1st Week in Florida

We've just completed our first week in Florida and we are still working on getting completely settled. Yesterday Tom got our water heater fixed. It had been working on gas but we wanted it use the electric element which had to be replaced. Our cable TV was installed last week but still isn't working well. A technician is supposed to come today. The final straw was yesterday when ESPN stopped working.

Our days haven't been all work-lots of play here. There are activities available morning, noon and night. We have been part of several including an afternoon 'happy hour' every day. A group meets daily at 4 pm and shares the events of the day always with lots of laughs. We have a variety of people which adds to the fun but every one seems to have a positive outlook.

I've also attended Hands of Love, a women's service group. I worked on teddy bears for use at the hospital. Ladies Bible Study is on Monday morning and was a group of about 30 studying the book of John. There was lots of interaction and sharing.

Monday we made a trip to Sarasota which was about 80 miles from here. I wanted to see the Gulf of Mexico. We had a lovely day.

Today is Wednesday so that means euchre tonight. Last week Tom and I attended. We started as partners but each of the following 7 games was spent with new partners depending on whether you won or lost. Winners move to the next table and losers stay put. I thought I was a pretty good euchre player but unfortunately I never moved-lost all 8 games. Tom was highly successfully. I decided that cards were not my 'thing' but Tom has encouraged me to return and see if it was just bad cards. So I'll give it a try tonight. I'll let you know if it was the cards or me!

Sunday is Bonnet Lake Church. The park hires a retired pastor for 6 months of the year. He is a really good speaker and a precious time of fellowship. There were 162 people attending which is great when you consider there are 400 people living here.

One last fun event-the Michigan dinner last night. Each state that has a high representation has their own dinner. There is Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana, and a final-the best of the rest. Our potluck dinner was amazing-retired ladies can really cook. The Ohio people always make an appearance-last night it was buckeye candies at each place. That was funny but they were delicious. In the Michigan trivia game, I won a prize for knowing the date that the Mackinac Bridge opened. Out of the 60+ Michiganders attending the dinner only 2 were UPers.

All in all, things are going well. How can you not love lots of sunshine with temperatures in the 70's and 80's?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Emma C. Nason Children's Home

Image
Emma C. Nason Home A Children's home in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan When I first met Tom and was telling him about my family, I said that I had 22 sisters and brothers. But I went on to explain that I lived with my parents at a children's home where they were the directors. For our first year there, I lived right in the large bedrooms with the girls-about 10 of them. Then I was given my own bedroom. My parents had an apartment in the building but my sister Susie was the only one who stayed in it with them. The Emma C. Nason Home has a wonderful history in the Soo. Emma C. Nason was a woman who moved to the Soo in the early 1900's from New York. Her goal was to start a home for wayward sailors. I'm sure there were many of them in the Soo during that time. Nason's vision for this home must have changed over time and she actually established a home for unwed mothers on Ridge Street. So when the city leaders started a children's home, they named it the E
Read more

Living on the Ridge

Image
 I was reading this book last week and it got me thinking about …. This quote is from one of my favorite podcasts last week- What Should I Read Next? When I heard that, I realized that I say that frequently.  Right now, I'm studying the growing of oranges.  This is how I got to my current topic of study-growing oranges. So "I was reading this book last week and it got me thinking about how oranges are grown here in Florida."  The book was Oranges by John McPhee.   Found out we live on "The Ridge".  A prime citrus growing area in Florida that runs from Leesburg to Sebring.  We live just north of Sebring.   Oranges are fascinating.  Did you know that ....? Oranges from the top of the tree are sweeter than fruit from the bottom of the tree Oranges are sweeter on the south side of the tree There are sweeter sections within an orange.  The blossom end is sweeter than the other side of the orange. We have an orange grove nearby that sells
Read more

New Home But An Old Table

Image
Tom and I took a big step this fall.  After several years of prayers, searching and dealing with our doubts, we made the move from our family farm to a condo.  This has been on heavy Tom's heart since his cancer diagnosis.  As we went through his treatments, it became clearer to us that we needed to have a home that didn't require  much work and maintenance.   We were helped in our search by our niece, Karey Mulder .  We looked at many condos the past two years.  We never found exactly what we were looking for.  Several places meet some of our dreams but none met them all -until this August when a condo came on the market in Leisure Creek Condominiums.  We knew immediately that this was the home we were looking for. We closed on our new home in late August.  Karey had a local artist make us a picture of our farm that we would be leaving.  She presented it to us at the closing.  It hangs proudly in our condo. Karey giving us a framed picture of the farm
Read more