Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Good morning. Yes, it’s a bright beautiful sunshiny day but only in the 60s at the moment. It feels wonderful to have the front door open. After a breakfast of sausages and eggs, Mark has taken Robbie and BeeZee for a morning walk while I tidied the kitchen. 

Last evening, Aurelia called to ask me to watch for something in the garage sale that she and Tony want for their home. You see, they will in Central Florida soon; leaving their home on March 16. Hopefully, they will have good driving weather in their motorhome. I wonder if Robbie might remember Chessie? They met in Oklahoma City in 2011 when Robbie was just a puppster. 

Wee Robbie (6 months) on my lap, Mark with Maggie, Sue with Chessie, Macy and Julius on the carpet, May 2011. 

Twin Fountains RV in Oklahoma City. 

An action shot, well I was in action having set the camera timer. Heeheehee. This was before I became bionic and could scarcely walk with back and knee pain. Sweet hubby Mark was calling me Ebeneezer McGeezer. 🤣

Well Marky had quite the day; the zipper in his favorite “good” shorts had a blow-out. 😮 Next, while getting tables set up for the garage sale ...

OOPSIE ... the big table got a mind of its own and whacked the Dodge’s taillight. Ca-Ching! 🙄 Yup, “no good deed goes unpunished.” 

Well, we enjoyed happy hour on the front porch with the last of our unseasonably high temperatures for February. As the month of February, Central Florida made a record. Tomorrow, we have one more hot day and then back to highs in the 70s. Hey, we’ll take it.

After happy hour on the front porch, BeeZee grabbed Robbie’s special toy ...

it was a. Mexican stand-off! 🤣 The feisty brat just wouldn’t give up E EEE. We had to distract them both to retreive his favorite. The rest of tonight was quiet ... TV and hot tub. 

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Good afternoon y’all. It’s a sunny 74 today, normal for this time of year. I was up at 5:30 sorting and pricing for the BIG garage sale. By the time Mark was awake  at 8:30 I was just finishing up. We hung the pictures, I cleaned the house while Mark went to Randy & Dawn’s to pick up our boat trailer. 

Ha! Someone made a lovely nest in our boat trailer rear light lens. Mark did some polishing and buffing and made it sale ready. 

Of course, we had a nice afternoon cruise on The Caddy with Robs and Bee ... followed by a siesta. 

That was our day. 

Monday, February 26, 2018

Good afternoon 🌞 and 84F. 

I began the 2nd coat of paint on the living room by cutting in  ... 9:15 to 2:30! Sweet. Mark went to Home Depot for another gallon of Behr paint, ‘song of summer’ yellow. I love it, it looks great. Now, we are back to hanging pictures and foo fa rah. 

The doggies are happy to see things getting back to normal, somewhat. Tomorrow, we will finish hanging the pictures and then begin sorting things out for the garage sale. It’s a busy week here that we just have to get through. 

I had an email from Lynne S ... we sure missed seeing them this winter. She’s totally bored and waiting for better weather. 

That’s it. Short n sweet today. 😜

Sunday, February 25, 2018

Good morning. I was up extra early to sort items and haul them to our garage for Thursday’s community sale. Wow ... I’m parting with some treasures!!!

Good afternoon. It’s now 4:15 and we spent our Sunday painting. Mark Spackled nail holes while I cut in around baseboards, ceiling and windows. Ta Daaa! The first coat is now on.

Getting the electrical covers off ... what a muddle!

Cutting in ... hey, looks like I was painting with my ponytail. 😅

I’m pooped! Tomorrow, will get the second coat on and then wait a day before we hang pictures. It still has a greenish below from the sage color underneath. But, with the second coat, it should look like a soft buttery yellow. 

This evening we are meeting Randy, Dawn, Jill and Bob at Stavros for dinner. Yay. 

Saturday, February 24, 2018

Hey there! What’s up? We talked with Roddy and Shay this morning and heard they’re now playing Pickle Ball in their community. Sweet! They’ve also been going to the Saturday morning community breakfast (by golf cart) and to a recent cocktail party! We’re thrilled Roddy and Shay are enjoying their new digs! 👍🏻

Speaking of digs ... I began my morning by taking down the kazillion of pictures from the hallway gallery. (It was dated ... time for a refresh!) After all the picture hooks and nails were out I discovered the spackle was hard as a rock. Drat. So, it was off to Home Depot for more. I also picked up paint samples ... ready to switch things up. Ha! 

