Game Day ... 3/31/16

Good morning. Yes, it's a bright beautiful sunshiny day and 88° by 4 o'clock. March is going out as a lamb in Central Florida. 

I'm hosting game day and Mark decided a walk in the forest would be his therapy. Afterward, he's going to help Randy with his riding lawnmower. Warranty? LOL. As the story goes, Randy started the Murray mower and drove it out of the covered area. A rear tire came off the rim. He shut it off; then couldn't restart it. The short version is, the black riding mower was blocking the red riding mower so Randy had to use his push mower to cut the vacant lot. LOL. SuperMark to the rescue! 

It's been a tough spring health and accident-wise in our neighborhood. Nancy's husband Thomas is going through chemotherapy for lung cancer, Sharon's son-in-law blacked-out at the wheel while picking up his daughter at school (and had a serious vehicle accident) and friend Linda is just home after four days in the hospital for a stroke! Yikes. I have an idea what the topic of conversation will be this afternoon.

Cheers! The house is ready ... 

And here's how the party rolled ...

Pat, with BBQ tongs in hand (LOL) was sure to find a play in Rummikube. 

I think Florence was reacting to Pat's tong pointing. (We couldn't reach the end of the table ... so, tongs were in order!). 

Sandra threatened to hide the tongs. LOL. We had plenty of fun. (Sandra, Rose and Carin were the winners until we got the tongs out.) That was when we realized they had a stack of tiles down their end we never chose from! LOL. Finally, Sharon and Florence won a game each at our end of the table. Everyone headed home at 5 and Mark came home about 5:30. He'd enjoyed his day too. 

Tonight, we had Mark's homemade chicken chili for supper. It's good TV tonight, so I'm going to sign off now and relax. I hope you had a good last day of March 2016. Ta ta. 

Date Night Wednesday 3/30/16

Hello sunshine! It was a perfect day for airing the house out while I balanced the spa's water. The bromine float "unscrewed" (just a bit) and dosed the spa with too much bromine. It's an easy fix; run the jets with the bubbler on and open the sunroom sliders. Voila. Problem solved. It was also time to add 20 gallons of fresh water. Evaporation does happen! LOL. Now our dehumidifier is running in the sunroom and all is well. 

Tomorrow is game day, here. The ladies enjoy sitting in the sunroom to play Rummikube, Mexican Dominoes and 10,000. My job is to make certain we don't run out of wine, chips, cheese and crackers and chocolates. It sounds fun, eh? It'll be so noisy you won't know the music is on! LOL

Our little spare fridge crapped out this spring. It was Sue and Wayne's (hand me down) wine cooler. Now we're in the market for a second refrigerator for the sunroom bar area. We looked online at mini refrigerators but find they have flimsy wire racks on the door. I hate that. So, now the question is ... should we invest in a larger fridge/freezer and make room for it by selling my flip top computer desk. You see, the computer was long ago donated and that nice desk serves as paper storage. Once a year I sort tax information there which I could certainly do at the dining room table. Decision time. 

Mark left for Home Depot while I Swiffered the tile floors. Maybe he will check out refrigerators while he's there. We also need a new guest room fan. The current fan is a good quality Hunter. However, it is stuck on high-speed. Hunter sent us a new rheostat which Mark installed but it did not fix the problem. Their fans come with a lifetime warranty, but it's a hassle when they don't  know what the problem is! Maybe we need to make another phone call to them. If they can't fix it, perhaps they will replace it? 

Well, it's Wednesday date night and Mark suggested bowling. Super! Randy will join us and meet Dawn later for dinner. 

THIS game was good for me ... then I fell apart in the next two! It was a fun time ... lots of family bowling tonight; kids running all over. LOL. Mark had 4 strikes in a row and I was late taking his picture!

Randy's first game was his best but no turkey! Mark and I headed home for the dogs and Randy went to meet Dawn at Tiki West for shrimp. That's it for tonight. Ta ta. 

RV Sewing Done ... 3/29/16

It's the wee hours and BeeZee is by my side watching TV. It feels like I have a bit of my Maggie here. She'd sit with me at any crazy hour too. (Robbie is soundly sleeping, upside down, in his bed as always; doesn't even know I'm up!) LOL.

Have you seen "Little Big Shots"? I sat watching with a grin on my face. It was very cute. Then, I made a hot cross bun with butter for Belize and me. Fun huh! Now we're watching "Long Island Medium" with Theresa Caputo. She's great, plus fun. 

