CATCH UP ------ BIG TIME

I know it's been awhile, but I was having problems with the blog working on my I-pad. We got it figured out today.

We are at the Ledges in our new summer home. We have a Forest River Cedar Creek Cottage. I'm sure you've figured out what that is. :-). It is a travel trailer called a cottage. We love it. It is 40 ft. long with 8 foot ceilings. It has 3 slides, 1 in the bedroom and 2 in the living area. One slide is about 40 inches wide. It really opens up the area. There is a lot of storage in the kitchen/galley area and it even has an island. We have a 42 inch flat screen TV.

The Ledges has been busy. Most weekends we are full. Last week after the storm went through, we found a tree that had been caught by the wind and lifted a bit out of the ground. It snapped a root in half and split the tree up about 4 ft. on both sides of the tree. I called the park manager and told him about the tree and he came over and checked it out and said it had to come down. After looking the tree over Andy decided to have a tree service take the tree down. It was fun to watch. They had it down in about 10 minutes.

We are in a sever thunder storm watch and it just started to rain. It can rain, but I don't want the wind. It's getting dark. I think it's time to take a break.

PRODUCE FIELDS

We went for a ride today to check out the produce fields. We saw one field with plants 10 to 12 inches tall. Don't know what they are yet. Saw another field with mounded rows covered in white plastic. The rows are wide enough it has 2 rows of plants. We're not sure but the plants might be strawberries. There was another field that just kept going and and going and going. The field was covered with plants about 8 to 10 inches tall with a wooden stake beside the plant. The stake was at least 3 feet tall. Tomatoes. The next field was similar, but the stake was half as tall, so we think peppers. There are other fields we think are potatoes or sweet potatoes. There were workers in some of the fields, but were to far away to tell what they were doing.

FLOWERS

The flowers in our yard are so pretty and colorful right now. We've had pansies blooming all winter in all colors. The azaleas are bright pink and so pretty. There are so many on the bushes, they almost weigh them down. The roses are in full bloom. There are bright pink and a light pink ones. We also have yellow irises, red bottle brush, yellow and orange lantanas, and the day lilies will be blooming in the next week. The lilies will be blooming just before we leave for Iowa. Thank heaven for John, the lawn service guy. If it wasn't for him we wouldn't know what the flowers and bushes are. John has mowed the yard twice, and he also trims the bushes and cuts the dead flowers off the bushes. YEA for John and his daughter Brittney.

GARDENS

One of our neighbors has a garden on the empty lot next to his house. I'm told he and his wife are in their 80s. They have had things in the garden all winter. I don't know what he has planted except for onions. Those I can tell. I guess he shares with the neighbors. One of the other neighbors came over a couple of days ago and said he had just picked some onions and wondered if we wanted any. We took one and it is the size of my fist.

PRODUCE

We went to Valdosta today to run a couple of errands. On the way home we drove by some of the produce fields to check them out. Some are starting to turn green with plants coming up. We don't know what they are yet. Vern biked by a field this morning and he said it looked like they were planting potatoes or sweet potatoes. Hopefully by the time we leave we'll be able to tell what some of the plants are.



The trees and bushes in our yard are starting to bloom. We have 2 honeysuckle, a palm tree, and a plum tree. There is ornamental grasses, mini daffodils, and a lot of azaleas, pink and red ones. There are a few things we don't know what there are.



The last 2 recliners came this week and the end tables. We spent about an hour and a half putting them together, but it was worth it. I really like them. Friday afternoon we had a service guy here installing a security system. We decided since we are going to be gone for about 4 months this summer it would be a good idea. Now it's trying to remember to disarm it before we open the door. So far so good. A lot of our neighbors have security systems and we've seen signs in other neighborhoods with signs in their yards.



The other day I watched a golfer come into the yard to get his golf ball. At least it didn't hit the house. The neighbors house was hit a few days ago. He came out and yelled at the guy, but we decided he knew the guy and was giving him a bad time. The workers are out on the course around 6:30 a.m. mowing. It is still dark, but they all have headlights on their mowers. They keep the course looking nice.

UNPACKING

The pod arrived right on time and we had an hour to unload it. It took us 40 to 45 minutes to unload an 8x8x7 pod. Boy, did we get our exorcise that afternoon. I needed a break when we were done. I have all the dishes unpacked and put away. I moved things from one spot to another a few times, but for now it is all done. I had so much fun unpacking my Longaberger baskets and seeing which ones I had. Some I have found places for and some are sitting in corners until I decide where they're going. The bad thing in all of this is that Vern couldn't help me.



I got fed up with the furniture store where we were getting our living room furniture. They kept moving the delivery date back. I got so mad I called and canceled our order. I then went with our second choice and had the furniture here the same day we went in to order it. We were lucky. The set we wanted they had gotten in a couple days before as a floor model and let us have it. We got a love seat and a recliner. We ordered 2 more reclines, one of them will go in the room upstairs. (Vern's room)



The yard service was here last week and mowed and took a leaf blower to all the leaves on the ground. They also trimmed the bushes and weeded the flower beds. They did a great job. They are a father and daughter team and do 3 or 4 other yards in the area.

SLEEP

We have been in the house since Tuesday. The first piece of furniture to be delivered was our bed. You never know how you're going to sleep in a different bed, but we have been sleeping like babies. Maybe it's because we're so tired form working so hard. :-) Most of our furniture is here except for the living room stuff. It sounds like it won't be here until mid March. Thank heaven for camping chairs. The first three days were didn't have a TV, so I got a lot of things unpacked. The TV is here now and all hooked up to the dish, so I can watch TV or listen to music while I'm unpacking. Makes it easier. I'm all done except for unpacking my craft room. I need to get a shelving unit then I can finish it up. I want it all done before the pod gets here. It will be here on Wednesday, March 2nd. Vern won't be able to help me much with those boxes, because it's mostly dishes and my baskets. It will be nice having my Longaberger dishes and baskets. The hard part will be where to put them. :-)