Thursday, December 31, 2020

Thursday, December 31, 2020

Good morning. It’s a bright beautiful sunshiny day here in Central Florida with a high of 80° forecast. That’s a little warmer than usual, but more in tune with our winter time highs. Tonight, for New Year’s Eve, Mark and I are cooking steaks on the barbecue and enjoying a bottle of champagne, just the two of us.




I posted this on Facebook, but for those that haven’t seen it, it’s kind of fun. What will you see? 


(I’ll post my words a few lines down ... 

I’ve pretty much given up making New Year’s resolutions. I know what I have to do, it’s just getting started. πŸ˜‰

OK, here’s my words, and it took an extra day before I finally saw a fourth word ... 

Power ... Gratitude ... Money ... Lessons 

(I will ask Mark what he sees and write it down as well.)


We had happy hour on the front porch with Lani and Markymark. They planted a cypress tree to end this decade and welcome in the new year.



That seemed a very fitting end to 2020.

We enjoyed a steak dinner, baked potato and vegetables and then watched TV to ring in the new year.




Happy 2021 πŸ₯³πŸ₯‚πŸΎ❤️















Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Good evening. Yes, said in a very mysterious voice. We’ve had a good day, puttering about, and then going fishing at 3:30 with Wayne and LaDonna. 

Actually, this morning, I took an old painting of ours that used to hang in our first fifth wheel, the Grand Junction. It was a favorite of Mark’s, being a stream and birch trees. We had nowhere to hang it at the house, and it no longer fit with the new RVs decor. So, I decided rather than just pitch it out, I would Gesso and re-paint. Mark was a little bit miffed that I had decided to paint over it. But really, what else are you going to do?  After two coats of primer I sketched a new painting and tomorrow I will begin painting.

Ha ha ha. Mark is actually enjoying our new infared oven! 

It was really a very nice Wednesday. We took the dogs, LaDonna and Wayne, too, and went to the mouth of our canal to do a little evening fishing.

It was beautiful, 70°F and a bit of a breeze. The fellows caught several stripers and a couple of bass. We had picked up sandwiches at Stavros before we left, and had enough beer and wine to last.


Both dogs enjoy fishing. As you can see, Ms. BeeZee  really enjoys it!!! 

Back home, LaDonna and I enjoyed a fire in the living room while Mark and Wayne cleaned their fish. Afterword, he sat on the front porch while the guys smoked cigars. We had a really fun evening. Always, lots of laughs.

Tomorrow, it’s New Year’s Eve. Do you have any resolutions? Mark and I are just planning to be home, enjoy a steak on the barbecue, baked potatoes and champagne. We shall ring in the new year just we four. Happy new year, wash your hands, get your COVID-19 vaccine as soon as you can, keep your distance, and wear your mask. LOL, happy new year! πŸ₯³




Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Good afternoon. Mark and Wayno went to the woods this morning to take down some tree stands and do a little tidy up. I did the chores and then had an hour’s art time before he got home about 11:30. We had a lazy afternoon, both of us. About 4 o’clock I took the dogs for a ride on the golf cart and everybody was outside with their dogs. It’s a beautiful day at 70° and no wind. I  used the  can of whoopass a few times for dogs that chased us. πŸ˜‚

We had happy hour on the front porch with the dogs. I just did my new owl call and had two responses. Of course, I overdid it, and no one spoke to me again. Ha ha. I will try again tomorrow. Apparently there are some cool techniques to use with the tube call.

So we have a new pizza delivery service in our neighborhood ... 


Ya never know what’s goina happen on our street! πŸ˜‚ could it be that moving day is coming soon? 

Tonight we tried doing some Orida french fries in the Nuwave. They turned out very good. We also had some leftover roast beef ‘n gravy and brussels sprouts. Delish. 

Tonight we watched the movie the professor and the madman with Mel Gibson and Sean Penn. It was good, worth watching. So, on this lovely evening we are drinking wine and watching TV and relaxing.

