oneoliverii.com

Monday, June 24, 2013

Wow, it's been a long time since I updated! And I guess it's time to change to Summer 2013 so I'll do that with the next entry. We are still in St. Simons-a few complications with our sellers last week but we resolved everything and the current "guesstimate" for closing is Thursday. Our closing on this house in Friday but we might sign the papers Thursday so we can leave but all is still awaiting the final schedule. We plan to pack up either Wednesday or Thursday and we have to get my car, The Beast and the Uhaul up to Beaufort so not sure how that is going to work! This is a lot more complicated than when we bought the SSI house-just showed up, signed papers and carried our suitcases into an empty house! Anyway, hopefully the next entry will be from Beaufort and it will say Summer 2013!

Every day more boxes get piled up and more furniture wrapped!

End tables packed so now we're using a couple of our MANY boxes! Where did all this stuff come from?

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Missing my Daddy today (as on every other day) but hoping all the guys have a Happy Father's Day. John and Jeannette just left, having picked up the rest of the furniture they are taking so our upstairs is completely empty and much of the downstairs as well. Oliver has wrapped all the dining room chairs for moving and J&J took the kitchen chairs so we basically have to eat standing up! Hoping to close and move this week so that we don't have to do that for long! Yesterday J&J had a barbecue for Oliver for Father's Day and Debbie came from Charlotte, with our new granddog, so we had a lovely day. The weather has been beautiful the past couple of days-the heat haslet up some and it's nice for being outside all day. This week we will just sit and wait for the final paperwork to be wrapped up and we're ready to go!

Here's our cute little Dude.

He enjoyed getting to know Gramps. Look at the size of those feet!

Getting some tips from J&J's dog Patrick

Oliver really enjoyed spending the day with his kids

Here's what the temp has been this week

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

First of all, Happy 21st Birthday to my beautiful niece Spencer! I had hoped to celebrate with her in Hilton Head tonight, because we were hoping the closing on our new house would be tomorrow, but now it looks like it won't be til next week. We'd love to be there now, because it is very hot here-in the 90s this week- and I sure would love to be floating around in our pool! We have been accomplishing a lot though. We have the electric, water, landscaping and pool companies all switched over and we have packed a lot of boxes! On Sunday, John and Jeannette came and took a lot of the furniture we have given them-my 2 wing chairs in the living room, the sofa bed (weighed a TON), the coffee table and end table from that room, the twin beds and foot stools and end table from that room and a few smaller odds and ends. They are coming back Sunday for the desk and chair, the TV console in the living room, the kitchen chairs and the TV console in the master bedroom. We're going up to their house on Saturday for a cook out and will take the outdoor furniture. The place will be pretty bare so we'd BETTER get to move next week! We're getting a little antsy now, just kind of in suspended animation. Looking forward to getting settled.

Here's the garage almost all packed up.

Here's the guest room

And the office

Thursday, June 6, 2013

We made it home Tuesday night but it was a LOOOONG day! We had to leave the house at 11 AM, as the realtor was having an open house, so we got to the airport at noon for our 3PM flight! Had a good lunch though and luckily after our layover in Atlanta, we landed in Brunswick in between thunderstorms. Yesterday was sort of a don-nothing day, as we were totally exhausted!! Thanks to all our friends who gave us such a wonderful week-end but gosh--you tired us out!! Today we are inside, as Tropical Storm Andrea is moving through-not much going on though, just some moderate rain. But we are starting to pack up for the move to South Carolina. I think Oliver is going to be able to make it in one trip!

Sunday, June 3, 2013

This will be a short update, as it is already 11"30 and this is the second time doing this entry, as the first one disappeared! We flew up here on Thursday and when we arrived around 6 PM, our dear friend and neighbor June had stocked our kitchen with pulled pork, pasta salad, chips, candy, quiche, coffee, fruit and juice for breakfast and beer for Oliver and wine coolers for me! We will NEVER have better neighbors than Bill and June! We spent a few minutes visiting with them before falling into bed. On Friday our friend Alice stopped by, then we met with our realtors, then had a conference call with our financial guru and then did some cleaning and packing. I visited with my other next door neighbor Bonnie and her daughter Ashley and Ashley's 2 week old baby Colton before heading down to the marina for our traditional Friday cocktail party on Paul and Sharon's boat, along with Joe and Rose and Bill and Julie. We ad an excellent dinner at The Twisted Willow and then stopped buy the Yacht Club for a nightcap. Yesterday we cleaned and packed some more and I visited with June, Bonnie and neighbor Barb before going back down to the marina for-you guessed it-cocktails! We had a wonderful dinner at the Pasta Shoppe. This morning we went to church and saw MANY friends! This afternoon Joe and Rose and Paul and Sharon came up to look at a few boating items we no longer need and they kindly took some things off our hands! Russ and Dorothy came up and we had a nice long visit with them before going to Sue and Tom Shannon's for dinner, with Paul and Vicky Czisny. Sue is a wonderful hostess and we had a lovely evening and got a "doggy fix" with Cody and Rocker, Marina and Skipper's pals. Tomorrow Oliver has a dentist appointment and we will have dinner with June and Bill. Tuesday Oliver goes to the doctor and then we'll head to the airport to go back down to Georgia. We've had a wonderful week-end and seeing all our dear friends reminds us of why we like it here. We will definitely be making many visits back to Port!

Here's Ashley and her darling little guy

I got to hold Colton!

Four generations! Bonnie's mom Rosie will be 92 next week and is a dear friend.

Friday, May 24, 2013

We've had a busy week here. Our buyers ordered both the termite inspection and the home inspection for this week so both of those were accomplished. They also asked to move the closing up by a few days, which we were totally fine with so it will now be June 28. The closing in Beaufort is either June 12 or June 14-not sure which one yet. We also found out today that we can go up to Beaufort next Wednesday and meet our seller-the husband anyway. He's going to show Oliver how to install the hurricane shutters-which we hopefully will never need! He also will give us the names of the yard man, the pool man, the bug man, the cleaning people, the security people, and I don't know what all else. We are looking forward to meeting him. His father was the head football coach at Lehigh University and he coached at Lehigh as well as Wheaton College outside of Chicago, and they actually lived in Naperville.

Don't know if I mentioned before but because Melissa-the wife-has been working in Houston for over a year, they have a rental house and furniture there so were happy to sell all the furniture with the house. They had a well-known local decorator do the house so this will save us a lot of effort! We will bring a few things of our own and make a few changes, but we really like almost everything in the house. Here is the baby grand piano they are leaving-I wanted to sell it but Oliver has convinced me to take piano lessons so I'm going to give it a try! Oliver promises to come and videotape my first recital!

Here's the family room

Here's the kitchen. Those back stairs lead up to the mancave.

Here's the dining room-love the interesting ceilings in this house!

And here is the mancave!!

Friday, May 17, 2013

Little by little we are creeping closer to the buying and selling of houses. We had another offer on this house while we were in the process of working through the details of the first offer! Both our realtor her and the one in Beaufort say the real estate market is just exploding so if anyone is thinking about selling, this is a good time!! If nothing goes wrong (fingers and toes crossed) we will close on the new house on June 14 and then close on this one on July 1. That gives us 2 weeks to get things moved-not that there will be much to be moved! We bought the Beaufort house furnished and won't be taking much from here as the style is different there. We are hoping that we can give much of our furniture to the kids-John and Jeannette are coming down Sunday to "shop"!!! Still don't want to jinx anything but here are a couple of pics of the new house.

