Monday, December 31, 2012

Happy New Year



DeBary, FL.

46 deg. overcast, no wind.

Forecast = Partly cloudy. High of 72F. Winds from the ENE at 5 to 15 mph shifting to the SE in the afternoon.

Hope all of you have a very safe and Happy New year. : )

Nothing much happened around here yesterday. Jim dumped my tanks, Linda did some laundry and both fooled around with the computers and watched football on TV.

I don't know if I"m supposed to say anything yet or not, but it looks like there's going to be some big changes coming in 2013. Jim and Linda have been doing something that they've asked me not to tell you about, but it looks like soon, they will.

Yeah, I know, it's mean to not tell you, but I really do need to respect their wishes.

You can be sure that you'll be the first to know when I get the go-ahead.

Did you know that the tradition of using a baby to signify the New Year was started by ancient Greeks around 600 B.C? They would carry a baby around in a basket to honor Dionysus, the God of Fertility and symbolize his annual rebirth.


Sunday, December 30, 2012

I'ts Been Awhile

DeBary, FL.

39 deg. clear, NW wind @ 2 mph.

Forecast = Clear. High of 57F. Winds from the North at 10 to 15 mph.


It's been awhile since I last posted, so I thought I'd better let you know that I'm still here in DeBary and everything is fine.

Jim and Linda haven't been doing much. Oh, they've been doing things like grocery shopping, going out to eat once in awhile and other normal day to day things. The park has been pretty quiet since Christmas and some of the people in the park are already starting to take down decorations.

The weather has been pretty strange here this year. We have been having cold fronts that come through the area about every 3 or 4 days. It drops the temperatures down into the 30's at night with highs in the 50's or 60's. Then in between the cold fronts, it warms up, so that the temperature is in the mid to upper 70's, (Even getting into the 80's at times), before another front, (with rain and sometime storms),  comes through and drops the temperatures back down again.

A lot of people are getting colds and are blaming it on the wide temperature swings, but I don't know if that's what's causing it or not.

They're having a New Years Eve party over at the clubhouse Monday night but Jim and Linda aren't planing on going. They both prefer to just stay home and watch a movie on TV or something.

I don't know if I'll be posting again before the New Year, so I want to wish all of you a safe and Happy New Year. Please stay safe and watch out for all the crazy drivers out there if you're going to be traveling.

Did you know that the Roman emperor Julius Caesar officially declared January 1 to be a New Year in 46 B.C? Romans worshiped God Janus who had two faces, one looking forward and the other looking backward. The month of January was named after this Roman God and it gave an idea to the emperor to establish January as a gate to the New Year.


Wednesday, December 26, 2012

A Very Good Christmas Day

DeBary, FL.

65 deg. mostly cloudy, NE wind @ 3 mph.

Forecast = Mostly cloudy with a chance of a thunderstorm and rain showers. High of 79F. Breezy. Winds from the South at 20 to 25 mph with gusts to 30 mph shifting to the WSW in the afternoon. Chance of rain 60%.

Hope all of you had a great Christmas Day!!!! : )  Jim and Linda had a great day!!!

In the morning, Joe called from Virginia Beach to wish Jim and Linda a Merry Christmas. He and his family were in the middle of opening presents and had just opened the package that Jim and Linda had sent up there.

Then, Laura called and said that she, Lindsey and the girls were coming over for a little while. In about 20 minutes, they arrived and everyone sat and talked for about 1/2 an hour.

After they left, Linda called her brother, (Glenn), who lives up in River Falls, WI. and her sister, (Nancy), who lives in Plainfield, IL. Both of them seem to be doing well and were having good holidays.

After that, Jim called Jeff out in Portland OR. but got their answering machine, so he left a message. Then, he called Mike in Apex, NC and talked to him for while. He, Gina the girls and Dillon were having a great time opening presents and enjoying the day.

Later in the afternoon, Jeff returned Jim's call and they talked for about 1/2 hour. He and Heather also had a good Christmas and were having a quiet day at home, enjoying each others company.