RanDawn were scarce today ... too much fun at The Hideaway last night I was told and had been late getting moving today. Tweet tweet 🤪🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷. Bob and Jill are having some Florida fun and sun 🌞. Tomorrow evening, we are all going to Stavros for dinner! 

Rick M called on FaceTime today. It’s always fun to catch up and hear what’s going on in the Kelowna (BC) area. It’s apparently been an incredibly cold winter there reaching 20 below several times! (I always thought it didn’t get below zero there and even that, very seldom.) when we watch the news, so many areas are having unusual weather. We are certainly in a period of climate change. It was 84° here today, in February. That’s 10° warmer than our usual winter day! 

Anyway, I took the dogs for a nice golf cart ride around the neighborhood. Later, we had happy hour on the front porch and they enjoyed a frosty paws treat.

The 3 paint samples are on the wall and I will wait until tomorrow morning to check it out and decide what color wins. One color has a slight edge, as Mark found a gallon and 3/4 in his storage shed., That would save about $100 ... hmmm. 

BEFORE ...

Our huge tapestry that we bought in Mount Dora many years ago has now moved to the dining room wall. Things are being shifted around, just for a change. Hey, I inherited this honestly. 😃 My mom was always switching furniture around and had a blonde coffee table set stored in the basement and dark coffee table set upstairs. As the seasons changed, so did the tables. Furniture was always being dragged from here to there and rooms changed about. There’s a funny story regarding that. One night, dad came home late, tried to get into bed but fell on the floor as mom had changed the bedroom room around. 🤣 Finally, (years later) he insisted he could not sleep with his head to the south so the bedroom stayed primarily the same. Well, sort of. Mom couldn’t resist; a little twist to make things different. I’m the same. We dyed furniture together, rented carpet shampooers to dye carpeting and we were always up to something with paint brushes. It was fun! 

Here’s a sweet picture of The Caddy taken for Rod and Shay to see. The kids are totally safe in back with plenty of breeze! 

That’s it for today! Busy busy! Painting begins tomorrow morning! 😅

Friday, February 23, 2018

Well ... it’s laundry day for me then painting the Sunroom ceiling. Yikes. Meanwhile, Sue read a post on Facebook where someone in North Carolina lost her dog in 2014 and it reappeared in Eustis, Florida. Of course there’s always a twist but Sue asked Randy and Dawn if they could help out for a few days til the owner arrives to pickup the Pitbull. 

Mark thought it was a great day for outdoor projects and fertilized the trees and lawn then tidied the boat and covered it. 

So Tony and Aurelia are coming to Central Florida in March. It’ll be fun to see them ... quite a big RV trip for March. They could run into snow! Sue and Wayne will arrive in their RV ... lots of fun in store!

Randy, Dawn, Bob ‘n Jill are dancing away at The Hideaway tonight with Tommy Dee’s music. (I thought we might make it, as a surprise, but we’re settled in for the evening!)

Sue and Wayne are out dancing too ... at the Lighthouse Point Yacht Club. Nice. Enjoy. 

Fireworks began at 9 and BeeZee began growling at them. Robbie made a few grumbles but quieted down soon. We’ll try to make it downtown for festivities. That’s it for tonight. ✅

Thursday, February 22, 2018

It’s a gorgeous day, perfect for cruise happy hour and dinner on the lake. But first, there are chores to be done. 

It’s also game day at Deenna’s and I shall ride The Caddy over. Ha, I just noticed my T-shirt matches the golf cart! 

Well it was fun with 13 gals playing today; Yahtzee or Rummicube. Deenna had great snacks and a plethora of wines. 

At 4:30 Randy, Dawn, Bob and Jill arrived. Mark was already on board ready to go cruising. The Dora Canal was pretty quiet except for dozens of exotic birds and 1 tiny alligator. We saw an American Bald Eagle swoop down for a fish over Lake Dora! Cool. We also saw a huge stork! Nice. By 6 we arrived at the Fish Camp, docked and headed inside. 

