Football

A day off for Duane, who played pool this morning but was too busy watching the Ohio State/Michigan game to play pickleball this afternoon.  Saturday is College Football Day at our house.  This means I don't watch tv at all.  I'm not missing anything.  There's nothing on Saturdays that I care to watch..

Still, I manage to keep myself busy.  This morning I got some quilting done before I made lunch.  After lunch I played pickleball, rested and cooled off the rest of the afternoon, and quilted in the evening.

All in all, a pretty good day.

Louise and Duane

Big Mistake

Today I'd planned to pin my quilt together (see Do It Right! blog) in the morning but I ended up talking to my sister.  This meant that I played four games of pickleball before I got around to spending three hours on my hands and knees pinning the quilt.  I ran out of pins and had to unpin about 50 of them and repin them in different spots.  My back hurt.  My knees hurt.  My fingers hurt where I kept sticking them as I grew more tired.  The worst thing was that it was very boring!

To console myself I decided to be grateful that I could feel all of this pain and wasn't laying immobile on a bed blinking my eyes and puffing into a tube to communicate.  Pretty drastic, but I quit complaining.  There was no one around to hear me anyway!

Very glad to be able to move under our own power,

Louise and Duane

Southern Style

This Thanksgiving Duane and I ate dinner with a small group of residents (18 people).  We ate the traditional turkey, 

and the usual dressing, mashed potatoes, and gravy and cranberry sause, but our Southern friends added corn chowder,  purple-hulled peas, and baked pineapple.

In addition to the 5 pies, there was some kind of sweet bread and a pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting.  Yum! Yum! 

In true Florida style, we on the screened porch so that we could enjoy the beautiful sunny, warm weather.

Happy T-day!

Louise and Duane

Work Day

While the rest of the country freezes, we are really enjoying the sunny warm weather here in central Florida.  With daytime temps in the 80's we roast in the hot sun during pickleball, but relax in the cool air conditioning the rest of the day. 

In case you forgot, this is what warm sunny days look like.

Duane and I are still working on Christmas presents part of the day and evening.  This morning he took time out to play pool with the local club while I worked on making the back of my last quilt and making lunch.  We both played pickleball after lunch, then I finished the quilt back while he used his power carver on his latest grandkids' Christmas ornaments. 

I plan on having the quilt done this weekend, and starting my last two projects.  Duane still has a couple of weeks to go on his.

Tomorrow--I don't have to cook!  Yay!

Louise and Duane

In Review

I have gone out of my novel reading comfort zone recently with two books which were passed on to me by friends.  One is John Sandford's Dead Watch, published in 2006. The author and the plot subject were both new for me.   This story is all about the behind-the-scenes political intrigues used by both left and right to gain and maintain political power.  The protagonist is a Democratic "fixer".  The plot was so devious and twisted that my head was spinning. 

The second book, published in 2011, is Andy Weir's The Martian, which was recently made into a motion picture.  This book is rather scientifically technical, and I find myself reading slowly and studying some of the chapters, but I do understand a lot of it.  The protagonist, Mark Watney, is an astronaut on a mission to set up a supply camp on Mars.  During a particularly dangerous dust storm, the team decides evacuate the planet.  An antenna shaft breaks loose, impales Mark and the wind sweeps him away.  With only a few minutes to leave the planet safely, the rest of the crew leave him for dead.  The rest of the story details how he figures out what he needs to survive, if possible, for 4 years until the next team arrives.  To help himself think and to keep himself from despair, Mark writes a journal describing his activities, filling it with technical science then restated in simpler terms, and with a healthy dose of humor.  I'm about halfway through, and have gained a lot more respect for astronauts.

Getting into a routine here in Fl.

Louise and Duane

Figures

It figures that when I can finally post lots of pix again, we are mostly hanging around the rv park and have nothing particular to photograph!

We spent the greater part of a beautiful sunny day wending our way through heavy traffic in Brandon, FL, just east of Tampa.  We loaded up on fabric at the JoAnn Store, meat, candy and health supplements at Costco, and made a stop at Gander RV (Gander Mountain bought our Camping World) to order a new window for the one that was broken in Cincinnati.

We saw a couple of interesting signs.  One said Nail Bar.  We never thought of nails as a snack.  I managed to get a picture of another one.  I noticed that it didn't say how to contact the Dr.  Hmmm. 

Meanwhile I continue to work on my latest quilt and Duane is working away with his power carver.

More work and play in our future.

