Thursday, December 31, 2009

Santee National Wildlife Refuge

Barbara and I woke around 5 AM so after we got dressed we went down for breakfast and were on the road by 7. We ran into some traffic and all the other cars had license plates from places like Maine, Ontario, New York, we had the strange feeling that we were just part of the snow bird flock migrating to warmer weather, guess what; we are. On the way to the hotel we stopped at the Santee National Wildlife Refuge (http://www.fws.gov/santee/ ) and walked around the visitor center. I got some pictures of Osprey, ducks, river otter and a squirrel (yes that squirrel is big).

After checking into the hotel we decided to go out for dinner and went to the restaurant right next to the hotel called Glass House Seafood Restaurant. Dinner was ok, nothing to write home about. Then it was back to the hotel and two person whirlpool tub, guess who shared some time in it.

Everyone have a Happy New Year.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Back to Florida

Day one on the road was uneventful. We hit a bunch of traffic south of DC and decided to get off of I-95 and find someplace to eat our lunch. We had brought lunch so we just headed south on US Rt 1 and found a McDonald's. We sat in their parking lot and ate our lunch and then went in to use the restrooms before continuing on our way. Hyacinth directed us back to I-95 where there was more traffic. The traffic was not stop and go but was just very slow. It would speed up for a about a mile and then get slow again, no accident that we saw just volume. We stopped at a mansion Museum in Richmond called Maymont ( http://community.maymont.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=330 ). They have tours every half hour but when we got there at 2:30 PM the next available tour was at 4:00 PM so we just did the basement which had displays on what it was like to be a servant in a big house. We would have liked to tour the house, all decorated for a Victorian Christmas, but could not wait around that long for the 4 o'clock tour. When we got to the hotel we got into the indoor pool and had a lovely dinner in our room (Barbara packed it from home).

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Christmas 2009

I will try to remember all that has happened over the Christmas holiday here in Whiting, NJ.

On Christmas Eve, Ray Jr. came down and brought things for dinner that he cooked. First was a very nice Swiss cheese but the best was the duck bacon, yes duck bacon, that he used to wrap the scallops that he cooked on the grill. I did some salmon on the grill also and Barbara made a Caesar Salad. Before desert we did our paper pie we saw one at a museum (surprise), you pull on one of the ribbons and there is a prize on the other end. The paper pie was a Victorian thing for children's parties. After dinner we opened our presents, could not wait for the morning. Everyone got good stuff, no returns for us.

On Christmas morning we had Swedish pancakes for breakfast (wish there had been some of that duck bacon left over) and then Ray packed up his loot and headed home. Barbara and I got ready and went to Florida, NY to be with the Cuccio clan. The highlight of Barbara’s day was when she got to feed Makayla and then she got to hold her for about an hour while Makayla slept.

On Sunday we had Barbara’s cousin Ed, his wife Patty, his son Chris, Chris’s wife Maria and their two children Jonathon and Lauren over for dinner. Barbara had an extra gingerbread house kit so we set it up for Lauren to do. When they got here both Lauren and Jonathon wanted to do the house so she had one do the front and the other do the back. They all enjoyed the project (even Barbara). We had a wonderful visit and found more family to get to know.

Barbara and I talked and decided to leave for Florida on Wednesday instead of Thursday to try to get ahead of the next storm that is heading our way. So on Monday we packed Christmas away (why does it take three days to put Christmas up but only one day to put away?). On Tuesday we started packing for the trip back to Florida. Now it is Tuesday night and the trunk is all packed and the rest is ready to go into the back seat.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Snow Storm 2009

Well we got a bit more snow last night. I measured in a few places and it looks like we got 18 inches of snow. It is so deep that one of my reindeer is almost completely buried, his head is under the snow. It took me most of the morning but I got the drive and the sidewalks all cleared. As I am sitting here writing this the plows just came by so I will have to go back out and redo the end of the driveway, that’s life. Here are some pictures so you can all see what we woke up to.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Cookies and Snow

Barbara has been busy baking up a storm of Christmas cookies. One that is a favorite, and the most labor intense, with a lot of the family is her mice. While Barbara has been baking up storm the weather has come up with a snow storm of it’s own. In this case a picture is worth a thousand words.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Gingerbread House Party

Barbara had the neighborhood ladies over for her second annual Gingerbread House party. The ladies all arrived on time and got right to work. As you can see from the pictures everyone did a marvelous job and had a good time doing them. I am going to let the pictures tell the story.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

One week until Christmas.

Since Barbara and I got home on December 6th we have been busy little bees. The first week was full of putting up Christmas. Lucky for me the weather was nice that first Monday and Tuesday and I got all the outside decorations up and got the rest of Christmas down from the attic. By Friday evening Christmas was up and all the empty boxes were back in the attic, just goes to show you what you can get done if you are motivated. Last Saturday we got a plan grave blanket and decorated it ourselves and brought it over to Barbara's Mom and Dad's grave, they are both in the veterans cemetery about 25 minutes from here. My Uncle John is there also so we stopped and paid our respects to him also. We had Louise over for dinner on Sunday and had a very nice time. The rest of the week has been spent in getting ready for Barbara's gingerbread house party. Tuesday we expanded the table (put all 5 leaves in) and she put all the houses together. I had to run out to Lowe's and buy a piece of 4'x2' lauan to be used for the bases of the ginger bread houses. I cut the 2x4 piece down to four 12”x15” pieces which works real well for the bases (this year we will ask the ladies to save the bases so we can use them again next year). Today Barbara and I spent the afternoon decorating our gingerbread house, we even added a sleigh riding hill made out of a piece of brownie. Well that is all for now the rest of this week and next are going to be just as busy, maybe busier, so I may not get to update this as often as I should but I will do my best.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Home Again

We left Fredericksburg VA. around 7:30 AM and arrived home around 12:30 PM. Nothing important to say about the trip just a normal 5 hour drive with about 3 stops for bathroom breaks and to eat. Oh I have to say one thing. We drove over the Delaware Memorial Bridge and back into NJ and I felt the need to stop so we pulled into the NJ welcome stop to use the facilities, only to find it closed and the only facility to use were one of three port-a-johns. I picked the cleanest of the three, and it was not easy to choose and we were on our way again. This can only happen in NJ. We are glad to be home and will start decorating for Christmas tomorrow.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Snowed In

We awoke to a rainy morning and after breakfast headed north once more. We were going to go to Richmond VA. but decided to go a little further and head to Fredericksburg instead. By the time we reached Fredericksburg it was snowing so while eating lunch at Burger King Barbara called the museum we were going to go to but did not get an answer so seeing as the snow was coming down faster we decided to go to the Hotel and see if they could give us our room a bit early. They had rooms ready so after checking in we went for a swim in the indoor pool (it will be our last swim for awhile). Tomorrow we will drive the last leg of our trip and arrive home sometime in the afternoon, finally.

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Friday, December 4, 2009

Day Three on the Road to NJ

This entry has to start with a short description of the Merry Jingle Tour of Savannah. What we were expecting was a tour of a city full of Christmas lights. What we got was a bus ride with a little bit of history with carols, and we had to sing the carols. Oh well that is one tour we will not take again. Here are some pictures from the tour.

Today we woke early, our room was on the highway side of the motel and the noise woke us. Should have moved when we first got there but we did not. Another mistake we will not make again. We stopped in Fayetteville, NC and went to The Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex (http://www.gofayetteville.com/sites/st_capefear2.htm) which included a tour of the 1897 Poe House, not Edgar Allen Poe the writer a different Poe family. It showed how people at the end of the 19th century worked and lived. I got to take some pictures in the dinning room of the table a gingerbread house and what is called a paper pie. It is a pie made out of paper with small gifts inside that you get out by pulling on one of the ribbons, we think we may try that this year. Then we headed to our hotel in Smithville, NC no highway noise.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Day Two on the Road to NJ

We got up and headed to Savanna, GA. Today we went to The Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort and Spa to see two of Barbara’s favorite things, Gingerbread houses and Christmas trees. The village was made up of buildings and things in and around Savannah. And the Christmas trees where all decorated with different themes. Then we headed downtown Savannah to see about getting tickets for the twilight trolley tour. We were able to get tickets for the 7:30PM tour so we headed to our hotel for a bit of a rest and a swim in the indoor pool. Well the pool is not open so we just relaxed in the room for the afternoon. This evening we had chicken that Barbara had made up a few days ago and had frozen for this trip, it was very good. Now we are just waiting for the time to go on the tour. Here are some of the pictures I took today.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Day One on the Road to NJ