For dinner, Linda cooked one of Jim's favorite meals of cube steak, boiled potatoes and gravy. That along with the left over rice/vegetable dish that Linda had made to take to Marv and Inez's made for a very nice meal.

The rest of the day was spent snoozing playing with the computers and watching TV.

A very good Christmas.day!    ; )

Did you know that in 1947, Toys for Tots started making the holidays a little happier for children by organizing its first Christmas toy drive for needy youngsters?

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Christmas Eve

DeBary, FL

52 deg.scattered clouds no wind.

Forecast = Partly cloudy. High of 79F. Winds from the SSE at 5 to 10 mph.



I hope all of you are having a Merry Christmas today. Be sure to take a little time to remember the true meaning of the day.

Yesterday, Linda spent some of the day getting things ready to take to Laura and Lindsey's. Then about 4:45, Jim took all of the food that Linda had prepared and put it in the back of CLT and they left.

Soon after they got there, they opened presents. While they were opening the presents, Marv and Inez stopped by and then after all the presents were opened, they all ate roast beef sandwiches, crackers and chips with cheese, sausage, dip or salsa sauce on them.

Of course there were cookies and candies to finish off the meal with. ; )

About 8:00 Marv and Inez left and soon after Jim and Linda came back here to the park.

After returning and getting the food put away, Jim and Linda watched some of the Christmas specials on TV before going to bed.

Yesterday was a great day. Jim and Linda were able to spend some time with family and they received some neat presents. Today I think Jim and Linda are just going to kick back and enjoy each others company. They'll probably watch some TV and fool around with the computers, but much of the time will be spent just being together.

I hope all of you have a great Christmas.
Did you know that St. Nicholas was bishop of the Turkish town of Myra in the early fourth century? It was the Dutch who first made him into a Christmas gift-giver, and Dutch settlers brought him to America where his name eventually became the familiar Santa Claus.

Monday, December 24, 2012

Dinner At Marv And Inez's

DeBary, FL.

48 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = Partly cloudy. High of 75F. Winds from the SSW at 5 to 15 mph.


Jim and Linda headed over to Marv and Inez's house about 10:30 yesterday morning. Again, the meal that Inez put together for her family was just fabulous. There was ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, a couple kinds of vegetables, and of course, deserts like pies, cookies and puddings.

Both Jim and Linda said that there was more food than even that large family could possibly consume!!! : )

After eating, Marv and Inez's family exchanged gifts. Jim and Linda even received some small jars of jam that Inez had made and a scented candle.

It's so nice of Marv and Inez to include Jim and Linda in their family celebration. Jim and Linda really appreciate it and are very grateful. Thanks!!!

About 5:00 today, Jim and Linda will be heading over to Laura and Lindsey's house to exchange presents with them. It should be a fun evening.

If for some reason, I shouldn't post tomorrow, Jim, Linda, CLT and I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!!!! Have a great day!!!! : )

Did you know that the Christmas season begins at sundown on 24th December and lasts through sundown on 5th January? For that reason, this season is also known as the Twelve Days of Christmas.




Sunday, December 23, 2012

Cookies and Christmas Plans

DeBary, FL.

31 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = Partly cloudy. High of 66F. Winds less than 5 mph.


Brrrrrr!!!!! 31 deg and it may go down another degree or so because as I write this, it's just starting to get light outside. At least they're forecasting warmer temperatures for today and tomorrow, so it should be nice for the Holiday.

Linda baked a whole bunch of cookies yesterday and then decorated them. She also put together a rice dish to take to Marv and Inez's today for a Christmas dinner. Some of the cookies are boxed up and ready to go and the rice dish will just have to heated up before Jim and Linda leave here around 10:30.

I imagine that Inez will have a big meal prepared again. She's a very good cook and is used to making large meals to feed Lindsey, his 3 brothers and their families. Inez's sister will probably be there too, so there'll be lots of people. Also, sometime, (either before or after the meal), Lindsey's family will exchange presents.

Then, because Laura has to work on Christmas Day, tomorrow evening, Jim, Linda, Marv and Inez will go to Laura and Lindsey's. That's when Jim and Linda will exchange gifts with Laura and Lindsey, Ashley and Anna.

