Christmas, our 46th Wedding Anniversay & the end of 2013

Monday of last week (Dec. 23) we drove back up to Melbourne to Mary Lynn's (Mike's cousin) house to finish up a couple of repairs that we said we would help her with. While I painted a place on the back wall of the house that had been repaired but not painted, Mike cut away part of a concrete walk that was blocking the side door of the garage (the door opened outward).

Mary Lynn went back home last week, so we packed up the air mattress and linens and folding chair that we had brought for her to use while she stayed in the house.

Christmas Eve we went across the street to our neighbors Tom and Kay's for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. The other neighbors there were Bruce and Jane (next door to us) and Barb and Bill (across the street from us). We had a very enjoyable evening and are glad we have such great neighbors.

Christmas Day we drove over to Kissimmee to spend Christmas with my brother and family. Unlike last Thanksgiving when we were visiting with them, we DID take photos of our family gathering.

From December 2013

Friday we drove down to Sears in Vero Beach and bought a queen mattress set and bed frame for one of our guest rooms. The mattresses and box springs are so tall any more, that we opted for

Mary Lynn's Visit

Last Monday evening Mike's cousin from California flew to Orlando, picked up her rental car and drove to our house. Her plane got in later than scheduled, so it was almost 1 a.m. Tuesday morning when Mary Lynn got here.

Tuesday morning Mike and I had an appointment at our doctor's office for routine blood work and by the time we got back home, Mary Lynn was up. We had a quick breakfast before heading up to Melbourne. Mike rode with Mary Lynn in her rental car and I followed them in our car with Tinker. We drove over to A1A and then north to Mary Lynn's property on the Atlantic Ocean a few miles north of Sebastian Inlet. After looking at the vacant lot and ocean view, we drove north to Melbourne to her rental house on the Indian River.

From December 2013

Her house is on the Indian River and the views from her house are great.

Visit to the Dentist; Mexican Restaurant

Last week we went to our new dentist here in Sebastian. We had found out that the grandson of Mike's childhood dentist in Lake Worth had an office here in town. I had downloaded their new patient forms from their website, so we already had the paperwork already filled out when we went in for our first appointment. We had X-rays taken and a complete dental exam. Dr. Patrick Pirkle is in his late 30's and we are pleased with our choice of dentist.

We went out for lunch after our dental appointment and had lunch at the Sandwich Shack here in Sebastian. I had their turkey and avocado wrap and Mike had the Philly Steak which are our favorite sandwiches there.

Last Saturday we drove up to Melbourne to do some shopping. We have been looking for a good Mexican restaurant and I found one in Melbourne on the internet that had some good reviews. We left Sebastian and drove north on US-1 to Melbourne and got to the restaurant in time for lunch. El Indio Mexican Restaurant is in an old gas station building and seats about 50 people. We both ordered the burrito supreme with ground beef. The salsa was spicy and the burritos were very good. We'll definitely go back - just wish it wasn't 25 miles away.

After lunch we did some shopping at Harbor Freight, Home Depot and Old Time Pottery. We stopped at the Dairy Queen in Sebastian for a couple of peanut butter cup Blizzards before going home.

Dead Car Battery, Lots of Rain & Thanksgiving

Since we went to the Navy Seal Muster earlier this month, we've had a quiet month.

One morning I got in the car to go out shopping and the battery was dead! Mike tried charging the battery with our charger, but the battery wouldn't hold the charge for very long. After charging the battery again, Mike went over to WalMart to buy a new battery. According to our paperwork on the old battery, it was out of warranty. WalMart honored the warranty and we got a good price on a new battery.

On the 21st we had a LOT of rain - 4½"! A good day to stay inside - the grass and plants liked all of the rain.

Fletcher drove up from Ft. Lauderdale the day before Thanksgiving to spend a couple of days with us. He brought Vala (his rat terrier) and Doug's 2 dogs since Doug was spending Thanksgiving with his family.

Thanksgiving Day we drove over to my brother's house in Kissimmee for dinner. My nephew David and my niece Kathy, her husband Doug and their 3 sons Joshua, Benjamin and Matthew were there, so that made 11 of us for dinner.

We had a great time visiting and eating the turkey dinner with all of the trimmings. Elaine had made her fruitcake (this fruitcake is moist and tastes great) and I had brought an apple cobbler for dessert. I had mentioned that we had a good time visiting with everyone - it was such a good time that we

2013 Navy Seal Muster at the Navy Seal Museum

We left the house this morning a little after 9:00 and drove 25 miles south to attend the 28th Annual Navy Seal Muster and Music Festival at the National Navy UDT-Seal Museum on North Hutchinson Island at Fort Pierce. We parked a few blocks away and were seated in the bleachers by 10:00.

The ceremonies started at 11:00 with the SEAL Parachute Team "dropping in"

From 28th Annual Navy Seal Muster

followed by the American Rogues Celtic Band and the Honor Guard.

From 28th Annual Navy Seal Muster

The guest speakers were Medal of Honor recipients lieutenants Tom Norris and Michael Thornton, Congressman Patrick Murphy, H. Ross Perot and the Keynote Speaker was Adm. William H. McRaven, Commander USSOCOM (US Special Operations Command).

After the speeches the St. Lucie County Sheriff's K-9 unit put on an impressive demonstration.

That was followed by a SEAL sniper demonstration

Home & Garden Show and Halloween

On Sunday October 20th we drove down to the Port St. Lucie Civic Center to go to the Treasure Coast Home and Garden Show. We stopped at several vendor booths to look at their products and pick up copies of their brochures. We saw a garage door screen that retracts up instead of sliding to one side (keep that in mind for later), cleaning products, windows, hurricane shutters and home insulation products. After the home show, we stopped at the Perkins restaurant near the civic center for lunch.

We called American Home Base to cancel our mail service with them before it was time to pay for another year. All of our mail went to them and they would send us our mail when we called and gave them an address where we were staying. We had been paying $162 a year (cheaper than paying the fee monthly) for their service. Because our mail has been going to a mail service, we can't put in a change of address form with the Post Office. We were told that they would forward our mail once a month for 6 months and the fee would be $20 to cover the cost of postage.

