KIOTIE

Our little KIOTIE puppy weighed in at 3.1 lbs. this morning on the USPS Postal Scale!!!!  Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 28 will be 3 weeks since we brought him home weighing in at 1.8 lbs. -- so he has REALLY grown in 3 weeks!  He is VERY active and has a lot of "attitude"!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDA!

My birthday was celebrated Friday with a gathering of cousins...some visiting from NY State and some who are now residents of Florida, as well as my sister who is a lone-time Florida resident.  It was lunch and a fun visit with stories and reliving memories from our younger years!

 

Friday evening was another birthday celebration with our sons and their families.  Randy and Maddie brought all the food and step granddaughters Desiree and Nichole along with Nichole's friend Bobby.  Russ and Dianna were able to join us and James was not present as he was out of town visiting a friend. 

My actual birthday was Sunday and we spent the day with Russ and Dianna.  They had invited us to take a winery tour with taste testing at Plant City...it was the Keel and Curley Winery...very interesting.  We all agreed that we like the DRY BLUEBERRY WINE (no sugar added) the best!  Keel and Curley raise their own blueberries right on the property and we got to see the high Blueberry bushes...some with blossoms and some with berries forming.  The guide shared that the Blueberry crop should be ready in March-April.  It was a fun tour and taste testing.  After the tour we had lunch together at the Plant City Family Buffet.  A super day!

2012 ADVENTURES CONTINUE!!!!

OKAY...you may be wondering..."what will the Rosa's be up to next"???  You will probably never guess!!!!  We have a new puppy!  As most of you already would know...in July, 2011, we lost our little Phoebe after 12 years of her loyal and loving companionship!  We both agreed that we did NOT want another dog right away, but there was a huge lonely spot within us and a we had been looking for just the right new companion for a couple of weeks now!  Because of living in the apartment...it definitely had to be small and, even tho we love the cuddly teddy bear type, we did not want the hair shedding or constant grooming!  Well, a couple of days ago, we found a CHORKIE (chihauhau and yorkie combination) puppy...12 weeks old and he is now part of our family!  It certainly did not take long to fall in love with him.  He weighs 1.9 lbs and should mature to about 4-5 lbs.  He is marked more like the yorkie, but the hair should not get as long as a yorkie.  He is VERY playful and loves to be held and cuddled!  It has been MANY years since we undertook the puppy training task as Phoebe had been one year old and fully trained when we got her.  We have not settled on his forever name yet...it is pretty much "puppy" right now, but he should have something "special"!!!  It took no time for him to find and continually return to his water and food dish...he has a huge size appetite for such a tiny thing!  He is doing well with potty training and goes readily when we take him outside; but, of course, has not completely learned that it is NOT OK to go inside...guess I can't expect TOO much in a couple of days!

THANKSGIVING FAMILY DINNER, 2011

We are really enjoying life in our new apartment home...it is very carefree and relaxing!  Thanksgiving dinner was celebrated on the Sunday after Thanksgiving due to colds and coughs.  Needless to say we had LOTS of FOOD and everyone was stuffed!  Best of all it was really good for us to be together...it has been awhile...even though we all live within 20 miles of each other!  HUNTING has been of high priority for Randy, Russ and Dianna and will continue through the end of December.  They all came home with colds and coughs after the last trip to Georgia but only one deer...very unusual for them!  We had TURKEY and all the fixings for dinner.

MOVED AGAIN...AND THE ADVENTURES CONTINUE!!!!!

Well we have “done it again”…WE HAVE MOVED!!!! During the past few weeks we have made a life changing decision that will probably seem like 100 percent opposite from what we said we wanted our lifestyle to be like six months ago! Six months ago we put our doublewide up for sale and moved into our travel trailer out on Russ’ five acres with the intention of traveling with the truck and travel trailer after our doublewide sold. Well…the doublewide has not sold yet and we have had lots of time to reflect on our situation and the reality of just being out there “traveling”…and as much as we would like to do just that, it does not seem very realistic considering the expense and the fact that we do not intend to work anymore. So…our doublewide remains for sale and we really believe it will sell when winter folks start coming back. We moved to an apartment in Bartow, FL and will sell our travel trailer and do our traveling like other folks by selecting a special spot and just going on a “vacation” when we feel we can afford one!!!!


