Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Good morning. It was 40° when I awoke after a crazy sleep. Fortunately, it's quickly warming to 70° by noon. That's more like it; and tomorrow it's back to normal with a high of 76. 

I see Rocky is sleeping in our Bougainvillea outside the living room window. Poor guy is all fluffed up keeping warm. It's time to feed him meal 🐛 and get the bird seed out for our cardinals. What a life! Our squirrels (4) are happily living in the oak tree out back as it's full of acorns! Yep, we're nuts! 😂

Sue and I had a good old gab this morning and she sent me something interesting about pets in Alaska. 

 

Pets are gaining rights; soon support will have to be a shared expense. 😛

Sue wondered how Randy had fared with onions in his socks for the cold. When we spoke with him yesterday, he sounded quite a bit better. The report was that there were only a couple of little shreds of onion left in his socks when he woke up the next morning. Now, Sue wonders if he may have eaten them during the night as we know he suffers from "night eating syndrome." LOL. Regardless, do not eat any onion soup at the "Staggerman's" this week. 😅

I talked to Jim G today and am happy to hear he's doing very well with his knee replacement. (That's a rough surgery/recovery!) Jim has a new therapist who he finds is helping a lot. Nice he got to the lake last weekend. (We're looking forward to visiting this summer.) 

Mark puttered about and cleaned Da Mounty, even vacuuming it. (No need to worry Randy, Mark loves his hunting truck!) Touch up paint was applied carefully and scratches covered! 

It was dusting and laundry day for me. No, it wasn't very exciting but it had to be done. We are having a gathering on Saturday night to play Mexican dominoes and drink some wine. There will be seven of us ... and Ken will be a domino beginner. Laughs are guaranteed. 

Robbie and Bee pestered me til they got rawhides tonight. (I guess it's like people relaxing with a movie or a good book.) Darn, those good quality ones are $2.50 each x 2 for a couple hour's chewing. Ka-Ching! But, we have to buy the good quality ones ... 8" Retriever rolls ... 

 

These are the ONLY rawhide chews we allow our aggressive chewers! (All the other split apart and end up in big gooey chunks.) 

Well, I guess that's it for tonight. Mark has the hockey game on and it looks like a good one! Ta Ta. 

Monday, January 30, 2017

Good morning from COLD Central Florida! It's 48F here with a high of only 62F. It's winter folks! I actually put the heat on as the house was 66° this morning. Brrr ... it's a good thing I have Mz BeeZee on my lap! 

Speaking of cold, President Trump's travel ban has sparked chaos and outrage nationwide! Oh boy! DJT said "this is working out very nicely." 😳

 

What the heck is going on in Canada? Six dead from a mass shooting in Quebec? The world has gone 🥜 (nuts)!

All four of us went on the drive to Mark's appointment in The Villages. This was appointment number 11, just 10 left to go! I think we will celebrate with a bottle of champagne when Pam and (cousin) Donny are here. Mark feels fine, no side effects whatsoever. The only thing is, the drive! Yuck. Both Pam and Don arrive on February 11th. Donny gets the new inflatable queen bed. (I hope it's comfortable; rated as being excellent.) We shall see. Donny once slept on our fold-out bed in the RV and said it was very comfortable, for a week! Ha! Pam booked first so she gets the guest room.  

We sat outside for happy hour and enjoyed the sunshine, although with light jackets on as it was 62F.

 

After dinner, the puppies got out lots of toys! 

 

We had fun with fetch. Bee fetches, Robbie watches. Oh well, it was a good time. 

Tonight, we are relaxing in with a fire and a glass of wine and some good TV. 

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Good morning! I'm up well before dawn with a fire going and two Scotties on my lap. Life is 😊. Mark's having a sleep in today! 

Well, after breakfast, Mark went to Home Depot for a few more bags of river rock for his seawall project. I decided to watch Fareed Zakaria on CNN and put another log on the fire. This cold front (62)  is supposed to last through tomorrow! 

Hallelujah! Mark found cherry tomato plants at Home Depot! He also bought sweet banana pepper plants. 👍🏻 So, Mark was busy planting a garden where my roses used to grow. Long story, but no more rose plants. 🙄

Last night was possibly the final evening for The Elks club in Pompano Beach. Due to changing dynamics and public attitudes, the club can't make a go of the huge property. Certainly Sue and Wayne have been good members and even hosted several social events there. It's sad for a good facility. 

We phoned Rod & Shay tonight and caught up on their goings on. Shay's mom is now living an assisted living apartment. It's been a difficult transition for all concerned. So, ShayRod have been readying her mom's condo for the market. As we know, memories are stirred up along with the dust and we hope all falls into place. 

