The Hawk 1/17/2011

there are 3 pictures of this hawk. rear, on the ground and a front view. Fairly big. Read on to get the whole story.

First of all, click on the picture, once and then again on any of our pictures to make a bigger photo. then hit the back button to go back to regular size. today it is raining. A lot of rain. So we have been indoors. All of a sudden Ernie said "There's a hawk, get me my camera"" the hawk was sitting on the fence across the road from our motor home. He was there or on the ground for about 20 minutes. So neat to watch him/her. A rainy day interesting time. jkc

Have a good day.

Sunday Jan 16, 2011

what a busy week we have had. Today after church and lunch we headed for Busch Gardens. We had not seen the latest shows. Different since Christmas, and the new shows will start this Wednesday. That is Linda & Austin with daughter and grand daughter. At Busch Gardens.
this group has different music different times during the year. Right now it is Sweet Music, The Sounds of the Motor City. Can't beat that. From there we walked around the park to the Desert Grill Theater to see Shea Laurel. A family act. And they are from South Bend, Indiana.
This is Chris singing and playing the Zendrum. The first time I had seen this instrument. It is a Midi (musical instrument digital interface) controller designed by drummers. Plays drums and other sounds, like a key board in a way, just simpler. Neat.

there are two sisters that play the fiddle (very well) sing and dance. Dad is on the key board and Mother on the guitar. Fast, fun and entertaining.
The last show we saw was, Cirque Dreams, Jungle Fantasy at the Moroccan Palace Theater, Morocco. Various acts with characters dressed as various animals moving about and then various acts. This man did balancing. that is a real man on top of those pieces. Scary.

there was also a juggler, an aerial act, and two women ?contortionists. You know, the ones that turn themselves in all sorts of poses that I would not even try. as if I would. Like ending up like a pretzel. How do they do that? Wasn't that bendable when I was younger either.



This evening the neighbors had a camp fire going. As we were enjoying the fire it was decided we needed some marshmallows. OH, I got some GIANT marshmallows. They could not believe how big they actually were. so we all ate one and I still have 4 left. No one wanted seconds.

While there we got a phone call. A sad one. a good friend passed away unexpectedly this afternoon. We will miss Frank. Judy and I were never sure whether Ernie or Frank were telling tall stories or maybe not. We like to visit each other while in Florida, go to flea markets together and to a special restaurant. Calls back and forth were always more than just a few minutes. A special person called home to the Lord.

Our prayers for Judy and family. jkc

Sec SUNDAY p.m. January

Isn't he cute. Sorry we could not get a closer look. Ernie took the picture with his phone. His parents are vegetable and fruit vendors at the Plant City flea market. this little guy was perfectly content to sit in his box (he does have a regular seat) and play with another little box. the week before he was fussing and big brother (about 7 or 8) could not please him. Mother grabbed him, tucked him under her shirt and he was happy. Breakfast time!.. We look for them each time we go there. Dad speaks fairly good English, Mother tries.

I have told you about the Thonotosassa Methodist Church working with the Native Indians in this area. The Indians meet in the church the 2nd and 4th Sunday evenings. This past Sunday was special as they had 'Bob Soto" a renowned Indian Dancer. He has performed around the world and also teaches and preaches the gospel. These three photos were taken with Ernie's phone. You see the drum to one side and in the background a man standing, arms akimbo, and his hat has a feather in it. Before Bob did his dance they had a Short? service. They sing with the big drum. the words were shown on the wall so we could sing also. About 8 or 10 men drumming the drum. And the ladies dance around the drum that is in the center of the room. some of the men also dance. One man had a feather stuck in his hair and I still haven't figured out how he had it stuck in there so it would not fall out. And he did some good hopping around.

Bob Soto did 3 dances. talking in between each one. Interesting to watch, as was his costume. As I said before, many of the Indians will wear their native shirts, dresses, skirts and tops during the service and then take them off afterwards. The ladies carry a prayer shawl as they dance. Most have genes and slacks on under their costumes. they usually have something to eat afterwards, but after a 2 hour service we were ready to go home. An interesting time and all friendly everyday people. Someone said that they do not look like Indians. No moccasins, or the brown skin he thought they should have.

Bob was whirling around making his costume fly about. A man in front of us was using his phone to take pictures also.