Jill and Dawn at Fish Camp docks. 

Our goofy mirror photo. 😂

That’s a bit better! Dinner was good ... 

The ride back home was pretty choppy as there was a 9 mile an hour wind out of the north. It was unusual to have a wind in the evening, but there was. Once home, we had Keylime pie for dessert and watched some Olympics coverage.

We had a great laugh as Randy was teasing Mark about missing his recliner! 🤣. Boy am I in trouble. The black recliner went to Diane and Kris’s fish camp. 

Tonight, Sue and Wayne went to Bella Roma with friends Pat and Derek. We haven’t seen them in quite sometime! Well, that’s it for tonight. Tata

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Good morning. It’s a bright beautiful sunshiny day here in Central Florida. Mark left at 8 AM to go hiking in the Ocala forest. He loves to get one with nature. Me? Well, I fed the Scotty’s, check them out and got myself ready for today’s neighborhood luncheon. We are going to the new Bay Street brewery for lunch. I looked the menu over and decided on a Cobb salad.

Both Mark and I needed a day off from working around the house after yesterday‘s challenge.

When I got home from the luncheon, Lew and Mark were sitting on the front porch drinking wine. Ha ha ha. I loaded up the doggies and took them for a nice ride on The Caddy. It’s a gorgeous day.

There were 18 women at our luncheon and another large community group that had come in on a pontoon boat. Between that and the regular patrons, we overwhelmed the kitchen trying to get 40 orders out at once. I had a Cobb salad which was very good, not as large as the one I get Crazy Gators, but very good. Some of the orders came out late, as is to be expected in a fairly new place with a sudden heavy demand. All in all, it was very good and the price is fair. My Cobb salad was $9.50. 

This evening, we are meeting Randy, Dawn, Jill and Bob at Plaza Guadalajara for dinner. 

We had such a laugh when Jim-Bob knew the words to our Mexican song. 🎶 

Tuesday February 20, 2018

Good morning! It feels like spring with this abundant sunshine and 80’s! I tore the living room apart while “poor Mark” was having his ☕️. 🤪 I’m mostly a morning person I suppose. Robbie and BeeZee went to the front porch to escape the vacuum cleaner. 

Gee ... this is good news, isn’t it? Sweet. My joints feel better today than yesterday. 😅

Tomorrow would have been my Dad’s birthday ... just in the senior bracket. This is some proof that our health has, overall, improved. I remember hearing that the generation after our parents would live 10 years longer than the longest living parent and our children would live 20 years longer. Perhaps 50 is the new 30 like we’ve been hearing for years. I wish you were still here dad but only if healthy. You wouldn’t have liked living otherwise. ❤️ 

Jobs finished and its time for happy hour festivities ... party of 2. Ha! Actually it a PARTAY of 4 as Beez and Robs had frosty paws treats. 💕🐾

We phoned Randy to see what was happening there ... duh, it was happy hour too! Slainte 🍻 

That’s it for today. Our youngish feet are sore after all the cleaning. 

Monday, February 19, 2018

Good morning y’all. We had an appointment with an attorney to begin a hurricane insurance claim. Although the company has paid a few items claimed it denied our shingle roof. So we shall see what happens. 

Mark and I had a few things to look for at Home Depot  and had lunch at good ol’ Burger King. Hey, we didn’t have to do the dishes. 😋

Mark puttered making a proper cover for The Caddy’s Scottie pen. It looks great now! We took a great ride with the kids and looked at a boat trailer for sale; just to see what ours might be valued at. There’s a garage sale in our neighborhood March 1st ... maybe we’ll participate. 

We stopped in the humane society shop today and bought some crystal wine glasses. They’re beautiful ... so I wrapped 24 wine glasses for donation back to the shop. Mark bought a couple of work shirts too. 

That’s it ... a short blog today. Tomorrow we need to begin cleaning and prepping our SunRoom ceiling for painting. 

Sunday, February 18, 2018

Good afternoon 🌞 ... it’s a lovely 78F here in Central Florida. It’s hard to believe that just a month ago we had a frost that killed leaves on the Bougainvillea! We’re pretty sure it will come back, but it looks like the cardinal is wondering what the heck happened!

Actually, I do see one Green-leaf off to the left. 

