enjoys the company that Lily provides.

We've had several outings, for dinner at a favorite place of Joyce's and the MacKays, a seafood house called Lola's. Excellent quality in an informal setting. Next day Joyce took us to an even more informal setting for lunch, Porky 'n' Beans, a BBQ set-up next to a Farmer's Market. Their pulled pork was excellent and plentiful, so we settled for a bowl of soup for supper. I had a great chat with the owner, who has a four-man crew working the operation. He described all of the equipment he has on his big truck...freezer, bbq cookers, and so on. He is doing this set-up only as a filler until the events bbq circuit begins. A whole new world to me, as he moves around the country with his crew, from Florida to California, back to Maine, and then to the south again. They criss-cross the country taking part in bbq competitions, which are tied to blues or jazz or other events. Their product is judged, winners declared, with the biggest prize being in Reno where the winners get 10 grand. Who'd have guessed. Some of the fairs get many thousands of people, so they have a huge set-up, able to feed hundreds, even thousands during the event. He has to add to his crew by hiring locals, and certainly has to have a firm handle on his supply chain. Quite a business!!

Today we did downtown Stuart, which we always enjoy. Lunch at Duffy's Sports Grill, which was very good, and then a shopping tour of the main street, followed by a stroll along the harbour. Stuart is a nice town, although getting busier with more people each passing year. Just like the rest of Florida, which now numbers 22 million. We'll have a nice evening with Joyce and Mimi.

I have to mention Saturday's events. Huge black clouds rolled in, so Gail said 'no' to a bike ride. I couldn't resist, so set out, only to get caught in the rain, forced to seek shelter under a bridge. The rain seemed to let up, so on I went, only to run into it again, forced to huddle under a tree. That happened three times, as I seemed to be following the progress of the rain instead of the opposite. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, me. Could have turned around, but too stubborn.

That night, we decided a pub visit was in order, so we walked 40 minutes to the nearest one, called Atlantis Bar and Grill. It was like a true local, as it was clearly filled with regulars, most of whom knew each other, all of whom were at least as old as we are. An older woman comes in, and her drink is in front of her without her having to say what she wants. Then an older guy sits beside us...same thing. He was quiet, until I asked him how he was doing. "Not too good,", he replied. "Got a lot of issues to deal with."

Of course, the old counsellor in me let him open up, which was hopefully good for him. His wife is in the last stages of lung cancer (his fourth wife, he being her third husband). "How about kids? Any around to provide support?" "Yeah, I have two daughters and she has two. But not much help. One of my daughters lives in Houston, so I seldom see her. The other got into a cult 25 years ago, who convinced her that she had been molested by me (looking for money from me), and I haven't spoken to her in all those years. My wife's one daughter lives with us, but she's not much help, as she has little social skill...no boyfriends or girlfriends, no interest in others. And the other daughter is just the opposite, a lesbian street person who is not allowed anywhere inside our gated community."

So you think you'v got problems? a weird family? Poor guy! He's 83, with not much to bring any sunshine into his days. He told us he was trying some over-the-counter drug to lift his spirits, which seemed to work until late afternoon, at which point he crashes. We encouraged him to see his family doctor on Monday to get something more effective, as he thought the product was prednazone, which we found hard to believe was available without a prescription. Tried to leave him on a positive note, although hard to find something encouraging.

Anyway, that's it for now. We move on to New Port Ritchie tomorrow, having had a great visit with Joyce. More later. Stay tuned.