From our day at Lake Mirror at the classic car show (and more).

Florida Sky

Coming home from dinner and approaching our house last night, we just missed a downpour. But the exiting storm left behind some amazing clouds and a rainbow in our backyard

Almost There!

Shower, counter, plumbing, floors and baseboard trim done! Now for the details...mirrors, racks and decorations.

Bath Progress

Some pics of progress. Tile work is done (grouting is happening as I write this). Finishing the electrical, plumbing and cabinetry this week. Glass shower enclosure is early next week. Next up ... the bedroom floor and trim-work by months end









.

The Next Project

Now that the garage is done, we have started the next project, the master suite. We have been pretty much non-stop with these renovations since we moved in last year, but this one is particularly important since the bath was so tired and outdated.

We have moved out to the south end of the house and gave control to the master bedroom and bathroom to our contractor. Every other room in the house now holds some remnants of the bedroom - so we are in a bit of disarray here.

Progress is going very well (especially compared to the pool build last year) and we are hopeful that we'll be moving back in within the next few weeks or so.

We are expanding the shower and installing a glass enclosure, moving the closet door to the bedroom (it was in the bathroom, which drove us crazy). All new cabinets and granite counters and of course, all new fixtures. The electrical, plumbing and sheet-rock work are done.

Here are some images of the progress.

Gecko Visitation Day

We've had a gecko (actually, they are brown lizards very common here in Florida) trapped in our lanai over the past few weeks and as hard as we have tried to get him free, they just run too fast. Today, he - or she - had a visitor from the outside (look on the other side of the screen), so we felt that time was served and we let him escape to the other side. Grace said this was good karma.

Tunderbirds!

We went to the Sun and Fun Airshow this weekend...one of the largest gatherings for all things that fly in the USA and here in central Florida. The Thuderbirds never cease to amaze in what they can do.

Ted shows off his dancing moves while we were up north for Christmas.

Ted Dances at Christmas from grace doran on Vimeo.

Why We Moved to Florida

While waiting for our return flight from the snow belt, we got to watch what keeps the planes in the air. I don't believe they don't do this in Florida.

Dream Car Garage

Ground breaking started this morning on our new garage! We'll put up more posts as it progresses. Very exciting!

A Tropical Christmas


Our Christmas palm tree, poolside.

Atlantis Shuttle Launch

One of the many perks of living here in central Florida, is seeing the occasional Shuttle launches - from our backyard. Their have been a few since our arrival this year, but we missed them due to timing or an overcast sky.

But, here is a video of today's launch - keep in mind that this is about 80 miles east of us, so you'll have to look carefully! You'll get a better view if you make this a full screen view and look to the left of the larger tree in the center of the video. The launch comes into view at around 20 seconds. (And yes - that's me telling the neighbor's dog to stop barking - very annoying)

Our kitchen redo is done!

A few quick videos of the pool progress

More Pics From Ted's Trip to FL

Going Green

As we continue with renovations to our home, we thought since we are living in the land of sunshine, why not take advantage of that and go solar. So, after we had the solar hot water installed for the pool, we had a new solar domestic hot water system installed. Nothing like free hot water (well, after it is paid for!)

It was a pretty simple installation and only one panel was needed to supply the new 80 gallon tank, which will give us 175 degree water.

Ted Visits Florida

We had a great visit with Pat, Kate and Ted this weekend. While a short visit, we had a great time visiting Downtown Disney, a visit to the Farmer's Market, eating out a lot and playing
poolside in our newly opened pool!

Our pool is almost done! We should be swimming next week

Pool Progress!

Some pics of the new pool

It's been a long time comin'

It's goin' to be a long time gone.

Appears to be a long time,

Yes, a long, long, log time

Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young 1968



23 years ago this month we were in the throws of building our home in Douglas. Now, with 2 children raised and now off on there own, through trials and test of family and health, with the final New England winter behind use, we are at long last moving to warmer climates.

A dream which we really didn’t realize would happen even after we purchased our what we thought would be a vacation home; we tested the market and we sold our Douglas home for these many years. We’ve spent the better part of 8 months purging the non-essentials, relived a lot memories and discarded items of which we wondered – ‘why did I keep this?’

As we empty our home and say our farewells to friends and acquaintances, we know that the only thing that changes for us will be our address. Home is truly where your plant your dreams. Our last day in Douglas will be Tuesday April 7th. We anticipate that we’ll have frequent visitors in the land of sunshine and, thankfully, technology and frequent flyer miles will keep us in touch.

Grace will be living the high-life and due to some large work-related projects that I am wrapped up in (and he fact that I still need to work), I’ll be staying in Natick for a while taking some time with my parents.

We will be in touch.