Winter Has Arrived for a Day

Friday, December 30, 2016
I found this cute post on Facebook when scrolling through it this morning.

Yes, the first thing I needed to do when I got up was switch from air conditioning to heat and warm the place up a bit.  And I wish I could change the temperature it shows for yesterday as it hit 80 and I was in the pool at 8:00 am when the temperature was in the high 60s so keep that in mind when looking at this.  We have broken and tied records for high temperatures through out December and it didn't rain as promised even though we all wanted it.  It is super dry here.  The newspaper says we've had 0.41 inches of rain this month but I don't remember any.  November was very dry too.

Christmas Day

December 25, 2016
Last night about 30 of us worked our way up and down all of the streets in Hillcrest singing Christmas carols and wishing our neighbors and Merry Christmas.

Afterwards we went to Clubhouse 1 for a wonderful candlelight Christmas Eve worship service led by Emma Jean Cook, a resident here at the park.  George Bartrum (who is totally blind) accompanied us on the piano when we sang a variety of carols including Silent Night.  He also provided a violin solo of O Holy Night. 

It was still very warm when we walked back home at 11:00 pm calling out Merry Christmas to all we passed.

It was already quite warm when we got up Christmas morning and before the day was done we had broken yet another record for heat on this day in Florida.  It reached 86 degrees with clear blue skies and a fair amount of humidity.  Here are some pictures of the house and the way we had trimmed it.

We were up early so as to get the tables ready for company for dinner and some of the food started before heading to church over at the clubhouse.  When we returned, we continued the prep so as to be ready for the company that arrived at noon.  Our guests were Ron and Kathy Alesin, John and Mary Christof, Frank and  Bette Foulke, Mike and Patty Mahalik and Harold Zimmerman.  Each came with a dish to pass.  What a feast we created with turkey, gravy, dressing, Pennsylvania Dutch potatoes, little red potatoes, green bean casserole, homemade cranberry sauce, salad, rolls and butter, Christmas cookies, Shoofly pie, and chocolates.

John Christof took on the job of carving the turkey

While Bette and Mary helped me get all the food set out on the counter and then started serving themselves

And we all enjoyed a wonderful meal

and a fun afternoon sharing memories and stories with one another.  It was especially wonderful to have Frank here as he had just gotten out of the hospital Christmas Eve afternoon after a several day stay due to a bowel obstruction caused by the surgery he had in October for 3 aneurysms in his abdominal cavity.

After they left around 6:00, Ken and I opened our gifts sent by the children and then had short chats with each of the families.  They had posted pictures from their day so I copied them so as to have memories of them at this time of the year.

This Beth and Dean who were setting up the food for the church choir to enjoy between services at First Presbyterian Church of Royal Oak (where Ken and I met, married, and raised our 4 children).  Unfortunately their two boys Scott and Jason aren't in this picture

But here they are working on their gingerbread trains the day before Christmas.

This is Sue, Tim and their boys Jackson, Reilly and Aidan in the picture taken on Christmas Eve before they headed to church and then Outback Steak House for dinner - a tradition of theirs.

The two boys had a good time decorating gingerbread houses on Christmas Eve day a tradition I started back when the kids were quite young.  It is fun seeing it still being done.

Here is Dan, Jen and their three girls Abbi, Rachel and Noelle taken by the tree at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Butler, PA where he is the pastor.

And below is Janet and Jack with their three children Anders, Dagny and Karsten.

Janet's kids did gingerbread houses too, though I think Karsten had a bit of help :-)

It truly was a blessed day filled with all kinds of wonderful memories.

Beginning To Look Like Christmas

Monday, December 19, 2016

Once all of our clothes were unpacked, washed and put away from our cruise, I tackled Christmas cards getting them out in the mail.  And huge quantities were waiting for us in our mailbox so we had lots of fun looking through them and catching up with so many of our friends who included notes or letters.  I do so love this time of the year and just hearing from so many and learning what they have been doing.

We still needed to complete our shopping so we also ran out and did that including picking up a couple of items for the Christmas dinner we are arranging with friends to be held here at the house. It has been fun getting our little place decorated.  We even got one of those lights that shines on the house with moving red and green dots.

