Season’s Greetings from Sunny Florida!
Another year in Paradise and the family Holcomb continues to flourish
happily in our “castle by the sea”. We had a beautiful summer
with no hurricane activity to speak of and we are already harvesting a
bumper crop of our juicy pink grapefruit. We had similar harvests of
bananas, mangoes and the first fruit from our key lime tree!
Pen’s “orchard” is only a single tree of each variety- but we take
pride in growing our own fruit on our little patch! The only dark
clouds this year were generated by our insurance carrier who nearly
doubled our hurricane windstorm and flood insurance premiums!
Sammi and Jenni are now 10 years old and in the last year of elementary
school. They both are on the school honor role and in the “Gifted
Student” program. They continue to improve in their piano lessons
– but haven’t yet expressed interest in playing tuba! They keep fit by
swimming their 24 laps almost daily. With a combination of a pool
blanket, solar panels and an electric heat exchanger we keep the pool
at a toasty 85 F (30 C) year round. While the girls swim, Dad
does his water aerobics. We then play “pool baseball” where
Dad gets beaten badly daily! Pen (like Blackie the
Cat) however, avoids the water!
In June we took a mini vacation to Gainesville FL where Phil
participated in “Cornet Conspiracy 06”- a loose amalgamation of cornet
aficionados, brass instrument collectors and restorers, museum curators
and historians, professional musicians, etc. Activities include brass
band performances of Civil War era music on historic instruments; jam
sessions; instrument show and tell, technical lectures and lots of
socializing over food and drink. This was Phil’s first Conspiracy
and it was great fun to finally place faces with names known only from
the Internet and eBay! CC-07 will be held in June in Richmond VA
– which will be our first stop on our planned road vacation to NYC and
New England.
This year Phil finalized an extensive upgrade of our website:
www.rugs-n-relics.com - especially our brass instrument collection
which was re-organized and re-photographed with more accurate histories
researched for each horn. Some of the web pages have
even been augmented with sound and video clips. Biographical and
technical pages have also been created to add more depth
and interest to the descriptions. The collection itself continues to be
refined, although at a much slower pace. I amazed everyone at
Tuba Christmas this year with my 1860’s “Over-The- Shoulder” Eb Bass
Saxhorn (replica). During the US Civil War, these “Backard
Blasters” were carried on the left shoulder with the bell facing
backwards towards the following troops. After the
war, the design was abandoned as someone figured out that the
troops marched to the bass drum anyway. I modified the lead pipe so I
could play the tuba straight up (see photo). Our Antiques and
Carpets “Cyber Galleries”, have also been expanded, and we
even generate an occasional sale!
Pen has become a “Grand Master” of Coupon Clipping and Sale Sleuthing
and we regularly save big time on our goods and groceries - which of
course helps immensely on a fixed retirement income! With doubling
insurance premiums and increasing property taxes, life in Florida
(especially in waterfront areas) has become prohibitively expensive. As
a result, many of our neighborhood homes are now on the market.
However, with a non-transferable Property Tax Cap, we couldn’t afford
to move even if we wanted to!!
This Thanksgiving morning we sadly watched our lovely catamaran “Tiger
Lily” sail away under new ownership. For the last year, only
“Oscar” our Osprey managed to get regular use of our boat for his
masthead fish feasts. We can still take an occasional put-put
around the island on our diesel launch “Vina Queen” which is kept
safely on a boat lift. But sailing is still in our blood, and
Phil is fixing up an old 8 ft Optimist sailing dinghy for our next
generation of sailors! We just launched it in the pool for a test
run!!
Pen and the kids continue to enjoy great health. Phil had two more
operations on his left eye for retina detachment and
cataract. All has stabilized now- but with somewhat less
acuity in that eye. We had some brief anxiety about a potential
prostrate problem, but after extensive Cat Scans, MRIs, PSAs, CEAs.
ultrasounds, and labs, it was discovered that a simple pill would
resolve a bladder problem. Phil’s lumbar spine continues to cause
pain and sciatica is affecting his sense of balance. Otherwise,
his overall health is good, and his trusty scooter still facilitates
excursions to concerts, restaurants, PTA meetings, band rehearsals and
whipping around Home Depot and West Marine at high speed!
To all - a Happy and Healthy New Year!!
Phil, Pen, Sammi and Jenni
236 So Tessier Dr., St Pete Beach FL 33706 - 727-367-7722
- Phil@rugs-n-relics.com
New Dresses for Receital 2007
