January 20 - 28, 2025 - New Ice Maker Quits - Blackstone Griddle Project - Mailbox Numbers

My Blog Reflection

(On Martin Luther King Day)

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 20, 2025

A busy morning. I get up much earlier than Kelly so that is when I do the laundry. I had a lot of dirty clothes piled up from work on the driveway project.  

The other day I turned off the new icemaker by lifting the bale. I wanted to use up the ice it had made so it didn't pick up any freezer smells. Now the darn thing won't work. I waited a couple of days for it to recycle, or rest, but this morning still no ice. I pulled it out this morning and checked the movement of the bale which triggers the unit to turn on and off. Everything seemed to be working properly - the bale wire was locked in properly and turning the On-Off switch when moved up and down. I checked my receipt and I was within 30 days of purchase on Amazon so I got online and got a return label.  Who would have thought?

After pulling the icemaker out I decided to make a batch of oatmeal-raisin cookies using our new mixer. I just followed the recipe on the oatmeal container. I was going to put parchment paper on the cookie sheets but the directions said to put them on ungreased cookie sheets, so I did as I was instructed. It also said to bake them for eight to ten minutes at 350 degrees. They weren't nearly done after eight minutes. They actually took about twelve minutes and they all stuck like crazy to the cookie sheets. Parchment paper or a greased cookie sheet from now on for this guy.

Once the cookies were done I boxed up the icemaker. Luckily I still had the box it came in. We then drove to the UPS Store and dropped it off. A replacement is on the way. I hope we have better luck with it.

On the way home we stopped at Publix and bought a few grocery items. I can not believe how the price of groceries continues to climb. I really feel sorry for families with limited income and children to feed. 

Once home and the groceries were put away, I did a little digging around the driveway edge to smooth out the dirt. Next I trimmed the landscape weed barrier material that was sticking up in various places.  I returned the shovel and rake to neighbor Doug across the street. No more digging for me for a while.

All of the above was finished by 12:00 noon. I have a Theater Club Meeting at 2:00 p.m. They were having trouble getting acts but at the meeting I learned that they now have seventeen acts of one sort or other. Don't worry. I'm not a performer, I'm a music technician.

January 21, 2025

A new project begins, day one:

Before the pouring rain started this morning I went out and took the lid off the Blackstone griddle. I brought it into the shed to start working on it. Here is a picture of the lid when I started.

Here is a picture after much sanding with my palm sander. 

I needed more sandpaper so we made a quick trip to Harbor Freight for sandpaper and spray paint. I want to use primer and the Rustoleum rust encapsulating paint. I will then spray the entire lid with a nice black finish coat. 

I will have to wait a couple of days until the weather cooperates to spray paint outside. There is a little sanding and painting to do on the frame but not much.

While we were out and about we picked up some items at Aldi's. Tomorrow I want to can make a big batch of my "famous" chili to eat during this cold weather. We also dropped off several items for donation at the Salvation Army Store. 

January 22, 2025

It has been raining a lot along with the cold air. We went to a rummage sale at the Pinellas Park Seniors Center. Nothing but old peoples junk. A complete bust. From there we headed to "Buttermilk" a new breakfast place in the shopping mall nearby. The place is all automated. There is a screen at each table with the menu. You order using that, put in your table number, and pay your bill. The food is then delivered by robot carts. Here is a picture of two robot carts patiently waiting for orders to deliver. An employee does come by and unload your food on to the table.

The food was good but not warm enough to suit me. I would suggest the trays on the robots be fitted with warmers. I'm probably a little spoiled since I usually cook my own breakfast so it always hot.

January 23, 2025

It is downright cold this morning. We are south of Tampa and it was 37 degrees with a "feels like" of 34 degrees this morning when I got up. The high today will only be 50 degrees. There is a misty rain so no outside work today. 

