Its hot.... Its humid..... Welcome to Florida!

     Its been a while since I posted last.  Not much has changed yet much has changed here.  When I wrote last we were living in our camper in a tiny RV campground in the city.  It wasn't alot of fun but we got through it.  We closed on our house, finally.   I love my home so much.  I love the park it sits in....now.   I love the great neighbors we have..... But it didn't start out that way!!

     When we moved here our "park" was not very aesthetically pleasing you could could say.  It was really a mess.  It had been let go for many years, the lots mostly unkept overgrown and sad.  When we came in all I could think of wad....."what have we done?"  The plus side....we are very close to the gulf,  the sunsets are amazing and the gulf breezes are wonderful.  

     What a HUGE difference a year and some new managers have made.  More than a few times we have talked of selling and getting out of here .  We actually did put our house up for sale but the look of the park really put people off.  Its now a very pretty sweet little park all cleaned up and a very nice place to be.  

     We have added a lot of improvements and elbow grease to our little home  and shined it up rather nicely.  I now have a pleasant little patio worthy of long sitting spells enjoying a sunrise, a beautiful garden filled with beautiful flowers and plants and intoxicating fragrances morning and evening. 

    I am still knitting......its what I do!   In this warm weather the most I seem to be able to do is dish cloths.....lots of dish cloths.   I've begun to get bored with them so I am leaning toward a new adventure. 

     I am thinking of learning to quilt. I love quilts.   I spend hours lookig online at hundreds of them and admiring the colors and patterns... I have 3 sewing machines sitting waiting for a job.  So I think that will be my fall and winter hobby this year.       

     I still have my poodle girl.  Can't believe she is 4 already!  I have a new little buddy who keeps me always moving.  He's such a stinker.  This is Bodhi Jack.  He is 4 months old and a crazy little guy.  He is a Mini Aussie Shepherd. He is something and I hopefully can train him to be a good boy. 

     I am still baking.  I love to bake and try new things.  My neighbors  also love for me to crank up the oven and bake....as I share with them.  I am pretty famous around the park for my peanut butter cookies and biscuits!!

     So.... Thats whats been happening here in sunny Florida.  Well I think that's about all for right now.  I promise to be much more diligent about writing here since I now have a beautiful new computer and great internet!  

     See you soon... Promise!!

     

These Endless Blue Skies.

    As many mornings as I have woken here in Florida I never tire of seeing the gorgeous sunrises..... or sunsets for that matter.  They each in their own beauty takes my breath away even from a camper window..

    Today started out magnificently as ever.  It was cool for a Florida morning in May.  Cool enough for a sweatshirt to take the dogs out this morning.  Never thought I would say sweatshirt and May in the same sentence in Florida.  It was refreshing, and a great night sleep was gauranteed last night as the temps dipped into the mid 50's..... in Florida.... in May.  Who knew, but we are very blessed.

    Just as beautiful as the mornings, the evening sunsets don't disappoint and are truly amazing in their own right!   I mean... who wouldn't want to be sitting and just relaxing watching this happen?  I never want to miss a spectacular end of my day like this...  ever.

We are in a holding pattern waiting to close on our home here and the days do tend to run together.  They can be very long and very boring.  Sometimes it is difficult to get through them so I do the best I can to keep busy.  There really is nothing to do here in this tiny little RV park we are in.  The wifi is horrible and never works, there are no amenities unless you count a laundry and shower house.  So life is very dull most days.

  The heat this past week has been really unusually warm and very humid. Not weather you want to be out in to walk the dog or take a noontime stroll.  The nights sometimes have cooled down enough to turn off the air and open windows so that helps a little for this non-camper loving person.

    One of the things I have been doing is picking up my knitting to break the boredom.  I have manged to do a few of these and take my mind off things plus I will have a few new things for a new home.  A small win for me as I love knitting, knitting dish cloths and I love using these little beauties for lots more than just dishes.  

    They really do have a plethora of uses and they never wear out.  They last many times longer than store bought and they are very inexpensive to make.  You can find hundreds of free patterns on the internet for the too!

