A Wonderful Weekend

It’s been a busy weekend.  Mike and Gerri arrived Thursday so we had a great visits with them on Thursday evening and again on Friday.  Then on Saturday, the Marlow / Fish River Fire Department had an open house which we attended with Norm and Linda.

 

Of course, Sunday morning was worship, while Sunday afternoon was “Tailgate” at the church.  Tailgate is a fall event where thirty to forty booths are set up by various 242 Home Groups.  There’s lots of food, games, and fun.  Music was provided by a DJ, drawings were held for prizes, and then awards were given to the booths for several different categories.  It was just a plain, old fashioned, good time for all while encouraging participation in Home Groups.

     

Last evening there was a beautiful sunset, we should have made a bee line for the Fairhope Municipal Park as it was just gorgeous.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - -

Girl Hockey And Man Quilt

Our grand daughter, Catia, has taken up hockey.  We just can’t imagine another grand daughter with no teeth (Kalina had all four of her front teeth knocked out by a teeter-totter).  But, none the less, here she is in all her glory.

And, when ever there’s a hockey game, there must be fans.  Here’s Radek watching intently with big dreams of following in his older sister’s skate steps.

Other than that, the Man Quilt is well underway.  Judy and her helpers have been busy indeed.

Alex is busy with layout -

While Katie takes over the sewing -

Here’s a sample of what the Man Quilt will look like.  Keep in mind, it’s just half the rows laid out on the floor.  They are not sewed, or even pinned together, so the squares aren’t perfectly lined up the way they will be once the quilt is finished.  But you can get the general idea; the actual quilt will be twice this size.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - -

A Great Day With Great Friends

We met Mike and Gerri at Big Daddy’s at 11:32 for lunch.  Being another fine warm day here in the southland, we decided to sit out on the deck overlooking the Fish River.  We spent about an hour and a half conversing, laughing, and eating.  It’s so nice to have people that you just sit down with and pick up where you left off.  Time flies by with encounters like these.

While finishing up our visit, I got a phone call from Eye Glass World saying that my glasses had, in fact, finally arrived.  So we made a direct bee line to Pensacola.  First stop was at JoAnn Fabrics for some thread, then Hobby Lobby for some picture frames with the next stop being Eye Glass World.  While we were in Florida we decided to pick up a few things at Wally World to take advantage of the “no sales tax on food” thang.  Finally we headed back to our piece of turf at Rainbow Plantation.

It was a short stop because we had planned to meet up with Mike and Gerri at Fairhope Municipal Park to watch the sunset.  However, it was overcast so there wasn’t really much sun to be setting in the western sky.

Actually, it was quite windy on Mobile Bay.  I don’t think we’ve ever seen it quite this “rough” on the bay.

It was too windy to hang around much at the park, so we headed out looking for a place to have some coffee and dessert.  Ruby Tuesday fit the bill just fine.  Before you knew it, another hour and a half flew by and the New York Cheese Cake was “to die for”.  What fun!!!!!

Mike and Gerri head back to Georgia this morning, but it was great to see them again.  Hopefully it won’t be so long between visits in the future.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - -

Company Arrives–Yay!!!!!!

Mike and Gerri Jones arrived at the hotel in Fairhope around four o’clock.  After checking in, they made their way over to Darrell and Judy’s house for a nice visit.  We did burgers on the grill, a garden salad, deviled eggs, and raspberry squares with coffee for a dessert.  It was great just to see them again.

We spent the first half hour just catching up on our lives since our last visit at Rainbow Plantation in the spring of 2010.  Then it was just a free-for-all discussion of anything and everything – with much humor.  They’re staying for two nights before heading back to Georgia so later today we’ll be going to Big Daddy’s for, most likely, a shrimp dinner.  Yum-Yum.

Let’s see, today is Friday!!  I think I’ll cross a couple more items off the Ol’ Ta Do List.  I’ll change out the water filter and go get some propane.  Miss Judy is at “all ahead stop” on my Man Quilt.  She has run out of the right color thread and the only place (that she knows of) to get more is JoAnn Fabrics which is in Pensacola. 