This is the pool house. They use it for several purposes but Oliver is going to rearrange it and it will be his workshop/painting studio. There's a full bathroom including a shower so he won't track anything into the house!

Monday, May 13, 2013

Once again, the week has flown by and I don't even have any pictures to share! We have been so very busy. We have made an offer on a house which has been accepted so looks like we will be moving to Beaufort, SC but we don't want to jinx anything so won't say more til closer to an actual closing!! We also have listed our house here in SSI and had an offer on Saturday. We are working through a few details so - also to avoid the jinx- won't say more about that either!! We're going up to Port Washington the end of the month, just for a few days, but we are really looking forward to seeing our friends.

I continue with my physical therapy twice a week and I am really feeling quite well-better than someone my age has a right to feel!!

Stay tuned for more details.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

We have been extremely busy for the past week. On Thursday we went to Beaufort to look at houses. On Friday we drove up to Athens for my beautiful, brilliant niece Alex's graduation from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine. Of the 100 graduates, Alex was one of SEVEN who graduated Summa Cum Laude. I am so proud of her-she is absolutely awesome. We had a wonderful lunch afterwards with John and Bunny's family and Alex's inlaws. On Saturday afternoon we drove to Savannah and stayed the night and then went to Beaufort again on Sunday, before coming home and getting our puppies out of the kennel.

Here's Alex getting her hood and diploma

Here's Dr. Davenport!!

My beautiful sister and niece!

We celebrated!

Monday, April 29, 2013

I had a rough week-end but went back to physical therapy today and had more traction, laid on some heating pads for a while and then had electrostimulation. I feel pretty good now and soon we're going to Coastal Kitchen for some wine and lobster nachos-yummy!!!!

We walked the dogs on the beach on Saturday and looked at the work they are doing getting the film sets built and then we went back Saturday afternoon to sit in the sun for a couple of hours. It was nice.

We're heading back to Beaufort on Thursday to do more house looking and then Friday will go to Athens for the big graduation on Saturday! Not sure if we'll come all the way back Satrurday afternoon or stop along the way somewhere.

Here's the parking lot where all their equipment is

Here's the swimming pool they built on the beach

Friday, April 26, 2013

First of all, we did decide to put the Port house on the market so it will be listed as of Monday. We'll keep looking around here, probably in Beaufort. We just don't want to keep making that LOOOOONG drive back and forth and since both of Oliver's kids are down here, and Bunny and her family, and Phyllis, we shouldn't be too lonely. We will plan to make some trips back to Wisconsin though!

I had my MRI yesterday and my first physical therapy this morning and I feel pretty crummy right now. After my therapy, I took my car over to the place where they were fixing the little wheel well cover which I crunched when I crash landed at the B&B in Beaufort. The car is about 4 inches off the ground and the curb was about 12 inches off the ground and......anyway, it's fixed now!!

Yesterday we walked the dogs at the beach and watched them constructing the movie set for Anchorman 2, which is being filmed on the beach and in the village over the next couple of weeks. They are building a big tidal pool on the beach and we saw them carting in sand and water. It stars Will Farrell, Cristina Applegate, and Steve Carrell-maybe we'll see them around town! Here they are working:

Tonight we all watched Jurassic Park in 3D-here's Oliver and Skipper getting ready

Monday, April 23, 2013

We've done a bit more looking around for an area where we might be interested in consolidating our 2 houses. We are getting a bit weary of the long drive back and forth and keeping that big house in Port Washington for 5 months a year seems a little silly. So we might put it on the market and see what happens. We are of course VERY conflicted about this but know that we will likely do it in the next 5 years anyway and our realtor there thinks this might be a good time and it's a good time to buy something here, so we'll probably give it a try.

Yesterday we went down to Green Cove Springs and Orange Park, FL, just west of Jacksonville. We don't think that's the place, although we saw the most beautiful house I have ever seen! It is owned by the developer of this small development right on the St. Johns River. It had THE most amazing kitchen and then a screened in porch with a whole outdoor kitchen-a grill, a stove top, a sink, even a dishwasher! However, not enough yard for the dogs and we really didn't care for the surrounding area, so sadly we left that one! On Saturday we had driven up to Savannah to a gated community called The Landings. A huge development, with almost 8,000 people living there but really nice. Six golf courses with with 4 clubhouses with 10 restaurants between them, 3 pools, including an adults only pool, 2 deepwater marinas, a huge fitness center with an indoor pool and 150 manmade lagoons, both fresh and salt water, that are all stocked with fish! Lots of nice homes for sale there. It's only 12 miles from downtown Savannah but it feels further away and feels pretty far from I-95. Also, out of the 8000 people there, about 1000 of them are children. Not that we don't like kids and we definitely want some around and would NEVER live in an adults only community but 1000 might be TOO many. But we haven't ruled it out. We are going back to Beaufort next week on our way to Alex's graduation. We really like the charm of the area and it has all the other amenities we like. Of course this morning Oliver found a house on the ocean in Hilton Head that he wants to see-thought we had ruled HH out but we decided that maybe we were tired when we went out there and ought to give it another look. We'll see.

My physical therapy for my neck starts on Friday and I hope to get quite a few sessions in before we come back, so we may not leave til right after Memorial Day. Still waiting for the MRI to be approved.

Here's a picture I took yesterday. It shows The Most Interesting Man in the World--and the guy that advertises for Dos Equis! Stay thirsty, my friends!

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

We've had quite a busy week. We decided on Sunday that we wanted to drive up to Beaufort, SC and look around a bit. Beaufort is just above Hilton Head and is a patriotic city with a strong military presence. Beaufort dates back to 1711. This Low Country, small town is on the mainland, tucked between Port Royal Sound and St Helena Sound. Port Royal harbor is the deepest natural harbor on the Atlantic Coast. At low tide, beautiful sandbars are scattered throughout the Beaufort River exposing oyster beds and marshland. The tide variation during the spring tides are among the greatest along the Atlantic Coast. Money Magazine named Beaufort, South Carolina as one of 6 Terrific Towns on the Water. Parris Island is there and is where the Marines boot camp is. It is ALSO the hometown of the next American Idol, Candice Glover! St. Helena's Island, which is an area of Beaufort, is where she lives and there were posters all over. Our realtor said that there had been TV crews there a couple of times already. We met with a realtor and he drove us all over the area. We found quite a few houses that we liked and may go back to look again. There is a beautiful state park with miles of beach and we had a nice walk. We stayed at The Beaufort Inn, a wonderful little bed and breakfast where we had a room in a little cottage with an amazing bathtub-not that I took advantage of it. We ate at Saltus Grill, and had a wonderful dinner. Yesterday we drove out to the state park and then down to Hilton Head-which reminded us of why we gave never liked HH!! Crazy busy and completely overgrown with little strip malls. On the way back to SSI, I spoke with one of my Welsh list friends, Iris Fox, and she and her husband John were in Savannah and heading for Florida so we asked them to stop by. They came about 7PM and we had cocktails and appetizers, then grilled steaks and had dinner. We had so much fun chatting about our 2 dogs and their SEVEN dogs. John is such an animal lover-almost every time he leaves the house he finds a stray dog, brings it home and they end up keeping it!! We talked until midnight and then insisted that they stay overnight with us, so we got to enjoy them this morning until they continued on their way. After they left, I went for my doctor's appointment. Although the pain has lessened, the tingling and numbness persist, so he is sending me for an MRI and some traction. My neck is killing me tonight, probably as a result of his twisting it around to see if it hurt!

