Friday, December 31, 2010

New Years Eve

Hi! I am not sure I will see the New Year 2011 enter. But may hear as they will be having fire crackers, etc., in the area.
Going back - - - Wednesday we braved the fog and cool weather and went to the Plant City Flea Market. Saw that they were still spraying the strawberry fields with water to provide an icey blanket to save the berried. At the entrance to the vender's field was a pan of silver ware. the man wanted $15. too much, and we went on. Stopped to buy a bag of kettle corn and had to go back to the car to get my purse out of the trunk. when I came back a lady wanted to sample the kettle corn from the vendor and said she wanted it to see if it was as good as the kettle corn in Indiana. Of course I could not let that go with out asking where she was from.
(Fire works going off and it is only 9 pm.) Elkhart. We conversed for a few minutes and found out that they have a restored GMC motor home, they have been to GLASS and that a couple in our club have gotten them to join Hoosier Cruisers. So we will see each other again next summer or at GLASS.
Bought tomatoes, onions, bananas and two salad forks in a pattern my mother had had at one time. Then as we were leaving, there was that metal bowl with the silver. We got it for $5. Had 4 or 5 good pieces and a lot of the Queen Bess
pattern in good condition. 10 cents per piece. Just needed polishing. So Ernie polished this afternoon while I did some laundry, put away the Christmas decorations and made some deviled eggs.

I make deviled eggs the usual way, except I only use one or two egg yolks and then some baked potato. same consistency and with the seasonings you do not notice that it is not all egg yolk. have to get those seasonings just right. But I have made them twice since coming down here and Ernie has liked them.

Thursday, friends from Indiana stopped by. We gave them a choice of going to Bob Evans or a free snack, and then a trip to Parksdale for strawberries.
so we went to Lazy days and got the free lunch. Found out that we will have to get a new ticket for 2011. Might have to look at some RV's with a salesman.
Anyway- - - (We had a hot dog and a small bag of chips, with a soda pop.)
Stopped by our place and then went on to Parksdale. Ernie and I split the strawberry sundae. Larry and Linda had the shortcake. We had a good visit. Larry decided he liked our quiet park.

Had a call this evening, Beth and Bruce will be coming into our park on Sunday. They are friends from Indiana. They have been down near Kissiame with family. They left Indiana Christmas day. Stopped early in Kentucky due to black ice on the road. But did not have any problems. Will be good to see them and catch up on the latest Anderson news.
We have heard that Indiana had an earthquake this week. Greentown was the epicenter for the quake. Our son and family felt the rumble. Their son was a little concerned as he had never felt a quake before. But all is ok.

Linda and Austin have been busy this week- - - their daughter is a school teacher and she has been on vacation for two weeks. They have been busy with her and other friends. They said Busch Gardens was really crowded on Thursday. We will wait until next week before we go back to the Gardens.

Not much else going on. have Happy New Year. jkc

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Chrsitmas Day Dinner

A quiet day. About 3 we picked up Brian and headed for Clearwater Beach.
Jack and Nikki had made reservations for the 5 of us at the Shephard's Restaurant. On the beach. My goodness, what a crowd. We decided not to eat outside as there was a wind. We were glad we did as it did get quiet cool that evening. People dressed in the Christmas finery, some in their jeans and some just dressed in neat casual clothing. (us) a buffet-------The best item was the lobster bisque soup. Delicious. then there was duck, lamb, turkey, chicken, prime rib, veal, salmon, seafood gumbo, a sushi bar and ??. Salad bar had 3 kinds of lettuce salads, plus deviled eggs, potatoe salad, etc. And the dessert bar. Oh,my. What kind of cheese cake or chocolate cake would you like? Plus pumpkin pie. Oh, peel and eat shrimp. the fun part? when our waiter came to take our drink order we had trouble understanding him. We could not figure out his accent. He was attentive and friendly. When he took our bill (with credit cards) he said. Who is from Indiana? He was born in Rochester and lived in So. Bend for some time. the accent had disappeared. Interesting.

The last couple of days have been quiet. Either stayed home or went shopping.
Grocery store, or Wall Mart. But today (Tuesday) we went to Bells or Bealls.
those of you that have been to Florida know that it is Bells, but on their signs they have a bell where the a is and many of us call it Beals. Anyway, after trying on upteen pairs of capris I left with out any capri pants. Ernie was
surprised I did not have a shopping bag, as everyone else that came out did have at least one bag.

