One Week in Florida

Well, things have finally slowed down a little bit to get some computer time to blog!  We have been in a whirlwind since getting to Florida with mom.

It's been emotional, with Mom getting settled back in her house.  Without Lowell here, it sure seems strange.  But we are remembering, reminiscing and telling stories of the good times.  With a few tears in between.

After being absent for six months, some things needed to get spruced up around the house.  Plus, for almost a year before that, Mom and Lowell were living up in Georgia and Lowell's brother was living here instead.  Some things fell to the wayside during the brother's stay, and needed to get a good going over too. Stepbrother Dean left a huge mess next door so we are cleaning up that bit by bit, and we are going to tackle the yard today.

Steve has been soooo busy with a "honey do" list on the motorhome as well.  Seems our control board went out on our generator, so he had some fixing to do. Mel let us borrow his board to troubleshoot, and sure nuff, we needed to get a new one of those from Flight Systems.  Shipped to the house in three days, and then Steve also had to replace a wire, which Mel also had an extra of!   Now it's fully operational, and humming along like it should.

On top of that, our motorhome brake lights had only been working intermittently on the way down from Wisconsin. Steve examined the nine different wires, plugs and connections, with Mel helping him test and check and recheck. In and out, up and down, under and out those two guys were working. They messed with it for a whole day, and finally Steve said heck with it and ran all new wires for the brakes, and bypassed the corroded connectors.  There.... all in working order again!

Then some fellow Safari friends were staying in Williston at the Williston Crossings RV park and had some troubles on their rig.  Steve and Mel needed to go over and diagnose and troubleshoot.  Always something needs to get taken care of on these motorhomes. I am so glad Steve is so handy and can save us a lot of headaches, time and money by fixing them himself. What a guy.....

On mom's house, Steve changed locks, fixed security lights, installed all new cabinet knobs, pulled out some dead shrubs, trimmed her bushes, washed the car, fixed her door, and most of all ---- fixed her cuckoo clock!!!!  It had jammed up during moving and now it was fully operational again.  Ahhhhh

Steve also has been getting some of the other vehicles here ready to sell.  Mom doesn't need two pickup trucks, an extra lawnmower, or things like extra well pressure tanks and propane tanks.  So we are taking pics, writing up ads and posting on Craigslist and local Facebook Buy Sell Trade pages.

On my end, it's been my job to help Mom get back into the swing of things.  We got her computer up and running, her phone and dish all set, and get her shopping!!!!

Auntie Lois and Mom LOVE LOVE LOVE their Wal-mart excursions!!!!  Did I say they LOVE it????  Yes!!!!    Those two can make a WHOLE DAY of it!   Paula and I went along for the day, and by 2 pm we were totally worn out.  Those ladies can shop shop shop, look look look, and make many many many laps around that store. 

I have been mostly keeping mom company, helping with meals and fiddling around with her details of budgets, bills, and paperwork.  And Auntie Lois's job is to keep on bringing over goodies!!!!

Auntie Lois also manages a thrift store for her church, called The Angel House. We stopped in yesterday to take a gander around and buy a few odds and ends.  From there, we met up with Mel and Paula for a day at the flea market in Chiefland.  Yep, we marketed a few fleas, for sure! 

We also came home with a nice bag of Florida produce. 

The doggers are getting used to the Florida sunshine and sand.  They are enjoying our strolls along the country roads around this part of the state.  Not too wild many critters... lots of chickens and pit bulls in just about every yard.  All were fenced in so we got in lots of sassy barks, but not confrontations until the other night.  One house had unleashed dogs (big shepherd mix type dogs) that ran out towards us.  We beat a fast retreat, and next time we will have the grizzly spray along if we head out that direction.  Our dogs are always on leash, and safe by our sides.  Just can't control the OTHER dogs advances. 

This is about the only wildlife we have seen.....  

a darling gecko on mom's front porch! 

(it's all of two inches long.. this is on zoom)

We are starting to get into "vacation mode" now after one week.  A bit of relaxing and wine sipping.  Our friend Linda found us these two adult beverage sippee cups, so we don't spill.  How thoughtful!

Evenings out on the deck are extremely pleasant,

with good food, good friends, good wine....

and WARMTH! 

Tonight for Valentine's Day we are grilling steaks and steaming crab legs! 

Yummmmmmmmm

(ppsssstttt back home in Chilton, it's 4 below zero)