This last Wednesday was Fletcher's 44th birthday! It's hard to believe that

"Gravity" the movie & Vero Beach British Bash

Last week Mike took down the old ceiling fan in the family room and put up the new one we bought in Vero Beach. I took a photo of Mike on the ladder getting ready to put up the new ceiling fan.

From October Photos

We went to the movie theater in the Indian River Mall in Vero Beach last week to see the movie "Gravity" with George Clooney and Sandra Bullock. We really enjoyed the movie and it kept us on the edge of our seats. After the movie we stopped at Dairy Queen for a couple of Reese's Peanut Cup Blizzards - our favorite.

We didn't do much of any interest this week unless you call grocery shopping, doing laundry and housecleaning interesting - necessary but not newsworthy.

This morning we drove down to Vero Beach to go to the British Bash at Riverside Park. British Bash is a British car and motorcycle show sponsored by the MG Car Club Florida.

Most of the cars and motorcycles were parked

Vero Beach Air Show

Today was the first day of the Vero Beach Air Show at the Vero Beach Airport. We loaded up a couple of folding chairs and headed down to the airport. I had bought our tickets a couple of days ago online ($31.96 for both of us), so we wouldn't have to buy our tickets at the gate. We didn't pay the extra fee for VIP parking, so we had about a 2 block walk to the entrance to the airport. The last time there was an air show at Vero Beach was 16 years ago.

After showing our tickets at the entrance and having our hands stamped, we found a good spot to set up our chairs and to wait for the air show to start.

From Vero Beach Air Show 2013

Unfortunately there were no military aircraft displays and the Army's Golden Knights and the Navy's F/A-18 Tactical Demonstration Team were unable to make the show due to the sequestration.

But we saw a lot of great performers doing low-level stunt flying,

From Vero Beach Air Show 2013

a Piper Cub landing on top of a pickup truck

From Vero Beach Air Show 2013

to the aerobatics

Fletcher's Visit & Move back to Ft. Lauderdale

Sunday we went to Squid Lips Grill here in Sebastian for a late lunch.

From October Photos

We had a great view of the docks and river from our table and there was a nice easterly breeze off of the river.

From October Photos

I ordered the Citrus Salmon dinner and Mike had the H20 Burger. Our bill came to $37 (including 3 draft beers), but we had a coupon for 1 free entrée so our bill came to $21. Both of our dinners were great and the food was presented well.

Monday we had our friends Cindi and Ron over for dinner. We hadn't seen them in months and we enjoyed hearing about the camping trips they had been on this summer.

Our BIG NEWS is that Fletcher decided to move back to Ft. Lauderdale

September Update

We have a Cullligan Reverse Osmosis (RO) system in the kitchen and we had it checked out by Culligan not too long after we moved into the house. According to the paperwork we have from the original home owners, a new system was installed in the mid-90's. The serviceman from Culligan said he could put a new RO system in for about $600 and to replace the filters (which are proprietary) it would be $300! We decided to use the old RO system for a while.

Well, the "for a while" was up this month. Last week Mike ordered a new RO system from Air, Water & Ice for just under $200 (a much better price) and this system has a pump that that increases the water pressure for the ice maker in the refrigerator and water dispenser (the old Culligan system didn't have a pump). Mike installed our new RO system and the water tastes great and it's nice to have the increased water pressure for the refrigerator.

This last Sunday we met Christine, Nancy and Bill at J.P. Matty's here in Sebastian for breakfast and caught up with each other's news. It had been about 2 months since we last got together.

Monday Mike and I went to our doctor's office for our follow-up appointment after our blood work.. While we were at the doctor's office, the thunderstorms that were forecast for the area arrived and did it ever rain! We had 3" of rain that day!!

Tuesday the 24th was my birthday and we went to Mulligan's here in Sebastian to celebrate. Our real estate agent Jeanne had given us a $30 gift card for Mulligan's and we hadn't used

Taking a break from painting

After we painted the living room, dining room, entry way and family room/kitchen, we decided to take a break from painting before starting on the office and the 3 bedrooms.

The last couple of weeks we've just been busy with normal everyday domestic stuff. Last week we had dinner at the Ay! Jalisco Mexican Café here in Sebastian. We ordered the Queso Dip and decided to try their beef and chicken combination Fajitas for two. The fajitas were pretty good, however they weren't sizzling on the skillet when they were served. We really miss our favorite Mexican restaurant Mexican Connection in Dothan!

Last week our doctor's office had a patient appreciation pizza lunch at one of the pavilions at Riverview Park here in Sebastian. Mike and I went and met some of the medical staff and Dr. Cheryl Winchell. We have only had blood work done and haven't seen Dr. Winchell yet. We sat with a nice couple from Fellsmere and visited while we ate lunch. The husband is retired but works sometimes as house painter and gave us some good information about painting the stucco on our house (next year we plan to paint the outside of our house).

Today we drove down to the Humane Society's adoption center where they were having a sale on items they had brought in from their thrift stores in Sebastian and Vero Beach. I bought a few books at the sale and then we went into the adoption center and looked at the

New Kitchen Sink & Faucets Installed

Since my last post we've bought a new kitchen faucet and new faucet for the RO (reverse osmosis) system. Mike set the kitchen sink on some concrete blocks in the family room and installed the new faucets.

From House Painting

Did I mention that the sink is cast iron and HEAVY? We called our neighbor Bruce and he and Jane came over. Bruce helped Mike lift the sink and set it in the counter top. I made coffee for everyone and we had a nice visit with Jane and Bruce.
 

From House Painting

Last Saturday we went to the Indian River Fairgrounds to the Vero Beach Outdoor Expo. After paying the $7 (each) admission fee, we walked around looking at the exhibits and different vendors. The special guest was John Godwin from Duck Dynasty. The line for

New Patio Table Set, Lunch at Earl's Hideaway & New Kitchen Sink

We've been busy the last couple of weeks. We painted the family room and kitchen. We're glad that we changed the paint color from the Cappuccino to the Dove White for the family room and kitchen. The lighter color really brightened the rooms up.

