Goodbye August... Wednesday 31st, 2016

Yeah yeah, where does the time go...blah, blah blah. LOL. August was a great month here ... but it's time for September breezes and a hint of autumn, Central Florida style, that is!

The Scotties and I sat outside for 20 minutes at 6 this morning. It was 75 and breezy with our lighthouse gong activated ... likely driving Steve and Shelby (neighbor) nuts. Unless, like me, they love it! (I bought the gong in Camden, Maine during our 2008 (first) RV trip! It was misty and 65F with colorful fishing boats quietly at anchor in the bay. That's where MY mind goes when it gongs! Nice, eh!

Mark decided today was THE day to get Da Mountie ready for hunting season! So, he's outside rotating tires in the rain ... putting the "more tread" ones on the back for traction! Now last Christmas, one of his gifts was $500 for new tires but I I think it's a matter of pride to see just how many miles he can get out of these oldies! LOL. 

Mark's been keeping Da Mountie at Jack's (RIP) carport. He thought he'd trim the bushes alongside and then sweep the area. Well, he disturbed one of the residents ... the biggest rat snake he'd ever seen! (I declined posting his picture ... well, the 2nd picture! The first pic was taken on the run! THAT pic I would have shown you!") LOL

Bonnie in T-town started her first Choctaw language lesson yesterday! Wow, I think that's amazing. Roger has been taking lessons for several years and taught us a few words when we last visited. Did you know that the code talkers from WW1 were Native American Choctaw?

Tonight, Mark and I are going to dinner at Guadalajara with Pat and Ken plus Rose and Jim and Nancy. (Dinner was really good ... Mark and I had Fajita del Mar which is Atkins friendly.)  Afterward, everyone came over for night caps ... plus Lynn joined us! 

The stories were flowing ... and many laughs shared.) Everyone has doggies at home ... so we broke up the party just before 9. We are so lucky to have such nice people as neighbor's and friends. 

That was our day in a nutshell, er in a wine glass? Ta Ta til tomorrow. Muah. 

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Oh we're slow moving this morning! Trace Adkins sang "I ain't never had too much fun!" Well, perhaps, but less wine consumption might have been a good idea! LOL - Even the doggies slept til 9:30 - and they were still looking groggy at noon. That hunting episode was apparently high energy! 

Last night "I" decided we 4 should go RVing this weekend "somewhere!" Yes, a terrific idea as RanDawn were talking about a ride to Cedar Key (aka CeeCee Key thanks to our pal Lynn Z while partaking of Sambuca!) and we had said we had planned a drive with the dogs to New Symrna Beach. Great idea, thought I. Then ... reality set in this morning when this dang "Invest 99" that I ridiculed yesterday turned into an actual tropical depression with a forecast path right over Cedar Key on the west side and New Symrna on the east coast! WHAAA-WA-WAAAA. >:-(

Obviously, it would be cra-cra to haul our rig out of the RVport this week! (Mark is somewhat relieved.) LOL

Perhaps we should get a few "hurricane" supplies in as we "all" in South Florida got caught with our pants down in 2005 when Wilma strengthened overnight and kicked our area's butts! (We were in New York City that weekend and had just arrived home to Fort Lauderdale airport on the last flight in!) Matt, Mark and I sat playing Mexican Dominoes and watching our boat (Lac a Moola) leaping and twisting at our dock with the big waves in our canal! We later heard wind speed of 130 MPH was recorded at Pompano Airport just a couple of miles north of us!

Somehow, our lazy day sped by with fall decorating on the front porch, laundry, dog walking and BBQing sausages for dinner. 

Sue and Wayne have new residents at their cottage. 

I'm not familiar with a fenced area at their cottage but there it is and this doe and fawn feel secure near it. Beautiful!

Mark spotted this ditty on Facebook ...

so ... don't fuss if you have trouble falling asleep, it's okay! You've got an active brain!

And here's a giggle to wind down. 

