The Freezer with Joann and T

A return of my sciatica pain kept me from sleeping well. I had gone through a bout of sciatica in 2021 during Covid and for some reason it seems to have returned. I got up at 4 am and did language lessons before getting our morning beverages at 5 am. I went outside to check the location of the moon since  a full lunar eclipse was to occur at 6 am on Tuesday.

Strickland's Convenient Store

We had a breakfast of Great Grains cereal then took the dogs on a morning walk. Mark and I got the bait bucket and drove to “Strickland’s Convenient Store” for two dozen live shrimp. Back at the house, we loaded fishing gear and life jackets into the kayaks. When I pushed my kayak into the canal a little water splashed onto my life jacket causing the CO2 cartridge to inflate the PFD in the rear of the kayak. We paddled out of the canal a little after 8 am.

We paddled out among the islands in Mason and Battle Creeks casting Johnson Silver Minnow spoons hoping to catch sea trout, redfish or even snook. We were disappointed to catch a few small snappers, one undersized snook, one small redfish and dozens of ladyfish. All of these were immediately released. The ladyfish were fun to catch. The spirited, slender fish put up a good fight and even take to the air giving them the name “poor man’s tarpon” for their fighting. On more than one occasion, a hooked ladyfish would come out of the water and shake the hook loose. The lure would then be quickly taken by another ladyfish.

Mark fishing from his kayak

While we were out, Mark had a text from Cindy at 1:30 that our company, Joann Potter and her partner, T, had arrived. It took about 40 minutes to paddle back to the house. Upon arriving at the dock, we washed saltwater from the fishing gear and the kayaks and put everything away. We sat on the back porch and visited with Joann and T for about an hour. Since we had all missed lunch, we decided to have an early dinner at The Freezer. Joann and T rode with us for the short drive, and we met Mark and Cindy in the parking lot.

The restaurant wasn’t crowded but was still busy. The only outside tables available were in the sun, but we watched until a group left then quickly got a table with an umbrella. Each couple ordered a full order of steamed peel-and-eat shrimp which is a large Styrofoam clamshell filled with shrimp along with cups of melted butter and cocktail sauce. There was a comfortable breeze as we ate shrimp and enjoyed each other’s company.

After dinner we walked out to the observation tower on the Salt Marsh Trails area of the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge. The walk was short, but it was good to move around after our large shrimp dinner.

After the short walk to the Salt Marsh Trail, we returned to the back porch of Mark and Cindy’s house to chat. We enjoyed hearing about Jo Anne and T’s move to Florida last October and learning about the Del Webb community, Sun City Center, where they live. They said that their house is about 50 years old but has been well kept. Their $600 per month HOA fee covers mowing, landscaping, water, sewer, internet, exterior painting, roof and gutter replacement as well as roads and community centers. They seem very happy there.

Mary, Steve, Joann & T

After visiting until nearly 5 pm, Joanne and T left for their room at the Comfort Suites in Dunnellen. We walked the dogs then watched an episode of Dark Winds on AMC and one of Clarkson’s Farm on Prime TV. We turned in at 10 pm.

Kayak and boat fishing

We woke at 5 am, did language lessons on Babbel and had our morning beverages until we heard Mark and Cindy moving downstairs. Mark made biscuits while Cindy made sausage gravy; both of which were delicious. Mark and I took Jade and Sage out for a walk in the neighborhood while Mary and Cindy loaded the dishwasher and cleaned up after breakfast. Then they took their own walk. While the wives got ready for church, Mark and I went out in the kayaks to fish.

Kenny with his 30 inch snook

We paddled up Battle Creek to fish around some of the oyster bars in the stream. Mark suggested a hole near an oyster bar that might hold fish. He recommended that I beach the canoe and fish from the oyster bar. By the time I made it to the spot, two teenagers were struggling to get their small aluminum boat through the shallow water. Soon thereafter, an airboat circled through the area and attempted to fish. I waited until everyone left, then casted a gold colored Johnson spoon into the pool catching several ladyfish of all sizes. These ladyfish are not considered palatable, so I turned them loose as soon as I caught them. While they aren’t good to eat, the ladyfish are sometimes called the “poor man’s tarpon “ because of their ability to leap from the water as they attempt to throw the hook. They put up a good fight and are fun to catch. Mark caught a 15-inch sea trout.

Mark and Kenny on the boat

Back at the house we cleaned the kayaks and fishing gear and replaced line on one reel. We cleaned the sea trout that Mark caught and bagged it for a meal later this week.

As we were finishing, Kenny came over with a 30-inch snook that he caught this morning. It is the first day of snook season and only fish between 28 and 32 are legal to keep. We made plans with Kenny to go out in the boat at 3:30, so we had a quick lunch of salad, deli ham and corn chips before we loaded the boat for our evening fishing.

We headed out to try to catch a few redfish from around the mangrove islands in the area. We moved around a lot looking for fish trying the Johnson weedless spoons and plastic paddle-tail jigs. We had a few strikes, and Mark and I caught sea trout that were below the legal limit.  We released them immediately. Kenny caught the only keeper, which was a 21 inch redfish.

Mark retrieving a snagged lure

We fished until the sun was setting around 6:30, then we took the boat back to the dock behind the house. We once again hosed the saltwater from the gear and boat including purging the engine’s water pump. Kenny cleaned his redfish, and we put the equipment away.

We invited Kenny and Jodie to come for fish tacos for dinner in 30 minutes. We cleaned up quickly and came to dinner.

We enjoyed the redfish tacos and the roasted vegetable mix that Jodie brought. We had margaritas that Jodie made and had great conversation over dinner.

