Lillypond's Spot

New Awning

2010-02-28T20:33:00.001-05:00

It wasn’t a big photo week this time but I did manage to get a few shots.

First is this cute little car that the pesticide company has. One of our neighbors had some ants so they had to call and have their fifth wheel done. I thought the car was darling!

On Tuesday (which was one of the hottest days since we’ve been here) two of the great people in the park volunteered to put our new awning on saving us the labor charges. The people in this park are just fantastic!

It didn’t take them any time at all and soon we were able to sit on the patio again!

We went out to lunch and dinner several times this week with our new friends. Last night when we got home we found another visitor at the unit across the street from us.

Although they are so cute – we really don’t want them in the park. This guy was after the bird feeder in the tree so the owner removed it.

Today when we went shopping a Walmart we saw these sandhill cranes in the parking lot. Isn’t the little one cute?

Maybe I’ll have more photos next week.

Still in Florida

2010-02-22T19:54:00.001-05:00

We’ve decided to stay in Florida until March 15. It’s still pretty snowy at home and we’re hoping it will be gone by then. Second, we’d like to see some typical weather while we’re here. It’s been really a cold month for this area – 30’s at night and only 50’s & 60 maybe during the day. Usually it’s about 75 to 80 at this time I’m told. We’ve been mainly wearing jeans, sweaters, and jackets. I’d like to wear my summer clothes and get some warm sunshine before I head back to the cold. I’m not really complaining though, 50’s is much better than the snow and ice at home.

Because of all the dirt and a disagreement with the groomer here Katie has now been completely shaved. The first few days were still chilly and she shook constantly. Fortunately I brought her winter sweater and we keep her covered up at night. (She wakes me up with her shaking when she get out from under the blanket). So here’s my black and white hound dog!!

Thursday night was Talent night at the campground. I was expecting people to just play their instruments, sing and joke around a little. But WOW! The talent in this campground is amazing. A lot of these people are professionals. I couldn’t get many photos – I was too far back and the lights too dim. I did manage to get two decent photos. The guys in the chorus and the guys playing their instruments. One lady sang with the big bands in the 40’s & 50’s and boy was she good. Here are the two photos I did manage to get.

On Friday, we went to Fisherman’s Village in Punta Gorda with Tom & Kim for dinner. It’s full of shops and restaurants under one roof with apartments on the second floor. It’s on the harbor and has lots of boats. I managed to get a couple of shots of some pelicans on the piers. These are basically the first I’ve seen this year. Of course, we’re several miles inland. I see lots of vultures, but not too many other birds at the campground.

Of course I also got a photo of Rick and Tom playing around at the wharf.

We went to the super huge flea market in Fort Myers Sunday. All I can say is it was huge and lots of people were there. We didn’t pick up anything. That’s all I need more junk.

Things are winding down a bit as people start to pack up and go home. There’s still a few things we want to see before we leave. I’ll try to get some photos if I can.

Mardi Gras in Florida

2010-02-18T14:21:00.001-05:00

First I got my painting finished. I’d love to start another one but will probably wait. I’ve got too many hobbies now. But here is the final result.

Also a really nice lady a few spaces down offered to show Rick some oil painting in March and gave us a lovely painting that she had done.

The lovely folks in the park have a Mardi Gras day every year. You start with a pancake breakfast (yum) and later in the day there is a parade, followed by dinner, an ice cream social, and entertainment. We went to the breakfast and the parade, and then out to dinner with a big group at the one of the local restaurants.

Here is Rick wearing his beads waiting for the parade to begin.

This was the beginning of the parade.

Here’s Dieter – one of the activity directors for the park!

Next came the chicken revolt – apparently the Colonel’s chicken is on the outs.

Here’s a close-up of the costumes which I thought were darling!!!

Here’s baby 2009!

Apparently it’s the thing in Florida for campgrounds to sell their lots individually. Unfortunately Riverside has come up with this idea. Many of these people have been coming here for ten years or more and are a little put off by this move. Here’s a bunch moving out.

Of course – Snob Hill Realty is representing the owners.

The gentleman representing the realty company really does need clothes. His mysteriously disappeared from the laundry room one afternoon and he had to replace them. Of course he attended one of the informative meetings wrapped in a towel pleading for his back!! But now he’s representing the owners of the park in the Mardi Gras parade!

Finally the kayak paddlers in the park were represented by this float!

There were a few more but these were the best. Of course the week’s not over yet. We have a talent show in the park tonight and a flea market and craft sale Saturday. Rick and I aren’t going bowling tomorrow since my leg is still bothering me. We are going to the Punta Gorda fisherman’s village instead – a shopping mall, fish place, and more. I’ll try to take more photos and post them soon.

Happy Valentine’s Day

2010-02-14T10:46:00.001-05:00

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

2010-02-07T09:30:00.001-05:00

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

2010-02-03T12:32:00.001-05:00

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

2010-01-29T19:07:00.001-05:00

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

2010-01-19T09:16:00.001-05:00

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

2010-01-17T09:47:00.001-05:00

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.

Weeks 45 & 46

2009-11-20T14:02:00.001-05:00

Only six more weeks to go! This has been a big project. I don’t think I’ll do it again next year. I love the idea of having a book of my whole year – but it’s extremely time consuming and you always feel like you have a deadline hanging over your head. Maybe a shortened version – like my favorite photos of the month or a brief summary.

Week 45

Week 46

October layouts caught up

2009-11-18T10:01:00.001-05:00

I just finished the layouts for October. Now I’m only a few weeks behind. The computer is acting a bit better but will still freeze up and nothing to do but turn it off and reboot. When you’ve spent two hours working on a layout and poof! it’s gone, it really gets aggravating. But at least it’s not 20 times a day now. Now for the layouts. Only eight more weeks left in the year!

