Thursday, May 31, 2018

Good afternoon. Have I mentioned lately how well we are sleeping on our new mattress? I’m still amazed. Anyway, I was up at 7:30 and watched a show called “Good Bones.” It’s slightly more realistic than “Property Brothers” and Chip/Joanna Gaines’ show. For one thing, ‘good bones’ takes properties in very rundown condition within walking distance to the downtown shops and rebuilds them. This show is not about updating reasonable homes to currents design trends! And the “good bones” properties are often bought for $20,000. The other thing is you see a crew working alongside the show hosts, two women. Nobody can do these massive renovations in a matter of a few weeks. And, being a former realtor, sweat equity is a very good thing. TV “reality” has new buyers paying $100,000 and much more to designers and trades people to update often perfectly decent homes. But, it’s feel-good TV, and I do enjoy watching. 😊 But hey, reuse where possible, donate and recycle ♻️! 

So most of my morning was spent on the telephone trying to get an eye doctor’s bill corrected to our insurance company statement. In other words, we were overbilled. Three different folks tried ... but it’ll take 2 weeks for an answer from insurance. Whatever. 

Mark spent several hours working at the project house. 

More drywall was removed from the kitchen ... it’ll be an open concept. 

A bedroom wall is also coming down to enlarge the master suite. Bit by bit ... Marky-Mark will be arriving to work on the project in July for a week! Hopefully Lani will be here too. 

Randy and Dawn had a great time at the dinner show last night. The food was good ... prime rib for Dawn, Cornish game hen for Randy. Dawn’s working this weekend but we’ll plan to see them Sunday night. 

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Good afternoon! It’s been raining on and off so we’re going to do a shopping run just to get out for awhile. Mark dropped me at Walgreens and went onto WinnDixie for a few grocery bits. We’ve invited Karen and Pete for happy hour Friday and wanted some brie and crackers. Walgreens had some wine on sale but it’s all standing tall ... and there’s a possibility of spoilage. Nasty. 

We’ve been very fortunate here in Central Florida with all the rain. No problem! Many other regions have had massive flooding from south Florida to Michigan including North Carolina and Maryland. Tropical storm Alberto was a soppy one. By 3 o’clock our rain was finished and we took the kids for a ride on The Caddy. It was nice and cool cruising along! 

Tonight RanDawn are with friend Dan at a theatre dinner in Orlando. I hope they’re having a good time. (We went once years ago and it was sort of fun.)

Sue and Wayne have moved into their cottage now ... and are off to Rose’s for dinner. Nice!

It’s a rainy day in many places! Lake Michigan is getting its first ever tropical system ...

We had a nice walk with the doggies, at least as far as my rusty body could go. Now a little Sunshine would be helpful. 😜

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Good morning ... we’re back to sunshine and the front door open! Our forecast is for 86F later. 

Mark was off to the dump with a load of tree debris from Marky-Mark’s property. Me? I painted the cement pelican that had been found at the bottom of his pool! It was pretty dirty looking, so I scrubbed it with a wire brush, sanded and primed it with Kilz ... then painted it with acrylic based on a Florida brown pelican’s coloring. 

Our dogs are still pretty tired after having an afternoon running around the pool and a swim lesson. I found another style of life preserver for them that may work better than a vest which gets too hot for them to wear continuously. Here it is ...

Great product! They come in all sizes for dogs up to 200 pounds! BeeZee and Robbie will have them for their next swim!

So we’ve been juggling pool water readings on Marky-Mark’s pool. Scott suggested we take a water sample to a pool service store and then found a Pinch-a-Penny in nearby Mt. Dora for us! Sweet. Mark and I took a drive and had the water tested. Who knew ... we needed to add a gallon of muriatic acid and follow up an hour later with 2 bags of pool shock. (It’s a 25,500 gallon pool!) In 4 days they will retest the water for free. 👍🏻 

Diane phoned when she and Kris were in the area. They’d bought bait and were on the way back to Georgia Boys. Too bad we missed seeing them but we had a good gab. 

Friday night we’ve invited (RV club friends) over for wine and cheese then to Crazy Gators for fish fry. They’re really nice people; happy to get to know them better. 

Rummy began at 7:30 ... and what a duel. 🤨 I was ahead 5 to 95 when we extended the game to 150. A few drinks, some singing along to the oldies 😝 and I think I eventually won. Ha! Mark was just happy for the game to be over so he could watch TV.  😂

There was a revelation during the game! Mark poured me a DSO halfway through and the fizzy aroma was like, wait for it ... Christmas 🎄 morning! Why? The first thing we girls ate Christmas Day was the tangerine 🍊 orange stuffed in the toe of our stocking! Finally, the addiction puzzle is solved! Ahhh, the aroma of orange. 😋

Now it’s time for Deadliest Catch and Below Deck ... Ta Ta TIL tomorrow. 