Went dumpster diving last night. I took out the trash to get rid of fish oil and there in the bottom of the dumpster were 3 solar night lights. The kind you put around the walk. One was even working. Only difference, they had red tops with holly leaves on it to look like a hat. A face painted on with a strip of plastic shaped like a white beard coming down over the light. they did look pretty neat when we saw them. so we took my grab stick and dug them out. They all work and seem to be new. Honest, they were in the dumpster!!!! We may take the beard and holly off and put them out later. Our neighbors had gotten new dishes for Christmas and took some of the old mis matched pieces and put them in a bag outside the dumpster. They lasted about an hour or so before someone picked them up. No, Not us!!!! We may not have social activities at this park, but dumpster diving is alive and well here at Charlies. \
we are to start bingo as soon as it warms up a little. It was 26 degrees this am.
Not much else new. Till next time. jkc

Saturday, December 25, 2010

P.S.

Well, as I read down the blog and into the past blogs, we have almost the same scenes from the Busch ice show. So you now know that we did enjoy it.
Have a good day. (there are 3 new blogs, so keep reading or scrolling down until you catch up to where you have read before. jkc

Christmas at Busch

I need to find out this elephants name. for some reason I enjoy watching these big animals. Today she was playing with these two pieces of wood. Moving them and picking them up. Will have to go sometime when the keepers are there and learn their names. It is interesting to listen to the keepers. They tell about their habits and how they are taken care of each day.



We stopped to see the Christmas Ice show again. This couple does this trick of her on his head-----no hands. Amazing.




The last scene of the ice show. Do you see the small girl in front. She was a very good skater. The gentleman singing and being emcee for this show was a different guy. Both good singers and interesting to watch a different style.





Santa and two of his elves. You had to take the second look to see that these were actually grown men on a board with wheels. The feet were not their own.
I am still trying to decide if the feet were their hands or how they had it rigged.

At the end of this show, the children were allowed to come on stage to talk to Santa.




And here we are in the Busch Garden sleigh with a zebra pulling us!!!!

We wanted the whole scene, so did not do a close up picture.





It is now Christmas day. We are getting ready to go out for a Christmas dinner.

Our neighbor here, ask us to join him and his girl friend, along with another gentleman (84 years in age) for a special meal. So we are going to drive to Clearwater to the Shephard's Restaurant, with a table by the window looking out onto the Gulf. I think it will be extra special.



Last night we went to the Thonotosassa Methodist Church for the Christmas Eve service with a Methodist service and then a Christian Native American service. We enjoyed this last year and it was a natural choice to attend again this year. Where ever we are, I want to attend a Christmas Eve service. We have had some interesting services.


MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU READING OUR BLOG AND YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS.


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A trip to Siesta Key

See my narcissus? I like to buy the bulbs they sell at Christmas time. This is the first time I have had the narcissus. I like to have a flower around any time.


They are about gone as I write this, but I have enjoyed them for the last two weeks. My aloe plant is beside it. I will put it outdoors when it is warmer. Not sure what I will do with the spent bulbs. Warmer, meaning it will not frost at night.
Tuesday the 21st, we drove to Siesta Key to visit friends, Larry and Linda. Ernie and Larry worked together at Delco Remy. A beautiful day, sunshiny, a little cool with a breeze, but still got to walk on the beach and collect a few shells. A young guy ask if I wanted a certain shell, yes, I said. Only thing they were still occupied. How do you get the occupants out of shells? While walking the beach we saw the para-sailing boat take off with people on board. They really were high in the air. Then when he turned to go back to start he slowed down and let them dip their feet in water before taking them back up a bit to go back to where they started. We decided that we would not try this adventure. A lovely day, with lunch at the "Turtle" restaurant and bar. I had grilled shrimp with stir fry zucchini and yellow squash. Good.

Did you see the Lunar Eclipse? We had not planned on seeing it, but I woke up and had to go out to see where it was.


My getting in and out of the coach woke Ernie and so then he got up to take pictures. We need more practice taking night pictures. But we saw this wonderful event. Very neat. Glad I woke up in time to see an eclipse.



