HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY "LITTLE" CHRISTMAS

MC and I wish you the Merriest Christmas ever!
Now that we have downsized we are really having a "Merry Little Christmas"!
This was our tree last year.....Wow....

AND THIS YEAR!!!

OUR TREE THIS YEAR!

IT'S A TABLE CRYSTAL TREE THAT BELONGED TO MY GRANDMOTHER!

PERFECT FOR OUR "TREE" THIS YEAR.

MC AND I WISH YOU A VERY MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS.

PATTY

THIS YOU CAN'T BELIEVE!

Early this afternoon we "noticed" it appeared that our toilet had overflowed!!!  Ha Ha no such luck.  It ended up, a few minutes later,  with water everywhere.  After an immediate reaction from our apartment management, we had plumbers, construction engineers and you name, in  and out of our apartment.  The problem was a main sewer line being clogged in our entire building.  Other apartments were compromised as well as ours.  To sum up a very "entertaining" afternoon!!!

We were lucky.  A few of our neighbors ended up with sewage in their tubs!  All our water was clean, thank goodness!.  Regardless the entire place was sprayed with a biological substance.  All these fans and the humidifier will remain until Saturday.  Tomorrow it will be determined if the floor can be refinished or replaced.
All this from a clogged sewer pipe 100 feet down!
MC and I have so much respect and thanks to the management of our apartment for the quick and thorough response.
An additional insult was that we lost our new TV in the process.  The vibrations from a wet-vac caused the TV to fall forward,  crushing  the screen.  
"THE JOYS OF LIVING IN PARADISE"

So in the spirit of it all we went out for dinner and a couple of drinks!  We will have my brother and sister in law for dinner on Sunday and it will all be behind us.

Enjoy
Patty

#1 OF OUR NEXT ADVENTURE

 Our furniture finally arrived after a 10 day delay!  Not fun.
 Thank goodness my Brother's friends, George and Sue, allowed us to stay in their home in Pelican Preserve.     It's a gorgeous home and we were so comfortable living like a King and Queen.

Back to our reality.  Our 800 sq ft apartment.

I took pictures so everyone could see what we had to work with.  We are moving from 2200 sq. ft. down to 800 sq ft.!  Purge, yes we did.  Gave our kids and friends at least 2/3 of our things.  Can you believe we still have all of this left!!

We unpacked only the boxes we had to.  Had to make the apartment livable!  Most of our "pretties" are still boxed up along with  our large art and mirrors.

As soon as the movers left we went to work.  We did a lot that afternoon/evening until we were completely exhausted and then finished up the next day.

This is how it looks now and will until we pack it all up again and move to our home in Shell Point.

 MC's Office

Don't you love the "room divider" MC built for my office space!

Our new 48" x 29" dining table and 4 chairs that cost $199!!

That's a granite top....well maybe faux granite!

 Our walk-in closet and storage room

Love the Art walls with the "Fragile" pieces.  They are treasures.

I am sure we will be purging more when we go down another 96 sq.ft. to 704 sq.ft. at Shell Point.  Can not live without that "4" feet!

Do you think we can do it????  Will have to wait and see.......

Patty

 

THE NEXT PHASE OF OUR LIVES!

It's been over a month since I did a post.  So much has happened since then.

   After  being on the market for three weeks.  We received 3, yes THREE,  contracts on our Villa!
Our Realtor, Linda Hilley, is the BEST!!  She worked from Griffin, a 2 hour drive through Atlanta to market and sell our home!  You can't find a better Realtor than that!!!!

The couple whose offer  we decided to accept  is a charming couple who had a home  just  three miles from our Villa!  They were downsizing,  and their home was  gorgeous !!!

MC and I packed for a good two weeks.  We did it ALL!  MC made perfect cartons for all of our large art pieces and mirrors.  MC really did a fantastic job!!!

The movers came on time on the 19th and loaded the truck in less than 3 hours.  Prior to all of this,  our sons,  Granddaughter and Linda  came with campers and trailers and took 2/3 of our lives!  Watching it all go was emotional, but a relief that all would have a good home.  In reality, it's just STUFF!

On the night of the 19th, our neighbors, Barbara and Ritchie, graciously opened up their home for us to spend the night.  The four of us "celebrated" at our local Bone Fish Grill with a lovely meal and evening.

