Working on the cane gang.

One of the ongoing crafts here at the Plantation Camp Ground is learning the old art of chair caning. Cane in a natural product cut by machine from the outer bark of Rattan, a jungle vine that grows in Borneo, Sumatra and Malaysia. The same company that supplies cane also carries basket weaving materials. They have been in business since 1934.

Our friends Bob and Barb have taught caning for a couple of years now. Bob learned from his mother and spends his summer repairing a steady stream of chairs. Luckily for me Bob usually brings several chairs with them and I was able to learn on a very pretty one. Last year a number of chairs were caned then sold at auction raising about $1800 for the Escapee Care Center in Livingston Texas. The same is planned this year with the hope of breaking $2000.
Since I am still a novice at caning, there is no point in trying to explain more so a few pictures should help.

This is typical of a chair in need. Someone probably stood on it.

This is the chair I was given to learn on.

The caning material before soaking in water. Water makes it pliable.

The first step.

Me, hard at it.

Many steps later,almost finished

Detail.

Cane field

I really did do this chair. I may even do another one.

Trip to Bellingrath

A few weeks ago we went on an bus excursion to the old (old by North American standards) Bellingrath Estate on the south side of Mobile. We left about 3 in the afternoon because the trip's objective was to view the extensive Christmas light display, not the famous gardens where they are situated. My words won't do it justice so once again I'll put in some pictures.

The lights got better as darkness fell.

This pond was originally a mud hole.

The lights on this one flowed making it look like a fountain.

Most of the lights were flickering or flashing and dancing.

The Bellingraths made their fortune producing and bottling Coca Cola in the early 1900's. They purchased the property about 1930 and by 1935 were welcoming the public to view the flowers. Walter Bellingrath established a trust fund to keep the gardens open, and the rest is history.

We finished the evening at a nearby seafood restaurant.

We wish you all a blessed Christmas and a happy healthy New Year.

Carolyn and I will be attending St.Paul's Episcopal church in Foley tonight and you will be in our prayers.  

Just a Cotton picin minute.

Ever since we moved to Hastings, we have lived with and come to respect the men and women who farm the land. All around lower Alabama, cotton fields are common. At this time of year, many are already harvested, but not all. We let it be known amongst our friends here that we would like to see a cotton field being picked. Last Saturday, Al Kinney stopped by our trailer to tell us he had just seen the big machines in action not far away from us. Carolyn and I jumped in the truck and soon had stopped by the side of the road and were watching these 3 large, noisy machines moving quickly up and down the rows of cotton. There were other machines in the field as well. Unfortunately, I don't know the names of any of the equipment so I will just try to explain what they were doing. I hope the pictures will help.

Here you can see the 3 harvesting machines in a sea of white!

Raw cotton gets dumped into the compacting unit.

Those yellow upright posts move up and down compacting the cotton.

Raw cotton. The black spots are seeds.

Carolyn got a running commentary.

My view from the harvester.

Me on the balcony.

The product of the compacter, a modular awaiting pickup.

After the harvesting machines had made several passes through the field they were met by another machine that looked like a big motorized basket. The harvested cotton was transferred to the basket and it in turn moved to the edge of the field and transferred the white balls of raw cotton to another piece of equipment that compacts them into a large bail we learned later is called a modular. We watched this noisy and dusty operation for several minutes then started back to our truck. One of the harvesting machines was coming straight toward us so we stopped and waited til it passed only it didn't pass. The operator stopped, turned off the engine and asked if we would like a ride. It didn't take us long to climb up to the cab where Carolyn got to ride inside while I rode on the veranda like area beside the cab. I had to hang on with one hand while I took pictures with the other. The farmer gave Carolyn a running commentary as we went to the other end of the field and back. He is the owner of the field and says he likes to show people around. He asked if we were farmers too. He also mentioned he gets three crops a year, rotating between cotton, oats or hay and peanuts. Also he doesn't till the soil between crops, just harvests then plants the next one. 

This all happened about 3 weeks ago, but the internet connection is so slow at our park I had to send from the Foley public library. Here there is a real WiFi connection and it's free.

If we don't get to you again before Christmas, have the best one you've ever had.