One of the first things I did after returning from our cruise was to go to our friend Emma Jean's home and pick up my Christmas cactus which she was taking care of as well as using for a centerpiece for the Christmas dinner at Heritage Bible church.  It was slightly past its prime but still spectacular. (I'm finally getting around to writing this on December 29 and have to mention that it is still producing flowers)

We missed several of the park Christmas activities while we were on the cruise but were lucky enough to be back for the Golf Cart Parade that started at 6:30 tonight.  It is the best one we've had since we've been coming to this park.  Considering the fact that not many have carts we had quite a showing - 24 entries in all but that included a couple of converibles as well.  This one got first place.

Travis and Shelvia sure had fun with this one.  He loves Elvis and jukeboxes and in fact has one on his porch. As you can see he dressed the part and towed the jukebox around while he sang  - loved Blue Christmas!

Afterwards many of us gathered in the clubhouse for cookies and coffee or cocoa and chat time.

This is the couple who organized it all.

Afterwards, I took the long way home so I could enjoy the lovely decorations on so many of the homes.

What a delightful day!!!!

Wednesday December 21, 2016
Today I decided to add the greens I had picked up at the yard sale to the front of the house.  I got them wrapped around the arms of the awnings and across the front of the house attaching our new wreath made by our next door neighbor, Marilyn.  I couldn't quite reach the very end of the last arm of the awning over the door so I got the little step stool we keep inside and stepped up on the first step.  Suddenly everything went wrong.  In slow motion I could feel myself falling toward the house as the stool collapsed throwing me into the lattice work at the very base by the steps.  Luckily I face hit that lattice which gave a bit or it could have been a worse disaster.  By the time our across the street neighbor ran over to check on me I'd managed to get on my hands and knees but the blood was pouring out of my nose.  Regina ran in the house searching for Ken who had been working on a project in the back.  He came running and got lots of paper towel for me to press against my face.  By the time I got inside and made an ice pack to put on my face the blood was slowing down.

I was determined to get to Emma Jean's for our card playing that we do each Wednesday at 1:00 so I had Ken drive me there with my ice packs.  I figured I'd be happier playing hand and foot than sitting around home feeling sorry for myself for doing something so stupid.  It was a bit of a trial keeping ice on my nose, mouth, chin, forehead etc.  But I managed.  By the time I returned home around 4:30 my face was swelling pretty good.

Here is a picture Ken took of me on Thursday.

My glasses had jammed down my nose digging in the top and sides and had deep scratches in the lens. And by then I was really feeling the pain in my chest as I think I've bruised or maybe slightly cracked a rib.  Deep breathes hurt as does raising my right arm.  But over all I came through the disaster pretty good.  (I'm writing this a week later and am amazed that only a couple of tiny marks remain on my face and lower lip.  All of the scabs have fallen off and my nose is sensative but that is all.

A Day At Sea

Tuesday, December 13, 2016


Coming soon...............

First Stop: Key West

Monday, December 12, 2016
I woke up at 6:30 am this morning and quietly slipped out on the balcony to watch the sunrise letting Ken sleep a bit longer.  The heavy clouds in the east kept us from seeing much of the sunrise but it was pleasant just sitting outside and watching the sky and seas and thanking God for all of this beauty and the opportunities He has given up for travel and to see this beautiful world He created.

Since Ken was up shortly after I got up, we decided to get dressed and head up to the Oceanview Cafe for breakfast before the rest of the ship would be up there causing a huge "traffic jam."  And indeed, it was pretty quiet so we were able to settle at a table right next to the rail in the aft of the ship where we could enjoy a delicious breakfast and watch as we began to pull into the "keys".

We wandered the outside areas of the upper floors of the ship with the specific goal of watching the ship dock in downtown Key West. This is the first time for this ship at this port and also the largest ship to come into Key West.  Wow did we take up alot of space!!!!  I tried to get a picture of the full length of the ship after we got off but it was impossible.

Our primary goal was to walk to Ernest Hemmingway's home for a tour but we'd barely got going when we noticed these wonderful statues

outside an old building as well as sidewalk made up of blocks telling the history of Key West.