Should be a fun couple of days!! : )

Did you know that Christmas trees are known to have been popular in Germany as far back as the sixteenth century. In England, they became popular after Queen Victoria's husband Albert, who came from Germany, made a tree part of the celebrations at Windsor Castle. In the United States, the earliest known mention of a Christmas tree is in the diary of a German who settled in Pennsylvania.




Saturday, December 22, 2012

The Weather and Prescription Refill Day

DeBary, FL.

35 deg. clear, light westerly breeze.

Forecast = Clear. High of 61F. Winds from the NW at 5 to 15 mph.


Wow!!!! That cold front that came through here yesterday sure changed the weather here in DeBary and most of Florida. The temperature right now  is 35 degrees and it's only supposed to get up to the low 60's during the day today!!

That's a long way from the 80 deg temperature that we had just 2 days ago.

Yesterday was prescription re-fill day again, so Jim and Linda headed over to Walgreen's about 11:00.  They were pretty busy so rather than wait, they decided to go back to pick them up later. About 1:30 they got a phone call from Walgreen's saying that the prescriptions were ready, but they could only do a partial re-fill on one of them.

Well, this has happened before, so Jim and Linda headed over there and picked up what they had ready. I really don't understand why there's always a problem with that one prescription. It's a common medication, but they never seem to have enough in stock to completely fill it. : (

It's really not a big deal though as Walgreen's is only about a mile and a half from here and is very easy to get to.

After picking up the prescriptions, Jim took CLT to a gas station and bought him a drink of 87 octane. It had been about a month since he had a drink and was getting pretty thirsty. ; )

Not a whole lot else happened yesterday. Jim and Linda headed over to Arby's for dinner, then they came back here and watched TV until bedtime.

Don't know of anything special happening today. Linda needs to get a few things ready to take to Marv and Inez's for dinner tomorrow but I don't think Jim has anything planned for today.

Did you know that  "It's a Wonderful Life" appears on TV more often than any other holiday movie?

Friday, December 21, 2012

So Far, So Good

DeBary, FL. (Or what used to be Debary)

47 deg. clear, light westerly winds.

Forecast = (is a forecast really necessary?) Partly cloudy in the morning, then clear. High of 59F. Breezy. Winds from the WNW at 15 to 20 mph.


Well, so far, so good. Since I'm still writing this post, the world must not have ended yet!!! I haven't heard about any major catastrophic events, and my compass is still pointing the right way, so I presume that the earth's magnetic fields haven't swapped from one pole to the other. I also haven't seen any spacecraft zooming through the sky, looking to pick up "believers", and I haven't heard anything about a planet streaking through space on it's way towards a collision with the earth.

Now, the day is still early and I suppose something could still happen, but I'm beginning to have my doubts. Could this be just one more goofy prediction like the ones that were making the news at the turn of the century?

You remember Y2K at the turn of the century don't you? Remember all the computers were going to crash? The electric power was going to go off and some were predicting that "Life as you knew it" was going to change forever?

Well, nothing happened then, and I'm thinking that nothing is going to happen now either.

So, if your reading this, either nothing happened or your a Space Alien who found this computer someplace in the galaxy and you've figured out how to read this blog that may have been published a bazillion years ago.

Here's something you may enjoy. it's titled Oops! 11 Failed Doomsday Predictions. It seems like people have been predicting the end of the earth for quite some time.

Did you know that in 1836, Alabama is the first state in the USA to declare Christmas a legal holiday and in 1907, Oklahoma became the last USA state to declare Christmas a legal holiday?






Thursday, December 20, 2012

Weather, Shopping and Spaghetti

DeBary, FL.

52 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = Partly cloudy. Fog early. High of 81F. Breezy. Winds from the South at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 20%.


Yesterday was another beautiful day here in DeBary and today looks like it's going to be almost as nice. It's funny how you get used to nice warm days with temperatures in the 70's and 80's and then when the temperatures drop down into the 60's you think it's cold and not good weather anymore.