Donny sent a pic from Newburyport ...

😱 ❄️ He said it’ll be four months before he wear shorts again! 

We headed to Randy’s for 530. Bob came out to help walk the dogs and said they were worried because we were five minutes late. Ha. We were just happy to see they were already home from the Hideaway. 😅 Brittany was picking up Maryland fried chicken for dinner while Randy made a salad. It was delicious, very crunchy chicken! 😋 We had a lot of laughs with everyone, especially Bob and Jill. Before we knew it, it was 11 o’clock and time to head for home. Robbie and BeeZee were with us and had a nice time with the kids, Charlotte and Makenna. We sat on the porch until 10 o’clock!

Saturday, February 17, 2018

Pam was up and on her way to the Orlando airport via Uber at 6 a.m. Donny will luck out with a ride to the airport at noon. We’ve had a great time with them here! There were still things on our agenda ... Salt Springs ... Gypsy Vanner horse show ... winery ... The Villages ... Hideaway (etc); so it’s a date same time next year. 😃

It was another foggy start here but disappeared by 8:30 ... front door’s still open. 🌴 

Mark left at noon to take Donnie to the Orlando airport. I decided to stay back and start some laundry and walk the dogs. Randy and Dawn phoned around 1 o’clock and we’re just leaving Matlacha. They’d had a wonderful time and stayed in a cool place. Dawn bought a purse to match her watch ... 

Super cute! 

Pam sent this picture as the plane was coming in to land in Minneapolis. Yikes 😱 ... cold and ❄️ snow! 

Donny texted at 5:30 that he was off the plane ✈️ ... same time next year. ✅

It was a quiet evening here ... tomorrow we’re off to RanDawn’s for a chicken dinner! 

Friday, February 16, 2018

Good morning y’all. It’s a beautiful start to our Friday for boating to Hurricane’s for lunch with family. 

Donna, (Carol), Frank, Mark, Doug, Mary, Pam and me at Hurricane’s for lunch. Good food ... good times! 🍻

Donny, Carol & Frank ... Mary, Doug & Pam. Cruised Lake Eustis, Dead River, Dora Canal and Lake Dora. It was a perfect 84F. 🌞

Pam and Donny ... they’re flying home tomorrow so soaking up the rays today. 😍

Selfies on a bright day. ✅

Note my sun sleeves ... great gift from the K’s! They slip off easily when you don’t need them. 

Pam leaves early tomorrow so will take Uber (she hopes) and Mark will drive Donny to the airport later. What a fun time we’ve had with them here! 

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Good morning. I was awake at 5 o’clock, decided it was time to clean the kitchen and disassemble the dining room table decor. By the time everyone was up around 8 o’clock, the place was mostly back to normal. I thought we might go to breakfast at the Mason Jar ... but Mark thought going to the flea market would be more fun. (I had forgotten it was Thursday, flea market day.) Anyway, Pam, Donny and Mark went while I put Light Relief on my back. 

Orchids and roses for Valentine’s! ❤️

This afternoon, we took a ride to Mount Dora for a craft beer at the Rocking Rabbit. Mark wanted me to GPS the location, but I knew where it was. Ha ha. We ended up at another brewery for a beer before finding the Rocking Rabbit. 🙄

Great beer! 🍻 afterward, we took the drive along Lakeshore by Lake Dora, then over to Eustis’s new brewery. It’s quite upscale, beautifully decorated. We had a beer there before heading for home to feed the doggies.

On the way home, we saw a pipe and cigar shop which Donny wanted to stop in. 

Oh boy Pam! Hahahahaha ... it sold more than cigars! 

Donny! Heeheehee. That’s a big spleef. 

Mark got a bonfire going and we all sat out till 10 o’clock. This picture is of Cheech and Chong. 😂

Tomorrow, we have Mary and Doug coming from Bokeelia for a visit. We plan to go on the boat to Hurricane’s for lunch. 

Randy and Dawn have taken Bob and Jill to Matlacha for a couple nights visit. 

Wednesday February 14, 2018

Happy Valentine’s Day ... it’s a fabulous dinner party here tonight. 

We had an awesome dinner PARTAY 

Happy happy Valentine’s Day. 

Happy Hour!

