Friday, September 30, 2016

Happy birthday to our dear pal Bonnie in Tulsa Oklahoma. Here's how her day unfolded. 

It was a beautiful morning! Mark left for the Ocala Forest before 6 and enjoyed the quietness of dawn. He said the sound of the dew drops falling from the leaves were a bit eerie. He also heard coyotes howling in the distance. Also, Mark said he could smell something rather interesting. Bacon cooking! Yes, there was someone camping away out in the forest in a tent, illegally. I wonder if this person realizes there's a 300 pound bear wandering around. LOL

Speaking of badass bears, here's a great picture!

Randy and Dawn popped in after their breakfast at Magnolia's. Mark had arrived home by that time so we all sat around and had a good visit. Certainly the doggies enjoyed uncle Randy and aunt Dawn coming over. 

Here's big boy Robbie getting his cuddles! Don't you just love Randy's twig hair? LOL. Behind him, perfectly placed, is a twig wreath on my kitchen door.

Dawn's grandson Brandon turns one-year-old on Sunday. We have been invited to breakfast with the family to celebrate. (Nice to be included!)

Sue and Wayne are dancing at the Elks tonight while Jack plays DJ. I hope they have a good time. 

That's it for today. 

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Good morning. It's a lovely 75° and breezy. We started our day with the front door open.

Today's plans include game day for me, and Mark plans to change the oil on the boat motor. Most exciting. LOL

It sure feels like fall today! Lovely.

Nancy hosted game day with plenty of wine and snacks! I played Mexican Dominoes with Rose, Pat, Anita, Carol and Carin. We had so much fun! There was a huge clap of thunder then we watched the rain come across the lake!  The rest of the gang played Rummikube in the living room. We didn't finish until after 5 o'clock! What a PARTAY. LOL

Mark's day was not fun. Yesterday, he discovered rat poop in our RV basement. He set a couple of traps with peanut butter, but no sign of any critters. So, today, he emptied the basement and vacuumed everything out.  He discovered a lovely rats nest made out of our vinyl picnic table tablecloth. LOL. Oh well, I think we needed a new one anyway. 

We're hearing the rumblings of thunder and another storm is just north of us. We're going to settle in with dinner and relax in front of the boob tube tonight.

  

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Good morning. It is a cooler one here in Central Florida. Mark went to the forest to set up a second tree stand. Me? Well, there's always chores and laundry, but mostly I'm going to relax today! So, I began my morning with a soak in the hot tub. It was heavenly.

Did I mention that Miss Belize has begun talking? Really! She scared me a couple of times with her voice. For instance, I was sitting watching TV and playing free cell solitaire when I heard a voice. I looked up, expecting to see Mark, but no one was there. Then I looked down and here was a wee black face looking up at me, questioning. LOL

It was Walmart day! There are some items that only Wally carries in our area ... so, it's Wally or nothing. One item we wanted was CarbSmart ice cream. Now why isn't that a regular item in every store? No sugar added ... real ice cream! 

Sue and Wayne have a busy week planned. Friday night, Jack C. will be DJ at the Pompano Beach Elks. I'm certain it'll be a great dance night!

We didn't go out for date night as Dawn is working tonight. Randy was busy working on their shower stall, so we will choose another night to go out.

The Blogger app has been misbehaving on my new iPhone. So, for that reason the blogs have been a bit shorter. (Sorry about that!) LOL. Ta Ta til tomorrow. I'll go look for a fix!

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Good morning! Well, did you watch the debate? Here's what I concluded.

Donald Trump once again proved he’s a thin-skinned bully driven by greed and hate. A small, insecure moneygrubber who is only prepared to be a lying promoter for Donald Trump. Do you know he interrupted Hillary 51 times! That's a buffoon bully. By the way, DT lied 80% of the time last night according to fact checker. :-(

Hillary Clinton was prepared for the debate and prepared for the presidency. She was tough, smart, calm and collected tonight – with clear, unambiguous promises to fight for progressive ideas and progressive values. 

It was nice to see them so friendly after the debate. The Donald was at Chelsea's wedding years ago. 

At 3:30 we loaded up the dogs and our cooler and went for a happy hour putt-putt cruise. 