 We climbed up on the wrap around porch of the building to see yet another unique statue

and then continued around to the front.

It turned out this was the old custom house that is now the Key West Museum of Art History.  What a treasure!!!  Two hours later we were ready to move on after seeing some marvelous pencil drawings lining the stair walls all the way up to the 3rd floor.  They illustrated Ernest Hemmingway's book "The Old Man and the Sea." with a quote from the book mounted by each photo to show what the picture was representing.

The hallways and rooms were filled with fascinating stories, illustrations and history of the area including bas relief pictures created by Mario Sanchez

showing his many memories of the old Key West he had lived in since his childhood.

Like in this carving he shows the workers rolling cigars and the reader (on the left) who kept them informed and entertained while they worked.  (his father had been a reader)

 Tennessee Williams had lived here too and not only wrote but produced paintings - not the best

but then he was famous so guess that makes them "wonderful enough for a museum".

There were many displays and printed histories from Hemmingways life including this statue of him

There was the whole story of Flagler building the railroad, creating long bridges along the way and then the total loss of all of that in a terrible hurricane that killed many residents especially in Long Key and totally destroyed the connecting bridges and roads such that the Keys could only be accessed via boats yet again.

Finally we emerged back out of that museum and began the walk toward Ernest Hemmingway's home passing beautiful flowers,

and stretches of small homes many of which are available to rent while you visit the area.

It was about a half mile or more to the home where we paid for a ticket and then joined a guided tour

More coming....................

And We Are Off Again!!

Sunday, December 11, 2016
At 7:30 am Bob and Harriett Hinton stopped at our place to load our luggage and get us settled in their car for the long drive to Ft Lauderdale.  We were off for a 7 day cruise on the Celebrity Silhouette.  While it spit off and on as we drove down, we did not run into a major rain to interfere with our transfer to the ship.  Once aboard, we went to our rooms to unload our carry on things and just to see our home for the week. We are on the starboard side of the ship in a balcony room.  It is beautiful and quite spacious.

Once we'd checked the room out, we headed up to the Oceanview Cafe - the buffet restaurant on the 14th floor for some lunch.  We had tried to reach the Hintons to arrange to have lunch with them but couldn't seem to connect by phone.  However, once we got up there, we found them already eating. We were able to get the table right next to them and join them after getting our food and chat for a bit.

But then they wanted to do some looking around and so did we but with different focus's so they were off one way and we another. We tried to hit some of the high points on the ship like the library, shopping area, casino, and theater but we tired fairly quickly.  And we discovered it was pouring rain outside so we couldn't really visit outdoor spots anyway.  Instead we returned to our room and took a nap getting up just in time for dinner.

Donna Rumrill had booked the cruise for both the Hinton's and us as well as six other couples so once we got to the Grand Cuvee Restaurant on the third floor we wended our way to the two tables next to each other for the 16 of us.  We were seated with the Hinton's, Brian and Margaret Bandkau (former neighbors of the Rumrills and now residents at Grand Horizons in Zephyrhills and with John and Debbie Henson who are new neighbors of the Rumrills.  We had a delightful dinner getting acquainted with each other in our beautiful surroundings.  The dining room was 2 stories high with a beautiful staircase in the center that took people up to the other level.

Following dinner Ken and I joined the Hinton's in the theater for the evening comedy show arriving early enough that we had time to do a bit more chatting.  The show featured a comedian by the name of Robbie Printz. Unfortunately I was so exhausted that I nodded off for part of the show so right after it finished we headed for our room and a good nights sleep.

Crazy Couple of Days

Friday/Saturday, December 9/10, 2016
We got back from our campout with our Mid-Florida Winnies on Thursday afternoon and started running (figuratively that is).  Between trying to get out all of the Christmas stuff to our children and grandchildren, doing Christmas cards for some of the people in the park, washing clothes, cleaning and emptying the motorhome yet again so it could be in storage, and preparing for our Hillcrest RV Park Park Wide Sale it has been wild.  As co-chair I had lots of paperwork to do including making many signs and preparing worker information and sign in sheets.  As a resident I had needed to bake several items for the bake sale and package those things in proper amounts (I made chocolate chip cookies with nuts, lemon bars and peppermint meringue kisses).

