GUESS WHERE WE WENT???

yesterday we decided to take the day off as it was saturday and felt it was time to do some sightseeing...too cold to get out the bikes for a ride ..so we just headed out and ended up in plant city the STRAWBERRY CAPITAL of the usa...so what do you do in plant city but eat strawberry shortcake at a place called parkdale..they have several different ways to order it..just plain strawberries -with ice cream-with icecream and cake-milkshake- and i think there is another way but i forget...and the prices are reasonable...so my guess is most of you know who ordered what...i of course had just icecream and strawberries but lar had the big order...then we bought some fruit as it also has a fruit stane..but when we got there i saw one of the bus drivers from my days of working..so you just never know when you might run into someone you know...a small world..

oh i forgot to mention in the last blog about the cookies..christine made those cookies for all of us..she loves to cook-bake-quilt-knit and all sots of handy things/stuff...if you have a question regarding any of those topics just ask her and she knows tha answer..she is also one the original habitat group...

also i forgot to mention the cookies in the last blog also dumping in one of the favorite things we rv'ers do as you can see...beth and don were the second to pull out of here and wanted to dump before leaving...

today we are heading down to chris and tom's rig to watch the first football game...green bay plays and they are from wisconsin so we all know who they will be cheering...go bears.....

LAST NIGHT TOGETHER

firday night finds us in a mexican for our farewell dinner as a whole group..it was avery good and a plca we would return to ...again there was lots of laughs and stories told...it has been a very rewarding 2 weeks even with 2 days off due to rain..we feel like we got alot done..no the house isn't ready to move into but soon...our group is now trying to find some place to meet each other next year for another build...we have been in dade city for 3 yrs and feel that it is time to go to another place...oh we like it here and feel that alotf is going on with lots of building but for us it is also time for another adventure someplace ...

WEDNESDAY 1/19/11

on tues we had to sweep out the pool of water that had collected on the floor of the house we've been working on..due to the fact thayt on monday we had lots and lots of rain..some places near by got over 4 in and we aren't sure how much we got here in dade city but lots...the floor was almost like a a pool..so the first hr was spent trying to get rid of the water that was on the floor...

all this week i've been putting/nailing on hurricane clips..each clip has 10 holes and a nail has to be put into each and every hole...if you can't get one in a hoe then you have to make a new hole to put the nail in..then the u/clips have to be put on the rafters (i think that is what they are called hahaha) and again each one has 12 or 14 holes and each and every one hasd to have a nail in it..so you can see that it is a long tedious job...but has to be done...this has been a very busy week and so far lots has gotten done..tomorrw the plan is to start on the roof first by putting up the sheeting..the shingles are contracted out so we won't have to worry about doing that.(i don't anyway cause i don't go on the roof)...

these pasat 2 weeks has gone by rather quickly and on fri we will be going out to dinner as a fianl good-by to several of the couple that are leaving ..most on pulling out on sat but we have decided to stay till monday morning the we will start toward texas...it will be sad as the group are now like family and i guess in a way they are are habitat family...some of the couple we have worked with for 6 yrs and the rest this is the second build..there has been talk regarding next year and lar and i haven't really decided where we will head for next year..we would like to go to someplace different ...we don't want to wear out our welcome like an old penny...

WEEKEND

here it is nowsunday afternoon and it is football time...can you imagine...yesterday was a laid back day ..time to clean the rig do laundry due errands..then we all went out to dinner and a great seafood place called mainely seafood and yes of course we had seaafood..and lar and i said it was very good and would go back to eat...then after dinner we went over top the hounsell to watch some football green bay/atalanta and because chris and tom are from wisconsin you can guess who we all were cheering for and they won..

today sunday a bunch of us went to church with irma to a blcakc church..the pastor seems to know us by now as he mentioned habitat during his announcements and those who get houses ought to keep them up clean both inside oand outside a very inspiring missage on freedom...almost 2 hrs in church...

the lar and i went for a mile and half walk the to buy a few groceries and back to the rig for the afternoon football game...we are not working tomorrow as it is martin luther birthday celebration day...lar and i are going to go meet upwith a couplethat i graduated from 50 yrs ago..as this past year was my 50 anniversary from high school and did not attend the gathering to celebrate it...some of you may know them john and kathy newton...

it porobally is a good thing we aren't scheduled to work as rain is in the forecast 90% chance and even on tues...

all in all it has been a good week and we sure have seen some progress made...

WEEK 1 DONE

week one is now over and alot of progress has been made on the house we've been working on...we started with just a foundation now the house has outside walls up and the trusts on and ready for the sheeting..alots of the hurricane straps have been put on..

we have worked with a great bunch of kids this past week..high schoolersfrom a prep school in illinois..all of them really wanted to work and learn building skills...yesterday at lunch they presented the group with a thank-you card (no group has ever done that before) and some ofthe guys were presented with their own t-shirts from the school and lar was one of them who got the shirt..i also happen to get one as i had tried to learn the dance kim-chee with them that they did at lunch time one day...as cold as it has been the kids took a half day of on thursday to go to the beach and some of them went swimming not sure for how long but they did get all wet..most only put their feet in the say they put their feet in the ocean..right now they are on there way back to illinois...

all in all it has been a good week and lots got done on the house..now for a realaxing weekend hahahahah..tonight we are all gooing out to dinner and a mainly seafood place..tomorrow off to church to surprise irma..monday we are meeting up with some old high school classmates of mine who winter not to far from where we are...monday is martin luther king holiday so we are off....hopefully it will warm up a tad this nwext week...

the pictures are of putting up the trusts--lunch time and the whole group

ANOTHER DAY OF BUILDING

OUR SECOND DAY OF BUILDING HAS COME TO AN END..AND IT WS A GOOD DAY OOPS...the group lar and i were working with yesterday went back to he same house along with 5 of the high school students...our job today was to put up more walls...and we got a total of three walls up..so tomorrow the last wall will go up then not sure what the next project will be..not sure if we will start the roof r not...the home owner made us lunch and is real excited to seen walls and some progress being made on her house..

the sun finally came out this afternoon so tonight we will have a bon-fire--social hr..which will be good as some of the other care-a-vanners we don't see mjuch cause we are at different sites working..so it will be time to catch up..last night it rained so that kept us all inside...

the kids are from a prep school in illinois but maybe i've already said that.. it is the illinois math and science school...near chicago i think..so another day has gone by and we are exhausted...

FIRST DAY OF WORK

monday morning and we are off to work...first there is a meeting with daily devotions and are ajob assignments...breakfast first ...we decided to go off with jerry and person we have worked with for the last 3 years and is good..besides it was putting up the walls on the house...when we got there there was alot of measuring that needed to be done to make sure everything going to be plum and square...

then the walls arrived and had to be unloaded by the high school kids for illinois that have come to work for the wrrk...that done and we started to put up the walls..the new home owner lives right now 2 houses down the street with her mother and has since august when the place she was living in burned down the the ground...they lost everything they had owned even the family dog...so they are thankful that their house is finally being started..

for the first day we have only worked a half a day...around lunch time it startred to thunder and lightening we we picked up the tools just in time as a storm is p[assing over us and is raining every hard...at least it isn;t snow...

also we are glad we are here and not on the way going thru georgia north and south carolina the weather people say it is not a good place to be...they just don't know how to dreive in the snow ..but we are of fthe road and happy...

pcitures the lone lady is the new home owner bobbire jo---getting instruction from jerry and lar with his lady friends christine and mem...hopefully tomorrow will be a full day...