Monday, May 28, 2018

Good morning sunshine! Mark has the bacon sizzling while we watch GMA. Our plans for today ... spending some time at L & L’s pool with our Scotties. It’s swim lesson refresher for BeeZee and Robbie. 

WELL ... they ARE NOT swimmers! 😱 Mz BeeZee was able to bob and swim a yard before sinking. Not good!  Robbie swims about 2 feet, puffing and grunting before sinking. The next lesson will be with swim vests! Oh boy, they need extra lessons. 😍

Mark and I had a great afternoon floating around in the pool and teasing the dogs. BeeZee loves being splashed! She’s bounds about the edge of the pool! Robs was fun too! It was a good afternoon. 

Well, back home after having some water and a bag of popcorn each, I couldn’t find my phone, nor my glasses. Mark phoned my telephone and it was right beside where I was sitting. OMG, what a day! 🤣

Sue and Wayne arrived in Kenora  about 5 o’clock and will stay at Anicinabe tonight. 👍🏻 We are very happy they arrived safely in Canada. 

Sunday, May 27, 2018

Good afternoon y’all. It’s the long Memorial Day weekend here in the USA 🇺🇸 and we have NO PLANS, by choice. 

Sunday’s been chiseled away puttering with this and that and adjusting Marky-Mark’s pool water. Yup, it’s wet. 😂 Robs and Beez like wandering around the pool and will get their swimmies on soon. So far they’ve stood on the steps and got their bellies cooled down. (Don’t worry, we’re with them Bonnie!) ☺️

RanDawn were at (another) fantastic wedding last night and just phoned at 4:30 (still in their jammers.) 🤔 Hmmm, what’s up Randy? 😅

Sue and Wayne are arriving at KOA Cloquet after a day’s drive where it’s 87F. (It’s near Duluth.) 

We veg’d out and watched HISTORY channel 2 hour coverage of Seal Team 6. It’s my favorite TV channel. After a pizza for dinner we watched American Sniper ... a well-done movie. 

Weatherwise, it’s been nice here today. We watched the evening news and were shocked to see the flooding  around our country this weekend. 

Saturday May 26, 2018

Good morning ☀️ sunshine! It’s time to make the old dwarf crepe myrtle go bye-bye and plant a gorgeous grafted Gardenia and 2 Pinwheel Jasmines in its place. This location is directly in front of my living room window and near enough to the front porch for fragrance. 

The middle pic shows the old crepe myrtle; it just wouldn’t take; 10 years old. 

Gardenia on left ... Jasmine on the right. 😊

Then, the huge Bougainvillea will be hauled out and replaced with triple Fox Tail Palms. They’ll be in front of the side living room window. Sweet.

The old Bougie was hit by a hard frost last January, the first in 15 years. It did crazy growth after that, but no blooms! Mark was just tired of pruning the thorny thing. 😕

Mark hauling the triple Foxtails to the site ... and on the left, er ... right? it’s planted. 😍 

While all this landscaping was happening, I did my plants with Tiger Bloom, laundry, vacuuming and dusting. After that, I took the Scotties for their ride on The Caddy. It’s been a gorgeous day at 84F ... and we’ve enjoyed it. 

Sue and Wayne are in Wisconsin Dells where it’s too hot for adventures away from the rig. Tomorrow they’re going to Duluth, and cooler air. 👍🏻 They walked to the casino for dinner tonight. 

After our dinner, we took the doggies to check the pool at Marky-Mark’s. Mark cleaned the filter while I checked the chemicals. All’s well til we get more rain. 

Friday, May 25, 2018

Oh it’s a bright sunny start to our day! Plans for our Friday include planting two beautiful Jasmine bushes to replace our old Bougainvillea. 

After we thought about the new proposed plantings, Mark and I took a drive to the Yard Stop. We decided on a big Gardenia bush and a triple Foxtail palm 🌴 . Our plan is to remove the dwarf crepe myrtle that isn’t doing well and replace it with the big gardenia bush and 2 Jasmine pinwheel bushes. (The fragrance will be nice on the front porch!) 

The big ol’ Bougainvillea (I love it, Mark doesn’t like pruning it) is being hauled out and replaced with the foxtail palms! It’ll look awesome, for sure! 

