It’s Christmas Time at the Plantation

Well, it’s that time of the year again and it’s no different here at the Plantation – except maybe the number of people coming for dinner!

There are a few events that lead up to the day, group happy hours, lighted boat parades, blue grass and touring Christmas light displays – not that different than back home right?

The new comers to the row here – Jerry & Betty – hosted a happy hour for all the residents here on ERPU row – about 27 people. Of course these are bring your own beverage and nibbles to share. It was warm enough that we had to move the food table to the shade so some of the treats didn’t melt down into a puddle. Some of the folks also kept moving their chairs out of the sun. It was a fun time with lots of chatter going on.

TruGrass, a blue grass band, were performing again at Wales West and we try not to miss their concerts – they are talented and enjoyable musicians. Wales West also puts on a terrific light display for Christmas.

 

The next night was the Fish River Lighted Boat Parade and again, this is another event we try not to miss. Some years we have been late arriving (2014) but always fun. The weather was warm and dry. Bill & Ann joined us and with our favorite beverages to fight off the cold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s Christmas morning and the jolly man found us all the way down here in LA! Barb & I have a casual morning, having our gift exchange – yes, it is more difficult each year to find something for each other, enjoying our traditional rum & eggnog and breakfast. Barb went over to the clubhouse early to set up our table of 12 for dinner. After breakfast, we still had time to enjoy the weather out on the deck on a Christmas morning – another reason we come down here!

 

 

 

 

 

It seems to be an Escapee thing to be early when food is involved and today is no different. Many people arrived at the club house by 1:15 for our 2 o’clock Christmas dinner. Soon the room is full of the 120+ diners and the chatter is deafening – until dinner is served of course! Barb likes to make a small take away for each place setting or couple. This year she made cloth Christmas balls that can be hung on the Christmas Tree.Bridgette made us all tree shaped napkins so we had a very festive table.  After the meal we all stay to socialize as we can’t hear anyone during the festive affair and this works great.

On Boxing Day, we had Bill, Ann, Jerry and Betty over for a brunch. Last year we heard a lot of talk about Canadian bacon and what we saw of it was a little insult to what was referred to as our back bacon. We brought down a slab and decided to prepare and serve it to our American friends so they know what it really is.

 

At our family Christmas in Ontario, Corrie and Dean announced that they were soon to be grandparents! Our minds immediately went to Mackenzie who is out east at university but they were talking about Dean’s son, Paul! Whew….. anyway,  congratulations Paul and Sabrina on the arrival of your son Mason. 

Mason, our new family addition is pictured here with Corrie, his grandmother.

Well, that closes out 2016 for us our friends are a treasure and our family is growing again, we are so blessed.

I hope all is good where you are.

Alive and Well in Alabama….

If you have been wondering what and where we are, so am I! It has been sooo long since I have updated our blog that I can almost remember what to do….

Here it goes…. the last blog showed us entering the north end of Alabama and we arrived here at the Plantation around dinner time that day. We stopped to pick up some groceries for a few days and Bill had started the fridge so it would be cold on our arrival. We were on a bit of a time constraint coming down because the quilt ladies were going on a shop hop for fabric and other quilt supplies 2 days after we landed. We left a day lee way in case we had problems on the trip down, so Barb had a day to recuperate so she was fresh to shop! It is good to be back – we do miss our little house but we also miss the fun, the activities and the friends we have here so it is a trade off. The day off kind of disappeared – we hit the road running and we haven’t stopped since. There is nothing wrong with that – we like to be busy.

One of the ‘jobs’ that has to be done when we get here is attending to the rig. It survived better this summer as we prepped it better when we left in the spring – charcoal in pans, cat litter top absorb moisture and odors and the dehumidifier running to help reduce the humidity. We made  it much easier for Bill then we did for Ron.  Thanks for a job well done Bill.  This made less clean up inside than we had the previous year. But the outside takes a beating – the humid weather along with the deathly sun, the outside looked terrible but nothing that soap, water and elbow grease can’t fix. You may notice in the pictures, how big the sago palms are getting…. when we took this site, the lower fronds were on the deck!