We went to Home Depot to get two cement pavers to place at the end of the downspouts. These keep the water from washing out the gravel. I also needed two downspout straps for one downspout. Both straps were broken. All that is holding it on is the screws at the gutter. Home Depot had the straps in brown but white ones were nowhere to be found. The guy looked all over and said they had a box of them but he didn't know where they were. Since they show up as "in stock" they won't be ordering any. We headed to Lowes, which is much further away. I bought an extra strap in case I find another broken one somewhere. The hurricanes may have caused them to break. They are pretty flimsy.

It is so humid with all the rain that we have had the last two days, the griddle hood I sanded in the shed is rusting again. I'm hoping by Saturday it is nice enough outside that I can get it all the parts finally prepped nad painted.

January 24, 2025

Finally, this morning the sun came out! Nothing like being in "Sunny Florida" and not having sunshine for well over a week. It is still cold but is to warm up this weekend. 

On the agenda today is a drive to Sarasota to have lunch with our RV friends who winter in various places in southern Florida. It is about an hour long trip and gives us a reason to drive over the "Sunshine Skyway Bridge". The bridge is awesome but not free to cross. I purchased a Sunpass transponder so we save some money on roads down here. When we were here last winter workers were in tents painting those cables. Not a job for me!

The old Sunshine Bridge collapsed in a thunderstorm on May 9, 1980 when a freighter hit a bridge support column. The new bridge wasn't started for two years and it took five years to build, opening in 1987. 

They close the new bridge when there are serious winds like during a hurricane. I wouldn't want to be on it anyway. LOL

We met at Yoder's, an Amish restaurant. Kelly says this Amish food qualifies as one of her international food tastings. Sarasota is a vacation mecca for Amish folks from across the country. Several of the restaurants and hotels are Amish owned and operated. Many Amish come down in buses and bring their bikes along for transportation once they arrive. It is cool to see them pedaling all around and bikes and trikes sitting outside restaurants and businesses. 

Our food was great but the place was small, making it hard to interact with others. Everyone agreed next year to go back to “Der Dutchman” just down the street. We can spread out, sit around and talk after lunch, etc.

January 25, 2025

The weather is still cold but the sun finally came out today. In the morning we went to a park-wide garage sale at Sunset Palms, the adjoining park. Kelly bought two little framed pictures and an ice cream scoop.

As the sun warmed things up I took advantage of the weather and primed and painted the inside of the Blackstone cover. While it was drying I worked on installing the striker. The fellow I bought it from said the striker was new but he couldn't get it installed. After about a half hour it was clear that there was no way to install it without unbolting the front cover. Luckily the bolts came out easily and I was able to get it in place. 

I then did some light sanding on the frame and washed it down. Most of it needs a coat of paint. Here is what it looks like. The lettering on the front will all be painted over, you can't read it anymore anyway.

Spray painting will not make this grill look new but it will look much better and the paint should slow down future rust. I will keep it covered and in the shed when we aren't here.

The shelf and the two fold up shelves are not rusted so I will not repaint them. 

January 26, 2025

Great sunshine today so grill painting was the order of the day. I sprayed two coats of paint. The first was a Rustoleum Rust Encapsulating paint and the second was black Chassis paint from Harbor Freight. Here is a picture.

It is not going to look like new, for that I would have had to sandblast it before painting. Everything will get two coats of paint. It will look presentable. This afternoon some of the paint was still a little tacky so I'm waiting until tomorrow to spray on the last coat.

Before the football playoffs started today I tackled a minor project. When we bought we had to install a mailbox at the curb. We could no longer have a mailbox on the house. (The Post Office is trying to save time and money.) The mailbox had to have our house numbers on both sides of it and the letters had to be a certain size. One of the numbers on one side came partially off over the summer.

I found the leftover numbers and luckily had one more number "3" left. I used it to fix this number on the box. Using a credit card I scraped off what was left of the old number and, after cleaning off the glue, installed a new number "3". All is well with the Post Office again. We have no address numbers on the house and may get some in the future.

 

The rest of the day is for watching the playoffs. GO CHIEFS!

January 28, 2025

The Blackstone griddle restoration is complete and the griddle is seasoned. It turned out well enough. I purchased a cover for it and some accessories so I can do some "griddling".