We got on the road about 9:30AM and headed north. Our first stop was in Daytona Beach at the Museum of Art and Science. We got there around 11:30 so we decided to have our packed lunch in the car before going in. In the lobby they had small decorated Christmas trees for sale and Barbara fell in love with one decorated with gingerbread men and candy. We will use it in the kitchen and it will go real well with the gingerbread house we will be making. The paintings in the arts part of the museum were all of Florida and they  had a small display of Chinese art. Then we went into the Root Wing dedicated to the Root Bottle Company who in 1915 won a contest to design the bottle to be used by Coca-Cola. They had cases filled with Teddy bears even a full size one dressed as a British Beefeater, they guard the queen. There is also a section on the trains used through the years in Florida. The section on science was not open due to a flood that happened in May of 2009. After that we went to the hotel and then to Marge and Joe’s for dinner (Marge is Barbara’s cousin) in Ormond Beach. Dinner was real good and we had a very nice visit.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Last Days in Florida for 09

Well it is time to go home and leave Florida for 2009. We will miss all the sun shine although the next three days are going to get cool and rainy so maybe we are timing this just right. Will update as we continue our wonderings.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Turkey Day

Thanksgiving Day:
Well we got up early and started the preparations for our Thanksgiving Day dinner. First thing was to get the turkey breast ready. Well the turkey breast was split down the back so I had to go over to George's place to see if they had any string I could use to tie it together with, and bingo they had just what I needed. After tying the turkey breast together over the diet Coke can with wine in it, it went on the grill, see pictures. After just over 2 and a half hours it was done, getting it off the grill was a little tricky but we got it off without it falling onto the cement. Barbara covered it with some aluminium foil and stuck it into a cooler turned on it's side to keep it warm. Next was the chicken's turn, it went onto a diet Dr. Pepper can with some beer in it. Barbara did the mashed potatoes, the sweet potatoes, stuffing and green beans. Barbara's cousin Lill and Tom (Lill and Occie's neighbor and good friend) arrived at 1:30, Occie (Lill's husband) was not feeling well so it was just the four of us instead of five. We all had a great meal with way too much food, as usual, and a very nice visit.
Black Friday:
We awoke to a cold morning, it was about 58 degrees F, so Barbara got out the space heater we had bought at CostCo and warmed up the living room, kitchen area for us. After breakfast we decided to go do some more thrift store shopping. We had heard from people in the park there was another thrift store further up Rt 1 so we decided to see if we could find it. We did find it, and another one too, and the only thing we bought was a book of Christmas, I am sorry "Holiday" stories that are written to be PC (Politically Correct). For example; Frosty the Persun of Snow. Then seeing as we where so close to Melbourne we decided to go to the Brevard Art Museum ( http://www.brevardartmuseum.org ) to see what they had on display. They had an exhibition called Tools in Motion The Hechinger Collection. It was great, one of the sculptures was about 100 or more vise grip pliers mounted so it looked like a school of fish. For lunch we found Coasters Pub ( http://www.coastersbrewpub.com ) which has 100+ beers. They have over 30 taps so I got one of their samplers of five different beers and Barbara and I split a house salad and an order of fish and chips. Good beers and good food will have to go back there again. Then it was time to come back to the trailer. Instead of going back through Melbourne to US Rt. 1 or I-95 we drove down the barrier island on A1A to Wabassa were we crossed back over to the mainland. All in all a very surprising and pleasing day.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Monday before Thanksgiving

On Monday I measured and cut a piece of baseboard for the problem wall. Then I had to rip a piece of 1x2 wood in half without the use of my table saw. My first attempt using my jig saw and the fence that came with it did not work, the blade started to bend sideways I do not know why. Next I drove around the park trying to find someone that might have a table saw I could use for about 30 seconds, no luck. Next I took the circular saw that I had and set it's rip fence and after clamping the 1x2 next to another 1x2 I was able to rip it in half and made two 1x1's (all the wood workers will appreciate what I went through). Then I put two coats of paint on the base board and the 1x1 I had made to match the wall. On Tuesday Morning I nailed down the 1x1 with a little construction glue and then I nailed the base board on top of it, it looks very good. Then it was time to start getting ready for Turkey Day. First we changed the furniture on the porch. We put the dinning room table where the sofa and chairs were and the sofa and chairs were the table was, cleaning as we went. I also tried to get the oven to work. I got the piolet light lit but when we turned on the oven nothing happened. Barbara's brother George came over and tried to get the oven to light but was not successful. I think we will have to wait until after Turkey Day to get the oven working. Tomorrow will be a cooking day for Barbara and I will be doing what I can to help.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

The painting is done

On Friday I finished the last wall in the living room (Woo Hoo). So now it is all about getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner. On Saturday we went to Habitat for Humanity's store to see if we could find some chairs and maybe a love seat and get rid of the one that was left in the trailer. Well they still had three of the aluminium chairs we had seen the last time we had been there and we found a love seat that we liked. In January I will sand down the chairs and paint them and we have a slipcover back in NJ that will fit the love seat so we are all set, oh and when H4H delivered the love seat and chairs they took the old one away. Then we went off for a day out of shopping and reverse shopping. We stopped at a material store and Barbara found some material to make curtains, that is right we have given up on finding curtains and Barbara is going to make them. We also found a second set of sheets so Barbara can use them in the curtains, she is making the curtains lined so they look nice from inside and out. We have been having a great time doing thrift store shopping and finding bargains. So far we have found a table, 3 chairs, a love seat, wine glasses, desert glasses, and much more. Today I went for another 13 mile bike ride and when I got back Barbara had started working on the curtains. She is doing it all by hand, we did not bring the sewing machine, and with Stem-a-Seam. She got the one for the window done, see album.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Good Bye to the Couch

Time to catch everyone up on what we have been up to. On Monday Barbara and I (me under the direction of Barbara) tried a painting technique on the wall that is in pretty bad shape. It had gotten wet when the old Florida Room (aka the porch) got blown away in the last hurricane that hit this area. The paneling is all buckled and should be replaced (maybe next year) and you can see the where it buckles after we put up the paintable wall paper and painted it. So we tried the speckling technique we used to do the clouds in on the bumbout ceilings. First we tried some white and chocolate colored paint and that did not look so good. Barbara got out her acrylic paints and I dabbed on some burnt umber. Nope, still not good so I dabbed on some blue and that is when we decided that it was not getting any better so we better stop. I sent out an e-mail with a link to the pictures and asked my Friends options, everyone said (drum roll please) PAINT IT! Well it has been repainted with the base color (needs a second coat to cover the burnt umber) and the bumbs from the water damage don't look so bad anymore. On Monday evening we went over to Barbara's Brothers place for Pat's 60th birthday party. We brought along the GIANT Christmas Cracker Barbara had bought at one of the thrift stores we had gone to last week, it had clowns on it and was not very christmasy. George and Pat pulled it (it did not have a snapper in it did not bang) and we all enjoyed seeing all the neat stuff inside. Everyone put on a hat and read their riddle (ex: What did the lawyer name his daughter.... Sue). On Tuesday it was back to work so I put a coat of paint on the experiment wall and started on the next section the closet over the non working furnace and door to the bathroom. And of course our afternoon swim, I am loving Florida in November. Today I went for an 11.88 mile bike ride and then did my lower leg exercises when I got back. Barbara and I went down to the Bargin Corner (the thrift store in the park) to donate some things we were not using and to see if they would take the couch off our hands. Well they would not take the couch but they said to put it out by the curb and someone will come and want it. We where a little skeptical but I found someone to help me get it off of the porch and onto the next sites cement. Well as we where finishing lunch the AmeriGas delivery man stopped and said he wanted it. I helped him move it back from the road and now we are just waiting for him to come and pick it up. We also found the perfect table for company dinners. It fits against the wall where the couch was and with the two leafs up it will seat 8 to 10 very nicely, and it only cost $15.00. Today I did very little work, even I need a day off once in a while. I did take the doors off the next cabinets to be painted and did some repair work to the paneling but no painting. Tomorrow I will paint the rest of the cabinets in the living room and get that area all done. Almost forgot to rub it in, we went for an afternoon swim today also.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Living room

On Saturday after breakfast I put a coat of white paint on the ceiling in the living room. Then I suggested to Barbara that we go for a swim then have lunch out and go look for a new camera. She had another suggestion, that we have lunch here and then she would take a shower and wash her hair and then we could go look for a camera and have dinner out. Well that sounded good to me so after lunch I put a second coat of white paint on the ceiling and I also got cleaned up, shaved and showered. Then we headed for Vero Beach where we went to Target, Walmart, Office Depot and Best Buy. I compared camera features and price and bought a Canon Power Shot SX120IS at Best Buy. Then we had dinner at Big Apple Pizza (Barbara had a coupon) we had an anti pasta and a medium pizza, it was very good.
Well today was wallpapering day. The one wall in the living room where the sliding glass door is, is in bad shape but I do not want to take all the paneling down and put up a new wall (at least not this year) so we are trying to cover it up as best we can. We had bought a roll of Paintable Wallcovering in a stucco pattern that we thought might cover the worst of the wall. Well the paper went up with just a few issues and it might actually have made the wall look worse, we will know better after I paint it tomorrow. some of the water stains have bleed through the paper and it has made some of the bubbles in the paneling look worse. I am hopeful that 2 coats of paint will be the solution (I really do not want to tear the wall down and have to rebuild it).
Seeing as I have a new camera I have pictures to post, see album on the left.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Sofa Move