Week 42

Week 43

Week 44

Almost caught up!

2009-11-10T07:38:00.001-05:00

As you can see, I finally got a fall theme for this blog. It took me long enough. Maybe I’d better start working on Xmas now since it’s just a few weeks away.

I’m getting caught up on the 365 layouts too. Not there yet, but getting there. So here’s what I have now.

Week 37

Week 38

Week 39

Week 40

and the last one for now!

Week 41

Hopefully the rest soon!!!

Layouts for Week 35 & 36

2009-09-09T13:57:00.001-04:00

I got caught up on my 365 scrapping today. I'm now current through Saturday, September 5. I hate to get behind because it's so time consuming to catch up.

Week 35 layouts

Week 36 Layouts

Week 34 Photos

2009-08-25T08:27:00.001-04:00

We finally got to try the RV out. We packed up and went to a state park in Ohio about 30 miles away. This was a test to make sure everything worked okay and also to check that we had everything we needed. Everything was great. Even Katie enjoyed it to a certain extent. She did pretty well except when something really loud went by the campsite. She was even a bit friendly towards some of the people. It was a short trip and we forgot a few things and had some minor problems (plastic eroding from the sun) which we have taken care of already. We'll probably be hitting the road again next week!

Since my internet connections may be sparse I'm trying to keep up with my Project 365. I completed my layouts through this past week.

I know it's not spring anymore so hopefully I'll get the blog stuff changed before too long!!

Recent layouts

2009-08-16T19:33:00.001-04:00

I have the last three weeks layouts ready to upload.

Week 31 layouts

Week 32 layoust

Week 33 layouts

I don't know if I'll have an internet connection or not when we start camping so my post may be even more infrequent. Of course, maybe I can keep up with the photographing and scrapping if I'm not surfing the net so they may be more often. Who knows!!!!!

Layouts

2009-07-27T07:19:00.001-04:00

I got the last three weeks layouts for my 365 book. I don't know how I'm going to publish this book. I love Shutterfly but they have a cutoff of 100 pages and my book will be more than 100 pages. I've downloaded software for other manufacturers but it's a bit complicated. Shutterfly is definitely the easiest to use. Maybe I'll just wait until the end of the year and do two books. I just don't know yet.

Week 28 layouts

Week 29 layouts

Week 30 Layouts

Wk 27 Layouts

2009-07-06T08:22:00.001-04:00

Here's the layouts for this past week. Finally I'm caught up. I did get thirteen of the twenty layouts for the Shutterfly book that I'm making for Anna which is great. Hopefully, I'll get it done this week which would be a record for me. I don't think I've ever done a book in less than a month. I've been working on Katie's first year for about nine months now and just hit the twenty mark.

Happy 4th of July!!!

2009-07-04T08:57:00.001-04:00

Hope everyone has a great holiday and no rain!!! I've finally got my last couple of weeks layouts done and a new Katie layout! Halfway through the year! At least I've made it halfway. This is really a challenge to keep up. We have to get in the car and go looking for something to take photos of. You'd be suprised at how often we go somewhere and I come back without any photos.

Week 26 layouts

Week 25 layouts

This is my Katie! I'm afraid Katie is spoilt more than any dog we've ever had!

Week 24 Layouts

2009-06-17T13:14:00.001-04:00

I got my layouts done for this week but forgot to post them! Duh!!!

Week 22 & 23 layouts

2009-06-08T21:22:00.001-04:00

I finally got my layouts done for the last two weeks.

Week 22

Week 23 layouts

Layouts for weeks 20 & 21 and new Katie layout

2009-05-25T11:09:00.001-04:00

I've got my layouts done for the last two weeks. If you're interested seeing larger photos check out my 365 project blog. Link is at the side of this blog.

First my new Katie layout. Just a simple one but I loved the look on her face!

Week 21 layouts - this week contains the race photos for Susan and Nick.

Week 20 layouts - Mother's Day

New Katie layout

2009-05-16T07:37:00.001-04:00

I got something done besides my 365 project this week. I made a new Katie layout. Sometimes I don't know where all my time goes, it just flies by. I think I got more done when I was working. Maybe I should go back to work so I can get more of my scrapping done!!! Anyway here's Katie - she's about 5 or 6 months old here.

Layouts for week 18 & 19

2009-05-11T09:01:00.001-04:00

I've got my layouts done so I will qualify for Gina's giveaway at Weeds & Wildflowers. She gives a nice addition every 2 weeks for her Life 365 kit. All of my 365 layouts were made from her kits. The only requirement is you keep your scrapping up to date. So I'm done for this giveaway.

Week 18

Week 19

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T08:07:00.001-04:00

Today is Mother's Day. It's the first year I've been without my Mom and twenty-six years since Emily passed. I want to remember them both today. They are missed.

I found this poem on the internet and it says it all.

God saw you getting tired
And a cure was not to be.
So, He put His arms around you,
And whispered, “Come with Me.”
With tearful eyes we watched you suffer
And saw you fade away.
Although we loved you dearly,
We could not make you stay.
A golden heart stopped beating,
Laying loving hands to rest.
God broke our hearts to prove to us
He only takes the best.

Layouts for April 12 - April 25

2009-04-28T07:13:00.001-04:00

Wow! I'm really getting late in posting these. It took longer because it's entirely different scrapping on the laptop vs the desktop. The screens are entirely different. I want to get used to the laptop so I really running behind!

We'll start with Easter week. Hopefully the next two weeks will go faster!

These were for last week.