In the afternoon I went up to play Cornhole. After several cancellations, due to the long spell of cold weather, there was a record crowd anxious to play on a beautiful day. They brought out all six sets for twenty-four people to play. For the first time this season I won a game, in fact partner, Debbie, and I won two games. Improvement is my goal! I enjoy playing because there is absolutely no pressure. The folks are just out there to have fun and it is a great way to meet people.

In the evening we went to the movies and saw "The Brutalist". A long but great movie.

 

 

January 11 - 19, 2025 - Blackstone Grill - Golf Cart Driveway Project Started - Wreath - Driveway Project Completed

My Blog Reflection

I have learned that our greatest blessings come when we able to improve the lives of others.

Jimmie Carter

January 11, 2025

About a week ago I found a rusty 3-burner Blackstone grill on Facebook for $50.00. We drove about thirty miles this morning to pick it up. The fellow selling it was really nice and helped me take it partially apart and then load it into the HHR. It is in much better shape than I expected and in it is a much heavier duty model than our Blackstone at home. It needs some paint work on the lid and sides, which are rusted, but other than that it is in great shape. I'm not getting to that project until after the golf cart driveway project is complete.

January 13, 2025

A big project this season is installing a golf cart driveway. I got my permit a couple of weeks ago. It is good for six months so no rush.

Driving the golf cart across the grass kills the grass and we end up tracking a lot of grass cuttings into the house when they mow. Calling it "grass" is a joke. There is no grass because there is no irrigatation. The "grass" areas are a weed with lateral vines in all directions. It is tough as nails and hard to pull up even in this sandy soil. 

The driveway will go all the way back to the Florida Room for two reasons. The first is it a safer place for the cart from thieves and second I installed an outlet there so that Buster can easily be plugged in for charging.

Here are a couple of pictures of the area where the driveway will be. You can easily see the track marks.

In the pictures you can see a brown dirt spot in the driveway path. It is the stump from the palm tree that fell down during the hurricane. The maintenance guys ground the stump down about four inches deep but that was not nearly enough for me to have a level driveway path.

Getting started:

Some time back I noticed that early in the morning there are Latino guys hanging outside Home Depot looking for work. At 8:00 a.m., with the help of a translator app on my phone, I hired two guys for four hours at $20.00 per hour to dig out the driveway. One kid was a harder worker than the other but they did work consistently and did get the job done. Here are a couple of pictures. In the foreground of the first and second pictures you can see the stump from the palm tree taken down during the hurricane. 

When the guys hit the stump that was the end of their digging work. I paid them and sent them packing. I then tried to use my Sawsall to cut out chunks of the stump to level the area. After about ten minutes my Sawsall quit working. Don't ask me why. I had just put a new switch in it. I immediately got on the community's Facebook page pleading to borrow one. Denise brought one by along with her charger. 

I soon learned that I wouldn't live long enough to chip that stump out with a Sawsall. I could have installed the driveway grid over the stump but I would not have been happy with the results. I went to Home Depot and rented a stump grinder for four hours. I couldn't believe how heavy that machine was for its size. It took everything I had to help the guy load it in the back of the HHR. When I got home my neighbor Mark, who just flew in today, helped me unload it. 

Grinding the stump out was a much slower and more tiring project than I imagined. The wheels would sink in the sand making it hard to push the heavy machine into place to grind. It only cut about three inches deep and about an inch wide at a time. Very slow work. I worked the machine for a while and sat down. When Mark saw me sitting down (glaring at the machine) he came over and finished the job. What a great guy.  After three hours the stump was out and I took the machine back to Home Depot. I hope I never have to use one again. I was completely shot for the day.

January 14, 2025

Today I dug more dirt out to level the area. I then laid down landscape cloth to keep the weeds from growing up through the gravel. I bought the heaviest duty cloth that Home Depot had. I don't want weeds. I may get a citation again. 