Mz Bee loves the boat now! A thunderstorm shortened our trip ... but not before we had snacks and drinks. We had a little rain after we got home.

Mark cooked pork chops on the grill while we played ring toss! Robbie likes to climb behind the bar. Beez waits on the ground level to catch escaping lizzies ! LOL

Meanwhile, Randy was working on cutting tile for their bathroom shower project. Sue and Wayne went to Valentino's for dinner.

Dancing with the Stars results is on now.  

Monday, September 26, 2016

Good morning. It's a lovely morning, so lovely in fact that Mark went to the Ocala Forest for some hunting therapy. LOL, this means, for me, I have snuggle time with the doggies while watching my favorite aliens show. Ha ha. 

Over the weekend, I sold two shelves on eBay. They are a Northwoods type shelf with pinecones and greenery. They are cast-iron, so pretty heavy to mail. But, happily, these shelves are being shipped to someone in Wisconsin. Perfect. No, I couldn't use them at Chippy's Hollow as space is limited there. 

Mark arrived home having seen a deer ... But no shot. Apparently, it was lovely and quiet in the woods today. Mark had a Bluejay and a big woodpecker for company.

Mark and I left for bowling at 1 o'clock. We enjoyed two games and burned a calorie. LOL. We almost had the bowling alley to ourselves.

Lew popped in for a visit and then came back a few minutes later with a glass of wine in hand. We had lots of laughs and then Lew went home to park the car for Lynn, and then they both came back for wine.

Mz Bee "obeys" uncle Lew ... Robbie ignores him. LOL

Tonight, is the first official presidential debate. In the meantime, we are watching dancing with the stars. More tomorrow!

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Good morning. It was a front door open kind of morning at just 76°. Yay! The Scotties and I watched the birds, squirrels and bees ... notice I didn't say "the birds and the bees!" LOL

Our new iPhones are great! By the way, they came with ear buds; just plug into the charge port to use 'em. (We don't use them anyway, but it was interesting to see that they were included.) 

Randy called to say he needed a doggie fix and popped in after dropping Dawn off at work. Robbie and BeeZee waited on the front porch for their uncle to arrive. Bee got the first snuggle…

and was very agitated when uncle Randy picked up Robbie too. LOL. In this picture, he is eyeing Beez and is anxious to get down to chase her.

Afterwords, Randy went home to cut the grass and Mark and I went for an afternoon boat ride...

to The Crazy Gator for lunch. It was beautiful in the boat with a breeze, but quite warm as we walked up the dock to the restaurant. Mark ordered garlic Parmesan chicken wings and I ordered a Cobb salad and we shared. The food was very good. Coming home, on our canal, we spotted a beautiful mushroom growing in a hollowed out tree.

The new iPhone 7 takes beautiful outdoor photos. Here is one of a wood duck nest on our canal too.

Our pal Timichael phoned with his exciting news that he'd bought some Mary Jane body lotion that instantly cured him of a urination problem. We remembered Rick M having some on hand in Canada and the many miracle uses. Hope it gets successfully voted in for Florida to have medical marijuana. Morgan & Morgan, Florida attorneys, have been working on this medical marijuana law for Florida for several years now.

The Revent is on now so Ta ta til tomorrow.

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Good morning. Mark left for hunting at 6 AM. Of course it was still dark, and I can only imagine walking into the forest in the blackness. Hey, there are predators out there. For self-defense, in archery season, he can only have a big knife with him. Yikes!

Orlando's forecast is for 92° today. Hopefully we will be a few degrees lower than that, but obviously still a very hot day for September! 

Sue phoned at 9:30 and we had a good old chat. She went to her (new) chiropractor in South Florida and felt quite relieved today after having a gentle adjustment. (She hopes that Randy will be convinced to visit him on his next visit south!) 

Mark arrived home at 11 ... after a visit from Yogi Bear!

Since the picture was taken from 27' above, Yogi was a hefty fellow. 

At 2 o'clock, Mark and I went to Verizon to pick up our new iPhone 7's. Mark got the regular size and I got the plus size. Perhaps there will be less spelling errors because I should be able to see the text a little larger. LOL, no guarantees though! LOL Much information had to be added in the way of apps that we had on each phone. Now of course we will have to go through deleting the old photos, again! 