Here's the beautiful downtown park along the ICW in Beaufort

Here's the pond at the visitor's center at the state park, where they tell you not to feed the alligators!

The bathtub I didn't use!

The big comfy bed

Iris and Marina

John and Skipper

Friday, April 12, 2013

Now the bathroom is REALLY done-Oliver put up the TP holder and my robe hook and the Project Manager came and cleaned my shower door for me (hope he will come every week!) and Oliver had the honor of taking the first shower. It looked good-lots of water pressure out of both heads and he said it felt great. Now I have to go see if he cleaned it up again!

My neck is better today than since I hurt it. Last night I laid in my Zero Gravity chair for a couple of hours while I watched TV---side note--what the HELL was with Kelly Clarkson's eyes? The MOST freakish eye makeup EVER!! Anyway, then I went to bed and slept pretty much all night and though it hurt this morning, I showered before deciding all I needed was a couple of aspirin and haven't had anything since!

Here's my chair-it distributes your weight and supposedly you feel like you're in zero gravity.

Hmm-speaking of freakish!

Why did the turtle cross the road? This afternoon I ran up to the assisted living place to visit with a lady from church and traffic was backed up in both directions for a long way. Turned out a great big turtle was crossing the road-to get to the other side, I guess-and a guy was just walking beside it while another guy stopped the traffic. Sure hope the turtle actually stays on the other side now!

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Finally-the bathroom is done!!! Well-except that it turned out that the robe hook I ordered was back-ordered so they also didn't send my toilet paper holder so I had to RE-order those today but minor details!! Yesterday the glass doors were installed, today the granite and sinks went in, and then we went to the beach for a couple of hours. I bought a Zero gravity chair and took that with us and my neck did pretty well (although it is KILLING me now and when I finish this, I will take some pain stuff). Just when we were thinking about coming home, Chris our bathroom magician called and said he would come hook up the plumbing, so we met him here. He finished and it all just looks great! Can't wait to "move in" tomorrow. To really appreciate it, you should scroll down to see what it used to look like!!

Here's the vanity

Oliver's favorite thing-the pump handle faucets he picked out!

The new toilet and floor

My favorite thing-the train rack

the shower

There's no question that the bathroom is still tiny, but it feels about 3 times the size to us!!

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Just a couple of quick pix. My sweet niece Spencer not only let me come to the beach to meet her boyfriend but actually even let me take pictures! How mature is that?! Here they are:

This is part of their very large group, here for the SAE spring formal

It was quite crowded on the beach

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Just a quick update. My neck continues to be a challenge although I can take the pain med 4 times a day and I'm only using it two times-mostly at night. It's the prednisone that's helping and I worry about what will happen when I start titrating down but will see about that next week, I guess.

The shower doors are back from the fabricator and will be installed Monday!! The granite on Tuesday so all should be done. Oliver finished painting and hung my towel holders and the only other thing on his list are to install the toilet paper holder and door hook, both of which should be here by Monday. Can't wait to get back in our bathroom! Update on Monday or Tuesday.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

I haven't posted for awhile because I've been pretty much down with a bad neck. I have tried to be so careful since my 2008 injury but I didn't even stop to think when I painted the bathroom and I think tipping my head WAAAY back when I rolled the ceiling was a really really bad idea!~ I made it through John and Jeannette's wedding by taking a heating pad for the ride up to Savannah and resting before the ceremony and not staying too late but I couldn't sit down so 5 hours of standing took it's toll. By yesterday, I could see that resting wasn't going to do the job so I finally went to the doctor-got a shot of Prednisone, prescriptions for muscle relaxers and pain and a referral to the orthopedic surgeon. Went there in the afternoon and got xrays and an upped dose of prednisone. In two weeks, if not better, he'll do an MRI. I just need to get well enough to be able to ride home sometime in May. The prednisone and pills helped-I finally got some sleep last night but have to take the pain drugs every 6 hours or it starts up again.

Anyway, the wedding was very nice. John belongs to a Harley club and they held the wedding at the clubhouse. The weather was perfect for an outside ceremony and oyster roast and inside was dinner and a really great band. They have such a nice group of friends there-many firefighters and ex-military, a couple of lawyers and a few police officers. They do a lot of charity work, like rides for Toys for Tots. John and Jeannette are both in their 40s, so this was an ideal setting for them. The colors were black and red and everybody looked nice, but Oliver was the best--just cute as a button!

The ceremony was very nice

There were some traditional elements, like the pretty cake

We are very happy for John and Jeannette-they are doing well. John now owns 2 houses in Savannah, one of which he rents out, and he just got a nice promotion at his job at Gulfstream.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

We are really close to the bathroom being done!! The glass guy came this morning to measure for the frameless doors and they should be ready to be installed in a week or so. Then Chris grouted everything, installed the lights, installed all the shower controls (except for one handle that's being shipped), put up the train rack in the shower and did some spackling. Tomorrow he seals the grout, installs the toilet, puts the handle on the vanity drawers and will do some touch up painting for me. He's done then, although he will come back once the granite is installed to hook up the plumbing. The granite people called to say they had the slab so they should be here next week to install. We just are so thrilled by how nice it looks!! When it's all done, I'll use Oliver's camera to take some better pictures-mine doesn't show color very well.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Bunny and Spencer just left, the granite guy just left, Oliver is walking the dogs, and I'm sitting with my neck on the heating pad. I guess when I painted the bathroom, I did something to my neck and it REALLY hurts! Also burned my arm dusting my light and still have a cold. Feel crappy!!!

But we had a GREAT time with Bunny and Spencer. We went to Crabdaddy's for dinner on Saturday night and had a yummy dinner. Sunday we all went to church and then in the afternoon, Spencer, Bunny and I went into the village to shop. Spencer tried on every dress in every shop and looked SO CUTE in all of them but couldn't decide. She did find a bathing suit she loved, though, so I bought it for her for her birthday (in June). Then we came home and had drinks on the porch and she worked on a project-which I can't share now but will after she uses it in two weeks at the SAE spring formal --in St. Simons Island!!!!! I have told her I'm coming to meet her boyfriend and I think she might think I'm kidding but I'm not! Anyway, then we went back to the village for dinner at the Bluewater Café and it was also really good. But, we should have gone to the beach instead because it was sunny and 80 on Sunday but yesterday it was 60 and the wind was howling! We did go down to the beach with the dogs but only stayed a short while because it was cold and we had sand in our mouths!! We came back and Spencer worked on her project before we had pasta for dinner. This morning we just had coffee and watched TV until Spencer got up-she managed to sleep through both of the dogs howling in their crates-and then they packed up and left. I wish the weather had been better but it was great having them here!