Friday we took up a car load of items for the yard sale - all things we'd been collecting in various boxes in our shed.  WOW - suddenly we have lots of space in there!!  Many of our residents also brought their items such that we filled over 40 tables with items for sale.  Everything from a sofa to Christmas ornaments and everything else in between. We got it all set up including all the pricing with the help of close to 40 volunteers.

Then today we were at the clubhouse by 7:00 am so as to uncover all the tables, price and place items that were left for us late yesterday and then get to the work of selling.  By 10:00 am some of our guys had the grills going with hamburgers and hotdogs on them.  Oh the smells, wonderful!!!!  This event really brings out the residents as well as many people from the community.  It is just an amazing experience to see what we can accomplish.  By 1:00 in the afternoon everything was cleaned up, stuff put away and all the leftovers gone (picked up by one of the groups we support as they also do yard sales)

Our final count of the money from the various "departments" was accomplished in the afternoon at Berta Mercer's home.  Then it goes right to the bank.  We were thrilled to find we'd made just short of $2,600.  That should really make a difference in a lot of people's lives once we distribute it.  Exciting to think about.

I wrote a newspaper article for our local community paper about the event this afternoon too.  (I'll post it at the bottom of this blog)

Several other jobs were completed and I finally got around to packing for our cruise about 10:00 at night.  Boy it will feel good to just get on the ship and relax.

Here is the article:

Hillcrest RV Resort Sponsors Yard Sale to Raise Funds for Missions

Yard sales are held at Hillcrest RV Resort in Zephyrhills twice during the “season” but with a twist.  While some residents can and do hold sales at their own places, many donate their items to the very active mission group at the park, thus helping others with their castoffs. 

About ten years ago, resident Berta Mercer (on the right in the attached photo with her co-chair Carolyn Ledford) suggested to other members of the mission group she formed back in 2000 that they consider adding a group sale to their efforts  using the main club house.   In the beginning, they were able to collect and sell about four hundred dollars worth of donated items and then send that money to various missionaries that Berta had formed relationships with at her home church in Michigan: a church that puts great emphasis on supporting missionaries. These people in turn would tell of specific needs where they were serving.  For example, a missionary serving in Africa saw a need for filters for wells.  He took on the job of teaching the locals how to build them providing jobs.  When the mission group heard about this they decided to send money earned in the sale directly to that missionary to purchase the necessary supplies to create the filters. Using this same method has allowed residents to directly purchase many goats, giving families in Haiti an animal that could provide milk. They in turn would give the first off spring of that goat to another family who could benefit from the ownership.

They have also provided food for a local soup kitchen and money to help those who were struggling to pay electric bills or a month of rent.  They have also supplied food to local food banks.  By distributing the money that way, they were able to directly help those who were in great need rather than going through organizations that used money to not only help others but pay for business leaders along with offices for them, mailings, and so forth.  They have received many thank you notes that bring tears to the eyes.

The idea caught on and now the park as a whole really gets behind the effort and makes a day of it.  For instance, Friday, December 9, 2016, close to fifty volunteers gathered to set up the clubhouse for the big sale on Saturday, December 10. They priced items and put them in display order with clothes, linens, Christmas decorations, and craft items on display inside and set up furniture, household items from sets of dishes to bathroom scales to golf club bags on the outside porch.  Residents donate baked goods and others grill hot dogs and hamburgers providing an opportunity for those who attend to buy, socialize and enjoy a meal.  Then at the end of the sale, leftovers are packed into boxes which are picked up by a local mission group which adds them to their ongoing yard sales to raise money and provide structured activity for those they are helping.   When the day is done, everything is back in place. Lots of stories are shared by workers about how they had helped make a difference in the lives of some of the shoppers who were buying for specific people and groups they support. Best of all they can then sit down and figure out who will benefit from the earnings here and abroad.  What a wonderful feeling to turn castoffs into dollars that in turn make a major difference in the lives of others.

