CHRISTMAS SEASON in CENTRAL FLORIDA

Our tree in the motorhome!

Sun catcher, beautiful fire!

December 27, 2019. The year is just about finished!  I keep forgetting to take pictures at an event or at a workshop, so I will wrap the year up and try to get my Blog book ordered today when I can order it at half price.  Think I'll make it??
We are finished with most of the dinners except for one on New Years Day.  Have to have the pork and kraut!!.
Since my last Blog the ROMEOS and the SKPettes went out on December 20th.  The Really Old Men were Eating Out at Jimmy's Greek and American Restaurant and the SKPettes ate at the Jacaranda Hotel's Buffet Restaurant in Avon Park.  The Buffet was great and the decorating there was awesome!!

The Buffet was on through the double sets of doors.
And our seating area was behind me when I was taking
this picture.

Sandra, on the left, rode over to Avon Park with me
and sat next to me..

These two ladies sat across from me.
Our group filled the whole section from me to the windows. 

They also had a Christmas Caroling evening in the park.  We also had a speaker in from the Extension office to give a presentation on Honey Bees, Fact and Fiction.  It was very interesting and we learned that there are many other methods of pollination besides honey bees. And the honey bees are not at risk of extinction, much as everyone says!!!
Our Park also had a Christmas Eve Program, which included a poem written by a member who has since passed away and the song, The Twelve Days of Christmas, with different wording which was acted out.  It was hilarious!!!  They did a great job!!!

The second day was the sewer hose!

The third day was the RV scrub brushes!

The fifth day was the handyman and his tools!

The sixth day was our Julie with her duct tape!
I love to tell her story of eighty pounds lost over the past
year with her miles of  daily walking and bike riding
here in the park. 

The seventh day was the RVer sharing her
information about all of the organizations that
are so well known and much used by the RVers.

And on to Twelve!
The cookie tables after were great. Of course, the home baked were the best!!

Susan, is our greeter in the park with her home baked!!

We also have to talk with the oldest member in the park. 

Anne is 97 and still driving.
She and I used the laundry room together the other day.
She is so fun to talk to!!

 Sunday, December 22nd, New Hope Baptist Church had their Cantata in the morning and in the evening the Children put on their Play using a 2 week old baby from the congregation. They also played the Bells.

Our music leader kept them rolling right along!

The last song was by candle light and we went outside between rain drops.
The last hoopla here in the park will be a dance New Year's Eve, though we will not go to since we seldom dance.  We will attend the New Years Dinner on N.Y. day.  It will be the usual pork and kraut with everything else carry-in.
The weather has been some cool and rain and then some in the seventies and I get to sit out to read!!  I love that!!
Gary and I went to the Highland Art Center in Sebring, Florida on Christmas Eve when I was to take my scrapbooking for the lady in charge to take a look at.  She wants me to do my scrapbooking there on Tuesdays when Gary goes to do his drawing.  I will do it weekly for the balance of the winter season here.  She is hoping to get a scrapbooking group going there.  I am sure that I will get tired of taking my materials back and forth each time, but I am glad to be of some help!!
We are wishing you all a HEALTHY and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!  Take care!!

HOLIDAYS IN WAUCHULA, FLORIDA

Beginning the Holiday Season, food, food everywhere!!  Christmas will soon be here!! Amazing how the time flies.  We've even skipped some of the things on our calendar.  Just can't handle it all.
There is something to do everyday in the resort, but we pick and choose.  Since I fell here in the motorhome on Saturday, December 7th, I have not been too eager to go out.  I am feeling better and getting around more, but it is even better when I take Ibuprofen.
Gary has also been going to a chiropractor, so he is in less pain from his pinched nerve.  Thus he did holiday decorating outside while I did the inside. So we feel like we are ready for Christmas now that Thanksgiving has passed.  I even looked up cookie recipes last evening.

Gary at his best!

Think he did a good job!!

Not sure if I will do any special baking as we certainly don't need to eat it.  It is bad enough that we are going out to eat two or three times a week!! We had Thanksgiving Dinner here in the park and then dinner the very next day with left overs and one the Sunday before at church!!  It was great to have the fellowship though and the turkey!!

Wednesday, December 11th, many SKPs went out together at Nicholas Family Restaurant last week and we got to visit a lot with friends, George and Lillian.  If I would get out of my seat and walk around to take pictures, I would get more faces!!

Lillian and George, SKPs who also attend
our SS Class and Church.

                                                                                                                                                   

Today Gary will be teaching his colored pencil class and I will scrap book at the same time in the clubhouse.  It is nice open work space for us.  I haven't had any one join me, but they do stop by and see what I am doing.  I do accomplish something this way on such a nice six foot table space.
This past week on the 12th our Sunday School Class had a nice covered dish dinner out in the country. One of the farmers in our class has such a nice place with a very nice LARGE pavilion.  It was a good thing that day as it rained all day.  Thank goodness it was not heavy rain.

Hm-m-m, the guys got all the chairs.

Susan and Gayle

Can't remember all these names!  Sorry!
The farmer's wife in the red plaid.

This past Sunday we enjoyed a preview of the Christmas Program coming up.  There are some awesome voices there and their Bell Choir have been playing.  So we have some awesome programs coming up!!

I just received this by text a couple days ago from Savannah, young Rich's fiance'.  I am amazed at how good she is!!  I have a picture of clouds that I will send to her and see how she does with it. 

