Hello Tomatoes, Goodbye Flowers

Good Golly, Batman, are we ever going to have a bountiful harvest of tomatoes!  We were up at the gardens for our weekly Thursday session and were awed by the number of tomatoes on our plants.  Yahoo!!  I tried to get a close up to show how many tomatoes are on each plant….then back up and see how many beds are like that.  Makes my mouth water to think of a fresh garden tomato.  Artichokes and our one row of corn are faring well also. 

   

It is always sad to see the flowers go at the end of the season.

I take a photo every year because it makes such a surprising difference to see the “before” and “after”.   

The front entrance certainly looks different without the colorful blast of flowers and the big Welcome Back sign to greet us.

 

But never fear…..Yogi is still here!

Thank you, Roger, for your dedication to the park.  It is always nice to have you or your crew waiting at the gate with a friendly hello.

Today’s Tidbits

Oh my gosh….what a beautiful day in Palm Creek!  86 degrees, bright blue sky, lots of sunshine, and a cool breeze to keep us comfy.  Awesome!  To those of you who are enduring gray rainy sky, floods, mud, tornadoes, or snow…..my thoughts are with you. 

 

I want to say a word of THANKS to a kind man who found my cell phone laying in the gravel this morning.  The phone must have slipped from my pocket while Don and I were out walking around doing house watch duties.  I had no idea where I lost it.  He found my number and called us to say he found it.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.  If any of you know Bob (with his RV currently in site 1613), please tell him he is now a hero.  Bob said he lost his cell phone once while out hiking so he knows how much it means when someone calls to say they’ve found it. 

 

     A new village home is now in place at Site 1789.  It was no easy job to get those two truckloads in place!  I just happened to be riding my bike in that area while all the action was taking place.  Hats off to the crew who managed to place the house so carefully, precisely, and safely.  It was a VERY tight fit to back the rig into place without hitting the palm tree in front or running into the other house half in the back.  It took a while of going back and forth until things lined up just right.  Good job fellas!  I’ll post a whole series of pictures showing the process.  Note that they also have to place logs (ramp style) where the road ends and the hole drops off.  Certainly requires team work!

		Site 1789 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

As a last thought for today’s post, I must add this photo to tease our friendly Canadian residents.  Even the geese know it’s too cold to return to Canada.  Some are staying here to enjoy our warm spring temperatures! 

Easter Sunday

        

 

 

We certainly have a different view from our patio these days!  It is quite a switch from having an RV or 5th wheel in every site to seeing the wide open spaces now.  In some ways it is sad as we see friends leave….but in some ways it feels good to have some free quiet time once again.  There are still plenty of people here enjoying the beautiful April weather but many folks are packing suitcases and getting ready to head out next week.  I certainly hope everyone makes it to their destination safely!  The national weather report shows some very nasty weather in the Midwestern states. 

 

There were over 200 tickets sold for today’s delicious Easter dinner and the ballroom looked festive for the occasion.  Easter is a fun time for decorations as we had colored Easter eggs on the table along with good old-fashioned peeps, jelly beans, and we each got a cute chocolate bunny.  We were greeted by the usual cheery staff of special event hostesses donning their “ears of cheer”. 

 

Diane was at the mic to wish us Easter greetings before we indulged in our dinner of ham, potatoes, green beans, rolls, and a delicious golden fruit salad.  I stand in awe over the kitchen magicians who can create all those great tasting foods in that small kitchen and manage to get it all plated and served while still hot and fresh.  It’s amazing!  Congratulations and thank you to them all for their hard work.     

A couple of my fellow Garden Club members gave me some more photos of the garden so thought I’d thank them by posting them here.  Thank you Verna and Jeanette.

		Garden Club Photos VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

April Notes

We’ve had an early start to summer this month with temps in the 90s instead of the expected normal 80s.  While we’re “suffering” through a little discomfort, I hear the folks up north are still in snow banks and the folks out east are ducking tornadoes.  Guess I won’t complain about a little unexpected warmth.  The weather man promises back to normal 80s next week. 

The roses are in bloom by the rose garden statues.  I like to stop by there on occasion to take a close look at the area and just enjoy the scenery.  There are many different color roses there under the palm trees but my favorite is definitely this lilac color.  It just looks so delicate. 

 

The sidewalk flowers are still pretty but their brilliance is drawing to a close as they just can’t survive the summer heat.  Soon the water will be turned off and they will fade away until pulled and recycled.  We enjoy them while we can. 

 

I see the landscape crews go past with their trailer filled with pots they’ve collected after folks leave and return their “pots of petals”.  The “to do” list never ends as there is always another project to tackle.  They are also busy trimming trees and shrubs that were hit by the hard frost we had this winter. 

     

Our vegetable gardens are doing well.  We still meet every Thursday to help with chores, learn some new gardening tidbits from Jim Dawson, AND harvest whatever crops are ready for picking.  I’ve never seen an artichoke plant before so it is really interesting to watch them mature. 

              

I’m guessing that the gardens will be even more popular next season as word gets out about our supply of delicious fresh veggies.  I hope there are plans for more beds.

 

We’re on summer hours now so the construction crews start coming in a little earlier to begin working on all the projects.  There are new village homes going up at 1246 and 1251 on Shimmering Sands Lane plus a couple park model homes around other areas of the park.  There seem to be numerous site improvement projects as well.  It’s nice to see the park doing so well.

       

New Pool Tables in the Billiards Room!!

 

All the Palm Creek pool sharks are really excited about the FOUR new pool tables recently installed in the billiards room!  They’re like little kids at Christmas time as they watch the delivery and assembly of the tables.  Assembly is no small task as these are big deluxe tables and must be installed properly.  I’ll post a whole series of photos so you can watch the progress.  The two front tables were moved to the back of the room and the older tables were removed.

		New Pool Tables VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The above photos are posted with the new Windows Live photo album so I hope it works well for you.  Just click on “view slide show”.  I don’t think you need to actually download the photos.  By the way, any time you want to get a better view of a picture, just click on it and it will open up in a larger size for viewing.  When done, just click the “back” button to resume reading the blog.

Hope you enjoyed these April tidbits of park news.  I’ll be out and about like a roving reporter in the upcoming weeks.