Bay View RV Resort, Rockport, Texas – February 2-8, 2015

 Yup, we’re still here in Rockport, Texas. It feels so much like home to us; we really enjoy our time here as Winter Texans; we can even visualize living here almost year ‘round. The summers months—especially July and August—can be very hot with temps hovering at 100° and above, and humid, so that would have to be a time to get away should we decide that’s what we want. Just thinking ahead…

This week’s weather ranged between 39° and 54° in the mornings to the mid-70s by afternoon. Quite a difference! But—we’ve had no rain (or snow—ha!), and sunshine daily, even though sometimes it takes its time showing itself from behind the clouds.

Dick continues to work almost daily, but he did take the weekend off.  He’s certainly made his mark here, both in the office and with folks here in the park.  I continue to do my thing: knitting, reading, cooking, yada-yada…

While Dick worked Monday, and after I wrote and published last week’s blog, I spent time shopping in Rockport with friends Marty and Mary. Didn’t buy a thing, but it was good to get out.

Tuesday’s “Stitch and B…” session was really well attended. A dozen ladies showed up to knit, crochet, do needlepoint (which was new to the group), quilt, sew and chat. (Lately, there’s been up to 4 sewing machines whirring away!) And, there’s always something to talk about: weather, family, new needlework techniques, etc. Fun times!

Wednesday was a quiet day, with Dick working and me doing what I do. I work in the office for a couple of hours on Wednesday mornings to help with mail sorting and anything else that needs doing. Later, we attended happy hour at 4 p.m. at the club house, followed by Chef Betty’s Wednesday night’s dinner. She did herself proud with chicken tetrazzini, “make your own” salad bar, rolls and butter, and cherry nut cake with a warm butter sauce topping. Yup, it was YUMMY! About 70 people attended and ate their fill!

Thursday night was our night for Pegs & Jokers, but we decided to have dinner out at our local favorite pizza place, Panjo’s, first. Seventeen of us ate our way through pizzas, salad, a burger and a sandwich. Pizzas ranged from “the works” to shrimp, to pineapple and ham, and plain ol’ pepperoni with olives. Their pizza is thin crust with a wonderful tomato sauce—and they’re not stingy with the toppings. YUM! Oh, and friends Randy and Jeri from Illinois had arrived to Bay View Wednesday so they joined us. Fun times with fun people!

Friday after Dick put in a few hours at the office, and I knitted, we took a walk along Fulton Beach Road for about an hour, where we saw ducks, pelicans, a little egret, a blue heron, a great white egret, and a roseate spoonbill. Spoonbills are so fun to watch as they scrounge for food. You'll agree as you watch this video!

Clockwise from top left: Brown Pelican, Great Blue Heron,
Great White Egret, Snowy Egret,
Sandpiper, Red Head Duck

Saturday was a spectacular day, weather-wise. Beautiful blue sky, no clouds, and temperatures in the low 70s. And, it was the day for Bay View RV Resort’s annual chili cook-off! I decided to participate this year, with white chicken chili (a recipe I received from friend Lauri in Tacoma—thanks Lauri!). There were 6 contestants, with entries ranging from a green chili to venison chili, and of course, mine. I took 3^rd place—and my crockpot was the only one completely empty of its contents when all was said and done. Some were spicy, some not so much, but all were good. Me thinks folks in Texas need chili to be red in order to be considered chili—huh...

Laura (L) won 1st place, and Larry (R) won 2nd place.

The cook-off was at 1 p.m., and we arrived home a bit after 2. Dick took a 20-mile ride around the area on his motorcycle, while I sat outside and read. Friends in the park Don and Nina, with their 2 puppies stopped by for a visit. It’s always interesting chatting with them; Don is a champion “rodeo roper” who has lived in Hawaii, as well as quite a few places on the mainland US. His most recent competition was last October in Oklahoma, where he did place and win cash. Oh, the stories he tells… (And, when he had his ranch in Hawaii, Tom Selleck was a frequent visitor. Oh, my…)

One of the gals in the park asked me to knit an endless circle vest for her, so I continued to work on that throughout the week, finishing it on Saturday. That was the third one I had made in as many weeks (glad to move on to something else).

We attended First Baptist Church on Sunday morning. Pastor Jones’ message continued his series on “Spiritual Awakening,” as he spoke on “spiritual fasting” from Acts 13:1-3. The concept of spiritual fasting is setting aside self-focused activities and/or the intake of food, and replacing these with prayer and spiritual concerns, being filled with the Holy Spirit. This exercise, along with worship and prayer, reveals things that control your life, and allows the Holy Spirit to give your life direction. Matthew 4:4 and 6:6, and 1 Corinthians 6:12 were key verses used in his message. Here’s the link to his message: www.fbcrockport.sermon.net

After the service we headed to Aransas Pass for breakfast and to take in the annual Coastal Bend Wood Carvers Show held at the Aransas Pass Civic Center. We decided to eat at “The Bakery”, a popular café in Aransas Pass. As we walked toward our table, who should we see but Jim and Connie, friends from Bay View. So we joined them. We talked, ate, laughed, ate, etc…good times, good friends, and good food!

The Coastal Bend Wood Carvers Show had more than 200 entries in the competitions, with over 80 vendor tables with carvings, carving tools, and instructions. They also had classes earlier in the week to teach techniques in wood carving, and provide all you need to know from beginning to advanced carving.

Clockwise from top left: Dick's favorite, my favorite,
Best of Show and an intarsia elk.

Walking sticks, Celtic knots and a trivet, all carved from a single
piece of wood.

Carved sculptures

Carved caricatures

Carved fish

Carved gourds -- beautiful!

Carved plaques, some painted.

More carved sculptures

We returned home to spend a bit of time outdoors relaxing and reading before heading to the club house for the ice cream social and a few games of Pegs & Jokers. This was not a good day for the gals playing that game! We had enough people for 2 tables of 6. At both tables the guys won; 2:1 at one and 3:1 at the other. Ouch! No woot-woot this time for us. ‘Nuff said. Dang…

After the games, Dick took a walk along Fulton Beach Road, and I went to Jeri and Randy’s where she gave me a dozen fresh brown eggs from her daughter’s chickens. YUM! Nothin’ like fresh eggs! I’m looking forward to using them as much as possible. Thanks, Jeri and Randy! Here are more photos of those spoonbills, that Dick saw while walking, and of the turtles in our backyard.

Spoonbills

That’s it for this week. Although there wasn't much going on, we still managed to stay busy. This is Valentine week, so there will be much more to report on this week, I’m sure.

This photo was posted of our 16-month old granddaughter Anastasia, in her new Mercedes (with David, her dad)... cute, eh?

Thanks for sticking with us. We love and appreciate you all.

Hugs ‘n’ blessings,

RJ and Gail