NEW YEAR'S DAY BRUNCH 2014!

New Year's Day 2014 - I'm really starting the year off right - NOT!!  We had brunch this morning with good friends Sally and Stan and Cis and Joe.  And - I didn't remember to take any pictures of the occasion!!!   Are you believing that??!

Cis and Joe arrived at Torrey Oaks on Saturday afternoon for the winter.  Sally and Stan and Ken and I met them at Gloria's on Sunday morning for Steak and Eggs so we could welcome them back to Florida.  That was so good and so much fun seeing everyone together again!!

                     Joe's favorite!

Wow, portions at Gloria's are enormous!!  I decided to doggie bag my fried potatoes.  Stan and Sally donated their potatoes to my collection, too.  I ended up with a huge pile of left-over fried potatoes!  I decided to make a Spinach and Potatoes Frittata for a New Year's Day Brunch!  Never made one before -- never even tasted a Frittata!!  But I needed something to do with those potatoes!  I invited the group to share, and Cis invited us to have the brunch in their rig!!  Perfect!!

So that is what we did!!  New Year's Day Brunch!!  But I totally forgot to take pictures!  Not one picture!!

No pictures of us toasting the New Year with Mimosas of Campaign and fresh orange juice!

No pictures of my beautiful Spinach and Potato Frittata.  It tasted pretty good if I do say so myself!  But next time I'll use fewer of Gloria's potatoes!!  HA HA

No pictures of us munching my yummy Marinated Poppyseed Ham and Cheese Rolls!!  Everybody loved them!

No pictures of Cis' beautiful fresh fruit bowl!!  All kinds of chopped fresh fruit!

And no pictures of Sally's delicious mini lemon tartlets!!  Great finish to our New Year's Day Brunch with good friends!!

Sidebar:  All pictures copied from the Internet!!  They are amazingly close to our real life dishes!

NEW YEAR'S EVE CELEBRATION AT TORREY OAKS

Dec 31 - Celebrating New Year's Eve with friends Cis and Joe and Sally and Stan!!  We are at their RV resort, Torrey Oaks, where the resort served a delicious Prime Rib dinner with all the trimmings.

The dinner was followed by music and dancing.  The theme for the evening was "Hooray For Hollywood".  Some of the couples dressed in Hollywood costumes -- Caesar and Cleopatra, Fred and Wilma Flintstone, Duck Dynasty guys, John Wayne, etc.

Here Joe and Cis enjoy slow dancing!

Stan and Sally doing the Swing!

Ken and Faye are happy to be on the dance floor again!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYBODY!!

PICKLEBALL AT TT PEACE RIVER, WAUCHULA, FL

Dec 30 -  We have been enjoying playing Pickleball in the mornings at TT Peace River.  There have been about 12 players most mornings!  Did not get any action pictures because there is no place to stand with the camera.  Notice the nice high green chain-link fence around the courts!

Players:  Wilma, Ken, Rosa and Rick.

On the other court:  Heady, Jim, Isaiah, and Jim.

Stu, Rosa, Faye and Rick.

Becky, Art, Tom and Ken.

A good time was had by all on the Pickleball courts!!

CHRISTMAS DAY AT VICKIE'S

Dec 25 - Ken's daughter, Vickie, lives in Pembroke Pines, about 175 miles southeast of TT Peace River.  And, Ken's granddaughter, Niki, was home from LA for a few days for the holidays.  So, we drove down to spend a couple of days with them for Christmas.  We stayed nearby at the Courtyard by Marriott but spent most of our time with the family.

Niki and friend Carlos.  They met in LA and started dating.  They discovered they were both from Pembroke Pines, FL.  So they are both "home for the holidays"!

I am preparing an appetizer of salmon and cream cheese.  I attracted quite an audience!!

Ken checks out the decorations.

Amazing!  I got everybody to stop for a moment for a Christmas picture!
Ken, Vickie, Niki, Carlos, Steve, and Faye.

It was a lot of fun seeing the family for Christmas!!  Thank you Vickie for all the goodies!

Merry Christmas To All And A Happy New Year!!

KEN'S BIRTHDAY AT TRACY'S

Fri, Dec 13 - We had called Ken's daughter, Tracy, last week to let her know we were back in the Orlando area and would like to get with her for Ken's birthday sometime around December 14.  Still we were surprised when Tracy called to say she was off work on Friday afternoon and could we come over to the ranch.  She would prepare a Birthday Dinner for Ken!  Of course we could!!

You may remember, Tracy lives with a good friend, Chuck, on his ranch in Sanford where he breeds designer puppies -- Corgies, Norgies, Aussies.  Tracy helps him with the puppies and has set up a website on Facebook to advertise Royalty Puppies.

 When we arrived, Tracy immediately took us out to see the twenty-one new puppies that were only about six weeks old.!