Well since we got home on Tuesday I have been at it once again. I painted the bump out in the living room area. 2 coats of tan on the walls, 2 coats of chocolate on the window frames and blue with clouds for the ceiling (yes we did it in the living room also). On Thursday morning I moved the two recliners into the bump out behind the couch and we waited for Barbara's cousins and their respective spouses to arrive to help me move the couch out onto the porch. Barbara's cousin Marge and her husband Joe and Barbara's cousin Ed and his wife Pat arrived around 4:30 in the evening. After showing them around the place, that took all of 2 minutes, we tried to get the couch through the sliding glass door. It was soon apparent that it was just not going to go through the opening. We tried to take the sliding door part out but found out that we needed to remove the outer glass door first, the part that does not move. We removed the screws at the top and the bottom that we found but the door would not move. We then dug out the caulk but it still would not move, the top was lose but the bottom was still secure. Then Pat came to the rescue, she got down and found two screws on the inside that were holding the door in place, a big Woo Hoo to Pat. After removing those two screws the door came lose and after prying the bottom out (and landing on my fingers) the door was out of the way. After that it was easy to remove the sliding door and less then 5 minutes later the couch was on the porch. Then we just reversed the the process and the sliding door was back in place. Today I went to Home Depot to buy new screws to secure the outside door and a few other things for some other projects that have come up. When I got back I secured the door with the new screws and put new caulking along the bottom of the door. Then I glued the paneling that was buckling to get it ready for the paint able wall paper. Tomorrow I will be painting the ceiling (white) and putting the wall paper up. I am so sorry that I did not get any pictures of the adventure in moving a couch but I have not gotten to the store to get a new camera.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

First Field Trip

On Monday morning Barbara and I got into the car and drove to Orlando to go to one of the closest Costco's to get the tires rotated. Bought four new tires at Costco a few months ago so I get free rotation and tire balancing for the life of the tires. Well after doing some shopping at Costco and having lunch we went to the Orange County Regional History Center. The admission was free due to our membership at Brandy Wine River Museum. We learned all about the history of central Florida, how the natives lived before the Europeans arrived, how the Seminole Indians were forced from their land and about the orange groves and how the Orlando area developed over the years. After the museum we went across the street to a local TiKi bar for a snack. Then to the motel. In the morning after breakfast we went to the Harry P. Leu Gardens and with our American Horticulture Society membership admission was free. The garden is divided up into different areas. There is an idea garden, a citrus grove, a butterfly garden, a rose garden and a vegetable garden to mention just a few. In the vegetable garden I found Jicama (pronounced hee-kuh-muh) which it turns out every part except the root is poisonous. Barbara and a neighbor tried to feed this stuff to me and her husband once, but that did not work out. Nothing good can come from a plant that is mostly poisonous. After leaving the gardens we drove home by way of the outlet mall in Vero Beach just off of I-95. Then home again.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Bedroom Project Done

Well got up early and after breakfast I put a second coat of paint on the wall patches, ceiling and door. Then I brought the bed frame into the bedroom and put it together. Then we just had to wait for the bed to arrive. The bed came and was put in place by the two young gentlemen and in no time Barbara and I were putting the sheets on it. It comes up alot higher then the one we took out put it is so comfortable.
I then started working on the drawers for the kitchen. I trimed down the sides even with the bottom of the drawer and put a piece of 1/4" wood along the bottom and glued and clamped them in place. After I got one drawer done I took it inside to see if it was going to work and it will work.
Around 3:00 PM today I was too pooped to pop so I took a nap on my new bed until dinnertime. I love our new bed.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Bedroom Project Day 3, 4 and 5

Day 3:
Barbara and I went to Home Depot in the morning and on the way stopped at a mattress store and bought a bed and scheduled it to be delivered on Friday Morning. We went to Home Depot to buy a quart of their no VOC paint in blue. Home Depot does not sell their no VOC in quarts only gallons so we just bought the small piece of paneling to use to fix the walls along with some silicone caulking and a tube of construction glue. Then after lunch I started on patching the walls. Had to cut some more wall supports out and then replace them. I only got the larger hole fixed before it was time to go for a refreshing swim and dinner.
Day 4:
Got a nice early start and finished patching the walls. Then put new base molding up. After that I nailed down new tack strip for the carpet, cut out the old padding and cut a new piece of padding to replace it. Then I unfolded the carpet and put it all back. Next was to start painting the ceiling and walls. Just after lunch George and Pat drove into the park and past our house. After doing some more painting Barbara and I went over to George and Pat's house to say hello and see how their trip down had been. While there I helped George unscrew his front door, only person I know who does not lock his door for the summer but screws it shut behind two pieces of plywood. Barbara and I then went for a swim and then we decided to go to Lowe's to get the quart of blue paint for the ceiling, another gallon of white paint and a bathroom scale. Then we went to a Big Apple Pizza for our first Florida pizza. It was OK but not like our La Gondola pizza back in New Jersey.
Day 5:
I got to work painting the walls in the morning and got them all done. Then I painted the ceiling over where the bed will be with the blue paint. After lunch I put a chicken on a can on the grill to cook for dinner. had to cook it early so we could get our afternoon swim in. While the chicken cooked I went back into the bedroom to put some clouds on my blue ceiling. It was very simple I took a plastic bag and crumpled it up and dipped it into the white paint and then after blotting it on a wet rag I dabbed on white puffy clouds onto my blue ceiling. I think it turned out real well. After taking the chicken off the grill I went back into the bedroom to work on the space where the drawers where under the closet. First I unscrewed the last drawer and pulled it out, it was the worst one. Then I measured and cut the wainscoting we had bought so long ago (or so it seemed). When i had cut the last piece and I still had 4 inches to cover. I thought I was going to have to go and buy another pack of wainscoting to cover it and Barbara said just cut a piece of luan and paint it white so that is what I did. When I am done you should not see any difference. Tomorrow I have to get up early and finish painting, the white part of the ceiling needs a second coat as does the wall patch. Then I have to put the bed frame back together and wait for our new bed to be delivered.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Bedroom Project Day 2

Well after getting a late start, had to pay the bills first, I got to work on fixing the floor. I cut and installed some 2x2's for support of the new plywood floor, I screwed them to the existing floor and the 2x2's that were still sound enough. I used ring nails and decking screws so they should not come out or rust. The next task was to cut out the rotten wood in the wall. It took me awhile but I got it out. Then it was time to cut the plywood for the floor. I stuffed new fiberglass insulation between the floor supports and then cut and fit the two pieces of plywood. I screwed the new floor down with 2" deck screws, it is not going anywhere.
After that I needed to get cleaned up before our afternoon swim so I headed to the bathroom for a shave and shower, that felt good.
That is all for now.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Bedroom Project Day 1

Well today I was going to start painting the bedroom. I moved the bed out and deflated it, yes I have been using a blowup bed, then I had to remove the patch on the wall. What I found caused me to pull the rug up and see what was going on with the dip in the floor there. Well the floor had been patched once with MDF (medium density fiberboard) instead of plywood. That would not be so bad but there must have been another leak that was never looked at and fixed right away. I had to cut a bigger hole in the wall to get back to fiberglass insulation that had not gotten wet and good wood to build the new floor on. I still have some more wood that needs to be cut out from the wall but I will do that after putting the plywood down tomorrow. After tearing out all that I had to go buy wood and supplies for tomorrow at Home Depot. By that time it was time for my afternoon snack and a evening swim.
After our swim I cooked the steaks Barbara had bought earlier today along with some onions, red peppers and potato slices. It was delicious.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

By the Ocean

Today I took the day off from work, sort of. After Breakfast we went for a swim in the pool. After that we packed ourselves a lunch and set out for the beach. We went to the rebuilt beach at Wabasa. Last February they were busy rebuilding the boardwalk access and sand dunes at this beach so we thought we see what it looked like. Well the beach access is very nice. I guess the Wabasa beach is favored by the local surfing crowd because there were at least 6 surfers in the water when we got there and more came while we sat and watched. We got into the water which was very warm but the waves where too strong and Barbara got knocked down and had to wait to get back up. After lunch we went back into the water and while Barbara was standing there she lost her balance in a wave and landed on her butt, I of course had to go get the camera. After I helped her up we went and sat down for a while before coming back to the trailer and washing a small beach down the drain between us.
After cleaning up our mess I decided to put my new gas grill together. It took longer then I thought it would but I got it together with no leftover parts or missing parts, it even worked.

