LUNCH AGAIN at BOAT IN THE MOAT at SOLOMON'S

Just sitting inside today to stay out of the HEAT!  So giving you another update.  

The microwave project is moving along, but would move along faster if Gary had not broken his friend's saw blade.  He is waiting for Bud to get out of his Board Meeting to find out where to get the blade and exactly what to get.  

Thursday, March 19th we met with friends, Robert and Phyllis at Solomon's Castle/Boat in the Moat restaurant to lunch.

We enjoyed their food so much that we decided to go back!  We had a great visit with Robert and Phyllis and another good tour of the gift shop!!

Phyllis, Robert, Gary and Audrey

In spite of the Coronavirus scare, we did go to Fellowship class and New Hope Baptist Church yesterday.  There was only about a third of the usual attendance.  So we refrained from the usual handshakes and hugs.  Many businesses are closed, especially restaurants and schools.  The news said 1000 cases and 13 deaths so far in Florida.  Wondering how long it will last.  We are hoping to leave for places north the middle of April and hoping no problems will occur in getting gas. Time will tell!
I'm thinking that I need to get a craft project out of the shed to work on.
Hope you are all getting along okay too.  Love to you all.

EVENTS at SKP RESORT, WAUCHULA

February 29th, Saturday, LEAP YEAR Dinner and White Elephant swap.

The White Elephant Swap was so much fun that I hope they do not wait four years to have another!!
Our gift bag which had a small framed, colored drawing of Gary's in with a couple of white elephants of mine ended up being stolen four times before it went home with someone.  A large work spotlight was much sought after, but not the toilet tissue or cleaning supplies!!

She was more interested in the bag with it's caption!!

Bruce and Cathy and Ed  who are very active in the Resort.

Wow, something big, must be extra special!!

Oops, not !!  She is already trading it!!

Such big decisions!!

Our friends, Robert and Phyllis,
think that she is looking to trade??

Audrey.  What can it be?
I did have it stolen and went home
with a potholder and prune juice!

Captain Kenny says,  "No one
is getting my chips and bowl!"

Our neighbor Skip II, with his
shower caddy.

Decisions, decisions!!

Banana Bread, YUM!
Hope no one takes this!!

My water aerobics friend, Susan.
Oh, what can I trade this for??

 

Hmm-m-m-m

 The evening ended well and on a happy note!!

 Gary and I move on to another day at the Highlands Art Center in   Sebring, Florida where he spends his time drawing and I work all by   myself, scrap booking!!
 I get more accomplished that way.
 There were to be more joining me for scrap booking, but they did not   show.  Oh well, maybe next year.

I get the benefit of the lake view!!

Audrey working away!!

 One more park event, Aloha Luau!!  Of course, dinner is always good.  But then they cleared half of the floor for dancing, while Bobby Remp shared his music and sang for us.

Six of the remaining founders attended!!
We have visited with Jeanne and Vera,
on the right, many times.

Never unable to dance the night away!!

I do believe Ernie and Eva were a founding couple also.
They sat beside us for dinner and we enjoyed
visiting with them.

And never too young!! 
Young'ns visiting Grandpa and Grandma!!

There is not very much going on now with the cancellations because of the corona-virus scare.  So there won't be much more to write about.
Today Gary is working on the wall and shelf for the new microwave.  That should be complete in a couple days.  We opted to put in just a microwave, not a micro/convection combination.  They are too heavy and large to maneuver. So we are saving ourselves the trouble!! But I will miss the regular baking.
It's about time to fix some lunch as soon as Gary will not be in my way, or me in his!!
Take care and we'll see you soon!!

A WEEK WITH FRIENDS, MIKE AND SANDY

Time to catch up with Blog!!  It has just been Hit and Miss with the Blog since mid-February, so will try to catch up with most events.  After all we must keep up with the diary of events for our Rocking Chair Days!!  I'm afraid it is coming up faster than we would like!!
We have been trying to keep up with the activities here in the resort and also get in a few things out and about the countryside.  Solomon's Castle was one of those events.
Yesterday was a shopping day in Sebring because our microwave/convection oven bit the dust last Sunday and Gary got a friend here in the park to help him get it out to either repair or replace.  They  could not get to the fuse in the oven without removing it from the wall which was a real chore!! Then they had three new fuses blow which indicated that would not be the total solution!! Since it was more than twelve years old, we decided that a new one would be the best solution.

Golly, there is wall space behind all of the
packaged stuff that there is no cabinet for!!
And of course, the control
panel on the wall there was in the way
when they were pulling the oven out!!

We did not want to struggle to place such a large one back in the space, so we opted to buy a microwave and forgo the convection.  I may miss it some, but will make do.
Now Gary is busy designing the replacement cabinetry!!  No need to hurry as we still have about four weeks until we leave to head north for the summer season.
We finally got to pick up the repaired car!!  They did a wonderful job!!  So glad, but sorry insurance has to try to get their money back from the other driver.  Of course, we'll never know how they make out.

We had to wait for them to finish buffing it!! 

Water Aerobics is one of the park activities and Audrey tries to get in two hours of that a week per doctor's orders.  It has helped with strength and activity motion!!  I still am not getting a walk in every day which was my intentions when we got here in November.

I guess I love the reading too much!! And the Library Committee cleans out the unused books now and then and let members have them free, so I am always picking up more.

While the guys took the oven out, I also dug out two bushes in the yard and am debating about the third one!  There is so little foliage on it and almost no blossoms.  I am going to opt for the colorful leaf bushes next fall.  Once those are in it will look much better around.
We are also expected to serve on a committee or two which works at keeping the resort a beautiful family-like community!!  So we are doing out duty!!  Testing the waters on several.
Our friends, Mike and Sandy, from Lexington, SC came in Saturday, March 7th, for a week with us.  They were anxious to give their new retirement toy a test on the road and for living space.