    Well that's pretty much concludes my tales from a camper for today.  I've learned to bake, cook and keep my self somewhat entertained here in my little 28 foot world.  Until we meet again.... Be blessed, take care and be kind to everyone.  Trudy

Adventures in Camper living...

    Let's just say I am not a huge fan of camper living.  I have always been a girl scout - in the forest-tent sleeping - cooking everything over a campfire- kinda girl.  I have never been one to want to go live in a camper.  Ever.....

    Perhaps it never just the right kinda camper.  I have seen many but all with mini everythings inside them. Unless you are in one of those -mansion size buses- tiny houses on wheels.  

     Perhaps it's my claustrophobic nature.  Perhaps it is the iddy biddy stove and fridge that hold very little.  I mean seriously, I can't imagine cooking a dinner of great quality in these iddy bidddy size of a matchbox ovens.  I just haven't been a big fan.  

    Today I looked over on my table and saw 2 very over ripe bananas.  Unfortunately I knew I had to take action.  I hate to throw out bananas because I absolutely love them but.....  that would mean trying to use that teeny tiny - my microwave  is bigger than that- oven.  What to do?  

    So off I go, let's do an experiment I suppose.   Was I crazy to think this.... to even consider trying to bake in an oven I didn't even know how light?  Probably but what could possibly go wrong?  Worst case scenario I would just have to toss the end result and chalk it up to experience.

    Well I mixed it, put it in a pan that I generously greased and looked at that oven that i hoped was heated to the right temperature.  There is no oven light to let you know you are at temp.  In to the oven it went while I hoped, said a little prayer and tried to occupy my time for an hour.  

    I peeked into that oven an hour later and pulled one out, tested it and amazingly enough it was done!!!!  It looked absolutely beautiful, golden brown and smelled glorious!! I took out the 2nd loaf and it was just as gorgeous.   I am simply amazed I would never thought it could be done!!!!  

    There is hope.  Perhaps I may be convinced just a wee bit that camper living might not be quite so bad if indeed I can produce some semblance of normalcy such as a loaf of Banana Bread!!!  I must admit I can't do this over a campfire.  Perhaps it might be okay.  I must admit my curiosity is peaking..... what might I try to bake next in this oven???  Stay tuned .  I think I will make a cup of tea, have a slice it two of bread and mull it over.  Be blessed....     Trudy

We have come back ...... Home.

    Well it’s been a bit, a long road traveled, but we have finally made it back home.

    We left Michigan almost 2 weeks ago with a full camper and 2 puppies in tow.  We are looking to find the perfect place to land.  We are trusting God to lead us where He wants us to be and where we can be of use for his purpose.

     It seems so much longer than that already but no. We had moved back there 18 months ago trying to make a home and trying to regather our family together. Don’t get me wrong, I love Michigan I do. I was born and raised there. I lived over 50 years there. My brothers are there, and daughter and granddaughters too. We tried to make it feel like home. We bought a really nice old farmhouse in a big city to try to make it feel like home, but it just didn’t feel like home to us.

    Maybe it was the being too far from the kids. Maybe it was being separated by distance from my brothers and family. Distance not just in miles but relationship. I love my brothers so much. They are one of the reasons I wanted to move back to Michigan. I had hoped to build a relationship with them again, but sadly I feel like I just didnt.  I feel like I failed and  I still feel the distance between us.

Life sometimes has a way of twisting and turning our lives that sometimes fractures our relationship with family. I am sure the fractures are mostly my fault and it is burden I will carry everyday. I feel guilty, I’ve offered apologies and I’ve asked forgiveness. I feel I can do no more but the guilt still lies in my heart.

    We tried to make Michigan home again with family, with a different home for us. I loved the home we choose. It was beautiful, welcoming and comfortable. It was just in a wrong area, a much too big city for us. It was much too far from family. We felt like we had been living all alone there in this big busy city. Perhaps we had been away from family too long to remember what being with family felt like.  I feel I  wasn’t nearly as happy as I thought I would be in Michigan.  