So, to end a lovely quiet day at home, I thought you may enjoy this photo of a standardbred horse that was rescued ($200) by Rosemary Farm in the Catskills. This old gentleman, about 20 years and long in the tooth in horse years, was sent to auction destined for slaughter in Canada. More than luck was involved in getting him safely to RF. We wish him many happy retirement years ahead with the 60 other horses. ❤

 

 

Saturday, January 28, 2017

Good morning from sunny, but chilly, Central Florida where it is 45°F. Well, that's outside temperature but inside it's lovely and cozy with logs burning merrily in our fireplace! 

Happy Chinese New Year ... Year of the Rooster 🐔 

 

So we are nearing the end of the first month of our new year. Did you make resolutions? Are you on target? I never make any, so I never feel burdened by "inadequacy." 😎 Awesome, eh? 😂

And, on another note, there are plenty of revolutions ongoing in America this month. DJT has brought out the pink-hatted warriors ... the abortion abolishers ... Lady Liberty weeping for would be immigrants (well, no worries for the 3 countries responsible for 911 terrorists) from 7 OTHER "Muslim" countries. Why are 3 countries excluded? Well, my guess is DJT has business ties in those 3 countries! As if thatisn't despicable enough, DJT is making an easier path for Christians to leave these newly restricted countries! Now these are, at this point, only Executive Orders that need to be ratified by Congress but WTF? 😡

So we may have more worries for planet earth than DJT. NASA identified 2016 WF9 discovered just three weeks ago which is a testament to the vulnerability of our blue planet 🌎 to other unseen astroids. Although the space agency says the object doesn't pose any danger to us, there is another astronomer insisting that NASA is lying to the world. Time will tell. Dr. Dyomin Damir Zakharovich contends that the object is actually a piece of the infamous planet X and that its impact on earth could cause a massive tsunami (if it hits the water) or the complete destruction of a city if it strikes a populated area. (There isn't much time to worry, though, as it is supposed to "pass us" between February 16 and 25th.) So don't worry, be happy. 😁

I began my day with Ancient Aliens 👽 ... and for those interested, Google "Moon Dust" and "Blue Fly" ... Sgt. Clifford Stone's knowledge and ability to uncover these covert operations is credible. Cool. By 1947 the USA knew of 54 "varieties" of ETs. Google it ... fascinating stuff. 

Tonight we're going to "Cool Sax" with Alan Darcy at 1884 with Lynn, Lew, Pat and Ken ... Dinner, Dancing and Shenanigans guaranteed. 🥂

 

What a fun night! 😍

 

Ken modeled Lynn's gorgeous scarf! 😜

 

Lew 'n Lynn ... 

 

Ken, Pat and me. 😛

We were home by 10 o'clock and snuggling with the kids. 

Friday, January 27, 2017

Good morning! It's a cool 64F at sunrise. Mz Bee and I caught up on our snuggle time while I read TIME magazine. 

After breakfast and wrapping more eBay parcels I got into my dining room project. It really should be a simple task. It when the results don't measure up to your own expectations, well you just start over. The grapevines arrived from China and they are dreadfully skimpy. I hung them two days ago and took them down today. NEXT! 😂 So, I decided on an iridescent 10" wide border mesh that will be pinch-pleated in precise places around the room's perimeter. After an hour of measuring and charting my plan I got the big step ladder ready for screwing in the eye hooks. 

Meanwhile, Mark went to his appointment in The Villages, the post office and grocery shopping! 

Speaking of The Villages a school shooting at their charter school was thwarted today! Two teens are in custody. What the hell is wrong with kids now?

So, we thought we were going out to dinner tonight to see Alan Darcy play "Cool Sax" at 1884 in downtown Eustis. 

 

Originally, we knew it was Saturday night but somehow Lynn insisted it was Friday night. Just before we were ready to leave, she noticed a post that Alan was playing in Sanford tonight! So, everyone's home cooking dinner tonight and we're going out tomorrow night. Crazy koo-koo eh?

So, we lit a fire and Mark put a meatloaf in the oven! Robbie and Bee are happy to have us home tonight. 

 

Where's Waldo? 

So, that was our day. We hope your Friday was more exciting! Ha ha. ❤

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Good morning! That crazy mockingbird is tapping at our living room window and looking a me. 🐦 

 

That's Rocky, bottom left. Haha. 

It was game day for me at Nancy's. We played Cards Against Humanity and had a blast. It's a crazy game that's best played with good friends and after several glasses of wine. (NOT kid-family friendly!)

