More meat and a driveway surprise

Last Monday was Memorial Day and we celebrated the holiday with the traditional grillout. Ribs were on the menu and boy were they good, slow baked in the oven first for 3 hours then thrown on a hot grill and smothered in bbq sauce!

Today we were sitting down to lunch when there was a commotion outside. We rushed out the door to see this snake slithering across the driveway. No idea what it was but I left it well alone!

Man, meat and fire...

What a difference a week makes, surburn last week and nearly drowned this. It's been raining here pretty much nonstop since last Sunday evening, in fact we've had over 9 inches of rain! However with the grill under the porch it hasn't stopped us cooking out at every opportunity. We got a GREAT deal on New York strip steaks @ $6.95/lb and so we helped ourselves to these 2 "little" beauties. At over 2 inches thick and weighing in at a hefty 20 ounces each you just can't get meat like than anywhere other than the good ol' US of A.


Good news on the house we've had written approval from the mortgage company that we can buy the house under short sale (that means we're buying it for less than the current owner owes on their mortgage). We had the inspection done yesterday and it threw up a couple of rain/water related issues but with the recent weather it comes as no surprise. We're now in the process of choosing new flooring and a colour scheme so that I can get to work on it. We're supposed to complete the purchase by mid June so that doesn't give us long to get the financials and paperwork sorted.

Lobster pink

Got a bit sunburnt yesterday, we went to the pool for an hour or so and then I washed both cars cars, all without applying any sunscreen. Shoulders, back and chest are bright pink and sore to the touch. Listen to your Mothers when they tell you to put sunscreen on!

Live long and prosper

Mrs P and I went to see the new Star Trek film today at the new cinema complex that's just opened in town. The theatre has stadium style seating which means that it's impossible for the person in front to block your view of the screen. They did have a few teething troubles as we watched the film and it must have paused between 5 to 10 times but upon leaving we were ushered into another room and given a free pass for another film!

As for the film it's great, really great and all the characters manage to portray their more famous namesakes astonishingly well. Go see it.

The rich and famous are in town at the moment, last night Snoop Dogg played a gig downtown and Tiger Wood's has his yacht harboured in the marina while he's competing at The Player's Tournament just up the road in Ponte Vedra. Also found out this morning that Judas Priest and Whitesnake are coming to town later this summer. Mrs P and I think we might have to get a couple of tickets.

Mother's Day tomorrow and Mrs P wants Eggs Benedict so I'm on kitchen duty first thing. Never made a hollandaise sauce before but I'm sure Delia's recipe will turn out just fine.

Grrrrs, Grills and Girls

Camping was a lot of fun although a "jobsworth" Ranger tried his best to disrupt our plans. If he'd have had his way there would have been a large sign at the entrance saying "No fun allowed". Any how here's a picture of the Beast in it's natural environment...Grrrrr!

I'm rapidly becoming assimilated into the American way of life with a new addition to the family. I'm now in possession of a propane gas grill which I was given for free. After a bit of cleaning and a new part it fired up first time ready to cook last night's dinner of tuna, mahi mahi, shrimp and grilled veggies.

Last week we finally got to see inside the house we put an offer in way back in January. We've been pressing to get inside since we put the offer in but the occupier (who's not the owner) was refusing to let anyone inside on the advice of their attorney. We've still yet to hear from the mortgage holder whether or not they'll accept our offer so the waiting continues. Let's just say that the place needs a lick of paint, new flooring and some new fixtures and fittings to make it liveable to Mrs P's standards. Good job she didn't come to see my house in England until it was nearly finished otherwise she'd have been on the first flight home again!

I know I'm biased but isn't this the cutest picture ever? Baby C is doing really well and is nwo sleeping from about 9 or 10 at night through to 5am next morning. Mrs P is ecstatic to be able to get 7 hours sleep a night.

I'm off on a course this coming week down in Daytona. It's called Income approach to property valuation and is heavy on the maths. The geek in me is looking forward to it.

Anyway must dash the grass is looking a bit parched at the moment and I need to adjust the automatic sprinkler system as it looks like it's missing a few patches.