No, that is not all that we had to do!!  Gary helped Mike with many things around the "home" since it is all new to Mike.  He was a truck driver, so the driving was not a problem!!
During the week that they were here, we did the usual eating out with park residents and craft activities, bingo and scrap booking at "home".

Sandy and Mike

June, and Jan, Skip must be to my right .
Not sure the names of the members across from them.

Bev, Julie and her husband, Jane and Bob
The window always makes picture taking difficult. 

Mike and Sandy also got to participate in the Flag burning Ceremony.  It was very impressive and we look forward to it again next year.  Steve did a wonderful job planning it!!  We only burned the cotton flags because of the pollution that would affect everyone from the nylon flags.  Gary dropped all of the nylon flags off for the VFW at Sebring to take care of.

One of our founding members (age 90)
had a star to burn to commemorate family
members who served.

Our office gal was spending the week at the
park with her husband and family.  He is an active Marine.

Art remembering fallen members that he served with.

Bud also sharing memories from Vietnam.

The young Marine!!

I was not ready to take a picture of Sandy as she remembered her father.  Sorry, Sandy, but so glad that you participated.
Their week ended all too soon!!  We tried to talk them into staying longer, but they have two more trips to make this year.  So their fun is not over.  Connecting up to leave - - - they pulled a trailer to bring their golf cart along with them.  Mike has such a difficult time getting about without that.  They then rented a car in Bartow, FL to get about town and such.

We will miss you guys.  But you might not miss the 90 degree weather here!! Glad you got home safe!!
More Blog info to catch up on, but will do it another day.  Stay tuned!!

REMODELING the MOTORHOME ???

So sorry for the problem with the Blog for Solomon's Castle.  I almost had to redo it from scratch!!! I'm not sure why the pictures did not carry over the first time.  Always something new.

Yesterday, March 16th, Gary tackled the removal of our microwave/convection oven which bit the dust Sunday. He had to take it out to get to the fuse inside the oven, which he replaced. Thank goodness for a friend, Skip, here in the park who was willing to help.  I sure wouldn't have been much help!!
But the new fuse blew also!  Since the oven is fourteen years old and was such a brute to remove, we have decided it would be best to buy something new.  Not sure what we will get, but will rethink what will be easiest to install.  We do cook for ourselves, so need something!!

And of course, a control panel was in
the way when Gary and Skip started
to drop the oven!!

Sorry I put the STUFF back on
the counter before taking the picture!

Guess I will make this a short one so that we can drive over to Sebring to window shop a little after Gary gets back from his walk.  I sure hope that traffic is not heavy since the schools are closed and kids are out and about.

I did go outside after they finished and dug up two bushes that did not have much in the way of leaves or blossoms and took them and all other trash to the back of the park.  I also put three poinsettias that were in pots into the ground.  Anxious to see what they do by next year.  There is a red one here in the park that is taller than the park model home that it is by.  Amazing!!

Take care and stay healthy!!

I have several other things to write about but will let it wait for another slow day.

SOLOMON'S CASTLE near Wauchula FL

We had heard about Solomon's Castle near Ona, FL and how interesting it is.  There was a good restaurant on the boat in the moat also!!  So we waited for our South Carolina friends, Mike and Sandy to arrive here in the park to go see it.
Tuesday, March 10th turned out to be a perfect day weather wise for it!!  It was amazing!!

Entry gates, the beginning of his works of art!

The Castle as it first appears!!

Mike must think he's a suit
of Armour!!

Everything that Howard Solomon built and displayed is made from trash that people gave him to recycle.  He was in his glory creating and it is said that he only got 3 or 4 hours of sleep a night!!
It is decorated with more than 80 stained glass windows that he created and many, many metal sculptures.  The stories the tour guides tell during the tour is an example of Mr. Solomon's wit!!
There is a unique 500 sq ft efficiency apartment that sleeps two and can be rented for a night with an advance reservation.  And the tower on the left houses their home.  He had five wives over his lifetime, so maybe they could not all live with his eccentricity!!  He died August 23, 2016  at the age of 81, but the family still shares his work and humor.  The tour guides are very good.
The exterior siding is aluminum templates from the local newspapers!!
Because of hurricane, Irma, it had 36 inches of water on the ground floor and had to be repaired.  Other than that, it is all original.

This section of the castle was his home,
with the top floor being his living and
dining room, kitchen and bedroom.

After the tour we went to the tables behind the boat for lunch.  They had some awesome and tasty food!  Thank you Mike for treating us!!

Sandy and Mike
Very good lunch!!  Yum!!

Rita, our entertainer.
Oldies, but Goodies!!!!

Sandy and I had a good look through the gift shop!!

 

I love the tables made from Cypress Knees!!!

These were made from plastic, but
next year here I will get some
ceramic pots and paint my own!!

Beautiful, but out of our trice range for now!!
Of course, they would not fit in the motorhome!!

Thought I could make flags also???

Guess who!!

Mike, Sandy and Gary 

This was a great day and we hope to have a few more before Sandy and Mike leave us this coming weekend.  This is their first trip in their new-to-them motorhome.  A very new experience.  They pick our brains on how to do, especially Gary's!!  And Mike is trying to get all his bugs worked out in their rig.

Hopefully, they will visit us again sometime.  We first met them in 2008 on our first year out and our first trip south through SC after we left New England before winter.  

They sure are sold on this park!!  And like our New Hope Baptist Church up the road a mile or so. 

Today we will be going out to lunch at Fairmount's Ale House in Sebring, FL with the LEOs group  here in the park.  LEO being the Let's Eat Out group which  usually shares a meal once a month.

Check back with us and I will share more time with Mike and Sandy.