This apartment complex is lovely and all residents are ages 55+…Bartow is centrally located about 20 miles from where we were at Russ’ farm and about 30 miles from our doublewide at Frostproof. All the facilities we use regularly are within a mile radius…such as Wal-Mart, Publix, Save-A-Lot, Walgreens, our bank and doctor as well as all kinds of eating places. We will only be a few more miles from Randy and Russ’ homes and Randy works in Bartow. The apartment complex is kept immaculate and our apartment has a screened balcony, 2 bedrooms & 2 baths, carpeted with central air and heat, refrigerator, stove, dishwasher and garbage disposal. There are organized activities, an exercise room, computer room with books & videos as well as a beautiful pool and community room.

The downside is that we had to make this move without our faithful and loved friend of over 12 years, Phoebe. We have had to have her put to sleep as she no longer had any quality of life. Over the last couple of months she had become blind as well as her internal organs were shutting down…her food and drink would go straight thru her within a few minutes after consuming them and she had lost over 4 lbs. in just a few short weeks. She was in at least her 13th year as we were told she was at least one year old when we got her from the humane society. Phoebe traveled thousands of miles with us and never met anyone she didn’t love.  In memory of our sweet little Phoebe -- 1998-2011 

You can check out our new residence at http://www.meetinghouseatbartow.com/

CANNING TOMATOES

Last week we drove near Bradenton to pick tomatoes...this huge tomato business is having trouble finding folks to pick their crop of tomatoes so they opened their fields up to U-Pick, letting folks pick up to 25 lbs. of tomatoes for only $1!!!!  We picked $6.00 worth...although we felt like we got way more than that for our money!  Our daughter-in-law, Dianna helped us pick as well as spent the next two mornings helping us can them all up, yielding 54 quarts plus 4 pints!!!!  There were still plenty to eat fresh and share with family/friends.

Our own little container garden is doing VERY well and we have tomatoes, broccoli, cucumbers, chives, basil and parsley.  The days are starting to feel very much like SUMMER, although we are getting a 3-day respite this week before it heads back toward the 90's!

WAITING FOR THE HUMMINGBIRDS!!!!

There was a beautiful hummingbird one day when we had the hose on so we got the feeder filled and hanging under the tree...but haven't spotted him yet!!!!  The hummingbird juice is going down, but it might just be evaporating!

Here is a photo that Dennis took last spring while we were in Virginia...up close and personal...he was busy preening himself!!!!

FROSTPROOF FLORIDA IS FINALLY GETTING SOME RAIN...THANKFULLY!

SPRINGTIME AT THE FARM!  Finally we are getting some rain here at Frostproof!  Today, so far we have received over an inch and it is forecast that there will be a 50 percent chance of rain ALL WEEK!  It makes the garden grow...I think our leaf lettuce grew several inches overnight!

Here is a femail Cardinal on the fence in the yard.  The beautiful Male Cardinal is always nearby also, but we have not been able to capture him yet on the camera!

This woodpecker was busy recently trying to drill himself a NEW home in the utility pole outside the pump house.



COUNTRY LIFE IS GOOD

This time of year is some of the MOST PLEASANT here in central Florida.  The nights are cool and days are warm, usually with a breeze.  The air is full of the fragrance of citrus blossoms as ALL the citrus groves are white with BLOSSOMS.  The honey bees are sure busy trying to pollinate EACH blossom.

Our container garden is growing with leaps and bounds...we had about an inch of rain last Thursday and everything really need it!  There are small tomatoes on the Cherry Tomato plant and tiny yellow squash...hopefully they mature.  We have broccoli, yellow squash, zucchini, three different types of tomatoes, green beans as well as our Malibar Spinach growing!