 

Carol and Nancy ... lots of fun! The phone is out to check the meaning of obscure nasty words. Haha. It was so lovely being at Nancy's with windows open to the lake and the breeze coming in. 

Dawn was invited to game day but wasn't feeling well this morning after our dinner at Chili's last night. Randy was nursing his sore knee and taking it easy. (His knee is still swollen from the cruise ship run-in with a woman in a motorized wheelchair.) 

Mark was laid up with a sore back today. Yesterday was one of those times when he did "nothing" but twisted his back! We've all done it! 😳 Nevermind, the Scotties enjoyed their Dad being home and relaxing with them. 💕

RanDawn called at 7 and were quite happy they'd enjoyed an afternoon relaxing on the back deck drinking 🍷🍷 (Good for them!) tomorrow, Dawn is back to work for the weekend. 

Bonnie and Roger are busy ... Bonnie with Tai Chi classes and Roger with extra work-work. Two Scottie shows are coming up so the doggies will need to be prepared. 🐾 But that's the fun stuff for them. 

Tonight, it's relaxing TV time with Robbie (who is feeling great now!) and Mz Bee. 

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Good day, eh? It's a beautiful, sunny afternoon with 78F. Did you know an asteroid passed very near earth last night? Well, yes, that happens but this one was the size of 10 storey building! If it hit us it would have been a blast 35 times the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Scientists didn't know about it til Friday. 😱

Mark went to his daily appointment while I did laundry, vacuuming and packed eBay sales! Yes, it's been a busy day so far. This afternoon, Mark is washing all the vehicles on the driveway! 😎 Everything is dusty after the big winds last Sunday. 

Rocky, the Mockingbird, has adopted us and we've begun feeding him mealy worms. 

 

Why not? We feed the other birds and the squirrels. Rocky, however, flits around the window and taps on it. Haha. It's a regular zoo!

 

While I was getting dressed today I had the bedroom TV on with "Inside Politics on CNN. It was a very good news program. Rather than rehashing news you see repeated all day long, it was more about upcoming stories reporters had gotten snippets of. I enjoyed it and will try and watch it daily for a while. 

Tonight we're meeting RanDawn at Chili's for dinner. 

Well, it's now 830 and we are home from dinner. Of course we had tons of fun and many laughs. Randy's results from his x-rays after injuries sustained on their November cruise shows shoulder damage. 😡 it looks like he may need surgery to recover. 

Tomorrow, is game day at Nancy's. Randy is going to help Mark with whatever around here and Dawn is coming to game day with me. So that's it for our day. I hope you had an excellent day too! ❤

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Haha! Good morning! We BOTH slept well last night and began our day watching ABC's GMA. Can you believe it? DJT is still arguing about losing the popular vote to HRT because "illegals" voted. You friggin' eegit, get on with life. Don't you have more to do? Egad. Trump is thin-skinned!

Mark had another tree stand to retrieve from the forest!  Ha! It must have been a regular man cave! (I can hear Randy saying "glitter palace!")  😂 

We've discovered Robbie's itchy-bitchy problem! He has little rash bumps along his lip line. We're onto it now with Hibiclens and keeping the area dry. He's much happier already. Poor guy. Mz Bee was most helpful ... happy-snapping at his face. 🐾

Sorry for the short note today ... it's been a busy odds 'n sods day since I was out shopping and getting a pedi earlier. More tomorrow. 👋

Monday, January 23, 2017

Good morning. You cannot imagine how good I feel today after finishing the white Christmas tree. I muscled it into the storage closet and closed the door. Christmas is finally over at our house. LOL (it's about time, right?" 

Yesterday, I was on a diatribe about Trumpism and missed posting about daily events.

As it was a beautiful morning in South Florida, Wayne and Sue took Shorty Hotpants and Julius for breakfast!

 

It looks a little swankier then when we take ours to Palm Gardens. (Late last night they're area was hit with severe thunderstorms which we had earlier in the evening!) 

Dawn phoned us about 3 o'clock after they had dropped granddaughter Makenna off following an overnight visit. We were delighted to have company and they watched the football games with us while the storms were wailing around us! It was quite the lightning event. A tornado went through downtown Eustis area although we don't think it touched down. Fortunately, the power stayed on, wine was poured and Mark made us turkey soup for dinner. All in all, it was a fine Sunday. 

Over the weekend we had a couple of eBay sales. Not big moneymaker's, but clearing out things we're no longer using! Sort of in with the new and out with the old! Mark took the packages to our local Grand Island post office on his way to therapy today. This afternoon, we are going to Lowe's to pick up bags of rock for the seawall project. I am still waiting for the grapevines to arrive on the slow boat from China! I ordered them December 27th. Believe me, if they were available through an American manufacturer that's where I would've bought them. My dining room remains incomplete without the new grapevines.

