May, 2012
May came very quickly. We are busy cleaning out food and getting ready to move back to the boat. Barb tried to finish a boat project, and get items for further projects on the boat. Mid May found Barb flying to Chicago to help Jeanette sort and pack items as she will be retiring in June and heading to Maine to live. It was a fast paced week in Chicago, while Dave had his list of to do in Florida with yard work and trip gathering items. Don’t know how we got everything ready but the last week of May found us packing and organizing, depleting the house of food and other unwanted items. The last visit with Eloise was difficult for all of us. She cried most of the time as she really didn’t want us to leave her, and Barb cried most of the way back to Cape Coral. But we needed to head north and resume our planned summer activities.
April, 2012
April was a good month. We have started using the swimming pool daily as the water has warmed up to about 86°. We continue to see Eloise, had a birthday lunch with her on April 12 for Barb’s birthday. She really liked that. At the end of the month we took a short trip (about a week) stopping at the Condo in St. Pete and seeing old friends, then driving north to Chattanooga to be with family. Our great nephen, Austin was in a baseball tournament and we had never seen him play. We saw him in right outfield, designated runner (he is really fast!) and also pitch the end of a game. It was a fun weekend, with Jeanette there also. We did some sightseeing around the Chattanooga area and just spent time with family. We returned to St. Pete and took our dear friends Don and Barb Harper out to dinner. He was the captain that helped us get the boat north in 2006. It was great seeing them and we had a wonderful evening visiting. Sorry no pictures as we never seem to have the camera when we want it.
March, 2012March roared in with the DeFever Rendezvous in North Palm Beach. We had a great time. The Rendezvous team picture includes the Cargill's who ran the Rendezvous, The Wolf's - managed the silent aution, and Reinken's who did registration. The program chair wasn't there. We didn’t take any pictures as we were busy with handling the registration table, checking people on and taking last minute registrations. We also made sure everyone had all needs met. It was a great way to meet a lot of DeFever people and spend time talking boats. The three day rendezvous went well and everyone had a good time – I love helping to throw a great party :) We continued to travel to see Eloise. Merrily and Jon again came for three days and we had time once again to get to know each other. We have been out to dinner a few more times this month and found some good restaurants. Barb has been experimenting with new recipes – and trying to use some of the canned goods that are on hand. She found a great clam chowder recipe on the internet which was a big hit with a few guests (Dave wouldn’t eat it –bummer). She also has been making cookies for the Day Star patients – they really enjoy having a little homemade snack. We ended the month with a looper luncheon at a favorite restaurant. Again we met nice people who have completed the loop, or were starting the loop. Lots of great stories from the 14 people present. We continue to read, Barb is working on a boat sewing project, and starting to think about returning to Hallelujah in June.
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Slade & Susan Cargill / Jim & BeLinda Wolf / Barb & Dave Reinken
The docktail party - Barb in front at registration table with Betty Robinson (friend we've known since Marathon.
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February, 2012
February has passed even more quite than January. The weather was great. We continue to make use of the Lee County Public Library – lots of books to read :) And there is a fabulous farmers market every Saturday that we make use of.
The strawberries have been really good along with corn and tomatoes. Barb finished a couple of quilting projects and the shawl for Eloise (she loves it). We continue to drive to Ft. Lauderdale twice a week to visit with Aunt Eloise. She really does appreciate our coming to see her and do small things for her. Dave’s sister came down for a week. We spend a great day on
Sanibel Island and soaked up some sun. on the beach. We continue to do some home repair and organizing. The yard work isn’t much as this is the dry season and not much grows. The month ended with Eloise’s brother-in-law/ sister-in-law going with us to see Eloise. We had a nice lunch with her. Al & Cindy had a good visit. They were very happy that we could drive them over as it is a long drive. Sorry there are no pictures this month. Don’t even think about taking pictures of us around the house. We hope that everyone has had a great month and that weather has not been too cold.
The strawberries have been really good along with corn and tomatoes. Barb finished a couple of quilting projects and the shawl for Eloise (she loves it). We continue to drive to Ft. Lauderdale twice a week to visit with Aunt Eloise. She really does appreciate our coming to see her and do small things for her. Dave’s sister came down for a week. We spend a great day on
Sanibel Island and soaked up some sun. on the beach. We continue to do some home repair and organizing. The yard work isn’t much as this is the dry season and not much grows. The month ended with Eloise’s brother-in-law/ sister-in-law going with us to see Eloise. We had a nice lunch with her. Al & Cindy had a good visit. They were very happy that we could drive them over as it is a long drive. Sorry there are no pictures this month. Don’t even think about taking pictures of us around the house. We hope that everyone has had a great month and that weather has not been too cold.
January, 2012
This month has passed quickly. We haven’t done much. We had cousins come in and travel with us to see Eloise. Barb is still quilting, reading, and has started knitting a shawl for Eloise. There is always computer work for the DeFever Cruisers Rendezvous coming up the first of March. Dave is reading, working in the yard (the weather has been really mild this year so days of 70’s and 80’s are normal) and getting his TV fix. We ended the month with a short two day trip to Marathon, FL to see friends from last year. There was a DeFever Cruise Luncheon with a couple of new people we didn’t know. 12 people on 7 boats: Tides In, Hallelujah, Omega, Adventures, Bagheera, LiLi (actually a Krogan), and Escape (new DeFever owners). Unfortunately two other DeFever Cruises were not able to join us – September Song and Maya. We had a great time and as always learned a lot from this group.
