Mardi Gras Fun

Dunedin is known for its many festivals throughout the year, and one of the biggest is the Mardi Gras festival and parade that is held every Fat Tuesday.  The festival is a good excuse for restaurants to set up tents to sell their specialties (or at least to sell what they think milling crowds of hungry people will want to buy), for craftspeople to sell their wares, for wanna-be musicians to attract attention, and for people in general just to get out, let loose, and have a good time.

The Mardi Gras celebration this year was the 22nd annual event; advertisements for the festivities said that for the past 10 years, the festival has drawn crowds of up to 30,000 people.  For a city that only boasts a population of 37,000, that is a pretty good draw!

Steve and Chris have attended the festival twice, so they clued us in to the best place to park and the best place to set up chairs to see the event.  While the parking meant that we had to walk several blocks to get to downtown, the weather was great and the exercise was welcome.  On the way, we got to see some of the "old town" homes of Dunedin.  We also started to see masked party goers, people in costumes -- everything to feathered bikinis to pirate costumes-- and merchants marketing their goods in any way they could.  Our first sets of Mardi Gras beads were given to us by a restaurant worker, and, of course, they had an advertisement attached.

We went downtown about 5:00 p.m. so we had a chance to walk around, to get dinner (a hot dog with strawberry shortcake for dessert), and to walk around for a bit.  A magician was working the corner by the bike trail and Main Street for tips, and the musicians were just warming up for jam sessions that could be heard for blocks.  Gold, green, and purple masks, beads, feathers, and costumes could be seen in all directions.

Rick after Mardi Gras.  Beads, anyone?
(Note: the large white square beads he
wears say, "Southern Comfort.")

By 6:30, we were sitting next to the fenced off street on part of the parade route.  While the parade did not start until 7:30, we wanted to be able to experience it all.  The parade itself was a hodge-podge of business people who used cars, wagons, or golf carts -- lots of golf carts!-- to advertise their businesses while they threw Mardi Gras beads to the crowds.  Music was everywhere although only two floats in the parade actually played their own version of music.  No formal bands were a part of the parade, and those "floats" that were not business vendors belonged to church or civic groups.

We were home by 9:30 p.m., and the attached pictures show our "haul" of party beads.  Overall, the parade was fun even if Rick did not get to hear any bagpipes.  (We saw people in kilts, but no bagpipes for this festival.) The evening was relaxing, and it was great to get out for a while.

We had fun, and the beads show that
we had a good time at the parade.

In the last three days, our other ventures have included putting together the two shelving units to hold our crafts.  I wanted something that would fit under the windows and not obscure the view to outside. These shelves work perfectly; they can show off the moulds for the baskets and still give us plenty of light in the room.

The two new shelving units in the Florida Room hold
basket and weaving supplies.

The painting of the door for the laundry room had to move inside because the garage is full of plaster dust, and the trees outside are dropping leaves and other gunk that I really did not want to see embedded in the paint.  Rick did a great job of painting the door; now all we need it the other door in place so we can rip out the old kitchen door, rebuild the wall, and then hang this new pocket door.  That, too, will come in time.

Rick put the first coat of paint on the back side of the door
today.  Because of the structure of the door, it all must be
painted with a brush.

We went to the fabric store yesterday, and I found a brightly-colored new fabric for my desk chair.  It originally was a special order fabric, and I almost put it back on the shelf because it was marked $59.99 a yard!  However, I was brave enough to ask if it was on sale, and I was able to get a piece of the chair for $20.00.  That much, I could afford.  I am in the middle of trying to take off the old plaid fabric which actually could be a mistake.  The staples holding it on were pneumatically put in, so I am killing my hand trying to pry them out.  The woman at the fabric store told me to take off the old fabric.  I hope that was not a mistake.  I am afraid I might not be able to pull the new fabric tight enough to hold the foam underneath in place.  I hope to have the chair finished by tomorrow... for better or worse.

Rick is becoming impatient with the laundry room, so today he sanded the outside of the room, applied a primer, and a few hours later applied the first coat of paint.  THEN he said that he did a crappy job of sanding, and the wall does not look right.  I should have been out there helping him, but I was trying to get some baking and some cleaning done inside the house.  I cannot be in two places at once, and Mr. Impatience is not willing to wait.

I'll finish the chair today so I can help with the sanding tomorrow.  We have a cold front coming through this afternoon that is supposed to significantly drop the temperatures; for you Wisconsin folks reading this, that means we will go down into the 50s or 60s.  However, the wind is really blowing, and  the front promises to bring a bit of much-needed rain to the area.

I am glad that the rain held off for the parade last night.  Now if it wants to rain, so be it.  Everything is very dry, so Gladys' grass could use a good drink of water.