Mount Pleasant respite for April

Our season in Florida ended April 1 and we headed back to Oak Plantation for the Taj and our home in Mt Pleasant for us and dogs. We had a terrific winter season and look forward to spending even more time next season enjoying LaBelle, Riverbend & Fort Myers area.

It’s nice to be in the sticks & bricks home for a month. Our house faired well in the winter and we started redoing the front gardens right away. Roses appear to do best with this climate and minimal attention, so we pulled out the older ground covers and ornamental grasses to make room for a few more roses bushes. Some of our smaller palms suffered in the cold snap during January but we will wait to see if they come back during the summer. Our taller ones did well especially our new addition. 😊

The rosemary plant that started two years ago as a 3 inches plant had turned into a giant woody stemmed plant that needed a severe trimming and shaping She looks much better now. Our landscaper has done a good job maintaining the lawns so they came back green and thick.

The interior of the house needed some spring cleaning and sprucing up – it looks bright and cheerful now for spring.

We had a terrific dinner at the Old Post House Inn in Old Towne Monday night with our neighbors who house watch while we are gone. It was a rollicking good time with good food and great stories and laughs. They were so kind to keep an eye on our place – we wanted to show our gratitude. It’s nice to have neighbors you can feel comfortable with upon your return from months of travel. They are going to Italy for the first time so we have offered our two cents given our 2006 Italy Trip was one of our best. It’s always nice to get hints and ideas from someone who has visited your destination before.

I joined my friend at her book club meeting one day and met thirteen other avid mystery book readers. What a fabulous discussion and I got at least ten new authors to pursue. I’d like to start this type of book club at Riverbend – each participant reports on what they are reading – there are no assigned books. Mystery is the theme but people’s choices run the full range of possibilities. Great fun to hear people talk about books they liked or didn’t and why.

We will continue to enjoy friends and family here for another two weeks or so and then begin our travels for 2018 – north and then west to begin our sixty day tour of British Columbia, the Yukon & Alaska. We are preparing our itineraries, our clothes and other incidentals for this six month trip to the far north and back. So excited about this opportunity!

Author: kateamirault

Retired well traveled and Experienced woman View all posts by kateamirault