The granite is measured for and Chris has finished the shower, except for grouting. He's putting the medicine cabinets in now and will do the lights today too. The glass people have been called and they will come measure for the shower doors this week. Looks like all will be finished within the next 10 days or so!!

Here's Spencer working on her project while Bunny enjoys her cosmo.

Spencer and Skipper on the way to the beach

These girls were colder than they looked!

Here's the beginning of the floor

And here's the shower mostly done

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Sitting watching the darn rain and waiting for Bunny and Spencer to arrive. Not the spring break she was hoping for but I'm excited for them to come anyway. have been VERY busy for the past 20 hours or so. Chris left about 4:15 yesterday and by 6, I had 2 coats of ceiling paint on! Then this morning I was painting by 8 and had 2 coats on the walls by about 1PM. We had quite a time getting the paint. I had the name of the paint I wanted so Oliver went to get it but the color had been discontinued and they could only try to match it. It turned out fine though and blends nicely with the tile and vanity. Here's the shower tile-it will go all the way to the ceiling and the glass doors will go about to the top of the pink stuff.

My camera doesn't show colors all that well but here's the paint

Friday, March 22, 2013

The bathroom continues to come along nicely. Tomorrow (or later tonight) I should have pictures of the tile in the shower-the floor is in, although not grouted, and today he is doing the walls. We picked out hardware for the vanity yesterday and the lights, towel racks and towel rings are all on order and should be here next week. The granite guy is coming Tuesday to make the template so we are getting closer!

Oliver has been busy with his welding. Look at these cool giant dice he made!

Here's the vanity

And the shower floor ready for tile

And even the new door is on-Oliver put the handles on last night

We are excited about Bunny and Spencer coming tomorrow, although the weather doesn't look too promising. I hope to get the ceiling in the bathroom painted tonight and then the walls done in the morning before they come. Chris would like to finish the vanity and put the medicine cabinets in on Monday but he wants me to be able to have an easier time painting so I need to get it done!

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

In spite of my really, really bad cold, I had a nice birthday, with lots of cards and phone calls. And the most amazing quilt, made for me by my very talented BFF Phyllis. The picture doesn't do it justice-the colors are just beautiful and the pattern of the darker fabric is awesome. It looks beautiful in the living room, and in the bedroom.

I also got some delicious cookies in the mail from my friend Sue (Cody's Mom). She makes the best cookies for every occasion and I have really been missing them so she sent me 3 kinds of St. Patrick's Day cookies.

We had a good time in Amelia Island, in spite of my cold. We stopped in Yulee, FL at Kohls-I haven't been in a Kohls since last October!! We got to AI in time for a yummy lunch at Brett's Waterway restaurant, tight on the (duh) waterfront in the historic district of Fernandina Beach. Then we walked over to the realtor's office - we wanted to look at a few neighborhoods in AI. She had a nice package ready for us and we followed her map and saw several neighborhoods but turned out we didn't care so much for them-not as nice as SSI. By the time we got back, we were able to check into our hotel and had a nice room overlooking the waterfront. We went back out to stroll the streets for a bit before having a good dinner at the Marina Seaport restaurant. On Sunday morning we drove on down to Jacksonville so Oliver could visit Harbor Freight and Northern Tools, and then went home and picked up our pups at the bark and breakfast.

Chris has been very busy this week. He got the shower ready for tiling, cut the holes for the medicine cabinets, and took the old light down and wriggled around in the attic wiring for the new lights. They are on order and I hope they get here before he's finished with everything else, although Oliver can certainly install them. Here are pix of his work. Today he's putting the vanity in.

More updates later

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Chris got a lot done today, although he wasn't feeling well. We either both have colds or allergies,but I was able to sit around most of the day while he was working hard. The plumbing is all ready for the inspector and he worked on framing the shower and repairing wall and ceiling where he removed the little-wall-that-did-nothing. He asked me if he could have the day off tomorrow and being the good boss that I am, of course I said yes!(I don't know why, but my name is on the contract, the building permit and the Home Depot credit card so Chris says that makes me the boss!) He lives in Panama City, about 5 hours from here, and hasn't been home in 3 weeks so we sent him off for a long week-end. Tomorrow we will just take the dogs to the beach and then Saturday morning early we're going to Amelia Island.

Here's my shower plumbing

Here's my little built-in shower caddy-when he came to have me look at it, I thought he said there was a cat in the bathroom!

Here's where he repaired the wall and ceiling

Hopefully the next time I post some pix, they will be of us having fun in AI!!!!

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Day three of the remodel--water world!! Today Chris got the plumbing done (I think) for the two sinks and also got the drain for the shower done. It sure was noisy around here! We took the dogs to the beach for their walk and then they spent the rest of the day outside. They are such good puppies-no barking or complaining. We are looking forward to the week-end, when we go down to Amelia Island for some R&R.

Here's the sink plumbing

And here's the drain for the shower.

I think after tomorrow, we wait for the building inspecter to approve the plumbing before he can move on.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Day two of the remodel wasn't quite as smooth as day one! Chris had to go to Savannah to pick up the tile and the shower heads and valves and handles. It was raining so we just stayed in for most of the day, after we ran a few errands and ordered the granite for the vanity countertop. Chris started on the plumbing for the dual sinks and for the shower but didn't have all the parts so he had to go to Home Depot after he left this afternoon. Oliver worked on his welding while I babysat the dogs. After Chris left at around 4, we took Marina and Skipper for a walk.

Here's the welding table Oliver made today-of course it will have a top on it.

Here's the plumbing under the vanity that Chris worked on

I'm not sure what this little pile of dirt in the shower is for!

Monday, March 11, 2013

What a difference a day makes! Chris, our bathroom guy, showed up right around 8AM this morning. I was up, showered and dressed by 7 because I was so excited about the project starting! He got right to work and by 2PM he was off to the dump with the the tub, the vanity, the mirror, all the tile from the shower and all the backerboard and some of the insulation, which was all a mess because obviously there had been some leakage through the tile. He even switched the toilet from our bath with the one in the half bath and carted the 1/2 bath one away! Then he came back and removed all the tile from the floor and cleaned up before leaving for the day. He was able to remove the little wall-we were so glad that it wasn't hiding anything important! We were also glad that the lady at the dump is taking our tub to use to water her horses! One less thing in the landfill. It looks like he is going to move right along so we are off to order our granite tomorrow to make sure it will be here when he has the vanity installed. Also have to find medicine cabinets and lights. We're as tired as if we had actually done the work ourselves!!!

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Moving day! I'm emptying out our bathroom in preparation for the remodel to start Monday morning! Hopefully it will only take 3 weeks but it might be a bit more. We bought our sinks yesterday, have the faucets and vanity-all sitting in our living room.

Good by, sad old vanity with fake marble countertop and one sink! You will be replaced with the new vanity, two sinks and granite countertop!

Goodby big ugly mirror! You will also be replaced by twins and new lights!

Goodby, Lirttle John! You have served us well and will have a new home in the half bath! As for you, ugly small white tile flooor-what can I say? You're outta here! And door?Nothing wrong with you except that we need you to swing out instead of in, so see ya!

Goodby pretty shower curtain. I did like you but the room is so small that we need to install our beautiful new frameless glass shower doors to open it up!