The closing was at 3:00 on the 20th.  Our buyers were so excited!   It makes all the difference in the world to know that the buyers were so thrilled to love our home.    I know they will do even more wonders in the coming years! 

The Closing was at three and we were on the road by 5pm,  and in Valdosta, GA  before 10 that night.  Saturday morning we immediately got on the road and arrived in Ft. Myers around three in the afternoon.

First we checked out the Apartment that we leased, sight unseen!

 It even has a wine refrigerator!!

Think we did OK !!!

Then we headed over to my Brother Bobby's home to visit with Bobby  

and my SIL, Sue,  We  went out for a lovely meal.  Bobby arranged with his lifelong friend, George and his wife Sue, for us to stay in their home, which is in the  same community as Bobby and Sue's, until our furniture arrives.  We went right to bed and SLEPT!

 Our furniture isn't arriving until next week.  We are so, so lucky to be able to stay in George and Sue's beautiful home!!!!!

Sunday we spent time with our neighbors from Sun City Peachtree.  Glenda and Russell have an absolutely heavenly home in the same community as my brother and George.  Lots of catching up.  We had a wonderful afternoon.

Today I took a few picture of the apartment.  Once the furniture comes it will look like a warehouse.  We will be there for about 7 months waiting for our place at Shell Point to be ready.  We don't plan to unpack the majority of the boxes.

When the furniture arrives and it's in a"somewhat" livable order, I'll do another post.

MC and I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.
Patty

616 A REALITY!

MC and I watched with pride as our son, Steve, and his wife, Angela,  opened his DREAM!  The 616 farm-to-table restaurant in Danville, Virginia has been in the works for almost a year and Friday night was the climax !

There were three days of festivities that built up to this MOMENT!

SEPTEMBER 23RD

Wednesday afternoon we picked our Granddaughter Tessa up at Greensboro's airport.  We then "dressed" for the first of the three day events....The VIP COCKTAIL PARTY! 

 We were ready!

Our first image as we approached the restaurant!

Then--- we opened the doors and WOW.  We finally had our first look!

 Steve, Angela and Isabelle were there and we were given the Grand Tour!

FABULOUS BAR WITH COPPER COUNTER TOP

 The letter 'F" has a special meaning!  Steve was able to acquire it from the City of Danville.

This is it's History!

Dan River Mills was a huge fabric mill in Danville that closed several years ago.  The "F" that is now displayed on the wall of the 616 was from the word "OF" on top of the mill building.  See photo below.

OPEN KITCHEN

VISIBLE TO THE DINING ROOM

Steve, Angela, Tess and Isabelle talking with a lifelong friend of Steve's, Linwood

 

 Tess and Isabelle

Steve, Angela, Tess, Isabelle (me in background)

LOOK--HONEY BELL HAS A NEW HOME IN THE "PRIVATE DINING ROOM"!

Sampling of the wines from the Wine List

Setting up the spread for the VIP Cocktail Party

A GREAT TIME WAS HAD BY ALL

SEPTEMBER 24th

DINNER FOR FAMILY AND FRIENDS

An hour before the Friends and Family dinner was to begin, disaster struck!  Chef Chris suffered a large cut on his arm and was taken to the Emergency Room.  Son Steve, the true "restaurateur" stepped into the kitchen and saved the day.  Chef Chris returned after several hours with several stitches and carried out in true form.  

 Patti, Mark, Angela, Isabelle

next to Patti

Her long lifelong friend, Janet and her sister-in-law

SEPTEMBER 25TH

OPENING NIGHT

RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY

Patti, Angela, Tess, Isabelle and me waiting for the BIG Moment

Danville's Vice Mayor introducing Steve

Steve addressing the crowd!

 A bit of family history is now in order.  MC and family moved to Danville, Virginia to open a brand new Golden Corral restaurant in December, 1978.  Steve graduated high school in Danville and always had a tender spot in his heart for Danville.  In recognition of this, Steve invited his Dad, MC to join in cutting the ribbon to open The 616 Farm-to-Table Restaurant.  

Steve and MC

 

 

 THE CASH REGISTERS ARE OPEN!!!

MC AND I WISH STEVE AND ANGELA ALL THE BEST FOR A WONDERFUL SUCCESS!
DREAMS CAN COME TRUE