Getaway Plans Official and Crafty Night at Terra Verde Coffee House

Yup, it's official...  we are going to GET AWAY for some vacation time this winter!   Steve's job at High Cliff State Park is a full time job, but by combining some vacation time from last year and some of this year, we will be able to go for a nice jaunt to Florida!

My folks live down in the middle of the state near Williston (between Ocala and Gainesville)  so we will probably end up there for a week or so, and explore around the area....  if any of you bloggers hanging out down thataways wanna meet up, let us know!  Plans made in jello... but we will meander our way down for a week and meander our way back for a week.  We do have to plan a few days in reserve to hole up in case of bad weather.  In case we have to wait for the right moment to dash through any snow or ice storms to get back home.  We are thinking of leaving mid Feb and coming home med March.

Steve has a large commitment at the park this spring with a couple of big jobs... one is finding and repairing a water main leak underground somewhere near the upper pavilion.  For now, it has wasted 40,000 gallons of water before they were able to confine to where it's leaking underground and turn off valves to stop it.  That means this winter there aren't any flushing toilets or water access in the upper level buildings in the park.  Next on his list is that the big showerhouse in the family campground will be undergoing some renovations, so he needs to be back in time to oversee those as each contractor is scheduled for various jobs to start in mid March.

We will start loading the motorhome up with our summertime clothes...  wheeheeeeee   and then load the final freezable and perishable things right before we leave.  Our neighbors will take care of things here (two widows with eagle eyes for any mischief) and their sons will take care of our snow.  Hopefully when we get back, the snow will all be GONE!


We had a sad start to our weekend, our daughter-in-law Heather's grandfather passed away.  We went to the funeral to pay our respects and also help wrangle the 4 and almost 2 year old grandtots. Allegra was perfectly behaved all the while. I had my purse loaded with little activities and treats to get them through the visitation. Little Mason got pretty bored during the funeral service, so Steve and I tag teamed him up and down the back aisles, letting him monitor which heat registers were blowing air and which ones were off.  Once that got boring, we hung out in the vestibule, and explored the holy water font, the stained glass windows, the brochures in the rack and best of all: the wheelchair!~    Soon we were wheeling him back and forth in the vestibule, sometimes with him sitting, sometimes with him standing up, sometimes balancing himself on the foot rests...  around the holy water font, in circles, back and forth.

After the service, the priest came to speak to me about the great use we got out of the wheelchair!  He had a hard time keeping a straight face during the service, as he was the only one looking backwards towards the vestibule....  and seeing a kid go back and forth and back and forth in various poses on the wheelchair!   What a great way for the littlest great grandson to send off his great-grandfather, with smiles.



The local coffee house here in Chilton hosts a monthly event for Crafty Ladies (no men- no kids!)  where we each bring in something we are working on, a dish to pass, and a bottle of wine or other favorite beverage.  It's a nice way to get something done that maybe at home wasn't getting done by family interruptions.   Social Networking with neighborhood gals is also a plus.

The name of the shop is Terra Verde Coffee House  and you can find them on Facebook.   I went last night to gather with the gals for a while.

Some gals brought sewing projects, even a sewing machine.  And wine glasses! 

Some worked on scrapbooking projects.

Here are some fleece mittens and some knit boot toppers from recycled sweaters.

While we sipped wine.

Taa dah!  Mittens from recycled sweaters. 

Some fancy double layered knitting, 

and some wine corks into a commemorative wall decor shape.

My oh my, did we drink ALL that wine? 

Intense sewing taking place, made easier by wine.

I brought along my antique sock knitting machine.  

It goes a lot faster than the needle knit scarf!

(behind the wine) 

 OH, did I happen to mention more wine? 

Well, it's Sunday morning.  After a good breakfast of homemade blueberry pancakes and sausage, now Steve and I are going to work on loading up an extra loom I have in storage.  A gal from my weaving guild wants to buy it--- but only if we come and set it up this afternoon for her in her home.  Sooooo  that is next on our list of things to get done.

The temps will be up in the 30's today before another cold spell drops upon us in Wisconsin.  I am hoping to get the pup out on a leash for a bit of some training and also start teaching him to go potty in other places than just his fenced-in yard.  Gotta train him for travelling now!

Here is a link to a little video clip (it's short, only 15 seconds) of the silly doggers this morning.  It's called ZOOMIES!!!