 

Now that we’re all clean inside and out, it is time to set up for Christmas. We have hung the outdoor lights and now we decorate inside. All without our customary rum & eggnogs – we overlooked the eggnog the last time we were out shopping.

 

We have new neighbors and friends on the row here, Jerry & Betty have finally got their site. To thank everyone for all the help to get them moved from one site to this one, they kindly took us out to Big Daddy’s for lunch! That was very generous of them and of course we welcomed them to the street!

Stacy, our neighbor turned 75 and wanted a few of us to go with her to McSharry’s Irish pub – who am I to say no – so before long, she had 15 other neighbors and the p a r t a e was on! Soon, with the dinner served and the beer cold, Stacy was on the floor – almost the table – doing the jig to the live Irish band playing in the corner. It was a fun time. I’m sure I may have said this once before, but I am sure there is a law somewhere the prohibits us oldies from having this much fun! If there isn’t, I’m sure we’ll be taxed some how….

The ladies of the park all go to a luncheon once a month at a predetermined restaurant. Usually, about 40 ladies attend and all have a good time. The men are not that well organized but we manage to find our way to some watering hole to keep ourselves fed.

 

This little excerpt takes us to the middle of December. Here is a picture of the front of our site and an azalea bloom on one of our plants in the back. I will post more soon if you dare to come back or have not fallen asleep from boredom!

 

It’s Getting too Cold Here

Well, it won’t be long before our sights will be set on the trip south. If you haven’t heard, Terri, our daughter has been promoted to Partner in her accounting firm. This is an unusual move for a non-accountant individual and an honor. To celebrate, she invited about 120 people to her house to help her celebrate breaking the glass ceiling! Of course, mom & dad were invited so we packed a bag for an over-nighter!

They do throw a great party and here are some pictures:

Barb took a painting class and the neatness was it was in a pub in Port Colborne! How good is that plan? Barb takes a class and I sat and watched sports or read and sipped a cool one or two. Now that is what I called a civilized paint class!

 

 

 

 

The next grand event was our family Christmas dinner. It was held at the end of November and we all gathered at Dawn’s – our middle daughter in Napanee Ontario. To avoid the long drive back to Fort Erie after a huge meal, we took a B&B in Belleville. This was the same one we used when we were here to visit Dawn while she was in the hospital for a few days. Terri & Mark shared the B&B suite with us so the party continued after we left Dawn’s.

 

 

Sunday, we arrived back in Fort Erie and started packing the truck, organizing the house and emptying the fridge for the trip south. Our plan was to leave early but not by the alarm, just go when we were ready. Our plan for the first day was to get somewhere north of Nashville so the wee hours were not necessary. The border crossing was smooth and we were on our way. Stops for nature and fuel was the only plan. Things change as we got to I65 at Louisville, the weather was threatening and by the time we were just north of Bowling Green, it was getting bad. Strong cross winds and driving rain brought traffic to a stop on the Interstate and that is dangerous but drivers were pulling over but since they could not see the road markings, they didn’t know if they were off the road or not. The driver in our right lane was gradually moving into our lane and they were not aware. I carefully moved behind a big rig in the outside lane and followed his taillights. Being up high, he could see over the road spray and could see the road markings – at least that was my theory. Anyway, soon we were through the storm and decided enough was enough, let’s find a motel so we pulled over at White House Tn and stayed the night. The next day, we had clear and sunny weather for the remainder of our drive. We pulled into our site just after 6, put groceries away and settled in to relax for the rest of the evening.

The rig was in great shape, no musty smell or dampness – I guess we prepared better this time. Bill was our caretaker and he said the dehumidifier was running every time he was in checking on it.

 

 

I hope all is good where you are……

End of Summer Projects….

Now that we have survived another birthday, it is still unbelievable that we are this old, we don’t feel it and we just keep on keep’n on! So, last posting, I hinted that we had an experience with a smelly black & white kitty. And yes, we did! Dave our neighbour came over with his live trap, baited and set it and we waited till morning to see what we caught and it was a young skunk. Dave has been catching several throughout the summer so I knew I called the right man for the job. Dave built a kind of shelter over the trap to keep the critters calm while we load and transport them to another space down the lake a few miles from here! I joke that we are sharing with the rich New Yorkers that have their big homes down on the lake.

