Fun Times–Still

Again, I am slack in posting for our loyal readers. I have no excuses except we have been really busy. We are back home in Ontario now but I will try to bring you up to date on our exciting activities.

I left off on our return back to the Plantation after a fun few days at Ho Hum RV park in Florida and we quickly slid into the groove of things and activities. Barb continues working on some quilt projects and I finally finish washing and waxing the neighbour's rig (I mentioned this task in my last post). Now, as you know, all this work was not done without a little fun. More happy hours on the warm days – even some on cool days but more difficult as all 8 of us get cozy in the host rig.

We even have happy hours at local establishments like this one, The Sunset Point Cafe at the Fly Creek Marina in Fairhope. It is at the base of a small bay on Mobile Bay, looking west over the Fairhope Yacht Club and into the setting sun – a great place for a late afternoon beverage.

 

We were even out on the water a couple of times this past few weeks. It is wonderful being on the water again. Against our better judgement, we have to kayak on weekends because of the weather – if we didn’t, we might be out! Anyway, we noticed an interesting observation – the more senior boaters do not slow down to reduce their wake for us yet the younger boaters do! Must be the southern upbringing – yes sir, no sir etc!

 

 

The ladies decided that just quilting was not all they wanted to accomplish this season and started to design and paint a mini barn quilt for our sites. Tom & I sanded and prime painted the boards and when dry, Barb & Cheryl started painting. At first, they painted together under our awning but the pine pollen drove them inside. Barb was able to complete 1 side of hers before we left and it looks great.

 

In early March, a few of us went on a Shrimp Boat cruise to learn all about the Shrimping industry. Our day started early to meet the bus and then a drive to Biloxi to a casino to separate us from our money. Barb & I did pretty good and left there with more than we went in with – we’re not buying anything big by the way but at least we were in the black. Then we bellied up to the lunch buffet – need I say I was over served again? So much good food and of course, I had to try everything I wanted to and then couldn’t move without Barb wheeling me around in a wheel barrow!

We all felt better after a long walk on the fishing pier just outside of the casino before we headed over to the Shrimping tour boat. The tour guide demonstrated the shrimp nets, talked about the shrimp season, where the shrimp are and what brings them in or out. He even caught a small one when he brought the net in along with a few other interesting creatures. He handled each one and talked about what he had caught etc. It turned out to be a beautiful day to be out on the water and learning some stuff too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that I am done with being nice to the neighbours, I have built a garden under the Magnolia tree to keep the summer grass cutters away from the lower limbs of the tree. Last summer, a few were damaged by the canopy of the mower. There is no plan to plant this area so we filled it with the same type of gravel we used for the walk way to the shed and it looks great.

 

 

This post brings us up to the first week in March and I will post again soon to get us back to Ontario – maybe!

A Vacation Trip

Holy crap, where does the time go? It seems I just updated our blog then I turn around and a month has past me by! Where to start? I think in my last posting – oh so long ago, I pretty much covered off January. Let me recap – lunches, happy hours and quilting for Barb and BS’ing for me. I will try to bring you up to-date on our February activities so far.

Our neighbour has had a difficult time finding a reliable guy to wash her rig so I offered to do it for her – isn’t that the SKP way? The weather has not co-operated but I finally finished it March 1st and now onto some of our own projects and it seems the weather is warming a bit here. We haven’t even been out kayaking very much because of the cool temps or rain.

 

In early February, our Ladies thought they should make a trip to Ocean Springs, MS for fabric and the guys would meet them at The Shed for a BBQ lunch. We left an hour or so behind them so we wouldn’t be sitting and waiting, consuming way too much while they shopped. Well, the fabric store was closed and the Ladies were waiting for us! Now that’s a role reversal for ya.

 

At least once a season, we trek over to Felix’s fish camp for a most excellent lunch. It is always a treat and this year was no exception as it was Ann’s birthday lunch. There was 10 of us and the restaurant set us up in a small room for our ‘party’. We had a wonderful feast and of course, a great time.

It’s Mardis Gras time here again and Tom & Cheryl have not been to a parade so we took them to Point Clear for the Mullet Mardis Gras parade – a smallish family style to break them in gently. Maybe next year we’ll do a bigger night parade to give them the complete experience!

The next day, the three of us – Bill & Ann, Tom & Cheryl and Barb & I – hooked up our rigs and head off for a little sight seeing/get-away to Ho Hum campground in Carrabelle Florida. The original thought was to take our kayaks and spend a lot of time on the water as the campground is right on the coast and easy in and out. As we got closer to our getaway, the weather did not co-operate again and we decided to leave the boats here and instead, picked up more beverages! We arrived in time to set up, have happy hour and then out for dinner – remember, we don’t cook on travel days. After dinner, we were back to our place for night caps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday was Cheryl’s birthday and we tried hard to give her the best celebration – happy hour at 10 then off to lunch! A great start for her day. After we got back, Barb & I went out for fuel and happened on a Bald Eagle on our way back. We pulled over and even though we were a few yards away, Barb managed to get a few pictures. Then we all converged on Tom & Cheryl’s for more happy hour festivities!

Tuesday was a trip to St George Island, a little walk around on the beach and lighthouse but it was cold and threatening rain. After this, we’re off to Apalachicola, FL to wander the downtown (read shops) and lunch. We end up at Caroline’s on the river for lunch. Unfortunately, is was too cold to sit out on the deck to watch the world go by but the food and service was great anyway – not to mention the company! After we get back to Ho Hum, Barb & I drive further down the coast ( the others have been here before but we’re newbie’s and wanted to see more) to Alligator Harbor Aquatic Preserve. Here the government leases 10 acre sites to shell fish farms. Rather interesting and we caught a couple of good pictures of a Blue Heron that was standing nearby. We travelled further than we expected and were a little late for happy hour – now that’s not legal!

The next day we head back to the Plantation and brings us to February 19th and a good place to stop for now. Hope all is good where you are and come back again mainly if you are snowed inside. . . . .

Thank Goodness for Weekends!

When we retired, we said that everyday was a Saturday but now, we look forward to the weekends for a rest! When we finished the reno of the house this summer, we thought it will be great to get down here and kick back – that feeling lasted about a minute. Now we are go go go – Barb quilting, knitting, quilting, wool applique, quilting and shopping for fabric so she can quilt! Me, I mill around the clubhouse and kibitz with some other guys there and we have become known as the board of directors, chaired by none other than Dick T. We generally have lots of laughs and when we get serious, we solve all the world’s problems. Also, the next time we gather, we solve them again! Then there is computer group on Thursday morning where we open the session with a discussion on restaurants – the good and the bad. This is important information down here! You don’t want to go out for a $20.00 meal and be disappointed.

Early in January, we had a freeze warning so the park shut off the water. Our water pump was leaking so we had to get another one. I went on line and ordered one from PPL Parts and it was here the next day and I had it installed before the park turned off the water. We didn’t expect the fast delivery so we had bought a couple of gallons of water to flush and a case to drink – isn’t that the way? Buy something you don’t really need to avoid a crisis – like a snow blower – and it doesn’t snow.

We have been to one of our favourite lunch spots – Big Daddy’s a few times already, sitting at a picnic table on the deck over looking the gently flowing Fish River. Have I mentioned how good life is yet? And it is legal! We did take a few days off lately – we both came down with the crud – a little bug that made it’s way through the park and affected lots of others too. After we recovered, we have been kayaking twice and plans for more to come. It is coming up to Mardis Gras time again and they have started skits early to build the fun. It’s an added bonus to our ice cream socials on Sundays.

I needed an oil changed, a head light and the truck was slow to accelerate when asked to. The repairs turned into a 2 day adventure, replacing a lift pump, a fuel sensor and oh, what is that dripping I see? Not much, just a water pump. Now it should be ready for another 500K.

There is no good reason why I am so late in updating our blog entry except that time goes by so much quicker down here. Between the activities in the club house, lunches out, going to the movies and trying to keep everything in shape, the weeks are zipping by and before we know it, we’ll be heading north. Whew, that is a thought we try not to have. Going north means going to our house that has no furniture, food or entertainment stuff. Sounds pretty bleak but we are looking forward to it when we get there but for now, I gotta go, it is happy hour and someone needs a refill.

Hope everything is as good for you, where ever you are.

A Close to 2014

The year has been tumultuous for us. We had tragic losses in the beginning of the year and we will forever miss Gerry and Jim. After a such down start to 2014, we were home working on our ‘hobby house’ and had many lows and highs with the reno but we were successful in the end which was a tremendous high for us. We made it safely to our winter rest and now we are in full swing again. It has been a whirlwind time here leading up to Christmas and New Year. This time of year we have our favourite things we like to do. We try to drive by one of the more extravagant Christmas displays we have seen. Unfortunately we do not have any pictures that show the size and beauty of the light display, complete with music so I have included a link that will take you to a news article on the owner of the mansion. As many of you know, we exchange our Christmas cards to each other in the store while they are still warm from sitting on the shelf and this year is no different!

We always have difficulty deciding what we want to do for each other for Christmas and this year is even more difficult. We have had a few fun ideas – Barb’s of course. Two years ago, we treated each other with a lunch, we wrote our own menu and the other had to prepare it. It was a terrific gift and we had fun doing it. Last year we decided that we each separately had 20 minutes and a $30.00 budget to load up gifts to each other. That was fun too but once you do something like that, the second time around isn’t as much fun so this year we decided not to do anything, my idea – yes, that sounds grinchy but what can we do when we have everything we want or need.

One day when Barb was out shopping with some ladies to decorate our Christmas dinner table at the club house, she saw a few decorating items that we could use on the house back home or even on the empty wall in our bedroom in the trailer. So, we went back and agreed on the item for the house but couldn’t find anything suitable for the bedroom wall. We came up with another idea that will work great – we want a beach type picture that we take and have it mounted for the bedroom wall. Now, this will get us out and about to find that ‘perfect’ shot that we both are involved with finding. More to come I’m sure.

Our New Year’s celebration was pretty simple – a progressive appetizer party. We started here, then over to Tom and Cheryl’s and then Bill and Ann’s. Good friends and good fun, what can anyone ask for? Barb & I watched the ball drop in New York – it’s just not the same without Dick Clark or am I just showing my age. Then we watched the Pelican drop in Pensacola (our time zone). Here’s a link to last years event. New Years day is sort becoming a tradition for us – we do nothing. We go to the club house to watch the ‘polar bear’ dip – when asked why we were not in, we just said the water was too warm for Canadians! After, we wandered around the campground to see who was out and stopped by to chat with a few folks. A nice relaxing day and then off to the club house again for dinner. Again, is having this much fun legal?

Our close friends Bill and Ann are heading off to Texas for a few months and we’ll probably be gone back north by the time they return so we got a bunch of us together and had lunch at McGuires in Pensacola. We did a late lunch so the ladies could stop off and do some fabric shopping – some call it a FART (Fabric Acquisition Road Trip). Going late means McGuires didn’t have any problem seating 14 of us at one table. Good food, good friends and great beer – what a combination.

So much to do and so little time before we head north so stay tuned for more good times. We hope all is good wherever you are.

Let the Good Times Roll

Bill & I helped Tom & Cheryl build their 8x16 deck along side their new motorhome. To celebrate having a new deck, they had Bill, Ann, Dick, Marcia, Barb & I over for happy hour on the deck. It was a perfect day, blue skies, no breeze and warm sunshine to help make the day. After, we all went over to the ice cream social at the club house. It is usually busy and noisy until Gary rings the bell and starts his announcements for the week, then the ice cream is served and then all is quiet!

Monday was a quiet day for us – we’re still trying to calm down from our summer of fun. Barb spends any spare time working on a sewing project and I am trying to find a water leak that is coming from the fresh water tank.

Tuesday is the quilt guilds Christmas party and sometimes the men loiter around the club house to scam a morsel from the ladies goody trays and today is no different. By the time I got there, the trays had been passed around but Marcia saved a little something for me from her tray – it pays to have friends in high places. Later, Bill & Ann and Barb & I had lunch on the patio at Big Daddy’s – have I said this before? Life is good, this can’t be legal.

Wednesday was a big outing – we had tickets to the Christmas show at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Ms. We were on the bus by 11:15 and drove through to the Beau Rivage for the lunch buffet – 50% 0ff on Wednesdays so of course, you can’t miss that. We spent some time looking around the resort and the shops. The Christmas decorations were quite beautiful and then there was the casino. After all said and done, we left less than 20 bucks behind to visit next time we go. The Christmas show – Santa and Friends on Ice – was in the main theatre and was a fun time. I’ve seen bigger frozen puddles back home than the size of the ice rink they used to perform on but they did it. The stage was covered with fake ice that was used for introductions etc but the throws, twirls and serious skating were carried out on the ‘real’ ice on the main floor. The high light was at the end, the cast brought 4 sleighs out on the ice and took kids from the audience to ride them around the ‘rink’ with Santa. There were a few kids that did not look impressed and they sure did not want to be there – it was funny to see the looks on their faces. The bus ride back was a little quieter than the ride down and we arrived home around 11PM.

The rest of our week was more of the same – club house activities, happy hours somewhere and laughs and fun with our friends here. To top the week off, Dick & Mary had a few of us in for a Christmas party on their site. It was a blast, lots if not too much to eat and sweet treats and a few beverages. We all had a great time but we always do here at the Plantation.

That is all for our week of adventures here, we hope all is good wherever you are and Happy New Year!