Friday, October 30, 2009

The Kitchen is Done

From a sow's ear to a silk purse, well maybe a denim backpack.
As of Wednesday we have been in our trailer for one week. In that time we have done alot to the place and have more to do. We have als met some of our neighbors as they continue to arrive. Wednesday Barbara went with one of our new neighbors over to another community to play Mahjong. She had a good time and I got some alone time.
Thursday I started to hang the cabinet doors back up and then Barbara and I went out to do some reverse shopping and look for curtains for the bedroom. We are lookig for some cafe' curtains and can not find any. We will have to find a curtain store in the area or wait until we go back to NJ and go to the curtain store in Toms River. We had dinner out at Ruby Tuesday's and when we got home we went for a moonlight swim, the sun had set and the moon was out so it counts.
The kitchen is done. I hung the rest of the cabinet doors back up today and painted the rest of the kitchen ceiling. Then after vacuuming and washing the kitchen floor I started laying the new self stick tiles. It took all afternoon but I think you will agree it was worth every minute. You might notice that the tile is not the same blue ones I put in the bottem of the one cabinet, seeing as we went with the chocolate brown for the walls and trim on the cabinet doors we could not use the blue tiles. Such is life.
Tomorrow we think we are taking the day off and go to the beach. If we do I will take the camera and take some pictures.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Turn on the AC

Today we awoke to a humid morning, so the AC was turned on and has not been turned off all day. While Barbara went to get her hair cut and do a large shopping order I got busy painting. I got a second coat on the cabinets over the stove and one coat on the cabinet over the sink and a coat inside the very deep cabinet over the refrigerator. I will continue painting tomorrow and hopefully finish all the upper cabinets and start on the lower ones. After Barbara got home with her new hairdo (I like it) and the groceries I cleaned up while she made lunch. After lunch we had some reverse shopping and shopping to do. While we were at Lowe’s we wanted to get something to put on the walls in the kitchen over the counter. First we thought about putting self stick floor tiles but could not find anything we liked. The ones that we thought might be good would show the seams and Barbara really did not want to see the seams. Then we went over to the paint department and found paintable wallpaper. We got a roll with stucco like texture to it and a quart of paint in Creamy Chocolate and a gallon of Turning Taupe for the walls. I think it is going to look great, if not I just paint over it LOL. Seeing as we bought wall paper and all my wall papering tools are in New Jersey so I had to get new tools for this job down here. We are also going to use the paintable wall paper in the bathroom on the walls with the same Creamy Chocolate paint. For as small as this trailer is I think I will be painting until we leave to go home at the end of November.
Tonight Barbara cooked on the stove for the first time, she had me light the burner for her, if there are pilot lights I could not find out how to light them, so we just have to use a match. The pork with sauerkraut was delicious. After dinner we went for a sunset swim.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Work, work, work...

Yesterday was a shopping day. Went to Lowe’s, Home Goods, and Target and bought a whole lot of stuff for the trailer. We bought NO VOC paint for the kitchen (actually for the whole inside of the trailer), a gas grill, self stick tile for the kitchen and bathroom floors, a fry pan, 2 sauce pans and a bunch of other stuff. Got home after dark and was just too tired to write it all down.
Today I got up early and I started painting the kitchen cabinets. I got 2 coats on two of the cabinets (inside and out) and started on a third one. It started to get hot so after lunch I cut and put some of the tile on the floor inside of one of the floor cabinets where the old floor was. I did a good job if I do say so myself. Then I put together the two closet maid units we had bought for the bedroom. The lower one is just a shelf unit and the upper one is a two drawer cabinet, they will be very useful. We did go for a swim in the bigger pool by the office this afternoon. Then we came home and Barbara cooked dinner for us. She made hash out of some leftovers from one of our dinners out and added some fresh things to it, it was delicious.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Sunny Day Number 1

Today we woke to a sunny day. By the time we got up, had breakfast and gotten dressed the temperature was already 80° F. Well we decided to make up a shopping list for Home Depot and go get supplies for some of the projects around the trailer. Some of the things we went off to find were paint, a new light for over the kitchen sink, light bulbs, and filter material for the air conditioner. After lunch out we returned to the trailer and while Barbara did some paper work I set out to do some chores. I replaced the florescent light over the sink with the new one. Then I cleaned the grill over the sink in the bathroom where the light is. After cleaning the a/c unit cover and replacing the filter material I put the cover back up. I then set out to take the bed out of the bedroom so I could put the air bed up in there. Well I got the bed and box spring out into the shed, I will put it out for the trash on Tuesday. Then I got the bed frame apart and out to the recycling bins. In doing this I uncovered a spot on the floor that is certainly rotted out under the rug and a spot on the wall that will need to be fixed. The rug is in good shape so I hesitate to pull it up to see what needs to be done to fix the floor; I am afraid that the rug is stapled down and not put in over trackless strips. That project will be for another time. Well I got the air bed blown up and put into place. We turned the bed 90 degrees and slid it into the bump out this gives a little more floor space for dancing, lol. Well I wore myself out and took a short nap. After supper we went for a swim, isn’t Florida in October wonderful? The temperature was still in the 80’s (F) and the water in the pool was around 82° F. More projects for tomorrow, I think I am going to start painting the kitchen cabinets in the sink area. We got a price for a new stove and it would be around $480.00 all total but Home Depot will not put it in so we will need to find someone that can do it (maybe I can, we will have to see what the rules are).

Thursday, October 22, 2009

First Full Day in Florida

Barbara and I woke up to cloudy skies in Sebastian. After a morning rain storm the sky became partly cloudy for the rest of the day. When the rain falls on the metal roof on the porch it gets real loud, so we just turn the volume on the TV up. Well we finished putting all the clothes away and then cleaned the bathroom. Let me explain that when I say we cleaned the bathroom it included emptying the cabinets, spraying them down with Clorox cleaner and then putting vinyl shelf liner down. There were some rust stains in the tub that we got rid of with Lime-A-Way. After the bathroom we started on the kitchen cabinets. After lunch we worked until 2:00 and then got our swim suits on and went for a swim. We rested the rest of the afternoon and then I went to the local Publics (local food store chain) and got a cooked chicken and mixed vegetables for dinner. Now we are resting and watching some TV. Sorry have been too busy to take any pictures, will try to get some pictures tomorrow.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

18 Billy III

We got on the road this morning around 7:30 and 2 hours later we pulled into our driveway at 18 Billy III. The drive went without incident. When we got to the trailer and it was in very good shape. It was clean and there were no signs of any animals had gotten in over the summer. We turned on the electric and the water and nothing leaked and the circuit breakers stayed on so all was well. After taking an inventory and making a list of cleaning stuff we needed it was off to Wal-Mart. We spent a lot more then we thought we would but it was all stuff we needed. Next was lunch at Wendy’s and back to the trailer for some serious cleaning. After cleaning the closet and putting down some shelving liner Barbara started putting the clothes away. I went off to Publics with a short list for milk, orange juice and something for dinner. One problem we did have was some ants on the porch so we got some ant spray and got rid of them. In the bedroom there were a set of drawers under the closet (I will take pictures tomorrow) and all but one drawer that had been rebuilt were falling apart. So I pulled them all out and I am going to get some ¼” plywood to put over the wholes left by the missing drawers and just not use that space. It would be just too much work to rebuild all the drawers and we do not think we need them. Well it is getting late and we are going to do the kitchen tomorrow so bed time soon.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Florida, Finally

Today was to be a straight drive down I-75 to Ocala but when we stopped for lunch we decided to try to get to Sebastian today instead. We figured we would get to the trailer around 5:00 PM. So we set Hyacinth for 18 Billy III and off we went. Somewhere on I-10 East it became apparent that we would not get to the trailer much closer to 6:00 PM and that would be too late in case there were any problems then we would just have to stay in a motel anyway. Once again we changed our minds and picked a Comfort Suites in Daytona Beach to spend the night in. That is what life is all about, making decisions and changing your mind. We found a sports bar, after getting on I-95 South by mistake and going down one exit (only a mile) and turning around we found the entrance, for dinner. I was able to get a Guinness and we each had filet minion, it was delicious. For desert we split what was called a pound of chocolate cake and it looked like it weighted a pound. It was very good. After getting back to the motel we did two loads of laundry so we would not have to do it tomorrow at the trailer. Well tomorrow we have a short 2 hour drive to the trailer and then the fun really begins.

