May, 2015
The month of May was hot! Cape Coral set a heat record for the month of
April, but May was even hotter. We swam every
day and sometimes twice a day to cool off (pool water was 84 – 86). Barb finished a number of projects – the top
of the lap quilt for a class she took and most of the top for the Irish Chain
quilt. Barb also finished a major
project for the children’s library in Cape Coral – so she can start a new
project next fall. We spent a fair
amount of time working with various companies to finish some home remodeling
projects and also boat repair projects.
The second half of the month was spent preparing to head north, although
we did take time to have boating friends over for dinner before putting away
all sorts of household stuff. Our big
aha for the month was putting up the hurricane shutters – we found that three
windows was all we could do a day and we did them early in the morning before
the temps were in the 90’s. We organized
and packed the car and headed north on the 29th.
The Irish Chain Quilt - have to sew on borders and then top is finished. First quilt I've made.
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The lap quilt for the family room. Second quilt top and this is ready for quilting. Each square is different.
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April, 2015
We are into a routine – yard work,
swimming, quilting, computer work. We
are finally getting caught up on the web site; got taxes filed (ugh!) and
continue our volunteer work at the library.
Celebrated Barb’s birthday with good friends – went out for dinner. Barb started a new quilting class that will go
into May. She is making a lap quilt –
machine piecing. We continue to work on
the yard – it is a disaster from the construction last year. We had to have it graded so that water would
run away from the house, then it has to have new sod – so we are busy watering
it daily. Thank heavens for the
underground sprinkling system but the water bill will take a hit. The
big project this month was the canal dredging so that Hallelujah wouldn’t go
aground at the dock. The pictures show
how this is done from land – no barge here.
The company does all of the City dredging so they know what they are
doing. They literally vacuum up the muck
separate it and sent the water back to the canal while keeping the mud in a
dump truck. They hauled away two truckloads
of mud and one old post. The vacuum is heavy and hard to maneuver
so it took two crew members taking shifts in the water to complete the area to
be dredged and two days to complete all the work. We were glad that the new sod came in after they were done. We sure hope that Hallelujah won’t have issues at the
dock. We ended the month with a new
garage door – not all that exciting but it was needed. Can’t believe that May is around the corner.
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March, 2015
March flew by! We said goodbye to Jeanette and had house
guests two days later. We enjoyed having
the Avery’s (boating friends) here with us for a short time. When they left we made a quick trip to the
condo and lunch with former colleagues (the Konecki’s and Lazerus’). Then it was home to prepare for the DeFever
Cruiser Rendezvous and continue to sew on the quilt. The 19th came quickly and we drove
to North Palm Beach for the Rendezvous. As I was registration chair, we had bags to
stuff, registration materials to give out, and lots of friends to see. Of course, Dave did a lot to help with the physical
work. The event was a success and
everyone enjoyed seeing boating friends – we met new members and had a great
time sharing stories and hearing great information. We returned home on the 24th
tired. We returned to our normal
routines of working in the yard, swimming, biking, and cleaning. Barb finished the squares for the Irish Chain
quilt – all 35 of them. Saturday, March
28 we made a quick day trip to the condo which turned into a full day due to
traffic (some Indi car race in St. Pete).
The new electric 50 amp power at the dock. The bush that was here will be replaced.
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Barb with Sue Hodes and Dave welcoming a DeFever member.
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February, 2015
Dave and Jeanette in the pool - we love our afternoon swims.
February was very busy! We cleaned house quickly as Jeanette (Dave’s
sister) came for the month. It was great
having her here and we did a lot -- we
took a quick trip to St. Pete so Jeanette could see the condo’s new windows and
refrigerator. Went to a very large quilt
store in Dunedin and got material for an Irish Chain quilt that Barb is going
to make (this will be her first quilt).
Every day there was some small shopping or touring that took place and
of course sewing on the Irish Chain quilt.
Barb and Jeanette took an applique class, went to a quilt show, found a
rug for the office, silk flowers for one large vase, and lots of different
foods and recipes. Barb tried making
bread in her new Kitchen Aid mixer with Jeanette’s help. We went out to Sanibel to the Ding Darling
Bird Sanctuary and had a great time looking at various wildlife that were
wintering there. Jeanette and Barb drove
to Naples to see what was downtown and came home with very little new stuff
(Dave was thankful). The weather finally started to warm up so with
the help of the pool heater, we were able to get into the pool. It seems like there were also a number of
workmen around during the month – the dock electric went in, the pest service
had to come and work with ants that were coming into the house, more yard work,
and more stuff from contractor. Will we
ever be done with the house? And of
course there was the DeFever Rendezvous work to do.
January, 2015
Somehow January got really
busy! We had four different Looper
couples come to visit – they all loved the guest facilities. We attended the AGLCA
Gold Looper Reunion and said a sad good-by to a great boating friend – Tom
Conrad. Our new furniture for the guest
bedroom and the office arrived – so we were busy putting together furniture and
figuring out how to arrange rooms. We
continued to work on the yard – had an old palm removed and took out more
bushes. Michael from Stumps R Us loves
us! The guest bedroom A/C was finally
fixed and Jim finally got some for stuff to us.
We can’t believe we are still trying to get house construction
completed. The big event of the month
was that we put in a new dock for Hallelujah.
It looks great. Barb continues to
work on the DeFever Rendezvous while Dave continues to bike every day. We didn’t swim much this month as the weather
was cool – 60’s during the day.
Barge that drove in the pilings for new dock.
West side of guest bedroom - this room is 24 feet long so bed is left of door with TV in cabinet.
This is one end of the bedroom that we changed into Barb's work room - note the computer and sewing machine.
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Our finished dock. We have big pilings and extra large rubber bumpers for Hallelujah.
The east side of the guest bedroom with a sitting area - this slider opens onto the pool.
This is the other end of Barb's workroom - with the cutting table and closets. We will have one more piece of furniture later this year.
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