LOL ... Can you imagine! 

Well, that's it for today ... as you can see, my publishing department is ready for bed. Haha

BeeZee on my lap, Robbie on the recliner footrest ... Happy happy days! 

Monday, August 29, 2016

Good morning! The weather folks are happy ... there's something to forecast. We've been hearing about "Invest 99" for 10 days now and "finally" (as one meteorologist said) it's turned into a tropical system. Haha. It's a tough boat to float if your predictions don't hold water. LOL. Hey I like that saying. Anyway, there is a chance that we could get some rain from this system on Thursday. No problem, but I hope it doesn't put a damper on our Yaya's night at Linda T's house! 

We started our Monday morning by wrapping an old lampshade that I sold on eBay. Now when I say old, it's probably five years old. Things don't tend to hang around here if I'm not 100% thrilled with them. 

Ya gotta love that eBay! I sold it for $25 and the buyer paid a shipping of $13.97. I began by bubble wrapping it and then Mark made a double cardboard box that it would fit in. Awesome. Now we have 25 bucks spare cash! Schweet. (Take note Miss Bonnie, I bet you have a treasure trove in your storage locker by now!)

After a breakfast of Shay's Chili Rellenos  and a sliced ripe tomato, Mark dashed off to the post office with the lampshade and then onto Winn-Dixie for salad items. What a great guy!

Then, we got a fantastic phone call from Roddy who was thrilled to receive his birthday package, and from Shay who was cooking Roddy's pre-birthday lunch. Yes, our friends celebrate birthdays for a long while too. Ha ha! (His actual birthday is September 1st.) 

Sue and Wayne sent the following picture of Chessie visiting with his friends Julius and ShortyHotpants at their cottage. 

Isn't it nice that Chessie sees his friends at least once a year! All three look fabulous!

I'm happy to report that Randy is feeling much better. His stomachache yesterday may have been user error. Ha ha. Anyway, he is feeling much better! Dawn is off work today and tomorrow, so the pups are going with us for a visit at 4 o'clock.  Nice, happy hour at the "Staggermen's" bar! (A few minutes later, Randy called to invite us to stay for dinner. Well all right then!)

It was an exciting night at RanDawn's ...  our Scotties were on high alert and agitated by a mouse who jumped out of a drawer in their patio! No one could believe what they saw. LOL

Randy whacked the mouse with the broom, and Mark fed it to the alligator. LOL. Oh what fun, Florida style! Next thing you know, there were two more mice in the drawer where the first one had fled!!! Randy bent the broom in his zeal to kill the "3 blind mice!" OMG!

The Scotties had been on the hunt and helped uncle Randy find the three mice that had been terrorizing his patio! Wow, they were so excited. Cats 'n rats 'n elephants found! (Actually, Mark was concerned, privately, that the three so called mice were actually a nest of baby rats!) 

Ninja with a broom. What aim! Wowsa!

We had a good dinner, and bottle of wine complements of Shay and Roddy! Of course, as most parties do, we got all out of hand. There were many laughs. We sat on the porch and enjoyed a pouring rain, along with more wine and many laughs.

Dinner was good, and we arrived home about midnight! Tata till tomorrow. 

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Good morning! Ain't no sunshine? Actually, showers are predicted for today.

This is sweet Chessie, Tony and Aurelia's boy. He has a lovely home 10 miles outside of Winnipeg and also a big motorhome for "camping." He was adopted through Shih Tzu Rescue in Florida about 5 years ago!

Speaking of Tony and Aurelia, Sue and Wayne had a funny story to tell. Now I'm not sure if wine was involved, but possibly. What do you see on the wall ... and I'm not referring to the Loons?

Hmmm ... well this is the text I got from Sue and Wayne ... 

Do you see the Scottie that Aurelia "saw?" Here's a closer look ...

Bwahahaha. It's a rusty old saw. (Sue said there's never a dull moment ...) 