Monday, October 19, 2009

The Bear Went Over the Mountain

The Bear went over the mountain
The Bear went over the mountain
The Bear went over the mountain
To see what he could see…..
I think everyone knows what the bear saw, that’s right another mountain. Well Barbara and I felt like that unfortunate bear in the song. But unlike the bear we got pictures. We where on our way from Sweetwater, TN to Helen, GA going up and down mountain roads when we saw a sign for Chattahoochee National Forest, and we decided to turn in and check it out. After driving up the side of yet another mountain we got a great view of the mountains we had been driving through all morning. Then we took the shuttle ride to the observation tower at the summit were it was a little cold, there was ice on the stairs to the top deck so we had to use the elevator. Oh did I forget to mention it was 30 degrees when we woke up this morning? Sorry. Well once we got to the observation deck I started doing what I do best, take pictures. We noticed that there are a lot of rhododendrons all over the place it would be gorgeous to come back in the spring when they are all in bloom. We are so glad we took the side trip.
Our next stop was Helen, GA. A town in northern Georgia that decided to turn itself into a Bavarian Village, a total tourist trap. We had a very nice lunch at Hofer’s of Helen Bakery & CafĂ©. We both got a soup and sandwich and took half of our sandwiches with us to have for dinner in the room.
We then went on to the motel near Macon, GA were after going up to the room for a short rest we went for a swim in the pool.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Here Comes the Sun or We Finally Drove to Where the Sun is Shining

Today we headed out from our motel around 8:30AM and headed south once again. Today found us heading toward Knoxville Tennessee. We stopped at the Museum of Appalachia (http://www.museumofappalachia.org/) and had lunch, which was a little disappointing. We had the Chicken and Dumplings with two sides but there where more dumplings then chicken, oh well disappointment is part of life. We walked around the village for a short time, which has many buildings that where actually used at one time in the Appellation Mountains. There was one building dedicated to the people of the appellation mountains. It showed pictures and stories from many people along with the things they used. All in all a very interesting place. We then headed to our next motel in Sweetwater Tennessee. After checking in we rested for a bit then went down for a swim in the indoor pool, very refreshing. Tonight we had dinner in the room. It dinner consisted of raw vegetables, a bowl of soup, a ham and cheese wrap, and for desert a banana with milk and cookies (very good).

Saturday, October 17, 2009

The Mountains, or Where is all this Rain Coming From?

We started the day by going to the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (http://www.shenandoahmuseum.org/index.php). While sitting in the parking lot waiting for the museum to open Barbara suggested that maybe we should drive a bit farther today and stop farther south then what she had planned. She said she would need to get on her computer to do this and I said you can. So I got her computer out of the computer bag and got out our MiFi device and in just a few short minutes she was on the Comfort Inn website looking for a new motel for the night (isn’t technology just great?). After making a new reservation and cancelling the old one we went into the museum. It is a very nice small museum that shows the life of the first settlers of the Shenandoah Valley. The museum also houses part of the art collection of Julian Wood Glass Jr. who was the descendent of the founder of Winchester. Barbara’s favorite gallery was the one that contained the doll houses and miniature furniture made by R. Lee Taylor a man who worked for Julian Wood Glass Jr. during and after the restoration of Glen Burnie the family house that Julian inherited. If you are ever in Winchester Virginia it is worth a stop to go see. Of course I could not take any pictures in the museum or house and seeing as it was such a miserable day weather wise I did not stop to take any pictures of the garden.
After that we set out on our way. The drive was uneventful except for the rain and the trucks. Not that it was a heavy rain but it was just annoying, turn on the wipers, turn off the wipers, repeat…. Well we are in Wytheville Virginia for the night after a nice dinner at a Bob Evans, what can I say it was Bob Evans.

Friday, October 16, 2009

On Our Way

Barbara and I got up at 6:00 AM and where on the road by 7:30 AM. We drove and followed Hyacinth’s (our GPS) directions which had us go to the inner loop around Washington so we ran into a bit more traffic then expected but it turned out to be a good thing. Barbara had planned that we would stop at a garden that we would get into for free but seeing as the weather was rainy she thought we would do the house tour instead but that would cost us $14.00. Well we saw a sign to the National Air and Space Museum (http://www.nasm.si.edu/) and so we decided to do that instead. It cost us $15.00 to park the car but the museum was free, so it cost us $1.00 more but we saw something real interesting and we where out of the rain. We walked around the museum for about an hour and a half and saw most of it (it will need another visit) and I took as many pictures as I had battery life for (I forgot to put extra batteries in the camera case). We then headed to the motel we are staying at in Winchester, Virginia. Hyacinth had us go on VA 50 instead of the interstate and it was a nice change. We then went to have dinner at Barbara’s cousin Annie’s house with her family. We had a very delicious dinner and a great visit with her and her family. I will be posting the pictures from today tomorrow evening so come back often.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

The Kitchen Sink is Missing

The kitchen sink, has anyone seen the kitchen sink? I think it is in the trunk of the car under all that other stuff. I am just kidding of course. I started packing the trunk yesterday and then today finished the trunk and did a test pack of the back seat. I say test pack because the coolers have to come out and get filled and ice added and then put back into place. Tomorrow we will clean the house so we come home to it clean. Then pizza with Louise and when we get up on Friday morning we will just have to pack the coolers and a few other small items (computers, a CD player, travel clock...) and do some last minute chores and we will be off to our first stop, Winchester Virginia.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Florida 2009-2010 Getting Ready

Well on Friday October 16th Barbara and I will be embarking on a new adventure. We will be making our maiden voyage as snowbirds to Florida. As you can see from the pictures there is a lot of stuff that needs to be put into the car. I am hopeful that we will get it all in and have enough room for us (it would be a real shame if I had to leave Barbara home). This being the first trip down we are hoping that we are bringing enough but not too much. Certain things we are sure of like the blowup bed, and clothes and our old stainless knives, forks and spoons. Some stuff may have to stay home until our second trip down next January. The plan is to go down now and get the place livable and then come home to New Jersey for December and go back down in January. Well I cleaned out the car, vacuumed the interior and washed the windows. I have even started packing some things under the front seats, quite a bit of wasted space under the front seats. I will be putting things into the trunk tomorrow and saving the back seat for Wednesday. That is all for now wish us luck in getting everything into the car.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Simeone Foudation Museum

“The first race was conceived when the second car was built.”
On Saturday September 26, 2009 Barbara and I went to the outskirts of Philadelphia to a warehouse with the sign that names it as The Simeone Foundation Museum ( http://www.simeonefoundation.org/ ). It is a museum that holds Racecars and Sports cars from as early as 1918 up to 1970. Now most of you will say that is not so special, but the cars in this Museum all had an important part in the history, development and advancements made in the car industry. Most all of the cars in this museum come under the category of Sports car not racecar. Some of you may not know the difference so if I may I will educate you. A racecar is just that a car you use to race, it does not need fenders, headlights, taillights, or a windshield. A sports car on the other hand must have fenders, headlights, taillights, a windshield, windshield wipers…. Under Le Mans rules the cars had to have everything they would need to run on the road legally. Of course over the years the rules have changed, some of these sports cars had covers over the rear seat that where required to compete others had luggage compartments. These cars where production cars and had to have everything a car needed to be a street car. Some cars where nothing more than racecars that the manufacturers had added fenders and all the other things needed to complete in Le Mans to, but in the end most of the cars in the museum where sports cars.
The highlight of the day was at noon when we went outside into the parking lot for the race. In 1959 the Le Mans race circuit was being fought over by the Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa and the Aston-Martin DBR1. First one would win the race for the day and get ahead in points and then the other would win and be ahead in points. In the last race for the title the Ferrari was ahead in points but even with suffering a fire in the Austin-Martin that was ahead of the others on the team the lead driver jumped into another Austin-Martin and slowly over took the Ferrari and won the race and with it the title of the best car in Le Mans. On that day in 2009 the same two cars (at least the Austin-Martin was the car that had caught fire that day) where to startup and run around the parking lot in the sun. After the race they took the hoods off of the two cars and let you get up close and get a good look.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Hagley and Longwood

Well we broke the cycle; we got an outing in with out either of us getting sick. Our first stop was Hagley Museum and Library (http://www.hagley.lib.de.us/). We bought a family membership for the year (this of course will get us into other museums around the country). We then went upstairs to the display of patent miniatures from the 19th century. The patent office of the United States required any person submitting an idea for a patent to submit a working scale model. There where some very interesting models on display. A few I liked are the combination fork, knife and dough crimper (see album). Then there was the coffin with the window built in, not sure why. One of the more bizarre was the duck boat, why they put the swans on the corners is beyond me. After having lunch outside by one of the mill races, Hagley is on the Brandywine river and had been used as a mill and later by the first DuPont to make gunpowder, we went over to Longwood Gardens.
While at Longwood we went on a behind the scenes tour under the conservatory. The tunnel system under the conservatory is massive. All the plumbing and electrical systems for watering, heating and lighting are under your feet as you walk through the conservatory. You can see two of the tunnels we were in, in the album. The other interesting thing was the electrical panel labeled with 2400 volts. The electrician showed us a sample of the cable used to transmit that much electricity and it was very impressive. Then after chasing Barbara around the garden for a few hours, she was on an electric cart, we started home. I am just joking about chasing Barbara, I would stop to take pictures and would have to catch up to her.
On the way home we got hungry for dinner and found a very nice Italian restaurant. We had a very nice dinner and had enough to take home for dinner tonight. All the deserts except one are imported from Italy, we shared a piece of Grandmothers cake. We will be going back to this restaurant.
All in all we had a great day out.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

