END OF WEEK ONE

week one is now over and it is time to do catch up chores and od some grocery shopping so we can eat something next week...like fruit and cold cuts...

we worked on three different houses..of course the last one is a rehab ..

on friday some of the group went to a friends house tom and christine hounsell for dinner...they have volunteered for habitat for many years and now have bought a house in z/hills so they wanted  s get together..

nice time and a great dinner..

sat 14 from the group went on a bike ride on the famous w/trail (no neeed tp spell it cause it wouldn't be right) a nice flat trail and i did better than i thought i might...we biked for over an hr and half...sharon on the the gals on the bike ride had a little mishap she didn't get hurt except her pride...her back tire was going flat and caused her some stirring problems so off to the grass she went..the bike was ok to walk back so she walked a couple of miles...

today sunday lar and i went out to breakfast then decided as long as the bikes were on we would go do the trail in town which is only 1 mile long--we thought it was longer so we did it twice...off to go grocery shopping and back to the rig to wash the truck and rig..

then it will be time for football...go seattle...ahhahahahaha

tomorrow we are off due to a holiday..and we are going to go visit some other habitat friends who have just bought a condo south of us.....then 4 more days and we are then heading to alabama...

temps are sure comfortable...

now if you don't know waht that signs means i will tell you...we are very near train tracks where it is used heavy..as you know when a train is approaching a crossing it must blow it's whistle..it is long--long--short--long and that is the painted signe for it along the bike trail we were on yesterday...now along the track they have a sign with a big W on it so they know when to blow..we hear this all night and day..

FIRST FEW DAYS

we have arrived in dade city and have worked 3 days ...we are working on a 6 bedroom house that when finished will house a family of 7 and has 6 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms...4 of the children are handicapped ...one is blind  and also one in a comatose state...the children are adopted so our hearts go out to them...it is the biggest house this habitat has attempted to build...

a good share of the house was done by the time we  got here...so the biggest pus

h was to get it dried in and that means getting the roof on...so it is a really big job...on monday we only worked a half day due to rain and did it rain...the soil just dosen't drain well and there is still alot of puddles around the build site...just like playing in the mud...

some of you might know don and beth hickman from back home...we have worked with some of the others at different times...

this coming monday we will celebrate martin luther king birthday by getting the day off...not sure what we might do and it will depend on the weather i'm sure..

so all's doing good here and we are busy and tired when we go to bed...

ARRIVED DADE CITY

we left jan 3 as planned and drove thru rain-sleet-snow-ice-rain-sleet---we were happy that we left home about 2 hrs earlier than usuall but due to the weather we arrived in winchester about the same time we usually do...had even thought about going further  earlier in the day after we got an early start but that sure changed..

the second night we made it to south of the border in south carolina and dewinterized the rig only to discover that we had a front jack that was not working that way it should...so now what we need to get it fixed...went on line and found some shops along our way...so the next day i drove and lar spent time on thbe phone talking to the open range people to find someplace to go to...they just told us find someplace and they will call to see if it is warranty covered...so we found one right off the highway we were traveling in ocala, fl...picked a good one..they took us when we arrived assed the problem and then fixed it..so we were back on the road by 3 with a  fixed jack...


because we had changed a couple of our [plans that we wanted to stop and see along the way we just headed to bushnell where there is a park that gives 1/2 half to vets so we decided to stay there...good park with lots of  road to ride our bikes on...so we rode bikes and the knee was no problem...

met up with a coupld from church back hme and had lunch with them..good seeing familiar faces from back home..

today sun we are now in dade city and at 5 tonight we will have a team meeting to hear what there is to knolw..etc..

life is good and god bless..

the sandhills were in the campground where we weere

...