So that was our busy day! Sue and Wayne went dancing at the Elks, so they're enjoying Saturday night! Tat a til tomorrow. 

Friday, September 23, 2016

Good morning y'all. It's a cloudy 84F here! 

Mark spent the majority of his day prepping for tomorrow's archery season opening day. There's stuff all over the house! LOL. He's going to need some help getting to his stand. :-)

Me? Tonight I'm going to an event with Nancy, Pat & Ken, Rose & Jim. 

It's now 11 o'clock and I am able to update my blog. It was a very interesting evening, to say the least. I met many candidates for various positions in our upcoming election. It is obvious that our friend Nancy is well thought of in the Democratic circle. The keynote speaker addressed the black caucus with his comments. He was a good speaker and put we, who were not who he was addressing, in a different position to understand the plight of our African-American citizens. I was able to appreciate about 75% of what he said. Once he got onto the Trayvon Martin/Zimmerman case, and held Central Florida responsible for the start of the change in America, he lost me. I'm just saying, but from all the evidence that came out during the trial, Trayvon was not an innocent 14-year-old child. Zimmerman is not a likable character either. However, at this time, that's all I will say.

As the evening was ending, breaking news came across the Internet that evidence was that Trump had received more than millions from Russia. We'll see where this goes tomorrow.

So, that's it for today. 

A U T U M N ... September, 22, 2016

Good morning! It's the start of a new season; one we welcome with open arms in Florida. Sultry summer nights give way to cooler, drier air that make us think of harvest festivals and evening bonfires.

Mark and Lew left at 8 o'clock for the nearby Ocala Forest to set up their hunting stands. Meanwhile, Mz BeeZee snuggled on my lap while Robbie slept in his bed. It's a good life. 

Sue and Wayne are settled in at home again. Here's a look at their camp all closed up for the winter!

That's Chippy's Hollow near the boathouse and K's main cottage up the hill. It's currently a cool 55F there! 

This afternoon, Mark and I went bowling.  Our first game was pretty good, in fact very good for Mark.

Turkey!!! Gobble gobble.  

Good game Marky! Wow a 181. 

A turkey for moi!!! Really? Wowsa!

Na na naaa! Haha, I finally beat Mark's score. (I wouldn't have made this face but I was directed to do it!) LOL. It was lots of fun ... and good exercise!

On the way home, we drove up and down a couple streets looking to see what was for sale for Rod and Shay. Pat and Ken spotted our car and invited us in for a glass of wine. Ken's mom Martha stopped in with her Boston Terrier, Zelda. Between Zelda and their English Springer Spaniel, Sadie, we had a great visit. Of course we got the once over when we got home from Robbie and Beez. 

Randy and Dawn arrived for happy hour and the doggies had their snuggles. We had a wine, and then were off to Ichy Ban for dinner. Yummy. Tomorrow, Dawn works so they were away right after dinner.

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Good morning. It's another bright beautiful day in Central Florida. 

Yesterday, Mark picked up the little boat he and Randy own and brought it home to work on our ailing seawall. (I just saw Mark pass the living room window towing the boat to the backyard!) There's always something going on around here. Ha ha

Today is our ladies group luncheon and Dawn is able to join us as she is off work! Yay. We're going to Guadalajara for our yak fest. 

What an interesting group of women we have! They range in age from 49 to 87 with varied backgrounds. Most, but not all, worked. Some had children, some not. What seems amazing to me is that everyone gets along. Now of course one topic is off limit ... politics! 

Rod and Shay phoned tonight for a chat. They have decided to move to our area by May! Really! We are delighted and amazed! Fantastic. So we are now on the watch for good deals in our area. 

Randy worked on the shower project while Dawn joined the girls at lunch. It was a fun time with much noise and margaritas. (Usually, Dawn's working while Randy's is not.) Ha. The tables were turned today. 

Mark cooked excellent meatloaf for tonight's low carb dinner, along with seared garlic with asparagus spears. It was great. 

Hahaha ... Hilarious!

