Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Mississippi Rental

 We really enjoyed this rental. 

The appliances were high grade and the space was pretty spacious. The kitchen had everything you would want.  I loved the laundry room. The TV was huge and someone had left their YouTube access so we used that. 

Laundry room

The back deck was overlooking the bay and the furniture was super comfortable. There was so many birds and ducks swooping down into the water.at sunset you can see the fish all jumping. I really was disappointed I left my binoculars on the kitchen counter. Forgot to pack em.

Back deck


We brought our fishing poles, but the fish just were not biting. I did catch a crab, but that was all.

Fishing dock

That’s the house behind me


The place didn’t have any shoshke crap that nobody cared about anyway laying around. What it did have was a huge dining room table for the puzzle I brought along. Yes - I always bring a puzzle on vacation. Blame it on my Mother who always brought one along when we vacation at the lake when I was a kid. 

1000 piece puzzle


More Surgery

  MIke’s shoulder was hurting. His Ortho doctor informed him he needed another surgery on his left shoulder. 2 years ago he had shoulder (the other shoulder)  surgery before our winter trip, well this year he was not going to miss golfing. We got back home from vacation and now his arm is in a sling. Therapy visits are scheduled and come warmer weather he will be swinging the golf club. He understands rest and following doctors orders is what he has to do. Trust me it is not easy for him.

Nap time


Mississippi Travels

 I chose this place because it was on the water, but away from the crowds and vacationers. This was the first time we were not right on the ocean and I was worried we would miss walking along the beach. Turns out there was a park with a paved walking path 5 minutes down the road across the street from the ocean.

Walking track

Ocean views
We walked twice everyday once in the morning and once in the afternoon.

That is except for the days we played golf. Mississippi was state number 20. The courses were in winter conditions, but We Golfed at 2 different courses. Weather cooperated. 




Used his Christmas present from the Flory boys

New Orleans was only bout 70 minutes away - I have never been there so we took a side trip. I was not impressed at all. It was smelly, and dirty. You had to walk around homeless people sleeping right in the French Quarter. I did enjoy the river walk though. I guess I can say I’ve been there now.



The best part of this trip was the assortment of restaurants. 

 My favorite was Shaggy’s. Right on the Gulf at Pass Christian Harbor. 

15 coconut shrimp What?

Outdoor dining view

Mississippi Vacation

 Mike and I wanted to avoid driving thru Nashville or Atlanta this winter vacation. I found a house for rent on the Bay of St. Louis in Mississippi. Since we haven’t golfed if MS yet, I  booked it.

We mapped it out to go straight down the state of Illinois thru Memphis. The one thing we couldn’t avoid was the weather. 

It Snowed and snowed. We knew snow was in the forecast we just didn’t count on a storm. It was brutal. 

One lane on a 4 lane highway

We tried to get off but most off ramps were jammed with cars stuck. We saw 2 major pile ups thankfully on the other side of the road. I tried calling around to find a hotel room somewhere in the St. Louis area, but no luck. I was crying and Mike was calm and pushed through it. We had a reservation in Arkansas, so he decided we could make it and on we went. 
Stopped for gas and scrapped the front
We did finally got to our destination  couple hours later than planned, ending going thru hail and rain storms. It sure was worse than the forecasters predicted. Not a very good start.

Day 2 we took a detour - I really wanted to visit Laurel MS. I enjoy HGTV Home Town. After we finally found the downtown, it was just like the show. We parked and walked around the historic downtown. We looked for the Scotsman workshop (took the road along the railroad tracks) but didn’t find it.  I’m happy we stopped. Mike was happy for ME. 



Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Fireplace

 I finally called it quits to wood burning fires. Indoors that is. It’s been 17 years of me hauling firewood up to the back deck every fall. My mind wanted to not give up, but my body says enough. Mike and I went over to house of fireplace (the ones who put the original fireplace in) and price converting our wood burner to gas.