Michael W shared a joke ...

🤣

Mark’s school friend from Auburn moved nearby a month ago. Tonight Larry came for happy hour then we took him to Fish Camp for a fish fry dinner. (The restaurant was full!) We had a nice dinner and the guys tossed around names of classmates they remembered. Back home we had my Triple Chocolate cake for dessert. It was a fun night. 

Thursday, May 24, 2018

Good morning. We were up and about our chores by 830. It’s going to feel pretty hot today as the humidity is up, complements of 10 days of rain. Never mind, we are all delighted to see the sun shining again.

After breakfast, Mark went across the street to put a tarp over a portion of the roof. More rain is forecast for the weekend, not necessarily our area, but best to be ready.

BeeZee is flapping her head after being at the vet. 🤨 Dr Wilson said they were a bit red but nothing else ... we all thought allergies. Maybe not. Anyway, Mark will look in there and we have Panalog. 

Pat is hosting game day! 🎲 It’ll be a B L A S T ... she’s crazy fun. 

😂 This wasn’t the selfie I took! 🤣

OMG we 8 girls played a crazy game which name escapes me (right now 🤪.) At 5 o’clock we all left for home. Plenty of fun! Nancy invited Mark and me over drinks. We fed the kids then went over. It was more laughs and fun. We all shared “work” stories and talked how things have changed and are changing. 

Well, I see we have a 90% chance of a tropical cyclone developing which could affect our long weekend weather. Well, we don’t have many plans, just to go by boat to Fish Camp tomorrow for dinner with Mark’s school friend Larry. 

Sue and Wayne are staying with friends in Illinois tonight. It’s a huge farm ... nice and quiet. 

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Good (sunny) afternoon. Today was a big day for the doggies. They both went to the vet for routine check ups and ended up both getting a Cytopoint Allergy shot.  It’s just seasonal allergies ... it’s that time of year. So $256 later all is well. They are due for vaccines in December so that will be the next big whack to the budget. 🐾💕

Waiting for Dr. Wilson. 😃

It was a very busy morning at our house catching up on odds and ends of paperwork. Many phone calls were made. 🙄

This afternoon we 4 cruised the ‘hood on The Caddy checking out the 2 new roofs ... Ruthann’s and also Anita’s. We all still holding out hope that Morgan and Morgan will rassle a settlement for us. It was the same storm, same hail and wind! 

Today is Darlene’s birthday! Happy birthday 🎂 and best wishes for a good year! 🎁 

Tonight Tampa Bay Lightning ⚡️needs luck 🍀 against Washington in the Stanley Cup finale! GO BOLTS! ⚡️

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Good morning. Well last night was fun TV with America choosing Maddie Poppe as American Idol. She has such a unique voice ... loved “Landslide” (Fleetwood Mac) ... Maddie has a voice I’ll look forward to hearing more of!

Dancing with the Stars (all athletes in a 4 week challenge) was won by Adam Rippon  ... Olympic gold skater. 

Mark and I were switching between hockey and American Idol ... we have another chance to see Tampa Bay Lightning as they lost last night. The Stanley Cup continues. 

So far it’s been a beautiful day with a lovely breeze. Mark wiped up the golf cart for us and I took the dogs for a long ride. Rain is predicted again in the next few days, so we shall enjoy our sunshine while we can. 

Tonight, Rose and Jim are picking us up to go to Mexico Del Sol in downtown Eustis. Randy and Dawn are meeting us there for 530. She works tomorrow, so this is a wonderful chance to get out with them for date night before she’s back to the drag. 😍

Mark has made a trip to Home Depot today to pick up parts to fix a toilet. It needs a new flush kit, I guess. It’s amazing the things he fixes that saves us money. 😘 

We met downtown for Mexican food which was delicious. I had a chimichanga totally stuffed full of shredded beef. 😋Mark enjoyed a pulled pork fajita which filled him up! Everyone ate well and drinks were 2 for 1. Olé. 

The Ks safely arrived at a beautiful looking RV park ...

so they’re spending the night in Indiana. 👍🏻 

Tomorrow the doggies are going to the vet for their annual checkups ... it’ll be a pricey visit. 🐾💕🐾💕

That was our day ... and not 1 drop of rain! 😎

Monday, May 21, 2018

Good morning. Yes, we have more rain in our forecast today. This is quite the weather pattern we are socked under. Mark is walking the dogs and then plans to take a load to the dump. For fun today I thought we would take the dogs and drive to Clermont to check out where our annual RV rally will take place this year.

