Tag Archives: Live Oak

A Short January

Tomorrow at Zero Dark Thirty, I’m leaving for a much anticipated “Winter Sisters Getaway” back at that lovely cottage on Alton Bay in New Hampshire. Since my days will soon be filled with all things “sister,” I thought it would be wise to do a little SOWER wrap-up before I leave.
Aside from the weather being a little on the cool side (but still – no snow!) it’s been a perfectly lovely project. I mentioned in my last post (Week One Done Again)six of the 8 of us were working on refreshing (i.e. patching and painting and painting some more) one of the cottages that had been vacated due to COVID several months ago.
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While they finished up that project and then moved to a variety of other maintenance chores, Beth and I kept busy in the kitchen.
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Yes, that is a monster pile of bacon (about 50# – lunch later that week was going to be breakfast for lunch!)

It was a busy week and lots of work was done, but the best part of the last week was really the fellowship!
We enjoyed a campfire last weekend
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and this weekend we checked out the Suwanee County Historical Commission Museum.
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It was filled with all kinds of local history and since we had the place all to ourselves, we even enjoyed a private tour by the curator!
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You can’t check out a museum in the morning and not go out for lunch, right? (I think it’s a SOWER (unwritten) rule.)
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We ladies had a very good week of fellowship, starting with a little tea party at Jan’s on Monday afternoon complete fancy tea, homemade scones, clotted cream and lemon curd.  What a precious time of fellowship!
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Then Wednesday (after work) we had a little LDO (Ladies Day Out). We did lunch in Live Oak and a bit of ‘in town’ shopping! It was a sweet time of fellowship and sharing life.
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(No pictures of the shopping, but we did find some great bargains at a little Christian Book Store that was (sadly) closing! At least we helped them clear out some inventory?)
We rounded out this last weekend with putting together our group picture at a massive Live Oak tree on the edge of the property!
Since we like to see actually those dear faces, we started out with this configuration.

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But that tree was calling for some more creative photography! This one was really fun!
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Today was my official last day of this SOWER month, so for me it’s a ‘short January’. Gary and the rest of the team will be working through Thursday (well, except when Gary is taking me to the airport tomorrow!) and will be finishing up a variety of jobs around the property.
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This afternoon I took a break from pre-trip preparations (i.e. trying to figure out packing for WINTER), and the four of us ladies gathered for one last cup of tea and prayer.
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What sweet new friends God has blessed me with this month!

Tomorrow’s an early day (and a long one with a 4 hour layover in Baltimore)and there are still some odds and ends to wrap up before I call it a day. I can’t promise lots of blogging over the next ten days – the computer is staying home. But the tablet is coming along so you just never know what may (or may not) be happening here at this little corner of the internet. Thank you for your patience with me!

And (as always) thanks for stopping by!

Steph

 

PS – If you’d like to see a few more pictures of our time here at FL Sheriffs Youth Ranch (work and play) you can check them out here!

Week One Done – again!

Why is it these weeks go by so fast??
After a slow start on Monday morning (which often happens as everyone figures out where things are and who’s good at what and just when things need to happen) here at FL Sheriffs Boys Ranch, the week picked right up! Most of our team (6 of the 8 of us) are working at one of the cottages. They’ve had a reduction of residents due to COVID and the cottage was empty, so it seemed like a good time to do a little rehab and refurb!
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Walls were being patched
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and painted
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and everyone worked as a team to get ‘er done!
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Since I’m not working in that area, I’m sure exactly how far along they are, but I do know they’ll be busy well into next week!
Beth and I (the other two team members) have been working in the kitchen, helping to feed the kids that live here!
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We’ve cut up chicken, peeled eggs, prepped cabbage for coleslaw, cut up fresh fruit for the lunch bar and (the best part) helped in the serving line. (There’s nothing like feeding kids in my book!)
Because Beth and I are working slightly different hours, we’ve been walking from the RV parking area to the dining hall – a nice 30 minute walk.
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And then after lunch (after we feed the boys and staff, then they feed us! Sweet!) the four of us girls walk back to the Rv’s!
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To summarize – the work has been good, the weather has been cool but (mostly) sunny AND I’m even getting some great exercise!
Oh – and we’ve even enjoyed a fun evening of games!
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Yep, it was a good first week all around!