The plan was bowling tonight for our local humane society's "Bark and Bowl" at Break Point Alley. After Mark was kneeling down installing a (much wanted by me) lamp outlet in the Sunroom, his knees hurt. I had to admit, begrudgingly, that my back was sore after walking around Home Depot earlier. Randy and Dawn had agreed to meet us at 6, but it turned out that Randy was feeling rotten. So, when Mark called, Randy wasn't too upset. Alas, it's going to cost me a guilt donation to the humane society. LOL

Walks done ... it's TV time. Ta Ta. 

 

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Good morning! Wowsa ... Chili Rellenos for breakfast. (Thanks for the recipe Shay!) Mark did a great job cooking it ... low carb easy-peasy. 

Our lawn guys arrived ... MyScapes has been our service for about 4 years. Today, Pat was trying to start a push-mower and couldn't get it to run. Since they've cut our back yard twice with a weed wacker (and I wasn't thrilled) Mark went out to help get it running. Once Mark showed Pat how, the push mower fired right up! Yay! (The huge riding mower doesn't fit through our side gate ... and the RVport blocks the opposite side yard.) Matt (owner) has a smaller riding mower for our back yard but it's currently in the shop for repair. Also, Mark asked the guys to mow K's lot at the end of our street. 

Mz Beez was very busy keeping watch on the yard men. Robs, well he was sleeping upside down. Haha.

This afternoon, we hauled out our bowling bag and went for three games at Breakpoint. (The place is looking great with new monitors, carpeting, flooring and paint!) I tuckered out after 2 1/2 games so Mark finished up. He had two turkeys in 1 game this afternoon!!!

Wowsa!!! (I had "the worst" day!) Haha. 

Schweet!!! (Yes, I make up words.) 

Sue doesn't like my word "Partay" ... but it's getting around!

LOL ... Awesome, eh?

So, after watching the weather and deciding whether "Invest 99" might affect us, we decided to relax and enjoy some beverages at our outside tiki bar.  Haha!  We sat outside for two hours, it was 81° with a slight breeze and no bugs. Ms. BZ relaxed on a barstool between us while Robbie kept watch for errant lizards. It was a great evening to sit out and yak.  Life is good in Central Florida.

Low Carb Cauliflower Breadsticks

Friday, August 26, 2016

The first message received today was from Bonnie in T-Town. SHE took the dragonfly picture posted on Tuesday on her iPhone. This got us into a discussion because MY iPhone doesn't take great pics and I'm going to get the iPhone 7S next month. Well, it was user-error on my part. Here's an example ...

This is NOW ... 

And this was BEFORE ...

I like the result. And, I will get better now that I know about this program. There are many variations to try. Who knew? (Bonnie!) LOL

So, that got Mark looking at his iPhone and he discovered panoramic pictures. Here's an example ... 

Not panoramic ... 

It's National Dog Day and the kids are watching Ancient Aliens with me. Cute eh? (I sure hope Sue didn't watch the newest AA tonight! I'm glad I don't have green eyes!) Spooky. 

Randy was feeling quite a bit better today after getting antibiotics and a steroid shot. He popped in for an hour's visit but just drank ice water! BeeZee gave him a kiss and got a good snuggle with her uncle. Robbie gets attention too but never gives kisses! Funny. Dawn works all weekend ... drat. 

Mark cooked up Shay's "Chili Relenos" recipe late tonight. 

Since it wouldn't be wise to eat green chilies before bed, we will have to wait and try it at breakfast. It sure smells great! It's a perfect dish for our Atkins plan. 

Tony and Aurelia are at the cottage visiting Sue and Wayne this weekend ...

and Tony brought his most excellent homemade peach pie! Mmmm ... I remember it well! (Maybe tomorrow I'll have a pic of Chessie?) Tonight they'll all be busy drinking wine and yakking. LOL

Well, that's it for our day. 