Rick M sent us an interesting story from WW2 which I’d like to share as it was written. 

Sunday, May 20, 2018

Good day eh! We both continue to sleep well on our Zinus mattress. (I’m amazed being that one of us was usually up during the night watching TV before we switched.) 💤👍🏻

Sue and Wayne arrived in Nashville last night (483 miles driven) and met up with friends at a nice lakefront RV park on I-40. It was hot when they arrived. Plans are to stay there tonight too. 

Randy and Dawn were at a Hideaway friend’s wedding yesterday. We were happy to hear Randy was feeling much better after a week of being under the weather. It was bad. Tonight we’re going to Stavros with them and will catchup on news. 

Karen and Pete, friends from GRW’s VIP club have  moved to Eustis. They’re driving to Lakeland today on business. We asked them to meet us at Stavros if they’re back by 6. They haven’t been to Stavros yet! If they come they also know Randy and Dawn from a campout with us last January. (I am sure glad we’re not RVing this week as it has been weather strictly for duckies!)

Mark worked a few hours across the street and took down another piece of nasty fence. 👍🏻 It’s looking better every day. By the way, it seems the kitchen cabinets may have been holding up part of the ceiling. Ha ha. 

To good thing Mark was not under it when this happened. He says he may have pooped his pants. 💩 

Randy and Dawn arrived about 530 for happy hour. At 6:30 we went to Stavros for dinner. We had just ordered when Pete and Karen arrived! We had so much fun ... they are staying at Southern Pawn’s right near us until their home is built. We’ll definitely see them again. 

Back home now, it’s time for American Idol final.

Saturday, May 19, 2018

Hahaha ... good early morning! So, I’ve been excited to watch the royal wedding of Britain’s Prince Harry to American divorcee Meghan Markle. 

Mark and I were sound asleep when the power went out. He poked me awake saying “Hey! The power just went out!”  I looked at my bedside clock ... 5 a.m. The power abruptly came back on and I got up to reset the bedroom’s (extra) A/C. 

I decided to get up and watch the royal wedding, it being 5 AM! Perfect, that’s exactly when coverage starts. But, imagine my surprise when I came into the living room, turned on the TV and “who wants to be a millionaire” was on and not the royal wedding! I ran to the bedroom to tell Mark the DVR failed to start at 5 AM as HE had programmed. Oh my, the indignation. 😜

After poking around with TV guide etc. I noticed the TV was insisting it was 2:05 AM and not 5:05 AM as I had read on my bedside clock. Hmmm ... what was going on? 

I had to laugh, one of those good belly laughs; ran back to the bedroom and said to Mark, “you know how we changed the battery in your bedside clock a few days ago but didn’t change them in my clock? It’s only 2 AM. Since I took my morning medications already I was up for the day, a long day! 🤣

So ... here I sit in front of the Telly ... a “veddy early berd” ... waiting, rather like the Brits lined up along the procession route! 😂 👑 

Maybe you’re all wondering why I would give a darn about a royal wedding? Well, ask that to the millions around the world waiting to watch. My fascination began July 29, 1981 when I watched Lady Diana Spencer marry Prince Charles. It was a fairy-tale wedding with an evil twist as things turned out. However, the marriage produced two boys, “an heir and a spare” as the tabloids of the day printed. 

Diana and Charles on their big day ... and her big fairytale wedding dress with 10,000 pearls!

As it turned out, I gave up waiting about 330 and went to bed. So, Mark and I sat and watched the entire procession together at 8 o’clock. Lovely. 

It was amazing to think of the security involved in a gathering of this sort! Well done! 👍🏻

It’s been a busy day here. Mark worked a few hours for Marky-Mark cleaning the pool filter and removing kitchen cabinets. 

Portion of wall between kitchen and living room will be opened up. 

Kitchen with cabinets gone! Pretty ugly right now. 😝

The kitchen sink is still hooked up. 

Having fun! 

Happy hour was enjoyed on the front porch with a misty rain falling. Now it’s time to watch hockey! Go lightning! 

Friday, May 18, 2018

Good afternoon 😃 It’s happy hour here ahead of a dinner date with Deenna and Eddie. We’re going to Crazy Gator’s for fish fry. 

Sue and Wayne are officially on their way north. Their first fun stop will be Nashville Tennessee. 

It’s been a sunny day here regardless of a rainy forecast. Another horror story unfolded in Texas today with a punk killing 10 students and injuring 10 more. C’mon Americans, we can work miracles when we put our minds to task. Vote for change THIS YEAR. 