End of Summer

Well it is Labor Day weekend, the unofficial end of summer. All the kids are getting ready to go back to school, or have already started. The lake by us will be taking down the ropes and putting the lifeguard stands away until next year, the same will be happening at all the beaches. It has been a very joyful summer for Barbara and I, well all but the last 2 weeks or so. Barbara had planned a trip to several of our favorite places for a three day getaway in the middle of August but then she got sick and was told by the doctor that it was pneumonia, so she cancelled that trip. Then after getting all better she put together a one night trip and the night before we where going to leave I started to not feel well. I woke with a fear of 100.5 so that trip was cancelled. At that point Barbara said, “No more trips”. I went to the doctor and he took a throat swab to check for strep and when that came up negative the doctor did a nose swab to check for H1N1 flu and put me on Tamiflu. Well I am all better but due to the holiday weekend we will not know the results of the test until Tuesday, oh well such is life. One good thing if it was the H1N1 flu I don’t think that I will not have to worry about catching it again in the fall.
One good thing to report is my driveway garden is doing great. We have had at least 7 or 8 meals of green beans and lots of grape and cherry tomatoes. We also had some very nice regular (and not so regular) tomatoes. The irregular tomato that is pictured in the album came from the tomato plant from mars I think because there is a second tomato on that same plant that has the same special feature (don’t want to call it a deformity and get called a bigot). Next year I may clear some more area under the tree behind the garden and put some lettuce in, the resident rabbits will love that so that will need to be fenced in.
We have also decided to try to simplify our lives. We will be cancelling our landline and DSL from Verizon and going to just using our cell phones and the MiFi device (that is what Verizon calls it) that we bought. It allows both of us to use the internet at the same time over Verizon’s 3G network. We will have internet anywhere we get a cell phone signal, we could even use it in the car. We are also going to cancel our cable package before we leave for Florida and just use the basic cable that comes with our house and the DVDs we get from Netflix (we pay for all those extra channels and there is nothing on anyway). We may get basic cable in Florida; we will see how much it costs after we get there. And by cancelling the landline phone, DSL and cable it costs a little less each month too.

That is all for now. I will be updating this as we start to get ready for the adventure of moving to Florida for a few months.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

First week of August 2009

On Monday Barbara had a doctor’s appointment in Morristown so we made a day of it, silly to drive almost 2 hours just to go to the doctor. Barbara found a museum in Morristown we had not been to (and was open on a Monday) called Acorn Hall Museum (http://acronhall.org). It is a house in Morristown that was built in the 1800’s and occupied up until 1971 and has all the original furniture and some original wall coverings. Then it was off to the doctor’s office and after that we met our son for dinner and had a very nice day out. During the week we went to the lake a couple of times, on Friday we even went to the lake for a picnic lunch and a swim. Finally on Saturday we went to Peace Valley Park in Bucks county PA (http://www.buckscounty.org/government/departments/ParksandRec/Parks/PeaceValley.aspx) for a picnic lunch. We sat at a picnic table on the shore of Lake Galena and watched as the kayaks, paddle and sail boats went by. After lunch we went to Fonthall Museum (http://www.tiles.org/pages/mptw/mercer.htm#fonthill) for what they called a summer time meander thru the museum. Instead of having a tour guide take you through the museum you get to go through the museum on your own and spend as much time as you like in each room. The whole house was built with hand poured concrete and has tiles that Henry Mercer either made at his tile works or collected in his travels around the world embedded in the walls ceiling and columns. We spent a little over an hour meandering and at the end went to the kitchen and had an ice pop. It was a very interesting place to visit but the hall ways between the rooms where narrow and the stairways where everywhere, I would not want to live there.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Grounds for Sculpture

Barbara and I had planned on going to Philadelphia to the art museum on the Bank of America, Museums on Us program. In short if you have a Bank of America credit card you can get into hundreds of museums all over the country for free on the first weekend of the month. Just do a search on Museums on Us to get all the details. Instead we went to the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ (http://www.groundsforsculpture.org/) and got in for free there instead. We had gotten a little of a late start so we got there around 11 AM and as I was parking the car Barbara saw a peahen with two little chicks in the grass by one of the sculptures. So I got out my camera and got as close as I could and took some pictures. Then after getting a map at the visitor center we went to lunch at the Peacock Café. We had a lovely lunch sitting among the sculptures. After lunch we walked around you can not go more then a few yards without seeing a new sculpture. You also have to look in among the trees and bushes; you never know where they have hidden some of the sculptures. If you look carefully at some of my pictures you might see things, or a person, that do not belong. Have fun looking at the pictures, we had fun walking around for the afternoon (and I always love to take pictures).

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

July 2009 (so far)

Seeing as July is more then half over I thought it might be a good time to update everyone with what has been going on. The early evening on July 4th was spent listening to The Garden State Philharmonic (http://www.gardenstatephilharmonic.com) at the Tom’s River Library. It was a wonderful concert. The following day we had our neighbor hood picnic over at Jack and Louise’s house. Once again everyone had a good time visiting and eating (can’t forget the eating). Then on July 9th our new front and back doors came to be installed, we love the new doors. Then there is Harry Wright Lake where we enjoy an afternoon swim. We have been to the lake about 6 times so far but as the weather gets warmer and more humid we will be going to the lake more. We met our old neighbors Helen and Jim in Freehold for lunch one day and afterwards Barbara and I went to Deep Cut Garden (http://www.monmouthcountyparks.com/page.asp?agency=130&Id=2518 ). It is a lovely garden that is part of the Monmouth County Park system free to all. On July 12th we went to the Hedgerow Theater and saw a very funny play by Ray Cooney called One For The Pot (http://www.hedgerowtheatre.org/subSeries.php ). Last Friday I had a doctor’s appointment in Manahawkin so we decided to go over to Long Beach Island and go to the Viking Village for a tour of the fishing docks. Well it turned out to be a bit of a flop, stood in the sun listening to a gentleman talk about the different types of fishing boats that go out from there and what each of them catch. A bit boring we left after about 40 minutes. We then went to lunch in a local pub called Rick’s American CafĂ©, named for Rick’s in the movie Casablanca. We had a lovely lunch so the day was not a total waste. Don’t worry I am almost done. On Sunday Barbara, Louise and I went to Long Wood Gardens for the day (so what if we where just there 3 weeks ago). We went to the Italian Water Garden, Flower Garden Walk and had lunch in the Terrace Restaurant Cafe. After lunch we walked through the conservatory and spent some time by the water lily garden. When we got out of the conservatory we sat under one of the holly trees and waited for the fountain display. Even without the music and lights it is beautiful to see. Before we left we went over to the idea garden and then to the Chimes Tower for a Carillon Concert. It was a perfect weather day and a good time was had by all.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Anniversary Trip

Thirty four wonderful years ago… but I reminisce. Barbara and I went on our annual anniversary trip. We started out by driving to one of our favorite areas on the Delaware, Pennsylvania border. Our first stop was Winterthur museum and gardens. With our membership to the American Horticultural Society we got in for free, great investment. Anyone who likes gardens should look into joining; the membership gets you into gardens all over the country. We took the tram around the gardens and got off at the Enchanted Woods, a fairy tale garden for children of all ages (someone made a fool of themselves in the birds nest). We also took a short walk from there to the Quarry Garden. Then back up the small hill to catch the next tram to the house. We then walked past the Campbell Collection of Soup Tureens and up the stairs to the reflecting pool garden (this used to be the swimming pool when the Du Pont’s lived here but since has been turned into a reflecting pool). There we saw a frog in amongst the plants. After that we went back to the car and on to our next stop.
When we got to the Brandy Wine River Museum we had a picnic with riparian entertainment (those who watch Keeping Up Appearances will know what I mean). After our picnic we explored the museum. We then left and went to the hotel just down the street to rest up for the exciting evening ahead at Longwood Gardens.
Before going on to Longwood Gardens we had a very nice dinner at Applebee’s. Once at Longwood we walked through the Rose Arbor garden, past the Theatre Garden and down the Flower Garden Walk. After that we went to the outdoor theatre and found our seats for the concert by the Kennett Symphony of Chester County entitled Hooray for Hollywood. The concert was very enjoyable but the evening was not over yet. After the concert we strolled over to the main entrance of the conservatory for the Illuminated Fountain Show. This is one of Barbara’s and mine favorites. I did not have a tripod stand with me so I could not take any pictures this time so I got one from my archives and included it in the album. After the fountain show we went back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.
In the morning after breakfast we went back to Longwood to do some exploring. We decided we would explore the west end of the gardens. We found our way to the Chime Tower just as it was striking 11 o’clock. Then we went around that and down past the fountains for an up-close look at some of the nozzles and lights that where used the night before in the fountain show. It is just amazing to me that all the calculations for all the pipes and pump sizes where done by hand when these fountains where built. We then explored the Idea Garden which is always full of new and interesting plantings. We decided to have lunch before we left for home so we went over to the Terrace Restaurant where we decided to have a sit down meal instead of doing the cafeteria style, it cost a little more but it was our anniversary after all. For a map of Longwood Gardens see map at this address:
http://longwoodgardens.org/docs/MapOutdoor2009.pdf
All in all we had a wonderful anniversary weekend trip.

