They say it's your birthday...We're gonna have a good time!

Happy Birthday Salt!! So glad you are catching up to the rest of us...

The tornado didn't hit us but you can bet I had the new park model switched over to our names and insured first thing yesterday. I was quite surprised to find a company that would insure us at such a reasonable price and great coverage. AARP, but I understand Lake County is one of the very few counties where they will still insure mobile homes.

Salt went to work on the house (Habitat) this morning while I went and took pictures of our friends getting their old home moved out and the new one moved in.

Out with the old....

In with the new.

Amazing....Diane stayed up most of the night and by Friday afternoon everything was completely decorated. Great job both of you!!!

Salt and I went to one of his favorite restaurants for a quiet birthday dinner. We knew the weekend was going to be non-stop so didn't do it up too big.

Friday morning was bowling and I went in with great expectations with my new ball!!! I HATE it, I HATE bowling and I am never bowling again....at least not until next week. I had a lousy 3 games. The guys were all picking on me saying that I bragged entirely too much last week and made Salt feel bad so the "Bowling God" was paying me back. What a crew they are.... I did however manage to get a strike on the "red pin" set and win my $.35. Right after that they pulled my ticket for the $3.00 strike and I got that one too. Now they call me the "money bowler".

After bowling our friends Terry and Susie (from Colorado) had a spaghetti dinner for 5 couples so we partied there until time for Bingo.

Saturday was "Open House" at the resort as well as town wide garage sales. Since we have been all about having fun and not very involved with helping out we did a day of volunteering. Salt parked cars and I served hot dogs. We also had the Lake County band here for entertainment.

Tonight was the "Great Umatilla Chili Cook off". We decided to check it out... $5.00 with the donations going to the youth The boys weren't sure they would get enough to eat.....yeah right; I think they are all heading to the medicine cabinet for alka seltzer. These were a couple of our favorites.

This is the first one we tried....it was definitely one of the best. It was called Margarita chili and the booth and presentation were definitely y the best.

It was really surprising to see how much effort went into the event. This is a very family oriented little town. It was so much fun to watch all the kids out dancing to the sounds of the DJ.

Tomorrow after church we are going to lay back and do some catch up work around home. We are leaving early Wednesday morning with a group from the resort, heading for Savannah , GA and St. Augustine, FL.

tornadoes spinnin...I sit here grinnin

Probably no blogging tonight. We are under tornado watch until 11:00.

A thrill seeker making deals...look at the bargains over here!

Saturday was a rainy, gloomy day so we took off for the Markets of Marion, one of the larger flea markets in the area. Diane and Dave went with us, as Dave had promised to get me a "deal" on a bowling ball. I figured it would probably be a piece of junk and I wouldn't want it but...TA DA!
It came with the bag and is exactly the weight I used for my 192....and get this....$5.00! they wanted $15.00 but when I asked the lady why Dave and Diane got theirs for $5.00, she gave it to me for the same. I didn't, however luck out like Diane did on her $5.00 ball and bag. When she got home with her's and opened the bag, inside one of the pockets was a sterling silver Italian necklace and a $200 watch.


I have been using a house ball since we started bowling and either I go half way down the alley with it because the holes are not large enough or I drop it behind me because they are too large. SO....I am taking it in tomorrow to have the holes drilled to fit me. Tomorrow afternoon we will have our first lesson. Should be interesting!




Diane and I found these shirts for $2.00 so we had to have them for bingo night. I am truly becoming a tacky redneck woman....Gosh it's fun!! While I was doing Salt's Corporate Tax return today, Dave and Diane found what is supposedly one of the largest markets in the country...will be checking that out next Monday.




I HATE doing taxes, the only good part is I did get to talk to our CPA (and good friend) Clay Kolle. Hopefully this year, since I am not working we will be able to spend some quality time with Clay and Kay. I have really missed entertaining and having my summer weekends free. It will be so nice to be able to spend some time with our friends from the island.

I can't believe in only a month we will be leaving for Myrtle Beach. Emma and Betty keep reminding us just exactly how long it is before "Spring Break" when they will join us. Boy have they had a cold, snowy winter. Hmmmm, and is that a result of "global warming"?

We are taking possession of the new digs on Wednesday. We won't actually be moving in until next fall. The gentleman we are purchasing it from wanted to stay until the end of March. Since we have the motor home, I didn't see a need to have him out any earlier. He will shut it down for the summer when he leaves. We will be moving some of our things into it but I actually am glad we won't move in until fall. It will give me something to look forward to and some time to think about exactly what I want to do with the decorating. It doesn't really need much, just enough to make it "ours".

too much fun.....what's that mean?

Saturday, Country & Western night.....all cowboys; no Indians. As usual another good time. I can't wait til next year though when I have more some time to work on costumes. Now that I know what all the different themes are I can scope out garage sales, thrift stores and "after holiday sales".

Dancing up a storm, my friend Carol decided to show us all up with her twisting skills. I was going to show her I could do it too when I had this horrible flashback....the time I thought I could still do a cartwheel and split and couldn't get back up. I ended up in the Emergency Room the following morning and was laid up for 3 weeks with a leg brace. So I decided to just rest on my laurels. I'm not jealous Carol....I'm really happy for you!!!

