Tiny Home Tuesday ~ Plus

I was in Winter Park (after getting almost hopelessly lost in a very changed place I once knew like the back of my hand) seeing old friends. One thing was big time on my list, to see the tiny structure Kenna had imagined into reality.

Hello's and hugs and then to the back yard - and there it was. No, it's not a tiny home, per se. But it could be - and it feels very, very good.

Old brick pavers for the floor and concrete blocks for the back and side walls - materials  that Kenna has been saving for many years finally found their re-purpose

Overhanging eaves with gutters make it a cozy place to be even if it's raining

The all important bar

What looks like a table is actually a little wood burning stove that they use in the chilly times. I immediately claimed this space.

The yard is small and jungly, with lots of little places to eat, socialize or just be.

 If you look at this closely, you can see that their are 4 or 5 pots of ferns hanging from a long board between two trees. Instant privacy 'wall'

Chris has been playing with his new panini machine and made us lunch. I thought I took photos of us at another little outside niche of comfort on another side of the house, but I guess I just did that in my head.

He's even got the parchment paper. Mr. Perfection.

I was so focused on the sandwich that I forgot to take photos of the lattice covered in passion fruit vines lanai. It was seriously delicious (the sandwich; I did not taste the lanai).

Christmas in progress! Kenna made fresh orange juice for us in the morning. This is one of my favorite rooms in one of my favorite homes. Never mind, there isn't a room I don't love in this home. 

Right as I was leaving, Chris gave me these two little chairs, the first knickknacks in the Turtle. They pull together a little of Chris's family history along with me lusting after liking them a lot, over many years. He's got a good memory. 

Before I left to head south, Francie took me out to dinner at a place called Harbor Lights in Lake Panasoffkee. We read that it was open and decided to check it out. What a find!

The food is served buffet style. I don't know if that is always how it is or not but after such a warm greeting and the nice surroundings, I was figuring it could be a pretty good buffet. And it was! Our roast beef was perfectly rare, the mashed potatoes were real and...well, the truth is, I didn't get much beyond the roast beef. But Francie said the veggies were good too. There was no room for dessert. Another time? Maybe. I'd go right back for the roast beef though.

View from our table. 

Ham or...yeah. That. 

Our host and maybe one of the owners? Super nice guy and we're guessing married to the woman who was hostessing.  This place has been running for 32 years and is, as far as I'm concerned, a little unexpected jewel to the area.  

After leaving there we stopped at a home that we're pretty sure has won all the Christmas lights awards. We'd been planning on driving around to look at lights - and we did, briefly - but this place pretty much shut most of the rest down.

WHY I forgot to take my camera (except that I'd thought I was leaving that day and had everything packed away), I can only say, oh well. I took these with my phone so you'll just have to use your imagination really well.

The deers heads moved. The yard was or seemed like it was, extra huge and great creativity was shown all over it. 

This was the front of the house. 

I'd planned on going to Bradenton for a long deferred visit but getting out of Orlando took hours, literally. Accidents and major traffic and detours - those plans went into the back seat. I called the first campground on the trip, near where I'm stashing the Turtle, and they had sites. Plan B went into action and a few more traffic bound, accidents along the way hours later, I pulled into my humongeous site (so big I didn't even know where to park. A woman helped me figure it out...sort of), got myself plugged in and did not much of anything at all except enjoy the peace and quiet here.

This is the place it was so very very cold at the beginning of the trip and it was in the high 70's last night, calling for 80's today. Amazing. Where did I put my shorts?

This is also the place where I saw the bear.

I guess they got it sorted out.

My brother will pick me up in a few hours and the Turtle will be left safe and sound until I return to take it for more adventures. It's been a great first run and if I could tuck it in my suitcase it would be so much fun to have it for tooling around the big island. But for now, it's adieu to the road from a Turtle point of view.

Next stop...I'm not sure where we're going. Stay tuned.

Have a thankful Tuesday. Do something tipping the top!