Next I installed the plastic edging. Even though I had stretched the edging out and left it outside in the sun for two days to uncurl, it was still impossible to install it in a straight line. I did the best I could. Next the first section of grid was laid down. I soon learned that the thirty metal hook stakes I ordered to hold it in place was enough for one section but not enough for the second section I needed to put down.

I ordered another thirty metal stakes from Amazon. They will be here on Thursday. In the meantime I started hauling dirt away. 

There is a dirt pile behind the dumpster at the maintenance shed. I was told that I could take the dirt there to get rid of it. The problem was getting it there. It is on the other side of the park. I emptied the trash can and the recycle can and strapped them to the back of Buster.  He wasn't a golf cart today, he was a pickup truck. I could only do this because he has a back seat that folds up.

After the first trip to the dump I learned that I could only fill the cans half way because once I got to the dump pile I couldn't lift them off to dump them. This meant I would be making a lot of trips. I made four trips and quit for the day

January 15, 2025

Today my goal is to remove the rest of the dirt piled on the carport. I had all day and needed it. It was fifty degrees and gloomy. It was good weather for shoveling dirt. It took me eight hours and eighteen more trips to get rid of the dirt. Between shoveling dirt into the trash cans and dumping it at the maintenance shed, I was beat. I was glad this part of the project is over. I hope to get the rest of the grid laid tomorrow then I can order the rock.

On one of my trips to the maintenance area to dump the dirt I got a picture of this guy in a front yard. Kelly told me the lady living there feeds him and several other smaller birds that hang around her place. Her house adjoins a large drainage ditch so the birds hang out there all the time. I think he was posing on one leg for me. He's about three feet tall and kind of cute for being so ugly.

January 16, 2025

After eating supper and showering I slept for eight hours, which is unusual for me. This morning I’ll admit I'm a little sore in various places. Not unexpected.

This morning I got a second bill from the tree trimmers. This bill was $600.00 for trimming up the pine trees after the snow fall, which followed the ice storm. I’ll still have a bill for grinding out the stumps when I get home.  Believe me, I won't be renting a machine to do that myself! The loss of all these trees in our yard is so disheartening and we haven't even seen it in person.

Today Kelly went to a lady's craft class here at the park and learned how to make a wreath. She needed some pipe cleaners so we went to a Dollar General and obtained the last package they had in stock. Kelly came home and made a very nice wreath about sixteen inches in diameter using ribbon in her Scottish colors. Now we have to decide where to put it. We may just take it back home. It doesn't blend well with our decor. LOL

January 17, 2025

It is still quite chilly but it did get up to 65 degrees with some sun in the afternoon. We haven’t had sun for several days. For lunch today we went to small Greek restaurant nearby for another one of Kelly's international meals. I had a gyro and a Greek salad, both were good but almost too much. Kelly had the spinach pie, which was good but not as good at the one we made in Greece last summer. 

The grid spikes arrived from Amazon so after lunch I installed the rest of the driveway grid. Here is a picture of the driveway grid ready for gravel. It looks a little wavy but that is partly due to the gray landscape fabric sticking up on the edges. I'll trim it back once the gravel is in and I can walk on it. You can't walk on the grid without gravel in it to support it.

We then drove to the landscaping stone company and ordered a cubic yard of small stone. It probably won't be enough but they would only deliver it in even yard amounts. I was afraid two yards would be too much and that I would have nowhere to go with any that is left over. It will be delivered tomorrow.

A lot of people stop by and asking about the grid. No one had ever seen it before. We saw it for the first time in a national park in Panama. It will definitely help hold the gravel in place.

I need a propane tank for the old Blackstone grill I bought. I found one on Facebook nearby for $15.00. I will pick it up tomorrow as well.

January 18, 2025

The gravel arrived around 10:00 a.m. and was dumped. I quickly realized that I severely underestimated the amount of rock I would need. Rather than waiting until Monday to have more delivered and paying another $65.00 delivery charge, I went to Home Depot and bought bags of pea gravel. It changes the look a little but we don’t care.

In between trips to Home Depot I picked up the LP tank. Getting it filled and working on the Blackstone will be my next project.