After dinner Mark, Cindy, Mary, Kenny and Jodie played cards, while I sent pictures to Kenny and caught up on this journal. We are looking forward to seeing Joann and T tomorrow for a visit then dinner at The Freezer.

Building a Generator Stand

After waking early, we walked the dogs before the forecast heat in the mid 90s hit.

After returning to the house, we drove to Home Depot for some 2X4s and four swivel casters. We planned to build a stand for the generator to keep it above potential flood damage. We wanted the stand to be about 4 feet tall and could operate without being removed from the stand. The stand was very easy to build and seemed to work well.

While we built the stand, Scott came to the house to complete installation of the kitchen cabinets and the vanity in the first-floor bathroom. Scott is the person who rebuilt the house before Whittingtons purchased it.

Mary had a great idea for lunch, so we drove to The Freezer to get two full orders of steamed shrimp. We sat at the back porch and enjoyed the peel and eat shrimp.

As Scott worked, Mark and I gathered the kayaks and paddling gear to be loaded into the pickup later this evening. Once Scott finished with the cabinet installs, Mark reconnected water to the vanity.

We needed a few plumbing items and a short section of baseboard for the bathroom. We were able to get everything quickly at Home Depot. On the way back, we stopped at Publix for a few items. Back at the house we cut the baseboard sections to length and nailed them in with the pneumatic nailer.

Dinner was a garden salad with boiled shrimp leftover from lunch.

By the time we were able to load the kayaks and gear into the pickup, the no see ums were bad so we loaded quickly and got the boats strapped down.

Cindy had the makings of ice cream sundaes out so we had an excellent dessert. As we ate the sundaes, we watched two specials from Idaho Public Television. The first program highlighted the many species of pollinating bees. The second program was on an Idaho project to make wildlife crossing overpasses at some of the state’s highways where collisions with wildlife are most common.

Lunch at The Freezer

Mark was making some of his excellent breakfast burritos when we went downstairs. We had finished our morning language lessons and had our beverages before going down.

We checked the weather at home and felt bad (a little) because temperatures were in the single digits and they snow and ice continue to pile up.

Mary and Cindy had a morning of shopping planned but would take the dogs on a walk before they left. They shopped for swimsuits at Lands End so Mary found three that were 70% off that she liked and put the order in to arrive after we returned home next week. Cindy was also expecting the cabinet installer to come for a final measurement before ordering the replacement kitchen cabinets. They hope to have a small dishwasher included in the cabinets and would like to keep their granite countertop.

Mark and I loaded the drywall scraps and old trim boards that had been flooded into the pickup. When we arrived at the Citrus County Landfill we were pleased that the line was short. We dumped the drywall and trim sections. When we weighed out we learned that we had over 200 pounds of material and the fee was less than $20 for the dump fee.

We stopped by Gulf to Lake Marine Sales so Mark could check on ordering a cover for his boat. From there we stopped at Lowe’s to see options for trim and moulding for the room over the garage. We found that the pine planks at Lowe’s were less expensive than the ones we bought from Home Depot. The boards were also in much better shape than the Home Depot stock. We bought some drywall corner bead, trim for the doors and windows and a tube of construction adhesive. Our last stop was at Crystal River Marine, the boat dealership where Mark had the hull of his boat painted with a coating to resist growth of marine organisms.

On the drive back to the house we saw Cindy and Mary driving out to go shopping. Mary had moved her car to the neighbor’s driveway so Mark could back the boat trailer onto the gravel pad. He was able to park the boat and trailer easily so we chocked the wheels and put the jack down to disconnect from the pickup. As we were doing that, FedEx arrived with a nightstand that Cindy had ordered from Wayfair. We carried it into the first floor bedroom so Mark could unpack and set it up. I moved Mary’s Camry back to the gravel pad where we had parked earlier but parked parallel to Standish Drive in front of the boat.

We put a skim coat on the concrete board that we installed on the garage partition and hoped to get it completed before we leave on Sunday. About the time that we were finishing, Mary called asking us if we wanted to meet them at The Freezer for shrimp. We didn’t hesitate to agree on lunch so we cleaned up and drove the short distance to the dockside restaurant. We had a pound of shrimp boiled for the four of us. Mark and I also had cups of their clam chowder. They were out of smoked mullet dip so the four of us shared a cup of salmon dip with crackers. Lunch was very good. We have always enjoyed our meal at The Freezer every time we have visited. We only wish the day were warm enough for us to eat outside on the dock where shrimp is brought to the restaurant by boat.

After returning to the house Mary and Cindy worked on genealogy. Both of them had some things on ancestry.com so they consolidated their research on familysearch.com, a free genealogy site supported by the LDS Church. Mark and I put a coat of primer on the inside wall in the garage where we patched the concrete wallboard.

I used some of the leftover exterior paint for the garage to touch up the wall near Mark’s sauna. Mark used the same paint to paint the mailbox post and an area where saltwater from the flood caused a short circuit in a power line going to the heat pump. A relay blew making a scorched spot on the wall that covered nicely with the paint.

Mark & I loaded the two kayaks and boating gear onto his pickup in anticipation of paddling on Crystal River or another nearby location in the next few days.  We knew that the temperature would be cool in the mornings but would warm up into the mid 70s each afternoon.  We have several things that need to be done but a trip to see manatees would be nice one afternoon.

Mark made chicken enchiladas for dinner but made them casserole style like Mary sometimes does. They were very good and we all enjoyed them. After dinner we went out to the garage to challenge Mary and Cindy with the MantisX Laser Academy shooting system.  Both did well once they became comfortable with the pistols.

We did our evening language lessons and watched two episodes of Vienna Blood on PBS before turning in.