Finally, south again

Sunday December 04, 2011
Hi all, we are back at our favorite park, the Rainbow Plantation in Baldwin county Alabama. I was slow getting the blog out because the internet was down for almost a week and we are right back in the swing of things, busy busy. I did try to keep a log of the trip down and that is going to fill out the rest of this post. No pics yet though.

Friday November 18, 2011

We're off! Up early, packed the truck, shut off the water and turned down the heat. There was a light dusting of snow to remind us why we were doing this. Said our goodbys to our good neighbours, Sandy and Horace(who are looking after a few things for us). A few of our local dog walkers (Nicky, Lois and Jim with Buddy, Molly and Bear) went by as we were packing and wished us well. Dorreen (another good neighbour down the street) called just as we were going out the door to ask what time we were leaving. When I told her she had just caught us at the door she said she would meet us on the road to say goodby.

We drove the 15 minutes to Greg McCracken's Repair Shop where we are fortunate to keep our trailer, and after a half hour hooking things up we were really on our way. South through Warkworth to the 401 and after 1 1/2 hours (maybe 2) we arrived at the Ivy Lea bridge and had a very smooth border crossing. When the Border Guard asked if we had any alcohol or tobacco products, I told him about our 2 bottles of Old Tom's Egg Nog. He chuckled and said “egg nog with the rum already in it. That's good, have a nice trip.” We joined Interstate 81 and drove through some ice pellets in upper New York, but that was it for bad weather.

We went on till after dark, stopping for the night at a recommended KOA campground in Pennsylvania. It was quite chilly but our furnace worked first try and the little electric heater made up the difference.

738Km.(443mi)

Saturday, November 19

Another uneventful day. Through Pennsylvania on  I 81, a little of Maryland and West Virginia then stopping at another recommended campground near Fort Chiswell, Virginia. 615 Km. (369mi)

Sunday, November 20

Interstate 81 ends in Tennessee as it joins Interstate 40 where we go west through Knoxville. We decided to make this a shorter day, do some shopping at Walmart then stay at the Escapee Park at Raccoon Valley. By now the temps had warmed considerably. We were welcomed to the Tennessee woods with shotgun blasts as some of the good old boys did target practice. They were uncomfortably close. Went to the Sunday ice cream social and by the time we returned to the trailer the shooting had stopped. 356Km (214 Miles)

Monday November 21

We were on our way early this morning but still got caught in Knoxville's morning traffic. It really wasn't too bad and soon we were back on I 40 west till we joined I 75 south. Other years we went south on I 59 at Chattanooga but there is a very bad stretch (about 40 miles worth) of really rotten road. We've been caught on it twice, but not this time. We went a little further west and got on a scenic byway called Alabama 75. We had to climb to get to it. At the top we were almost 2000 ft above sea level. It was a pleasant change from the interstate. By the time we reached Birmingham the temp had reached 80+ degrees. Just past Montgomery, tonight’s stop was a park near Hope Hull, Alabama. It was a former KOA that had seen better days. Expensive and nothing special. 605Km (353 Miles)

Tuesday November 22

Our first stop today was a Flying J for gas and breakfast at Denny’s. As we pulled out another truck pulling a 5^th wheel trailer was behind us. Surprisingly they followed for quite a while. When they did pass us I recognized them from last year. We caught up with them at a rest stop and we were greeted warmly.

I had discovered last night that we had a problem with the faucet set in the bathroom because they would not turn off. So we stopped in the Walmart in Bay Minette to see about a replacement. I didn't like what I found so we stopped at Camping World. Still no good. Next stop was Ace Hardware. There we got a nice metal (chrome) set and in line shut off valves. Total cost $50.

About 2 pm we arrived at our destination, the Escapees Rainbow Plantation Park. The park manager Gary and his wife Millie met us at the office and asked “what took us so long?” Our site from last year was open, so we took up residence again. It was nice being back in our winter home. 272Km (163miles) Trip total so far 2595 Km. 1557 Mi. Gas mileage seems worse this trip, not sure why.

Wednesday November 23

First on the agenda today was get that water faucet set working. Plastic pipe plumbing is a lot easier than that  old copper stuff. It still surprises me that it works as well as it does. The only real problem was getting down on the floor to do the work. All those years repairing photocopiers has taken its toll. My knees just aren't what they used to be. At least our home away from home has water now.

