Sharks Teeth....

I did wonder what I could do with all the teeth I got out the Peace River this year. I find I dream about teeth now. (I must get out more).... I gave the above mosaic made from 100's Sharks teeth to Debbie the manager. Next year I'll have to do a horse, as I have 20 horses teeth, just need to dig for the bones.......................

The "White" Gang

This our oldest daughter Genette, now Mrs White. She, Darren & Grace came to stay and travel with us in 2005, we all visited the Canadian Rockies. Hope they can all make it again SOON.



This is Grace White, number 2 grandchild. She has a lot to say and to do, and thinks she has to do it, and say it all in the first five years of her life. Her poor Mum & Dad..........But she is so adorable, and she and Nick together make us all laugh.




This is baby EdwardWhite.The last of the grandchildren ( I think) he will be 2 this Oct. As you can see we have high hopes for him joining the English football (soccer) team. Or Aston Villa......



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The "WILD" Bunch

This is our youngest daughter Georgina, now Mrs Wild. If I ever get a photo of Dan I will post it.




This is Joseph Wild. Number 4 grandchild, he was 2 this March, and has a smile that will melt your heart. Just ask his Granddad.

This is Nicholas Wild. He is number 3 grandchild, and he will be 4 in September. He has such a gentle manner and always wants to help. And he makes me laugh all the time I'm with him.

This is Emma Wild. Number 1 grandchild, she was 5 in March, and I love the long chats we have on the phone now, and "Yes" she tells me everything.

Pig roast

Suzy, Debbie and Me

We had great fun when Bob (maintenance) and some of his coleagues, did a pig roast for all the staff at the weekend. I made a strawberry trifle with some of my English custard powder, it all went, so must have been good.

And on the Sunday George and Hilary came for the day and we always have fun when they come. BUT I won't try giving George artichokes again............... But he did like playing pickleball and was not half bad at it.

Day at the beach

We had a wonderful day on Tuesday, we went to Anna Marie Island for the day. After cooking ourselves for a few hours on the beach, we set off for some food. And I was so happy to find Cracker Barrel had my favorite chicken dish on the menu ( this dish is their Wednesday special.) www.crackerbarrel.com After we had dinner we stopped off at Ellington Mall to walk off some of what we just ate……..and after a few steps the button popped off Jim’s shorts, he had to keep his hands in his pockets to stop them falling down, so we had to go and buy him a new pair, before we could carry on our window shopping . Ha Ha. I must try that one, next time.

Pictures of home

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This is a photo of the high street of our home town, Solihull, which is about 12 miles south east of the City of Birmingham. It was all pedestrianised, in 1994 so cars have no access through it. I worked just down from this photo, and Jim helped police the town, which was a small part of the area he worked. www.solihull-online.com




Did you know ???????? Birmingham has more canals than Venice.

Did you know ???????? Solihull is the home of the Land Rover.






This is why we spend winter in Florida............

Helping Barb with her BLOG

We will miss the wi-fi when we leave here. It has been so nice to be able listen to BBC radio 2 on line when working on the computer.
I have been down in the river again today,I have to get as much time as I can, down there, will miss that too.

Jim and I were outside this afternoon when we saw a PANTHER walk passed, we were so amazed that we just stood there and looked in amazement, so no photo's taken, sorry. He was brown in colour and about the size of a German Shepperd. But it will be one of the many things we will remember about this amazing chapter of our lives, here in the USA.

Fossiling in the Peace River

Me, with the new 'screen' Jim made for me.

Gary's Alcohol loaded banana something or other.

Yesterday the Tamper Fossil club came to the camp ground to spend the day in the river. There must have been 40 to 50 members of the club here. I have never seen the river so full of people. I only spent a couple of hours in the river, as it was so hot and humid, but did manage a few good finds, including an elephants tooth and a horses incisor, to name but two.

As Jim and I were leaving the river, (yes he actually came down with me this time) we were stopped by a couple who are camped down by the river. After discussing with them our finds for the day, Ted related to us a story that I must convey to anyone who reads this. He was fishing, the day before yesterday, near to where I fossil, and after a few small catches, he hooked "The Big One". He only had a 4lb line, so he had to play the fish a while. A short time later, he saw a 'large' 'gator. He said it was 15ft long, but he is a fisherman...... the 'gator started to follow the fish he had on his line, and just as he landed it on the bank, SNAP... the fish and line were gone. The 'gator leaped out of the water onto the bank, and had the lot. I think Ted was lucky that that was all he got.

Our friends Gary and Virginia are set to leave today, so last night was to be their last game of pickleball. Following the game, we had a sort of 'Pot Luck', with the regular players, now down to just 8, bringing good food and drink to the court. After eating plenty, and sampling some of Gary's Banana something or other, but loaded with alcohol, we adjourned to the hot tub and swimming pool. A good time was had by all, until "Bob, The Ranger" came along, just after 10pm and threw us all out. Yes that's our Bob, who now has a job as the night ranger here. Oh well, Rules is Rules as they say....