A good ole country band!

How bout those cowgirls.....

The Olde Mill Posse


Look how happy Salt was...right before I told him I signed US up for Line Dancing!

As I throw the ball I cry...."let me bowl or let me die"....

When I opened my email this morning (before heading out for our bowling day) there was a letter from Emma, with pictures from her bowling adventure on Wednesday. She has the coolest scout leader. Their troop is so active....constantly working on new badges, while having fun.

This is a picture of the first ball Emma threw which was a strike! She ended up with a 106, which I thought was great for only her second time bowling. They did have the bumpers up but Betty said she really would have done well without them.

Way to go Emma!!!



This is a picture of some of the girls with their tie-dye shirts they made the week before the bowling trip (Emma is to the far left). It is hard to tell but the yellow symbol in the middle is the Girl Scout symbol.

I am so glad she loves scouting. Both her mother and myself were very involved when we were young. Back when I was a scout the cookies were $.50 a box. I wonder if they were ever cheaper than that?

Well, anyway when I got to the bowling alley, I was kidding all my friends that I was under tremendous pressure this morning as I wanted to beat my granddaughter. Of course I wasn't really trying to beat a 106....but I did have a 192 which is a really good score for me!!! Will certainly take me back next week...now I have to break a 200!

Bingo tonight and off to the Flea Market tomorrow to find a hat for the Country and Western dance tomorrow night.

Got the courage to follow his heart...Set out for a brand new start!

So...Salt is running around the resort bragging about how, for the first time in 20 years, he is going to get his way. Of course, when "his way" is cruising the Caribbean for a couple of months during the winters it wasn't all that bad letting him win!!

That and the fact that with my "no smoking" weight I really fit in!!

I am pretty sure you all have frequently questioned our sanity...this one may confirm the fact that we are a Little Dinghy...

While we were in the Bahamas, Salt was transformed. He thinks he may have lived there in another life. Riding back from Man of War, he looked at me and said "I want to spend more time here...I want to redesign the school boat, and live on it for a couple of months during the winters.

I couldn't believe my ears but was hoping he was serious. ...he was...and so begins the next chapter in the book of Salt & Kitty!

The first thing we did was purchase a very small place here in the resort. My one restriction to this whole idea was that if we were going to cruise the Caribbean we would not have the time to cruise the United States by motor home. As I have been to every state with the exception of Alaska and Salt has been to most of them (5 months of touring over the last 2 years) we are ready to sell the motor home. I however, (always with the ace in the hole) felt the need to have a nest here in Florida.

The place we bought is a 40' Breckinridge park model. Perfect for the few months we will spend here. Although we loved (I hope I don't miss it too much) the motor home lifestyle, we felt it was foolish to have an engine just sitting unused. The park model is only a couple of years old and in mint condition. The landscaping is done so we can "move in". I am also kind of excited about having something that I can come to earlier than Salt and stay later if he chooses to go home earlier. Since he is still working summers he would like to get a few more work weeks in.

OK...so this is the outside....need to put up the rest of the lattice and take away a bunch of the foo foo but it is the perfect little piece of stability we need when we feel like taking some time off the boat (IF we in fact want to???). Does this make me "official trailer trash"?

This is our cute little sitting room...sofa makes into a queen bed and there is a partition so it serves as a second bedroom for company. Check out the fireplace....lights with a remote. I LOVE it! No more cutting firewood!

Blogger acting up again and not letting me post pictures. There is a master bedroom, good sized kitchen, living room/dining room combination with another sleeper sofa...and a washer dryer.

We are having a ball pulling up web sites and planning trips to boat shows to get ideas on refurbing the boat. The first thing we will do is rename her (don't buy the renaming a boat is bad luck thing). Maybe we should have a contest to name her....first prize being a cruise with us!

Here is the name I like....A*Salt *Weapon (Assault Weapon). OK so it's not a very "relaxing", "pretty" name but you have to admit it's pretty clever....

We are pulling from all our friend's talents, to help complete our dream. Salt has talked to Jim Adamson, hoping to use his engineering talents to redesign. My cousin Shane (the Bass fisherman) will help with the carpentry work and although we haven't asked yet we are hoping we can talk his brother Daryl into putting his expertise (finish carpentry) in also. Urch and I have already started discussing the Bahamian colors we will use for the interior. We have picked our colors for the exterior. Urch and Harry are ALMOST as excited as we are because they now have access to a diving and fishing boat (and of course we get the expertise of their guiding!!!).

The sea is green, the sky is blue...it's party time for me and you!

Our last day (boo hoo) we decided to once again board the ferry and go to the little cay , Man of War. It was kind of a toss up between there and Hopetown. Since we all have a couple of friends (from Clayton) on Man of War, it was a unanimous decision to go and try to find Jim Brabant.

Again we rented a golf cart and our first stop was at the Marina where we presumed they would park their boat. Sure enough almost everyone seemed to know Jim and Tracey. Surprisingly, Tracey was there also. We had not realized she had retired from many years of teaching at A Bay.