We’ve been waiting for my glasses to come into Eye Glass World to make the trip, but they still haven’t arrived.  I called and talked to the manager yesterday as it has been two and a half weeks and he assured me that they would be in today.  Hopefully he’s right and we can go get them first thing tomorrow morning.

Okay, doakie then.  We promise to get some pictures of Mike and Gerri this afternoon.  They want to catch the sunset from the park in Fairhope this evening – we just may tag along.  That would be a great photo op.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - -

All Is Well On The Home Front

There’s not a whole lot to report this morning.  Tuesday morning we got up at Oh-Dark-Thirty and I went with our neighbors while he had his knee operated on.  It was outpatient surgery, however, he wouldn’t be able to drive home and she doesn’t drive so I was the designated driver.  While he was in surgery, I went to IHOP for breakfast where I just took my time and read.  When I returned to the hospital, his surgery was complete and he was in recovery.  It wasn’t too much longer before “they” rolled him out and stuffed his carcass into the truck.  He was still a hurting human when we checked on him yesterday; hopefully he’s feeling better this morning.

We’ve been out doing our walking, building up our stamina for our upcoming w*rk gig.  Not wanting to wish our lives away, but we’ll be glad to be on the other side of this gig.  But it will be good for us, if it doesn’t kill us – that is.  We’ll know soon enough.

Last night was our 242 Home Group.  We had breakfast for dinner.  Way tooooooo many good cooks in that group, that’s for sure.  It was delicious.  We made biscuits and gravy which was just plain yummy.  There was scrambled eggs and bacon, French toast, cheese grits, and a breakfast salad.  It was all so good.  We over ate as usual.  That’s not very hard to do when there’s so much good food laying around.

Supposedly we’re having guests arrive this afternoon.  We’re looking forward to it.  It’s been awhile since we’ve seen them.  There will be more about that tomorrow so hang in there.  Curiosity killed the katt, ya know.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - -

To Be Or Not To Be

Some things are just not to be, but we push them anyway.  I had agreed to help one of our church mates out by towing his fifthwheel from its current location to a trailer park in Fairhope.  I had told him that he needed to have a valid registration and good tires.  He assured me that he would have both.  Well, yesterday was the day that we agreed on to to bring the fifthwheel back home.

He had a temporary registration plate, however, once we go there the unit had two flat tires and one that was beginning to delaminate.  He had brought a spare for the one delaminating, however, when we stated airing up one of the flats, the stem broke – this was not a good sign.  I was temped to tell him that we couldn’t tow it home, but I checked the Alabama state map and discovered a back route that we could take; there was no way I was towing that rig out onto the interstate.

We aired up the other tire and put the spare on the one with the broken stem; the delaminating tire was holding air so I figured that we just might make it to a tire store where we could get the stem repaired on the other tire.  Also, the rig was light weight enough that it could be towed with the two rear tires if need be; of course, that would mean having good tires.

I took my Pressure Pro tire sensers with us so I installed them on the tires and off we went.  There was no way that I was going to go over 45 MPH with this set up.  The back roads were very good and we made it clear to Bay Minnette (about 70 miles) before the dreaded “Beep” began.  Then a second alarm went off.  Both front tires on the rig were losing air.  A check in the mirrors indicated that the tires still looked normal which meant that the rear tires were carrying the load.

Being that we still had about twenty five miles left to go, we headed for the first tire store we came to which turned out to be just a couple blocks away.  When we got there we discovered that one of the rear tires had a “big knot” developing on the side – that’s not bad, four bad tires out of five.  The only “good” one (and that was debatable) was the spare that we brought with us. 

With the stem repaired, we changed out one tire and the tire store had an old 15” tire which they used to change out the other flat.  Now, what to do about the tire with the “knot” on the side.  We decided, “what the heck” we only had 25 miles to go so let’s just see what happens. 

Well, we made it without any more incidents while sticking to the back roads creeping along.  I guess I no longer have commentary rights on those “idiots” that I see dragging trailers down the road on bad tires.  Now I’ve been there, done that – never again though.  Dragging a trailer over a hundred miles on bad tires is just not the smartest thing I’ve done this year.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - -

Fall Is In The Air

Fall has “fellen” in New England and in Tennessee.  Today we take a journey down the apple and pumpkin pickin’ time lane with our grand kids.  Rather than spend a lots of words, we’ll just post lots of pictures.  These are times that Grandmas and Grandpas wished they were on hand, but, alas, we headed south to keep warm.  Run your cursor over the pictures for the cute little commentaries.

