Catching up again

After a hectic weekend, we left Ripley on Oct 5. The weather got progressively better as went along. No problems, spent the first night in Corbin, Kentucky.Arrived in Norris the next morning and enjoyed three days of beautiful weather.The music was good, and we enjoyed the music at the Volunteer Campground most nights. Sunday afternoon, we left Norris and stopped in Centerville, Georgia. Arrived in Satsuma about 5:00 PM. There had been heavy weather the weekend before, but was ok when we arrived. We had about an hour, in which we got everything unloaded from the trailer, and then the skies opened up and we had a terrific rainstorm.

It was warm and humid but we were here with no problems. The power was on, the water was on, the gas was on and the a/c worked. What more did we need.

The next day the water heater came on, it was 90 degrees and humid, with the a/c we were fine. Last year we messed around with a recalcitrant refrigerator, but today, we went to Sears and bought a new one, using a gift card with points earned from our credit card. On wed. we went to Deland Flea Market and to Wally and Joanies to deliver stuff we brought down for them and to get haircuts and visit the local hearing aid dealer and then to Alfies for fish with Norma and Buford and Janice. 88 degrees.

Friday , it was senior citizens and then Supper with Bob and Laverne. They are doing well. Cooling down to 85 degrees. Sat. we went to Daytona Beach for large yaed sales and visited Jane, who is doing well.

Sunday, we went another flea market in Ocala and to Silver Springs, where we re-upped our passes.

The next few days we worked, cleaning up, organizing, putting things away, etc., then more yard sales and flea markets. Monday the 23rd, we went to Seaworld, taking the new little cart, which worked very well. We shared riding it, which worked out very well. Lester and Sue arrived on Tuesday , so off we went again, to a flea market in Deland and to St Augustine, to tour some of St George St and the Fort. Today was music at the Sr Center and tomorrow, who knows? Next week, one day, we plan to go to Busch Gardens. Then later(in December, we will go back to both of them to see their Christmas programs.

We enjoyed two boat rides before trouble developed with the shift linkage. We have been too busy to determine what the exact problem is, but will tackle it soon.

For those who are interested, I am doing quite well. The knee is still sore at times, but it is getting stronger and more flexible all the time. I walked(slow pace) the entire St Augustine trip, half of Seaworld, and all of the different flea marlets I am eating well, sleeping well and beginning to catch up on some of the neglected areas, encountered over the last two years.

Heidi put a very nice article in the Palatka paper about our 50th, of which we have received numerous copies from local friends and neighbors. Thanks to all of you who helped with the anniversary celebration. Today is the first day of the 51st year. We shall see how far this goes.

Also for those who are interested, our new internet system is working quite well. The Verizon signal is not strong in this area, but is sufficent. We place the Tablet near a window, and get a strong wi-fi signal all around the house. We are quite happy with it. So long for now and will try to do a better job of keeping up.

Mom and dad arrived in Tennessee

Mom called to give us the update that they arrived in TN without issues.

Sent from my iPhone

Way, Way Behind again

August and September went by already. Today is Oct 2, and we are getting ready to leave for Florida Wed morning. We are actually going to Norris Tennesee to the "Homecoming" which is Thurs-Sun and will leave there Sunday afternoon with an expected arrival in Florida on Monday Afternoon.

Today , we are going to the Vikings for the Trailer association fund Raiser, and then focus on getting ready to leave for Florida.

Yesterday, we had our early Christmas with the kids and grandchildren. It worked out very well. Plenty of food and gifts all around. John Adams and Susie(Lizas Mom) were also there.

Friday morning we left here and went to Dr Bodkins office for our annual" leaving for Florida visit." Our blood work results were there and We are happy to report that we are in pretty good shape(for the shape we are in). This year we are planning on NO doctor or hospital visits. We are just finishing up paying some of the bills for our previous work.

Friday afternoon, Laura went to see Dr Twist, the eye surgeon. Everything is well with her de-cataracted eye and she has improved vision with it..The Dr said she should think about having the other eye done next year, so we will wait and see.

Then we went to Roger and Claudines' house for a pre gig birthday party for Larry Brennan who is now 76.

We have been busy with fiddle gigs, as we enjoy them and our Fiddle People. We played at Clarence Farmers Market, Niagara County Fair, Lewiston Art Festival, Alexander Gas and Steam Engine Show, Celtic Festival at Olcott, and Farm Days at Somerset, and assorted oter smaller events. We went back and forth to the Buffalo Area many times this summer.

We had a problem with the Criket, which was relatively easy to fix, but difficult to diagnose. We finally got it together again. Meanwhile , we bought a used Victory 10 (by Pride), is in brand new condition. This is to be used in Florida, when we go to Disney, or Seaworld or whatever.

We did go to Marineland again, and Darien Lake again this summer.