As I said, Gary and 'Ginny were to leave this morning. That was before the weather forecast, warning of 50mph winds and severe thunder storms, with a tornado watch for our county, Hardy. Well, we still went out and played pickleball as usual, but it wasn't long before the wind got up, and made it all but impossible to continue playing. So, after we got off the court, we stood round talking for a while, when Barbara, of Jim and Barbara fame, came up with a great idea. "Lets all go for Breakfast" she said. That was at 09.50. By 10 am, after we all had gone home and changed our clothes, we were on our way to Betsy's. When you mention food, we can really move. Betsy's is on the '66', just outside of Zolfo Springs, and we can all recommend their breakfasts. While we were in there, the storm arrived, and we managed to persuade Gary to stay one more night, and not risk traveling in bad weather. That will be about the 4th time he has altered his travel plans.

We have our new paddles.

What a handsome group we make !!!!
As you can see we now have our new paddles, made for us by a guy called Spike in AZ. We play pickleball in the mornings and evenings. I say PLAY, but most of the time we just have FUN. We are finding it harder now, as most RV'ers are moving North. Gary and Virginia leave on Sunday or Monday. (but this could change as this is the 4th date he has given to leave.) Just one more game Gary!!!!!!!!! Pretty soon, it will just be me and Jim. And Bob of course.

Sandy came visit

Today we drove Sandy back to Orlando airport so she could get her flight back to Arizona. We have had 3 wonderful days with her. We talked, we shopped, we did girls lunch, had meals out and shopped again, 'O' yes we had to shop again to get a bigger bag, so she could take the first lot of shopping home with her. She did try to blame me for her lack of will power, when we were in Bealls Outlet. But I don't remember her kicking and screaming or putting up much of a fight.
Love you girlfriend.............

Helping Gary set up a BLOG

Don't worry Jim & Chris your job is safe.

On the river with Captain George.

George, Hilary and me.

We have just got home after a few days spent with our good friends George and Hilary. George may think we only came for his "STEAK & KIDNEY PIE" but that's only one of the reasons.
After Jim and George had a full English breakfast with black pudding, which he has not had for such a long time, we hitched their pontoon boat up and set off for a day on the river. I'm not very good on the water, my tummy turns over and over, but I must say the pontoon was such smooth ride. We saw many alligators in and out the water and all sorts of birds. After about 3 hours on the Peace River we headed back to their place for that Steak & Kidney pie and a beer or two. We set off home, thinking we would have an early night..........WRONG.
When we got back to Wauchula we were met by Gary and Ginni, two of our pickleball friends, who informed us that we had been invited to Barb and Jim's for supper (two more players). What a great finish to a great couple of days.

The annual visit to Lazy Days

We had to do the annual visit to Lazy days yesterday www.lazydays.com to do our insurance. I'm sure in this day and age with the Internet and snail mail, it could have been done without too much effort. But "OH NO", we had to do a personal visit, walk around in 80+ heat, climb in and out of every RV for sale (which we could never afford), 5th wheels, that we have never even talked about buying. BUT, to see the smile on that little boys face when he says, "come look at this one Jane, it has a big slide, and this one has TWO loo's, and this one has a sun lounge at the back". Need I go on.? It was well worth it. But when we started looking at the sizes of bay's, and inside engine compartments, etc., the excitement got too much for me. Thank goodness for cell phones. I found an RV with the air on high, sat on a soft seat, and rang him to tell him to come get me from lot 346 when he had finished. Yes, a few people came in when I was there, and a few sat, and had a chat. And most of all my knees were spared the pain of getting in and out of all those RV's. Don't get me wrong, I loved shopping for our RV back in 2004. BUT...... When we got home, we both said, we still loved our Tradewind's best. It may ONLY have one slide and one loo, and NO sun lounge but its our home. And of course, around 11pm when we got ready to go to bed, it wasn't me that took 5 minutes to get off the sofa and moan all the way to the bed room that my back and knees hurt. But at least he enjoyed himself.

Now if it was shoes we were shopping for, well, that's a different thing all together.

Our time at Peace River will soon be coming to an end. Jim and Bob have almost finished chipping the path through the nature trail. When the other day, a camper shouted to me when I was Fossilizing in the river, "if you stay in that river any longer, you will get webbed toes". (If only he knew, I HAVE) I think its time we moved on !!!!!!!!

We will be sorry to leave, as the time spent here has been FULL of fun. And our pickleball skills have improved greatly.
It has been so nice to meet up with old and make many new friends, which has always been the best part of RV'ing for us. Plus we are only 35 mins. away from our very good UK friends George and Hilary. And the Celtic Ray Public House http://www.celticray.com/ an Irish Pub with good Fish and Chips PLUS Mushy Peas, and good beer.
This weekend we will be driving to Orlando airport to meet Sandy, she will be coming to spend Easter with us. We have not seen her for 2 years, and that was when we traveled with her and Bob to meet our daughter Genette, son-in law Darren, and granddaughter Grace in Calgary, Canada.
She was my FIRST American girlfriend, I am so looking forward to seeing her. Poor Jim, as we girls will have so much to talk about.