A Bob the Builder Saga minus Bob the Builder

Ok, so this doesn't really involve Bob the Builder but with the run around we have had, it might as well have involved him.

Our trailer is 21 years old. We bought a new "used" A/C unit when we bought the place 8 years ago. So this fall, we had to get a new one. No problem there. Then the fridge which was 21 years old went belly up. So, we had to get a new one. No problem. And of course, the stove which is also 21 years old isn't at the top of it's game. Actually the oven hasn't worked in several years. So, we had to get a new one. PROBLEM!!

We aren't wired correctly to have an electric stove. There is no natural gas here in the Park. That leaves propane. Finding a propane stove. No problem. Finding some one to install it. PROBLEM!!

When we first started looking for a stove, we were told at Home Depot that they would sell us the stove but they couldn't install it. We needed someone special to do that. They recommended Bill Smith Appliance. So, we checked there. Nope they couldn't do it but they would sell us the stove. Call TEKO for installation. We kind of let this slide for a month or two but with Christmas rapidly approaching, company coming, and my desire to bake some Christmas cookies, we started working on this again.

I finally, after much searching, discovered the phone number for TEKO (whatever that is). So I call them and discover that they aren't even in Fort Myers but elsewhere in the state somewhere. It was also one of those cases where you can't even get to talk to a real person. Finally after about three tries and listening to numerous messages, I finally got a real person. But, no, they couldn't install our stove. She tells me to call Balgas.

So, I call Balgas. She very nicely said, "Uh, I don't know" and gave me the number of Bob (no, not the Builder). So, we call Bob. Bob says, "Well I can't do it but I will give you the number of Larry. He is a contractor." Geez, just what I need, another contractor. So, we call Larry. Larry says, "Yeah, I can install it but you need to call Bob back and get the stove from him." So, we call Bob and Bob says, "I need to talk to Larry first. I'll call you back." Finally, finally, finally, Bob calls back and says yes, they could get us the stove, deliver it, install it, and take away the old one.

I went out for some girl time with my friend Diane today and when I got home, guess what was waiting for me? My spanking new, beautiful little propane stove. I haven't used the oven yet but I'm betting it works alot better than the last one did. So Christmas cookies, here I come!!

Ruby Tuesday-Christmas and Hanukkah

Told you I like red!!! This was our tree a few years ago.

Our grandsons celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah. Here are Noah and Mima (in 2006) lighting the Hanukkah candles with Grandpa holding Ethan, Mommy holding Luka, and Papa looking on.

OK, I know you are all busy checking out everyone's Ruby Tuesday but take the time to bookmark me and drop back to check out my blog. I am a retired Special Ed teacher who now spends most of her time on Sanibel Island, Florida which is a Sanctuary Island for wildlife. I volunteer for a wildlife hospital. I am also the proud grandma of 5 wonderful grandkids and brag about them often!! I also have a blog called Branches and Roots where I talk about genealogy and my ancestors. OK, enough about me. So if you really want to see red go to Work of the Poet

Camera Critters--Please Santa, Don't Be Late

Awhile back, I found this great meme called Camera Critters. I love the pictures and decided that with my wealth of critter pictures down here in SW Florida, I would join in and I have for several weeks now. I would like to have you hop on over to Camera Critters. There you can either sign up for your own post for Camera Critters or see lots and lots of other great critter pics. So, now that you've done that--here is my critter for the day.

This was our kitty, Shilo. (Named for a Neil Diamond song.) She loved Christmas. She didn't climb the tree or really bother the ornaments. But if she could lay on top of a present, she was in heaven. She also loved to "open" her Christmas stocking on Christmas morning and there was nothing more fun than playing in the gift wrapping that had just been removed from the presents. She did liven up Christmas, I must say. And I would like to wish Shilo's namesake, Milo, a very Merry Christmas.

Luminary Night on Sanibel

Ok, so Tootie beat me to it as far as blogging about Luminary Night. I figured she would. She is such a night owl. LOL. Anyway, she posted about what their little group did and I'm posting about what Mr. Snowbird and I did.

Luminary Night takes place on Sanibel on the first Friday of December. Luminaria are set up on the bike path on Periwinkle Way all the way from the Lighthouse shoppes to Tarpon Bay Road which means pretty much the entire length of Periwinkle Way. People come from all over to enjoy meeting friends, shopping, but mostly eating and drinking. Every store, restaurant, real estate office etc is open. They all have some kind of drink (usually wine and punch) and snacks--everything from cookies or popcorn to chili and hotdogs. We learned after the first year we did this not to eat dinner before we go!!!

We always drive on Luminary night even though they have trolley service. But there are always such lines for the trolley, it would take you all evening just to get from one place to the other. So--we drive. We decided to go the "back way" using Middle Gulf and Tarpon Bay Road to go to Bailey's Plaza and park there.