We decided to replace the kitchen cabinet door knobs. Mike and I have both "caught" our fingers on the door knobs (there wasn't much space between the knobs and the cabinet doors) and since we both have arthritis in our hands, it really hurt! We found some knobs at Lowe's in Vero Beach that would coordinate with the drawer pulls we had in the kitchen. I put on the new knobs and it's great not to have to worry about catching a finger in them.

Earlier this summer we had seen a glass-top patio table and 4 chairs at Home Depot here in Sebastian that we really liked and it went on sale earlier this month. They only had one and it was the floor model and we bought it. Mike called our neighbor Bruce and asked if he could come in his truck and help us get the table and chairs home. We loaded the table and a couple of chairs in Bruce's truck and were able to get 2 chairs in the Vue. After unloading

Still painting & solved odd electrical problem

We've finished painting the entry

From House Painting

and have started painting the family room. We had planned on painting the family room with the Cappuccino color. After we painted one wall, we decided that the family room still seemed dark even though the paint we were using was lighter than what was already on the walls. So we painted a small area with the Dove White paint and it really lightened up the room.

From House Painting

Last Thursday afternoon we had a thunderstorm blow through here and after it was over I

Our Water Problem is Finally Fixed

Sunday morning Mike was able to get the water pump primed and we could use our own water! I had been holding off on doing laundry since we were hooked up to our neighbor's water supply, so I spent Sunday afternoon doing laundry. But by Sunday evening we started having problems again and Mike turned the pump off.

Monday afternoon we decided that the reason the pump wasn't holding the water pressure was because the spin down filter was installed before the pump and needed to be installed between the pump and the water tank. So Mike made a trip to Home Depot to get the fittings that he needed to move the spin down filter.

Mike took the day off from plumbing on Tuesday and mowed the yard. Mike talked with Bruce (our neighbor) and he suggested that we could also be

Painting Inside the house & the new Water Tank is delivered

We've spent this week painting the inside of the house. Tuesday and Wednesday we painted the living room.

From House Painting

Wednesday afternoon we painted the dining room. First we had to tape around the mirrors on the dining room wall. We really like the mirrors, but as you can see by this photo it was a job to tape them.

From House Painting

Thursday we painted the baseboards and door trims in the living room and dining room. The Cappuccino White really lightened up the rooms.

From House Painting

Friday Mike painted the front entry in Dove White. Then late on Friday

No Water - Well Water Tank Failed

Late last night Mike noticed that our water pump kept cycling off and on. He went out to check it and when he put his hand on the pump it was hot, so he turned the pump off.

This morning after breakfast Mike turned the water pump back on and it was still cycling on and off. Mike checked the pump, the water softener and the well water tank and finally decided that we would need to replace the water tank because it isn't maintaining the air charge. We definitely don't want the new water pump to overheat since we've only had it a couple of months.

So we started researching water tanks on Home Depot and Lowe's websites and decided

Picking out new paint colors

Monday we went to Home Depot and bought paint samples of interior paint. When we had lunch at our neighbor's (Lilly & Terry) house last month, we admired the color they had painted the interior of their house. They told us the color was called Cappuccino by Glidden. So we got a couple of sample jars of Cappuccino to test in the different rooms in our house.

We've decided that we're going to paint the living room, dining room, and the family room & kitchen. So on Tuesday we took the sample paint and

Trip to Ft. Lauderdale to Pick up Furniture

Wednesday morning we packed a suitcase, packed up Tinker's food, bowls & toys and loaded up the car and then drove to Acorn Mini Storage here in Sebastian to pick up the U-Haul trailer Mike had reserved. After getting the trailer we drove south on I-95 to Ft. Lauderdale to our friend's house in Wilton Manors. On the way down we stopped at a McDonald's for a quick lunch.

We arrived at Doug's house about 2:30. It was good to see Doug again and we quickly got settled in our room for the next couple of nights. We are here to pick up a couple of curio cabinets and other furniture that Fletcher took when we sold our house in Dothan in 2006. Fletcher left the furniture here when he moved up to Washington D.C. We spent the afternoon visiting with Doug and packing up the items in one the curio cabinets. 

From June 2013

Then later that evening Doug took us out to dinner at Rosie's Bar & Grill.

Thursday morning Doug, Mike and I went to The Original House of Pancakes for a late breakfast. We went back to Doug's house and finished

Sue's Family Visits for Lunch

Yesterday Cyril & Elaine (my brother and sister-in-law) drove over from Kissimmee and brought my cousin, Frances, and her husband Jack with them. Frances and Jack are down here from Illinois and spending a few days in Orlando at their timeshare.

This is the first time Cyril & Elaine have been to see our new house and it was great to see Frances and Jack again. They got here about 10:30 and after giving them a "tour" of our house, we all sat down to have lunch.

We continued our visit after lunch for a while before it was time for everyone to leave and make the 80 mile drive back to Kissimmee. Frances said she and Jack are planning to come back to Florida in January and we're looking forward to seeing them then.

From June 2013

Of course no visit with family is not complete until we take a family photo.

Today we had a Florida Power & Light rep come by and look at our oak

New Solar Screens Installed on Florida Room

Tuesday morning Mike & I went to WellMed for our follow-up appointment after the lab work we had done last week. When I made our appointments I was told that the doctor was on vacation and that we would be seeing the Physician's Assistant Joe today. Mike & I go back in 3 months and see our new doctor Cheryl Winchell then.

Thursday Chuck from B&C Cool Sun Screens called and said he could come at 8:00 Saturday morning to install the screens on our Florida room.

Mike and I got up earlier than usual this morning since Chuck said he would be here a little before 8:00. Chuck was on time and it took him and his assistant about 2 hours to remove the old screens and install the new solar screens. Chuck had already cut the screens before coming here, so that sped up the installation. We had also had a replacement screen made for the Florida room door since the old one was in bad shape.

We could definitely tell a difference this afternoon in the temperature in the Florida room after the solar screens were in. It is still too hot to sit out on the Florida room in the afternoon, but the solar screens are a big help. Now we just need to decide what shade tree or trees we to plant in order to block out the afternoon sun so we can eventually enjoy the Florida room.

Lunch with the neighbors & a Weekly Update

Monday the Generac generator Mike had ordered online last week was delivered. Hopefully we won't need to use it any time soon, but it's nice to know it's here if we need it.

