Tag Archives: Florida

Lately … in the kitchen

11 Thursday Dec 2025

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Scones – I adore scones and I have not been able to find any bakeries that sells them anywhere around me.

I looked for scone recipes online, and chose one that looked easy and fast. 

They didn’t come out great, but still we ate them all.  

 

Irish Soda Bread – this is another favorite of mine, that I cannot find to buy anywhere around here.  Perhaps on Saint Patrick’s Day I will find some bakery that makes them.

It came out okay, not great.  I definitely need to tweak the recipe I found online.

Anything toasted with butter is great, and that is how I eventually ate it all.

 

 

Brownies from a Box

Can you believe that I got brownies wrong? Brownies is the one thing I don’t mind making it from a box.  I accidently put the oven too high and the sides and bottom got overbaked.

I cut off the offending parts and the rest was eaten anyway 🙂

 

I will be trying all of the above again.  If you a good recipe for scones or soda bread, please send it my way.

Thank you and have a blessed weekend!

“With enough butter, anything is good.” (Julia Child)

 

 

Quick getaway – Western Caribbean cruise

21 Friday Nov 2025

Posted by in Daily Life, Daily Message, Finding Me, travels

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Michael and I decided on a last minute getaway. We did a Western Caribbean cruise.  We went from Port Canaveral, FL to Cozumel, then Costa Maya, and back to Port Canaveral.

We had a great time.  In Cozumel, Michael went to the Chichen Itza Ruins.  I skipped that, as I had been there before and didn’t want to face the long trip there.  So, I had a lazy, quiet day to myself.

In Costa Maya we both went to Chacchoben ruins, it was smaller and less impressive than Chichen Itza, but still very interesting.

This was a Royal Caribbean cruise, and it was the Explorer of the Seas ship, which is a 25 year old ship.  It showed its age, but that doesn’t really bother me.

One thing I was a bit disappointed was the quality of the food at the buffet.  Even though there was tons of different ones, I don’t think the quality came close to that of the MSC Meraviglia ship.  Specially when it came to desserts, something that I really look forward to.  Some of their desserts gave me an aftertaste, which means that it had too many preservatives and food extracts and coloring. Still, I confess I overate, as I have a tendency to want to try a bit of everything.

I went to the gym a couple of times, and was really impressed with the amount and quality of the equipment.

We also saw a few shows, such as the magic, the comic, and the ice-skating.  We went to bingo and to the casino. We also played ping-pong and arcade games. And we rested.

We can’t wait for the next one.  I really want to do longer ones, to Alaska and Europe.

Have a blessed weekend everyone!!

“Every person needs to take one day away.  A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future.  Jobs, family, employers, and friends can exist one day without any one of us, and if our egos permit us to confess, they could exist eternally in our absence.  Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for.  Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.” ― Maya Angelou

 

 

Sunset – Melbourne Beach, FL

02 Sunday Nov 2025

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The sunset at Melbourne Beach Pier overlooking the Indian River Lagoon is one of my favorite places.  The sunset is a great time to stop and say thank you for the day.

I don’t know where I saw the below writing, but I really like it.  If you know who wrote it, please let me know so I can give them credit.

  1. your growth comes first,
    2. be intentional with your time,
    3. forcing things does not work,
    4. being kind supports your peace,
    5. hang out with revitalizing people,
    6. let consistency help your flourishing,
    7. remember the progress you have made,
    8. slow things down when your mood is low,
    9. people pleasing hurts your mental health,
    10. seeking perfection hinders your progress,
    11. you cannot make everyone understand you.

 

 

 

 

All green and bones – Happy Halloween!

31 Friday Oct 2025

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“Most people will tell you growing up means you stop believing in Halloween things – I’m telling you the reverse. You start to grow up when you understand that the stuff that scares you is part of the air you breathe.” ― Peter Straub

When I was growing up in Brazil there was no Halloween.  Now due to globalization,  Halloween is increasingly becoming part of our culture.  In some areas we do have a different names for it, such as Dia das Bruxas (Witch’s Day) and Dia do Saci (Saci Day).

Saci is one legged black boy with a pipe and red hat from Brazilian Folklore.  He played tricks on people and was quick to disappear in a whirlwind.

I never spent Halloween in Brazil, so I am not sure about kids going trick or treating.  I know of parties, specially hosted by language schools.

I am not really into dressing up and costumes parties, but I do love seeing the kids all dressed up, and I always enjoy some people’s creativity when it comes to their costumes.  

Another thing I always loved was seeing the houses decorated for Halloween, and all other holidays for that matter.

As I go on evening bike rides, I plan on taking pictures.  But as I sit here composing this post I realized that Halloween is here and I only took a couple of pictures.

A few is better than none.

I hope you are having a grand ole time, no matter what you are doing today.  Being alive is a great reason for celebration!