Savannah's painting!!

We also took a picture of some art that my great nieces girls showed us when we stopped at there house a couple weeks ago.  We had just learned of this liquid ink art and were amazed at what these children had done with it.  We will be seeing them again while down here, so should have some more pictures of their art!! We look forward to that.

Some art from the Reese's house!!
Those kids always amaze us.

When Gary was at the Clovely House in Sebring, Florida to volunteer at the Gallery there, he found this turtle.  I think that it is beautiful.  He will probably try to draw it in the future. 

Can you see his head in this one?

There are so many neat things around!!   I saw this hanging from a tree branch next to a McDonald's.  I just thought it was an interesting arrangement!!
Not much else to share this time.  But more on the calendar, so check back in a week and I will share.

MORE OF LIFE IN FLORIDA, LOVING OUR NEW LOCATION !

This was made for us by Audrey's
oldest brother several years ago.
It did not weather well, so it has
taken all this time to sand and
repaint it.  I am so glad to be
hanging it out!!

It's already noon!!  I thought I would be through with this Blog by now. Haha!
I've had my walk though and downloaded pictures from our phones and chose pics for the Blogs. So not all time has been wasted!
I sure need to keep up with the Blog in good time as it will soon be 2020 and time to order my book for this year!!  Time sure flies when you are having fun!  And there sure seems to be enough to do here to keep us happy.  Our bodies are sure telling us that we can be doing too much!!  Or doing it wrong!!

We have been meeting many new people both here in the park and at church up the road.  The trick is just to remember names!!! We do wear name tags here in the park so that we remember who we are!! Everyone knows where we live now as we are the second site in off the highway.

Another unit has just arrived, a motorhome pulling an enclosed trailer.  Wonder if is it hauling a car or motorcycles?? Guess I'll have to take another walk so that I can find out.  We do see a lot here at the entrance to the park.

I spent a Saturday cleaning inside.  I don't do that thorough a job usually, but was having company that afternoon. A friend. June, interviewed us for the SKP Cracker Crumb newspaper (Our introduction as a new member). It was a wonderful visit!

She also leads the chair exercise group.  I have enjoyed doing that also, but hurt bad for two days after each time.  I think that I am going to get back to my walking more and see what that does for me.  We definitely need something to offset all of the eating out!!

On Monday, November 18th I began meeting with a new Welcoming Committee after our Monday breakfast and announcements.  I think that I will enjoy this, but need to get organized about it.  Glad they asked me to join the effort.

Gary also started his Colored Pencil Class and I my Scrapbooking workshop for the season.  He had a couple show up and will have more after the snowbirds all arrive by the first of the year.  I did not have anyone meet with me, so hope that will change later also.  It gave me a good three hours to get my stuff in order!!  Another forty pages in a binder!!

Tuesday we drove over to Punta Gorda to the Art Gallery at the Visual Art Center.

Signs told us not to take pictures. So I only took this
picture from the door of the one room.
They had workshop rooms also where we saw some
interesting new (to us) things!

They also had many seasonal things for sale.

After that we drove out to meet with our Salem friends, Bill and Esther.  We went with them to lunch and stopped at a bookstore after. We always enjoy those visits.

Over 6000 books made to build this archway!

Bill making a purchase?

Thursday Gary and I both went to our respective lunch time out with SKP's from the park.  The SKPettes went to the Island View Restaurant at the Sun 'n Lake Golf Course.  Great food and good prices as well.

Elsie and Elinor

Lee and Margery

Margery and Bev

The ROMEOS went to Market Place 27 for their lunch.

This hibiscus is covered with buds.  Yea!!

Need more pansies.

We have stopped at a few places to buy flowers and I have been planting them a little at a time.  The Palm Trees sure have fine roots that grow close to the surface of the ground so it has been hard work.  I see now why most people plant in large flower pots.  I figure next year I will change my plans and spend more money!  I am not sure which kind of flowers will have to be replaced and which will continue to grow all year here.  I have a lot to learn.

The highway is in the back ground. Our motorhome is on the left behind the park model trailer.
You can see our door, passenger window and
front windshield.
We also had our palms trimmed since we have five of them and they drop many, many nut-like things. This is done by men in the park.  It was money well spent as I do not think that these were done for a couple years, at least.  We were not at home when they did ours, so no close-up pictures.  They said they were glad that we were gone for the day as they were afraid of damage to the motorhome.

The park had it's annual Makers and Bakers Craft Fair. So we checked it out, but I was only enticed to buy banana bread and a small fabric bag to carry my keys to the motorhome and my phone in.  I had the friend, Lanette, who made them, sew a long strap on so I can carry them over my shoulder.  It was a problem before when I did not have a pocket in some Capris.  I was tickled and will sure get a lot of use out of it.  I also decided that I need to make a nice carry bag for our place settings for meals at the clubhouse.  I guess it will give me more to keep me busy!
I love the room in the storage shed to keep my sewing machine handy.  Gary even set himself up in there to do his pencil drawing part of the time.  The difficult thing will be deciding what we need to put back in the motorhome when we leave the first of May.   We sure will leave as much as we can here!!
I will cut this off now and do another Blog to cover Thanksgiving time.  So check back in with us.
Enjoy your weather, we enjoy ours here!