January is Produce and Production

This month has been wonderful.  I've enjoyed the pleasure of travel and shopping local tiendas, flea markets, craft shops, antique stores....and some thrift stores too, chowing down in a variety of small local eateries and working physically part of the day as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity building homes in central Florida.
When I saw the hand painted sign above, outside a small vegetable store in Fellsmere, Florida I smiled at the connection between the production we are doing building structures and the word 'produce' in which those who farm, are building a food supply.

The month began for me in Dade City, a small town N.E. of Tampa, at a great affiliate of Habitat for Humanity.  They have fine tuned their operations using the volunteers for Habitat called Care-A-Vanners.  Mostly retired folks, but not always.... who travel in their RV's or motor homes part time or full time, building homes around the country.  A fun group to work with.

GROUP PHOTO TAKEN ON THE FRONT PORCH-I'm on the far right)

THE SAME HOME, DESIGNED FOR A "SPECIAL NEEDS" FAMILY, JUST COMPLETED 5/15.

Now I'm down a bit further and over close to the east coast town of Vero Beach, but in a small town called Fellsmere.  A very small town with an evenly mixed population of white, black and Hispanic.

The homes HFH are building in Fellsmere and Dade City are really nice 3 bedroom, 2 bath models. The plan changes a little in different towns and states, but usually a basic 2 or 3 bedrooms.

 Not big, but well designed.  I wish a home like this was available for me when I was starting out...but it's great for the mostly young families who are working hard struggling to make it in today's world.

In Dade City, we worked on one special house with 6 bedrooms, 5 baths.  It was for a family that had 6 special needs children.  Six total; a couple of theirs and a few they adopted. 

These small towns have a flavor of their own.  Usually there are a base population that has  been there for generations and then there are the new folks in town.  Always a nice blend of old and new.

This little Spanish tiendita (little store) is typical.  Open 7 days a week, from 10-8, this young woman treats her produce as an art form.  Pride of ownership!