Yesterday I began working on a piece in my art journal. This one, had to be done with the non-dominant hand, in my case left. So, the picture I did, was completely done with my left hand and no involvement with the right. What I got was a pain in my right shoulder from not using it. Ha ha.

This afternoon Robbie thought I had done enough on it. He wanted to sit on my lap in my art chair, and then climbed on my table and sat promptly on top of the journal page with the face.

If that isn’t criticism I don’t know what is? πŸ˜‚

So, meet Lefty Lucy. She started looking like my grandmother, then became a Native American and finally a Gypsy-Boho type. Anyway, as a lefty project ... 🀷‍♀️
The intent was a LONG NOSE ... the other things that morphed came from the right-side brain; which was the entire idea of the lesson. Have you tried switching hands to draw or write? How’d it go? 

So that’s it for tonight.












Monday, December 28, 2020

Monday, December 28, 2020

Good evening. We’ve had a reasonably busy day just catching up. I had several loads of laundry to do while Mark went grocery shopping.


A friend from the RV group posted this. We are missing this year’s rally and new year’s event. With luck, next year. Safety first. 




(Our neighbors and friends) KimBob’s grandson got two mini goats for Christmas! 



Aren’t they the cutest! They live in a rural area and have chickens too.

We walked, had a golf cart ride, sat on the front porch then watched Telly. Just a nice day in the low 70’s. Wish it had been warmer over Christmas. 🀷‍♀️


Sunday, December 27, 2020

Sunday, December 27, 2020

Good afternoon sunshine! It’s a tidy up day here at our place; Mark made an interesting ‘leftovers’ casserole for our dinner tonight while I’m putting away some Christmas things. We had a marvelous time; no, not our usual Yule fest but nice. 

Now our thoughts are to New Year’s Eve ... 


Randy called this afternoon. He’d had a nice chat with Darlene, Crystal and Avery over Christmas. Avery apparently likes seafood, unusual for a 7 year old, and sushi. He said it was fun to talk with her. Dawn was back to work already. They came over this evening with lovely Christmas gifts and enjoyed the living room fireplace with us. We wore masks just to be on the safe side. It was fun to see their pictures and catch up on news. πŸ’•

Sue and Wayne will be home about 5ish having dropped the coach off in Davie. It was a long day for them; we appreciate them coming to visit. Maybe we’ll have our vaccinations soon and can resume more visits! 




Saturday, December 26, 2020

BOXING DAY 2020

Good morning y’all!!! It’s friggin’ cold πŸ₯Ά here with a north wind πŸ’¨!!!


It’s Boxing Day! 

Pam and the Wisconsin family had a Christmas day hike around Santa’s village in matching buffalo plaid. 


This looks like they’re in Kenora. 

Sue and I played a game of Mexican dominoes today, the first time I have played in a year. We had plenty of laughs, made plenty of mistakes had a drink or two and lots of fun. It’s a good thing we didn’t keep score or we would’ve burnt up the calculator. πŸ˜‚

The mailman brought a gift today, from Amazon prime but an unknown sender. We were expecting something from Matt and Tiffany so promptly thank them. However, they hadn’t sent it. So, the mystery deepens. 🀷‍♀️ It’s like the old game of Clue. πŸ€”

Soon Wayne took a drive around the lake today just to get the doggies out for a ride. This evening we had rehash of yesterday‘s dinner with roast beef, mashed potatoes, roasted carrots and gravy. We’ve had a delightful Christmas, different than most, but most enjoyable as well.

After dinner, we went to Sue and Wayne‘s and had a visit with the doggies.
The new sofa instead of the desk and recliner chair look great and make a much nicer sitting area in their coach. We approve. πŸ₯°

Wayne and LaDonna popped in on their way to their daughter’s  place with a bag of tangerines from her father’s  orange tree. We will get together with them later in the week.



Friday, December 25, 2020

Christmas day 2020

Good evening. Well, we had a wonderful Christmas day. Mark was up early and cooked a breakfast casserole which we enjoyed along with banana bread from Markymark. After that, we had some champagne and then opened our gifts. It was a splendid morning, no rush.