I hauled twenty-four bags of pea gravel and spread it out. I was done for the day. After a hot shower it was time to watch the Chiefs and Lions games.

January 19, 2025

Major rain was predicted in the late morning so at 8:00 a.m. I headed to Home Depot to pick up twelve more bags of pea gravel. As I was spreading it out the rain started. It really poured. I was still a little short on gravel so I headed back to Home Depot. When I arrived the gate to the lawn and garden area was locked. I suppose because of the hard rain. I ran to the main entrance in the rain and walked through the store to the lawn and garden area. In the rain I loaded six more bags of pea gravel and headed home. This would be my last trip for gravel no matter what!

In between torrential downpours I spread out the last six bags of pea gravel. I then spread some of the white stone I saved back in with it to blend the two types of rock. The job was completed by noon. 

Here is a picture of the finished golf cart driveway. It ended up being a much more labor-intensive project than I envisioned when I started. Mostly because I just can't do manual labor like I used to. We are happy with the results.

After taking a nice hot shower and changing into some dry clothes, I plan on watching football the rest of the day. At 4:00 p.m. I am taking Mark to the Tampa airport. I am thrilled to save him an Uber fair after his help on this project. He said he won't be back until February sometime but one or more of his daughter's girlfriends may come by and hang out for a few days before then.

 

January 5 - 10, 2025 - Tree Damage - Flagpole - Ice Maker Installed - New Mixer - Dehumidifier Cleaned - Vacuums Replaced

My Blog Reflection

Forget what is gone. Appreciate what remains. Look forward to what's coming next.

Unknown

January 6, 2025

Yesterday I received a call from my neighbor about the major tree damage in our yard due to the ice storm that went through Perryville. Here are some pictures. We planted all of these trees over the past thirty years and are heartbroken that they were decimated by 3/4 inch of ice.

He didn't take pictures of all the trees but said maybe one tree was salvageable. Most of the city has been without electric since early morning on the 5th with no indication when it can be restored. Many electric lines, electric poles, and trees are down throughout the county. Today the wind is picking up and temperatures are predicted to continue to drop over the week. Restoring power to everyone under these conditions may take some time. We are concerned not only with heating the house but all the food in the refrigerator and freezer if the electric is not restored soon. What a way to start the new year.

Sitting in the living room this morning we heard a crash outside. I looked out and saw that the plastic flag pole holder broke and the flag pole fell down on to the porch rail. I don't know if I am going to replace it. The neighbor across the street has complained about the flapping sound on the big flagpole next to him and this one makes a little such noise as well. We did like flying our "Friendship Flag".

In the afternoon the new ice maker arrived a few days earlier than expected. It is about four inches shorter than the original. Interestingly, it did not come with the electric cable and plugs which run from the ice maker mechanism in front to the connector to the refrigerator in back. I am so pleased with myself that I hadn't yet thrown out the old ice maker because I needed that cable. After removing the cable and installing it on the new ice maker the rest of the install was easy. We have ICE! This unit is a lot quieter than the old once, which I think had been struggling for a while. This unit produces ice a little slower. The original had a "max" and a "normal" setting. This one is just pre-set. 

January 7, 2025

This morning I called my neighbor in Missouri and he advised that the electric came back on about 9:00 p.m. last night. I must say that is a relief. No need now for Alexa to drive down in the bad weather and empty the freezers and refrigerator before the food spoiled.

This morning Kelly again hosted the ladies breakfast coffee klatch and it drew a record crowd. We had to add all three of our folding chairs, two dining chairs, and a desk chair to the six chairs already in the Florida Room.

While Kelly's coffee klatch was going strong in the Florida room I ordered the materials I need to get started on the golf cart driveway. 

January 8, 2025

Today we bought the landscape mat to put down under the gravel in the new driveway to keep weeds out. The edging arrived today as well. All I am waiting on is the plastic grid and then the project can begin.