               

Unfortunately, Briana was off to Maine with her Grandmother and didn’t get to go apple and pumpkin pickin’.  And, Finally, This is The End - - - 

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - -

Will She Or Won’t She?

Our breakfast date went pretty well, so good, in fact, that I’ll probably ask her out again sometime in the near future.  Next time I might ask her to go steady, will she or won’t she?  But you remember the old adage, “Early to bed, early to rise”?  Well, I’ll need to change my habits or else, “my girl will go out with other guys”!!  Alrighty then, back to the breakfast date, Judy had pancakes smothered with cherries while I had eggs, hash browns, and biscuits with fried chicken and gravy on them (not exactly healthy, but darned good).  Now onto weight loss – yeah, right!!

This weather we’ve been having has been just exquisite.  Cool at night, just right for sleeping, and in the seventies during the day, just plain beautiful.  And the skies are not cloudy all day, who could ask for anything more?  Plus, the cooler weather has slowed the grass growth down a little; it’s been over a week since I last mowed the lawn and it still doesn’t look like it needs a hair cut.

So, what’s on the agenda for today?  Well, it’s Sunday – that means it’s time to join together in worship.  Then I don’t really know.  When I was an itty-bity boy my mama (and daddy) would take me for a ride on them old country roads back home.  I was an only child, except for my brother.  Anyhow, maybe I’ll take my girl friend out for a ride.  I’ve been wanting to check out a park at Point Clear.

That park is located right on a point with views of Week’s Bay, Bon Secor Bay, and Mobile Bay.  You can, also, see Fort Morgan and Dauphin Island from the park.  So, while the weather remains nice and before we head north, it would be worth the drive just to check it out and see if it’s a nice beach area or a dud.  So, maybe today will be the day, only time will tell.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - - 

Oh Good Grief – What Now?

Really, nothing much – I just wanted to get your attention.  Yesterday was just another “work around the house and reading” day (sure do enjoy those Nooks).  Got a couple more items knocked off the Ol’ Ta Do List.  Now we’re down to sorting out a few things and packing up for our trip up north in a couple weeks.  Judy is coming along fine on the Man Quilt.  She ran out of thread so we’ll need to pick up some more at JoAnn Fabrics when we go to Pensacola to pick up my new glasses. 

This morning I’m taking my wife and my girl friend (yes folks, they’re one in the same) to breakfast at Cracker Barrel.  She’s a good ol’ gal (well, not actually so old) and deserves a day out on the town every now and again.  We used to go to Out To Lunch for breakfast every Saturday morning when we lived in Harbor Springs.  Breakfast is our favorite eating out meal.  By the way, Out To Lunch is the name of a restaurant in Harbor Springs, Michigan.

Whassup for the rest of the day?  Who knows, we’re back to making up the rules as we go.  Retired life is really nice that way – sure hate to give it up for six weeks to go back to w*rk, but Obama has failed to send us our stimulus check (that’s two years in a row now).  But, our Lord and Savior has provided a way for us to “earn” (emphasis on the word “earn”) a few extra bucks to round out the ol’ budget, so we are grateful.  We have so much to give thanks for that we really don’t have a lot of time to focus on the few irritants of life.

Okay, it’s time for me to go and pick up my date, so Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - -  

Viola Turns Ninety-Two

Cushman and Barbara threw a party to end all parties in honor of his mother’s (Viola) ninety second birthday.  And, No!!!  This isn’t Viola!!!  This was the Maitre d', she collected the birthday cards. 

This is the birthday girl, Viola!!!!

The house was all decked out for the occasion -

 

There were servers on hand -

And there was live music -

Cushman and Barbara provided a full bar, a huge spread for making sandwiches, a chicken soup, a clam chowder, and lots of cake and ice cream for the celebration.  A large crew was on hand to help celebrate Viola’s ninety-second as the entire park was invited.