This year, instead of turkey, we cooked a 10 pound rib roast. It was delicious, very tender. I made garlic mashed potatoes and Yorkshire pudding ‘s. Markymark and Lani were in charge of desserts, and brought a plethora of them. They made Martha Washington homemade chocolates, banana bread, and a raspberry fruit truffle. We had a terrific dinner.



After eating, Mark lit a fire in the living room and we all sat in there and chatted and drink more wine. It was a lovely evening.

Thursday, December 24, 2020

Thursday, December 24, 2020

Good afternoon and a happy Christmas Eve everyone! 



Sue and Wayne arrived about 330 today, situated and came in for a visit. It’s a year since we’ve seen them! 

We’ve had a beautiful day! We just walked the dogs and it’s getting windy, but still beautiful outside. Tonight, it’s going to drop down and be quite cool in the morning, in the 40s. The leaves are all blowing around the neighborhood from our Sycamore and Sweet Gum trees. Everything looks quite festive.

We decided we would order from Stavros tonight for the four of us. However, they are apparently closed. So Plan B is picking up food at the Olive Garden nearby. πŸŽ„ 

Dinner was very good! We ate in the Sunroom and heard the wind and rain as the storm front passed us by. Tomorrow morning will be in the 40s.

Merry Christmas! 

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Good morning. Well, the house is all clean and tidy for Christmas. Today is going to 80° and then cooling off overnight. No rain in the forecast, so it should be quite enjoyable. 



Sue and Wayne and their doggies are arriving tomorrow, around noon. We haven’t seen them for a year! Tomorrow is going to be a high of 79° and then dropping drastically to 37° overnight. There is a big cold front moving in from the north that is going to sweep through here on Christmas Day. Yes, we will have the fireplace going. It’s going to be a very cozy Christmas here in Central Florida.



It’s definitely a polar front moving down to Florida from Oh Canada! 

Cousin Holly, in London, has some help wrapping Christmas presents. πŸΎπŸ’•  Cute wee elves! 


Our dogs love to sit on cardboard. 🀣



Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Good morning. It’s a bright beautiful sunshiny start to our day, very chilly but with a high of 70 forecast later. Sue and Wayne are enjoying a few nights at river ranch before coming here to visit. That will get them acclimated to the cooler weather. Ha ha.

Have you ever noticed on the road an oddball shoe here in there? I have always wondered how that happens!
Mark saw this cute meme on Facebook yesterday and saved it for me. Really, what is the rest of their life like? πŸ˜‚ 

Have you ever wondered how turkey became the standard for Christmas dinner?


This afternoon, Mark was working on his seawall project while I took a trip to the dermatologist. Two weeks ago I had a weird flakiness start on my left shoulder. Today, they zapped it off, pre-cancerous. That means I must’ve done too much swimming and having fun over the summer. Waa waa waaaa. ⚡️ 

After pizza on the Pizzazz we sat on the front porch with the propane fire going. The Scotties were wrapped like burritos in towels. Haha. It was 64F. 

Tonight we watched The Waltons movie. It was sappy, of course, and The funniest thing was the subtitles coming up were all the wrong words. πŸ™„





Monday, December 21, 2020

Monday, December 21, 2020

Good morning. Mark and I were both up around 730, had coffee and got into our pre-Christmas chores. Mark went to Winn-Dixie to order the roast and got lucky, as there was one already cut. He was able to get all his shopping done and was home by 10:30. He said almost no one was at the store. Perfect timing. Meanwhile as he was shopping I was dusting and cleaning house ready for our Christmas company. Yahooo, some fun to look forward to. 

So we went on a nice afternoon cruise to the Dead River to fuel up the boat. We brought the dogs along (plus their coats, as the breeze was a bit cool off the water.)



Tonight is stargazing ... actually seeing two planets align to make what is being called the Christmas star. CNN rxplains ... 






















Here it is!!!

Cool! We spotted it coming back from “The Lodge” ... Markymark and Lani were working there when we popped in with a pressie for their 4th anniversary. 

That’s it for today! Wine:30 and TV. 




