Gadding About in West Palm Beach with Cousins

Beautiful palm trees in Robin's back yard.  

Last week I drove down to West Palm Beach with cousins Joan, Rick and Gary to visit cousins Robin and Elizabeth (Joan's daughter and granddaughter). Robin and her husband Ken have bought a lovely retirement house there where they plan to spend the winters. Elizabeth who teaches at a University there is a permanent resident.  I always enjoy spending time with first cousin Joan and her lovely family, but this visit was particularly nice.  The weather was perfect and the company delightful.

Robin and Ken's house is beautiful inside and out with Robin's unique decorator's touch inside and tropical landscaping outside.

A collection of daughter Rebecca's drawings grabs one's attention on a living room wall. 

A closeup of one of Rebecca's drawings. 

The front of the house. 

Back patio. 

Joan enjoying the back patio in the afternoon. 

Robin and Gary playing Cornhole on the back patio at night. 

In addition to the cousins I enjoyed their dogs, Gus, Tom, and Banjo.

Elizabeth's dog Banjo resting after a run at the nearby dog park. 

Robin's King Charles Spaniels, Tom and Gus, enjoying their favorite chair.  

We had lots of good food, and then did a lot of walking to get rid of some of those calories.

Elizabeth's delicious cake with Blood Orange icing.  

Scallops and wild rice at Sailfish Marina and Resort Restaurant. 

We shared a slice of Key Lime Pie.  You can't go to West Palm Beach without  having at least one bite.. 

Beautiful neighborhood for walking.

On our walk we passed this beautiful lake in their neighborhood, and Rick is checking it out.  

I walked over two miles one day while there. 

After three days I left the glorious weather of West Palm Beach and flew to Brooklyn where I was greeted with snow.  More about that later.

Our Maggie Loves Marble Mountain

Maggie playing in the meadow at Marble Mountain.

We flew to Nova Scotia this year, and we couldn't leave Maggie behind.  She loves it in Marble Mountain where she can romp in the fields and run along the beach.  She is small enough to just fit under the seat in front of us, and she's a pretty good traveler.  She whined very little on this trip. 

She enjoyed standing on haystacks one Sunday when we were over at St. George's Channel for a brunch.  This event is sponsored by the men in the village of St. George's and they do all the cooking.  There was a field that had been recently mowed and several of the bales were still there, so she was on one surveying the field for some little unsuspecting mammal.

Maggie on haystack looking for some small mammal to chase.

Although she doesn't seem to like to swim in the water, she does wade near the shore when she wants to cool off from running along the beach.

Maggie cooling off down on our beach.

When she's all tired out from a romp outside, she loves to sleep at Dan's feet on the sunroom sofa. 

Maggie having a nap with Dan.

Yes, Marble Mountain is a favorite place for Maggie. (and for us.)