Wednesday morning we went to WellMed at 8:00 to have lab work done before we see our new doctor next week. Since we had to fast before our blood tests, we were definitely hungry and decided to try Southern Sisters Cafe here in Sebastian for breakfast. Mike ordered pancakes and sausage and I had eggs, bacon, grits and toast.

Thursday morning we took Tinker to Canine Design to be groomed and Diane did a great job. I drove down to Vero Beach that afternoon and while I was gone our next door neighbor, Lilly, came over and invited us over for

Rain from tropical storm Andrea & Hurricane Preparedness Show

Tropical Storm Andrea came ashore in the Big Bend area of Florida on Thursday and even though the storm went north of Sebastian we had quite a bit of rain and wind from it. We got 3¼" of rain out of the storm and no damage. With all of the rain we got from Andrea we were glad we had the rain gutters installed.

Today we drove down to Vero Beach to attend the Hurricane Preparedness and Home Show at the Indian River Mall. There were a lot of vendors showing their products - storm shutters, rain gutters, generators, solar screens, windows, garage doors just to name a few.

We talked with Chuck at B&C Cool Sun Screens and signed up to have him come to the house and measure the screens on our Florida room. The room faces west and gets really hot in the afternoons and the solar screens would be a help.

We left the Home Preparedness Show with brochures from several of the vendors and stopped at Olive Garden for lunch. After lunch we did some shopping at Home Goods and went out to the Vero Beach Outlet mall before going back home.

Star Trek movie & Generator for the house

Tuesday we called American Home Base to have our mail forwarded to us. We've been putting in change of addresses for our bills and the few magazines that we subscribe to, but we still get some mail at our Pensacola address.

We also went to the Indian River County office here in Sebastian on Tuesday to change our address on our vehicle registrations. We somehow forgot about that when we updated our licenses earlier this year.

Wednesday afternoon we drove down to Vero Beach to see the movie Star Trek Into Darkness in 3D at the Indian River Mall to take advantage of the matinee price of $7.50 each. As we are big fans of Star Trek (movies & TV) we really enjoyed the movie.

Thursday Mike ordered a Generac 7500 watt generator on line to have for the house. We do have a generator in the RV, but the way it is wired into the RV with the energy management system won't allow us to connect it to the house.

We've decided to cancel our Thousand Trails membership since we won't be traveling for a while and the dues are $499 (they do cover 30 days' camping fees) and today I made the last monthly payment for the 2012-2013 dues.

Elliott Museum & Sikorsky X2 Helicopter

Earlier this month we had seen an article in our local newspaper about the Sikorsky X2, the world's fastest helicopter, being on display this week at the Elliott Museum in Stuart.

From Elliott Museum

The museum also has Leonardo daVinci's Machines in Motion on display and it has 40 operational actual-size working machines made from daVinci's drawings.

We left the house this morning at 9:30 and drove south on US-1 to Ft. Pierce to A1A and then south to the Elliott Museum on Hutchinson Island - a trip of 48 miles. We arrived at the Elliott Museum a little after 10:40 and paid $20 (senior rate for 2) admission.

Just inside the museum entrance was a display of bicycles and machines invented by Sterling Elliott (the museum is named for him and his son Harmon). Among many of Sterling Elliott's inventions was a bicycle designed for women and the egg carton just to name a few.

From Elliott Museum

Our next stop was at the Machines in Motion exhibit which is a traveling exhibit and has been at the Elliott Museum since March. It was great to see

Our First Rain with the New Gutters & Photos of our Roses

Monday we finally got our wish and had a really heavy rain - 1.3". Our new rain gutters worked great, but we found out that we need a few plastic extenders for the gutter downspouts.

Tuesday we went to Capital Cabinets to pick up the new countertop for the guest bath - it looks great and wasn't too expensive - $65. We also stopped by Home Depot and bought a few extenders for our gutters.

Wednesday Mike installed the new countertop, sink and faucet in the guest bathroom - they look great.

We have a couple of rose bushes in our back yard growing on an arbor and one of the roses has been blooming. I cut a couple of the roses and put them in a small creamer we had.

From Sebastian

I also took a photo of the rose bush and thought I would include them in today's post.

From Sebastian

From Sebastian

Upgraded Dish service, New Rain Gutters & Lunch at Meg O'Malley's

This past week has been a busy one for us. Monday I called Dish Network and checked on upgrading our service to HD since we now have a TV that can show HD channels. We had bought the satellite dish and receiver that we have used in the RV, but we can't get HD channels with that set-up.

I found out we can get a new satellite dish and the Hopper with DVR and upgrade to HD channels for only $10 more a month. We're paying $10 a month for the Hopper/DVR and by signing up for Dish's autopay we get HD for Life (HD is normally $10 a month). We signed up for the upgrade and had our new Dish equipment installed this Thursday. We're enjoying watching our shows in HD - even with our new HD TV the reception with our old set-up just wasn't crisp and clear enough.

Tuesday morning All-Pro Gutters came out and installed our new rain

Estimates for Rain Gutters

Monday we decided to have dinner at one of the many restaurants here in Sebastian and we decided on Sandy's Grill. I ordered the Reuben and Mike ordered a hamburger and we both had a couple of beers.

We had our next-door neighbor's yard man trim some of the low-hanging tree limbs on our oak trees last Tuesday.

We called a couple of rain gutter companies and had them come out and give us a quote on having rain gutters installed. The quotes were only about $100 apart and we selected All-Pro Gutters to do the work even though they were the higher of the 2 quotes. The owner of the company showed us the actual gutters they install and explained in detail the gutter installation. He said they should be able to install our gutters next week.

We're looking forward to having the rain gutters installed because when we have a heavy rain the water just pools in the front of the house against the dining room wall. When we had the house inspected before the sale, the inspector said his moisture meter registered a damp area along the front wall of the dining room.

Mike added to our inventory of yard tools and bought a leaf blower at Home Depot yesterday.

Landscaping Ideas and New Sinks Ordered

Last weekend we stopped by Shady Grove Nursery here in Sebastian to get some ideas of plants for our flowerbeds. Before we left the nursery we signed up to have one of the staff come over to our house and give us some suggestions about our flowerbeds.