We got "Mohr-Fun" into the water and got only one ride out of it, but it was still a moral victory for us. We just sold Mohr-Fun, which is a 1964 boat that gave us a lot of service, and replaced it with a 20 ft pontoon boat similar to what we have in Florida. So next year, free boat rides for everyone. Line up, as we only can take 12 people at a time. We do expect a lot more boating activity next year. It will be stationed at Lakeside, but can be brought over and docked at the Vikings.

The replacement knee is doing quite well. Progress is slow but steady. I can now go up and down steps the proper way instead of favoring the one. Getting up and down to the floor is still awkward but steadily improving.` I did manage to replace the middle bathroom floor with new 3/4 plywood and ceramic tile, along with a new high rise toilet. It came out well and looks good. Come on over and try it out(next year). This was done in time for the annual Turkey Jam which was held Sept 20. We ran out of time , so it had to be on a weekday. We had 59 well fed people , who had a great time. The weatherman blessed us with a beautiful day sandwiched between several crummy days.

That about sums it up. Both the Vikings and Lakeside are winterized and we will do Ripley shortly. So we are off to the land of Sunshine and warmth and wish those of you who are doomed to spend the Winter up North, good luck. We will be in contact shortly. We have a different internet setup now , which is much more flexible, so we have no excuses for not keeping up. We can now update this blog while riding up and down on a rollercoaster, so we will have to try it. See you all later.

Way behind again

Since last time we went to Fantasy Island with Heidi, and Kat, and Derek and Charley and Gracie. I walked the whole thing, wound up with really tired knees.

We took Shawn and Cheyenne to Marineland in Niagara Falls. We had a good time, with Shawn and Cheyenne riding the screaming tower, 10 times in a row, since there were few people there.

I almost did, but!!!! We paid the extra money, so in effect we have season passes for Marineland so expect to get back there at least one more time before we head to Florida in early October.

The last several weeks have been extremely busy. Laura went to her regular eye Doctor who said it was time to remove the cataracts in her right eye. We had to go to the Dr who was going to do the work, then the regular Dr to get the Necessary clearance, then the cataract was removed on 21st of July with followup visit on the 22nd and another followup visit tomorrow. It cost us some money, but a special lens was put in that seems to have improved her vision quite a bit. only more time will tell.

on the 16th of July , we were at the vikings, and were told to go away and come back at 3:15. We figured there was going to be a small party at the lake where a number of our group was camping for the reunion on Sunday. When we got back and were led to the shelter at the Vikings, we were truly surprised to find lots of people there to help celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary, which will actually be Oct 27th(?). People ask us if we were truly surprised and the answer is YES!.. Everybody did their part in keeping the information from us. It was great to see all the people that were there, and it was astounding the effort expended by the kids(?) to put this on. We had Jop McComber from San Jose. Ca, Mel and Greg from Raleigh, Don and Janice from Holly Hill, Florida, Chris and Amy from Michigan,and Pat Drake from Cleveland.

The next day was the 71st Mohr family reunion at the Vikings, which went well.

Somehow, we have managed to get the boat into the water and it now sits on its lift. Next week, we should be able to go out in it.

The knee is doing well. it needs more time, but I am finding it easier to go up and down stairs and to get down to the floor and back up. I am starting to get some things done that have been neglected. There are several projects I wanted to get done this summer, but time is going so fast, I do not know.

We are presently trying to get the many "thank you" notes out, and we had a sad episode with our Tennesee cat. "Yellow Belly" appeared to be injured or very sick yesterday, so we took her to the vet today, which we do not like to do, but it was clear she was suffering. It turns out that she had ingested a large amount of automotive anti-freeze and there was no saving her, so she was euthanized and buried in the back yard. She was a friendly loving cat, acquired in Tennessee, and did not deserve to die like this, but things happen.

Till next time.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Since returning North, we have been to Buffalo area a half dozen times. This last Friday, we went for a fiddle gig in Buffalo and went to the GM Tonawanda engine plant open house. On Saturday we worked 0n the ice cream social at Lakeside, then went to Buffalo, got our haircuts at Wally and Joan Tanners. Spent the night with Heidi, then went to North Amherst Fathers Day breakfast, and after that went with Derek and Liza to Darien Lake, followed by a Birthday Party for Gracie at Dereks house.

Then home to Ripley, where we mowed the lawn, cleaned up the yard and started to get the boat out, find the batteries and charge them. Now we can et the motors running and take it to the lake. We put the catwalk in a week or so ago and are waiting for the lift to be put in.

We have spent our first night at the Vikings and of course have been mowing the lawn, putting in flowers and readying the camper for the season.

I was able to rototill Lauras' gardens, and she has them both pretty well planted. This was a little late because of all the rain we had been receiving.