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Thursday, December 16, 2010

Christmas on Ice

We made our first trip to Busch Gardens today, for this season. First stop was the Ice Show. In this picture the lady is

on the mans head. NO hands. and he is spinning around. A good show, and the weather was better so we did not freeze while watching.
this was the finale. That is a small girl between the two men. She skates very well and sang a childs song for Christmas. We enjoyed walking around and seeing the differences since we were there last March. A new roller coaster is going up and so the air ride is not running. Darn. And today the train was not running. So we walked. And by the time we left we had made the circuit around the park.

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Christmas in Florida

The building to the left of our RV is the club??? house at Charlie's RV Park. The Laundromat and showers are also there. There is bingo once a month. No one uses the showers as we all have our

own facilities. Last year the pipes froze and so there is only cold water to the washing machines. Bingo once a week, last year. But we like the peace and quiet.
The figure in the windshield is a bear holding a sign that says welcome snow friends. The majority of this park has trailers or park model homes. One section for motor homes, fifth wheels and whatever is left over. It is kept neat, but Charlie is in his 70's like most of us here and could use some help in making this better. But we won't complain as the price is right and we are near what we enjoy doing. Besides good friends.

This next picture is at the entrance of Busch Gardens. the tree is huge, beautiful and fake. Even has music coming out of the middle. The girls were pm stilts and would make all kind of poses for the cameras. As always the decorations are spectacular. With lots of flowers and greenery all around.







One of the scenes from the ice show. all the animals and characters you see at Christmas. We will go back at least one more time during the Christmas season. Ernie forgot to put in the chip on his camera that will let him take more than six pictures for the computer.

We did get a look at the elephants. They were getting their treats from the keepers. The keepers get the big animals to dance?, nod their heads and wave their trunks. Big and gentle, I enjoy watching them each time we are there.

And tonight on the news there was an article about a lady that takes in orphaned elephants in Kenya. Have a good day. It did get warmer today. jkc

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Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Strawberry Day

Hi! Watching Survivor. Today was bill pay day, catch up on e-mail and go for a parfait. The strawberry fields have pretty much survived the freezing weather. Most vegatables are gone. And tropical fish. A man has many ponds of tropical fish and cold is not good for them.

Our first stop was Lazy Days. RV store. ???? for lunch. Mushroom soup and salad. Good, too!! then off to Parksdale for that strawberry parfait. And it was as good as I remembered. Only one more week for parfaits and then they go to their winter menu. No parfaits. Just sundaes, shortcake, milkshakes, etc.

Stopped at Publix grocery for milk and then another stop to look at an old Saturn for sale.

Heard from our friends from Alabama. They are coming to the Brooksville rally in February. Great. Good times with them.

One more night of below freezing. so glad we have an electric blanket. the coach can cool off a bit, but I am nice and cozy. Ernie thinks I am roasting.



Jane was just voted off Survivor. Too Bad. I think it would be great if Dan would make it to the final 3. And Fabio. But I doubt it.



Have a good day. jkc

Monday, December 13, 2010

Settling In our Southern Home

Monday morning and the chores are getting lined up to be done. Ernie is out checking the water lines. We need to put water in our tanks as it may freeze tonight and we will turn off the outdoor waterlines. We use "city or well" water when we are parked for extended stays. Other wise we use water that is in our tank. And we did not put water in when we left home because of 6 degree water. We do not want any pipes to be frozen.
I am also going to try out the washing machine today. Last spring the washer quit and over the summer Ernie called Splendide, they talked him thru finding the trouble, sent him a part and "Hoo-ray" it is fixed. Will use the campground dryer for a quicker dry as it is too cold to hang out, and windy. May rain some more also.
I have gotten Christmas decorations up for this year. I think I need to take my tote box in this summer and change some of the decorations I carry with us.
The window decorations look pretty from the inside, but are difficult to see outside. I hang our stockings and have a very small tree that is in the front window. Some garland over the slide out and that is about it. Just enough.
My 3 plants are inside until it warms up. I think the narcissus is about ready to bloom. This is the first year for a narcissus plant, I usually get the amarylis
bulb for winter.
We stopped at the flea market again yesterday, found the clips we needed and visited with a few vender's we remember from last year.
Did go to church. The choir sang their Christmas Cantata. I enjoyed it. This small Methodist church has a much larger congregation in the winter, thanks to snowbirds and the choir does a nice job. thanks to a good director.
Ernie is back in, so I will get busy with other things.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