Not knowing if it was just one skunk or a family, we set the trap again but only caught a possum after a couple of nights so making the leap that we are done with other critters under the house so time to fix this issue. I know that it is late now to put chicken wire around the front of the house but better late than never and having to do this again. Barb & I pulled the skirting off the front and sides so we could fit the wire under so the critters can’t dig their way in again. Once we finished that, we started to finish the front deck. We placed chicken wire around it to discourage them from digging there too. We didn’t work hard, just steady and before too long, we were done. Facias on and gravel laid, now for the rocking chair and a beverage and watch the world go by. We also started the edging finish of river rock up the side to match the other side.

 

The south side of the garage needed an eaves trough so we put that up too. The garden at the back corner of the garage gets flooded after a steady rain so we connected the down spout into the sump tile that we have around the house to get rid of the rain water.

We had a busy couple of weeks socially. Randy & Norma came by for some much needed fast track, lunch and more fun times. John & Di came in for the weekend, some fast track, rummy stix and lots of laughs and fun times.

 

But all this was not without some play time, a couple of shows, some golf and just being together keeps us happy. Barb’s painting is getting better each time she puts the brush to the canvas and my wood turning is improving too every time I go to the shop to make wood chips! The upcoming months will keep us focused on our family Christmas at the end of November and then our drive down to the Plantation for our winter excitement.

 

 

 

Come back again and hope all is good out there with you…..

Back Home from Our Summer Trip to the Plantation….

After we got back from LA, we thought we would take a few days of down time to recharge after the l-o-n-g drive home but not! Terri & Mark were taking off to cycle the Cabot Trail and they had picked up some logs so I could turn them into bowls so we decided even after being in the truck for 19+ hours yesterday, we would go into their place to pick up the logs and say farewell. They have been busy working on the front of the house and at the side to clear a spot for a hot tub they acquired. A coat of paint, remove the wrought iron and the house looks much better.

We had planned to golf and then sit back on the patio at He’s Not Here to celebrate Barbie’s birthday but the weather was not very cooperative so we did a show and dined at home. After a couple of Chocolate Cherry cocktails, I prepared my must have Cherries Jubilee for dessert. Her celebration was not what we planned but it was a nice day none the less – we had good company. We finally were able to complete her birthday celebration plans a week later. We played ICC here in Fort Erie, took in a show and then had dinner on the patio at He’s not Here. It was another great day.

It’s quiet around here most of the time, Barb ‘plays’ in her studio, quilting or painting while I ‘play’ out in the garage converted work shop, learning the wood lathe. In the srping, we planted 30+ Castor Bean seeds but only 4 germinated. We planted the seedlings along the big white fence to break up the glare.

 

We have made friends with our neighbors across the road and invited them over for a happy hour Sunday afternoon – Jamie is young enough that he works so only can party on weekends! Anyway, lots of chatter and laughs and before we realize it, it is well past dinner time and into early evening – apparently we’re having too much fun.

 

 

 

It was time for some Fast Track and more laughs so we headed to Randy & Norma’s in Dunneville, on the Grand River. Randy & I jusy can’t seem to get the upper hand on the ladies. It was a great day anyway, even if we couldn’t win many hands.

 

 

 

It’s time for my birthday golf and dinner. I chose a new course we haven’t played – Whisky Run, name sounded like right up my alley. The course was disappointing enough that we will not return. The 18 holes are squashed into an area suitable for 14! We soon caught up to a 5-some and held us up on every shot. The marshal didn’t want to upset them so he tried to be polite but that hint didn’t work! Needless to say we left the course unhappy. We stayed there for dinner which was also a little short of our expectations. We still had a fun day with a lesson learned….

 

To end the day off perfectly, while we were gone, a skunk moved in under the front of our house. His distinct aroma met us at the back door when we got back. I called a neighbour that I knew has fun catching these cute little black & white cats! He soon arrived with his live trap, set it up and we wait for morning. The air seems to be somewhat better so maybe he is not there after all. We’ll see in the AM.

 

 

Come back soon to hear if we had a free loading tenant….