Our Christmas at the Plantation

In our last post, we saw the Fish River Santa parade. The following week of Dec 16th was full of activities getting ready for Christmas day. Barb joined an apron bee, building aprons out of old denim jeans for the clubhouse kitchen and I tried helping a friend with their laptop but I’m not sure I made it better or worse. I’m still working on it, I can’t let it win!

I think all Escapees belong to the LEO club – Let’s Eat Out! Barb & I met fellow ERPU friends for lunch at the LA BBQ then off  to their new home in Foley for a tour. Their home is very nice with lots of room for them to spread out after spending many years full timing. Diane and Jerry are musicians and their new home gives them a music room for them to practice and play. We had a fun afternoon playing Wizard with regular cards and of course, the score keeper won – and it wasn’t me.

 

On Thursday, the quilting ladies know how to have fun besides sewing, they had their annual Christmas party and gift exchange – complete with Santa. Naturally, when I heard they were having a Santa, I made the leap that he was a ‘Chippendale’ Santa but it was just one of the guys from the park. They had lots of finger food and a endless amount of laughter so they must have had a good time.

On Friday, we went to the movie theatre with another couple to watch Cirque du Soleil 3D and wow, it was spectacular. We have never seen one of their shows before and were blown away by this one. To end the week before Christmas, we went out for dinner at a great Mexican restaurant in Fairhope with Simon and Sandy. The food was very good, the beer cold and the company fun, what more could you ask for?

Barb & I could not decide what we wanted to do for each other for Christmas this year – we don’t need anything. Barb suggested we take $30.00 each and we had to buy 3 gifts. So to make it more fun, we did it on Sunday, Dec 23rd! Ya gotta be part of the Christmas mayhem to really get in the Christmas mood! We also did our Christmas card exchange in the card department of Walmart. It was too funny, there we were reading the cards we would get each other and then take a picture of each of us with the desired cards. A fellow shopper saw us and took a double take then said ‘I thought I have seen everything but not someone talking pictures of their cards before they buy them’. Well, wouldn’t she howl if she only knew we were not buying them!

Christmas Eve took us to the clubhouse after dinner for some caroling, a secret Santa and of course, more eating with finger foods that we all took over. For the secret Santa, we made a circle with our $5.00 gift in hand and listened to a story read by one of the members. Each time we heard the word left or right in the story, we had to pass the gift in hand to the person in that direction. At the end of the story, the gift you held was yours. It was fun with lots of laughs.

Christmas morning, Barb & I opened our fun gifts and had some laughs over what we each got – of course we had our traditional rum and eggnog in hand. We had breakfast and then called each of the girls to see how their Christmas’ were going. Finding that all were enjoying their families, Barb & I retired to the deck for our morning coffees. What more could we ask for, we were out on the deck in our shorts, enjoying the beautiful warm morning before a busy afternoon.

 

Soon, we were preparing our dishes for the Christmas dinner potluck at the clubhouse. Barb prepared a candy bowl covered by a knitted snowman for each guest at our table. Our table host provided a shrimp plate while each of the members brought other delicacies. Our dish made us a bit nervous – Barb made a sweet potato bake for Americans who know their sweet potatoes. Needless to say, it was a hit, many asked for the recipe. Since several of the bowls were hot, we all stood and treated the table as a buffet and walked around the table and retrieved all the delicious food we wanted without passing the dish. That was a neat idea for a large table of 12 dinners.

 

 

Well, after a delicious meal and desserts, we were all stuffed, sitting and chatting and I’m sure looking for a chaise to lounge on! It’s a good thing we brought a wheel barrow so Barb had an easy way to get me home!

Storms were threatening the rest of our day so we retired to the rig and watched TV to see where the storm from off the Gulf was going. We had invited 3 other couples over for a get together but 2 cancelled out due to the weather but I’m sure it was due to the amount they ate during dinner and could not move! Dick & Marcia did come down and we had a terrific visit, discussing quilting, the storm, quilting and other hot topics.

That brings us to Boxing Day – huh, it is not recognized as a holiday down here but a shopping day to get all the Christmas wrap and decorations you need at 1/2 price! But everything goes back to normal – as normal as normal can be. We didn’t do anything, kept our heads down and tried not to eat after such a huge meal yesterday. Thursday, Barb was off to the quilt group and I went to the computer group. A few people came in with some viruses and I agreed to help them clean up their systems. That little task was an all day affair – I don’t mind helping as I was not doing anything anyway. These pesky bugs can really kill a computer – I just don’t understand what the virus creator gets out of it but maybe some people do actually click the ‘I accept’ button and then they are in more trouble. Lots can be said for good virus protection.

Well, that was our Christmas. We were safe, well fed and with friends. What more can anyone ask for? Best wishes for the New Year and throughout 2013. Until then……..