If this works like I think it does, you can clik on the location button below to see a map of where we are.

Damn the Torpedoes

"Damn the Torpedoes!- Full speed ahead!"

That was the battle cry of Admiral David Farragut as he began the Battle of Mobile Bay. The three week navel and land conflict resulted in the capture of Fort Gaines, 2 other forts and the Confederate Fleet by Union forces during what Southerners call "The War of Secession" not the Civil War as the Northerners knew it. That was back in 1865.

It was much more quiet last Friday the 25th of Feb. when we traveled with our friends Al and Joyce, around the whole of Mobile Bay.
The day started with me checking the weather forecast for Dauphin Island (the center of the trip) and finding mostly cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms. Luckily Al looked outside and declared it to be a beautiful day. He was right, those weather guys should look out their window more often. It turned out to be one of the most enjoyable days so far this winter.

We left the campground just after 8am and soon we were exploring Fort Morgan on the east side of the Bay. We then caught the 10:30 ferry to Dauphin Island (Isle Dauphine was named after the heir of Louis XIV of France) where we had time to have a look at Fort Gaines (The fort protecting the west side of the bay). Back in 1718, the Island was the Capital of the vast French Louisiana Territory. The Island and area have had 6 different flags flying over it in the past. Of course that doesn't count any aboriginals that were there before.  We had a good lunch at a local Pub (sort of) where both Al and I enjoyed a bowl of seafood Gumbo. Then we went to a bakery for coffee and dessert.
Getting off the island isn't as much fun as the ferry was. It's just a causeway and the odd bridge.

                                The map shows our trip. We started near the Civil War Trail sign above.

Off the Island we found many boat building facilities. Al drove past one sign that said "Authorized Persons Only" and "Hard Hats and Safety Glasses Required" so we could have an up close and personal with some of the ships. Everyone was friendly until a guy in a white hard hat suggested we leave. Joyce had protested loudly when we drove in. I just sat there minding my own business (and taking the odd picture).
We continued North West through the Bayou's where many crops are grown  including the king of the south, Cotton. On through the city of Mobile where we could see all the Mardi Gras preparations.

Downtown Mobile as we sped through.

On the east side of Mobile; Battleship Memorial Park is another place we should visit.

We spent a day at the beach last week. The sun was warm but it was windy.

The BP crews are still working to collect tar balls from the recent oil spill. Carolyn picked one up and they took it and suggested we not do that while giving her a wet wipe to clean her hands.

We found this one too but didn't pick it up.

Back on the 19th of Feb. Carolyn officially became  a senior(yea, the cheque is in the mail) To celebrate a  dozen of us descended on  McGuire's, an Irish pub in Pensacola Florida. They are famous for their Senator Bean soup (18 cents with a meal) and Carolyn's fave, Bushnel whiskey bread pudding.






Mardi Gras is fast approaching. hopefully I'll have more pictures after that.

Pat and Carolyn

Some pics from Alabama

One of my loyal readers has strongly suggested it's past time to update this blog. So I thought maybe a few pictures would be a good idea. The one on the right is Carolyn at the new bear parade after ice-cream on Sunday Jan 9th.

On the left we are enjoying a warm day in front of our trailer under a live oak tree. There haven't been too many of those warm days yet but we are hopeful.
We have been busy reacquainting ourselves with the lower Alabama area and doing crafts as well as taking courses. 

On Jan 18 we had a visit from an Elvis tribute artist and Carolyn and our friend Joyce had a great time. In his real life he is the vice principal at Foley High school.

During the warmer weather I thought it was a good idea to get the furnace serviced. It had been working pretty hard and had never been checked out before. We are lucky at this park as there is a resident RV Technician who does work on site. He didn't mind me watching so I'm sure I can do it myself next time.

This is the sun coming up outside our side window.

Last Sunday we attended a cooking class that started with a lunch of roast pork with Jezebel sauce  and salad with balsamic vinaigrette. We then discussed how we could reproduce the same ourselves. We covered many other recipes and planned our next class.

Earlier this week we took a class called weaving on sticks. We both made bookmarks and plan to do more when we get different wool.



Take care till next time.

Two weeks in LA

Saturday January 15, 2011
We have been here in LA (lower Alabama) just over two weeks now and the weather has been up and down. It was quite warm the first few days but then turned cold and dreary for the last week. It was below freezing the last 3 nights but that seems to have come to an end at least for now. Our furnace has certainly had a workout. Not to mention I’ve had to buy propane twice. The morning after the first fill up I woke to a temp of 45 degrees F. (that's about 8 degrees C. for those of you who are metric challenged) in the RV. Because I had not tightened the connection properly, the automatic tank switchover had not worked. I probably won't do that again.

Carolyn has been busy with various crafts at the clubhouse. This has been so far the most active year the clubhouse has ever seen so we were told. Next week there are expected to be over 50 events and classes. Not bad when you consider all classes are put on by volunteers. I even took a cooking class produced by a lady who used to be in the catering business. The topic was easy, inexpensive, fly off the table (her words, not mine) pot luck snacks. I’ve signed up for her next class already.
Speaking of events, next Tuesday after dinner of hamburger stroganoff, we will have a visit from Elvis himself. You didn’t know he was hiding out in Foley Alabama, did you?
The computer group meets here every Thursday morning. We just sit around (about 20 of us) and discuss computer problems. All except the guy who has an Apple Macintosh who says he never has any problems. So what fun is that?
Last Monday we went to the monthly meeting of the local Escapee chapter called The Gulf Possee. They're Planning a rally at the end of March just about when we will be heading home. Could be interesting. 

The past 2 Sundays we went to St Paul’s Episcopal Church in Foley. We went there last year for Christmas and guess what? They even remembered us. They get a fair number of snowbirds this time of year and they go out of their way to make us feel comfortable and welcome. A large number of the people from this park go to the Methodist Church in a little place called Marlo, just down the road from us. A group of us are going out for lunch tomorrow after church so we will give the Methodist Church a try too. We were there today for a catfish fry lunch and it was very nice indeed. We went to another Methodist church in Summerdale last Saturday for Gumbo and it was great too. On Monday we have been asked to go to the Shrimp Basket (another local eatery). Next Saturday there is a fried chicken dinner at the Masonic lodge in Summerdale as well. There seems to be a pattern developing. We did go for a ride on our bikes today, but probably not far enough.
It's almost time for dinner so, hope you are all well.


Pat and Carolyn

Happy New 2011

I've procrastinated too long in getting this blog going again, but now that we are back at what has become our second home (The Plantation Escapee Park near Summerdale Alabama) I have no excuse. Besides it's raining and has been for over 24 hours now. That's what happens this time of year when you get a big warm, humid air mass moving north from the Gulf of Mexico. The weather map on TV this morning shows it reaching all the was to the Great Lakes. I'm not complaining tho, after all it is 70+ degrees and shirt sleeve weather is one of the reasons we make this trek yearly. I could do without the tornado watches but that again is normal for the Gulf States
Speaking of the trek, we left our northern home in Hastings in cold windy sunshine on Dec. 27. Four fairly uneventful days later we arrived. Gas when we crossed the border was $2.99/ gal. or about .75/ ltr. Prices jumped to a high of $3.19 in the northern states then settled to $2.85 +/-  as we traveled south. Our gas mileage seemed much worse that in the past; something else I'll have to check out.
Weather was fairly good with  almost no precip. to speak of and very little traffic. Not like the mess that happened along the east coast. I found a great web site for RV'ers and other road travelers called Weather Underground (www.wunderground.com) They has a road trip planner that not only gives the routing  but also the weather you can expect along the way.
We just came back from a New Years Day tradition here were crazy people (about 8-12 this year) do a polar dip in the pool then have hot soup and drinks afterward. We helped them with finishing the soup.
Last night there was a New Years Dance with a live band. We went late and left early but had a good time.
Tonight there is pot luck Popin John dinner which we will know more about tomorrow. Carolyn has signed up for a cooking class, a teddy bear making class and says she will try line dancing. I know I'll go back to the computer club and will help out in the kitchen when needed.

 Hope this finds you well and have a Happy New Year

Pat and Carolyn