Sunday, December 20, 2020

Sunday, December 20, 2020

Good morning y’all ... Christmas is neigh ... and we’re not quite organized for the big day; but we will be. We always pull it off. πŸŽ…πŸΌπŸŽ„πŸ‘‘

Tomorrow, we are ordering our prime rib roast from Winn-Dixie. It’s a big change from turkey. Speaking of turkey πŸ˜‚ ... Randy is cooking Italian for Christmas day dinner. Everyone is topsy turvy this year!!!

So today’s fun is picking up dinner from Stavros and going to LaDonna and Wayne’s to see their Christmas decorations. They’re having granddaughter Henley there too! (We haven’t seen her for months because of the COVID-19.) 


Saturday, December 19, 2020

Saturday, December 19, 2020

Good morning. The sun is shining and I have a snuggle bug on my lap all wrapped in a blanket.
That’s Robbie! 

Mz Bee is a bit annoyed. 

The sun is shining ... 


and we’re watching a Christmas movie  ... 

Mark and Bob went hunting this morning and were home around noon. They saw a lot of activity, a few bear, several doe and other woodland critters. It’s warmed up to be a beautiful afternoon.

The bark box finally arrived, and Robbie shared his birthday cake with BeeZee and his friends Brady, Henry and Ozzie. Some of the bark box I am saving for Christmas day, but they each got a new toy today. The favorite thing seems to be the empty box. Ha ha ha.

I’ve been working on a collage mid century modern picture for Lani and Markymark. They had their fourth anniversary earlier this week. 

Rick called tonight on FaceTime and we chatted away. It’s nice to catch up on the news ... Not too much going on there, the same as here with this COVID-19. Ruth is volunteering at a food bank. Very nice. They both look well. Their Christmas will be just immediate family this year, a smaller group like everyone else. (Well almost everyone else.) 




Friday, December 18, 2020

Friday, December 18, 2020

Good morning. The sun is shining and creating rainbow prisms all around the living room. Today is the 28th anniversary of our first date. Every year we go for Mexican food to celebrate. Today, however, Mark has a dental appointment at noon and plans to go fishing at 3:30 with Longwayno and Markymark. Of course we could go out this evening for dinner, but with this Covid thing 🀷‍♀️ I’ll order from our local restaurant  and Mark will pick it up on his way back home from the dentist. We can celebrate and be safe. Hopefully, he won’t feel too bad after being at the dentist. A piece of his tooth fell off on Tuesday and he has had to wait to get into the dentist till today. I’m pretty sure they will want to put a crown on the tooth, it’s the only sensible thing to do.



Well, Mark did get a crown today, just a temporary one of course. He goes back early January to get the final crown. 
By the time he got home it was time for him to go fishing with the guys. Meanwhile, I wrapped a few Christmas presents and worked on another one. So, that was my day. It was a little bit too cold for me to be outside for very long. I did sit on the front porch with the kids a couple of times and had a coffee break.

So, I guess that was it for our day. PARTAY OF 1 ... 
Wine and Ancient Aliens! ✅

Thursday, December 17, 2020

Thursday, December 17, 2020

Good morning. Mark was up at 4o’clock getting ready for hunting with Wayne and Bob. He’s totally quiet, but yet I wake up and can’t get back to sleep. 🀷‍♀️ It’s a beautiful morning in the 60s, but it is going to drop me quite a bit cooler tonight. We’re invited to Pat & Ken’s, our bi-monthly get together. We will be outside on the lanai, so we’ll bundle up. Yeah it’s Florida ... and we have “thin blood.” 🀣


It was ONE OF THOSE DAYS for me! I tried baking a pan of Triple Chocolate Brownies to take tonight. I bake often enough and things turn out pretty good. OMG, these brownies came out in bits and pieces from the pan with virtually no flavor! What the heck. (The first batch I tried to make ended up down the drain. The directions on the box were rather vague, two eggs, water and oil ... si I cracked the 2 eggs, added 1/4 cup water and 1/3 cup oil. I could see right away it was too wet for the amount of dry ingredients! In rereading the box directions, it said if you wanted fudgy brownies that you use 2 tablespoons of water, one egg and a quarter cup oil. So, I threw that batch down the drain and started over. Well, the second batch didn’t turn out any better! So much for a time-saving mix. πŸ™„

This afternoon, after the baking fiasco, I attempted the photo transfer method onto a collage page. Suffice to say THAT didn’t work for me either! 

