Grace and Lily on a sunny warm Florida morning

Chrismas Past

Christmas at the Doran's from 2004

Doran Dads

Fathers Day 2014

Happy Dad's Day Patrick!

New Addition

In 1978 we purchased a bright yellow 1972 Corvette. It was a long time dream of mine to have one and Grace and I used it a lot and enjoyed long drives during the "car season". So, life went on and we sold it a few years later. This is the car in our driveway when we lived in Milford.

Turn the clock ahead 30 years and with an urge to start some sort of a new car project, I come across a bright yellow1976 Corvette. What made this car special, other than the color and the same body style as our first one, is that the person selling this car was the original owner and had saved every invoice and paperwork tied to the car. Some would call this a "survivor" - not perfect, nor a multi-thousand dollar restoration - but a very well maintained, original car.

After many hours driving to and from West Palm Florida, we struck and deal and brought the car home this afternoon. Very exciting....

Grace loves being topless!

Amazing that it has been almost 6 months since our last post. Time goes by so quickly....

We just returned from a 7 day 1700 mile adventure on the Harley to visit Pat, Kate and Ted, then out to the mountains of North Carolina to visit my sister Dede and Jackie. Amazing ride and sights we've come to love... even with the rain and the heat!

Grace and me in Asheville, NC



















Ted is liking Grams helmet

















So much so, he's ready to ride... now!











This is the clutch, right?












An amazing Strawberry cream soda at one of Asheville's finest bistros

Thanksmas - 2010

After last years Christmas celebration with Kristen and Josh (and the rest of the clan) up north, we said no more winter vacations. So this year we brought the family down for what is hopefully our first annual "Thanksmas" (thanks Patrick for the appropriate title) celebration...it was decidedly warmer.

What a great visit! Kristen, Josh...and soon to be added member - along with Patrick, Kate, Ted and Deirdre and Jackie shared some good conversation and laughter. So, we share some pics and videos of the short but joyous event.

Ted Loved the park

Ted's first horse ride

It's all about the sprinkles

Cool Dude in the Hod Rod

For Ted... it is always reading time

Future Biker

Presents!

Happy Boy

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









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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)