Living Our Dream

Keeping Busy

Wauchula, FL - Events of Monday, February 5 to Friday, February 23, 2018

We sure have been busy during February. For one thing, the Co-op has its annual meeting in February. Not only does the meeting normally take all day, but there is there a lot of planning that has to be done in advance like the preparation of committee reports, lining up a slate of new candidates for election to the Board of Directors, preparation of proposed rule and bylaw changes, and notification of all members of all the items to be voted on at the meeting. Fortunately, we were only involved in the preparation of the reports for our respective committees and attending a number of meetings to see what rule and bylaw changes were being proposed, but that was enough with everything else we were doing.

Margery has the ongoing responsibility of gathering information and writing the monthly newsletter. She is also co-chair of the Public Relations Committee, and that committee has to interface with many other committees in order to do its work effectively so that means she needs to attend even more meetings.

Paul has been working on a project with the Landscape Committee to rid our retention pond of all the overgrown brush and weeds that surround it. Last December, he sprayed the entire perimeter of the pond with a potent vegetation killer. He began pulling out the dead brush in January, and the work parties he has been heading up down at the pond once or twice a week have the banks about 2/3 cleared. That means more work parties need to be scheduled soon if the work is going to be done before the majority of the people leave the Co-op. The next two photos will give you an idea of what the banks of the pond looked like before and after removal of the weeds.

Weeds and brush along the banks of the pond

View of an area of the pond where the brush and weeds have been removed

Another project that has been keeping Paul busy is building a platform bed for the park model. As we mentioned when we wrote about buying a park model, we decided not to purchase the furniture package offered by the selling dealer because we had some specific things in mind we wanted for furniture. One of those things was a platform bed like those in most RVs where there is storage underneath.

Paul began working on the design for the bed shortly after we ordered the park model, but he only got the wood and started building the bed a couple of weeks ago. The next photo shows Paul cutting one of the side pieces for the platform.

Paul working on the platform bed for the park model

Because of all our other activities, Paul has been doing a little work here on the bed and a little there so it's a long way from being finished. We'll have more detailed info and photos when it's done.

In between all the meetings and projects, we still found time to eat out several times. We had lunch at Dee's Place in Sebring one day while out running errands. We each had one of their delicious half-pound burgers.

In order to avoid the Valentine's Day rush, we went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse in Bradenton on February 13th. We both had their 6-ounce sirloin Early Bird Special with a salad and mashed potatoes as our sides. Yum!

We were out running errands in Sebring on Valentine's Day and got unexpectedly delayed. It was around 4:00 and late enough to make it difficult for Margery to have time to prepare dinner when we got back to the Co-op and early enough to beat the Valentine's Day dinner rush so we decided to stop at a new-to-us restaurant on the south side of Sebring called Don Jose. Don Jose has been on our list of restaurants to try because gets excellent online reviews.

Don Jose

Don Jose is an upscale Mexican restaurant. Their decor is a cut above the typical sombreros and serapes hung on the wall and plastic cacti. Outside, there is an alcove with a fountain and attractive container plantings.

Alcove with a fountain and container plantings

Inside, there are tile floors and brightly-colored chairs with different designs carved on the backs.

Brightly-colored chairs with carved designs

Sebring surrounds 3,200-acre Lake Jackson, and Don Jose is located right along the southern shore. It was early enough that we were easily able to get a table with a water view, but the place sure filled up by the time we were finished with our dinners.

Dinners at Don Jose range in price from about $10 to $14. Margery had a chicken chimichanga, and Paul had chili rellenos stuffed with chicken and cheese. Everything was delish!

Paul with his chili rellenos

So that's what's been keeping us busy for the past few weeks. Stay tuned for our next update.

Site Project: Enlarge Concrete Patio

Wauchula, FL - Events of Monday, January 29 to Saturday, February 3, 2018

Because our new park model will be wider than the 5th wheel, we wanted to add a little more concrete at the front of the patio so we don't have to walk on the grass when walking from the driveway to the patio. Also, a little bit of the rear corner of the park model will extend past the edge of the existing concrete, so we decided we might as well fill in a 2-foot wide strip at the back of the patio while we were at it.

Because the Co-op is located in a fairly rural area, we had a hard time finding a contractor last year when we wanted to enlarge the driveway and parking pad. This new job was even smaller so we knew we wouldn't be able to even get a quote unless we could join with someone else in the Co-op who had a much larger job. We didn't know of anyone else who was planning any concrete work so Paul decided to do the job himself, especially since the Co-op had recently purchased a cement mixer he could borrow. On the Monday after Cracker Capers that we wrote about in our last post, Paul started to dig out the areas where we wanted to pave so he could put in the forms.

Paul installing the form for the new concrete at the back of the patio

Paul borrowed the Co-op's tractor to haul away the sod and dirt he removed. He was careful to level the bottom of the holes to the desired depth of 4 inches. Too shallow meant the concrete might not be strong enough, and too deep meant he might run out of concrete mix before the job was done.

Leveling the bottom of the hole at the front of the patio

After finishing digging, hauling away dirt, building the forms, and installing rebar rods to tie the new concrete to the existing patio, Paul ran to the hardware in Wauchula on Tuesday afternoon to pick up 40-pound bags of concrete mix. The 40-pound bags at the hardware were actually more expensive than the 60-pound bags at Lowe's and Home Depot; but Lowe's and Home Depot don't carry 40-pound bags. Buying the concrete mix in 40-pound bags cost a little more, but it was worth it to Paul because he knew he probably wouldn't be able to lift that many 60-pound bags.