Ah, good morning (again)! The sun's shining, choruses of birds chirping ... this is lovely. 

Mark decided to putter in the kitchen today to make chicken chili with peppers from Randy's garden. (It smells great!) 

My RV sewing project continued until 2:30. Mark shimmied into the RV (it's a claustrophobic squeeze when it's parked in the RVport!) and hung the new curtains. They will need a little fussing over, but they're hung. Thanks Marky! 

The tiebacks are carved shell leaves on gold chain. The next time we pull the RV out for a trip, I'll tend to them. Yay, a project done. (The color looks off thanks to flash photo ... but whatever.)

At 5 o'clock, we took drinks to the front porch and waited for thunderstorms. It never happened, we think Randy got 90% of them! LOL. It looks like Sue and Wayne got terrible storms in Pompano Beach. 

Well it's time to watch "the Voice" and relax. More tomorrow. Ta ta.  

Sewing ... 3/28/16

Good day! It's cloudy this morning (again). Where is our Sunshine? 

My day started with a ride to Joann Fabrics for drapery lining. It sounds a little heavy for RV curtains but we wanted a blackout (white) fabric in the bedroom. So, I began laying out 6 curtain panels to take advantage of the leaf fabric I chose. Of course it's double the work when you line them. As of tonight, I have one window completed and ready to hang; the second pair ready to sew on Velcro (the last step) and the third window panels are cut out and ready to sew. More sewing fun tomorrow! 

Mark's project today involved a trip to Home Depot. Our boat house gutters  are washing out a trough down to the seawall. He dug a ditch and installed a drainpipe that will carry the rainwater directly to the canal. 

At 4 o'clock, we met Randy, Dawn and Lorne at Stavros for earlybird dinner. It's was Lorne's choice for his last Florida meal before heading home. 

His direct flight to Winnipeg leaves Orlando at 8:45. Randy and Dawn drove him to the airport after our dinner. We came home to feed the Scotties and play ball for an hour. 

Now it's 8:15 and we're ready to watch the news and relax! Ta ta til tomorrow. 

Easter Sunday ... 3/27/16

Happy Easter!

Good morning. We're in for a cloudy day, but likely no rain as the front stays north of us. Lynne and Les had a good driving day until they hit freezing rain near Sioux City Iowa. There they found a hotel and settled in for the night. If the driving is good today, they should arrive home about 4 o'clock, cocktail hour. 

Mark made a quick trip for grocery while I did laundry chores and set the dining room table for tonight. Randy, Dawn and Lorne are coming for Mexican Dominoes and dinner. No, it's not a traditional Easter dinner, but fun to get together. Yes, "Ham" is involved, plus cabbage rolls casserole. Yum. 

Get it? "Peace" be with you. The only chocolate here this year is dark Hershey kisses. The Easter bunny declared we didn't need the extra calories this year. Wha-waa-waaa.

So the gang arrived and we had drinks at the bar and we talked about a bliz-ZARD. LOL. Everyone marveled at my wonderful French accent. LOL. We had lots of laughs at dinner, and afterword played Mexican Dominoes.

Lorne, Randy & Mark ... wait til Lorne tries on his sunglasses! LOL.(They're covered in black electrical tape.) 

It was an Easter for the records.  Haha. About 11 all went home. Such fun. So that's it til tomorrow. Ta ta. 

 

Bowling ... 3/26/16

Whaaaa! Where's the sun? There's rain north of us ... scattered afternoon showers ... and low 80's today. 

Lynne and Les had a slow drive north yesterday. Here's her report. 

Their drive looks better, weather wise, for today. Traffic might be heavier being Easter weekend. 

After lunch of avocados, tomatoes & sunflower seeds we headed out to run 3 errand stops plus bowl a few games. The 2nd game Mark bowled 187 ... but by the 3rd I actually won a game! Hey, it's rare, I'm allowed to boast. LOL

Too bad I flubbed the 10th frame. 

The Scotties had baths today and were feeling great. It was a crazy dog run around, through and under the dining room table. LOL. Tonight, it's brushing and tweaking their trims. 

We had happy hour on the front porch with a thunderstorm surrounding us. It was lovely ... finally, at 7 o'clock we had to move inside. We phoned Randy to tell him about the impending storm. He was totally unaware, as usual. Later, he called to say that they had nickel size hail and high wind with lots of rain.

