We're Still Here
Wauchula, FL - Events of Monday, November 5 to Monday, December 17, 2018
It's been so long since our last post many of you are probably wondering what happened to us. Well, we're still here. We've been busy; but it's been with mundane things, so we haven't had much to write about lately.
Some of the mundane things that keep us busy are committee meetings. Margery is head of the Public Relations Committee and Paul is chairman of the Landscape Committee. Not only do we have meetings of our own committees, but we both like to attend other meetings of other committees to see what is going on with things here at the Co-op like the budget, long-range planning, and proposed rule and bylaw changes. Because of her role as editor of the monthly newsletter, Margery attends even more meetings than Paul because she wants to stay on top of current events so she can report information in the newsletter more accurately.
In addition to meetings, Paul has been working with a group of volunteers at the Co-op who go out almost every morning to trim dead palm fronds from our many palm trees. The Co-op has well over 200 trees that need trimming every year, and it takes a month or more to get them all done.
Tree pruning at the Co-op
In addition to working on the newsletter, Margery also had a project to create a directory with members' names, email addresses, and phone numbers that was completed just a few days ago. Then there are the posters and signup sheets she makes for our many social events and activities.
About the only things outside the Co-op that we have had time for are errands. In the course of running errands, we do frequently make time to eat out. Our most frequently-visited restaurant is Dee's Place in Sebring. Stopping there for a late lunch has become almost a weekly event. We usually alternate between their delicious, half-pound hamburgers and their yummy Philly cheese steaks.
One of our errands several weeks ago took us to the Ellenton Outlet mall for Margery to get a pair of shoes at the SAS Shoe Store. It so happens Anna Maria Oyster Bar is right across the interstate from the mall, so we stopped at Anna Maria for lupper on the way home.
Anna Maria Oyster Bar
After using a coupon for a free onion straw appetizer we had gotten on a previous visit, Margery had a fried fish basket, and Paul had a fish and shrimp combo basket. We both had cole slaw and red potatoes for our sides. Everything was delish!
Margery with her fried fish basket
On one of our errands that took us to Sebring, we went back to Nutmeg's Cafe. We went there for the first time in late October with a group from the Co-op, and we loved it. Nutmeg's specializes in paninis that range in price from about $7 to $10. That price includes one side.
Nutmeg's Cafe
This time, Margery had a 3-cheese panini with bacon ($8.99), and Paul had a Ham & Pear Crisp panini ($9.25) with ham, pear slices, fontina cheese, and spiced butter. We both had cole slaw for our sides. Everything was yummy!
Paul with his Ham & Pear panini
On another occasion, friends from the Co-op took us to dinner at a restaurant in Punta Gorda called Visani's as a thank you because Paul fertilized their palm trees several times while they were gone over the summer.
Visani Restaurant
Visani's is a dinner theater, but we went for dinner only in the small dining room they have that is separate from the dinner theater. We all had Bacon Gorgonzola Sirloin, which was a melt-in-your-mouth sirloin served with mushrooms, bacon, and Gorgonzola cheese. It was one of the best steaks we have had anywhere. The dinner was accompanied by garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus, which were also yummy. Not only was the food delicious, but we had such a great time with our friends we forgot to take photos inside the restaurant.
The crew that does the tree pruning took one Friday off recently because a number of the guys weren't going to be there. That left Paul with some free time, so he did some puttering outside the park model and in the shed. Although Margery had signup sheets and posters for the Co-op to work on, the deadlines were pretty far off. Therefore, since neither of us had anything pressing to do, we decided to go out to eat later in the afternoon. We were both hungry for seafood, so we went back to Anna Maria Oyster Bar in Ellenton.
This time, we both had fried clam strips with cole slaw and red potatoes for our sides. As you can see from the photo below, Margery was wearing 3/4-length sleeves indicating the weather was a little cooler than when we went to Anna Maria's a few weeks prior. However, the temperature was still in the 70s; and although it felt a little cool to us, we still ate outside.
Margery with her fried clam strip basket
We previously mentioned that a group from the Co-op goes to lunch together once a month. For December, we went with the group to Jimmy's Greek American Grill in Sebring. We love the gyros at Jimmy's, so that's what we both had. We also had lots of good conversation and lots of laughter. Jimmy's usually isn't very crowded between 1 and 4 p.m., and it's a good thing because we just about took over the whole place.
Our group at Jimmy's
So that's about all we have to report for now. Our next post probably won't be until sometime in January, so we would like to take this opportunity to wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