Last Tuesday afternoon a couple of men from Shady Grove Nursery came to the house and we walked around the yard discussing the types of plants that are in our flowerbeds. They pointed out some plants that needed to be moved and which ones are invasive and needed to be removed. Their told us since we don't want to keep a majority of the existing flowers that it would be best to just dig everything out and start over - which is what we will eventually do.

This morning we ordered 2 lavatories and 1 faucet from Lowe's - a lavatory for the second bathroom (we already have the faucet) and a second sink and faucet for the master bath.

We didn't do much else this past week except work around the house some.

Fixing Bedroom Window

We have an arched window in our bedroom and every morning the sun shining in the window wakes us up - usually a lot earlier than we want to get up. So on one of our many trips to Home Depot we saw some decorative window film and found a design that we really liked.

Yesterday we made patterns of the window panes and cut the window film and applied to our bedroom window. It doesn't totally block out the sun in the early morning, but it does reduce the brightness and it gives the window a stained-glass appearance.

From Sebastian

We met our friends Christine and Carol at JP Matty's for breakfast yesterday morning. We had a great breakfast and enjoyed catching up on each other's news.

A few years ago I bought a Nook Color reader and have enjoyed reading

Dinner at Ay! Jalisco, new Comcast DSL Service & ordered custom shades

Last Saturday we went to Ay! Jalisco in Sebastian for dinner. Mike had the Asada Burrito
and I ordered the Jalisco Burrito. They both came with rice and beans and we ordered a couple of Negra Modelo beers and for dessert we split a fried ice cream.

I thought I would include a couple of photos that we've taken this week. The first one is our new hot water heater ($604)

From Sebastian

and the new water faucet and lavatory that Mike installed this week in the master bathroom.

From Sebastian

We've been using my Droid Bionic phone's Hotspot for our internet service and it has worked great for us until now. The 3G signal isn't strong enough

Another Joy of Home Ownership - a New Hot Water Heater

This last week has been pretty ordinary until yesterday. When we had taken out home owners insurance on the house, the insurance company had sent out a safety inspector to look the house over. One of the things he noted was the age of the hot water heater. He either wanted us to replace the hot water heater or have a plumber certify that the hot water heater was good for 3 more years.

Yesterday afternoon we called the manufacturer of the hot water heater A.O. Smith and gave them the model and serial number. We found out that our hot water heater was built in 1990 and the girl at the manufacturer couldn't believe it was still working.

After talking with the manufacturer, Mike wanted to check the anode rods in the hot water heater and turned off the water supply. He was unable to unscrew the anode rod because of the corrosion and when he tried to

Shopping at Lowe's & Kaleidoscope Consignments

Tuesday I transferred the photos from our camera's SD card to the computer. When I ejected the SD card from the computer, the little tab that locks the card broke off. Fortunately I had already transferred the photos because the card is now locked.

So Tuesday we ordered another SD card from BestBuy. We also called American Home Base to have them send us our mail they have been holding. We are slowly getting our address updated, but we still have some mail going to Pensacola.

We ordered a 3-step pet stair from Walmart for Tinker to use so he can

New Water Pump Installed

Mike installed our new water pump today. He had ordered it from Alpha Hardware here in Sebastian on Saturday and it came in to the store yesterday afternoon.

Mike disconnected the old water pump this morning and we took the fittings with us to Home Depot. While we were at the plumbing section looking for the pvc fittings we needed, a customer came over, looked at the fittings that Mike was holding and started pulling the pieces that we needed from the bins. It turns out that he was a plumber and in no time we had everything we needed thanks to him - how helpful was that! He did give Mike his business card in case we needed any help.

After we got home from Home Depot Mike installed the new water pump.

He took a photo of our old water pump before he disconnected it

From Sebastian

and here is a photo of the new water pump after Mike installed it.

From Sebastian

Water Pump Quit - the Joys of Home Ownership

Yesterday started out pretty good. We ordered a new faucet and lavatory for the master bathroom from Lowe's this morning. We have 2 lavatories in the master bath and will replace the other faucet and lavatory next month.

We decided to have dinner at Giuseppe's Pizzeria here in Sebastian. We decided to sit outside on the patio and we ordered the 5-topping G Special pizza and a couple of beers. The pizza was OK, but I think we'll try somewhere else here in Sebastian to have pizza.

When we got home we noticed that the water pump for our well water was cycling off and on and when Mike checked it,

Unloaded the moving truck

We slept in yesterday morning since we had gotten in so late Tuesday night. We spent Tuesday unloading everything out of the moving truck. The biggest challenge was getting the riding lawn mower out of the truck.

When we had loaded it on the truck at the church property, the truck's ramp was level with the porch at the church and it was fairly easy for Mike to ride the lawn mower over the ramp into the truck. But here at the house the truck's ramp is angled down to the ground and even using the 2X4's to make the ramp wider, it was still tricky for Mike to ride the mower down the ramp. Fortunately everything worked out OK (the mower didn't tip over with Mike on it) and unloading everything else off of the truck was easy.

This morning after breakfast we drove down to Vero Beach to return the Budget rental truck. Since we were down that way, we stopped by Kaleidoscope Consignments to look around a bit (didn't buy anything today) and then stopped for an early lunch at Five Guys before going back home.

We spent the afternoon going through the stuff we had in storage. We unpacked some of the boxes, but some things will have to stay in the boxes until we have a place to put them. I kept most of my genealogy research books and we have a few other books, but they will have to stay in boxes until we get some bookcases.

We're glad that we have our stuff out of storage and here at the house and it's nice we won't have that $50 a month storage fee.

Trip from Ozark to Kissimmee then Home

We said goodbye to Mike and Gayle this morning and thanked them for their hospitality. Gayle felt a little better this morning after her surgery yesterday, but was still moving a little slower than usual. We left Mike & Gayle's this morning about 8:15 and drove south on US-231 to Dothan.

We decided to stop at the Burger King in Dothan to have breakfast before heading south to I-10. We stopped for gas at the Pilot in Midway a little after 12:00 (Eastern Time) and paid $3.599 for gas in the truck.