It was pretty easy to find what we wanted - one that would give out enough heat with the press of a button to keep the family room warm. Right now we just have a small gas space heater in the corner that tries real hard to keep it warm. We need more.

Old fireplace 

I knew that I wanted stones, stacked with no grout, and all the way to the ceiling. Still wanted a mantle, but higher. Found out with gas I didn’t need a big hearth. Win!

Mike and I took just one day to rip out all the old bricks. That was fun.

Ready for a fresh look

It took 2 days for the experts to install the gas insert. They were very pleased that we had a gas starter so all the had to do was hook up the new system to it. They added new vent pipes thru the roof and electric for a fancy light and we were ready for the stone masons.

Out with the old

In with the new
The stone guys were supposed to come on Monday. No show - no call. I called the store. They apologized and sent a time up for Thursday morning. No show again. I called. They came at 12:30. 
I was so excited to get this done. I wanted to stay out of their way, but when I peaked at their progress I noticed this. I asked them if they could move it over to cover the crack where the walls meet.
 Stone not covering the crack


They then admitted they have only done a, stack - no grout fireplace, one time before. That would have been nice to know. They told me they could grout the crack. I told them I did not want grout.

Then one just left. He had another job. What? The guy remaining didn’t speak good English - he was polish, and when I asked him if he could cut a couple stone so there was no gaps, he played dumb and told me to call the store. I was getting very frustrated and started taking pictures of everything.

I filled it in with a stone from the backyard

He rushed out so fast he left 2 tools behind. When he came back for them I told him he had to move the extra stones out of our house to the garage and asked him to sweep or vacuum the mess they left. He wasn’t happy.

I went back to the store to pay the final bill and told them I was Not happy and showed them the pictures. I was just talking to the salesman and he was a nice guy who didn’t have control over anything I wanted addressed. He called the owner, who asked the salesman if I made the final payment. He affirmed I did. At that point I was getting pissed and very frustrated so I told him that I will take care of it myself. Tell the owner I won’t be back. Told them not to expect a good review. Walked out of the showroom. 

I didn’t write  a review, even though I got a email asking me to. I got putty and patched the cracks and painted. I painted the gaps in the bricks and filled them in with stones.

And I love, love, love my fireplace.


My beautiful new fireplace

It was still chilly in the room, and with winter coming we decided to get carpeting.
 New carpet

I turn the fireplace on every morning for a bit to get the chill out of the room and have it on most nights while I watch TV. I still miss my fires. I still miss the smell and the sound of a crackling fire. But I love the convenience and cleanliness of my new fireplace.




Christmas day

 After another busy, food filled, fun filled Christmas Eve, I went to bed with another list of things to do before company comes over.

I invited my sisters (the ones who weren’t recovering from knee surgery) over from a ham dinner. Linda and Deanna, and Sharen and Dup all came over on Christmas Day.

I’m so glad I decided to ask them. We live close by and we just don’t do this enough. We lost Mike’s brother in October and we both realized we need to see family more often. Life is passing us by.

It was fun. We laughed, we made fun of each other, we didn’t argue. I love that we all still like each other and respect each other. Mike even commented on how nice it was to watch us connect and listen to us reminiscing and telling the same stories from each persons perspective. 

Sisters

Merry Christmas!


Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Cookies

 Who doesn’t love to decorate Christmas cookies?

I made a batch of my cutout cookies and I wasn’t happy with how they turned out. I ate one - I don’t usually eat these, that’s Mike’s job, but I knew something wasn’t good. Mike said they tasted fine just crunchier than normal. I think he was just being nice.  I made another batch.

Bryan, Mary and the boys came over to help decorate.

First batch

Second batch
We zipped thru the good cookies. We had some leftover frosting so I hesitated for a second then brought out the not so good ones. Everybody said they were good, so we decorated them too.
The master decorators

74 cookies


Luke got to choose the ones that went home with the Florys. He picked All the ones with the larger sprinkles. Another great day to remember.

Though I will admit I don’t remember what went on sometimes and have to check back to this blog to jog the memory. Haha