My knee has been doing fairly well. I work it hard all day and it is tired at the end of the day. Basically, if I am using it I forget about it and go about my business. If I sit for a while, it takes a little time to get it moving

It is still difficult to get down on the floor and up again, but it is improving. I am beginning to start to catch up with the many little jobs, that were neglected last year. We have several projects in mind, but I am waiting to get a little more flexible before attempting them.. I will try to keep up a little better from now on.

Summer 2011?

Well, we left Florida on Friday morning the 6th of May. We ran into heavy rain in Jacksonville, Savannah, and Pittsburgh. Fortunately, Thursday before we left was a fairly cool nice day, so we were able to load the trailer and protect it fairly well, so very little damage was incurred due to the 3 rainstorms. We wound up in Wytheville, Virginia for the night, and arrived in Ripley about 6:30 PM Saturday night. We had no problems, paid as little as $3.67 in Virginia and as much as $3.99 in W. Virginia. When we arrived, Ray and Luella and Lester and Sue showed up to help unload everything. Ray brought his mowing tractor and gave the lawn a much needed "haircut". Thanks Ray.

Ki-Ki rode loose in the car while yellow belly? was confined to the cage.Both behaved very well during the trip.

Sunday, we went to the Vikings to meet with Heidi and Cat, and Derek
with Charley, Grace and Eli. The kids enjoyed the Vikings even though it was a little cool. It was good to see everybody and to demonstrate that I really can walk without assistance.

As I said, I can walk without assistance, but need more time to become fully healed and rehabbed. I do my exercises every day and am slowly getting close to "normal".

Monday, we went to Amherst to do some shopping and to have supper with Jerry, Alison, Shawn and Cheyenne. Everybody appears to be doing well and that is good.

Tuesday, we remowed the lawn and started to clean everything up and putting things away. Thursday, I played golf for the first time in 2 years and did ok. Some good shots and some bad ones, final score 66 for 9 holes. Knees were really tired, as we had mowed some at the Vikings prior, and the last 3 holes are up and down hill. Even with a golf cart there was a fair amount of walking.

During this week, the weather was quite nice, even Saturday was nice although heavy rain was not too far away to the South and East. Sunday was typical of the weather here, cold and wet. Monday and today are typical of earlier this year and I think I would rather have 85 and sun. We are tempted to drive back to Florida for a week or so until it warms up.

We have two furnaces and the one for the back addition works fine, but the one for the front part does not want to behave, so we have to resort to electric heaters live in the front part.

We have been having some difficulty with Lauras' computer, but Lester came over last night and straightened it out, so now we have all three computers working.

We have been free of Doctors for a while and medications have been reduced to a relative minimum, while I regain some of my former strength and appearance. We are looking forward to a busy summer, including having a boat in the waters of Chautauqua Lake.

We are going to our local GP on Friday, and will include some garage saling, some music at a fiddle club jam and a short stint at the Hamburg Fairgrounds Casino. Don't tell the IRS, but I left the Casino last time with $40.00 more than I started with. Laura, on the other hand, left a little lighter than she started.

Don't forget that Saturday the 21st of May is JUDGEMENT DAY. Some of us might not be around after that, and some of us will just have to wait until October 21, to learn our fate when the World Blows up.

Until then enjoy yourself and keep in touch.

closing out Florida Winter/spring 2011

We have been working so hard lately, that we are tired.

We are leaving Friday AM May 6, 2011 for cold and rainy New York. Should be there Saturday afternoon. We ask which is better, 85 degrees and sun or 50 degrees and rain. It is hard to decide .We have been busy building a 12x 10 shed. We got it done except for the roof, which will be completed in the fall. We learned that Kayla, Annettes oldest daughter has been doing very well for Flagler Palm Coast softball. So we were able to attend several of her playoff games. Whey wound up losing in the playoffs,but over all they were somethin like 24 and 6 for the season. Kayla was the leader in runs scored, stolen bases and had a high batting average. She graduates this year and is going to University of Tampa, where she hopes to earn an athletic scholarship.

The world has been a very tumultuous place lately, with the huge number of tornadoes. It appears there are hundreds of people still missing in Alabama, and other southern states. How about Japan where there are many thousands still missing. Then we have Osama leaving us for wherever he is going. We went to the Easter parade in St Augustine and read signs telling us about the upcoming Rapture. I remembered seeing something about this but looked it up again.

There are several different versions of this but in essence, the religious "experts" have decided that Christ is coming back to earth on the 21st of May. All believers will fly off to Heaven (or somewhere), leaving all the non believers behind. Then on October 21, the whole world is destroyed(possibly a huge earthquake). I for one am anxiously waiting to see how this all comes out. I do have some questions but do not know who to ask. enough of this for now, see you all in New York.