We continued east on I-10 to I-75 and then drove south on I-75 to Wildwood. We stopped at the Pilot in Wildwood to get gas in the truck before getting onto the Florida Turnpike. We drove south on the Florida Turnpike to I-4 and then south on I-4 to US-192 in Kissimmee. We paid

Renting a Moving Truck & Unloading Our Storage Unit

We got up this morning at 7:00 and boy was it chilly - 41° with a wind chill of 35°. Mike and Gayle had already left the house since Gayle's surgery was scheduled for this morning. After giving Tinker his breakfast, we left the house a little before 8:00 and headed down to Dothan. We decided to stop at Cracker Barrel for breakfast since we had about an hour before we were scheduled to pick up the rental truck at Budget.

We got to Budget Truck Rental a little after 9:00 and signed for the 18' moving truck that Mike had reserved. We decided on Budget because they give a 20% discount (Sunday thru Thursday) for AARP members and our total cost for the truck rental was $316. We called Jimmy as we were leaving Budget and he met us at BMI Storage.

We had a 5 X 10 storage unit and it was about 3/4 full - it was amazing how much stuff we had in there! Not all of the stuff was from inside the RV. We had the the wooden platform that Mike & W.T. had made to carry our RV and Saturn spare tires that was attached to the back of the Vue, the cargo box, some folding chairs and our old ladder.

It was great having Jimmy to help us get everything out of the storage unit and loaded into the truck. Jimmy was great at figuring out the best way to load everything - no surprise there, since he is a trucker. Mike had bought a

Trip to Dothan

We left the house this morning at 9:50 after loading our suitcase, clothes, Tinker's collapsible crate, his food & bowls and a couple of his toys in the car. We decided to stop at the Burger King in Sebastian for a quick breakfast before getting on I-95.

We left the Burger King at 10:20 and got on I-95 and drove north to Jacksonville. The traffic wasn't too bad in Jacksonville since it was Sunday morning and we stayed on I-95 through Jacksonville to I-10 west instead of taking the I-295 bypass.

We stopped at the Flying J in Midway (just west of Tallahassee) a little before 4:00 to get gas in the car ($3.599 a gallon) before continuing west on I-10 to US-231 north.

We drove on US-231 north to Dothan and then north up to Ozark. We arrived at Mike & Gayle's house at 5:40 (Central Time) - a trip of 489 miles from Sebastian.

After unpacking the car and eating dinner, we spent the rest of tonight visiting and catching up on each other's news. Gayle told us that she had found out Friday that she needed to have her gall bladder removed and that her surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning. She felt bad about having to have the surgery done while we were visiting with them. We told her we understood and that since she and Mike are leaving next week to drive out to San Antonio that she definitely needed to have the surgery done before they left home.

Tomorrow we're driving down to Dothan and picking up the Budget Rental Truck and then heading over to our storage unit. Jimmy, a friend of ours, said he would help us load our things into the truck and we want to stop by and visit with our friends, W.T. and Glenda.

A Busy Week

We've had a busy week and thought I would just put it in one post.

Tuesday and Wednesday we had 3 fence companies come out and give us estimates for fencing in the back yard. One estimate was for an invisible fence and the other 2 were for a chain link fence. After getting all of the fence quotes in, we've decided that the fence for the back yard will have to wait for a while - we'll just keep walking Tinker on his leash.

Wednesday we went shopping in Vero Beach at Home Depot, Lowe's, Bed Bath & Beyond, Home Goods (our first time in that store) and Sam's Club and had lunch at Olive Garden.

On our way out of Sam's Club, we passed by a large hybrid (infrared, gas & charcoal) barbecue grill that was marked down from $259 to $99. The tag on the grill said there was a knob missing and the grill was dented. Long story short - we bought it (all the knobs were there). It was such a good deal on the grill that we couldn't pass it up!

Thursday morning Mike and our neighbor Bruce went down to Sam's Club in Bruce's truck and picked up the grill. Then that afternoon our friends Christine, Carol and Nancy

Trip to Orlando for Sarah & Mike's Wedding

Today was my niece's wedding in Orlando. Since we weren't going to be back home until this evening, we took Tinker with us. We packed up his bowls, food, water and a couple of toys for today's trip.

We left the house this morning about 11:00 and decided to stop at McDonald's here in Sebastian for an early lunch before getting on I-95. After a quick lunch we were driving north on I-95 when we realized we had forgotten to bring Tinker's leash! We knew there was a Petco just off of Exit 176 at West Melbourne, so we stopped there and I went into Petco while Mike & Tinker stayed in the car.

Then it was back on to I-95 north to Exit 205 and then west on SR-528 (a toll road) to Universal Blvd in Orlando and then to Lakehurst Drive. We arrived at the wedding site about 1:15 - at trip of 98 miles. We left Tinker in the car with the A/C running while we were at the wedding.

We met my brother and family there and visited until it was time for the wedding to begin at 2:00. Sarah & Mike were having their wedding ceremony outside and the weather today was perfect for it.

From Sarah & Mike's Wedding

My brother Cyril gave away the bride and he looked terrrific

Whole House Filter Installed

The last few days we've been getting settled in here at the house and have been moving our stuff out of the RV and into the house. We are fortunate that our bedroom closets have a modular closet system and a lot of shelves for our clothes since we don't have any bedroom furniture yet other than our bed.

Today we had Affordable Water in Sebastian come out and install our whole house filter that Mike had ordered from Vitasalus.com. Our electrician Kelly has been very helpful in recommending local companies and he had recommended Affordable Water.

The whole house filter is supposed to last for 7 years or 700,000 gallons. We bought the whole house filter because we have well water for everything. Several years ago the City of Sebastian put in city water lines on our street, but our house is not connected to city water.

The crew from Affordable Water got here at 11:00 and it took a couple of hours for them to install the whole house filter. They tested our well water and we were happy to learn that we had very little iron in the water. The well water runs through the water softener and then through the whole house filter.

Tomorrow we are driving over to Orlando for my niece's wedding and will visit for a bit with my brother and family.