This afternoon I bought this top-of-the-line KitchenAid mixer from a lady here in the park. It has hardly been used.  Three ladies were waiting in line behind me to buy it if I didn't. The little handheld mixer, which was given to us a couple of years ago, just doesn't work very well. I'm anxious to put this one to good use. It may be time to whip up another batch or two of biscotti. The breakfast ladies ate a bunch of the last batch.

January 9, 2025

My neighbor at home, Rusty, contacted some tree trimmers and obtained several bids for all the trees on our lot and the lots around us to be cut down and hauled away. By all of us working together we will get a better price. Our lot had the most damage in the area - two large Birch trees and two Elms were totally decimated. Several other trees must be trimmed up. I accepted a bid, which does not cover the limbs from the pine trees because more snow is coming and more branches will probably break off. Additionally, the bid does not include the limbs trees from the Conservation property behind us that fell into our yard. My next door neighbor contacted the Conservation Department to see if they will take care of that clean up. He is awaiting a response. What an ordeal. 

Later in the day I emptied the dehumidifier tank and thought about the fact that I had never changed the filter. It had to be filthy. I took the tank off and could find no filter. I got online and there is no filter listed in the owner's manual for this machine. I shined a flashlight in and the coil looked quite dirty. I took off the front cover and this is what I found. I pulled a little off in the middle to see the coil. It was ten times worse than I thought it would be. The dirt was a half inch thick in most places.

I couldn't just pick the dirt off so Kelly gave me a couple of Q-tips to try. They worked well to grab the bulk of the dirt and pull it off. I then took the unit outside and blew it out with the air compressor. Much better.

Here it is put back together. I imagine it will operate much more efficiently now. LOL I can't believe there is no filter. Crazy. 

January 9, 2025

I have two small vacuum cleaners in the shed from the fifth wheel. Neither are worth a hoot for what I do I do in there. 

I got on Facebook Marketplace today and found a small shop vac for $15.00. It is identical to one I keep in the garage at home so I know it works well. I picked it up this afternoon.

 I will donate the other two vacuums to the Salvation Army store we frequent.

January 10, 2025

Early in the morning we hit two estate sales nearby. No great deals. We bought a couple of small items. We then drove to a garage sale where I purchased a plunge router with case for $15.00. The plunge router I have at home is mounted on my router table so using it hasn't happened. This one gives me some options for a cheap price. You never have enough tools, right?

We then headed to the French restaurant "Chez David" for Kelly's next international lunch. We all ordered off the breakfast menu. The food was fine, the prices were reasonable. Kelly bought herself a nice French pastry to bring home for later.

January 1 - 5, 2025. Ice Maker - New Year's Eve Party - Theater Club - Vietnamese Lunch - Potluck - Christmas Over

My Blog Reflection

Just one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day.

Dalai Lama

December 31, 2024.

Kelly once again hosted the ladies morning coffee klatch. The ladies stayed and talked for two hours. After they left I started on a new project.

This season the icemaker has been performing poorly. It has barely been making any ice and ice was forming on the back of the tub. I looked with a flashlight in the water tray and saw black areas which shouldn't be there. I got online and learned that the black areas are an indication that the plastic tray has deteriorated. When this happens the ice cannot eject properly. The icemaker was quite easy to remove so I did that and ordered a replacement from Amazon. It will be here within two weeks. The refrigerator is a 2001 model so I can't complain. It is plastic after all.

In the meantime I am making ice with a silicone tray that makes six large cubes. It will suffice. I don't know where the ice cube trays out of Marge disappeared to.

In the evening we attended the New Years Eve Party in the Clubhouse. The room was beautifully decorated in black and white.

The DJ did a great job of selecting music that everyone liked to dance to. Here he is setting up the music and party lights as we arrived.

Eighty purchased tickets but only about seventy attended. It was definitely a somewhat younger crowd than last year. A lot of dancing to the faster songs.

We sat with Paul, who is a board member (behind the balloon), his friend, Joann, to my left, and Dennis and Ruth. We had never Dennis and Ruth before. They are at the other end of our street. All nice people.