Bob, Jill, Randy and Dawn arrived with valentine’s presents ... a miniature rose plant and a cute bag of decor! Fun! 

After dinner, we played a fun game of left, right, center with everyone putting a five dollar scratch off lottery ticket in the pot. After a few rounds, Randy won four tickets and Mark won four tickets. They weren’t great investments, $40 worth of tickets only brought in a $20 prize for Randy. Mark, zero. Ha ha. It was a blast. We had lots of laughs. By the way, that’s Robbie wearing the cute glasses!

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Good morning! It was another front door open morning. After breakfast, Donny went to aunt Jane’s to help with gardening and to visit. Nice guy. Pam and I are going to game day at Lynn’s while Mark preps food for our Valentine’s dinner tomorrow. 

Gorgeous 8.5 lb. prime rib roast ready for cooking tomorrow. 😋

Well it was a fun game day. Lynn had a scavenger hunt ready for us followed by a Bingo game. Carol C made fun of “old” people who play Bingo ... but then wished she’d paid attention since she would have otherwise won. 😂

Ha! We had a blast. Half the group played Mexican Dominoes and the rest played Balderdash. 

Donny planned to stay at Jane’s tonight ... we three went to Stavros for dinner and shared a cheesecake afterward. 

Monday, February 12, 2018

Haha! It was a crazy day. We began with a boat cruise down the Haines Creek ...

Then, afternoon siestas ... followed by Mexican Dominoes with Pam, Donny, Randy, Dawn, Mark and I. We ate pizzas and had a blast. 

Dawn was ready to go at 9:30 ... finally left at 11:33 ... too much fun. 

Sunday, February 11, 2018

Breakfast was underway when I emerged at 8:45  Afterward Mark drove Donny to Jane’s for the day while I fed the Scotties. BeeZee has developed the strangest eating pattern. I create their breakfast, or dinner, put Robbie’s in front of him and he begins to eat right away. I put BZ‘s food in front of her and she looks at it like it’s poison! She waits until Robs has finished his and attempt to eat her food. Then she blocks him and begins to eat. Is this a Scottie girl trick? It’s only started in the last few weeks. ???

Pam and I watched a Property Brothers TV show while Mark was at Home Depot shopping. We had a good laugh as Pam says she would be in bed in a fetal position if her home was being renovated like that. Me? Oh I’d be in there with a sledge hammer knocking out walls. Everyone knows I love to redecorate and renovate. (Fortunately, Mark has fun renovating too!) 

Right now, Lew is helping Mark assemble the golf cart seat. It looks fabulous! 

Nice job fellows. ✅

RanDawn came to visit after work. Mark had chicken thighs on the smoker so we all had a light dinner. Afterward we went to aunt Jane’s for a visit. 

Donny, Kathy, Pam, Mark and moi. As you can see, we had lots of laughs.

Rick, Mark and Donny ... there was a lot of wine consumed, lots of laughs. Aunt Jane was enjoying having everyone around.

Rick was having too much fun ... we blamed him for the empty wine bottles.🤣

Saturday, February 10, 2018

Good morning from sunny Central Florida. It’s going to 85° today, yippee yahoo! Pam and Donnie will be happy for the sunshine and heat. 

What did you think of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in PyeongChang? We were a little bored until the drones took over the show. That was amazing. High tech. 

Happy birthday to our dear friend Ruth in Canada. We hope it’s a wonderful day full of fun. 🎂🥂🍾

February 10 is a busy birthday day. It’s also Pam‘s son Daniel‘s birthday. 

I sent a message to Darlene knowing that she would be thinking of Gregg today, on his birthday.

We left for the airport at 10:15, fueled up. Donny has already arrived at the airport and will make his way over to Pam’s gate. 

Yup, it’s a lovely afternoon. ✅

Back home after the easiest airport pickup ever, Mark and Donny started putting the seat covers on The Caddy. (A 10 minute job) 🤣

Pam and I took a cruise around the hood after part of the seat was done. Fun. It’s a gorgeous afternoon. We had drinks on the front porch and had some laughs. At 5:30 we headed to Crazy Gator for dinner. (Thanks Pam!) 

Back home we watched the Olympic coverage ...

Robs with Donny.