All of the puppies are so cute!!

After meeting all the puppies, we took a stroll around the property.  These beautiful flowers were not in bloom the last time we were here.

The happy couple!

Before dinner, Tracy suggested that we drive to the nearby marina.  Hard to believe a big marina like this in the middle of Florida!

There is a Veterans' Memorial Park near the marina.

Ken enjoying his German Chocolate Birthday Cake!!  I baked the cake and made the frosting using Barb's special recipe!  UUMMMMMM!!  By the way, Ken is @&*# years old this year!!  Happy Birthday, Ken.

We ended our day by checking out the Christmas lights at Lake Mary.

Thank you, Tracy, for a most enjoyable afternoon!!

TURTLE SPOTTING AT TT ORLANDO

Dec 11 - There are a lot of these structures scattered around TT Orlando campground.  They are placed over Turtle holes to protect the many Turtle Nests.  We have been here for two months and have never seen a single Turtle!  Until!!  This afternoon!!  As we were driving toward our site, I spotted the head of a Turtle peaking out of this hole!!!

Stop the car, Ken!!!  Let me get a picture!!!  By the time I got out of the car, the Turtle had crawled out of the nest far enough for me to get a couple of nice pictures!

Spotting a Turtle at last was the thrill of the day!!!

LAST DAY OF PICKLEBALL AT TT ORLANDO

Wed, Nov. 20 - Today is our last day at TT Orlando.  We have been here for two weeks and have really enjoyed our stay.  We went over to play Pickleball this morning, but there was a heavy mist falling as we arrived at the courts.  So, we only played one game each.  You might be able to see how wet the courts are in some of the pictures.

I did not get any action shots of this match but got a picture of the group at the net.  Hope I have correct names.

Bob and Lee played against Carol and Matt.  If not, I'm sorry!

Bill and Ken against -

Matt and Paul.  A really good match!

Bob and Pete played against -

New arrivals James and Brenda

Frank peeling his Florida Orange between matches!!

Lee and Mike.  When Mike saw me taking pictures, he said "Don't take my picture."  I didn't know if he was serious, so I decided to use this picture.  Hope this meets with his approval!!  HA HA

Terry and Joyce were Lee and Mike's opponents.

Bill and Ken still playing against -

Matt and Paul!  See how wet the courts are?

When their match was over, Bill offered to take a picture of the group on the sideline.

Terry, Amy, Faye, Paul, Ken and Matt.

As I said, this is our last day at TT Orlando.  We leave tomorrow morning for another two weeks at TT Peace River, about 65 miles away.  Good-bye, Guys.  It was fun playing around with you.

FAYE'S BROTHER IS NOW ONE OF THE VILLAGE PEOPLE!

Tue., Nov. 19 - My brother, Nelson, recently purchased a Villa in the retirement community known as The Villages, about 50-60 miles North of our campground at TT Orlando.  Landscapers had just completed the landscaping project so he called us yesterday and invited us to come up for a visit.  It appeared that today was going to be the best weather, so we took him up on his invitation.

Nelson showing Ken the front yard landscaping.  (Ken had his own tree and landscaping business years ago.)

The interior.  Dining area looking into the kitchen.  Kitchen view.  One of two Bedrooms and Baths.

Separate utility room and one and a half car garage.  For a car and a golf cart.  You MUST have a golf cart at The Villages.  

There is a screened porch that opens onto the patio.  Landscaping at the back corner and along the back privacy wall.

Testing out the living room sofa!

Nelson was so funny telling us about the furniture throughout the house.  He said the villa had been used as a model.  After negotiating the price, he had signed the contract to purchase the villa.  Then, he told the realtor that he did not want the furniture, would they have someone come by  and pick it up.  "No.  It came with the house!  You bought it." At first, it appeared to be included in the price, and came with the Villa.  But, actually he had paid for it!  Since he bought it, might as well use it, for awhile anyway!!

After visiting for awhile we rode around the newer part of The Villages.  We went to several golf clubs.  This is the one nearest Nelson's Villa.

In The Villages, there are a number of Neighborhood Recreational Centers and several larger Regional Recreational Centers. This is the newest Regional Recreation Center, The Eisenhower Regional Recreation Center.  The interior was decorated all things military!  Very posh!!  On the grounds of the Rec Center there was Tennis, Platform Tennis, Pickleball and an Olympic Size Pool for adults only, Etc.  But, no golf courses here.

The Olympic size adults only pool.

We enjoyed lunch at one of the Country Clubs!

The Villages is the perfect retirement community!!  There are unlimited activities in which to participate!!  What fun!!

But it was time to go home!  Bidding Nelson farewell at the front entrance!!

Thank you, Nelson, for a fun time in The Villages!!!