Monday's and Tuesday's weather was chilly, to say
the least! We woke both days to temperatures in the very low 40s, and wind.
Brrr! We’re so thankful for an efficient furnace that heats up our 500 square
foot home quickly! By 7:45 a.m. Dick was dressed, had eaten breakfast (too
early for me!) and was out the door for days 3 and 4 of working at Tech Time. While he spent the day diagnosing computer problems and handling several walk-in customers, I did whatever I wanted to do at home—reading, knitting, cleaning; the weather was too cold, windy and rainy to venture out “just for the fun of it…,” even for a walk. I did spend time with the park gals at Tuesday's “stitch and b…” session, though, which broke up the day.
By Wednesday I was more than ready to get out—Dick was
done with work for the week, so we walked along Fulton Beach Road for 40
minutes. We saw egrets, blue herons, pelicans, sea gulls, and the ever present
mourning doves and black birds. As we were walking, a blue heron lifted off
from the inland waterway, flying very near to us. You don't realize how huge
they are until they're close. They're anywhere from 45-54" tall, and have a
wingspan of 66-79". Magnificent birds!
Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving--we braved the crowds and headed to Walmart for a few items and to the post office to mail Christmas gifts. Walmart was OK, but we had no idea the post office closed at noon on that day, meaning we would have to make another trip; we missed the post office by 10 minutes. Dang. Later in the day we attended happy hour at the clubhouse, along with about 24 friends from the park. Fun times.
Thanksgiving Day 2013! Can you believe it? One year
ago we were in Ashdown, Arkansas—just the two of us celebrating the day. This
year we had dinner with about 115 folks in the clubhouse here at Bayview.
Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy were provided; everyone else
provided sides and desserts. Early that morning I joined others at the
clubhouse to set up, making sure there were enough chairs, placing napkins at
each place, preparing tables for the hot foods, salads and desserts. Some
helped by peeling the 30 lbs. of potatoes to go along with the 100 lbs. of turkey
already roasting. Then, I went home to prepare our dish: sweet potatoes with
“Butter Shots” (butterscotch schnapps). Yum! The weather turned, so the
temperatures warmed up to the mid-60s, with sunshine and a light breeze off the
Gulf. By 2:00 p.m. the turkey was done, potatoes mashed, gravy prepared, and
everyone was in the clubhouse to give thanks and chow down…and chow down we
did! If anyone went away hungry, it was their own fault!
A visit to the post office was in the cards for
Friday, as well as another visit to Walmart. Fearing the worst, we were
surprised to find that there were no crowds at Walmart—guess they had already
done their shopping on Thanksgiving Day. Later in the day we headed to the
clubhouse for Happy Hour. That was a huge
mistake that day! Apparently there is a group of folks in the park who love Karaoke.
They had started to sing at noon—when we got there at 4 00 p.m. they were still singing (or attempting to do so),
and continued to carry on for the entire time we were there and probably
beyond… My ears still hurt—not only from the volume, but also due to the
off-key noise they were making. They didn't get the hint when we requested "Silent Night" and I'm sure if we had asked them to do the "Sound
of Silence" they wouldn't have gotten
the hint! Next time, if they're there, we're heading home to our own happy
hour…
What a beautiful day Saturday was! Temperatures hit
the mid-70s, with sunshine, low humidity, and a light breeze off the Gulf. We
love it here! We walked along the beach again in the afternoon, just enjoying
the day.
 |
| (Note: these are not real...ha!) |
Thought we'd share something with you, that you might want to be
involved in also. We place quite a few orders through Amazon Prime, and through it we support a shelter ministry in Guatemala called El
Refugio, that works with battered, abused, and trafficked women and children.
This ministry, started and run by our
friends Mark and Kim Agrellas and their family who live in Guatemal. It is part
of the "Amazon Associates" program to which Amazon donates 4-5% of our
amazon.com purchases to El Refugio.
Through this program your Amazon shopping experience can automatically help the
women and children half a world away at no additional cost to you. To
participate in this program and support this worthy effort simply go to http://www.weavinghopeministry.org/
and click the Amazon link in the bottom left corner of the page; you will be taken
directly to amazon.com. Your purchases will help very needy women and children
in Guatemala, so we hope you’ll seriously consider joining us in this effort. How cool is that! Thank you.
We were't disappointed in the weather on Sunday
either! Beautiful sunshine. 70 degrees, and a light breeze. Perfect. We
attended church in the morning, followed by breakfast at Caroline's Turtle Bay
Café, where I had my usual corned beef hash; Dick enjoyed her ham and cheese
omelet. Yum! Later, neighbors Karen (from Wisconsin) and Art (also from Wisconsin) came
over and visited awhile that afternoon while I was sitting outside; Dick had
work to do at the RV office—I knitted.
Although we're not doing a lot of exciting
site-seeing, or constantly on the go, we are thankful for you and your
continued interest in our lives and what we're doing. (We're really Winter Texans now--we're on the 2nd bag of fresh Texas grapefruit! We hang it from the pin box at the front of our 5th wheel.)
Until next week when we once again venture into your
lives, stay well. We send you hugs 'n' love,
Dick and Gail
No comments:
Post a Comment