Goodby tub-you create the same problem-make the room seem even smaller so you will be replaced by a big walk-in shower, with floor to ceiling tiles.

Buh Bye little wall that does nothing-at least we HOPE you are not hiding electrical or plumbing!

Stay tuned for more pictures as the room gets demolished and then re-built!!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Not much has happened in the past week. The weather has been a little up and down-chilly, then warm, then windy, so we haven't been to the beach. Today we drove down to Jacksonville for a much-needed shopping trip. Oliver dropped me at Kohl's--where I haven't been since we left Port!!!--and he went to Northern Tools and Harbor Freight. Two hours later he picked me up, after I had done some serious damage to my Kohl's charge!!! Tomorrow we are having lunch with Jim and Mary Kathleen, neighbors who moved here from Chicago. Oliver put up a piece of crown molding for them the other day so they are treating us to lunch out! Jim and I both try to score $50 coupons for local restaurants for just $25 every other Friday-the other day we all had lunch at Coastal Kitchen, one of my favorite restaurants, with our coupons and this week we hope to score coupons for Iguana's, so there will likely be quite a few more lunches/dinners out! The bathroom remodel starts on Monday and I just found that Bunny and Spencer will be visitng in a couple of weeks--I am thrilled!!! Next week I'll start posting pix of the bathroom job. Thanks for checking in.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

We've had a busy week so I wasn't able to find time to post an update. Our friend Alice, from Port Washington, arrived Thursday afternoon and we enjoyed catching up over a quiet dinner at home. But on Friday morning, we were off on the Trolley ride to get an overview of the Island, followed by lunch at Barbara Jean's and a little shopping. We stopped at the Tabby House, which is an existing slave cabin that is now a gift shop, on our way up to Christ Church. We spent some time listening to the docent describe the church and then walked arund the cemetery a bit and visited the Wesley Cross before we cam home to get ready for dinner. Alice treated us to a wonderful meal at Crabdaddy's, one of our very favorite restaurants here, and we shared their SCRUMPTIOUS bread pudding with banana sauce for dessert!

On Saturday we took the dogs to the beach for a walk and then went over to Jekyll island. We toured the Turtle Rescue Center, which was so interesting. Thankfully, Alice had her camera so shared some pictures with me. These are little hatchlings being measured and weighed by the staff. Unfortunately, many turtles are hit by cars here and the babies are often rescued and brought to the center to grow until they can be released.

This is Kathy

And two more little guys enjoying the heat lamp

This is Caton, a female loggerhead who had been hit by a propeller. They have quite a little hospital and many of the patients were hit by boats, or cold-stunned, or malnourished for one reason or another. Each patient has a chart so you can read about their diagnosis, the tests they have had (we saw one who had an enema!!), the medications they are taking and how long they have been there. I saw one who has been there for 4 years but many are healed and released. Until the turtle is full grown, there is no way to know if they are female or male but Caton is a girl-she had to have some surgery and they checked her out then. Sometimes they can tell from the estrogen llevel in a blood test but most often they don't know the gender so they just name them anyway!

Then we took a tram ride of the historical district. Originally, the Jekyll island Club was comprised of many of the wealthiest people of the early 1900s-names like Rockefeller, Pulitzer, Crane, etc. They came by boat with their servants and belongings and stayed for the winter. Many of them built their own "cottages". The smallest cottage was 8,000+ square feet!! They would have dinner every night at the Club and it was a black tie affair. Although I would like to have visited then, Oliver says not so much!! Here is the Rockefeller cottage.

We visited the beautiful little chapel here-Faith Church-before going home for dinner and a movie.

On Sunday, we went to church and then came home to walk the dogs before going down to the village to climb the lighthouse, and visit the museum there.

We were fortunate enough to be on the fishing pier when one of the big Ro-Ros went by.

We had a yummy dinner at Bluewater, right in the village, before going home and spending a quiet evening. The rain set in during the night and by Monday morning it was POURING! We ent to the Maritime Museum at the old Coast Guard Station and had a nice time looking at all the exhibits. Then we drove to the north end of the island before coming back to redfern Village and visiting the wine shop. Lunch was at Gnat's Landing and, although I had certainly planned on dinner, we were all so full that we couldn't eat another thing all day! Yesterday morning we had breakfast before Alice left to drive back to Jacksonville for her flight home.

The rain let up, the sun came out and it got hot! Oliver walked the dogs while I got my hair cut and visited a lady from church who lives in assisted living and then we had a quiet dinner and went to bed early! Alice called this mmorning to say that she managed to make it home although there was a snow storm in Port. We had such a fun time with her and look forward to next year's visit!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

We managed to get a trip to the beach in between our tornado watch this morning and the predicted thunderstorms this afternoon! The BMW dealership couldn't take my car today, after all, so we had to cancel our trip to Jacksonville-just as well, actually. Wouldn't have been fun in the rain and we like to go to church on Ash Wednesday, so will be able to do that tonight. Tomorrow to be sunny and cool, so we are going to drive down to Fernandina Beach for a little shopping and lunch.

We found out that our good friend Alice is coming to see us next week so we're very excited aboout that. It's been a while since we did the tourist thing--the trolley ride around the island, a trip to Jekyll, some of our favorite restaurants-so we will have fun doing some of those.

Happy Valentines' Birthday to my beautiful niece Sarah!!! And Happy Valentine's Day to everyone else!

Friday, February 8, 2013

Luke-I am your FAAAAATHER

Oliver's new hobby is welding. So far he has just welded two pieces of steel together-and when he brought it to show me, I grabbed it and it was HOT!!! But he says that today he may start actually making something-not sure what. I'm thinking with all his talents that now, not only can he build a house for us, but maybe he can weld us a plane so we can get here faster! Hope everybody in the snow areas stays warm and safe this week-end!

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Had to come make a slight correction-apparently I got a bit ahead of myself and had the previous entry dated as JUNE 30! Thanks for the good catch, Sandy!!

Happy Birthday today to my dear friend Phyllis!

The other day I mentioned to Oliver that I would like a tray for the guest room, for water, kleenex, etc. for our guests. Of course, no surprise, within 24 hours I had THIS very cool tray, which matches the pictures in the room! Thanks Sweetie!

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Well, the Extra Spider came the other night and all is set for the bathroom work. Turned out they have to have the vanity on site before they begin, so yesterday we ordered it and it should be here by the end of February, so then work can start.

We went up to Charlotte for the weeke-end. Planned to go on Friday but they had an ice storm (while it was sunny and 65 here!) so we waited and went up Saturday. It's amazing the difference in temperature and we're only 350 miles away! It was chilly but we were prepared so we had a good time. We stopped at Debbie's first to drop off a scale model house that Oliver had built for her that she will now decorate-all the way from shingles and siding down to lighting-it's quite a hobby. Then we went over to Phyllis and Bobby's and started our talking-laughing-drinking marathon. It's always as if we never stopped when we're with them! Debbie and her friend came over for dinner that night and we had a wonderful time. On Sunday, Oliver went to Debbie's to help her with a few things and take her to lunch, and Phylllis and I went downtown to Soup on Sunday, a fundraiser for Hospice. They had 35 different kinds of soup prepared by local restaurants, breads and desserts, as well as pottery and a silent auction. Afternoon foind us back at the Ferguson's just sitting around the fire talking. We had another delicious dinner-the norm at Phyllis's house-and then we left Monday morning. We stopped in Savannah to drop off a futon that Debbie had given to John and then came home to pick up the pooches and take them for a walk. Yesterday we took them to the beach in the golf cart-they LOVE that-and it was foggy but we went back with our chairs and cooler and books in the afternoon and sat out for over 2 hours. Getting ready now to take them back but we won't go this afternoon as it is supposed to be windy with the approach of the storms tonight.