We had the obligatory New Year picture taken. Looking back these pictures are great for showing how we change over the course of a year. Kelly takes a great picture, I don't. LOL

After the balloon drop at midnight we were ready to call it a night even though the music continued on.  I am not used to staying up so late. LOL

January 1, 2025

We got to bed around 1:00 a.m. I was up at 6:30 a.m. ready to take on the new year. After breakfast I took down the outside lights. 

This morning I got an email that there is a Theater Club Meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m. It is always the first Wednesday of the month, apparently even on New Year's Day. Nine of us attended the meeting, three of whom are board members. Apparently there is no set number of members so a quorum is a majority of the number who show up. We had a lengthy discussion about the Christmas Party/Show. It was a first attempt and most agreed it was a disappointment. We learned you can't have a "party" and then try to put on some entertainment.  Lesson learned. 

The spring show date was set for February 16th but must be changed due to people with other commitments that date. The board is now looking at a March date. The theme will be "Golden Gate Has Talent".  Everyone expressed concern and exasperation with the lack of people willing to "perform" a song, a skit, etc. Part of the problem is that the past participants are aging out and the park is turning over to a younger crowd. The younger folks simply do not join groups, many are still working, and they not interested in these types of activities. I think the Theater Club's days are limited. 

January 2, 2025

To start off Kelly's birthday cuisine lunches we headed to "Sugar Loaf Brazilian Store and Restaurant" just a couple of miles away. Celina, Richard, and Donna joined ups. When we arrived the place was locked up tight as a drum. They had a Christmas Tree set up inside the door so apparently the place shuttered not long ago. Several doors down in the shopping strip was the Vietnamese "Quan Ngon Bistro". We went there and tried out Vietnamese food. I had "Bun Thit Nuong Cha Gio" (Vermicelli Grilled Pork with Egg Roll). Kelly ordered an appetizer of Fried Dumplings and the special - "Banh Beo" and "Banh Beo Tom Thit". It was a large round rice noodle cooked like an egg white in a cup with some stuff on top, don't ask me what. All the dishes were tasty but I don't need to go back. The place wasn't cheap but then again it isn't cheap to eat at McDonald's anymore either.   

January 3, 2025

I went up this morning to play Cornhole and no one showed up. I don't know why. There wasn't any announcement about it that I saw. Maybe it was too cool for many.

Dinner tonight is the monthly potluck in the clubhouse. It is always well-attended. The meat this month was chicken. I signed up to make a sweet potato dish, a first for me. I like sweet potatoes and Kelly doesn't so we rarely have them. The recipe I had was to steam them first and peel them.  Our steamer pot could only hold three of the six potatoes at a time so it took longer than it should have to get them ready to bake.

Once peeled they were sliced, laid in a pan, then covered with brown sugar, butter, water, and baked. They obviously were a hit because the baking dish was brought home empty.  Two ladies at our table brought Tupperware dishes and filled them with chicken, side dishes, and desserts to take home. I had never seen anyone do that at a potluck before. Pretty ignorant in my book.

January 4, 2025

We are glad not to be in Missouri right now where up to an inch of ice and several inches of snow are predicted for today and tomorrow. It is cooler here but nothing like that. 

We drove to the 28th Annual Art Festival in Dunedin, Florida. It was a beautiful day for a stroll down the several blocks of booths lining both sides of the downtown streets. This festival is a BIG deal. Artists from all over the south display many types of paintings, sculptures, jewelry, pottery, etc. We absolutely loved many of the art pieces but they were too rich for our blood. 

I did buy a loaf of oven roasted Italian bread. I can’t wait to try some smeared with butter. After a couple hours we headed home. We stopped at Walmart to get eggs and ended up spending $47.00. It happens every time. LOL.

After putting away the groceries we took down the Christmas Tree and decorations and packed them away until next year. Another holiday season under our belt.

January 5, 2025

We are monitoring the weather back home as ice, snow, and cold temperatures move in throughout the Midwest. We hope everyone stays safe and any electric outages are short-lived. For us a sunny day with a high of 67 degrees. I'll settle in and watch football.