At the same time, if the folks up north had sunny weather with the temperatures in the 60's, (or even 50's), at this time of the year, they would be talking about how great the weather was.

Why am I writing about this?  Well, tonight there's going to be a cold front coming through this area and the forecast for tomorrow is for high temperatures in the lower 60's with lows getting down into the upper 30's or low 40's!!! The folks down here, (especially the ones who live down here all year), will be complaining  about how cold it is and will be wearing heavy coats, hats and gloves, where as the people up North would be thinking they're having a heat wave and be out and about in short sleeve shirts!!

I find it interesting how folks in different parts of the country look at different weather conditions. I guess it's all what your used to.  ; )

Linda washed a load of laundry yesterday morning and then in the afternoon she and Jim took CLT (Cute Little Truck), and went to the Winn Dixie grocery store to buy groceries that will be needed over the Christmas holiday.

CLT said that the parking lot was almost completely full and he saw lots of people going in and out of the store while he was there.

After getting the groceries put away, both Jim and Linda took little naps and then took CLT again and headed over to Laura and Lindsey's for a great spaghetti  dinner.  Lindsey's parents, (Marv and Inez) were there too so after eating, everyone sat around and talked for awhile.

It was around 8:00 by the time Jim and Linda came back here. The rest of the evening was spent watching TV, reading and surfing the Internet.

I think that today, Linda is planning on doing some more baking. She bought stuff to make cookies and cranberry bread yesterday. I don't know if Jim has any plans except to possibly put away some of the stuff on the patio and roll up my awnings. They're forecasting possible t-storms with possible high gusts of winds for tonight when the cold front comes through.

Did you know that  Silent Night was written in 1818, by an Austrian priest Joseph Mohr?  He was told the day before Christmas that the church organ was broken and would not be prepared in time for Christmas Eve. He was saddened by this and could not think of Christmas without music, so he wanted to write a carol that could be sung by choir to guitar music. He sat down and wrote three stanzas. Later that night the people in the little Austrian Church sang "Stille Nacht" for the first time.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Decorations and Christmas Plans

DeBary, FL.

45 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = Clear. High of 77F. Winds less than 5 mph.


It's been pretty quiet around here lately. Oh, people have been out and about, doing things to get ready for the holidays but nothing much else happening. Jim's allergies have really been bothering him the last few days. He has to be very careful about what medications he takes for his allergies as many of the meds cause him some very undesirable side effects.  : (

He did go out one day and take some more photos of the decorations here in the park. These were taken just before it got dark, but they had already turned on the lights for the evening.





In this photo of me, you can see the little Christmas tree that is sitting on my dash.

The weather around here has been really nice for the most part. The temperatures have been in the 70's and even into the lower 80's a few days. Jim and Linda haven't been outside too much though because the mosquitoes have been really bad this year. If there isn't a pretty strong breeze blowing, it's almost impossible to sit outside without covering yourself with bug spray.

Plans are starting to come together for Christmas. As of now, it' looks like Jim and Linda will be going to Marv and Inez's (Lindsey's parents) house the Sunday before Christmas and then go to Laura and Lindsey's on Christmas Eve. As of right now, there are no plans for Christmas day. They're having a Christmas dinner here at the park. but neither Jim or Linda seem too interested in going to it.

Linda suggested that maybe they could go out to eat someplace, but they're finding out that most of the restaurants in the area will be closed.

Oh well, they can always stay here and eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  ; )

Did you know that the first president to decorate the white house Christmas tree in the United States was Franklin Pierce?








Saturday, December 15, 2012

Checking In and Connecticut

DeBary, FL.

57 deg. fog, no wind.

Forecast = Partly cloudy with a chance of rain in the afternoon. High of 79F. Winds less than 5 mph. Chance of rain 20%.


Thought I'd check in so you wouldn't think I've forgotten about this blog. There's not a whole lot to tell you about. Laura and Lindsey have stopped by a couple times and then yesterday afternoon, Laura and Anna stopped by.  Anna's had Friday and the rest of the weekend off of work, so she came here, from Jacksonville, to see her mom, dad and sister.

