St. Petersburg, Florida

My favorite part of this house is the arched hallway upstairs.

I like to read on the bed with the balcony doors open so I can gaze into the jungle.

The Jays are always waiting for me to toss a few peanuts, shrieking madly until I do.

What's not to love...it'd beautiful, pink and serves the best Hotel Breakfast in St. Petersburg...the Vinoy Hotel

View from the bike path on the way downtown.

The paddling beach on Tampa Bay, St. Pete. If you want miles of sand and waves you have to travel to the other side of the peninsula (about 15 minutes)

Bird of Paradise is in bloom...this is not my crazy yard, but that of my neighbor Joe who can;t wait until we tame our property.

We're back in St. Petersburg, Florida (St. Pete). It's been a year since we bought a home here, and we love it more each time we come. Of course, living in Toronto, we enjoy really hot summers, so it's not as appreciated weather-wise to come now and it is during our long cold, snowy Winters, however I LOVE it here. I love this City, how walking and bicycle friendly it is, and how every day there is something going on, from Yoga in the ancient Sunken Gardens, to walking tours, trolly tours of the park, and endless house gazing. There are so many old beautiful homes in so many styles. I am going to do some house shots soon to show you the gorgeous architecture.

We never felt the desire at home to MOVE ON UP from our little starter home back near Toronto, and have been there for 23 years, giving us the freedom to purchase this house in a very depressed Florida market and be fortunate enough to spend our time in a split between the two houses, although a 90/10 split, now that I am a Canadian citizen, I am allowed to spend 6 months a year in the USA. Which isn't likely to happen soon, as A), I'd miss my kids too much and B) we have jobs back home that need attending to. While we can work from here, we are needed on home soil for now. One day though, I do hope to say "I'm off to Florida for the Winters darlings....pop down to see me"

This week we are on foot. We've been trying to organize insurance on a vehicle here, but my slow as molasses Insurance dude back home, didn't get our records here in time so we cabbed it from the airport and go grocery shopping on our bikes. I left my comfy, walk for miles in them, Columbia sport sandals back home because I had left a new pair here. I arrived in dressy sandals from the plane and then did a days walking in the new sandals and my poor feet are so blistered, I can;t walk. So we are riding the bikes everywhere. To the beach on the Bay, Snell Isle, out to eat, and this morning downtown to the Vinoy for the best hotel breakfast in the world, to the Farmers Market and home to limp around inside for a while.

We also met with a Pool Company and plan to start the pool here in a couple of weeks. On Tuesday we have to pick coping and decking and hopefully a Mexican tile to edge the pool. While I am sad to lose the jungle of a garden we have, it is not conducive to lounging outside at all. We need space for chairs and a dining table. The pool will also make the house more rentable as a vacation home. Plus with a GRANDCHILD on the way, we hope there will be many family holidays here.

We're off to test a little Mexican joint down the street for supper tonight, arriving on our bicycles of course.....