march 9 2022

well, it has warmed up considerably. for the last 2 weeks it has been in the 80's. and humid..very humid..

we closed on the house on feb 2 2022. so we have been busy cleaning, fixing and furnishing. nothing came with the place. oh boy that could get expensive. we have to put a shed on the property, (done) and carport ( which sounds very expensive) and a screen room. ( still trying to figure out how that can be accomplished in the least expensive manner.)  friends val and ken from Mason Wi brought their camper down for a week to visit. ken helped tom with a number of  projects while here and we were both very grateful for that. we went on a paddle boat ride in Tavares Fl. with our little group here along with the webster group. jan,phil,jo and dave fun afternoon. feb. went fast and march is going even faster. we all start breaking up next week when jo and dave are the first to leave. we intend to stay till mid april at least staying at the house for a few weeks before heading back to wi. gas prices are going thru the roof in the last few weeks. now paying $5 a gallon for diesel. covid has settled down and people are nearly back to normal, but the world seems as if it going crazy. war in russia and ukraine, still shortages in the stores. help wanted signs everywhere and price on everything skyrocketing. tom has been fishing with new friend keith a few times but the fish have not been biting much. 

new shed at house

spare bedroom is almost complete

well, tom can now cook with the new set of pots and pans

ken and tom put it together but val and i enjoyed  wine by the fireplace!

ken cooked walleye for the whole gang here at Lake Pan, delicious!

cheers to kevin on his birthday

wine tasting goes well here at the park

two of my besties. laurie and beth

new shutters installed at house by great friend Chad Crotteau

the other bed

flowers in front of house where beautiful while they lasted

paddle boat ride

jan and laurie

paddle boat ride at sunsetguy

guys at one table gals at another. love the way that works!

tom, phil, dave and todd

new big sky owner pete kasinskas sent us a shirt, hat and new garlic flavor

new recliner (free) installed at house

laurie checking out furniture while helping me spend money

free hutches!

chad, becky tom and i out for lunch, chads the blinds installer. 

hail hail the gang is all together and we got a picture for once. tom, roxi, phil, jo, dave , jan, beth, laurie and todd. Boo didnt want to smile for the pic

my one tomato from a 4 month growing process. worth it!

our welcome committee at the new house

a nice sunset in the park on evening

it did get cold. frost on truck 2 nights in a row, buurr

 Jan 21 2022

Dang near freezing to death here in florida! high of 50 today and will probably freeze tonight. brought my tender tomato plant in for a few days. been working to hard  get a few tomatoes off of it. i brought it as a tiny plant from my garden in chippewa. it has about 12 tomatoes on it. still picking up roadside garbage on the sidewalk going into town but only go out every 12 days or so. still amazed at how much garbage people throw out their car windows. 

we had the Webster gang over for a big fish fry last friday. so phil, jan, dave and jo joined us 5 for fish, laughs, giant Jenga and a few drinks. fortunately, the mosquitoes held off till nearly 6:30. yay for that. they are totally vicious down here. 

we welcomed Kolsyn James Rykal into our family on Jan 13. 6# 11oz. our first great grandson. whew, now i feel old! 

not much new on the house deal. but did take a few pictures the last time we were inside. waiting now for the electric to be re hooked up and make sure everything works.

we went to the crystal river manatee festival on a nice saturday. way too many people but i did have a lobster roll from one of the food trucks and it was divine! bought some organic mosquito spray that was supposed to keep them away, but for me i think it just attracts them to me. maybe they will freeze out tonight!

bathroom #2 at house

bedroom #2

2 shots of the LR

kitchen 

outside view

kolsyn james. proud mama breanna!

jo trying to not knock down giant jenga

oops laurie not so lucky

 Jan 8 2022

Another year in the books. now starting year 6 but i think we are at the end of our cross  country  travels. tom is anxious to buy something and after some searching in the area

beth with her gator  on the air boat ride

my bike and toms new electric bike

toms old bike which was stolen one night shortle after we arrived in Lake Pan

toms sibs and wives out to dinner and i guess we need to buy the next round.

my little tree for christmas

dinner one evening with some great friends

just a sample of the garbage i have picked up

beth and i getting framed for christmas!

old friends fred and sharon maxwell invited us to their wonderful christmas party. what a spread!

mama turle getting busy digging her hole for eggs

kevin, aprill and girls came to her parents for christmas and vera and fred invited us down for the day

airboat ride with kevins family

our 2021 year of travels

beth and laurie enjoyed the ride too

we all got to hold a 4 year old alligator after the ride

what a great looking group of women who like their wine at the wine tasting. fun fun day.

re-inactment in bushnell. troops vs seminole indians. indians won. all but one soldier died in battle

we have found something we agree on. which is not an easy task. it is in Inverness Fl in a mobile home park. a essentially new double wide that was only lived in 4 months and went into foreclosure after she died.  we will be doing a second look on monday. 

it was a relatively quiet month in dec. not a lot of action in the park here. we as a group, todd, beth, laurie, tom and i have made our own fun for the most part. tom has made a friend (keith) with a boat and they have gone fishing a number of times and caught some big croppies. they are delicious! we went to a reinactment of  florida troops vs indians in bushnell. very interesting. met up with some friends we made in alabama for a delicious dinner and bike ride. thanks gail and scott for a great day. a mama turtle laid some eggs just up the road from us so looking forward to the hatching at the end of march. i have been picking up a bunch of garbage every week on the sidewalk leading into Lake Panasoffkee. disgusting what the slobs throw out their car windows, so far well over 20 bags of garbage has been picked up and disposed of properly. kevin and family came for christmas. great to be with them for the holidays.