Randy and Lorne golfed today, and they (and Dawn) are invited for Easter Sunday dinner tomorrow. It's the non-planning committee, so who knows what we'll have. LOL

So that's it for tonight. Ta ta til tomorrow. 

L 'n L on the way ... 3/25/16

Good morning! Rain is on the way ... Lynne and Les will have a few hours of intermittent liquid sunshine for their drive. 

Lynn wanted to steal my pelican, but Mark had it screwed to the post. LOL. They were headed to the Great White North by 8 AM ... A full hour ahead of schedule! Wow. 

After morning chores were finished, Mark set up our "grooming table" in the Sunroom and buzzed Robbie's face and ears. 

Mr. Handsome!

Bonnie donated her Scottish Terrier grooming handbook to us ... we tried. No more bunny ears for Robs. LOL. Mark is using the stripping comb on Robbie's back and sides plus "training" his eyebrows as they grow. 

Our wee lass was excellent on the table ... and hopefully we did okay trimming her face and ears. She was a fuzzy-wuzzy with our Florida humidity. 

Belize is tough to photo with her black coat. 

Our sweet babe. 

Here's a cool tree troll. How'd you like to see this while walking in the woods? Creepy! 

That's crazy!

It was a laid-back kind of day here. After dinner, we walked the dogs and settled into some American Idol. Ta ta. 

Flea Market 'n Steaks ... 3/24/16

It's a bright beautiful sunshiny day. After a breakfast of kielbasa and cheese omelettes, Lynne, Mark and I went to our local flea market for some exercise. Les decided he had had enough exercise yesterday and wanted to relax in front of the TV with the Scotties. So be it; we were off. An hour later, about 11:15 we met and everyone had bags of goodies. It's a nice-sized market ... not too huge. 

Our next stop was Publix to pick up a few grocery items. We have a more relaxing day planned with steaks and potatoes for the four of us tonight. Les  and Lynne start for Winnipeg tomorrow morning, early. It appears they may be going through some rain tomorrow.  

Mark is feeling under the weather; perhaps allergies (runny eyes and sniffles); it's hard to tell during springtime.

My orchids have been blooming since (before) Valentine's Day. Once the blooms are gone, Mark cuts the main stem back by half and sets them under our trumpet until next winter's blossoms. The bright pink is the older plant. Nice huh!

This afternoon, Lynn and I played two rounds of Rummy to 1000. The first time, I got caught with two deuces in my hand because I forgot they are wildcards. Duh! The second game was pretty close. While we were playing cards, the guys watched a hockey game. It was a nice relaxing afternoon. 

Now Mark is making a salad while Lynn put her special potatoes in the oven. It has the makings of another feast. The steaks were excellent, perfectly cooked. Afterwards, we poured more wine and watched Shark Tank and yakked. We had some very heavy rain, and Lynne enjoyed the front porch for a few minutes. (It's the best.) LOL. At 10:30, they were off to bed, ready for their drive tomorrow.

Ta ta. 

Boating, Mariachis & Bowling 3/23/16

Good morning! Lynne and I are up (4:30) ... Heartburn for Lynne ... Allergy cough for me. Fun, eh? That's okay, it's lovely and quiet at this time. (I went back to bed til 9:30!) 

We have some fun planned for this evening, but what to do today? At 10 we boated to downtown Eustis for breakfast at Magnolia's.

It was very good. (Lynn wasn't a fan of their decaf but otherwise, good.) Me, I thought the decaf was good but then I added cream! What's not to like with cream. LOL

We 4 plus Mrs R B in the background. Fun in the sun at 74F. 

On our drive home last night, Mark (aka Eagle-Eye) spied a rocket's red flare just as we turned into our neighborhood! (We'd just been discussing UFO's at RanDawn's!) It was an Atlas V Rocket launching Cygnus to the ISS. It was awesome to see!

This afternoon, Lynne and I went shopping to Hobby Lobby and Ross.  The guys relaxed in front of the Telly for 2 hours. 

At 4:30 we headed to ... 

for dinner. 

The Mariachi band was pretty good. We had them sing to Lynne. (She isn't used to celebrating her birthday more than "the" day.) LOL

Tight pants. Oo la lah. 

Makenna is visiting overnight with Dawn and Randy so was along for dinner and bowling. 

After Mexican food we went bowling for two games. Lorne hadn't bowled 10 pin before but caught on right away. It was crazy fun and $10 was paid in gutter balls for Lotto tickets. 

Now back home, we're watching The Voice before we fall into bed. Ta ta til tomorrow. 

