Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Tuesday Morning

Is It Tuesday Yet? 

Yes, Katie, it is Tuesday morning. 

The little blonde weather girl is predicting severe weather conditions throughout the day, however, our NOAA alarm hasn’t sounded as of yet.  Fortunately for us, most of the weather appears to be following it’s normal pattern of traveling in a Northeast direction along the western shore of Mobile Bay.  We’ll definitely get some heavy rain before it’s all said and done.

Yesterday I finalized my very first painting and here’s the finished product.

    End Of The First Class End Of The Second ClassThe Finished Product

There was still more that I could do to it, but the goal was to learn how to paint so it’s time to quit tweaking and move on.   This painting was done in oils, but Gil, my instructor, wants me to try acrylics next.  My next painting will be of a seascape and/or a light house; I need to pick something out today in order to be ready for tomorrow’s class.

Today, Judy and I are volunteering on a quilt making project at the clubhouse.  There is a need for baby blankets in Africa for new born infants.  There will be a production line in hopes of producing around 150 blankets.   More on that tomorrow.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - -  

Monday, November 29, 2010

A Spectacular Sunday

Let me say this about that.  Sunday is one of the top ten days of each week!!  Yesterday was a great day of Worship, Football, Reading, Napping, Figure Skating, and Ice Cream.

We are attending a Southern Baptist Church named Church Of The Eastern Shores.  This is not your father’s Southern Baptist Church.  The music is very contemporary, the Pastor dresses casually, the sermons are lively, entertaining, and challenging, and the Holy Spirit is moving among the congregation.  It provides us with a great worship experience each Sunday.

As for the football, We’d rather watch college ball over professional.  There are waaaay toooo many overpaid prima donnas in the AFL/NFL.  But, Sunday is pro-ball day, none the less, so we tune in to root for our favorite teams.  Go Pats, oops, the Patriots played on Thanksgiving day and whooped the Lions.

I’ve been reading the old classics and am currently reading George Orwell’s 1984.  This is a fun book that was written in 1949.  It’s scary to see how many of the “predictions” came true with the advent of the computer age.  Anyway, this is another book that I first read during my high school days and is rather light reading.

It is truly amazing how Miss Judy and I have learned the art of napping from our furry kids, Katie and Alex.  Our quick katt napp ended up being a little longer than we had anticipated, but Miss Judy did get up at 4:30 yesterday morning (silly girl!!).  I hadn’t slept all that well since what I thought was a sinus attack might really be a cold setting in.  I guess we needed a little extra sleep.

Later in the afternoon we watched A Holiday Celebration On Ice with music by the Mannheim Steamroller.  We love Mannheim Steamroller music and the show featured the skaters that we remembered from the 1990’s.  Very nostalgic to say the least, brought back memories of when we lived in Maine and Mannheim Steamroller Christmas music is the best.

Well, worship and social time are the book ends for any given Sunday.  Everything in between is subject to our whims, but we begin the day with Worship at our church and end the day with the Ice Cream Social at the clubhouse.  So, last evening, we joined in with a hundred of our closest friends for more fun, food, and fellowship (food being ice cream).  Then it was home again, home again to put the cap on our day.

Now it’s on to today.  What’s on the agenda?  If it’s Monday, then it’s arts and crafts.  Take Care Until Next Time - - - - -

Sunday, November 28, 2010

A Quiet Day At Home

What a difference twenty four hours can make.  Friday morning we woke up to 74* weather; yesterday morning it was 32*.  The cold front has just about passed through so warmer temperatures will be returning, thank goodness!

We began yesterday morning with Larry’s biscuits and gravy for breakfast at the clubhouse.  Always a great way to start the day.  Then it was home to do our daily chores before decorating the house. 

Normally we decorate the house for Christmas on Black Friday, but we actually went shopping; therefore, we didn’t get around to setting up the tree until “Broke” Saturday.  As a side note:  Surprise, surprise, the crowds weren’t too bad at all on Black Friday.  Of course, we waited until eight o’clock when all the hardcore shoppers were all done with their shopping (they had all gone to Cracker Barrel by then).