Jim hasn't been feeling too well. The other day, he thought for sure that he was getting a bad cold, but the plugged up head, runny nose and sore throat only lasted for 1 day. Yesterday, the weather was kind of nasty, (by Florida standards), so Jim stayed pretty much inside.

Linda has been doing some reading and has been making TV mix and cranberry bread for the holidays.

Oh, I've got a little riddle for you.  How do you know that it's getting close to Christmas?

They are advertising the "Clapper" and the "Chia  Pet" on TV!!!!

OK, I just have to make a comment on the horrific situation up in Connecticut. It's on everyone's minds and it just can't be ignored.

I know that I'm not the smartest RV in the park so maybe that's why I can't figure something out about all of this. You see, on TV, they're saying that the young man that shot all the children and adults stole the guns from his mother.

Now, what I can't understand is what was the mother doing with those types of guns? Especially the assault rifle!!!! I could understand a hand gun for protection but not the others.

Hmmmmmm!!! Maybe I'm missing something?

Don't know what's going on here today. I heard Jim and Linda talking about maybe going out for breakfast so maybe they'll do that.

Please keep all the people up in Connecticut who are suffering through this terrible situation in your thoughts and prayers. It's got to be just horrible for the families and friends of the victims.





Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Storms and All Presents Shipped

DeBary, FL.

68 deg. overcast, no wind.

Forecast = Mostly cloudy with thunderstorms and rain showers. High of 84F. Winds from the South at 5 to 10 mph shifting to the WNW in the afternoon. Chance of rain 80%.


So far, the storms down here in Florida have missed the area I'm in. A couple days ago there was a tornado touchdown about 25 miles from here with about 30 homes being damaged, but nothing here but a lot of rain.

I think I told you that Linda had finished wrapping all the presents. Well yesterday, Jim and Linda got them all boxed up in those "if it fits it ships" boxes. Then it was off to the Post Office to get them sent on their way!!  Both Jim and Linda said that it was a big relief to have that project finished. ; ) 

Now, Linda can concentrate on baking cookies, making TV mix and getting things ready for Christmas.

They're still putting up more Christmas Decorations here in the park. They've decorated the office and the clubhouse, the bridge going over the spill-way between the pond and the river, and have put up other decorations throughout the park.

Very nice!!! : )

Laura and Lindsey were out and about so they stopped by for while yesterday, Jeff called from Portland OR to let Jim and Linda know that they had received their first package and Joe also called from Virginia Beach for the same reason. Both seemed to be doing well and are really busy getting ready for the holidays.

Don't have much else to write about, so I'll let you go. If anything of any importance happens, I'll be sure to let you know right away. ; )

A Point to Ponder : You can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, making a wrong turn with an RV, and tangled Christmas tree lights.


Monday, December 10, 2012

Linda Goes To Jacksonville and Electrical Research

DeBary, FL.

59 deg. light fog, no wind.

Forecast = Mostly cloudy with a chance of rain in the afternoon. High of 88F. Winds from the SSW at 5 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.

Hasn't been a whole lot happening around here lately. Linda has been working on getting the presents ready to send. She had quite a bit more sewing to do than I had thought, but is finally finished with that and has been busy wrapping them up. That is, except yesterday!!

So, "what did she do yesterday", you ask?

Well, after lunch, Laura came by and picked her up and they they drove up to Jacksonville to see Anna!! : )  You see, Laura needed to go up there to take some papers and new license plates to Anna, so she asked Linda if she wanted to ride along. Needless to say, Linda jumped at the chance to see Anna and her apartment.

And besides that, Linda got to ride in Laura's new car!!!!

The trip up there went well, and after visiting for a little while, the 3 of them decided to go to a movie. (I think it was that new Hobbit movie). Then after the movie, they headed to a Pizza place called Al's, where they had a very good pizza and talked some more. Then after taking Anna back to her apartment, Laura and Linda headed back here.

