T’is the Season

As you may recall, we were missing some hardware from our garden shed kit, well, I contacted the manufacturer and they are sending us more parts by the end of the week! Barb went out with a ladies group for a luncheon and met a few new ladies and renewed many friendships from last year. I was left to my own devices and managed to get caught up on our blog. That evening, we attended the BaldwinPops Christmas concert at the Foley Civic Centre. It was fantastic! We car pooled with Pat & Carolyn and on the way home, Pat drove by one of the more magnificent home Christmas decoration that we have seen in a long time. Another busy day and I’m sure more to come!

Almost every Tuesday and Thursday, the club provides dinner at a cost that makes impossible not to go! It is also a fun social time with friends. This Tuesday was no acceptation – it was the baked potato feast! You get a baked potato and can put any or all the toppings on you want from onions, peppers, jalapenos, cheese, chili etc. I can’t think of all the toppings provided but it was a feast! Whoa, I’m supposed to be losing some weight but it didn’t happen tonight! Time to get the walking shoes out and put some miles on!

Wednesday, we received a shipment from the shed manufacturer but the contents were not what we ordered! What, where did they get this info? I ordered the exact part numbers that were in the instructions! See, working with the instruction manual is never good!

Thursday I called the manufacturer again about the parts and they assured us another package was coming today with the correct parts. After our morning sessions at the clubhouse (Barb at quilting and me at computers) we took a road trip to Pensacola to Jo-ann’s fabrics for supplies, banking and shopping. When we arrived back home, a neighbor brought us a UPS package containing the rest of our shed hardware! This time, they sent more than necessary but now we can complete the shed!

Friday, we completed the shed; placed the windows in the doors, put on the door hardware and hung them! Done! Oh, not quite, I have to lag screw the floor to the plywood deck so off to HD again! In all this action, we managed to turn a couple of gardens, trim the Wisteria bush a little and Barb managed to work on a couple of craft and sewing projects to be sent back to Canada eh! What a week!

Saturday was cool here so we hung out and worked on stuff inside. Barb of course being her crafty self while I hung more Christmas decorations but this time we had some rum and eggnog and it made the job easier! I got the shed fastened down to the deck and moved a bunch of stuff inside, including the chairs I brought to cane. It was warm enough in the shed to work on my chairs but trying, enlightened me that I will need some sort of work bench to work from! Anyway, I had to take off the old cane and as I did, one side of the seat fell off! It was broken right along the caning holes, from the front to the back. Oppssss, now I know why this chair was only a few bucks to buy! So, a little more work than planned but I guess that’s what it’s all about when restoring old furniture!

Sunday, Barb once again was motivated by her creativity and crafted a ‘Grinch' Christmas tree!  It looks great, what do you think? Maybe she’s telling me something! Later in the afternoon we attended the flatulence fest at the club house! Various chefs made lots of good tasting recipes that have some sort of beans in it! We had, of course chili, soups, salads, stews and cupcakes with a jelly bean on top! It was great fun and of course, followed up with the ice cream social that is every Sunday evening! I ate so much that Barb suggested we take a longer way home so I could walk off some of my over eating! Again, I was over served – this seems to be a common thread with me! Hummmm….. Probably a hint this should be my first hurdle to loosing weight!

Here we are on Tuesday and Barb is off to learn a new beading project while I start picking up some patio stones so we can move the deck to fit the rig better. Well, the grass here must grow crazy in the summer as I uncovered and pulled up 90+ 6x12 patio stones! Holy broken back, these were not visible when I started but pulling up one and then the next, it was like following a trail of bread crumbs or maybe a trail of John’s lost golf balls after one of his rounds! Barb returned with another beautiful hand crafted jewelry piece while I had created a bunch of craters where the stones had been hidden!

In the afternoon, we decided to tackle one of the two Sago Palm trees that are encroaching on the deck. The palm leaves were very dense on the ground so we trimmed off the lower leaves and uncovered several ‘offsets’ or ‘pups’ (new palm plants) around the base of the palm trunk. These ‘pups’ can be separated from the ‘host plant’ easily and then if dried and potted properly, can be replanted for future palm trees! I wore a long sleeved shirt or my arms would have been torn up by the thorns on the palm leaves! We disturbed many large creepies that y’all know Barb is not friendly with so she was forced to keep her distance but still managed the workman end of the shovel to help separate some of the larger ‘pups’. In all, we ‘harvested’ a dozen ‘pups’ that can be potted. After we finished, the palm tree looked better so now we feel more confident to do the other tree!

Wednesday was our very own Santa Claus parade here in the park. It wasn’t an earth shattering display but the fact that a small community like the Rainbow Plantation participated is fantastic! I think most of the residents and campers were in the parade! At 75 degrees, it just didn’t seem like a Santa Parade! After, we all went back to the clubhouse for hot chocolate and cookies – hot chocolate!  You can see most of us are from the North where you have hot chocolate after a Santa Claus Parade.

Friday, Barb painted the parts of the wood deck that showed from under the shed. After, we dove under the second Sago Palm and trimmed and harvested again more ‘pups’. Now, we have close to 30 ‘pups’ from very small to quite large specimens. We have to let them dry for about a week or so to let the cut portion ‘heal’ over so it will be ready to pot. We spoke to a nursery about the Sagos and did some additional research online to learn more on how to trim, harvest and grow the trees. Of course, being in the yard gardening, brings several neighbors around to see what we’re up to and of course, provide additional support and suggestions! But wait, we gotta stop and clean up! It’s getting time to head on over to the clubhouse for our second Christmas festivity – the Christmas dinner and dance!

 

We had signed up to help out on the kitchen but due to the large number that signed up for dinner, Larry (the cook) decided to serve differently and only wanted Barb to help so I was sent packing! We were at a fun table of 12 and had a nice meal with lots of talk and laughs! I even treated Barb to a dance before we hiked for home!

Well, this is a good place to whoa up for a bit and wish y’all a Merry Christmas and the best to you throughout 2012!