Three Day Weekends Are The Best!

A nice twist to the 4th of July. Friday kicking off the weekend. It was perfect!

4 nights and 3 days of fun and sun!

Thursday night kicked off a night of music at Sawgrass; then; a night of good food, good friends, some family, and good eats; add another night of friends, parades, and fireworks; and a final night of 'drumming and the full moon.'

At the foot of our street - we watched the Golf Cart Parade! What a hoot! Beads, candy, and coins were thrown to the loyal neighbors sitting along side the main road around Sawgrass. Fun way to start the morning.

A great evening of fireworks with the "Kuhns" group!

Then -- the 4th of 6 swimming lessons for Frank's grandchildren -- Alex and Savannah. The little mermaid and the shark -- 2 more lessons and they'll be experts and ready for the swim team.

Then a wonderful finale in Jax Beach -- drumming with Debbie Young's group and enjoying the full moon and new friends.

Perfect! Even the expression on Frank's face was Perfect! :)

I would say that was almost a perfect weekend. The only things missing were all my kids and grandkids -- all enjoying the weekend in different spaces and different places. Such is life this year!

The Gangs All Here!

There are typical ways to celebrate local establishment's anniversaries; then there are the celebratory ways of RAGTIME TAVERN in Atlantic Beach and their 'gang' of LOYAL FOLLOWERS!



In this day and time, celebrating a 26th anniversary is pretty special; and RAGTIME knew it!



SO.......Last night, June 30, 2009, the local beaches community turned out to help RAGTIME celebrate their 26th anniverary.

With a cake the size of a table top AND the 'best' band - Cloud 9 - the crowd was very happy and

feeling young!


Frank and I are just a few of the loyal followers of Ragtime and Cloud 9 along with almost everyone else we know, like Paula and Brenda - including fans from the Westside of Jacksonville, like Cheryl, and Rickie (with Diana), who came all this way to enjoy the evening too.




When the Old Gang turns out, we know there are a mix of memories that each one shares personally -- some have been coming to Ragtime since it opened and have their special seat by the door; some are just hanging out enjoying the scene; and others feel like it's just another day in Paradise!



Either way, it was good to see everyone, like Larry, Chuck, Diana, and Chris and get updated on the latest -- even a beautiful engagement ring was displayed this evening -- congrats Steve and Cathy!



Cloud 9 kept the dance floor busy, as usual and even saluted Michael Jackson with a Moon Walk performance and playing his songs. Fun times!


Thanks RAGTIME for sticking around and doing it right!

HAPPY 26TH ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!!!

The Irish in Me

How can I be Irish yet never, ever heard of a Ceili before this last year? For sure, somebody left me out of the loop when telling me about my Irish heritage and tradition.

Well, I finally found out about Ceili' parties (K-Lee) thanks to the wonderful Sharon Elliot and a group of awesome Beach residents who carry this out this tradition each year. A few of the partiers were Bobbie Jo and Andrew, Barbara King-Hall, Donna Christensen, Carolyn and Rick Drazien, Terry and Ken, Mary and Moine, Dennis and Kathy,, MaryAnne and Tom, my hubby and so on.

A Ceili is a social gathering of any sort, and does not necessarily involve dancing, but certainly can (ours did)! It is a literary entertainment where stories and tales, poems and ballads, are rehearsed and recited, and songs are sung, conundrums are put, proverbs are quoted, and many other literary matters are related and discussed. (as per google) Ceili's are still popular in Ireland and Scotland and part of the Celtic tradition.

We were invited to the Ceili this year held at Mary and Moine's home in Atlantic Beach, where the group of friends gathered and read their poems, performed their skits, played the drum, and shared their chants. At the end, there was dance!


Frank and I didn't know everyone, but felt warmly accepted by the entire group and were drawn in by their play and their genuiness. I even shared a Native American Indian Chant while drumming -- and I can't carry a tune in a bucket (as many witnessed!) You can see the words to my chant in the right column!

Andrew, who was much better at remembering the tune and the words to his chant, taught us the 'The Earth Is Our Mother' chant. (see right column)


All in all, this Ceili rated a '10' in 'firsts' and 'bests.'


Sing along....

.......Hey yanga, ho yanga, hey yan yan! Hey yanga, ho yanga, hey yan yan........