    I tried for 18 months to convince myself that I could indeed be joyfully happy there but my lack of happy drove me deeper into a depressing anxiety filled funk. I had been fooling myself I guess thinking all would be bliss if we just moved back.

    So here we are again, in what now does feel like home. We are back in Florida. We lived here for 7 years the first time. This is where my dearest friends are. This is where a deep raw personal tragedy struck and I lost my relationship and faith with God for a while when it happened. I was very angry with God.  I went into a deep dark place for almost 6 months.  I turned my back on everyone and everything that I loved.  There were days when I just wanted to not be there anymore.  I wanted to not be in life anymore.  I wanted to give up, to finish it but something wouldn't let me go. I know now and I indeed found out that God truly loves His children and it hurts Him to see us hurting. I know now He won't let  go of us because we are His, because He loves us so much.

    This place is where God never gave up on me.  This place, with the help of 2 very dear friends is where I found my faith again, where God saved me again.  They helped me to find my place, my purpose, my church home, my church family.  This place is where I found my now even closer walk with God. This is where I found my purpose, my work for Him that fills me with peace. This is where I found my happiness, my joy. It’s everywhere I look around me.  This indeed does feel like home. 

    I have learned that I can’t expect others or things to make me happy. I can choose to be happy or miserable. In Michigan I think I just never chose to be happy. I felt unappy and lonely and separated not just from family but God too. I just couldn’t seem to find my relationship with my God in Michigan because I was miserable. But if I am honest, I wasn’t really looking. I was wanting it to come find me!!

    But now we feel like we are indeed home again. Hubby is happy, puppies are happy in this warm almost always sunny weather. I feel so much lighter. Happy, relaxed and blessed. We have found a new home and we will close on it soon.  This new home just happens to be almost a carbon copy of our last home here in Florida before we moved.  We loved that home it was so comfortable. 

    The new home is in a beautiful older small trailer park that is cozy, quiet and feels just right. It is very close to the Gulf side of Florida..... which maybe could be a not so good thing during hurricane season. But hey, the park and the trailers are still standing through all the storms that have come through there.  That should mean something right? 

    We are so delighted to finally be back home. God is so good. I feel like, I hope that HE is smiling down on us and telling us to just be content and to trust Him. I know his plan is perfect and I know his timing is always true. I just have to remember to let him in, listen for his whispers and trust him to always take care of me like he always has, always does and always will. He has given me so many life lessons, He has never failed me and He is always by my side.

    That’s all for today. I hope wherever you are you are truly happy and blessed. Take care.        Trudy

On the road again....

    Well life has a funny way of keeping you on your toes. Just when you think that things are going along smoothly here comes another bump. 

    We thought we had settled in here, we bought a really nice comfy old home. We thought that this was our last stop in the road to retirement..... but I guess we we wrong. 

     We wanted a camper to do some traveling since we are now in our golden years. We wanted to become snowbirds and head south in the winter.... in our golden years... Except these years don't feel so golden right now with Covid, kids and campers. We devised a plan, although not a perfect plan as you will see. 

     So a little back story.   We had a camper, our kids wanted that one so we sold it to them.  We in turn bought a much newer and more expensive beautiful camper to do some traveling. We then realized that we couldn't really afford a house and camper payment easily at the same time.  . 

   Soooo.... We had to make a decision and we decided to sell the newly purchased home 6 months in and become full time rv'ers. We had decided to sell our home thinking all was well with the kids and things were going great for them.

    Things happen though and life got in the way.  The kids couldn't keep the camper and keep paying on it so now we had 2 campers and a huge payment.  Excuse me a minute while I deep sigh... So now more we had more decisions to make. 

      We sold the older camper and we in turn had sold our house to do our traveling but now our kids wanted us to stay close.  Trying to buy another home in these days and times is a major headache and something we are not able to do easily with today's housing market.  Homes sell as fast as they are listed and for much more than they did 6 months ago we are finding out . 

    So over the road we go in our nice new camper and I am not sure where we will land this time but we are heading for warmer weather for a while for a much needed vacation.  It's been a long cold winter and we need some sun right now.