HAWK at the Farm!

There is a large HAWK nest in a tree just inside the pasture here at the farm!  There is at least one young HAWK that can fly but is still being fed by one of his parents.  We often see them with what appears to be mice or snakes dangling from their beaks! 

Pappa's Chair...Who's the Pappa?

Marlin is Russ's 11 year old Bulldog and he has been VERY happy to have us here with him.  Before we moved out here Russ or Dianna came by everyday to feed him, but otherwise he was here alone!  He loves sitting on the little deck outside our travel trailer door...it puts him eye-to-eye with Denny and he tries to give Denny "kisses" or to climb into his lap!  This shot was taken right after Denny vacated his chair after repeatedly refusing Marlin's pleas to sit on his lap!

EASTERN BLUEBIRD at the farm in Florida

One of the first weeks after we moved out to Russ' farm, Denny was checking out the wildlife in the pasture and saw several Eastern Bluebirds flying around him.  Here is a great photo of one of them that posed for him!

MOVE TO THE FARM!!!

Just this afternoon some friends asked me if I had added to our "blog" and I replied, "I haven't had anything to "blog" about!!!!"  They reminded me that YES, I surely do have something to blog about...and they were right!!!!  So here is what has been happening so far in 2011.
Mid-January we hooked onto our travel trailer and moved it to our youngest son, Russ', five acres about 10 miles to the west of our double-wide home!   Russ and Dianna had purchased and moved to a new home after they were married in July and it is about 10 miles from here.  We had put our doublewide for sale late in November and have been sorely disappointed with so little interest and "lookers"! This winter has been VERY slow for real estate in our area of Florida; so, our double wide remains FOR SALE. In February we had a huge moving yard sale and did very well. We packed away the items we couldn't part with and stored them in our cargo storage trailer. We began staying full time in our RV travel trailer around the 20th of January which allowed us to open up the double wide and spread out our yard sale items throughout the dining/living and kitchen areas as well as the front screened porch and the carport. 

We are still making Many trips back and forth getting the double wide cleaned up so that it appears exactly like it will be for someone to move in! We have had a few "lookers" this month, but no serious offers.

After the moving/yard sale was completed, Denny got his John Deere mower as we will be mowing

and caring for Russ' 5-acres as well as feeding his animals. Here is a picture of Dennis in his "glory"!!!




We do really enjoy this location...we had stayed here on Russ' property in our motorhome during the winter months of 1998, 1999, 2000 before moving to Whidden Mobile Home Park in the fall of 2001.  It is beautiful here and we wake to the country sounds of birds singing in the trees, roosters crowing, cows bellowing, horses neighing and, yes, sometimes dogs barking!!!!

We have been here about one month and have a container garden growing with tomatoes, green beans, summer crookneck squash, zucchinni, cucumbers, spinach, assorted pots of lettuce and salad greens.  The tomatoes are blossoming and one plant has small tomatoes starting already...I can't wait!!!!

Dennis has taken some lovely photos of wildlife here on the "farm"...resident hawk family, bluebirds and, of course, Marlin...Russ' dog who has enjoyed having someone here with him again on an everyday basis!  Check back often as I will be adding some great photos soon!

SUMMER IN FLORIDA

Well, our summer has been pretty boring in 2010 compared to spending the summer of 2009 in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  We have had to be creative to come up with some variety.  Over the last few weeks we have done some camping at Florida State Parks. 

RUSS AND DIANNA ARE MARRIED

Dennis and Linda proudly present Russ and Dianna Rosa, married at Magic Moments Chapel, Elizabethton, TN on July 13, 2010

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!!!!!