Mets Game

On June 25th Ray and I went to the new Mets Stadium, Citi Field, to watch the Mets play the St. Louis Cardinals. We decided that I would pick Ray up at his apartment and then drive to Hoboken to park and then take the PATH and subway to the game. When we got to the city instead of walking under ground to a connecting subway line we went up to the street level where I saw one of the no drive sections of Broadway. New York has taken sections of Broadway and closed them to motor vehicles to make pedestrian only areas, see picture in album. We then walked to Grand Central Station to get the subway out to Citi Field (I still want to call it Shea Stadium). I do have to say the designers of the new stadium did a very good job. As you enter the rotunda you are met with a large open space dedicated to Jackie Robinson (see me in front of the giant 42) and when you get to the top of the escalator you get your first look at the field. They have put TV screens all over the place so you never have to be far from seeing what is happening on the field. Even out in center field where there are lots of different foods to choose from (not just Hot Dogs and Hamburgers anymore) and you are behind the score board there is a large TV screen there also. Just behind the seats is even a section where they have tables you can stand at to eat your food; you can even watch the whole game from there if you do not mind standing. Ray and I figured that you could buy real cheap seats and then never go to them, just watch from one of those tables. Well to make a long story and little shorter, Ray and I had a good time and the Mets won.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Father's Day

My Father’s Day was very enjoyable. It started with a phone call from Ray Jr. After wishing me a Happy Father’s Day we talked about how we where going to go to the Met game on Thursday, drive or take the train (I think we will drive).
In the afternoon Barbara, Louise and I went to Hedgerow Theatre (
www.hedgerowtheatre.org ) in Media, PA to see “Nunsense”. It was just very funny we all laughed through the whole play. For anyone who is interested here is a little bit about the play. It is set in the auditorium of Mount St. Helen’s School of Hoboken….

While a small group of the Sisters where at an Episcopal Bingo the other Sisters ate a soup which turned out to be poisonous and they all died. When they got back and discovered this they had enough money to bury all but 4 of the dead Sisters, Mother Superior had bought a TiVo with some of the insurance money. So while the remaining 4 sisters were cooling it in the freezer the remaining sisters put on a variety show to try to raise the enough to bury them…

You knew it was going to be funny when Mother Superior came down the aisle and put a paper napkin across the chest of a woman in the audience who had too much cleavage showing.
After the play we went to Applebee’s for dinner and then home. A great Father’s Day.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Art

Well I went back to the Art Class (I am a glutton for punishment) put on by the Ocean County Parks and finished one painting and had started on another. I have also joined the Ceder Glenn Lakes Art Club and I finished the painting I had started in art class. Now if I want to continue going to art club I have to come up with another project (not really but I will). Enjoy the pictures of my last three attempts at art (let me know if you see any improvement).

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Birthday and Christening

This weekend started off with Saturday evening and a pizza party to celebrate Louise’s 91st Birthday. Barbara made a chocolate truffle cake, this cake has over 1 pound of Chocolate in it and just about as much butter (see picture), total sugar overload. Louise’s great niece and grand nephew came from Ohio for the occasion; a good time was had by all.
Sunday morning Barbara and I packed up some clothes and some provisions and headed to Makayla’s Christening. It was a 3 hour drive to the Church at Hemlock Farms in Tafton, PA. As we where driving north on route 206 through Sussex county close to the school where Barbara taught, a black bear crossed the road two cars in front of us. At the church the minister made all the young children in attendance feel comfortable about what baptism is all about and what it represents. Back at young Larry and Laura’s house all the kids had lots to do, they have a pool and trampoline. There was plenty of good food and good talk; I think everyone had a good time. Barbara and I left and drove to Scranton, PA to our hotel. We where all set to go for a swim in the indoor pool, but someone had thrown some chairs and plants into the pool so it was closed. The room was clean and comfortable and we had a good nights sleep.
In the morning Barbara and I went to the Electric City Trolley Museum (
www.ectma.org ) in Scranton. It is a very nice museum that tells the story of the trolley systems that ran in and around the Scranton area. They even had commuter rails that ran from town to town.
After leaving the trolley museum we drove to Norristown, PA to the Elmwood Park Zoo (
www.elmwoodparkzoo.org ). The animals they have on display are all from the Americas. The animal program we saw was very good, I liked the tarantula best.
After seeing all the animals in the zoo we headed home.

Friday, June 5, 2009

The Barnes Foundation

I will not try to cover what went on last month suffice it to say we kept ourselves busy and all the gardens are planted and growing (including 4 tomatoe plants and four small rows of green beans).
On Thursday of this week Barbara and I went to The Barnes Foundation (http://www.barnesfoundation.org/). It is a small art museum started by Dr. Albert C. Barnes in 1912. For more information on Dr. Barnes you can go to the web site above, very interesting (read the time line). Inside the museum every inch of wall space is covered with paintings or has a case with small sculptors in them. Also many old hinges, door latches, weathervanes and such are hung on the walls in and around the paintings. The building was built exclusively for Dr. Barnes’s art collection. He collected 181 Pierre-Auguste Renoir paintings along with Henri Matisse and many others. He collected everything from 17th and 18th century religious art works all the way through the impressionists into early Modern Art by Pablo Picasso. If you are ever in the Philadelphia area it is worth a call to this place to get a reservation to see it. Because of the area it is in and the limited parking available you need to get a reservation, which is the only drawback. After walking through all the galleries we went for a short walk in the Arboretum through the rose and perennial gardens. We made it down to the pond just outside of the Tea House (they do not server tea there). Then it started to rain lightly so we thought it best to head for home. Please take a look at the pictures I took in the arboretum/gardens.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Been awhile

It has been awhile since I have put anything in my blog so I thought it was about time I did. Barbara and I have been keeping ourselves busy with little trips, we have gone to Longwood Gardens and for Easter we went up to the Cuccio’s to meet the new baby and have a delicious dinner.
At Longwood we walked down the garden path that was full of hyacinths in bloom. Most of the tulips had not bloomed yet but a few where out. The hill on the way to the restaurant was alive with a carpet of small blue flowers; I do not know the name of them. The staff at Longwood is naturalizing many of the open spaces and this is part of that effort. When we went to lunch we had to wait for our turn to get our food but as always it was worth the wait. After lunch we went into the conservatory and heard a wonderful piano concert. The last piece he played was Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition”. Before that I had only ever heard it performed by an orchestra, he played it brilliantly. When that was over we wondered around the green houses like we always do, Barbara enjoying the flowers and me taking pictures.
Easter was spent in Florida New York at the Cuccio’s house. Barbara and I where excited because we would be meeting the newest addition to their family, Makayla. Just a few months old and as pretty as a picture and the apple of her Grandpa’s eye.
Today Barbara and I setout to find Double Trouble State Park, a place we have been meaning to visit. Barbara had directions from the website and I had Hyacinth (our GPS). Well I decided to follow Hyacinth and she was only a little over a mile off on the entrance to the park. Hyacinth announced arriving at Double Trouble State Park, but there was noting there, at that point I thought “well dummy you should have used the directions from the web site”. In looking for a place to turn around we saw a sign that said the entrance was 1mile ahead (sometimes Hyacinth is off a little bit). There was suppose to be a story telling at 1PM but we could not find it so we just walked around a bit and yes I took some pictures. Double Trouble State Park is on the site of Double Trouble Cranberry Farm which up until the 1960’s was a major producer of cranberries. Since the state has taken it over it still grows some cranberries but not on the scale of when it was in full operation. They mostly use it for environmental education. After walking around for a bit (me taking a few pictures) we decided to see if the directions from the website would be any better. Well all we found by using those directions was a single lane dirt road with a sign that said you where entering a state park, not what state park, just a state park, we where better off with Hyacinth.
That is all for now. Please come back for I will be blogging the planting of my gardens, not as elaborate as Longwood but all mine.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