Meanwhile in Canada, Avery visited with (her Baba) Darlene and Foxy. It's so nice to see Foxy getting the royal treatment from Avery. 💕

Our doggies are fine today and enjoyed the cooler weather today (70F.) Mark and I did a little raking and picking up of tree debris from the hail yesterday. The Sweet Gum tree dropped a lot of prickly balls! Haha. 

So that's it for today.  Ta Ta. 

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Good morning. It was a bright beautiful sunshiny start to our day, but by 10 o'clock clouded over. Overnight, and Georgia, 11 people were killed with severe tornadoes. That system is forecast to bring Central Florida high winds, rain and severe thunderstorms later today. Mark moved our vehicles to our hidey-hole across the street for protection from hail. 

There was another storm overnight! 😂 Trumpism was rampant ... the new press secretary lambasted the press for showing "fake news" photos of the crowd at Friday's inauguration. Then the Trumpet took to Twitter ... SAD. (One would think the new administration could better channel their power into something other than indignation. Crowds weren't at your inauguration because your popularity is at an all time low for ANY new POTUS. (Very SAD indeed.) But hey, you've attacked and insulted your way to the White House. You have reaped what you have sown. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We the People must be the sand in his gears for the next four years! 

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Good morning! Wow! We all slept through the night. (That's rare!) It's an absolutely gorgeous front door open day!

 

"Big Daddy" squirrel was standing up showing his jewels to the Scotties. Aren't they well behaved to quietly watch! ❤ Then we have a crazy Mockingbird that flits around a window, behind the Bougainvillea. 

 

Mark decided to work on the seawall today! What a great guy. After lunch we checked on the women's march ... 500,000 in Washington alone! Wow!

 

There are more than 600 marches worldwide today! We're well represented with our friend Nancy, below, right. 

 

Well, it's a TV night for us ahead of wild storms that will move in to our area tomorrow! Ta Ta. Stay safe. 

Friday, January 20, 2017

Well, I'm not going to say good morning because today is the inauguration of our 45th president, Donald J. Trump and I'm not feeling the love. 👹 I sincerely hope that I am wrong and that he proves to be a decent president.

Well, last night was loads of fun and today is loads of laundry and ironing. Ha ha. Everyone was impressed with the tablesetting and Mark's cooking was great. (I did peel the potatoes, made the gravy, put the french fries in the oven and heated the buns.) What a big help, eh? Now you might be wondering why I would mention that, but I have several friends who say I don't do anything in the kitchen. WRONG! 😂 (Just in case you didn't get the humor, that was a Trumpism "WRONG!")

 

Our friend Nancy is on her way to Washington for the March! Yay!!! (Her sign ... I HAVE A BRANDING IRON WITH 666 ON IT FOR YOU MR. TRUMP)

 

Aunt Jane's daughter-in-law posted this one! Yikes, he's not even popular with his supporters. 

Mark just left for his appointment, and I am doing the laundry and ironing. It's going to be a little cooler today with only 75° as a high. If he is in the mood, he says he is going to work on the seawall project. Me? I am going to avoid watching the inauguration and have a date with Ancient Aliens 👽! The ratings will show that our TV is on, but that we are not watching the inauguration. Yes, it's weak, but that's our protest for today. 

 

We asked Lew's tree trimmer to check our big Sycamore and Sweet Gum trees for strength and safety during high winds. His opinion is that they are fine! Great, that's a good saving of 💵. 

We took the Scotties for a ride to drop off a kitchen table that Mark had restored to our local humane society store. The volunteers were thrilled and put it out front to display immediately. We hope they will make a few dollars toward feeding the animals at their no kill shelter. When we got home Beez grabbed the rawhide and we laughed. 

 

BeeZee with "a cigar." 😂

We're looking forward to having Pam (and Donny) arrive on February 11. (I'm thinking a small PARTAY here for V Day?) 😎💕

Well, it's TV time here now. All the hoopla about Trump is over! Apparently, Mark says the rioting has begun. Oh no! It's time to watch House of Cards, for real. 

 

Ta Ta til tomorrow. 

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Good morning! It was a busy start to my day peeling potatoes, making gravy and prepping for tonight's dinner party. Mark had his appointment in The Villages and came home surprised to see so much already accomplished. Our guests are Pat and Ken ... Nancy ... Lew & Lynn. (Lynn's enjoying being retired and wanted to bake an apple pie for dessert.) Nice, eh!