 

 

“Halloween is the only time people can become what they want to be without getting fired.”
― Sylvester Stallone

Happy chaotic 2025

27 Monday Jan 2025

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Hi everyone,

I hope your 2025 is going well.  Whatever plans you have, start NOW!  Great advice, right?  Yet, I continue to be waiting on things to be finished so I can accomplish other things, so I can live my life.

I continue hoping for calm and order, but I will have to wait longer for that.  The construction/renovation on our condo will continue for a few, or several, more months. I am trying to keep positive and focus on the fact that things are progressing, but it has been a struggle. 

I like results and to have things completed and orderly, and my life at the moment is the total opposite of that.  There is dust everywhere. It is a daily ritual of vacuuming and mopping. Still, the dust persists.

We have been living out of the second bedroom. Everything we have is either there or in NY, waiting to be brought to Florida.  We will not be buying any furniture until all is finished.

Every day there seems to be little progresses here and there, so it seems there is light at the end of this tunnel.  At this moment some apartments are already having their exterior painted. I think ours will be painted in the next couple of weeks.

To renovate the exterior and correct all the damage in the balcony and exterior, they had to come into the apartment several feet. In doing that, there was damage to the floors, ceilings, walls and electrical work. 

We decided to take advantage of the fact that all is a mess and go ahead and remove the fireplace. In doing that we got more floor space and a little more view.

Everything is slow going as one crew depends on the other to finish their parts, and they all depend on the inspectors to come and approve the work. Nevertheless, I see progress and that provides me comfort.

To top the chaos, I have a physical audit scheduled, besides the regular audits – the auditors just love our little firm.  I also have dental surgery scheduled – more gum graft and laser surgery in my future.  Will expand upon those on the next post.

And then there is good, the ever lasting feeling of being blessed and the certainty that all that is happening now is for the best.

Love, light and blessings to all!

Waiting for Helene

26 Thursday Sep 2024

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“There’s no such thing as safety. Only degrees of risk.”
― Christopher Paolini

This is my first hurricane since I started living in Florida (about 1 month).
Hurricane Helene should be arriving in a couple of hours.
I am not sure what to expect. For now we have just heavy winds.

We are not in its path.  I think that the area I am in, in Eastern Florida, we will get more of a tropical storm.  Or so I hope. 

I am a bit concerned, since this is what my building looks like: 



We thought that by the time we got back from Brazil, all the construction would be completed, but of course more damage was found.  so that means more time and money needed. Oh well, fingers crossed we are done by the end of the year.

I feel safe, just apprehensive.  I have so much work to do, that is keeping my mind from overthinking.  I pray for the safety of everyone in the hurricane’s path.

“Security is not having things; it’s handling things.”
― Susan Jeffers

Update: I walked outside just now 6:30pm, Thursday.  The workers reinforced our temporary walls.

Also, there are heavy winds at this moments, but not much,.

Here and there, and everywhere

09 Monday Sep 2024

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Hi Friends,

I am not sure what happened to my last post. Al I see is one quote.  I am guessing that when I hit edit after it had been published, I somehow accidently deleted all of it, except for that 1 quote.

In that post I was talking about being back from Brazil after being there for 2 months, and all I did there. My time there flew by, and yet it felt like time stood still.

After 2 months in Brazil, I was in NY for one week, and now I am in Florida, working out of an Airbnb.

In the next few posts, I will be expanding on my time in Brazil, and will be posting pictures of a road trip that Michael and I took. I will also be giving you an update of my life now, in NY and FL.

I am also hoping to reconnect with my friends here. I have been catching up on your blog, and hope to have a chance to leave comments, as I cannot leave likes (thank you WP!)

Love, light and blessings to all!

“I come home—and I have a feeling of returning like a ghost to its haunt.”― Virginia Woolf

Selling, Buying, Cruising and Flying

24 Monday Jun 2024

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Since my last posting of May 9th, a lot has happened.

Michael and I had decided that in 2024 we would try traveling more, and see how remote work from different places would work out.

We also thought that we would take 2024 to decide where we would be making our official headquarters.

That was the plan. While in Florida in May, we were driving around in nearby towns in Florida, when we saw some balloons indicating an open house. We decided to stop and check it out.

While there, the realtor mentioned another condo for sale. We drove to the other condo, which was 30 minutes away. We fell in love with it. We made an offer and after some negotiating we got the place.

Michael sold his place in New Smyrna. I am selling one of mine in NY. His place went fast, mine has been in the market for a couple of weeks already.

Our new place is already ours as of 2 days ago 🙂 but we will not move in until we return from Brazil.  We are going to Brazil on Wednesday for at least 2 months.

I was forgetting to mention, at the beginning of June I took my first cruise and I loved, loved, loved. It was a MSC cruise to Bahamas. I enjoyed everything about it, and plan on taking more cruises in the future.

Below are some pictures.  I hope to have more time to write from Brazil. It has been  insane for me.  I will give more details in the future.

Thank you for stopping by.