So we had our evening walk at 6:30 on this last night of summer. It was gorgeous ... no humidity ... slight breeze. I feel autumn's arrival. 

Ta Ta til tomorrow. 

Tuesday, September 20, 2016.

Good morning. It's a rather strange one here as I didn't wake up until 730, and Mark's still asleep at 8:15. We went to bed at 10:30. LOL I guess we needed the sleep! Both doggies were still asleep when I came out to find them at 7:30. Haha. 

Our first task of the day was grocery shopping. No, not too darned exciting, but as you know, it has to be done. LOL. Mark made us a healthy, delicious lunch of tomato & mozzarella slices with a half an avocado. Our low-carb diet suits us! I certainly need blinders on when I go to the grocery store, though. LOL. Egad, The middle aisles are filled with junk food! Ah, the memories. Haha. 

Sue was at the groomers with Julius today, and was there yesterday with Shorty Hotpants. She took some photos of Julius and Shorty which turned out pretty darn cute.

Take 1 ...

Take 2 ... 

Take 3! 

Randy is busy today with professional help tearing out the master bath shower. It is being designed with an open glass look with doors. It'll be great! They've chosen travertine marble tile. Mark and I and the doggies popped in for a visit. (The plumber had just left, so we stayed for happy hour.)

It's bare bones right now! It looks so good with the space opened up! Yes, I know it's hard to imagine, but believe me it's going to be great.  

Tonight, we were watching TV and reading Facebook. This map was on the Canadian site ...

I'm happy to see Manitoba is just that, Manitoba! Enjoy! Ta Ta til tomorrow. 

Diane's Day ... September 19, 2016

It was forecast to be a hot one here, 90F and no breeze. Yucky! It was perfect for fancy shoe shopping at the mall. I accepted our friend Nancy's generous invitation to attend the Lake County Democratic Black Caucas gala on Friday night. (I had a new dress just waiting for such an event.) And, now I have the shoes too. (Mark declined as he's going archery hunting early Saturday.) I'll have fun company as our pals Pat & Ken plus Rose & Jim are coming too. 

After running a few errands, Mark and I went bowling. Our first game was bad. But, our second game was pretty darn good. Mark scored 173 and me 141. Yay! Over the weekend, Breakpoint Alley hosted the Special Olympics. That's why it was so busy when we stopped in on Saturday! Who knew?

Finally at 4:30 I reached Diane to wish her a Happy Birthday. She got her new golf cart last Thursday and is enjoying it! (Speaking of golf carts, Mark and I are in a pic from Giant's camp out last March!)

We had Liz & Dexter on board with us for the day's scavenger hunt. It was a blast! 

Mark cooked us a delicious dinner of curried shrimp with sautéed vegetables!

Aren't I lucky to have a handsome chef!

That's it for today. We had a little rain, snuggle time with the doggies and a couple of walks. Now it's TV time! 

Sunday, September 18, 2016

Good morning world, it's a brand-new day! 

Bonnie and Roger had a great day drinking Belhaven at the Tulsa Scottish festival. 

Damn! I missed a party! LOL. I have great memories of my 2011 Scotfest with Bonnie. It looks like a very good time was had! Yes, I'm jealous! It was laundry and crafts here today for me. 

What would happen if we suddenly had a new candidate for the 2016 presidential election? Have you heard of Watson?

The Watson 2016 Foundation is an independent organization formed for the advocacy of the artificial intelligence known as Watson to run for president of the United States of America. (Really!) It is their belief that Watson's unique capabilities to assess information and make informed and transparent decisions defines it as an ideal candidate for the job responsibilities required by the president. (What? No Orange Orangatan slinging mud at Pantsuit Wonder Woman?) LOL

Who/what is Watson? Watson is a system of computer software processes used for answering questions posed in natural language, initially developed by IBM for the quiz show Jeopardy! Watson compiles information from a variety of sources into multiple terabytes of data used as reference for generating responses. The more information Watson is able to consume, the more information it's decision-making capabilities become. Watson is also capable of accepting information from any resource, allowing the possibility to analyze different perspectives and political agendas on a particular subject. 