    One thing I forgot to mention, I am a puppy raiser for Southeastern Guide Dogs in Palmetto Florida.  I have raised 2 pups already and they are now certified working guide dogs.  

    I am now raising my 3rd pup and he will be joining us in our little camper adventures.  It's not exactly how I wanted to do this but hopefully Saint will enjoy it.  He most likely will be my last pup to raise unless we are somehow able to find a home for us somewhere.

    I invite you to follow us along on our camper adventures to see where we end up.  Will it be a warm or a cold climate?  Will we be able to find a home or be rv'ers forever?  Let's see where life takes us!!!  After all..... Life is an adventure. 

Welcome to our garden....

Well yesterday we visited the chicks, so today as promised I will show you our garden raised beds.  I have always had the old fashioned conventional garden, you know, the dig in the dirt, break your back to till, spend hours and days ridding weeds type garden.  It wasn't always fun but it was a great produce maker and had lots of space.

Since we have moved to our daughters land, she has always used the raised bed garden.  I must admit it has always  intrigued me.  So when we moved here she and I began to talk of having a good size garden this year so that we could preserve the produce for the winter.  With the way this country is going right now we must plan and do what we can to take care of and provide for our family with what ever we are able to and have at hand.

When I was young, I remember spending many summers along side my grandparents working in the garden or in the kitchen with them canning and freezing all of the produce from our garden.  I can honestly say that those were some of the best times of my life,  My grandma instilled in me a love of  canning and baking that I carry to this day.  I can tell you that I still love to walk through a garden and dream of what those beautiful plants are going to bless me with with a little water, a little sunshine and a little help from the Lord above.

I have gotten off the path so let me get back to my garden story for you.  This year my daughter and family decided we needed to double the size of her old garden so she and her hubby built 4 more boxes for a total of 8.  I will tell you in advance, that still is not enough!!

working on the new garden boxes

Anyway, the adding of the boxes was quite a good days work making us feel quite accomplished when finished to say the least.

So with this addition of 4 more boxes we are able to greatly expand what we want to grow and we had started some seeds in the house  to be place outside in the boxes.  Needless to say we planted to soon and with help from the many of the plants did not make the cut to the garden.  

This was one of the lucky survivors in the tomato plants that made the cut. We have planted a mess of tomatoes so I am sure we will be picking and canning them for weeks!!  Below you will find some of the "instant garden" we have planted and despite all the rain they all look really good today.

Peppers 

Lettuce and Strawberries in the planter

 

We decided to move the strawberries to a planter for easier access and to be decorative later.  

So I think we are all done with the planting of the garden and no, we did not have enough space even with the addition of the boxes we still had to till up 3 more conventional spots along side the beds to place potatoes, cauliflower, onions and garlic.  

 So what we planted in our garden:  Tomatoes, potatoes, onions, garlic, peppers and jalapeno's strawberries, cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, winter squash, sugar snap peas and Kentucky wonder pole bean.  That is a full garden and will be lots to put up for the winter I am sure.

Along with this garden I decided to try and plant a few things with the chicken girls in mind so I did small container gardens for them. I decided to place these close to the run for the girls so that I can treat them when ever I go in to visit them.  To put them in  the run would mean they would wipe them all out in one sitting and they would have no treats this summer. So far everything is doing well.  

I have lettuce coming up in the little square containers, in the buckets I have a Patio tomato plant  and cucumber for them.  I also planted Rosemary, Thyme and Basil for my usage in my kitchen.  In the green planter is mint that is supposed to keep the mice away and that will go in the ground all around the coop when it gets bigger to help keep the mice away (hopefully).  

Lettuce for the girls and for my salads.

Tomato and Cukes, with mint in the blue pot behind the buckets.  Please note these items will be removed from run before the chicken girls have access to their new run.  That will be this weekend.  I have placed them in there to protect them from all the rain the past few days.  

Thyme, Rosemary and Basil

So that ends my little garden tour for today.  Hopefully the rain is done for a few days and these     plants will grow like crazy.  So I hope you have a blessed day today and everyday.  You can choose to do anything, choose to be kind.  Take care and we will see you very soon back here at SunflowerFarms.