Paul borrowed the Co-op's cement mixer and got to work early on Wednesday morning. He was planning to do all the work himself pouring the front section on the first day and the back section on the second day, but when Paul was mixing his third batch of concrete, our neighbor from across the street showed up and just started asking what he could do to help. Pretty soon, another neighbor showed up and started pitching in, too.

The guys waiting for the next batch to finish mixing

Gotta love the willingness of RVers in general and of Escapees in particular to lend a helping hand. Although Paul was originally planning to do all the work himself, he's really glad the two helpers volunteered because all the concrete for both areas was mixed and poured, and the cement mixer and most of the tools were all cleaned up before lunch. Paul spent the rest of the afternoon doing the final finishing, doing the final cleanup, and then returning the cement mixer and other borrowed tools.

Paul using the edging tool

Paul knew mixing and pouring concrete would be hard work, but it was even harder than he anticipated. He was pretty tired by the end of the day, but not nearly as tired as he would have been if he had done all the work by himself as planned. Not only that, but the job was done in only one day instead of two. He is really grateful for the help. Next time, he knows to ask for help in advance if there are more than just a few bags to mix.

By last Friday, Margery had gotten over the flu and was almost back to her old self (except for a lingering cough) so we went out to Avon Park and Sebring in the late morning to do a little furniture shopping. We found a chair for the living room on sale at Turner Furniture in Sebring so we placed an order. When the chair comes in, Turner will store it for us until the park model arrives.

We stopped at Dee's Place in Sebring for a late lunch after furniture shopping. We each had one of their delicious Philly cheese steak sandwiches. Yum!

On Saturday, Paul removed the forms from the new concrete and filled in the dirt around the edges. The next photo shows the new section in the front.

Completed front section

So that brings you up to date on our recent activities. See you next time.

Cracker Capers 

Wauchula, FL - Events of Monday, January 22 to Sunday, January 28, 2018 

Although Margery is still attending lots of meetings here at the Co-op, meetings have become somewhat less frequent for Paul because he and other members of the Landscape Committee are now working on things that were planned in the earlier meetings like the planting of shrubs and palm trees that we wrote about in our last post. With the planting done, he and other volunteers now have to spend time watering the new plantings every couple of days since winter is the dry season here in Florida.

With our busy schedules, we are both getting up pretty early. On one of those early mornings, Paul saw an unusually colorful bird outside the window of our 5th wheel  He was able to capture a photo of a painted bunting so we thought we would share it to help brighten your day.

Painted bunting

Cracker Capers is an annual event at the Co-op. It was kicked off in the morning of Wednesday, January 24, with a program entitled, "What is a Cracker?" The annual spaghetti dinner was held that evening followed by dancing to live music. There were outdoor games on Thursday morning and evening games of Tripoli, Left-Center-Right, Crazy Joker and horse racing. Awards for the winners of the outdoor games were given at 1:00 on Friday followed by an auction of donated food and baked goods. There was a big yard sale on Saturday, and the whole event was brought to a close by bingo on Sunday evening.

Cracker Capers gets its name from the fact the Co-op is located right on the old Cracker Trail, which runs east and west across the center of Florida and which was used in the 1800s to drive cattle to ports on both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. In Florida, cowboys were called cow hunters, and they were also called Crackers because of the cracks of their whips as they drove cattle.

Unfortunately, neither of us was feeling well so we missed much of Cracker Capers. Paul was fighting a cold, and Margery came down with the flu on the Monday before Cracker Capers in spite of the fact both of us had gotten flu shots. It was in the evening when Margery realized the symptoms she was experiencing (stuffy nose, sore throat, dry cough, accompanied by chills and body aches) weren't from just an ordinary cold she so we went to the emergency room at the new Wauchula Hospital where she got a prescription for Tamiflu. Tamiflu doesn't necessarily cure the flu, but it will lessen the severity of the symptoms, and it may shorten the duration by a few days. The big advantage to taking Tamiflu is you will no longer be contagious after about 48 hours.

Margery slept most of the day on Thursday, but Paul felt well enough to go out for a short while to watch some of the games. Just like last year, there was corn hole and shuffleboard.

Corn hole

Shuffleboard

This year, we had a new game at Cracker Capers - pickleball. Early last fall, one of our members got permission to clean up part of an old parking lot up in Wauchula that belonged to the city and paint lines for pickle ball. Response to pickle ball games held every Wednesday 10 minutes away in Wauchula was good, but not great so the member decided to bring the game to the Co-op for Cracker Capers with a temporary setup on one of the Co-op streets. The response was much more enthusiastic so we think there might be pickle ball court(s) in the Co-op's future.

Pickle ball

Since Margery was no longer contagious and since she felt a little better on Friday, we decided to go the food auction. Last year, we made smoked mac and cheese for the auction. Paul does the smoking, but Margery does all advance prep work and she just didn't feel up to it this year. All proceeds from the auction go to support Co-op activities so everyone is always very generous with their bids. Last year, our mac and cheese sold for $20.

Food auction

Even though Margery felt pretty chipper on Friday morning, she was really wiped out after spending two hours just sitting at the auction. She went back to the rig to rest after the auction while Paul stayed to help set up for the yard sale the next day. All year long, the yard sale team accumulates, cleans up, and stores used items donated by members. The sale is publicized with posters throughout the Wauchula area, and it draws a surprisingly large crowd on the day of the sale.

Although Margery still had a lingering cough, she finally started to feel a good bit better by Monday. That was a good thing because with Cracker Capers over she needed to get started on the next round of event posters and sign-up sheets. She also had a looming February 1 deadline for the Co-op newsletter, and we're happy to report she did get the newsletter published on time in spite of having had the flu.

Meanwhile, Paul got started on a project he had been planning ever since we ordered the new park model. We'll tell you about it in our next post.