So, Watson marks a shift in machine learning in that it was designed to compete against humans using natural language. It must possess both accuracy of answer as well as speed. It must understand a question, use key information elements in the question to analyze an immense wealth of data, and derive the top candidates for answers. This is a task all politicians undergo on a daily basis, including the president, and could be more suitably and efficiently executed by artificial intelligence. (Unfortunately, Watson is not on this year's ballot.) Haha! 

Imagine how wonderful Watson could be assisting doctors with diagnosis of deadly diseases. The University of Tokyo doctors reported that the artificial intelligence diagnosed a 60-year-old woman with a rare form of leukemia that had been incorrectly identified (by doctors) months earlier. The analytical machine took just 10 minutes to compare the patient's genetic changes with a database of 20 million cancer research papers, delivering an accurate diagnosis and leading to proper treatment! Watson also identified another rare form of leukemia in 2nd patient, the University said. 

It'll likely take a long while before Watson and other AI systems are regularly providing advice to hospitals, and it won't be all that useful in situations without readily comparable data. This diagnosis showed just how useful the technology could be in the medical world. Human doctors wouldn't have to spend ages sifting through research to identify an obscure disease! The doctor would just plug in the right data and start the healing process. (Amazing, right?) (I think we're probably a ways off from this, but Watson has proven itself over and over again.) Anyway, it's something to think about on this Sunday morning, well, other than the overnight news ... two bombs in New York and one in New Jersey, and stabbings at a Minnesota mall. >:-( Fortunately, there were no deaths in the Manhattan incident, (29 injured.) In Seaside Park, New Jersey, a Marine Corps charity run was interrupted by an explosion in a trashcan. Fortunately, no one was injured. In Minnesota, seven people were stabbed by a man, dressed in a private security company uniform, before an off-duty officer shot and killed the attacker. (Be aware of your surroundings and stay sharp!)

Mark spent his day trimming our palm trees and tidying the landscape. 

I think that's a lot of debris! He came in totally soaked ... 91 today! The Scotties found it a great day to relax inside with rawhides and ice cubes! Smart dogs!

Sue and Wayne went to Carol & Jack's for dinner tonight. Nice. We hope Jack is feeling better after a recent MRI. Fingers crossed. 

Ray Donovan is on Telly tonight. If you haven't seen it, it's rather a family documentary like the Sopranos. That's it for tonight. 

Mexican Dominoes ... September 17, 2016

Good morning. It's a cloudy start which may be a good thing as we're forecast to reach 88 late in the day. With our chores done yesterday, it's a relaxing start to our day.

The Atkins diet is working! In approximately five weeks, Mark lost 12 pounds and I lost 6 pounds. The best thing is, however, we are not suffering whatsoever. No hunger pains and no cravings! 

Randy and Dawn are coming over later for happy hour and after happy hour, to Stavros for dinner. After that, it's Mexican dominoes night! Yay! That's always a fun event. 

Mark and I decided to burn a calorie bowling today. Once we saw Break Point's parking lot we remembered the big tournament on this weekend. Wha-wa. So, being ever flexible, we headed to ABC liquor for a fresh supply of Black & White Scotch and Crown. It's a lovely store; nearly as good as the shop in Oklahoma City! Wow, that's a huge shop.

Then, Mark tried the new car wash that Lew used. Well, it must be very good as there were 25 cars lined up waiting! We'll come back during the week; Tuesday is $3 day. 

Randy and Dawn arrived at 5 to much dog excitement! OMG ... what fun. I found a calorie free Margarita mix at ABC so made them Margaritas in my new blender! Both enjoyed the drinks so we sent them home with the mix. It's amazing the sugar free things available when you really look. 

Stavros was lined up out the door tonight as a big RV rally was staying at Southern Palms nearby. We waited 15 minutes for a table, but it was worth it. We all ordered Greek salads and Chicken Parmesan! About 7:30 we headed home for our Domino night. 

BeeZee and Robbie had chairs at the game table and got plenty of attention. 

As you can see, it was a hoot. Mark was the eventual winner by a mere 10 points. LOL. Dawn was the most entertaining tonight with plenty of hilarious comments.

Well that was our silly day. Ta Ta.