Louise and Duane

Another One Done

Here is my finished Dresden Plate quilt.  My mother's aunts made this quilt top.  They used a piece of cardboard as a pattern and a pair of scissors to cut each of the thirty little pieces of scrap fabric that make the plate and the four inner pieces (which are often omitted to leave the center white).  All of the pieces are hand stitched together.  The colored pieces are remnants of their homemade clothing (vintage).  The white is probably old sheets. The Dresden Plate pattern is often used as an alternative to patchwork to use up small pieces of fabric left over from larger projects. 
The quilt looks wrinkly now but will look nice and smooth and fluffy after it's washed and dryer dried.

I added some white fabric on the sides and bottom to change it from full size to queen size.  I made the back and quilted it (sewed the three pieces together).  I had the advantage of a gridded cutting mat, a gridded ruler, a razor-edged rotary cutter, and a very nice sewing machine.  

Only one more quilt to go!

Louise and Duane

Humidity

You know its humid when your picnic table grows fungus!

Tomorrow--humidity down to 40%!

Louise and Duane

Fun Everyday

Wednesday we enjoyed a nice bike ride in beautiful weather for  two hours of food and chat with biker buddies Lisa and Kenny.

The rest of the week we played pickleball with our new friends at Saddlebag Lake Resort.

Glad to have our speed back!

Louise and Duane

Once More

Tomorrow begins our new data cycle and we'll be up and running again.  We are really looking forward to getting onto the net within seconds instead of taking 5-10 minutes just to load. 

Meanwhile, Duane has been perusing the net on his phone, which means our data usage is just about depleted there too. 

Unlimited data is useless when we're too slow to access it!

Looking forward to tomorrow.

Louise and Duane

Meeting Up

Beautiful weather invited us outside for a short 50 mile Eagle flight to Sebring (FL) to meet biker buddies Kenny and Lisa for lunch at The Gator Shack.  Kenny and Lisa escaped from their cold home in Illinois to Port Charlotte for the winter.  We never pass up a chance to meet up with friends for food and chat, especially when we get there via a bike ride through great weather.  We only spent two hours yakking and stuffing face, but enjoyed every minute.  

No pix--we have another day before we regain our internet speed.  

It's been a long wait.

Louise and Duane  

Being Social

Friendly retired people + Florida = lots of activities.  After chores this morning, Duane and I played pickleball this afternoon under a beautiful blue sky and warm sunshine.  This evening I played a long and involved card game called Hand, Knee, and Foot with 5 other women.  I think we laughed and yakked as much as we played cards.  Duane could have played pool, but opted to stay home and enjoy having the house to himself.  No pix,--I forgot to take my camera either place I went.

Bike ride tomorrow.

Louise and Duane

Strange Light

Last Friday we left Georgia between showers and arrived in Florida for a two month stay.  Florida greeted us with clouds and chilly breezes.  Saturday and Sunday were the same.  This morning we woke to strangely bright light.  The sun had returned at last!  We turned off the heaters, opened the windows and doors and played pickleball all afternoon.  

We enjoyed our first Florida sunset and starry night sky.

Looking forward to more sun and nicer temps.

Louise and Duane

Do It Right!

How not to assemble a quilt: Find a nice large, clean, quiet place to work.   Lay out the back, wrong side up, ease all the wrinkles out, tape edges.  Lay batting on top, discover it is short on one side.  Read size on bag and see that quilt is square and batting is rectangular.  Remember that you knew that and had planned to add a scrap piece of batting to make it square.  After wasting almost an hour, say appropriate 4-letter swear words like drat, crud, and pooh, pick up your project, and go home.

How to assemble a quilt:  In a large, clean quiet place to work, get a friend (like Duane) to help you lay out the back, wrong side up.  Have friend hand you pieces of tape while you smooth and tape edges.  With friend, lay out adjusted batting on top of back, 

and stretch quilt top on top.  Do all this in about 15 minutes with friend.  

Pin with lots of pins to keep fabric from moving when quilting.  Use lots and lots of pins.  (With a friend this will take some time.  Alone it takes about 2 hours).  Get bored and have sore muscles.  When finally pinned, pick up quilt and go home.  Put it away and ignore it for the rest of the day.

Now to decide how to quilt it.

Louise and Duane

Park Outside

Outdoor venues at Saddlebag Lake Resort, FL, our home for the next two months, include a large covered picnic area from which we can see the horseshoe courts

and the shuffleboard courts,

a nice large heated pool,

Jacuzzi,

large picnic area under the oaks,

a boat dock, boat slips, and a sandy beach for lake swimming, if you are brave enough to chance the gators.