Our first night in our house

Yesterday we had Kelly from R & R Electrical Services in Vero Beach install our 50 amp electric box at the house. He was recommended by our friends Christine and Carol. It took several hours to run the electric wiring and Mike helped with running the wiring through the walls and into the attic.

This morning we got the RV ready for the move to our house. We had an early lunch and then Mike drove the motorhome to our house while I drove the Vue. Mike parked the RV on the driveway and connected the RV to the 50 amp electric box we had installed on the house yesterday. We leveled the RV and then put the slides out.

This afternoon we drove over to the Indian River County DMV office here in Sebastian to update the address on our driver's licenses - $62.50 fee for both of us.

Then we returned to the house and started moving our stuff out of the RV and into the house.

Tonight will be the first night we spend in our new house.

New appliances

Home owner's insurance in Florida has been a learning experience for us - especially the high cost. Thursday morning we met a home safety inspector from our home insurance carrier at the house and he checked the plumbing in the kitchen and all of the bathrooms and checked the exterior of the house and took photos. He told us that we would get a report of his findings in a few days.

Then on Thursday afternoon h.h.gregg delivered our new LG washer and dryer and Samsung TV. We bought the pedestals for the washer and dryer and it will be so nice not to have to bend down to load the machines. We did get a washer and dryer that is large enough to handle a king size comforter.

There was a washer and dryer in the house when we bought it, but they were smaller and older and actually looked like they had been sitting outside at one time (h.h.gregg hauled both of them away).

There are a couple of climbing roses on an arbor in the back yard and here is our first rose from them.

From Sebastian

Tinker has been having a great time running through the house and there is

Picking up our furniture at the consignment shops

This morning our friend Ron met us at the house and we drove down to the Budget truck rental and picked up the truck Mike had reserved on-line for today. Mike and Ron rode in the truck and followed me to our first stop of the day - Kaleidoscope Consignments. The owner of the shop was there and he helped Mike and Ron load the leather sofa and love seat on the truck. We also picked up a coffee table, end table and dining room table and chairs that we had bought there.

Our next stop was at our friend's Christine's house to pick up our Sleep Number bed that she has so nicely stored in her garage for the last month. Carol was also there so we had a short visit while Mike and Ron loaded the bed (it was in several boxes).

Then it was on to Badcock Furniture where we picked up the 2 swivel recliners and ottomans we had bought there. Our last stop was at

Breakfast at JP Matty's, House and Carpet Cleaners

Sunday morning our friends, Christine and Carol, came up from Vero and met us at the house. After showing them our new house we drove over to JP Matty's for a late breakfast and to catch up on each other's news.

From Sebastian

Yesterday we met Irena and the cleaning crew from Teddy's Cleaning & Janitorial at the house. Irena went over with the crew everything we wanted done in each room including cleaning the windows on the inside. The cleaning crew spent about 4 hours and did an excellent job. Irena came by just as the ladies had finished to inspect the work and make sure we were happy with the work - which we were.

We got up earlier than usual this morning since we were meeting the carpet cleaners at 8:00 at the house. Since we had no furniture that needed moving, Father & Sons Carpet sent 1 man to do the carpet cleaning. He arrived right on time and we showed him through the house to see the kind of carpets we had. He showed us the carpet in one of the rooms  where he had

Another Successful Day of Consignment Shopping

Last night I realized that we hadn't taken any photos of our campsite here at Sunshine Travel, so Mike took a couple of photos this morning.

From Sebastian

I also forgot to mention yesterday that we called Father & Sons Carpet in Vero Beach and they will be at the house Tuesday morning to clean the carpets in the house.

This morning I drove over to Fantastic Finds and bought the pair of table lamps that we saw there yesterday. There were several people in the shop yesterday and it would just be my luck that someone would see the lamps and buy them, so I was relieved to see they were still there.

I also stopped at a laundromat on U.S. 1 to wash our 2 comforters - the laundry machines at the campground aren't large enough for the comforters and the washing machine at the house isn't either.

We had lunch after I got back from my shopping and the laundromat and then we drove back down to Vero Beach.

We stopped at Target and Lowe's to do some shopping before driving

Consignment Shopping in Vero Beach

Thursday afternoon we met with Irena from Teddy's Cleaning & Janitorial Service at the house and discussed what all we wanted cleaned at the house, how long it would take and the cost. We made an appointment with Irena for the cleaning team to come Monday morning.

This morning we met with the Culligan technician and after he inspected the water softener, he told us that the circuit board hadn't been connected to the electric service. That explains why all of the sinks in the house have so much buildup from the hard water! We had him check out the reverse osmosis system in the kitchen. He said it was a very old system, but that it still was working fine. He told us the price to install a new RO system and we said we'll just use this one until it quits.

After the Culligan technician left, we drove down to Vero Beach. On our way down we stopped at Fantastic Finds consignment shop and saw a

New Home Owners

We met Jeanne, our realtor, this morning at 10:00 to inspect the house that we are buying before we go to the closing. We didn't really expect that there would be any problems with the house since we last saw it in January, but we wanted to be sure before signing the papers and everything was fine.

Jeanne followed us over to the Professional Title office where we were to meet the seller at 11:00 and sign the closing papers. We found out that the seller would be coming in at 1:00 today to sign his portion of the closing papers. The closing had originally been scheduled for 1:00 and the time had been changed a few days ago to 10:00, but the seller wasn't able to make the earlier time.

While Mike & I were signing our portion of the closing documents, the seller's realtor dropped off the house keys for us. By the time we finished

Kissimee to Vero Beach

We got up at our usual time this morning and after breakfast began to break camp. I noticed this squirrel sitting on our patio with a mouthful of nesting materials and I stopped working long enough to take a photo of him before he could run away.

From Sherwood Forest RV Resort

The local weather forecast was predicting thunderstorms for this morning and we could see the rain clouds getting closer as we were breaking camp. We pulled out of Sherwood Forest RV Resort at 10:30 just as it started to sprinkle and then the rain really started as we were driving east on US-192 towards St. Cloud. Mike drove the RV and I followed in the Vue. We didn't hitch up the car to the RV because we're stopping at Tractor Supply to get propane and we would have to disconnect the car there.

