Blink

Holy crap…. where did the winter go? It seems that we were just starting to get excited about our first cruise and now here we are, the cruise is just a memory and March is already upon us. Our calendar looks like most of the events and activities are mostly dining out! Go figure!

One our favourites is McGuire's in Pensacola. The girls `needed` to find some fabric so we had a road trip to Jo-Ann`s Fabrics in Pensacola and to keep Bill and I from whining too much, we had lunch at McGuire's! Hummmm, cold beer (they have their own micro brewery), good food and great company are always the best ingredients for fun. It makes the road trip seem shorter.

 

Barb continues to put the finishing touches on the quilt for Jim. It is a labour of love and besides having fun doing it, Barb is doing an excellent job, it is turning out great. It is the first time she has applied photos to fabric and incorporated the squares into a quilt. As she progresses, we get more and more excited to see it maturing and closer to the end to send to Jim & Lydia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The group of us – our own little posse of Bill & Ann and Dick & Marcia are heading out for an evening of Blue Grass entertainment at Wales West, another campground not far from us. The group called TruGrass played lots of foot stomp’n Blue Grass with a little comedy thrown in. Of course, we had to go out for dinner first. The only spot near by was the Fish River Grill1. This was one of the places that captured us a few years ago. They serve great catfish and hamburgers in a more than casual setting. When we first went there, they had gravel floors and cafeteria style seats. It was neat then but now with plywood floors, it may have lost some of it’s ‘rustic’ nature but the food is still very good.

On Friday afternoons, Barb & I continue to host a Digital Photography class where we can all learn a little more about picture taking and photo editing. Our attendance numbers have gradually dropped off with the approach on spring and the snowbirds heading north. It has been an interesting group and hoping to continue next season.

 

As the weather warms up, we turn our attention to the yard work on our site. We are trying to prepare it so we don’t have so much work on it when we come back in November. We have taken out all the garden edging and laid our extra patio stones so the summer mowers can ride over them and not need so much weed whacking. That lummox you see is me under the Sago Palms, pulling off the saplings and digging in the patio stones.

Later in the day, we found a frog eating another frog! We thought they only ate bugs etc!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barb & the ladies continue to quilt and sew, chat and kibitz – sometimes I think they socialize more than they sew but that’s what makes it so much fun here. After Mardis Gras was done, some of the guys suggested we put a new rear stage wall up to replace the older temporary wall. It would also be a good time to re-wire the area so we would not need extension cords to power the stage outlets when we had professional entertainment in. I jumped in to help out with that project. With all the volunteers to help out, we had it up, wired, fused and dry wall work done in just a few days.

My laptop is/was on it’s last legs. The lid hinges are broken through and one of these days, I will be holding a laptop screen when I open the lid! So, what to do…. well, after a lot of product research and online price and feature comparisons, we decided on moving to a different technology – paper and pencil! Kidding, we moved from a laptop to an All-In-One computer. Since Barb does the photo editing and creates our picture DVDs, she needs the computing power more than I – after all, solitaire doesn’t need a lot of computer to play! We stepped up to Windows 8 and the learning curve is almost vertical. To move all her files and programs to the new one and then move all my files to her ‘old’ laptop took more time than I expected – 8 days of pecking and testing and moving and testing and etc.

You may recall me mentioning a Four Point Posie quilt pattern that Barb was working on throughout the year, well she found the time to put the final assembly together. She has been coaching a couple of the ladies with their projects, helping them with sewing techniques and know how. Kinda supports the adage, want something done, give it to a busy lady! Barb then donated the quilt to Under His Wings, a new home for girls.

 

We even found time to host friends from Wisconsin for a happy hour.  It is funny that you plan a get-to-gether and it happens when everyone is getting ready to depart.  Maybe next year we can do this more often.

 

Of course, all this sewing and quilting depletes ones sullies so the ladies made a road trip to Gautier MS to one of the better quilt shops – Block Therapy Quilt Shop. Us men do not accompany them so they don’t feel rushed and can enjoy their shopping experience – yeah, right. We just wanted a head start at The Shed. We agreed to meet them there for lunch and dollar drafts! Yum…. again, and this may sound like a repeat but what else is there when you have good food, cold beer and good company. It’s just too much fun!

 

The quilt ladies had an afternoon of fun and chit chat at Anita’s Hen House. They had lots of sun, wine and munchies. A good time was had by all.

 

 

As the month winds down, Easter is upon us and we are having dinner with about 180 other RVers and friends. A cold/flu/respiratory bug has been whirring through the Plantation a couple of times and many folks were not able to make it for dinner. Some have even had to delay their departure because of illness.

Everything here is slowing down but the dining out is ramping up as we celebrate the end of the snowbird season with many friends. Life is too good and we hope all is good where you are too. Until next time….