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We left Florida March 18th and arrived in Pa (not at our home) on April13th. We spent time in Georgia with Norm, a week in Charleston with John's brother and his wife... Jim and Terry..

 

then Wilmington NC to spend time with John's daughter Corinne and her beau Patrick... and finally a week in Forest Lake NC where we saw Norm, Gail and Baxter. Norm spends the summer in NC with his son and Gail and Baxter were on their way back to Canada. We went flea marketing and shopping and of course dinning.

 

When we arived in Pa we had to stay in our local campground (Sheshequin) for a week while we reopened the house. It took longer than usual because we had many feet of broken water pipes that John had to replace and 2 nights with temperatures below freezing. But we finnally moved the RV to her pad in the driveway with the help of the local volunteer fire company (they have to stop traffic on the road so John can pull across both lanes and back into the driveway). Several days of cleaning later, we were able to move into the house. We have been working ever since, fixing what was broken and cleaning what was left go by our former tennants.

I did get to see my newest grandchild (Jonah) participate in his first Easter egg hunt.

 

 

Now that the weather is getting warmer (a little), I have my morning coffee on the deck...

 

 and watch the wildlife. So far I see on a regular basis: deer, rabbits, groundhog, bald eagle, canadian geese, merganzer ducks, blue herron, green heron, chipmonks, squirrels... this one has gotten very bold...I didn't shoot this with a zoom lens

 

any many varieties of birds. Just to name a few... Red winged and Tricolored blackbirds, Brown headed cow birds, Cardinals, Catbirds, Rose Breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Mourning Doves, Red Bellied Woodpeckers, Downy Woodpeckers, Flickers, Kingfishers, Titmouse, Junco, Ruby Throated hummingbirds,Blue jays, and many Goldfinches...

 

Standing room only at the feeder. But my favorite right now is the Baltimore Oriole. As a matter of fact they built a nest within 12 feet of my deck. I can sit and watch the male guarding it. He even chased the bald eagle the other day when it tried to land in the tree to watch for fish. This isn't a very clear picture but the nest is hanging among the pine boughs and he is siting on top guarding. I didn't need to use a zoom lens on this because it is so close to the deck.

 

I also have another tennant, a frog has taken up residence in my small ornamental pond.

He has grown acustom to me working around the flower bed ..... he just sits and watches hoping I'll russel up some flies and/or ants for him.

 

I have been awoken by the hooting of an owl but I haven't laid eyes on him yet. Did I mention that I'm making everyone use the back door because I have a robin nesting in the wisteria bush over top of my front door. John can't wait until the young fleg.

Speaking of John, he keeps himself busy in between his repair projects chasing the rabbits out of his garden and playing his guitar. He just learned that our new neighbor, Jason, also plays..... so if I can't find him, I know where he'll be. 

Sydney use to do that (chase the rabbitts) but he just lays under the bush by the front porch and sleeps. His walks are getting shorter and shorter. There are days when he just stops and lays down walking from the living room to the kitchen.

Well it's time for me to get back to work. Plans this weekend.... pick up picnic table for deck, go to Jonah's first birthday party and go with the boys (Lukas and Jonah) to Knoeble's Grove ( a family amusement park). I'll try to write more often. If the weather continues like it has been (one sunny day out of five) I'll have time to do it.

 

Return to Florida and home

I have a lot of catching up to do so I will be brief. We returned to Florida on Feb 15th and after 2 days in Wildwood to clean and restock we headed back down to Peace River in Wachula... our favorite place so far. We met up with Norm, Gail, Baxter and Phil over the 3 weeks we were there. We visited several of the local eating establishments (Chinese, wings etc); Went to Anna Marie Island, near Bradenton; Enjoyed the Lippazone Stallions; John participated in the jam sessions; we partook of the pot-luck get together's; and my favorite... went on a trail ride through the live oak and cypress forest. Here we are taking a break .....

 

and yes, John is riding a mule. The stable owner took one look at John and said he was too big for the horses and put him on "Maude the Mule". And boy was she a typical mule. She did what she wanted and went where she wanted.... John just sat there and held on.

 

We woke up on March 4th, our anniversary, to find this surprise on our picnic table, thanks to our friends Gail and Baxter.

 

From Peace River we went to 3 Flaggs in Wildwood then on to Sherwood Forest in Kissamee. While in Wildwood we had to do a double-take. I looked out the window and another RV EXACTLY like ours was sitting beside us.

It turns out it was 1 year older than ours and had the same layout but darker wood and different color scheme. We toured each others coaches, exchanged stories and agreed we love our Rose Air's..

 

While in Sherwood Forest, John met some fellow guitar players and spent time playing and exchanging songs. I hung out a bird feeder and was very quickly visited by a pair of mallard ducks. They came every day to clean up anything the messy birds dropped. They gave new meaning to the phrase "clean up crew"

 

On March 18th we started our journey back to Pa. I thought it was too early but John was anxious to get home. So we compramized... we left Florida but made our way slowly north.