There are also tennis courts, one lined for pickleball, and a large field for flying model airplanes next to the driving range.  

Getting into the swing of things,

Louise and Duane 

Home At Last

Today we finally arrived at our home for the next two months--Saddlebag Lake Resort, Lake Wales, FL.  The resort is an association of homeowners  who have formed an over 55 retirement resort whose goal is to be the friendliest place to retire and enjoy life.  The owners buy lots, some with houses, extended mobile homes, or park models, or live in their rv's. 

The first thing we saw was the Administration Center with 24/7 security, the front gate and the Welcome Garden.  

When we were checked in our friend Wallace arrived to lead us to our spot, which we rented from a couple who live in Canada and won't be arriving until January.  After we were set up, Wallace's wife, Wanda arrived to take us on a golf cart tour of the resort.

The park recreational area  has a club house with pool tables, sauna, and showers/restrooms,

recreation room, here being set up for the craft sale tomorrow, (the stage is on the right, not pictured),

Memorial Hall which houses the library (not open today) and this nice room where I intend to lay out and pin my latest quilt,

a large laundry with more washers and dryers on the left and a library in case the other one is closed,

a post office and a bunch of outdoor activities.  

We were also able to visit with three other couples we know who live here now before returning to our house for the evening.

Tomorrow, the rest of the park.

Louise and Duane

State Park

On our last day at New Smyrna Beach, FL, our friends Bob and Dottie took us to Ponce DeLeon Springs State Park, home of one of the many natural springs in Florida.  Unlike its name, Ponce DeLeon was never in this area.  The name was changed from Spring Garden in the late 1880's when residents changed it to its present name to attract tourists after the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway was constructed in 1886.

The park offers a variety of activities including picnicking in any of five large pavilions,  fishing, hiking on a 1/2 mile paved nature trail or the 4.5 mile Wild Persimmon trail, a little history museum, a 50 minute guided boat trip on Spring Garden Run (creek) and canoes, kayaks and paddleboats for rent to use the Run to access Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge with more than 20,000 acres of lakes, creeks and marshes.

The main attractions of the park, however, are the natural spring pool (a constant 72 d. as all natural springs in Florida) and the Old Spanish Sugar Mill Restaurant, the building across the pool on the right.

The interior of the restaurant retains some of the original sugar mill equipment.  The restaurant is open for breakfast and lunch, but most people prefer the unlimited regular or 5 grain pancake breakfast.  The tables are equipped with griddles where diners cook their own pancakes and eggs.  Meats are cooked in the kitchen.  

After stuffing ourselves with pancakes we walked the park learning its history and admiring the beautiful clear spring water.  

Back at our friends house, we chatted while breakfast settled, them enjoyed a few games of Euchre before saying goodbye to Bob and Dottie.

Thank you friends for a wonder visit!

Moving day tomorrow.

Louise and Duane

Fresh!

Fresh seafood was the dinner choice or our Port Orange (FL) friends Bob and Dottie.  They took us to their favorite joint--J B's Fish Camp in New Smyrna Beach.

The place is very plain and open, but has good food.

I enjoyed my crab stuffed mushrooms while laughing at  Dottie wrestling with her crab legs. She persevered and loved every bite! 

Having no previously planned activities for tomorrow, we are spending the day together tomorrow.

One more day here.

Louise and Duane

New Smyrna Beach RV

Welcome to the north eastern coast of  Florida, land of sand, palm trees, Spanish moss, and retired people.

Our home until Friday is New Smyrna Beach RV Park, in one of the many pull-thru 50 amp, full hookup sites.

There are three buildings in the park.  One houses a nice 4/4 laundry and activity center (closed except for park activities).

Another houses a small but nice workout room

and the office/mail room/library.

Between them is a very nice large heated pool.

The park boasts over a hundred rv sites and 11 nice air conditioned/heated cabins, with a second laundry (also 4/4, but open on one side) and nice restrooms, showers.

While our friends Bob and Dottie were busy with their stuff during the day, I explored the park while  Duane rode the bike to Ormand Beach to shop at a bike store that ended up being closed.  He enjoyed the ride anyway. 

 After lunch we finally managed to get shot twice--once with  the old people flu vaccine, and once with the first dose of the new shingles vaccine.  

In the evening we enjoyed Dottie's homemade ham n bean soup (made with smoked turkey but we couldn't tell), tossed salad and cornbread.  After supper we played several games of Euchre again.

Seafood for supper tomorrow.

Louise and Duane