This is the view from the "crow's nest" atop Brabant's roof.

They have been living on Man of War for over 10 years....now we know why!!



Whoops...almost forgot about our little stop at the Abaco Pottery shop before heading to the island.

Before heading into the pottery shop we were treated to a Valentine's buffet. The Bahamians love holidays and do up them up big time!

I loved this little shop....it was filled with all kinds of bright nautical/Bahamian materials. An elderly lady sits right in here with her sewing machine and will whip up what ever you want.

Lunch on Man of War....Harry, Salt and Jim Brabant.

Tracey and Urch enjoying the view!

Since we had been running non stop for the entire week, none of us felt much like cooking. Salt and I decided to take Harry and Urch out for a "thank you" dinner at Nippers.

Our ride back to the airport....Laker had to go along and say goodbye.

This concludes the Bahama portion of the blog. I am way too tired to bring it up to date tonight.

Guess everyone will have to wait for our "news"

Down on the beach both night and day you can hear the steel drums play....

We had a cool day on Wednesday so decided to take the ferry over to Green Turtle Cay.



We all enjoyed the ride over....



The streets and shops were so totally different than those on Treasure Cay....

I just love the Caribbean colors. People here are not afraid to "love" color.

This is the old prison.

We rented a golf cart so we could explore the whole island. The dogs are actually wild dogs. The natives call them Pot Cakes. As you can see, they are really not very "wild". I assume both natives and tourists kept them well fed.

You're all going to love this!!! This is called love vine ...the Natives call it an aphrodisiac. To get the full effect you need to take a piece from seven different bushes, make it into a tea and drink it three times a day....it is called (drum roll please) a 21 gun salute. Urch told one fella she thought that was a bit frightening and he laughed and said "oh NO..don't be scared"!

This was the little cemetery which overlooked the ocean. It was so beautifully landscaped and so well maintained.

The greatest day....we hired a boat and a Bahamian guide (Sam) to take us out for some off shore fishing, spear fishing and snorkeling. The weather was perfect...about 85 degrees.

Here is Sam getting ready to clean the days catch. He took the Baracuda home....Bahamians can eat them but our systems supposedly won't tolerate a poison they may contain???? I don't know but that's what they all tell me so I listen!


Here is Salt on our first dive....We actually got to snorkel the third largest reef in the world. It was awesome....I felt like a mermaid swimming amongst all the beautiful fish. It was so cool to see a school of bright blue fish followed by canary yellow and bright red ones. I think my favorite was the purple fans with their contiuous swaying almost as if they were moving to the music of the crackling coral.


Salt landing his first Baracuda....man they are UGLY fish! Their teeth are frightening!

Here is one of them.....

Chapter 3 coming your way tomorrow ....providing I don' have trouble with blogger!

No shirt, no shoes, no problem....

Welcome to Treasure Cay, Mon!!

Oh yeah... almost forgot just how beautiful and peaceful the Caribbean is. The real beauty of this visit was, after the many times I have visited different islands, this was the first time we actually lived amongst the Bahamians. All of the other times we were either on a cruise or an IBM trip which gave me limited access and mobility.

Urch and Harry have been going over to Abaco (one of the outer islands) for over 10 years now, so as well as having a beautiful house to stay in (right on the beach) they had all the connections for guides, good food and attractions.

The first evening we were there, Harry introduced us to Conk cakes.....yum! Neither Salt or myself had ever tried it before and were pleasently surprised at how much we liked it.

Day 2, Urch and I had a good old gab session as we floated in the beautiful Caribbean

while the boys went spearing for lobsters....tah dah!

Then on to lunch for more Conk and Red Snapper. I don't think a day went by when we didn't have some kind of fish or seafood. Healthy eating and still enjoying!!!

This is what I meant when I said we actually got to live among the Bahamians....this is Florence and her very tiny but excellent bakery. These Key Lime pies were so green they looked strange. Best Key Lime pie we ever had (sorry about that David Taylor....you're still in second place).

Urch also told us about the "to die for"coconut bread that Florence baked. When we asked her if she had any she said she can never find anyone to crack the coconuts and remove them from the shells. She is so busy she doesn't have the time and the gentleman who used to suppply them to her passed away. Well, I certainly was not going home without trying this bread so......the boys went to work. Harry showed Salt the ropes and then Salt proceeded to harvest the 8 we needed for Florence's batch of bread.

And Urch displaying the opened coconut....Hey Urch they aren't Bahamian implants!!!

Now here is Florence's sister, Evelyn.....Evelyn comes to the house twice a week with the back of her van loaded with wonderful Bahamian foods. You just bring out your own containers and she scoops out her delicious delicacies. We loved the Conk Chowder, Conk Salad and Jonny Cake (corn bread). I just love these people....they are so friendly and easy going....and HAPPY.

OK.....this is getting to be a long post. I guess I will break it up into a few sections since I have so many pictures to post. You also might want to stay tuned for the next chapter to see what decisions we made while on this trip. We are getting more wild and crazy every day....and LOVING it!

Oh my gosh Judy....I just read through this. There is a lot of talk of "food"....am I your mother???