It Appears to be Spring–Finally

In our last post, we mentioned that our weather has been all over the map but ever since the last cold spell, we have been having beautiful sunny skies and warm temps. Of course, as I write this entry, we are planning our drive home with mixed emotions. Sad because the weather is so wonderful, going to miss many of the friends we have here and of course, the activities. But happy because we are stopping off in Tate Georgia to spend a few nice days with Lydia. And of course, we are getting excited to start the reno on our ‘hobby house’. We have been shopping for tools, price comparisons on lumber and appliances – we have purchased our first appliance, a cooktop for the kitchen. The prices in Canada could not come close to the deal we found here. I am going to RANT a bit here – we have opened accounts with all the utilities (Electricity, Water/Sewer and Gas) and we pay about $100.00/month with zero – yes, zero consumption! The $100 bucks pays for the stuff in the ground, the men in the trucks and the administration. Of course, if you know me, I called to whine and complain and they offered to cancel our accounts and services! Wow, glad to be a home owner again!

 

Ok, so back to what we’ve been up to. Barb held a craft class in the rig, teaching Ann & Cheryl (a friend of Ann’s) how to create a pine needle basket. I don’t know how they have any fun when there is no wine involved but they did get something accomplished which is more than I can say about the little craft class I tried to conduct last fall! Anyway, I digress here, Barb has been busy trying to finish up some of her on going quilt projects while I try to keep ahead of the yard work.

 

We spent an afternoon with Jerry & Diane at their home in Foley. They had completed the flooring – it wasn’t down last year and we wanted to see the finished look. They have decorated nicely and we consider they are the king and queen of garage sales and auctions! They have acquired some very nice furnishings through these ‘shopping experiences’.

 

We finally broke out the bean bag toss game that we picked up last summer. We also learned that it is called ‘corn hole’ down here. Doesn’t give me a warm and fuzzy feeling when I tell people we play corn hole! Anyway, Bill and Ann came over for the afternoon and we set up the game and of course broke out some brewskis to wash down the dust .

On Mar 22, Barb & I were wandering around Wal-Mart and found some lawn chairs from last years stock that were very grimy and looked awful but they were half price at $8 bucks! I spoke to a sales person and he said they tried to clean them when the new stock came in. Now I know you know how tight I can be so we decided to take a risk and see if we can clean them up and bought 2. We brought them home and used a secret cleaning recipe that Marti passed onto us and voila, they came up like new! To end our day, we went over to Dick & Marcia’s for happy hour that last into the evening. Everyone brought ‘horse doovers’ and their beverages. Again, too much fun with lots of laughs.

I have been leaking oil on the truck and took it around to 3 shops for a ‘second opinion’ and estimates. The first shop located the leak in minutes and explained what needed to be done and told me that it was a 6 hour job plus parts. The second and third shops considered it to be more than a days job and estimated that $1,000.00 should be a realistic estimate! Ouch, so I set an appointment for the first shop and they got the job done to the estimate they stated! Thanks Wilson Automotive in Foley!

 

As the season here winds down, we try to celebrate with our friends and this day is no different. We have decided to go to Felix’s Fish Camp on the causeway to Mobile. It’s a bit of a drive but well worth it. The ambiance is ‘rustic coastal’ and the food is excellent and the service is like no other.  We even had some wildlife entertain us while we had lunch. What an experience! Sometimes Barb & I have to pinch ourselves, we can not believe how good life is…..

 

 

 

We hope all is good where you are and please enjoy these blossom shots of the Wisteria bush in our yard that Barb has captured…..