New Jersey Museum of Boating

Well we have been back in NJ for just over a week and Barbara just needed to go see something new, and I always find something interesting on these little trips so I enjoy them too. She found a coupon on Entertainment Online (http://www.entertainment.com/save/home) for the New Jersey Museum of Boating (http://www.njmb.org/) so we went on Tuesday. First we where going to have lunch at a Burger King in Point Pleasant (you guessed it she printed a coupon from Entertainment Online). Well we really only got two Whoppers at BK, we brought some veggies, soda and fruit to complete the lunch. After lunch I plugged in the address from the coupon into Hyacinth (our GPS) for the museum and off we went to find it. We had no problem finding the address, but the museum was not in that building. The museum is in building 12 at the Johnson Brothers Boat Works but we where at building 1. We found a door where there was a lady and when we asked her where the museum was she said it was in area but she did not know exactly where; it seems the boat works cover a large area. She did tell us to go back out to one of the main roads and follow it until we see a sign for the library and museum. To make a long story short (too late I know) after driving very carefully around some very large boats in storage (saw some nice sailboats for sale) we found the building the museum is in. We went in to pay but no one was there to take our coupon or money (Barbara had said it might be free). We wondered around and read some of the displays, also found out that they have plans for a larger facility on the bay. After wondering around in the building for about 10 minutes, and taking some pictures, we went back to the car. We where already on the barrier island so we decided to ride down Route 35 to the Tom’s River causeway bridge. All in all it was a pleasant afternoon.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Home Again Home Again, Jiggity Jig

We left the motel a little after 8 AM and got home about 12:50 PM this afternoon. Our GPS (we named it Hyacinth) took us around DC and almost through the middle of it and then up the Baltimore Washington Parkway. So we saw the Washington Monument, the dome of the Capital and the Jefferson Memorial, all from a distance. It was an uneventful drive home.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Day 34: Last Night on the Road 2009-3-14

Second day on the road, we are taking our time going home and seeing things on the way. Today we stopped in Fredericksburg, Va. and saw The Rising Sun Tavern and Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop. The Rising Sun Tavern gives you a look into what a Tavern during the 18th century was like. And found out the origins of many sayings we still use today, such as 'not playing with a full deck' refers to the fact that the ace of spades would be removed from a deck of cards to avoid paying the tax to the British crown. In Dr. Hugh Mercer's apothecary shop we found out he was a noted physician of Scottish origins. We also learned how they used leaches and bleedings, the leaches are about 3 inches long that come from Sweden. The last motel we are staying at has an indoor pool so we went for a swim, it was okay, not like being in Florida. Well this is our last day on the road and we will be home tomorrow afternoon.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Day 33: Cape Fear Garden 2009-3-13

Got on the road about 8 AM and started north under cloudy skies. We stopped in Fayetteville, NC at Cape Fear Botanical Garden (http://www.capefearbg.org/). Another place we get into free with our membership to the garden in PA. We did not do the whole garden, it was too cold (40 degrees after in the 80’s the day before in Florida) but we did see some daffodils and Camellias. They also have a children’s garden that we walked through. We had reservations at a motel in Fayetteville but decided to go on to Smithville just an hour more and we had the time. We got reservations for the night in the motel in Smithville that we stayed in on our way down. We are even in the same room.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Day 32: Travel Day 2009-3-12

Well Barbara and I woke up around 6:00 AM and after breakfast, cereal and milk, I went to shave and get a shower. When I got back we started to do the final packing and cleaning of the trailer. I filled the trunk and then started filling the back seat. George came over around 8:50 and we started prepping the trailer for the move into storage. After George disconnected the sewer hose, yuck, I had the pleasure of rinsing it out with the hose, double yuck. I was too busy helping that I did not get any pictures, sorry. Well after the trailer was back into storage Barbara and I squeezed into the car and off we went. After driving for 6 hours we stopped at our first motel in Richmond Hill, GA. That is all for today, tomorrow we will be stopping and seeing a garden (I think) before we stop for the night.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Day 31: Final Farewell to Florida 2009-3-11

This is our last full day in Florida. We packed up our things and I packed the car trunk, strange thing there is more room in it now then on the way down. As Barbara pointed out we brought down a lot of food that we ate while we where here. We went for our last swim in the pool, see pictures. And then we went over to the Rose’s (our new place) to take some measurements and leave some stuff. Tomorrow I will help George put the trailer back into storage.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Day 30: Birthday 2009-3-10

First I need to say “Happy Birthday to me”. Yes, today is my birthday. First Barbara made me Swedish Pancakes for breakfast, my favorite. Then she was going out for lunch and I was on my own. I went to BK and then to Bealls Outlet bought myself 2 new bathing suits. When I came home George came over and asked if I could help him with a problem he was having with his computer. Unfortunately I was unable to help him, I think he has a bad spot on his hard drive and is going to have to get a new hard drive and reinstall. After Barbara got home we went to the pool for a swim, I wore one of my new bathing suits. Barbara had a wonderful tea party with Lil, Flo and a friend of Lil’s. And I enjoyed my afternoon alone. For dinner we took George and Pat (it is their trailer we are staying in) out to dinner. The place we went is called Woody’s Bar-B-Q, dinner was great.
I also want to say Happy Birthday to Lil, I am glad she lets me share her birthday.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Day 29: Beach Day 2009-03-09

Today I went for a morning bike ride (I rode for just over an hour) then Barbara and I went to the pool and while she walked in the water I did 18 laps. After lunch we went to the beach for a swim. It was low tide and there where no big drop offs so I walked out passed the breakers, it was wonderful. I then helped Barbara into the water, with her artificial knees she has to be careful. She did fall down but I was able to get her back on her feet quickly so no harm done. Now we both have been in the ocean. I love florida.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Day 27: laundry Day 2009-3-7


Well we are on the down side of the time in Florida for this year. There is just one thing I needed to do before we left. I had Barbara take my picture by the pool and I cut and pasted that together from an image of me in one of the same chairs from 2004. Can you tell which is from 2004 and which is from 2009?

Friday, March 6, 2009

Day 26: West Palm Beach 2009-3-6

Today we took Flo down to West Palm Beach so she could visit with an old friend, and we went to the Norton Museum of Art (http://www.norton.org). Barbara had it all planned, after dropping off Flo, we took off for the museum. The Museum is having an exhibition called “Georgia O’Keeffe and Ansel Adams: Natural Affinities” which we wanted to see. It was wonderful with many paintings by O’Keefe and just as many photos by Adams, sorry no picture taking in the museum. They also have many other exhibitions in the museum so we decided to have lunch in their cafĂ©, which was overpriced ($2.00 for an 8oz coke) but the food was good. After walking around the museum until 2:30 PM it was time to go get Flo and head home.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Day 25: Beach Day 2009-3-5

Today Barbara and I did some cleaning in the trailer, she cleaned the kitchen area and I vacuumed the floor. After that we went to the beach, only the second time this whole trip. Barbara picked the spot on the beach and asked me if it was alright and I said it was fine (check out today’s pictures). I also went in the water as you can see from the pictures. We went for a walk on the beach and then back to the chairs. We stayed about 1.5 hours then we packed up and went back to the park where Barbara went in the pool to walk some more, I just sat on a chair and read my book.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Day 23 - 24 Tea, Art and Zoo

Yesterday Barbara and I did separate things. Flo took Barbara to a Victorian tea house (http://www.thevictorianlady.net/tea_room.htm) for lunch and she had a wonderful time. First they had a lovely lunch and then they got a tour of the house which was ordered from the Sear’s catalog. She loved it. I on the other hand went to Burger King for lunch and then went to Wal-Mart to pick up some stuff we needed.
Today we drove to Melbourne to go to the Brevard Art Museum (
http://www.brevardartmuseum.org). They where having an exhibition of Annie Leibovitz’s work called Women. The photos where all of famous and not famous women she has photographed over the years. The photography was very impressive. After leaving the museum we went to the Brevard Zoo (http://www.brevardzoo.org/) a few miles away. It is a small zoo but makes up for it in how it is organized. They have an African area where you can go kayaking or feed the Giraffes. In the Australian area they have a walk through aviary where you can feed the birds, which was great fun (see pictures). The wild Florida area had several American Alligators and American Crocodiles. You can watch them be fed but we did not do that. The last area was La Selva Rainforest where they have a jaguar enclosure with a female jaguar and her two cubs. It was fun to watch the cubs playing with each other. Then it was time to go home to the trailer.