EARLY CHRISTMAS

we celebrated christmas early due to work schedules so our christmas was on tues...started the day off with breakfast of course then i took care of the turkey and got it ready for the oven put it in with the timer so that was all set...i had my last visit to the PT and then a dr's appt after so i gave some cooking assignments to the gang that were still at home...lar went with me as he wanted to hear what the dr had to say about my right knee...pt went well  and i was at 124 as far as range of motion goes and she was happy so if she was happy i was also...off to the dr's to see the NP which we like...talked about the knee and she says it looks great again if they are happy so am i..but we then discussed the other knee which has not been doing so good lately...got a shot of cortizone in it to get me thru the winter  as of right now the left one is on the books for replacement when we return back home...

all the kids we anxious for us to get back home  as we had said presents could be opened up then...not sure who was more anxious the old g/kids or lisa...so that done with much fun and laughter it was time for dinner...everything was done and i must say delicious but then i cooked it...

carl-tricia-belle-mellissa left on wed about 8am and lisa and andy stayed thru till thurs and they were on their way by 3ish...so now the house is quiet and we are beginning to think about packing up the rig to get ut of town...we are looking at say jan 3rd unless the weather tells us different then we may change our plans a wee bit...but that's ok we leave ourselves some lea-way time..

hoping you all had a very merry christmas and you will enjoy the winter as we hope too....

 grand parents and great grandparents

 lisa decided to top off the wood rack a job just "loved" doing as a child hahahahaha...she sure surprised us by doing to chore...we almost fainted.....

ADVENTURE TIME

we had family arrive on sunday before christmas to start celebrating the holiday...due to working schedules and having to get a 4 year old back to her fathers we celebrated christmas early..so on monday while i was making pies lar took them to the firehouse..then a lunch and then a ride around town..to see the sights of town..not that they haven't seen them before but we like to check the sights out ourselves...off the the falls----sapsucker woods---more falls and back home...

lisa and andy arrived later in the day...with a big pan of lasagne so it was a good day

THANKSGIVING 2014

 this year we did something different for thanksgiving...our granddaughter now works as a cook/chef for the salvation army in watertown and we decided in order to have a family holiday together it made sense for us to go to watertown and help out serving dinner there...so we did exactly that...

arrived on wed and of course it was late in the day so all the prep work had already been done but we needed to report at 8 the next morning to get our assignments...arrived on time and was told we had to put on those beautiful hats (next time we will wear baseball caps)..off to the kitchen we went first to help make a fruit salad when that was done lar started doing dishes and i started to help cut up the turkey that had been cooked the day before..between 25 and 30 had beeen cooked...lots of hands making mashed potatoes--gravy---squash--cutting pies and  cakes...lots of stuff needing to be done in time to start serving at 11...

as most of you know when preparing a big dinner the worry is that will it all be ready on time...and of course it always is...not sure how many were served  but last year it was 500...we thought that the ones who came to eat were to go thru a buffet line but no they sat done and were asked by servers what they wanted just like in a restaurant....i think there must have been over 50 or more people who came to help and it worked well...they also do take out dinners and deliver to those who can't get out and at time there were close to 100 of those dinners that were delivered with the phone still ringing so not sure how many were delivered..

the salvation had also gotten alot of donated food that those who wanted could take...bread--produce--pies--etc...so it was a good day..

on friday prisoners from the local jail come to finish the cleaning up mopping floors--taking the tables and chairs down so all in all it is a community event..

we were glad we were part of it..

but guess what NO LEFTOVERS FOR US SO NO TURKEY SANDWICH...oh well that is ok..

life is good..

hope you all had an enjoyable holiday..

OPENING DAY 2014

as some of you know this is the opening day of 2014 deer season with the gun...lar has been out for 2 weeks with his new crossbow and shot on one the last day yesterday but did not connect...

so today he was up bright and early or i should really say it was still dark at 3:30 but he had things to do to get ready not sure what but man things....our friends from the north country are here so it was time to make breakfast and prepare for the morning hunt and discuss where everyone wanted to be in their lucky spots...lar went out back to where there is an old manure spreader..

around 7:20 he shot and got a nice 6 pt...so back to the house he came to get me to take me for a ride in the bulldog to get back to the house....ellie and willis saw several deer but did not get any shots at any...they also saw the big buck that roams around in our mile square...but just watched to old boy..

as  you can tell we have snow on the ground but it isn't gong to last unless we get some more tonight...so tonight  it will be off to the butcher to have it cut up then in a couple of days we will wrap it..

so it appears we won't go hungry this winter and life is good..