Christmas Celebration at Our Campout

Monday-Thursday, December 5-8, 2016
It appears I've not been very good about posting our activities since returning from Texas. But we certainly have been busy doing things.  We realized once we returned we only had one week to get out all the Christmas trims and get them in place as well as do our Christmas letter and get it out to everyone along with gifts that had to be mailed.  That kept us hopping all last week but we managed to get most of it done.

Then on Monday we reloaded the motorhome and drove to Citra, Florida for our Mid-Florida Winnies December campout and Christmas celebration.  I've decided the easiest way to post that experience is simply to attach the newsletter article I wrote for Mid-Florida Winnies since I had to get it done along with the minutes quickly as tomorrow we spend helping get the huge Missions Yard sale set-up and everything priced to prepare for the sale on Saturday.  Then Sunday morning we are off our cruise on the Celebrity Silhoute.

Today after we returned from the campout, we cleaned out the RV, moved back into the house, found  all the items we are donating to the Missions Sale and reloaded the car with all those items so we can take them in the morning.  Then I tackled the job of baking chocolate chip cookies and meringue cookies for the bake sale also held on Saturday.

So here is the newsletter as I sent it off to our president today:

"Merry Christmas from the Mid-Florida Winnies! Colorful lights, decorated trees, candles and

greenery along with lots of red and green greeted us in the hall at Grand Lake Golf and RV Resort where we gathered for our December campout.  Motorhomes sported wreaths, lights, Christmas trees and other delightful decorations too.  All of us were in celebration mode and eager for a few days of fun with each other.  And we were delighted to have a Winnebago couple from this park join us for many of our activities.   Dell and Judy Jackson had met several of our members while doing the Music Caravan this past summer and were eager not only to see them again but meet the rest of us

Our hosts, the LaFlammes, Parks, and Smalleys, had created a great agenda

of activities including a entire page of things to do and places to eat in the area complete with colorful pictures of those spots so that we could acquaint ourselves with this area.  Unfortunately, we had a fair amount of rain on our “free morning and afternoon” on Tuesday but that didn’t stop members from locating a winery for a little tasting and some great restaurants and stores both in Ocala and Gainesville the nearby cities. And of course, there was Happy Hour on Monday for loads of hugs and conversations and time to share what we did when we regathered for Happy Hour on Tuesday.  

Tuesday evening we had Christmas dinner with ham and loads of delicious salads, potatoes, and vegetables plus a great display of desserts.  That was followed by a Christmas quiz that had us searching our brains for answers including how many gifts would you receive if you got all the gifts promised in the Twelve Days of Christmas.  One math whiz got that one right and then had to explain the process to the rest of us - 364 was the number.

By Wednesday morning a little of the Artic air from the frigid north was beginning to show its face, but lots of sunshine and a fantastic breakfast kept us warm and looking forward to another great day together.  Following our breakfast of juice, fruit, a selection of egg casseroles and coffee, we had our monthly meeting.  Refer to the minutes to learn more about what was discussed at that gathering.  Afterwards many of the dog owners went to the dog park area together so they could continue socializing while the dogs had a chance to run.

Following lunch many of the women gathered in the clubhouse to help put together some of the baskets our chapter will donate for the door prizes at the Florida State Rally in February.  We’ve received many wonderful handmade items to include so had fun looking at them and pinning on the “Handmade just for you by a Mid-Florida Winnie” tags.  Twelve baskets were completed and we’ll do another twelve or so at the January gathering at LazyDays.

Happy Hour again brought us back together to enjoy more time with one another followed by a

Sloppy Joe dinner in the clubhouse and a rousing session of brown bag gift exchange.  That is always good for some laughs and good hearted “stealing.”

During the evening fun, we took time to step outside and watch an Atlas rocket speed through the skies after lifting off over at Cape Canaveral.  Our hosts kept close track of the time for the event so we could get in position looking off to the SE horizon just in time for the orange glow of the rising rocket to appear and flit in and out of the clouds.

And before we knew it, it was time to enjoy one last of coffee and a Danish while we said farewell till next time.  See you in January at LazyDays."