Sue let us know that Jack (in hospital after heart surgery) was sitting up eating lunch and watching TV today. That's terrific news! We suspect Jack will be jitterbugging in no time. 👍🏻

Our pal Jim wishes he was recovering from his knee replacement in Florida. It's difficult and dangerous to go out in Winnipeg with the ice and cold weather.

Everyone arrived about five o'clock and the PARTAY began. 

 

Me, Lynn & Lew

 

Pat, Julie & Lynn

 

Ken, Nancy, Pat, Julie, Lynn & Lew ... (Mark's selfie!)

We had a great time and enjoyed our roast beef, mashed potatoes, french fries, carrots, mushrooms and gravy! When is apple pie and ice cream was great! Of course we finished off the evening with Sambuca! 

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Good afternoon. Obviously, the day got away on me. It was our neighborhood ladies luncheon at the Olive Garden. There were 12 yackety yakkers there for a fun time. Not one person had an alcoholic beverage today ... just a bunch of coffee drinkers. Of course I had decaf!

 

Two of "the girls" have English Springer Spaniels at home and I love hearing their stories. I miss my springers, but love our wee feisty Scotties. 

 

Another Scottie family posted their photo shoot and I was reminded of Red Riding Hood ... Grandma, what a big nose you have! 😂

Dawn worked today ... Randy puttered at home and the K's went dancing at the bowling alley's bar. Cool eh!

Tomorrow, we're having a few friends in for roast beef dinner and merriment. This afternoon was tomorrow's party prep for us and rawhide chews for Robbie and BeeZee. 

Our friend Jack had a successful surgery and has several days monitoring in hospital. We wish he and Carol strength for the coming recovery time. We're sure Jack will be dancing and bowling again in record time! 

That's it til tomorrow. 👍🏻

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

In the 'old days' today would be a family get together for dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory in Winnipeg. Linda's birthday was the first such gathering of the year. 

 

Tonight, Dawn invited Mark and me (Robbie and BeeZee too) for supper. Randy is golfing with "the boys" and Dawn's making chicken wings! So here we are, creating new memories and honoring old memories. ❤

We just heard that our friend Jack Czocher is having heart surgery tomorrow morning. Our wishes for a steady surgeon and a quick recovery. 👍🏻 

Today is my cousin Elliot's 21st birthday in Australia! We wish you a wonderful birthday and a terrific year ahead. By the way, Miles created the cake!

 

Nice touch on the candles. 

Dawn's dinner party was great. She had plenty of hors d'oeuvres ... made a huge delicious salad, homemade chicken wings plus cheesy potatoes! 

 

 

Dawn did everything! Randy had just gotten home from golfing when we arrived! 

 

Randy pulled out the good wine, Red Diamond! 

 

Mark had help playing Mexican dominoes with BeeZee picking the tiles. 👍🏻

 

OMG we had such a laugh when the lens fell out of Randy's glasses and onto his arm.  Mark had to ask "Who's your optometrist?" Dawn wanted us all to know that Randy bought glasses those at Dollar Tree. Haha. 

 

Robbie and Beez were ready for a nap after treats and playing humpie with a snake toy. Haha. 

We headed for home at 10 o'clock as Dawn works tomorrow! What a fun evening it was! 

Ta Ta til tomorrow. 

Monday, January 16, 2017

Good morning! We're halfway (+) through the first month of 2017. How's it going? Did you make resolutions on the 1st? 

What a laugh we had in the middle of the night. I awoke to hear an owl ... Ha ha it was Mark hooting like an owl. I poked him and said "what are you doing?" Of course he didn't know what I was talking about. If I hadn't seen him doing it, I wouldn't have believed it. It's a case of the twilight zone around here lately. We had an electric candle light itself on the coffee table 2 nights ago while watching TV. It works by remote control, and the remote was sitting right beside it. Oh boy. 👻 

At 9:45 Mark headed for his appointment in The Villages. Today is his 25th treatment ... a little more than halfway through. As we've said before, the worst part is the drive there and back. He's found a back route with a couple of variations to keep it interesting. 

Me? Well, I unpacked the new Christmas tree and began assembling and fluffing. It's really full and lush! 

 

Next ... wait for the ribbon that's on order before decorating. 🎅🏼

Mark was (allegedly) working on the seawall when I checked on him.  🎣 

 

😎 Haha. (I'm glad to see him fishing, actually!) 

Tonight, Mark cooked chicken wings on the barbecue while we played ring toss and drank wine. Wow, they turned out really good! Dawn phoned to say that she's is cooking dinner tomorrow while Randy is golfing. So, we're invited to dinner! Nice. 🍴

It's mani-pedi time for the Scotties tonight ... they're invited to RanDawn's tomorrow too! ❤