Here’s what happens when you put 92 candles on a cake and set fire to them -

That little stunt resulted in -

What a hoot!!!  The Fire Chief made Viola an honorary fireman (eh, woman) -

 

A good time was had by all; who says we “keen-agers” don’t know how to have a little fun.  Thanks Cushman and Barbara for a wonderful fun evening.  And, oh yes, Happy Birthday, Viola!!  May you have many more!!

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - -

These Are A Few Of Our Favorite Things

“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of (our) favorite things.”

 

If you remember from yesterday, we were going shopping at Wally World.  After returning home and putting the groceries away, we headed to L. A. BBQ for lunch.  We had a coupon for buy one sandwich, get one free so we decided to take advantage of it with a pulled pork sandwich.  In order to w*rk at Amazon you must take a pre-employment drug test, so after lunch we headed to Lab Corp in Fairhope to get that taken care of.  We had packed up our lawn chairs and Nooks so we could spend the rest of the afternoon at the Fairhope Municipal Park.

It was in the mid eighties and muggy, but, with the breeze coming off from Mobile Bay, it was very pleasant.  There’s just nothing better than sitting next to the beach reading while listening the the waves as they roll on in.  Here are a few photographs so that you can see why “relaxing on the beach while the bird sings, this is just one of our favorite things”.

And we just can’t resist one more photo of the rose gardens and the fountain

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - -

Is Our Summer Weather Heading South?

“They”, who ever “they” are, are calling for highs of 86* today and 68* tomorrow.  A cold front is moving across a warm behind causing much disturbance; that means some inclement weather heading our way for the over night hours.  There’s a possibility of an early frost on both Wednesday and Thursday nights with temps in the high 30’s.  Let’s hear it for the heated mattress pad!!!!!

East Traveler Street is beginning to fill up.  Vern and Betty arrived Sunday, Gil and Orma returned yesterday, and we think Bob and Kleo maybe back (their motorhome showed up a few days back, but we haven’t seen them out and about).  Others will be pulling in shortly, it’s nice to have neighbors again.   But, in three weeks from yesterday, we’ll be pulling up stakes and heading out for a couple of months.  Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to w*rk we go!!

Judy continues to work on the Man Quilt while I defrosted the fridge and flushed out the black tank (or was it defrosting the black tank and flushing out the fridge).  Whatever, it resulted in two more items being crossed off the Ol’ Ta Do List.  Being another nice day in the southland, we spent some time reading yesterday afternoon.

Today is grocery shopping day – off to see Uncle Wally.  Not sure what else will crop up on the agenda.  There are still a few items left on the Ol’ Ta Do List to get completed before we leave, so will probably keep working on them.  Then, there’s always a book or two to stick our noses into.  Judy can only sew a few more squares before we need to get some more thread (didn’t get enough while we were at JoAnn Fabrics).  We’ll get some more when I pick my glasses up, most likely on Friday.  Anyhow, she’ll be out of business until we get more thread.

So, all in all, it’s pretty much same ol’, same ol’.  Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - -

Concert In The Park

You couldn’t have asked for a better evening.  It was a beautiful summer day’s night with temps in the 70’s and music floating in the air.  Last night Judy and I motored ourselves over to Fairhope’s Henry George Park to enjoy a “Concert in the Park” performed by the Baldwin Pops.  We parked down by the waterfront and took a moment to enjoy the fountain before making our way up the hill to where the concert was to take place.

The Swing Band warmed up the audience by performing some smooth jazz and music from the Big Band era.  At around six o’clock the Baldwin Pops took center stage entertaining us with a concert entitled “Americana”.  God exhibited His magic by dazzling us a with a gorgeous sunset in the background.  Then, one by one, the stars danced their way onto the scene by poking holes in the sky while lights began twinkling along the western shoreline of Mobile Bay.

Here are some pictures from our evening out.

 

 

 

We sat with Spence and Barb and Don and Marilyn, fellow residents from the Plantation.  It was a wonderful evening.  Had we known we could, we’d have taken a little wine to have enjoyed while tapping our feet.  But, it was great just the way that it was.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - -