Happy Valentine’s Day

We had several things happen this week and we took lots of photos.  First we went to Fort Myers to see the manatee’s.  We’ve never gotten to see one while we were here.  They are very gentle and since it’s been a bit chilly here, they’re hanging out in the warm waters near the power plant.  See the white on it’s back.  That’s where boat propellers have hit it.  Almost all the manatee’s have scars on them.  People seem to pay little attention to the boat speed limit and manatee signs in the rivers.

On Wednesday I had another painting class.  I had worked on my painting last weekend to get all the lines inked in so I would be ready to start the painting this week.  Here’s what it looked like before class.

This is what it looks like after class.  I have to finish the leaves and the background this coming Wednesday and then it will be finished.  I’m delighted with it.

On Thursday after visiting with Tom & Kim the pavilion was all decorated when we pulled into the parking lot.  It was the Valentine Party.  None of the people we have made friends with mentioned going so Rick and I didn’t sign up.   Some of them stopped by and said to come on over they had brought plenty so we did go over for a while.  These are the photos I took.

These are some of the new friends we’ve made while at the park.  Most of these are the campers around us.  They are mainly from Wisconsin and Michigan.

Here’s another group photo but not very good!

On Friday we went bowling again.  Rick bowled much better than last week, but my left leg was cramping up so I quit after the first game.

Did I mention it’s been chilly here?  We’ve been wearing  jeans, jackets, and sweaters alot.  We also have to turn on the heat at night.  I think it was 36 this morning when I took Katie out.  On Friday while we were bowling it poured the rain and we had a windstorm.  When we got home Friday night after dinner we found our awning had collapsed.  We’re not sure whether our insurance covers it or not.  We’ll find out Monday.  We had to take it down so I took photos in case it is covered.

The bent bars in this photo are supposed to be straight!

Apparently between the wind and the weight of the water (it rained alot), it was too much.

On Saturday it was “Paws in the Park”.  Sort of a dog show and seminar.  I entered Katie in the shortest tail category but her’s is about 3 inches and the winner was less than an inch.  So she didn’t even place.  We didn’t even get to walk across the stage because they had to measure her tail the day before and the winner was already chosen.  This is my favorite dog in the park besides Katie.  His name is Rusty and he is a Golden Doodle which is a mix of Golden Retriever and standard Poodle.  He’s only 6 months old and a doll.  I may steal him before I leave.

One of the other categories was “looks most like owner”.  Rick had to take down the awning but he got there in time to snap a few photos.  Here are two from that category.

These were the winners in the category.  The second one is darling!  The owner dressed up to look like his dog.

 

If I have any photos next week I’ll try to post them!

This week in Florida

It’s been a busy week for me.  On Monday I gave blood for the first time ever.  It was a bit scary.  They tried my left arm and all they got were big blood clots.  It was really scary when the tech said “this is the largest one I’ve ever seen”  Made me wonder if I had a problem.  They said not to worry and tried the other arm.  It did okay that time and I was done in no time at all.  Here’s a goofy photo.

Who say’s it’s clean down here.  When you think of Florida you think white sand and nice and clean.  Wrong.  Little Miss Katie is getting absolutely black, especially her legs, tummy, and feet.  We had to get her groomed.  Here is a before and after photo.

Before: she’s more gray than white!

After:  She’s white again (at least for a day or two)

I hope you can see the difference.

I love this campground.  I managed to get into the painted class that I wanted to do so badly.  It’s 3 hours a week for 3 weeks.  She only takes 10 but since I was the only other one waiting, she let me join.  It’s a pen and ink painting.  You trace the design and then ink it.  Finally you paint it.  Here is the one I’m doing.

 

This is what I had done after the first class.  I’ve traced the design and am doing the ink lines.

On Thursday, Kim O and I went to see the Lipizzaner stallions in training at their Florida stable.  These are the young stallions they are training to be future stars in their show.  Kim and I got some great photos.  These are just a few.

Rick and I have been to one of their shows at the civic center in Wheeling.  If you’ve never seen one, it’s a great show.

Florida

We left Savannah Ga. the morning of the January 23 and started towards Port Charlotte, Fl.  When I figured out that we might actually make it to our destination that day I started calling campgrounds to see what might be available.  Most of the ones I called didn’t answer.  One was supposed to call me back but she didn’t.  I called the top rated site – Riverside RV Park and was told they had no openings.  Hm, we might have to boondock at a Cracker Barrel or someplace until we find a site.  We saw a sign that said Englewood (close to where our friends Tom & Kim live) so we got off the interstate.  We stopped at one campground – they had room but it was expensive and you had to arrange for your own cablevision and internet and wait a week before you could be hooked up.  We missed the entrance to another campground – remember we’re long and can’t turn too quick or make a u-turn.  No more campgrounds in this area, so we get back on the interstate and head further south.  After about 20 miles we came upon the exit for some of the campgrounds I had been calling so we got off.  After driving for about 5 miles we came upon the Riverside Rv Park which was full.  Rick was really getting tired and hungry and it was almost dark.  He pulled in anyway and they had one site available!  We got it!  Of course, we might have to leave the next day.  When we checked at the office on Sunday, whoever had the site reserved for the summer didn’t show or cancelled so we could have it for a week.   We stayed for one week and that turned into two and now we are staying at least until March 1, and have put in a reservation for a site next winter.

There is always something to do here.  They have activities going all the time, computer club, photography club, line dancing, square dancing, luncheons,  card games, movies on Sundays, crafts, woodworking, etc.  Something for everyone.  We were lucky to get in.  They have a waiting list of people wanting reservations but since we wormed our way into the park, we go on a different list ahead of people who have never been here.  The people are just fantastic!  Very friendly and nice!  Dogs are very welcome! I took some photos, but they don’t do justice to the park.

Here we are.

Rick walking Katie.

They have two heated pools and a hottub.

There are over 500 campsites but lots of open spaces too.

Nice showers and laundry room facilities

  

You don’t feel all jammed together.

This is a cute wind sox someone has at their site.  It looks like a giant butterfly.

It’s the nicest park we’ve ever stayed at!

On the Road

On January 20, 2010 we were finally able to leave Moundsville and head south.  Of course, it started raining at Charleston, WV and rained steadily for the next two days.  Sometimes it poured so hard we could barely see.  We made it over the North Carolina state line the first night.  We missed the rest stop where you can camp overnight, so we stopped at the Cracker Barrel in Jonesville, NC.  They were gracious enough to let us camp in their parking lot the first night.  We got an early start the next day and made Savannah, Ga. around  5 pm that day.  At first we weren’t going to spend any time there, but the rain stopped and the next day was supposed to be halfway decent.  We decided to take the trolley and tour the city.  We did the tour and got off for lunch at the river.  It was a fantastic lunch.  Walking down the street, we saw this cute photo.

We were also able to watch several of these large ships go down the river.

Since the trolley was get on and off – we got back on the trolley and went through the tour again.  This time we got off at a few points to take photos.  It had gotten cold – around 40 and we just had on light jackets.  Still, it was after 5 pm before we got back to the motorhome.  Here are some of the photos we took in no particular order.

I was sorry we didn’t have the time to go in any of the museums, walk the city market, and do some other things.  Hopefully we can go again when the flowers are in bloom and it’s nicer.  We stopped because we thought we might take another route home and wanted to at least get to see some of the city.

Bride doll

I thought I’d post these photos.  I think we’re finally going to head south so I wanted to get them posted before we go.

First the extra page for the 365 album.  I had a blank page between the title page and the first page for January so I needed something to fill it.

This is the Barbie wedding dress that I made from the doll patterns from Annie’s Attic that I got for Xmas.

The flowers on the front of her dress

A side view

Her train in back

It turned out to be more difficult than I thought.  But it’s extremely pretty.

The bottom of the dress sits on a 12” piece of cardboard and the train and veil trail a good ways behind so this is huge.  It’s about 2 to 2 1/2 ft long on the bottom.

I’m going to pick an easier pattern for the next one!

Book finished

I finally got my 365 book finished.  I haven’t ordered it yet.  I’ll post photos of the actual book when I get it.  These are the last pages.

The last week I posted was November  8-14.  So here’s the rest:

November 15 – 21

November 22- 29

 

November 29 – December 5

December 6 – 12

December 13 – 19

 

December 20 – 26

The last page!

 

This turned out to be a chore at the end and I decided not to do it again this year.  I haven’t taken any photos for a while but I’ll probably start scrapping and taking photos again soon.  Right now I’m crocheting the Barbie clothes and I’ll post pictures soon.  It will be interesting to get my book and see the year in review.  I did one more page to go behind the title page because it was blank.  It was just a collage of photos.  I’ll upload it soon when I post the doll photos.