Boating & RanDawn's 3/22/16

Good morning! It's bright and sunny but chilly ... going to 72F in time for a boat ride down the Dead River and a Palm Gardens lunch. Yes, the Scotties are raring to go too. 

Just as we were leaving home Randy phoned and said he and (Winnipeg friend) Loren were sitting on the dock; Dawn was at work. We suggested they join us for a boat ride and meet us at Palm Gardens. So, they did! It was a beautiful day cruising on Lake Harris; then back to Palm Gardens for lunch.

Beez and Robs had turkey and a couple of fries for a lunch treat. The ride home was gorgeous; blue rippled water under a cloudless sky. Paradise. (An afternoon siesta was paradise too!) LOL

We arrived at RanDawn's for happy hour about 6 ... 

Lynne, Les and Loren knew several people in common from Winnipeg. They had no problem keeping a conversation going. 

Randy served homemade Eggplant Parmigiana, salad and cheesy toast. Excellent. Fantastic!

After the main course, both Randy & Dawn disappeared ...

and returned with a birthday cake for Lynne. We were all in perfect voice for her birthday song. (Hey, we try!) Haha. 

Les with Lynne ... making a wish! Whoosh! And the candles were out. 

Lynne introduced us to a fun (easy) dice game of "1 2 3". 

The only hardship was knowing our left or right. Haha. Randy was the eventual winner! We headed home about 10:30, full bellies and worn out. It was FUN. RanDawn are great hosts! 

Ta ta til tomorrow! 

Lynne & Les ... Visiting 3/21/16

Good morning! The Scotties and I were up by 6:30 to finish yesterday's chores before our pals arrived. Mark's back is getting better, slowly. 

Today is Lynne's birthday and she decided Les is taking us all out to dinner tonight. Very nice! Tomorrow, Randy & Dawn have invited us all to their home for his famous (home grown) Eggplant Parmigiana! Wednesday evening is a Mariachis band and supper at Guadeloupe's. 3 nights - 3 plans! (Thursday, we're BBQing ribeyes for them.) Yum yum. 

It's now 1:20 ... I sat to relax ... and got two lap warmers! Sweet. 

Robbie, me and wee Belize. My babes!

Lynne & Les arrived about 2 o'clock, just when Mark and I were out back getting a photo of the pink azaleas. 

Pretty, eh? They bloom every spring and thrive on my neglect. Really they don't look like much the rest of the year but come spring, voila!

Although it was only 66F this afternoon, we sat outside for happy hour.

It was lovely sitting in the sunshine catching up on news with Les & Lynne!

After we fed and walked the kids, it was time for Lynne's birthday dinner at Oakwood's. We got right in, no waiting!

Les, Lynne, me and my Marky. The excellent full rack of ribs and 2 sides were $13.49 today. Delicious! 

Back home, Robbie was happy to sit with uncle Les. Belize, aka Billie Goat, made her rounds. LOL  Everyone got some attention. 

Relaxing at home ... watching Dancing with the Stars. 

Lynne was first to sneak off to bed ... before long, Les disappeared, tired from the drive and dog-sitting at K's.  Mark and I watched "The Voice". So that was our fun day Monday. Ta ta til tomorrow. 

S P R I N G 2016

Good morning from Central Florida where it's 73F. Yes, it's a front door open kind of day. 

When we celebrated St. Patrick's Day with Pat and Ken, we talked about English Springer Spaniel dogs. They have a beautiful black and white girl called Sadie. She's a playful happy go lucky dog. Of course the stories and drinks flowed ... Darby-Do, Candy-Bear and Freddie Farkle all had a part in what happened next. Ken decided Sadie needs a friend! He's been on springer rescue the past three days. LOL

Mark's sore back is a little better. He slept most of the night and today is more comfortable standing than sitting. He's off to the grocery store for a few things for Lynne and Les visiting ... like ribeye steaks! Tomorrow, Les is taking us for a nice dinner after they arrive. Sweet. 

Randy and Dawn arrived for a visit about 2 o'clock. We poured some drinks and chatted. They have decided on November 9 for a wedding in Charleston South Carolina. Awesome romantic. It's their elopement so no pressure on anyone to attend unless they wish to. Perfect! Yep, we will be there! 

Randy told us a hilarious story. When their new spa was delivered earlier in the week, Randy put the spa chemical package on the kitchen counter. This morning, he was getting spices ready for beer can chicken and found an unusual shaker labeled "Redneck". He read the ingredients and began laughing. Dawn had put a spa fragrance enhancement shaker into the spice cabinet! She is officially banned from the kitchen. LOL. (Her plan is working!) Hee hee. 