There’s fun news, our own American girl Megan Markel marries Prince Harry tomorrow in Great Britain. It’ll be a security nightmare for thousands, but a dazzling display of pomp and circumstance for the rest of us. You go girl! Ms Markel will do us proud. 

Back home, we had a minute to walk the kids before the thunder started and the sky opened up. Wow. That’s torrential! 

In the soup, again. ☔️ speaking of soup, tomorrow we are going to enjoy some soup complements of Lynn, chicken noodle. 😃

Lew and Lynn arrived at their camp about 10 a.m. 

Have fun! Enjoy the grandkids! 💕 We know they’ll be busy getting settled in today, but take it slow. 

Yup, it’s brief today; it’s been a hectic one. Ta ta.

Thursday, May 17, 2018

Bonjour! Mark and I were off to the dentist today for our six month cleaning. Oh what fun. On our way there we stopped at habitat to look for a mirror. I want one for our living room and remembered they had some beautiful mirrors there when I visited in April. Of course all of those were long gone, but I did find a decent one for a very good price. Ha ha ha, can you believe $4.99? After we hang it I will show you a picture. What a bargain. Then we had a few things to buy, just miscellaneous stuff and popped into Dollar Tree to see what they had. Six dollars later we had a bag of goodies. Oh Em Gee we are such bargain shoppers now! 🙄

Mark took a load of carpet to the dump today while I went to Deenna’s to work on my stained glass piece. Randy and Dawn were going to join us for a dinner tonight, but Randy is still not up to par. So, plans are to meet Sunday night and go to Stavros. Meanwhile, Deenna has been most generous working on this stained glass with me so we are going to ask them (Eddie) if they would like to go for supper tomorrow night with us. Hope so. They are both nice company. 

The doggies are rather fed up with the rain, but we continue to enjoy it and are having happy hour on the front porch. Cheers! 🥂

Tomorrow, Sue and Wayne leave for Canada. I think they plan to take about a week to get there. 

So it’s a quiet nite here ... Ta Ta TIL tomorrow. 

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Good morning. Another night of good sleep. This is becoming a new habit. WOWSA.  We had a good time last night meeting with Jane, Diane and Rick.

Lake Eustis in the background ... 

Diane, Jane and her son Rick joined us. 

This afternoon I have our community luncheon at the Ruby Street Grille. More good food and fun! 😎

13 for lunch at Ruby Street. 👍🏻 We were very noisy. 😜

I am certainly calendar dysfunctional. Well at least paper calendars. Ha ha. I tend to write things on them and never look again. The dogs vet appointment is not until next Wednesday! Momma nearly goofed. I just happened to look at the paper calendar today. 🙄

We had happy hour on the front porch while Robs and Bee enjoyed some mixed berry frosty paws. When the thunder started we retreated inside for supper. Life is good. 

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Good morning. Well, we think that Zinus mattress is a winner. This was our third night sleeping on it. We went to bed at 11 and both of us slept right through the night to 830 this morning when the dogs woke us! Wow ... that’s amazing. And, I got up without a backache, and Mark had to pull the sheet over him in the night because he was cold. That never happens as he’s always been too warm at night. What a bargain that mattress is! Thanks to Lew and Lynn for telling us about it and recommending it. 💕 Speaking of Lew and Lynn, they are off to New York today. 

Since a few of you have asked, here is what we ordered on Amazon. We did not order the platform which would have been another $200. We put this Zinus mattress on top of our existing box spring. 

So, we got up to sunshine and a little blue sky this morning. We know we will get some rain later on as the system is blanketing most of Florida. Mark has gone across the street to meet with an air-conditioner man who is giving a quote to Marky-Mark for new equipment. 👍🏻 

I had planned to go to Deenna’s today and work on my stained glass project, but she is not feeling well this morning. So, I have a day off. Yippee Yayo! 😜 Between the rain showers I will take the kids for a nice ride on the Caddy today. By the way, Lew and Lynn gave us some red potatoes and sweet potatoes from their fridge which I cooked up for doggy meals this week. I also made them a batch of vegetables cooked in chicken broth and their tasty frosty paw treats of yogurt, fruit and almond milk. (Don’t worry, they are getting their protein. This week they are having ground turkey!) tomorrow they both go to the vet for a check up and to see how they are doing on the new diet. 

Tonight we’re meeting aunt Jane, Diane & Rick at the Crazy Gator. 

Good food, good times! 

Dawn sent a picture of her weekend in Disney World with Makenna, Charlotte and Hanna. They had so much fun!

4 Princesses at Sleeping Beauty’s castle. 💕