The first thing we did was head across the street to the Olde Sanibel Shoppes . Our first stop was at the CROW store to see old friends and to buy Brian Johnson's latest book on CROW called Amazing Animal Stories from CROW. It is a collection of his Case of the Week stories plus lots of great pictures. But, I digress. From there we walked to Amy's Something Special where they had hot chili and wine. Yum. Then on to Suncatcher's Dream where we talked to Daniel (the owner and also CROW board member) and ate. He had a huge spread but the best thing was the shrimp dip. Oh my!! (Note to self--go back to Daniel's when I have more time to shop. He has the neatest stuff!!) Then a stop at the outdoor CROW display to talk to more friends.

From there, we crossed the street and went to Biddle's Bucket (one of our Sanibel Crawler's hangouts). They had quite a spread with wine, quesadillas, cookies, and hush puppies to die for!!

Biddles has a water wall in front of the restaurant and I just happened to get this shot of a guy standing between it and a light. Neat huh?

Bailey's has this cute sleigh with Santa hanging on. Too many presents for good boys and girls for him to actually get in the sleigh!

There is generally music wherever you go. These little guys were playing steel drums in the Bailey Center.

We then got back in the car and drove down to Periwinkle Place. There weren't a lot of cars on the road but the parking lots were packed. I guess most people were parking and riding the trolley. We found a parking place out in back and proceeded to eat and drink our way through Periwinkle Place. There was champagne at Congress Jewelers, ice cream at the ice cream store, meatballs and wine at another store (they all blurred together by this time--probably due to all the adult beverages we had tasted) as well as cookies, popcorn, you name it.

Santa was his usual magical self and appeared everywhere we went. He rode a firetruck (missed seeing this guy but Tootie talks about him in her blog.), and we saw him at Periwinkle Place and Jerrys. And I'm sure if we had gone other places he would have magically appeared there too. Poor little kids had to be confused!

Next on our travels, was Jerry's Shopping Center. We found a parking place in the garage and wandered around there. Jerry's is all decked out with decorations and I will post them later. Jerry's has exotic birds throughout the area. This was just one of them. These birds are all owned by the guy who owns Periwinkle Park. Anyway, the Boy Scouts always serve hotdogs and pop (or soda depending on what part of the country you live in) so we headed out to get our hotdog. Yum!

We then walked next door to the Community Church. They always have tons of stuff going on. They had a bazaar, petting zoo, food, drink, (non adult beverages--after all it is a church!) a Walk Through Bethlehem (which we didn't do because of the huge line.), choirs and the SaniBells. Don't ya love that name? They were playing while we were there and looked like they were having a bell---oops I mean a ball.

We decided that we couldn't eat another thing and were getting tired so we headed home enjoying the view of the Luminaria down Periwinkle Way. This is about our 10th Luminary Night and we have enjoyed every single one and we are looking forward to next years night already.

I Should Know Better

I should know better than to leave shells sitting on the floor on my deck. As you know, we have critters here. Critters, such as raccoons, who like shell fish or even the leftovers from shells. I went out shelling yesterday and found a lot of shells that were still hinged. I didn't want to put them in bleach water because it dissolves the hinge and kind of defeats the purpose of collecting hinged shells. So, I left them in regular water sitting on the deck last night. And this is what I found this morning. So much for some of my hinged shells! And forget the Sea Urchin which I had collected. I bet it tasted good to some little critter.

Wordless Wednesday-Disney Statue

I could have watched this lady all day. She was amazing.

I know you are all busy checking out everyone's Wordless Wednesday but take the time to bookmark me and drop back to check out my blog. I am a retired Special Ed teacher who now spends most of her time on Sanibel Island, Florida volunteering for a Wildlife hospital rescuing and rehabbing wildlife. I even dumpster dive for injured Raccoons!! I am also the proud grandma of 5 wonderful grandkids and brag about them often!! I also have a blog called Branches and Roots where I talk about genealogy and my ancestors. OK, enough about me. Back to Wordless Wednesday.

Enjoy more Wordless Wednesdays at Wordless Wednesday.

Ruby Tuesday-The Ford/Edison Estate Christmas

Fort Myers, Florida was the winter home of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. They were very good friends and had their homes right next door to each other. The homes are now owned by the city and have recently been totally refurbished and are in beautiful condition. Every December volunteers decorate the homes and the grounds. Each year there is a different theme so you can go back every year and it will be totally different. These pictures were taken several years ago.










OK, I know you are all busy checking out everyone's Ruby Tuesday but take the time to bookmark me and drop back to check out my blog. I am a retired Special Ed teacher who now spends most of her time on Sanibel Island, Florida which is a Sanctuary Island for wildlife. I volunteer for a wildlife hospital. I am also the proud grandma of 5 wonderful grandkids and brag about them often!! I also have a blog called Branches and Roots where I talk about genealogy and my ancestors. OK, enough about me. So if you really want to see red go to Work of the Poet