Thirstyday, August 25, 2016

Well it's going to be a bit of a different start today. Mark has gone scouting in the Ocala forest as archery season begins next month. I have game day at Anita's house starting at 1 o'clock. Today, we're going to learn to play Texas Hold'em (poker.) ha ha. That might mean we will have to pay attention rather than all chatting and drinking wine.

Can you believe we are into the last week of August? Sue and Wayne will be getting their cottage wrap up begun for heading home about September 7. We are excited as they will be stopping in on their way south! 

OMG ... have you ever played Texas hold'em poker with seven women? What a laugh we had. Five of us were playing the game for the first time! And, to be fair, there was quite a bit of wine involved. I think everyone won a few hands during the three hours of play. It was a great time playing between mopping up spilled drinks. Poor Anita. Well, actually she spilt one of the two that went over. Ha ha. 

Rose and Jim invited us to go to the Quarterdeck restaurant in Umatilla with them tonight. It's very nautical and rustic, and the food was delicious. We were happy to find a new place that is rather close to home! Mark had catfish and I had scallops ... both very good! We will certainly go there again. 

Hopefully Randy is feeling a little better. We know he saw the urgent care doctor today as our family doc is booked. (It's not like the "old" days folks!) 

Well that was our day. More tomorrow. Good night. 

Cooler Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Good morning sunshine. Where are you? It's a cloudy start to our day with a high of 88 forecast. 

Mark shopped today for our Atkins program and met Jim Holler there. In this neighborhood of mainly retirees, many of the guys do the shopping and cooking. Nice!  

Me? I sorted pictures from our last trip and framed two for our "gallery" hallway. An oldie from a 1999 cruise pic came down while recent ones of our Asheville gang went up! 

I had early morning snuggle time with both Robbie and BeeZee. 

Sue and Wayne had a bear visitor yesterday in their cottage's garage! It didn't find anything to eat so went ambling away. Today's visitor was a doe and fawn. 

Sue said the fawn was out of range of the picture. 

We had plans tonight with Randy and Dawn. Unfortunately, Randy came down with a cold and wasn't feeling well. Mark phoned and encouraged him to stay home and rest up. (Both Randy and I tend to carry on "burning the candle at both ends" instead of resting!) 

So, since we were hungry early, we took ourselves to Stavros for Greek salads and meatballs. Atkins perfect! 

Ebay surprised me with a 3rd sale for this week! I wrapped that and Mark will take it to the post office tomorrow. 

Rick and Ruth brought me this plant last spring ...

and it's growing nicely! (This was taken yesterday during our late day rain.)

That was our day. Ta ta. 

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Good morning. It's forecast to be 93 today. OMG we are so ready for autumn! Every year lately we've heard "it's the hottest year on record." Really?

It's two years since my sister Linda passed away. I sure miss her ... 

Linda, Christmas 2009 with Matt's pup, Hemi, on her lap, and my ol' Shiloh behind, on the chair. Great memories. 

Did I mention that Mark and I began our modified Atkins program last week? I say modified because we are eating more vegetables than usual with it. Mainly, we've dropped "all white" ... no bread, no pasta, no potatoes and reduced starchy vegetable intake. Hey, we're trying! 

The photos from Rod and Shay's visit arrived via mail today from Shutterfly. I sorted them ... wrote details on the back and put them into a small album for Roddy's 70th on September 1st. Somehow that wee job took hours. Haha. We certainly had some fun! 

Speaking of photos ... this sweet one from 2009 is of Maggie and Shiloh (sitting up) as Mark cooks in our Grand Junction RV. See the plant on the coffee table?

Cute isn't it? Well, in 2011 we planted it. 

It's a big, beautiful Norfolk Pine 5 years later! 

So, it's official. Bonnie's sweet Tulsa home is on the market. I must be nostalgic today ... I'm going to miss that sweet place! 

We were there in 2006 to pick up Tilly, then in 2011 and 2012 many times while living in nearby OKC, and again this year to doggie sit and pick up our Belize.