Did laundry today. It is nice that the machine in the coach works easier since Ernie fixed it last fall. I use it most of the time. Taking my towels and genes to dry in the laundry mat driers and hanging other things out on a line back of the coach. Time to put those things away. Take care. jkc

1/14/11 R.V. Tampa Show

To those of you that have motor homes

you know that this is a "high end" rv. The most expensive one at the show was 2.2 million dollars. Definitely out of our league. The next picture is of the outside of one of these beauties.

This one has 4 slides. They used to have just two or three.

Surprise!!!!! The RV you have been looking at was just the shell of a Prevost. Cost only $643,000. is what we heard. fix it up any way you like. The ones that are finished are something else. I really do not need all that is in one of them and would be afraid to take it out of the drive for fear that I might damage something.

The Tampa Super RV show is a five day show. You pay one fee of $10 and get in for two days. We went both days. It was cold. I had on my long jons and corduroy slacks, plus sweat shirt and jacket. All kinds of RV and many vendors. We managed to win 4 decks of cards and a coupon for a free camping week. Another coupon for only $89 a week. You have to read the fine print. After March 15th or 30th and first time visitors only. We would like to go back to the one in Fort Myer that we stayed at last year, the first week of April. the one coupon also has restrictions for Mass., two other states and Ontario during the hot summer months. I also won a base ball hat. Whoop ee!!!! The campgrounds have various games that you play and win prizes. pens, key chains, hats, cards and of course time at their parks. I also got a ring! Fabulous. You turn it on and it sparkles. Large soft rubbery ring. Fun.

The second day we were talking to a friend and I said I like the small RoadTrek RV's. A dealer of airstream heard me and said, Well, come look at our small rv's. So we did, for about a half hour. Interesting. Only thing about them is storage space. Of course the smaller the rig the less space for "stuff", so maybe that is a good thing. Just looking, not buying. Interesting to see the different layouts of any RV.

We stopped at a garage sale on our way to the grocery and bought some silver.

Stopped at Big Top Flea Market and found a silver chest. So a busy Saturday. Yes, we did get to the grocery. Time to get busy. Have a good day. jkc

Wednesday

Hi! It is Wednesday, the day we go to the Plant City flea market and stop by Parksdale to get our strawberry treat. We left early and got to the flea market before some vendors were completely set up. Bought 3 pieces of silver plate. Good buys, hard to find patterns. We were happy. Went on to Wall Mart, needed to get window washer fluid for the car. The light and buzzer came on to tell us it was low. For some strange? reason, we could only buy the fluid that said 32 degrees plus. What? We use below freezing fluid in our car!!

then on to Publix for a few items.

We got near Parksdale, well, do we splurge and get the sundae and a sandwich? or drive by and just get the sandwich.

We were going to a picnic tonight and decided to skip the ice cream.

Good picnic, rained on us at the last.

Jack and Nikki had 5 of us over for hot dogs. Linda and I added baked beans and potato salad, deviled eggs and Jack had made a great pasta salad.

Good food, good friends! Nice way to end a day.

Ernie has the 3 pieces of silver polished. The one, a punch ladle, or an oyster stew ladle---? a large ladle, has the grape pattern in the bowl of the spoon. So pretty. the vendor that sold it said he could call us or e-mail us when he found something we might like. We said, thanks, put part of the fun is the hunt for what we hope to find.

My tea is ready, more later. jkc

Sunday evening

Sunday evening. The Colts won by just 3 points, in the last seconds of the game. But they won and Jacksonville lost to Houston, so the Colts are the winner of the AFC South. and now it is on to the playoff games. GO COLTS!



Quiet week end. We now have 4 nice motor homes in our park. 3 this past week. Two are people that work for Camping World. The 3rd one that came in was Bruce and Beth from Indiana and good friends. They had spent this past week with family near Kissee. they are ready for some R & R after a busy week.

I went to church this morning. I like the minister of the little Methodist

Church here at Thonotosassa. He has a sense of humor and can laugh at himself when he makes an error. Today it was "No, I did not mean the congregation was a can of worms." I do not think anyone had thought anything about what he was illustrating until he made that comment. And then we all had to laugh. Maybe 65 people there today. And being a small building everyone sings and the good ones drown out the bad singers. Like me.

Nikki and Jack came in. Said they would be here a few days. They are in the

5th wheel next to us. Linda and Austin's daughter goes back to teaching tomorrow and now they will be back around here again, too.

We may go to a flea market tomorrow. so life goes on here in Florida. No hurry to do anything, just relax and enjoy. We are getting to know more of the people in the park and so more people to talk to as we walk around each day.

Have a good day. jkc

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

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

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.

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.

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.