It was about 9:00 when they got back here, so it was a long day, but Linda had a great time. ; )

While Linda was gone, Jim did a little research of my 120 vote electrical system. You see, he's been trying to figure out which outlets are on which circuit breakers. The breakers are vaguely marked and the only real way to find out which breaker controlled which outlet was to shut each individual breaker off and then go around and find the outlets didn't have power.

Well, I suppose that they had a reason to wire the outlets like they did, but many of the outlets that Jim and Linda use the most and have the heaviest loads on them, were all on the same 20 amp breaker, and they're not even in the same area inside of me!!!! So, some of the things that were plugged into those outlets were moved to different ones that are on a different circuit.

Jim says that he's amazed that they weren't tripping that breaker with all the things that were running off of it!!!

Oh, and Jim also found out that every outlet inside of me is hooked up to my inverter. That means that if the power goes off, anything plugged into me will operate off of my batteries. This is a good thing except if a heavy load like a space heater is plugged in, it will drain the power out of my batteries pretty fast.

Jim also took a photo of my little Christmas tree. It's not the best photo in the world, but you can see how it sits on my dash. I also have some wreaths and bows in different places inside of me, so I look pretty festive. :  )

Did you know that on this date in 1817 - Mississippi was admitted to the Union as the 20th American state?



Friday, December 7, 2012

Dinner At Laura's and Inside Decorations

DeBary, FL.

64 deg. overcast, light breeze out of the East @ 3 mph.

Forecast = Partly cloudy with a chance of rain. High of 82F. Winds from the NE at 5 to 10 mph shifting to the ESE in the afternoon. Chance of rain 20%.


Laura stopped by for awhile Wednesday morning. She's had company staying at her house for the last few days, so we hadn't seen her for awhile.  Jim had gone to the Post Office earlier and had picked up some of those Priority boxes, so while she was here, she helped Jim and Linda package up some Christmas presents to be sent off to family.

She was here for a couple hours but before she left, she invited Jim and Linda over to her house for dinner and tentative plans were made for her to come back on Thursday, to help decorate the inside of me.

About 4:30 Wednesday afternoon, Jim and Linda took CLT (Cute Little Truck), and headed over to Laura and Lindsey's. Earlier, Laura had put some beef and gravy in a crock pot and after letting it slow cook for a good part of the day, it made for a great dish when served over rice. That, along with some sweet corn and some hot-out-of-the oven chocolate chip cookies for desert, made for a very tasty meal. ; )

About 11:30 yesterday morning, Laura came out here to the park and helped Jim and Linda decorate the inside of me. It really wasn't hard to do and it didn't take very long, but like I said the other day, it's become kind of a tradition for Laura and/or the girls to help, and everyone seems to have a lot of fun doing it. ; )

Today, Jim needs to go up to the office and pay another month's rent for my site. (Can you believe that we've been her for a whole month already? ) Then, because there are a couple boxes of presents ready to sent, he wants to go to the Post Office to mail them.

Linda still has a few more presents to get ready, so I imagine she'll be working on that today. Hopefully she'll be able to get them finished and wrapped soon so that they can be mailed. Once they're mailed, the pressure will be off and she can relax.

A Point to Ponder : We cannot change the direction of the wind ... but we can adjust our sails.








Wednesday, December 5, 2012

St Johns River

DeBary, FL.

59 deg. overcast, E. wind @ 5 mph.

Forecast = Partly cloudy with rain showers in the afternoon. High of 79F. Winds from the NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 20%.

Since I really don't have much to write about, I thought I'd post some photos of the St. Johns River that Jim has taken over the last few days. The River runs right along side of the Highbanks Marina and Campresort and is accessible from a few different spots in the park.

These first two are taken from a small "public" area between the sites that are located on the river. The first one is the view looking South.

The view looking North.

Highbanks Road dead ends at the River at the South edge of the park, and if you follow it all the way to the river instead of turning into the park, you come to the boat launch and the marina.

Looking off to the right from the road, you'll see all the boats parked at the Marina

The next 2 photos are taken from the boat launch area. The first one is the view looking North,

and this one, the view looking South.