Hey everyone...I (Linda) am going "on the road again"!!!!  My sister, Phyllis, invited both of us to accompany her to NY State in her motor home.  Dennis declined in that he did not feel up to packing up all his breathing apparatus...oxygen, CPAP and nebulizer and making another trip quite yet this summer!  So-o-o, he said I should grab the opportunity to spend this time with my sister and go along with her.  We will take off tomorrow morning...stopping for a few days visit in GA first.  Phyllis' oldest son, Steve lives in GA as well as our sister, Kathy...so we will visit there until Tuesday when we will hit the road again northward bound  to Central NY State!!!!  I will try and keep everyone posted with photos and "goings on"!!!  She usually spends the month of July in NY State, but she said we could "play it by ear"...so, I am not sure exactly when we will be returning to FL.  Below is Phyllis' new camper van that we will be traveling it!  Amazingly it has everything in it that a big motor home has...just on a smaller scale!  Thanks for tuning in!

HEADING BACK TO FLORIDA!!!

Well, we made it through the busy Memorial Day Weekend, but each day took a tole on Dennis' breathing and ability to catch his breath as he performed the duties in the park.  We handed in our resignation on Sunday morning of Memorial Day Weekend telling them we would hang in there for two weeks if they wanted us that long.  Business after Memorial Day was expected to drop off considerably so our managers graciously told us to leave whenever we were ready.  We packed on Memorial Day and left Bear Den Campground on Tuesday morning.  Our first night en route to Florida was spent at Cade's Cove, TN and we had the opportunity to drive the 11-mile loop two or three times in search of wild life.  We saw many turkey, deer and three black bears!  The next night was in the mountains of north Georgia and presently we are in southern Georgia and will be home today!  We are not going to try to work again right away.  Dennis needs to rest and we have had to face the fact that he may no longer be able to perform the campground work that he has done in the past!  Thank you all for checking in on us and we will keep you posted.

BEAUTIFUL BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS

This is a view from Altapass Overlook off the Blue Ridge Parkway that I took a couple of days ago!

We are bracing for a full campground of 144 sites for this Memorial Day Weekend…everything is reserved FULL!! I am working today from 3 PM thru closing at 9:30 PM to get over 100 sites checked in! We had about 14 sites check in yesterday. Wednesday and Thursday were supposed to be our days off, but I worked in the office while the woman who has been here several years restocked the store shelves with supplies. Tomorrow night the park will have a live band playing 50, 60 and 70’s music and I will be working the office/store! Dennis is working maintenance the next couple of days, so he will be finishing work as I begin my shift!

There have been several bear sightings reported...but we have not seen any bear yet, but lots of turkey and deer!


We are thinking of all of you on this Memorial Holiday and hoping that you have a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend!

DREAM HOME FOR DENNIS AND LINDA

Okay folks...we have found our "DREAM HOME"! We guided this unit into one of our largest RV sites a couple of nights ago and we believe we could live VERY comfortably in this unit and use this "Trike" to get around in the tight locations of interest! The "Trike" you see parked under the awning drives right up a ramp in the back of the coach where you see the short ladder.

  The space above the "Trike" garage is where the bed is located on the inside!  Guess we might need to continue working a few more summers to pay for this one!!!!!  It is amazing the types of RV's we see here and how they travel along the Blue Ridge!

LIFE ALONG THE BLUE RIDGE OF NORTH CAROLINA

All is going well here at Bear Den Campground in NC!  The days have been cool (in the 70's) and nights in the 50's with showers frequently in the evenings!  We have finished our first week and will be off tomorrow and the next day.  We may get a chance to explore a little bit.  This beautiful Rhododendron flower was one of many around the playground area.  We have seen several deer, turkey and a fox right here in our park...but have not had the camera at the right time!  There has been a bear reported up on the hill at some of the privately owned cabins a couple of days ago but we have not seen it yet!  A beautiful Woodpecker landed right on a tree at the edge of our site a couple of days ago...but once again the camera was not where I could grab it!  Stay tuned...we WILL capture some of this wild life on the camera sooner or later!!!!  Check out our campground at http://www.bear-den.com/    Thanks for checking it!