That's it for today. Tomorrow will be date night and perhaps Bowling. ;-) 

Monday, August 22, 2016

Good morning! It's Monday. And, we have plenty of things to do today. Nothing very exciting but the Kia is going in for an oil change, a new passenger area air filter and our first mechanical malfunction. The indicator which shows miles per gallon is stuck at 30. Now we wish this were true, but normally it fluctuates. I really have to say though our Kia Sorrento has been extremely reliable. 

Other projects for today include buying the top rail wood for Mark's boathouse project and getting (bad) photos for our new concealed licenses. The last time I needed passport photos, it took three tries for the photos to be acceptable. I sure hope we are luckier this time! I mean, how difficult can it be to take a photo for a license? 

September 1 is our pal Roddy's 70th birthday. We are putting together a fun package to mail him. I ordered photo prints from their visit last weekend and we're including a gift card for a birthday dinner. I'd like to also include a goofy party hat which I know he would wear. Ha ha. 

Funny thing but when I posted comics yesterday, I didn't have one from cousin Alex ... then, voilà ... 

 

Enjoy! 

So, I spoke too soon about the Kia. First off the Malfunction we thought we had was merely "user error." Mark had in advertently touched a button on the steering wheel that changed the screen we were looking at. Who knew? LOL. But, the car needed a wheel alignment and balancing. What the heck? We don't have 15,000 miles on it yet. All we can figure is there were some rough roads on our trip to Tulsa last January; maybe the cause? So, in all, $200 later we got the car back. 

While we were tossing the credit card around, I found some new chairs for our RV patio. Randy and Dawn are joining us for our October Fort Wilderness/Disney trip ... so, 4 new chairs are on the way! (It's time to toss the 4 uncomfortable, worn ones.) 

Poor Randy (as Mom would say) had dental work done today in Pompano! He has some pain! ~:-(  Mark reminded him of the scotch remedy. Hey, it works! 

Well, it's Olympics withdrawal here. Now we have to get back into our regular program and playing cards once a while. 

Sue and Wayne have gone with friends to Ash Rapids for dinner. It's a long ways to go when there's no lighting on the lake! 

                                             Cottage!

In the upper right hand I noted where their cottage is! Wowsa. 

Okay. It's relax time! ;-)

Ahhhh, Sunday! (8/21/16)

There's nothing like a lazy Sunday morning ... even when we're retired! Maybe it's the Sundays remembered from another era when newspaper comics were laid out on the Livingroom carpet to be savoured. Happy lazy Sunday, y'all. 

BeeZee and Robbie had scissor cuts today and TLC from Mark while I did laundry chores. They sure enjoyed the extra attention! 

We are very happy to say that Sue and Wayne plus Shizzles will be dropping by for a couple of nights on their way south from Canada. Yay! We sure enjoy our fun company! And, by the way, all our friends are fun. Imagine that?

Those, in case you hadn't guessed, are a few of my favorite cartoons. 

Bonnie and Roger continued their goal of prepping the Tulsa house to sell. Somehow, amid packing and painting, they took dragonfly pictures! 

Nice photography! I'm betting Roger was the artist. 

After Mark's homemade meatloaf dinner (yummy), we all settled in to watch TV.  

Robbie had a rawhide that Beez wanted. So, she made a rubber toy seem like the ultimate chewie. LOL. It didn't work. (There are 2 rawhides! They just want the same one!) 

At 8 o'clock, we phoned Rod and Shay. It was still 93 there in Boca, but we were enjoying the outside at 88° with a breeze. We had a few laughs and rehashed last weekend's fun. 

The tiki ring toss got a work out but Mark was the big winner! Yes, I won a few games, but he's the champ! He also enjoyed a cigar and the remainder of Roddy's Tennessee honey whiskey. 

Now, we're watching the closing ceremonies of the Olympics. Ta Ta.