Getting back in the Saddle !!

After my little tumble on Thursday I had a day of rest on Friday as my leg was a little sore, and my body ached a tad. I think I twisted myself when I fell, however, I guess it's to expected at my age !! I ain't getting any younger.

The weather on Friday was blistering, wall to wall sunshine, and it was really nice to see an old mate of mine who took time out to drive over to see us. Neil and I go back a few years to when we both had houses in Florida. I had bought our first house on Doral Woods, a nice development just south of the 192 near Kissimmee. Neil then bought a house in the same road, Elbert Way. A couple of years later I was offered the chance to buy one of the last remaining plots in the next road Evans Drive. I bought the land and contracted a local builder to build a lovely 4 bed, 3 bath house with outside pool. About six months later Neil grabbed the last remaining plot which was next to mine, and he built a superb 4 bed house. These houses were rental homes which we rented out mainly to UK families visiting the Disney area.

In 2004 Florida had the worst Hurricane season for a long time. The first to strike was Hurricane Charley in early August. It devastated central Florida and ripped through Doral Woods Smashing up both our properties. Neil and I  flew out the following day and spent 3 weeks patching up our houses, making them watertight and sorting out insurance claims. It was without doubt the hardest 3 weeks of our lives, working 18 hour days in blistering heat and no air conditioning in our homes. During this time we forged a good relationship, and we have been good friends ever since.

I digress, Neil is a real car enthusiast and he drove over in his 1960 Corvette Convertible, so for all you petrolheads out there here it is

What a beautiful car, and we heard him coming from the next village !!

Saturday - Leg on this morning for an hours workout. Well I did about 15 mins then I thought that maybe I should go back home and try to do some of the normal things that we all take for granted.

I thought what about the lawn, it needs cutting and edging. Friends have kindly been doing this for me. So I opened up the garage, ran out the extension lead, connected the strimmer and started doing the edges and corners etc. It was relatively easy, I just need to concentrate on making sure my leg was locked before putting weight on it.

So the strimming was OK, what about mowing the lawn I thought. So I got the mower out checked it had enough petrol and I sat on one of the low walls and started the mower up. Off I went up and down, although I did find it hard turning both myself and the mower at each end. Also pushing the mower was harder than I had anticipated. I guess it was around 11.00 and the temperature was pretty hot which made it harder but I persivered until I had finished the whole lawn. My Tee Shirt was absolutly soaking wet, but I had achieved another goal. Later in the day not surprisingly I was pretty knackered and had to have an afternoon siesta.