Raining..... Again!

Once again, it is raining here at Three Palms.  Actually, it has been raining and storming here for the past couple of days.  The Villages got 6.1 inches of rain on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Rain in Florida is different than rain in Wisconsin.  It sounded like 50 people were standing outside aiming high pressure hoses at the house!  Then there was wind and literally 100's of lighting strikes at a time.  70 mph gusts at times.

The Villages were lucky.  Other than the rain we didn't get any of the damage they got to the east of us; roofs torn off, small planes overturned, cars smashed by falling limbs.  And our recent house guests, Sandy and Mike were caught in the worst of it over by the gulf coast.  They were traveling between Titusville and Daytona and had to pull over and stop for a while.  When they got back on the road, they saw over-turned semi trailers and all sorts of downed limbs and trees.

But this is Florida and the storm moved out pretty quickly.  By late in the day on Thursday, you would never have known the storms even happened.  Since then it has been beautiful again - sunny and warm.

Rainy Day

It is raining here at Three Palms today.  The weather man says that it is supposed to rain for the next several days....

Which is okay I guess.  The last two weeks have been absolutely beautiful here in Florida.  Unseasonably warm and the humidity hasn't struck yet so we really shouldn't complain.  Good day to catch up with "indoor" stuff and Florida did need the rain and this looks to be the nice slow and steady type that actually does some good, rather than the sudden, violent, sideways rain that Florida can have during the summer months.  So, a lazy day filled with chores and Judge Judy, then we are off to dinner with our friends Frank and Jim.  Not a bad day, all in all.

Speaking of dinner....  I got a surprise in the mail today.  A $30 gift card to TGIF Restaurant!  I only vaguely remember signing up for email coupons at Friday's months ago and though we like the place, we don't really frequent it, so I was surprised to find this in the mail today.  Just hope there are no strings attached!  Moral of the story?  Get yourself a junk email address (I never give out my regular address to retailers) and sign up!  Maybe next week I'll get one from GM good for a new Corvette!  (I can dream, can't I?)

Sandy and Mike

This weekend we were excited to have Sandy and Mike Swartz visit us here at Three Palms.  They stopped by for a couple of days on their way to see friends in Titusville, Florida.  We really enjoyed having them with us for a few days.

Rides on the golf carts, drinks at the Town Square (We hit Happy Hour both days!) lots of good conversation and laughs.  The weather was perfect and we hope they enjoyed themselves as much as we did.

The sour note was our dinner on Saturday night.  We wanted to treat them to a nice meal while they were here - rather than subject them to my cooking - we thought the Cattle Baron's Club at Kattie Belle's would be a great choice.  Our back-up plan was the restaurant at the Arnold Palmer Golf Club, which I wish we would have chosen.  Kattie Belle's is the Villages' Resident Only club.  The only establishment where you have to be a resident of the Villages to go there.  So, after listening to Bobby Tate (Brian's favorite local singer) at the town square in Spanish Springs we headed over to The Cattle Baron's Club.

Well, unbeknownst to us, the Cattle Baron's Club is on the second floor of Kattie Belle's and the center of the room is open to the lower level where they have a stage and dance floor.  Now we thought that unless there was a scheduled performer (Charo was there in September!  Yeah, I know, I didn't faint from excitement either) it was just a nice place to have a good meal and pleasant conversation.

We were seated and no sooner had our drinks arrived, Johnny and the Rockers took stage and started to rock the place.  Loud and practically impossible to even talk while they were performing.  We thought of leaving, but Mike and Sandy were good sports and we stayed.  The food was great and if not for the loud music the atmosphere was nice too.

But.....   it seemed an odd combination to me.  Johnny wasn't really bad, if you like middle aged men trying to relive their youth by mangling the oldies - it's a good thing most of the Beatles are dead, because Johnny's cover of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" would have killed a couple of them.  Okay, that might have been a bit harsh, but my point was that they would have been more appropriate in a road house type place with beer and buffalo wings than in a supper club.  But good friends can overcome just about anything, and we managed to have fun anyway.

Then it was back to the house where Mike caught up on the scores for March Madness, a little more wine and lots more good conversation and laughs followed.

The next morning it was time to say goodbye and send them off to their next stop in Florida.  We really enjoy having company here at Three Palms and it is always a little quiet after guests leave, but I guess that just goes to show that we had a good time.

A TRIBUTE TO OUR LITTLE BOY

MAX

December 15, 1995

February 24, 2011

A TRIBUTE TO OUR LITTLE BOY

BLANCH TO WATER LILLY

As everyone knows, a golf cart is a must in The Villages especially as gas hits $3.65 per gallon.  Our first cart was nice but never did haul "butt".  It was kind of tippy and sometimes I'd feel like I was going to fall out when Steve would take a corner to quickly.  It was just uncomfortable and didn't go fast enough.  It's never nice to get passed by two 108 year old Villagers. 

We actually went to Spanish Springs for another reason but wound up going to the Golf Caart Store.  We looked and looked, tried to deside between electric and gas, two seat compared to four which was a very espensive option.  For the $2000 additional funds we can rent many golf carts for people and play follow the leader.   We desided on a gas model like we had before but this one has a hardier suspension and can hold two full figured guys and doesn't tip when you take a turn too fast.  We have desided to call her "Watter Lilly" another name for "Blanche".  For those of you who watch The Golden Girls, you will understand the connection. 

Speed is what we were after.  Again, getting pased by two 115 year old people is just not cool.  We asked the salesman "Kenton" how to adjust the govenor so he showed us.  As soon as we got home Steve had to take a crack at it and tried to make the adjustment.  We were warned that if we make the adjustment and got pulled over we would get a ticket for doing the adjustment and violation of our insurance policy.  I took pictures of Steve altering Water Lilly so I could prove it was not my fault and he gets the ticket. 

Although I appreciated his efforts, we needed metric wrenched so we went and got a set so we could give Water Lilly a little adjustment.  We haven't done that yet as she seems to move right along.   I must say, we are now hip and don't tip. 

THE NEW PARADISE

The landscaping, or lack of landscaping has bothered Steve and I for a long time.  It was more upsetting to me than Steve so it had to go.  In The Villages they use "pine straw" like we would use bark up in Wisconsin.  The pine straw is all puffy when they lay it which pretty much covers the plants that are there.  After a bit of time the pine straw packs down and it looks like dead grass.  Very frankly, dirt would look better.   I'd had enough of this "ugly" so we called a friend of ours and she referred to us to a local man who came to give us a quote.   The quote just about caused a heart atack and was much more than I planned or hoped to spend but we did it anyway.

The plan called for some queen palms which we planted at our old house near Disney World.  In about a year they were quite large so we figured we'd plant them again.  We wanted the current plants relocated and I love Florida grasses so we went with that. 

One day we took our golf cart up to Spanish Springs for service and when we came home we were "stunned".  There were three queen palms in our front yard, one in front of the garage door and two on the other side of the sidewalk leading to the side gate.  They are positioned in such a way that they form an arch over the sidewalk.  Thre trees are so huge that they tower over the house and the wall that surrounds the house.   We were very pleased.  He came back to get his next payment and told us the job would be done by the end of last week.  WRONG.  I called the lady who referred us and she called him and said that if he didn't get back she would stop referring him.  Low and behold, they came to finish., putting in 15 different grasses, they moved the current plants all around and then put in stone. 

The stone we selected was done to match our neighbor John's house.  Then we switched to a lighter stone by the wall (which was cheaper).  They finished today and we were very pleased.  I now want to do the courtyard but a little at a time.   The only thing now done is the planting of my decorative cabbage plants.  I just love them. 

Here is the finished producut.