Hope everybody is staying warm and safe. Happy Birthday on the 3rd to Phyllis and we'll be thinking of our friend Joe on the 4th as he undergoes surgery.

We celebrated an early birthday

Phyllis has gotten some chickens and while I am NOT a bird fan, OMG these girls are cute!!!!

One of them found a mirror in the garage and she enjoyed looking at herself

Here is Farmer Phyllis cleaning her coop!

When we went in the house, they missed us and soon were peering in the door

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Not too much has happened this week. I spent another 4 hours with the bathroom guy and now I think we are ready to start work. The Extra Spider (or is that the expediter??) is supposed to call me this week to set up the final appointment for measuring everything and then he will order the materials and as soon as everything is in, they'll start work. They think it will take about 2 weeks at the most, once they actually start, so we are hoping to have a new bathroom by the end of February. It may cause us to cancel our little getaway to Charleston and Beaufort but will be worth it. We're thinking we might take a week in late March or early April and go to New Orleans, with a stop in Appalachicola on the way.

Yesterday was sunny but cool becaause of a north wind but today was very nice so after church, we loaded the dogs into the golf cart and went to the beach for a nice long walk. It was beautiful! Here they are, watching the cars behind us!!

Saturday, January 12, 2013

We've had spectacular weather for the past couple of days, and for the next couple as well, after some chilly and cloudy days. So yesterday and today we walked the dogs on the beach and then went back with our chairs, books and adult beverages for a few hours. The air is so warm that fog is forming over the ocean. We heard this boat coming for a long time before we could see it-his horn was blasting. It was foggy at the water's edge but we were in the sun!

When the onshore breeze picked up, the fog cleared away and we could see the casino boat and another frieghter coming in. You can see the sandbar at low tide, so they really have to stay in the channel! We hope to get back again tomorrow after church.

Friday, January 11, 2013

We were SO fortunate to find a good dentist here! Oliver went in this morning at 8, to find that the dentist here had called our dentist at home and they had agreed that the best plan was to prep 4 teeth-2 on each side-to anchor the 4 unit bridge in the middle and 3 hours later, he had prepped all 4 teeth, pulled the 3 roots (not without some grunting and groaning, Oliver said) and made a very nice temporary! Now we wait for a month or so to see if the gums heal and then he can get a permanent bridge. We went to the beach twice afterwards, once on the golf cart with the dogs, and then we came back to pack a lunch and get our chairs, and we went back to sit in the sun and read. Oliver now is laying down and has rinsed with warm salt water and taken aspirin, as his mouth is starting to hurt a bit. Soup for dinner!

Here's his wonderful temporary toofies!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

First, best wishes to sister Carol who had a total knee replacement yesterday! We're hoping she is up dancing a jig in no time at all!

We've been busy the past week trying to figure out what to do with our master bathroom. It's very small, so there aren't too many decisions to make as to the arrrangement-we're having the tub taken out and just a big shower. Then, we're changing the plumbing a bit so we can have 2 sinks instead of just one and we're having plumbing rough-in for a washer/dryer in one of the walk-in closets. Our laundry room is upstairs, which is fine for now but eventually might not be so convenient, so while we have the walls torn up.... It's the finishes that are making me crazy. I thought I had it all picked out but then decided the marble I had picked out was a bit too formal, so back to the drawing board. Now I've picked out ceramic tile for the shower and floor, and quartz for the countertop and have the cabinets I want but have to wait until we tear into the wall to see how the plumbingwill go before we can order it. We're hoping to get it all done before we leave for home!

For potential visitors, here are a couple of things we have on our calendar. On January 25, we are going to Charlotte for the week-end. Back on the 27th. Then on February 12 we're going to Charleston for the night. We'll stop in Beaufort, SC for the night on the 13th and home on the 14th. Other than that----come on down!!

Finally--I TOLD Oliver that ice hockey was a bad sport!

Just kidding. It was actually going out to dineer that proved to be his undoing! As he was enjoying his ribs at Blackwater Grille, I heard this loud SNAP and his bridge was laying in his hand! There were 3 capped teeth and one space that was bridged and all 3 teeth snapped off right at the gum line! Makes my stomach queasy just writing that but he says there is no pain. So this morning he was off to the dentist-of course, we HAD no dentist here but he was referred to the same dentist by two different people so we feel comfortable with him. We also called our own dentist at home and he concurs with the treatment plan so on Friday he will have FOUR teeth prepped-the canine and bicuspid on both sides-as anchors for a 4 tooth bridge--a total of EIGHT porcelain/gold teeth!! Yeah-just let that expense wash over you for a minute! Fortunately, everyone concerned has a sense of humor. Dr. Dan, our dentist in Port Washington, asked if he had been eating road kill! Our (new) dentist here asked if he came from Tennessee (sorry Tennessee but he didn't want to ask if he came from Georgia!!) So by Friday afternoon, he will at least have a temporary bridge. Then they have to let the gum heal--he has to have all 3 roots extracted - before they can do the permanent restoration. We HOPE we will be able to come home this summer, between restoring the bathroom and restoring Oliver!

Well, I guess I'd better go prepare a soft meal!! Thanks for dropping by.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

First time writing 2013! Happy New Year to all!! We hope the new year finds you healthy and ready for a great year. We had a quiet New Year's Eve-I am coming down with a cold, which I always do after I fly. The dogs were groomed yesterday and I got the tree and all the other decoartions down and fixed a nice dinner of chicken marsala, rice and roasted asparagus. It's so nice today that we took the golf cart to the beach for our walk and now Oliver is at the store-I forgot to buy cabbage, black-eyed peas, OR pork!

Here's the Polar Bear Plunge!!

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Debbie came on Friday evening with our granddog Shadow and we had dinner and enjoyed visiting before turning in early. John and Jeannette came down Saturday morning and we had our Christmas. Debbie painted 4 pictures for us, to brighten up our kitchen and John gave us Gulfstream tee shirts, with the plane he works on on the back! Very cool. Oliver had picked out soes for Debbie, which she loved, but they had to run to the store to exchange for a different size. John and I went for a ride in my car, so he could listen for the little sound I keep hearing. He pronounced it normal, so I can quit worrying! Debbie and Oliver went for a golf cart ride around the neighborhood and then we had dinner before John and Jeannette went back to Savannah. Debbie went to church with us on Sunday before she drove up to Savannah to spend Christmas with John and her Mom.

We hope everyone had a Merry (and safe) Christmas. We dropped the doggies at the kennel early Monday morning (thanks to Lisa agreeing to come in 30 minutes early!) and made the quick drive to the Brunswick airport. We love our little airport-free parking and never more than 50 people going out at one time. There was a lot of rain in Atlanta so we were a bit late-not a problem, since we had a 5 hour layover!! We had lunch and did a bit of shopping at the airport and arrived into Grand Rapids at about 5:30PM. Mary picked us up and we went to Carol and Tom's for a wonderful prime rib dinner and opening presents.

On Christmas Day, Mary, Oliver and I had a wonderful dinner and Mary and I started working on a jigsaw puzzle. Carol and Tom and Ashley, David and Cooper came over for the evening. Wednesday morning Oliver and I went to the post office and then Mary ran a few errands before the snow started and we had a fire and worked on our puzzle. Very pleasant day. We went to bed early, as we had to leave the house at 4:45AM for our return flight! We were very lucky that the bad weather hit the day before we came home. We had no problems at all and we were home (with the pups) by 1PM. We had a quiet day yesterday and today we are catching up on housework, since it's been raining this morning. We will, as always, have a quiet New Year's Eve at home. Hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!

Turns out I did not take many pictures but here is John looking at the amazing job Oliver did with the armoir.

Shadow, Marina and Skipper had a relaxing morning with Debbie and Oliver.

Little Cooper got a wonderful train set from his Grandma and Grandpa!!

Libby, Dave and Erin went to Jackson for Christmas and here's a picture of my three greatnieces-Laine, Erin and Norah. Libby and Dave surprised us with news that they will have another baby in August!

Thursday, December 20, 2012

We're sorry to hear about the snow at home! We feel your pain-we had to put the TOP up on the convertible today! Actually, it's raining here now and it's going to be pretty chilly for a couple of days.

Yesterday was really nice. We took the dogs to the beach in the morning and then went back to sit for a while in the afternoon and have a picnic lunch. When we got there in the morning, a couple of guys started talking to us. Turned out they were a reporter and photographer from our local paper and they were coming to look for a snowy owl that has been spotted here recently. It's very unusual-there have been only about 6 snowy owls seen in Georgia in the past 100 years! They live in the Arctic Circle and will sometimes migrate to Canada or the northern US during the winter but rarely come south. Unfortunately, when they do, they usually don't survive because they are exhausted by the time they get here and can't hunt for food. Fortunately, the one that has come here appears to be in really good condition and has been seen flying out to the sand bars to dine on small birds. These are one of the largest owl species in North America and can be more than 2 feet tall with a wingspan of more than 4 feet! There are birders coming from all over the southeast to try to see this owl. Since they are nocturnal, he/she generally just sits during the day so is fairly easy to spot. We saw some birders but did not see the owl. Here's the picture that was in the paper today, though. Now that we know what to look for, we'll keep an eye out!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

The weather has been nice and we have enjoyed taking the dogs to the beach and they seem to enjoy the golf cart-the wind just blows in their little faces and they like looking around. Oliver's knee is bothering him so we are going to take a couple of days off and see if that helps.

We celebrated Marina's birthday on the 11th and she enjoyed her peanut butter Frosty Paws and some new toys.

Oliver finished his painting of Hazel's Cafe and we got it framed and hung. He had fun doing this and enjoyed working out in the garage. As neighbors were walking around, they would see him painting and come in to talk to him. Hazel's Cafe is very well known here on the Island so they enjoyed seeing his painting and he did a great job.

We have Debbie and John coming for Christmas dinner on Saturday so I've been busy figuring out what to have and getting my shopping list ready. Then on Monday we fly to Grand Rapids for Christmas with Mary, Carol and Tom and the family. Hoping for good weather! We wish all our friends a very Merry Christmas and let's hope that 2013 is better than 2012! Here's our picture of the Christmas driftwood on the beach, taken yesterday.

Monday, December 10. 2012

We had a nice trip up to Savannah yesterday and saw John's new house. It's very nice-big and has a big yard. They have some work to do but it will all come in time. We had lunch at Fish Tales, a restaurant with a marina on the ICW. Very nice. We brought back a cabinet that Oliver is going to fix for John as a gun case.

Oliver's new toy was delivered Friday! He spent the week-end getting it "equipped" for the kids. Today we took them to the beach and all went well. It took about 10 minutes-that's just a few minutes more than when we take the Beast! I was a little worried because we were out on the big roads but it was fine. The drivers here are used to golf carts and they just wait until they can pass. It was fun.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

We are back from our little trip, have picked up the dogs and walked them on the beach. We ran into one of the ladies who works in the kennel and we got some "behind the scenes" feedback on our pups! Turns out they are pretty good with a couple of minor exceptions!

We left them at the kennel Monday morning and headed donw to Jacksonville, to the BMW dealer to order another car key. We know that soooner or later we will lock the key in the car and thought it would be nice to have another one! Then we drove on down A1A to St. Augustine and checked into the Hilton, which is right on the ICW overlooking the Bridge of Lions. We went to our room, only to find that the key didn't work, so went back to the desk for a new key. Then unpacked, only to find that I had forgotten all of Oliver's shirts-except the dress shirt he took for the play-so he sppent the afternoon walking around in his white tee shirt with a jacket over it! We stoipped for a drink before looking for-and finding-a restaurant we had visited when Mike and Sandy were with us. It was as good as we remembered-Oliver had a seafood platter and I had barbecued pork and chicken. After dinner we shopped around St. George Street and I convinced him to buy a tee shirt! I bought some fudge and enjoyed it after we returned to our room. We had a nice deck overlooking the river and I took this picture at sunrise.

Yesterday we drove all over St. Augustine looking at different neighborhoods. We occasionally think about buying a house in Florida, to escape the ridiculous taxes in Wisconsin. A couple of weeks ago I read an article about states that are tax unfriendly to retirees and Wisconsin was FIFTH on that list, after the usual suspects-California, New York, New Jersey and Nevada. Add to that our $1000 increase in property tax and we frequently consider selling the house. But, we didn't really see anything we liked soi drove on up to Jacksonville. We looked at a gated community in Jax that is nice-they have a frh water canal system with a lock that opens to the ICW and then the Atlantic-but of course, we don't have a boat! So we checked into the Omni right across from the Times-Union Theater. Our room was not ready so they gave us 4 free drink coupons and then upgraded us to a suite! Would have been nice, if only we had about a dozen friends to enjoy the room with! However we did enjoy sitting and having a beer/wine.

Downtown Jacksonville is really quite pretty. The St. Johns River runs through and it is a VERY wide river with several bridges including a railroad lift bridge and another lift bridge. Jacksonville Landing is a shopping and restaurant facility that is right across the street from the Omni so was wandered around and sat in the sun for awhile. It was a beautiful day! Here's Oliver enjoying the sun.

This 223 foot boat is owned by Shahid Khan, who owns the Jacksonville Jaguars. It is for sale for $112 million--and we thought WE were happy to get our boat sold!

This huge Christmas tree at the Landing has a light show every hour. The lights change colors and patterns and it is really beautiful. After we had dinner, we watched the light show before going back to change for the play.

Here's the water taxi which runs back and forth across the St. Johns.

When we went back to change, I found that I had left my makeup bag in the car, so Oliver had to go down to the valet stand and ask them to go to the car and find my makeup in the trunk! Mission accomplished, we changed and walked across the street to the theater. Oliver had never seen West Side Story and although I have seen the movie many times, I had never seen it performed lived. It was a little strange watching it in light of today's almost daily gang killings in amost every big city. There were some teenagers there and I wondered if they found the story as compelling as I remember it being when I first saw it. The staging was really interesting and the singing was amazing. These are not Broadway actors or even off-Broadway, in most cases, but they were incredibly talented. There was a lot more Spanish dialogue and singing than in the movie. Oliver of course was surprised at the way it ended and it was certainly not an uplifting story but we really enjoyed it. Especially enjoyed being back at our hotel within 2 minutes of the end of the play! We had a night cap at the bar and had a pleasant chat with a man from San Diego who's son is applying to UW Madison.

This morning we were up by 8 and left the hotel around 9. We stopped in St. Mary's, GA-which is just across the state line-to visit the golf cart dealership. We test drove 3 different carts and Oliver is talking with the dealer so he may have a new toy soon!

Thanks for stopping by to hear about our trip!!

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Who can believe it's December already!! Time is flying by. We've been busy, putting up the Christmas tree and just few other decorations. Oliver is working on a big painting -30x40-of an old cafe here in town. He's doing a great job but is a little obssessed with it! The other night he had it in our bedroom, so he could "study" it!

I've been busy baking for a church holiday market but I finished and delivered yesterday so now just have to go visit the market today.

We're going down to St. Augustine on Monday. We'll stop in Jacksonville at the BMW dealership to order a new key-when I bought the car, there was only one key for it and I'm terrified that I'll lock the car with the keys in it! The key I have is an all fancy electronic one that does things I don't even know about-also costs $300 to duplicate so we will just get plain old open-the-door keys made-no idea what those cost but you can only get them at the dealer and you have to have the registration, which just came with the Wisconsin plates yesterday. Monday night we're going to stay at the Hilton in St. Augustine and then Tuesday afternoon we'll go back to Jacksonville and check into the Omni. Tuesday night we're going to see West Side Story. That was always one of my favorite movies but have never seen it live. Oliver has never seen it-he thought it was a chick flick (which it is) but he really likes musicals so I hope he enjoys it. Home on Wednesday.

Here's my little tree

And my mantel decoration that Debbie made for me

And this is just to show the pretty picture frame I FINALLY got for my Port Washington picture!

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!! It was a beautiful day here. We walked the dogs on the beach and I finished cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Well-all I had to do was fix one thing although I actually did a butternut squash dish and also made some butternut squash cookies and then we went to church for dinner. As usual it was delicious. There was fried, smoked and roasted turkey, ham, brisket and every side dish you could imagine. We stuffed ourselves AND brought home some leftovers! We enjoyed eating with some of our neighbors and others from church. Now we're home and Oliver is planning to go shopping at 5AM!! I wouldn't go on a bet but he has quite a lengthy list. Remember the year he and Nick went out at 5AM together? And came home with a can opener?

Look at all the food on this table-and it didn't even count the desserts!!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Finally-the sun is shining this morning! We've had a week of clouds and cool temps and we are SICK of it!! The tides have been especially high and yesterday when we walked on the beach, there were pools of water very high on the sand. Hopefully we'll get back to normal this week.

We have the yard guys here doing sme work. The dogs tend to pace along the back fence line and because of the trees, there isn't enough sun to grow grass there and they get their feet absolutely filthy! So they are putting in wood trim and then filling in with rocks so that the dirt will be covered and they may not like to walk ont he rocks. We'll see.

Yesterday we met with the guy who makes our picture frames for us. I'm finally getting my pic of Port framed and Oliver is starting a new painting so will be framing that soon-we hope, although it is going to be a very big one so no telling how long it will take.

Today is baking day. Our church is having it's annual Holiday Market in a week or so and I am making some things for the back sale. Also want to make something for our neighbors, who invited us for Thanksgiving dinner-we will be going to church for dinner though-and also some soup for a neighbor who fell and injured herself last week. So a busy day.

Not many pictures but here is one of Skipper's 4th birthday party and Marina having a nap on the end table. Don't know why Welsh Terriers like to pretend they are cats!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

What a difference a day makes! yesterday we walked the dogs on the beach and then went back in the afternoon to sit and read for awhile. It was partly cloudy but warm. Today it is cloudy, windy, drizzly and chilly! We have on jeans and sweatshirts! It might be vhillier than normal for the next week but should be back in the 70s and sunny by next week. So we will take this oppportunity to go to one of our "cozy" restaurants for dinner instead of sitting outside at Brogen's, as planned.

We went grocery shopping this AM and stoppped by the vet to make a boarding reservation for the pups-we're going to go down to Jacksonville in a few weeks to see a play-West Side Story-and stay overnight. We like to plan an outing every month so we have something to look forward to!

We finally heard how Hank, our friend and boat broker, fared in Sandy and the news is not good. Their delareship and the marina were both so extensively damaged that they likely will not be able to re-open in the same location. They are operating out of a temporary location right now but are committed to re-opening somewhere. We were certainly blessed with selling the boat just a few weeks before the storm-1-O-2 would likely have been destroyed. We don't know where she is now-hopefully either fine in Newport or maybe they have already headed south for the winter.

Thanks for dropping by!

November 11, 2012

Can't believe we've only been here a week! We've gotten quite a bit done-everything is unpacked, Oliver has repaired a few things (I can't believe he was on the roof but all went well as he trimmed a few branches and repaired a shingle that had blown off), today he painted a mirror for me, we've walked the dogs on the beach and yesterday afternoon spent a couple hours sitting there ourselves, and last night we went to church for a Martin Luther birthday party. And of course we bought Beauty--as in Beauty and the Beast-and here they are!

The weather has been really nice-warm and sunny-and we've all enjoyed our walks.

I discovered that when I loaded my pictures of our Danube River cruise, I lost ALL of the narrative I had entered. Fortunately, Sharon had printed it out and she sent it to me, so I guess I will try to re-enter it all now. Thanks for stopping by and keep in touch!

November 8, 2012

Who's cute little BMW convertible is this?

It's MINE!!!!! (Or will be on Monday!) Oliver spotted this when he went to the hardware store on Monday and today we drove it, inspected it, and bought it!! It's getting checked by a mechanic tomorrow and if all goes well, I'll have it on Monday.

November 5, 2012

We arrived in St. Simons Island on Saturday afternoon at about 1:30. It is so GOOD to be back here! It was 870 and sunny when we arrived and we quickly had the truck unpacked into the garage and went to the ggrocery. Noow we start the big process of getting settled.

The trip down was easy. The weather was perfect and we like that we get the Chicago hassle out of the way early in the trip. We stayed in Elizabethtown, KY on Thursday night. Our dogs are wonderful little travlers and enjoyed resting in the hotel.

On Friday we drove to my sister's house and arrived early afternoon. We were able to have a nice walk, some chat time and a wonderful dinner. She has a collie named Sunni who is still really just a pup so it was interesting with the 3 dogs, although they all got along just fine.

We enjoyed going to church yesterday-we love our church down here and already are scheduled for a dinner there Friday night, an evening packing Christmas boxes for children and the seafarers who come into Brunswick on the big ships and often are thousands of miles from their homes for months at a time, and the big Thanksgiving dinner.

Today the Terminix man is coming and tomorrow the doggies get groomed and in between wee have a lot of errands to run so better get to work. Stay tuned.