OK, it’s now 1130 and we are back from Pat and Ken’s. We had a fun evening, a bit chilly on the lanai, but we all managed. Rose & Jim made us cookies and brought packages for all of us, and Lynn made us all banana loaf.. We are very spoiled by all these wonderful friends.




Mark took this cute picture of us all wrapped up in our blankets sitting on the lanai in 60° weather. We are going to look at this next year during the summer when we were all hot, and have sone laughs! What a nice neighborhood we live in. We are so lucky. 











Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Good evening. It’s been a busy day around here with household chores and celebrating Robbie‘s 10th birthday.



Happy Birthday dear boy ... we’re so happy you’re feeling well. We’re sorry your big BarkBox hasn’t arrived ... Mom ordered it December 1st! When it arrives we’ll celebrate again! 

When Robs was a wee pup-pup in Oklahoma his favorite fun was going to Sonic with Maggie and me for lunch! So ...



here we are! The rollerskating carhop brought the birthday boy’s lunch of grilled chicken and fries! Does he look happy? πŸΎπŸ’•πŸŽ‚




Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Good morning y’all ... bit of fog here in old FOGGYVILLE πŸ˜‚. There’s a story about my dear Dad when Sue had suggested he and Mom move to Leisureville, a retirement community in Pompano Beach. Dad absolutely refused to look at the place saying he didn’t want to live in ol’ FOGGYVILLE 🀣 ... when he meant old fogeyville!!! As you see, it’s become a source of giggles in our family. 

Are you ready for Christmas? I saw an article on CNN about Santa’s snow globe in Oregon! Me thinks it’s a great idea that should become the norm. It was born out of COVID19, but hear me out ... 


2020 has been a year of few silver linings ... reduced work commutes for some people, and no racist uncle at Thanksgiving πŸ™„ and now a socially distanced Santa. Some parents are tearing their hair out over not being able to take the children to sit on Santa’s lap. But, when you think of it, it’s kind of a dumb thing to do anyway. Since when do you want your child to associate a fun time with sitting on a strangers lap? It’s a bag of mixed messages, isn’t it? I get that it’s an annual tradition for many families, but just perhaps Santa in the snow globe with the children waving to him is a much better message. After all, 93% of sexual abuse perpetrators are people who are familiar to the child. Parents reinforce stranger danger throughout the children’s lives then we counter intuitively tell them it’s OK to let this one stranger touch you. We adults are out of our minds! 

I guess how traumatized a child might be when forced to sit on Santa’s lap (against their will) depends on the child’s emotional security. Have the parents raised their child in a secure, safe environment? Still, being forced to do something they’re  frightened of can be traumatic and impact their understanding of consent. 

Well, consider that my Christmas rant. I myself remember being terrified of Santa Claus at the Eatons department store in Winnipeg. And, what a way to spread the flu and colds along with Christmas cheer! Imagine all the germs in Santas beard and on his gloves after an hour of greeting children! Yuck 🀒 

So, I hope that snow globe Santa spreads his cheer with children waving at him. This seems so much safer in this age of viruses and stranger danger. Ho ho ho, this one’s on you Santa! πŸ˜‚

Today, we have some fun in store. The fellas had such a fun time fishing on Sunday that we are going to try a repeat performance at 3:30 today. The dogs loved it, so they want to come on the boat with us as well. After fishing we’re going to make a big salad and put pizzas on the Pizzazz. πŸ˜‹ (Winn-Dixie sells Pep’s pizzas, and you don’t need to add a darn thing. They are awesome, and cost between eight and nine dollars, well worth the price.)

At 5 ish we headed home for salad, rolls and pizza! We had a fun evening, and then sat on the front porch while the guys smoke cigars. Beautiful evening,