Oh Tannenbaum

Other than decorating, we managed to just enjoy ourselves in front of the fireplace drinking hot chocolate (with peppermint schnapps) while reading, playing on our ‘puters, and watching a little college ball.  A nice quiet day at home with the two of us (and the katts); just the way we like it from time to time.

Something New For The Katts To Play With Warm And Cozy Next To The Fire

Take Care Until Next Time - - - -

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Art Appreciation Class

Way back when Hector was just a pup and when visions of fulltiming was sugar plums dancing in our heads, I had this vision of what I thought fulltime RVing should look like.  Part of that vision was based on a commercial that would air during a show sponsored by Camping World called RVing Today which we watched every Saturday. 

This commercial showed a retired couple traveling about the country in their motorhome doing all sorts of different things.  One scene showed them sitting outside the motorhome on a nice fall day reading, another showed him fly fishing, while another showed her at the end of a dock doing a painting.

Well, being the romantic that I am (on occasion, that is), that commercial gave me nice warm feelings about the fulltiming lifestyle.  Right then and there I knew that I wanted to achieve some of those things, especially the painting part.

So, the summer before we began fulltiming, I started collecting watercolor “stuff” in an attempt to train myself.  That didn’t work out well at all.  My most significant accomplishment was learning how to mix various shades of black watercolors (with watercolors if you don’t mix the colors properly they turn to black in a hurry).  My last endeavor was to attend a water painting class held here at Rainbow Plantation last winter.  It was at that time that I decided that I should donate all my acquired watercolor “stuff” to my daughter-in-law who is, in fact, an artist.  

Now fast forward to a couple weeks ago.  Our next door neighbor, Gil, told me about an art class/group that he was going to start so I decided to go over to the first session and see what it was all about.  I was hooked, especially since Gil told me not to buy anything, just come over and try painting using his paints and brushes. 

Below is my first endeavor, the first photograph you saw in our journal entry a few days ago.  The second one is of how things looked after class number two.  There’s still a lot more to be done with this painting, but it’s coming together.

End Of First Class   End Of Second Class

As you can see, the trees in the middle of the picture need a lot more work, the waterfalls still need some more work, and everything on the right side of the picture has barely been started.  The goal on this, my very first painting, is to learn technique; not produce the perfect painting.  If I produced a first class painting on my first attempt, what challenge would that be?  I might just as well hang up my paintbrushes (or, in this case, Gil’s paintbrushes).  At least, I’m off to a good start and having a lot of fun; Gil is proving to be a good and patient instructor.

On the home front, Judy is continuing to work on her quilting and beading projects while picking up a few more craft projects along the way.  When you’re sitting still for awhile, it’s good to have fun hobbies to help occupy your time and Miss Judy has more than enough to keep her busy.  We will show you pictures of her various “basket weaving endeavors” after Christmas; need I say more?

The fulltiming lifestyle is a great way to live.  You get to travel some, make lots of new and interesting friends, and take time to work on your favorite hobbies along the way.  How did we ever find time for a full time J-O-B?  One day just flows into the next and before you know a week has flown by.

Ba-bye for now.  Take Care Until Next Time - - - - -

Friday, November 26, 2010

Thanksgiving Dinner

As always, we had a great Thanksgiving dinner with our friends here at Rainbow Plantation.  We rolled out of bed, had our coffee and ‘puter time, and then got busy with our contributions for the Thanksgiving meal.  Judy made her cranberry sauce and two pumpkin pies while I stuffed celery with cream cheese and olives and stuffed dates with peanut butter then rolled them in powdered sugar.

Centerpiece At The Front Of The Clubhouse

Linda did a wonderful job decorating our table and all the dishes were superb.  There was more than enough food in which to stuff ourselves.  We had mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, carrots and broccoli, coleslaw, cranberry sauce, stuffed celery, and stuffed dates to accompany our turkey and gravy.  For dessert there was pumpkin pies and a chocolate eclair cake.  Needless to say, we imbibed in a little fruit of the vine with our dinner.  Everything was so wonderful; can you say yum, yum?

Our Table Milling About Before Dinner

After dinner, it was home for a quick katt nap and to watch a little football.  Hope you all had a wonderful day with family, friends, and food as well.  We agree with Terry (Guiler Travels) about Thanksgiving being one of our favorite holidays of the year.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - -