Their has been so much going on that I have not written about. It seems life at Eastgate is so busy. Never a dull moment. On the other hand, the other problem is that I have had to find another way to transfer my photos to my laptop from my phone. I did have my phone synchronized to Facebook. All of them would go directly to fb and I could choose those to download to my laptop to write the blog. Now Facebook has done away with that feature. They have started a new App called Moments. So far I have not found it compatible to the laptop, only the phones. They seem to want you to share your pictures with everyone else. That’s really not what I do. So I’ve had to find a new cloud for storage. That has been completed, and now I am moving forward again. My phone is not quite a year old and it seems it ran out of storage already. You mean 2550 pictures + is too many?…..lol….I guess…..I went to see about an internal memory card. Well Samsung 6 doesn’t have one…..Darn…..So I have had to download remove at least half my photos in the phone. So now I think I have it figured out…..Its 2 steps forward and 1 step back….lol….That’s just the way it is.
In this blog I am just going to cover some of the things briefly that have been going on. First we have started a Garden Club.
We only have five members. lol Pretty small. We decided our first challenge was to spruce us our entrance. It is full of Aloe and Mother in Laws tongue.
Very uninviting. We wanted to completely redo it with plants that would flower and have different textures. Now how does one raise money?……Have a Plant sale….lol…The girls drove through the park and found lots of plant starts that people wanted to get rid of. They found old pots from people, used tin cans and milk cartons to repot in. We advertised, we would take any pots or items that people were getting rid of. We received more plants and pots. We also made some mosaic blocks for the garden. We scarfed up cement stepping stones from everywhere, and also found some broken ones. lol….We made many of the blocks. The girls are now pros at mosaic work. Finally we held our plant sale on two different
Saturdays during the Jam. That would help bring in people. We set up by the office so we were in great site of everyone. All in all we did great. We made over $250. That was amazing. Today several of us went to Grimsells, the Garden Center and we’ve come up with a plan of flowering plants. Now just submit it to Debbie and get her blessings and away we go. Now we feel good about presenting the owner with our plan and ask for the balance that we may need.
This sign will be moved also as it is a blind spot as we leave the park. Their is a bicycle path, right by the street, following the length of the park. Soon this should be transformed.
One day we were all going to go to Boca Chica Beach at Brownsville to collect shells. Alice and I couldn’t go till late morning. The others left early trying to beat the tide. Low tide was around 5 am. Well we didn’t meet up like we planned, but it was a beautiful day.
The sound of the waves crashing to the shore and the feel of the sea breezes whipping across your face and hair are just indescribable. So beautiful. The beach is so untouched by the real world. When vehicles drive over it, it doesn’t take long for the tracks to disappear due to the raising tide.
The sea gulls are flying around, and here and their you see the lone fisherman.
One night I went to the grocery store and found this little gem sitting in the parking lot.
I thought it was really pretty neat.
We had a Ladies Day luncheon. Some wonderful food, and wonderful decorations.
So much food. What great cooks they all are.
Their was so much food, we could have feed another fifty people. These were the decorations hanging from the ceiling and the fans. The girls made them.
I’m saving them for Easter for table centerpieces. To pretty to not use again.
We also hosted a Super Bowl Party. We served Wings, smokies, Nachos and Cheese, veggie tray, Shrimp and Cheese Ball. Everyone brought a snack to pass. It was Great, more and more food.
My Cheese ball….Pinterest is so full of ideas.
We had prize giveaways and a Kindle for the Grand Prize giveaway at half time.
Next on the agenda is our Woodcarvers show here in Harlingen. This year I haven’t done any woodcarving. My friend Cici entered for her first time this year.
She received a First Place, a Blue Ribbon……She was so excited. Her Dolphin is beautiful.
This was the table of our club. We have lost several members this year. Some real talent. These Hummingbirds were carved several years ago as a club project.
This year this project won a 3rd, but also won Peoples Choice. All of our parks carving members had something in this project. Notice the hunter by the tree. The dogs have the raccoons cornered in the tree. ……lol…..Peoples choice is an honor. These group projects are all on display in our north hall.
Now my last piece is about a couple who has become good friends. Gail and Dewey have been together for several years now. Gail has been coming to the park for around 20 years with her husband. Dewey had been coming over 15 years. Gails husband died 5 years ago, and Dewey and his wife divorced. They had been friends for years but they finally got together as a couple and are so happy together.
Gail is so sweet. She plays pool with the lady’s. Dewey plays with the men. They have decided to move back to Missouri near her kids and grandkids. They were so excited to begin their new adventure together. Gail put her trailor on the market and it sold really fast, so they left last week. We will so miss them.
This year when we first got here, Gail had fallen and broke her arm. She had a lot of fun with her cast. Her daughter had sent her some stickers and she had us all autograph it. She couldn’t play pool till recently, but she still came and gave everyone moral support and visited. ……..Good Luck Gail and Dewey……..I told them…Their the lucky ones, most people leave here in a box…..lol…They are heading for a new……” NEW ADVENTURE.”….Miss you both…..
When we first got their, we were taken to a metal building out by the basin. It was open to the water at the shore side. Their was 2 conveyors running from this building to a shrimp boat by the dock.
It is his job to dehead all the fish that is dropped on the deck as the nets are pulled up. The boat is equipped with 4 nets that are dragged on the bottom. Wooden doors on the nets, keep the mouths open as tickler chains drag the bottom and keep it stirred up, driving the shrimp into the nets. The nets are lifted every 45 mins or so to see if they are needed to dump on the deck for the header. The nets are dumped and immediately put back in the water and the header keeps deheading.
We sat in the brightly decorated dinning Hall. It was full of natural lighting from the ceiling. We were waiting for the cadets to come in for dinner. They had finished their morning classes and were in their dorms getting ready for inspection were they would line up military style. We raided the ice cream cooler filled with fudge cycles, ice cream bars and sandwiches, and headed outside to the porch area. The cadets were lining up and getting ready to march in.
Some of us went into the museum and some of the guys had earlier walked around the equipment that is on display. Some went over to the Monument for a walk.
So several Saturdays ago, we spent the day looking for a nice black frig that would fit. We went to Conns, here in town and checked. Found one fairly reasonable. We decided to ride down to Brownsville also to check out Best Buy. They had one also but not deliverable for several weeks. We went back to Conns. Now we were set to order it, but they were going to charge us $75 delivery charge as it was coming from McAllen. Even if they dropped it at the store, still the charge. That just set the price over the one in Brownsville. So we were discouraged, and home we went. Then the light went on….HOME DEPOT…..Now we knew that. lol….We went out and found one and ordered it. Now how hard was that. One week and it would be delivered FREE…..and less money than the others. So the following week Rich prepared the frig for take out. Several days before delivery, Rich took out all the food and pulled our frig out. We have another frig outside. Now their it sat in the Living room…. lol…It was almost to big to go out the door. So now for several days it sat their. He put his recliner in the middle of the floor, so he could see TV. lol..
Finally the nite before, Rich took off the screen and part of the main door assembly and we Pushed…..Pushed….Pulled….Pulled….Turn it a fraction….Pick it up, Let it down….and finally SHOVE IT OUT….It made it out the door. We did tear a piece of the dash, but it was out. We started measuring and got out the paper work….
In the meantime we went to “Winterfest” at Schlitterbahn Water Park, on South Padre Island. It is an all day music festival with different entertainers every 45 min.
They were all the entertainers that come to the Rio Grande Valley for the winter entertainment at all the parks. They usually have a circuit and perform a different park almost every nite. Our entertainment in Eastgate , is on Friday nite. Many come from Branson Mo. Some are closer. Many are from 
Another GREAT singer is John Sager, Also from Branson. He was a wonderful singer and full of energy. He is scheduled to come to our park next season. Also a guy named Greg ?…..Already forgot.
He used to sing at the Play Boy Club years ago. He was an Elvis impersonator and some others. Once his voice was warmed up, he could really belt out a song. Very Powerful. The very last performance was the local High School.
They had a Mariachi Band. These kids were so talented. They sang and played their traditional music. It was Awesome. It was a fun day, but it was cold. They moved it inside by the indoor water park at Schlitterbahn, but it was still a very chilly day.
The best part was, all the gift shop items was 50% off…….Wow….That’s my price. I bought a Tie-dyed zipper sweatshirt for $12.50.
Several visors for $2.50 each. Another pull over sweatshirt and Rich bought sweatpants and t-shirt, all for $10 each…..Great Day for bargains. The best part was, our tickets were complimentary, as I was given some to sell for the park, therefore mine were free. Some of the perks of this job.
He made shelves top to bottom and we have clear plastic containers that are wide enough for cans. Each one will slide out so we can see what is in the container. Now he just has to make a door for it. It will solve our can storage problem of them all jumbled together under the sink. Finally the big day came. We got the call. The frig was on the way. I had to go to the office, but that’s ok. I really didn’t want to be their. I knew it would be a very tight fit, and I wouldn’t be any help. I just knew their would be a few choice words said….lol….So our friend Ken came over. They took off the screen door again, and after some other adjustments they began. Rich said it was an extremely tight fit through to door. They pushed…pulled….brought it back out twice. They problem is, as the frig goes through the door, the dash comes out and you have to turn it to clear the dash. Finally after time, and some more small rips in the dash and a dent in the wood, it was in…..Now it had to fit in the new opening….Bingo….Fit like a Glove….Rich had to do some minor adjustments to the ceiling light, as the freezer door hit it, but it all worked out….I came home that day, Hoping it was in. I was worried that we might still have to take out a window to take it through…..I looked outside…..Nothing….No sign of the frig, or the box. Good Deal….It was In…and …It looks Marvelous, and
.............''AND LET THE FUN BEGIN''................. 