Mz BeeZee is snuggling unabashedly with uncle Randy! Robbie is miffed! That's HIS uncle!

Never mind, Robbie snuggled in with aunt Dawn's boots! Dawn was 2nd round waitress! LOL. She's so much fun! 

November's going to be a crazy month! A wedding, Thanksgiving and (Canada's) Grey cup! Wowsa. PARTAY!

So we fed the doggies and decided on Stavros for dinner tonight! We were home at 8:15 and Randy and Dawn headed home on the motorcycle.

FYI ... They always promise to check in when they get home, but aren't very good at follow-through. Just sayin'! I shall phone AGAIN. 

Tonight, our show "Billions" is on! Have you seen it? We suggest binge watching to learn the characters. 

It was a great day. Lots of laughs. Ta ta til tomorrow. 

Community Pic-a-nic - 3/19/16

Hello from the early morning crew here. (No, we haven't seen Mark yet.) Robbie is snoozing under the coffee table while Bee is on my lap. Life is good.

It's our annual community barbeque at 2 o'clock ... with rain! Mark made a batch of Mary-Beth's Baked Beans as our contribution. As he opened the oven door to put the dish in, I heard his back "pop" ... ouch! He hadn't even picked up the pan yet! (I know THAT pain!) Now he's sitting with Light Relief on his back and I gave him 2 Advil. No party for him today!

Sandra & Jim hosted the BBQ at their lovely lakefront home. The rain wasn't heavy but enough to necessitate us being inside! 

Lake Eustis was kicking up a bit today! If I owned that house I'd sleep on the porch tonight. It was so nice with waves splashing around the cypress trees and a cool wind. 

Everyone was happy to eat inside ... they all did a great job setting up tables! It's a ton of work!

All were asking where's Mark? I had to say he had a cooking injury. LOL. Hopefully he will feel a lot better tomorrow! 

Meeting a new friend Coreen (husband Gino) who moved in recently. 

Well, Robs and Beez teamed up to run the house. It had to happen! Now when I ask if they want to go out, they look at each other and don't move! What's with that? They want a walk! I have to shoo them to their lovely back yard. Brats! LOL

Today, Sue and Wayne will fly home from Spain and arrive late tonight. Then on Monday, Lynne and Les will come here for a visit! With any luck, we will be able to go boating. It's what all four of us love to do! And, they'll have fun meeting our Belize too! 

After the party, I made a Pizzazz pizza and we watched a 3 star movie "Babel". Brad Pitt and Kate Blanchett starred in it. Well that's it for tonight. I hope your Saturday was grand. Ta ta. 

3/18/16

Good morning! The dogs and I were up by 5:30 and outside to 66F.  I watched Craig Ferguson's "Join or Die" fun history show, drank a DSO, then went back to bed til 8:30. Then, it was bright and sunny outside! Perfect. 

Mark opened our front door and let the doggies enjoy the porch. A few minutes later a neighbor came to our front porch with her dog to introduce them. Yikes! It was a bark-a-thon! Mark grabbed the water squirt bottle and doused everyone. LOL. Poor Nancy & Kachina! Robbie knows them; Belize doesn't. (Well they know each other now!) Aroooo. 

Today was chores, Mark cleaned the boathouse gutters while I cleaned the curio cabinets and dining room foo-fa-rah. (Too much stuff even after all the EBay sales last year!)

About 4 o'clock Randy and Dawn called to see what we have been doing. They had an electrician working this afternoon putting in electric for the hot tub. Dawn cleaned the house and washed floors. I offered to pop over with the Scotties so they could mop up too! Haha. We decided to meet at Guadalajara at 6:30 for supper. 

I just opened my email and saw some photos Jim sent of his finished lodge. It's spectacular! We can't wait to see it this June! I'll include a couple of pics ...

It's beautiful Jim. Enjoy!

Randy & Dawn arrived at the restaurant on the bike, complete with a big backpack for doggie bags. LOL. Hey, they were planning ahead; the meals are big. Tonight, they'll be soaking in the new hot tub! 

Sue and Wayne will be home late tomorrow ... it's their last night in Spain. Julius and Shorty will be so excited to see them! (Les & Lynne have been dog-sitting expertly; as always!)

So that's it for tonight. The dogs have been walked and brushed so it's TV time. Ta ta.