From the Marina, you can rent a pontoon boat or you can take a guided tour of the River. Jim and Linda have never done either one because it's pretty expensive, but I hear that the river is quite scenic.

Linda has been busy, busy, busy!!! She's pretty much finished with the sewing and embroidery part of getting the presents ready and has now been busy wrapping  them. Soon they'll all be ready to be boxed up and sent to family.  : )

Jim has just been trying to stay our of her way and to help out whenever he can. Today, he's planning on going to the Post Office to pick up some of those Priority boxes, ("If it fits it ships"), and then he and Linda will start packing the presents into them.

I'll be glad when they're finally shipped. Right now, I have presents stacked everywhere inside of me!!!

Did you know that the St. Johns River  is the longest river in Florida?  It's 310 miles long and is one of the few rivers in the United States that runs from the South to the North.




Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Looking Festive

DeBary, FL.

54 deg light fog, no wind.

Forecast = Partly cloudy. Fog early. High of 79F. Winds from the North at 10 to 15 mph shifting to the South in the afternoon.

Laura has been very busy lately so she hasn't had time to come over to help decorate the inside of me, but Jim dug out the outside decorations and now has me looking festive. ; )

Also, if you look real close, you may be able to see the Christmas tree on the passengers side of my dash. There's no lights or decorations on it yet, but it's secured in place.


In my last post, I talked about the people here in the park decorating the little "island" in the road. Well, Jim took some photos of some of the decorations so I thought I'd post a few here.



I'm hoping that Jim will go out one of these nights and try to get a few photos of these decorations when they're lit up. If he does, I'll post a few of them.

Not a whole lot going on around here. Except for presents for each other, Jim and Linda have all the Christmas shopping done. Linda has been very busy doing some embroidery work on some of the presents, sewing on some of the others and then wrapping them when she's finished.  And, she and Jim have also ordered a few presents on line and had them shipped directly to the recipients.  (This is the first year that they've done that).

Jim's been riding his bike some, talking to the neighbors and helping Linda when he can.

Did you know that on this date in  1918 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson set sail for France to attend the Versailles Peace Conference? Wilson became the first chief executive to travel to Europe while in office.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Laura's New Car, Park Decorations and Ashley Stops By

DeBary, FL.

53 deg. partly cloudy, no wind.

Forecast = Partly cloudy. Fog early. High of 75F. Winds from the NE at 5 to 15 mph.


Thursday, Jim did take CLT to get his drink of 87 octane on the way to the DeLand Truck Center where he picked up 2 valve stem extensions for my inside dual tires. When he returned, he installed them and now he should be able to check and air up those tires without any problems. : )

Laura called Thursday evening. She was all excited because she and Lindsey had just picked up her new car from the dealership and was wondering if Jim and Linda would like to meet them for coffee someplace and to check out the car!!! Jim suggested Gram's and since that was acceptable to everyone, Jim and Linda took CLT and headed over there. When they got there, they found out that Laura had called Marv and Inez and they were coming to Gram's too!!

What a great surprise!!!! Not only did Jim and Linda get to see Laura's new car, they also had a chance to visit with Marv and Inez too!!!!

Her new car is a brand new 2012 Buick. (don't remember the model), and is it ever a beauty!! The reason I know it's a beauty is because yesterday, Laura stopped by here for about an hour on her way to the grocery store.  It's got all the gadgets you could think of and it's so shiny that I could see my reflection in it!!! ; )

Maybe Jim can take a photo of it one of these days so I can show it to you.

Oh, they're starting to put up the Christmas decorations here at Highbanks. There's this small "island" of grass and trees in the main road that goes past the end of the street I'm on and every year they put up lots of decorations on it. It's looking real nice and last night they even had it all lit up!! : )

Ashley stopped by for a little while after she got off work yesterday evening. No special reason, just wanted to stop by and visit for awhile.

It's so nice to be in a park so close to Laura, Lindsey and Ashley. When they have a little time, they just pop by for awhile to visit. : )

Did you know that on this date in 1835 - Hans Christian Andersen published his first book of fairy tales?