Labour Day already?

Well we did go to the Redneck Games. We are now officially rednecks and we can prove it.
We had a blast. We were lucky. The early rain here in Fort Myers didn't really really effect North Fort Myers as badly. The squalls down here can be(and were), severe but they are very confined to specific areas it seems.
We did get to see a local country singer, Brandy( think) Hauh who was entertaining and we saw the Calendar Girls who are a travelling troupe who volunteer their time to raise money for guide dogs for veterans.  Each dog costs $60,000(really) to buy (as a pup) and to fully train before being given to a Vet . They have sponsored 11 dogs. It was really amateurish but entertaining to watch.Their heart and efforts were in the right place.
We did partake in the toilet seat toss, the bean bag throw and the mattress toss. We felt right at home.
Unfortunately (maybe) we missed the  "bobbing" for frozen pigs feet and the watermelon roll, the peanut spitting contests and the back yard bowling. We didn't get there till around noon.
We did enjoy a delicious smoked, pulled pork on a bun. There was of course, the ubiquitous vendors on hand to sell everything from tupperware to old useless tools of every description. We also made it into the local paper.

We unfortunately missed the doggie church on Sunday. Maybe next week.

We went to Eden Winery on Sunday over in Alva. Holy!!!! It started to downpour(I mean downpour) at about 10 minutes to 4:00 pm and it didn't let up for 45 minutes(I don't know if it's still raining over there, we drove out of it. we had stopped for about 10 minutes ( at River Hall golf course) to see if it would let up but it was raining just as hard at 4:45 pm as it was at 3:50 pm.
The sampling had officially stopped at 3:30( which we knew) but Lloyd waved us in anyway(because his dog is terrified of thunder and lightning) and refuses to go outside. LOL. So we had a small very private session and "chewed the fat" for a  least 1/2 an hour.
We did buy a bottle of Eden white(it's called Emerald) which is very reminiscent of Pinot Grigio.

The photo above was a quick shot through a 1/2 open window as we left the property.

I saw my first alligator here on Tue. It was at Shell Pointe golf course on the 18th hole and he was in the water, in a swamp, just adjacent to the tee box. There were a lot of big fish around but he was uninterested so he must not have been hungry.

Tuesday afternoon Aprille went for a nice relaxing and beautiful, manicure with her girlfriend Sandra. She got what's called a "shellacking", get it???

Wed morning we went to a nature preserve over on Six Mile Cypress and spent almost two hours with a volunteer guide who introduced us to some local flora and fauna. A good way to spend a Wed morning getting sunshine,exercise and knowledge.

We got to share some of our camping experiences with the gathered assembly (as far as living off the land). My bird watching is coming along nicely and I was able to share(and ask) some relevant questions.
The grass hopper shown here was as big as my thumb. Apparently the are not aggressive. Whew!!!!

Here's couple of gorgeous swamp apples. Till we meet again(sung to a popular theme song)