A LONG TIME AGO

A long time ago, like last May, was the last time I had written on our blog.
somehow time just flew by, and besides who wants details about the hip replacement I had June 29.

the RV? We went to several rallies. all good ones, the places we saw and visited were really a great time. Interesting too. Did you know that Indiana has a cigar factory? Almost gone now, as taxes are so high on cigars. More than cigarettes. Boy, I had to check that spelling? Ciggies anyone??

Ernie had a bought of pneumonia, shingles, and a bakers cyst.

We were ready to leave for Florida on the 15th of Nov. when Ernie had chest and abdominal pains. And a B/P of 204 over 104. so I took him to the ER.
Everything checked out ok, sent him home with a Rx for nexium, gastritis was causing the pain and the elevated B/P. And then on the way home the Hospital called and said the radiologist did not like his chest x-ray. See your Dr. Mon. So we did, and then it was a c-scan, a small worrisome node on the right lung. Then a P.E.T. scan. Well, a 3.6 rate for malignancy. less than 3 is no rate, 3 to 8 possible, and above 8. Yep, its bad. Even tho it was on the low end of the scale, to be on the safe side it was decided to do a biopsy. The PET scan did not show any other hot spots in his body. Mon. the 6th of Dec. they tried to do a biopsy. Since the node was at the lower right portion of his lung, every time He would breath the node would move. And hide behind a rib. The lower part of your lung will move upon breathing. The radiologist said, "I'm not going in there only to miss the node just as you breath. So he talked with the lung specialist, then told Ernie to get dressed. You are going to Florida after you talk with the Doctor. We did. The Dr. gave us a prescription for a c-scan to be done in Florida. That node may be gone in 6 weeks. But he and our family Doctor did not think it was a cancer. Go to Florida and enjoy your selves. Send me the results of the c-scan and we will go from there. SOOOOOOOOooooo
Tuesday we put all the items to go in the coach in the garage, then Ernie handed them to me and I put them where ever there was room in the coach.
It was in the teens outside. We drained the water from the water heater and did all the necessary things to winterize the house. Took off Wednesday morning, after breakfast with friends, at 10 am. It was 6 degrees outside. Got to a park just north of Nashville, TN. and while eating at O'Charleys discovered that TN is on CST.
We might have made it thru Nashville. We did not try as we thought it was rush hour time. (It was in Indiana) Thursday and Friday were long days of driving. I drove 2 hours at a time and this helped Ernie and gave me much needed practice driving the big rv. Using the exhaust brake and even driving after dark. We usually take 6 or 7 days to drive to Florida, stopping at different places to shop or enjoy the scenery. Like at Altoona Lakes Campgrounds.
We arrived at our "winter home" 3:30 Friday afternoon. It was 72 degrees here.
Our friend helped Ernie back in our spot, we got everything set up, made sure there was water in the coach and hot water heater and then took a good hot shower. Since it was so cold we had not put water in the coach. Just a few jugs of water for sink baths.

Today was making a trip to the grocery and putting away stuff. Well, it is out of site, we need to do some cleaning and put up Christmas decorations. and then find where I put things. It has been foggy, gray and in the 50's today. Not having used the RV since October it needs a good cleaning. Well, I did have it in good shape in Nov. We had it all ready to go and the house winterized, slept in the coach ready to take off after seeing the Doctor about the c-scan. Came home from the Dr., took anything that would freeze out of the coach and a few clothes and turned the water back on in the house. So we were more than happy to be on our way, cleaning can be done in the south.

Now you have been brought up to date on our lives. We can start a new chapter on the blog. Maybe I will write about some of the things we saw at our rallies this past summer. Right now I am ready to go get a strawberry parfait.
but at 9 pm they are not open. Maybe, Sunday. We did stop at the local flea market on our way to the grocery. Talked with our friend that has lots of old stuff. and got a bag of kettle corn. Talk to you later. jkc