Getting the Creature Comforts

In our last post, I showed you the snow that we arrived back home and soon after we arrived, Terri and Mark stopped by to help us unload our truck and I think to ensure we got moved in ok, even without anywhere to park our weary butts! After all the dust settled, glasses raised to toast and they were on their way back to Toronto, Barb & I started assembling the counter stools we brought home with us. Once we had all 5 put together and the air bed inflated, we fell into bed with big plans for the next few days, shopping for more cozy furniture to find that fits into small spaces.

I know ya’ll are familiar with the phrase shop until you drop, well, we did. Most furniture stores are trying to sell the big oversized articles that seem to devour you when you sit in it. We do not have the space for that type so hello Ikea – they specialize in furnishing for small spaces. My cousin and hubby stopped by and he innocently said, who would ever furnish their home with stuff from Ikea – Barb raised her hand! Hey, it fits and it is comfortable, nothing more to say.


So, a day here, a day there and soon we start to see our space filling up with furnishings. We also learn more about the area we live in and where more shops are to fulfill our needs. The paper construction blinds we used to provide some privacy didn’t quite meet our needs now that we are living in the house so draperies are on the list. Barb finds some ‘ready made’ drapes that suits her and with a little work, she is able to make them fit perfectly.

















CRACK! What the hell? As I rolled out of the airbed – one on a
frame so we were up at normal height – one of the cross pieces broke and if we continued to use it, threatened to puncture the air mattress so now we are in a critical need for a real bed. We use a Sleep Number mattress n the rig and were hoping to do the same here but it does not work logistically - no retail in Ontario so we’re faced with using a regular mattress. One of the ‘shop til you drop’ days, we found a mattress shop and stopped in to just take a look – well, we left there owning a new bed that will be delivered AND set up in a couple of days. And none too soon either, the day of delivery, another cross piece broke as I was rolling this bag of bones off the air bed!

Have you tried to live out of a bin and/or a suitcase for any time? We need somewhere to put our clothes, we need drawers but not the big heavy looking units that the furniture shops peddle. We found what we wanted with some assembly required so I’m sure you’ll know where we got’em.

 

Now that we basically have places to put our butts and somewhere to sleep,

we focus on the spare room – or shall I say Barb’s room of creativity. We need to use this space for double purposes, firstly as a space for Barb to create and secondly for guests to be comfortable in a spare bedroom. Again, Barb had a plan and we were able to fulfill her needs at

Ikea and a lumber shop. So, we have a spare bed and a desk for her machine and computer and by placing a interior door across the bed side, she has a work table for her fabric creations.

Now that we have the mood setting thing, a TV is essential. It is mounted right over the fireplace and look ma, no wires!

 

 Now, I think we have done and said enough for now so we’re off to see Corrie and family on Easter Sunday and look at the weather that excited us so much to drive to Toronto in!

 Not sure how many of you followed our adventures of last year and the challenges we faced with this renovation but here is a shot of where we were about this time last year…..

The Trip Northward

After an exciting last few weeks at the Plantation, we have the truck loaded to the gunnels, including the back seat to over capacity – almost no room for the cookies Marti made us as fuel while on the road! Our trip without the rig means we have to use public washrooms which is one of the downers for leaving it behind. Well, we are not wrong as our first nature stop was at a Marathon station and Barb came out totally disgusted with the filthy conditions – sticky floors, tissue scattered all around and a round toilet seat on an elongated bowl and the front part of the bowl was black. She told me in graphic detail how she had to be a contortionist so her jeans didn’t contact any of it!

We made it safely to Lydia’s new home in her favourite community of Bent Tree, just outside of Jasper Ga. Paul had to meet us at the gate to ensure we didn’t get lost driving to the house. We had a very warm welcome from Lydia and Paul with hugs. After we played catch up and cocktails, we went out for dinner at one their regular haunts – again, what more can you ask for, good food, good friends and good times – life is good!

On Wednesday, Paul had a regular ball game with a bunch of other old cronies! Paul was out in left field – no, I mean his ball position was in left field, not his personality! Barb, Lydia and myself were his personal cheering section which I’m sure embarrassed him some and I’d bet he heard about the rowdy cheering section at his next game. Anyway, we all had fun and then off to lunch – where would we be if we didn’t eat! After fortifying our appetites, we wandered – some call it shopping – around an outlet mall where we found the remainder of our dishes for the house. The rest of the day was laid back and relaxing back at the house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, we toured the beautiful Gibbs Gardens near Lydia’s. I can’t write it all here so I encourage you to follow the link I provided to see and read more, I can not do it the justice it deserves. We walked 90% of the gardens, walked up to the manor house – Mr Gibbs still lives there – and made it back to the snack bar to replenish our energy levels! As you would suspect, Barb’s camera was very busy and I have tried to give you a synopsis of the pictures she took. I hope you enjoy.

 

Friday we leave Lydia and Paul to head north onto Terri & Mark’s cabin in Ellicottville NY for the weekend before we cross the border back into Canada. The weather and road conditions were fine until we neared Cleveland and all too soon, we realize we have to get off the road before we find troubles. The snow was thick and blowing hard and we still had about 4 hours of driving ahead of us. We were approaching an exit with many cars in the ditches, a van pulling a travel trailer did a 180 and was against the guard rail pointing at us. The exit couldn’t come soon enough! It’s crazy how many drivers think they are expert winter drivers and ignore the conditions, driving faster than the conditions warrant and eventually, they end up in the ditch! Anyway, I digress with my narrative! we pulled into a Comfort Inn and waited our turn to check in – wow, we were quoted $189 for a night. When I asked what happened to the $39 dollar rooms, I was informed that it is March Break and they have an indoor water park – well, laudy dah, we don’t have kids and are only there to get off the road due to the weather. The attendant did advised that she would take $10 off the rate if we took a room without a nuke or a fridge! Wow, I was so ready to take 2 rooms at that rate! NOT! We went across the road to a motel of the same chain and got a room for $89. Luckily, there was a generous gentleman behind us that gave us a coupon that took another $10 off the rate so we thought we had won the lottery with only paying $79/night for a room for the night!

The next day (Saturday) we woke to clear blue skies but cold so after a quick breakfast, we were on our way again. We arrived near 1ish – that gave Terri & Mark a few hours of skiing on the last ski weekend. After we arrived, had a beverage and caught up, we took off to the EBC for lunch and of course, more brewskis! We toured the ski hill, walked around the deck as the day was winding down and the skiers were departing so we went into the chalet for some après ski.

After some Sunday antique shopping, we toured their new house they bought around the corner from their current place. They are becoming rental moguls of Ellicottville! We loaded back into the truck for the drive to our little ‘hobby house’. We arrived to be assaulted by snow plies – yuk! Thanks goodness, we have a nice neighbour who kept our driveway clear all winter so we didn’t have to shovel or walk through it to unload the truck. We no sooner had the truck empty and Terri & Mark arrived and we all go out for dinner! Another nice arrival….

So, I’ll leave you here as we settle into our house without furniture and TV but we do have an airbed to lay our weary bods down until we get a real one! Hope all is well out there,,,,

Our Last Weeks at the Plantation

Our last post brought us up to the 1st week in March. This is a difficult time for us as we are coming face to face with our decision to leave our home here and take possession of our ‘hobby house’ back in Canada. It took lots of conversation between us to make this leap from the roaming lifestyle to being home owners again and just commuting back and forth to our little bit of paradise here in LA (Lower Alabama). We just could not accept just anyone moving into our little house – we just did too good of a job finishing the place that we would be heart broken if it were damaged by a ‘renter’. And, maybe we are ready to settle into something and work on the gardens, clean the eve troughs and cut grass again!
So, March is upon us and we have decided to head home early to see how well or not, the little house survived the harsh winter. Before we go, there is still lots going on. A bunch of us went out to listen to TruGrass, a blue grass band. We heard them a couple of years ago and enjoyed the entertainment and this evening was no different, they were great.

Bill, Tom & I went to a cooking class that demonstrated ‘the how to’ while cooking grass fed beef, home made pesto served with cooked macaroni. Of course, being a commercial establishment, we were not permitted wine for our dinner so we stopped before hand for a few primer cocktails. The teaching kitchen was modern and open so we could all experience what each other was doing. Naturally, the 3 of us had fun and an excellent steak meal. Have no fears, our ladies were out for dinner too.
Saturday brought warm sunshine which urged us to replace the broken panel in our shed. It broke in 2013 and the manufacturer sent us a new one but I didn’t get a round tuit until now. So you ask, how many guys does it take to change a panel in a shed – four you say! Larry, Bill & Tom came by to help out and a good thing too, the roof panel had to be removed and so on. We had it all done inside of an hour and another few minutes admiring our hard work.
Sunday was such a beautiful day, we just had to get the boats wet again before we head north where our kayak won’t see water for a few months. We (Tom & Cheryl and Bill & Ann) put in at the boat launch on highway 98 and paddled through the canals that were left behind from an old campground that was destroyed after a hurricane ripped through this area a few years ago and is now a wet land reserve - Weeks Bay Reserve. After making our way through the canals, we paddled up the Fish River, made a right turn down another canal that wound through some pretty nice homes – all equipped with boat hoists and party rooms. Looks like a busy party area and it must be noisy on the weekends come summer! Once we cleared that canal, we turned down river and back to the launch site. All totalled, we paddled over 3 miles and had a wonderful time. Afterwards, we cooled down at Tom & Cheryl’s for happy hour - their deck faces west so we enjoy the late afternoon sun.


Tuesday was an exciting day. Our friends Larry & Marti – she is a southern belle from Charleston, SC. – hosted a Frogmore Stew for us northerners to enjoy. Our hosts extraordinaire provided everything, even the beer but if you wanted something different, you brought it yourself. Barb & I took dessert and a jug of Vesper Martinis for all. Everyone brought so much that I can’t list it here suffice it to say, no one went home hungry or thirsty!










This was a first time experience for us and it was maybe the highlight of the winter season. This is not a meal that you sit down for and most people do not use knives or forks – one might get hurt reaching for a morsel! Once the boil is done, the contents are drained and then poured out onto a large table covered in paper and anyone hungry, bellies up and digs in. The food was great, the company excellent and of course the beverages capped it all off for a great afternoon of fun.
We’re winding down now but still getting some chores done before we button it up and head out. Jerry came over to show me an easy way to sink long augers into the ground so we could fasten our rig down so it doesn’t end up on someone else’s lot! I manage to get’r washed and the boat washed and bagged for home. Now, this may sound busy but we still had time for a few lunches out – Big Daddy’s of course and we met the ladies at the Sunset Pointe in Fairhope. It is a real nice spot, overlooking the Fairhope Yacht Club and Mobile Bay. It was a wonderful afternoon, sitting out on the back deck with friends having lunch and a few laughs.

On Saturday before we left, we hosted happy hour under our magnolia tree. We had quite a crowd and our friend Dallas came by with his fiddle and played a few songs for us. What a great day and send off for us.





We had a wonderful surprise on Sunday – well, not really a surprise since they emailed that they would be by but a wonderful visit by Canadian friends Ray & Donna (aka Crusty). They were on their way back from Florida and since they were in the area, they thought they would stop by for a brief visit to see where we have all the winter fun. How’s your geography, LA is not really on their way home from Florida so it was more special to see them. After a little tour, we introduced them to the bunch we hang with over lunch at - - you guessed it, Big Daddy’s!

Ok, so I have written maybe too much but this ends with us loading the truck and head’n north to Georgia to check in on our friend Lydia. Our next post will pick us up there…. until then, wishing you well and safe travels wherever you are.