We arrived at the Tractor Supply in St. Cloud a little before 11:00 and Mike backed the RV up to their propane filling station and we got propane ($2.29 a gal) in our onboard tank and one of our portable tanks.

By the time we finished getting the propane, it was lunch time and we decided to have lunch at the Wendy's near Tractor Supply. Since it was still raining, we drove the short distance over to Wendy's and ate our lunch there instead of taking it back to the RV. After lunch we went back to the RV and hitched up the car and headed out of St. Cloud at 12:15.

We drove east on US-192 to I-95 and then south to Exit 156 at CR-512 and then east about a block to Sunshine Travel RV and arrived at 1:40. We checked in at the office and received our campground map and security gate card. By the time we got to the campground, the rain was over and we could set up the RV without getting soaked.

We are in site #188 which is a back-in campsite and we have full hook-ups. We had requested to be in site #65 that we had the last time we were here because it had a nice concrete patio. Site 188 doesn't have a patio and we are under some pine trees and have already gotten pine tar on our shoes.

We will be here for 2 weeks and we are taking advantage of their special camping price of $99 a week and after paying the $3 a day resort fee, our total for a week is $120 - not bad for a campground in Florida during the winter season.

Tomorrow morning we're meeting our realtor at the house we're buying to do a walk-through before we go to the closing. We're excited about the house and are looking forward to living in Sebastian.

Shopping at Ikea & Campground Photos

Sunday morning Mike took a couple of photos of the campground.

From Sherwood Forest RV Resort

From Sherwood Forest RV Resort

We met Cyril and Elaine and our friends Mary and Bill for lunch at Perkins Restaurant on Sunday. This is the last Sunday we'll be together for a while since we are leaving Tuesday to move over to Sebastian.

This morning I took this photo of our neighbor's rig here at Sherwood Forest. The truck is definitely large enough for the 5th wheel, but neither of

Moved to Sherwood Forest RV Resort

There is a restaurant near the Aloha RV Park called Woodsby's Countryside Cafe and every time we've driven by it, the parking lot is always full of cars and trucks. We went there for breakfast Monday morning and had a great meal. Their slogan is "Good Food and Plenty of It" is definitely true.

Mike ordered the Hungry Man with 3 eggs, bacon, sausage links, Home Fries and a half order of biscuits and gravy. I ordered the Fabulous Five with 2 eggs scrambled with cheese, peppers & onions, bacon, grits and a biscuit & gravy. Woodsby's definitely lived up to their slogan - the food was good and there was a lot of it.

We drove over to Sherwood Forest RV Resort yesterday to check it out. We stopped at the office and confirmed our reservation for Friday. We found out what camp site we were going to be on (#65) and then we drove

Castle Family Reunion 2013

This morning we drove over to my brother's house because my sister-in-law Elaine's family was meeting there for their annual family reunion. Elaine's 2 brothers drove up from West Palm Beach and her sister came from Lake Wales. Before going over to Golden Corral for lunch, we took photos of the group.

From Kissimmee 2013

My niece Sarah and her fiancee Mike came today and Mike took a nice photo of them.

From Kissimmee 2013

After our photo session we all drove over to Golden Corral for lunch. We had tables in one of the back rooms and had a great time visiting for a couple of hours. We always have a good time when we get together with Elaine's family - they are a lot of fun. The out-of-towners left to go back home from Golden Corral and Mike and I went over to Cyril's house for a while.

We weren't sure until Wednesday if there was going to be a Castle family reunion today.

Furniture Shopping & House Decorating Notebook

Saturday I took Tinker to Muttlee Crew Pet Care to get his 3-year rabies shot at the mobile vet that was there and it cost $30 for the shot. Tinker isn't due for the rest of his shots until April and by then we will have gotten a vet in Sebastian.

I signed up for Angie's List this week for the Sebastian-Vero Beach area and got a discount for the annual cost by using PayPal ($16 instead of $20).

Sunday we went to Perkins and met my brother and family and our friends Mary and Bill for lunch - which is what we usually do on Sundays. Afterwards we stopped by my brother's house and visited with him, Elaine and my nephew David.

Mike has been checking prices on rental moving trucks for when we go back up to Dothan to get our stuff out of our storage unit. He found out

Day Trip to Vero Beach & Shopping for the house

Last Saturday when we were at HHGregg, we saw Muttlee Crew Pet Care in the same shopping center and decided to have Tinker groomed there. We called and made him an appointment for yesterday. They did a great job grooming him and charged us $45 which is about the average we pay. They are having a mobile vet clinic on Saturday and I'm going to take Tinker in to get his rabies shot which is due this month.

We left Kissimmee this morning a little before 9:00. Since we were going to be gone all day, we took Tinker with us. We stopped in St. Cloud at a 7-Eleven to get gas in the car and paid $3.459 a gallon. Gas prices in the area have been rising and this was the cheapest gas around today.

We met our friends Christine and Carol at JP Matty's in Sebastian for lunch and had a good visit. They both use the same electrician and are going to e-mail us his contact information.

After lunch we drove over to the title company in Sebastian that will be handling our closing and got the information we needed so we can have the funds for the closing costs wired to their bank.

We drove by the house and saw that the owners had a rental truck there and were loading items into it. We didn't stop and continued on down to the south end of Vero Beach.

We had seen a dining room set at the Kaleidoscope Consignment shop when we here last month and were hoping that it was still there.

Shopping & Eating Out in Kissimmee

Last Saturday we went to Sam's Club, BJ's and HHGregg looking at TV's. When we were at HHGregg we were looking at 2 Samsung TV's that were next to each other and trying to decide which had the better picture. The salesman went into the menu on each TV and changed 1 of them so they both had the same settings. That was a great help in comparing the TVs and this was the first ever salesperson who ever offered to do that.

We stopped at Olive Garden for lunch on Saturday and had their unlimited Soup and Salad. Mike ordered the Pasta Fagioli soup and I had the Chicken Gnocchi. We normally change to a different soup for our second helping, but didn't this time.

Monday Mike took this photo of Tinker with his favorite pillow.

From Kissimmee 2013

Yesterday we had a craving for Mexican food, so we went for dinner at Abuelo's. We weren't hungry enough for the