Friday, May 31, 2019

Good morning. Well, we planned to sleep in this morning but our little BZ had different ideas at 7:30. That’s OK, it was time to get up and get things done before the heat of the day moves in. 

We were expecting EUSTIS ROOFING today, but they have been delayed until next Thursday. Drat. We are so looking forward to getting this roof chapter behind us. Mark had plans to work on the RV today, but we will leave that until Wednesday. 

Sue and Wayne arrived in Kenora last night for their summer at the cottage. We wish them a fun time with good Canadian weather. 

Look who came up on My Shutterfly pictures today ...

That’s Miss Rosy Plum, with Bonnie ... Rosy is Robbie’s mama. ❤️

Dinner tonight at Chili’s was good. Dee and Rick from The Villages met Karen, Pete and us. After dinner, we went to see Rocketman at the Epic Theatre. It was very good ... we all enjoyed it. 

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Good morning. We started off at a trot getting things ready at the house for 17 girls coming to game day! It’s forecast to be 97 in Orlando today, so that will translate to about 94-ish for us. All the air-conditioners are cranking ‘cause we’re some hot chicks! 😜

Yesterday, the Certainteed Pro shingles were delivered for our roof! Yes, we are excited about this because we’ve been waiting since the hurricane of September 11, 2017 for a new roof! Once again, thank you to Morgan & Morgan (attorneys) for making this happen!

Our roof was Château Green, before we lost all the granules on it during the hurricane! Now it’s worn down to a nub! We can’t wait to see the new roof.

Awww, summertime is just around the corner ... 

😎 ... I hope we get lots of rain ☔️ 

Well it was a crazy fun game day ... 

I’m ‘da best’ at selfies! 😜

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Good afternoon y’all. It’s been another busy day here. We both were up early ... Mark wanted to beat the heat on his chores list ... and I had a 10:15 doctor appointment to scope my sinuses. (I need a CT scan for an accurate diagnosis plus allergy testing.) 🙄 

We met Randy & Dawn at Tillie’s at 5:30. Oh boy, dinner was great and of course we had lots of laughs. They had shopping to do and then packing for their trip to Nashville. 

Sue and Wayne are at International Falls at the chocolate mousse factory, ready to cross the border in the morning. Mark and I said it was too bad they couldn’t afford a campground, but Sue replied that there were none big enough for them. LOL.

Tomorrow is game day here with about 15 or 16 girls. Mark has a few things to do, including swimming at Lew’s pool. 😜

When we got home from the restaurant, we took the kids for a ride on the Caddy. We ran into Pat who gave us a sip of her amaretto. That’s the kind of neighborhood we have. Ha ha.

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Good afternoon hot 🥵 sunshine 🌞. It’s brutal this afternoon with some relief in sight by the weekend. Because of this sizzler, we cancelled our weekend away. ✅

This morning we parked the RV in its’ port and Mark hung the sun shields. Great. That’s it til later in June. Then the phone rang ... Eustis Roofing was ready to install our new 50 year shingles. Sweet ... but, now we have to pull the RV out by Friday! Hmm 🤔 ... plus I host game day Thursday ... and we have plans for Friday night. Oh well, we’ll make it work. 

Today is cousin Donnie’s birthday! Happy Birthday! ❤️

I had ordered some clothes online ... the maxi dress was MAXI alright ... I lifted the shoulders by 2 inches and sewed up the bodice and added a modesty hunk of lace. It really wasn’t worth what I had paid, but I did really like the print and it would be too expensive to return. So there. Then, the shirt that I had ordered needed a little doctoring too. So, in all, my day was spent sewing. (Thank you to my dear mom for all the sewing lessons in life. She made everything!) 

Sue and Wayne had quite an interesting day. They had a boat to look at in Chicago and, despite being careful, made a wrong turn and got lost. After two calls to 911 and a couple of detours, they eventually got on their way. 😂 When I told Mark of all their problems, he laughed and said he was sure glad that we weren’t following them today! Getting lost in your car is one thing, getting lost with a 45 foot motorhome with a toad is another! 

Randy and Dawn are busy this week getting ready for a big trip to Nashville with their friend Dan in his Mirada motorhome. I suggested that Dawn take her sea bands as I have heard some of the motorhomes give you a rocky ride. They leave Monday, and I hope they have a wonderful trip. We have plans to see them tomorrow night for dinner, as long as Dawn has her packing under control.

Since I hadn’t taken a photo today I decided to randomly scroll through, with my eyes closed, on my iPhone. This is the picture I found. And, it happens to be Donnie‘s birthday. Perfect.

As Donnie would say, “serendipity.” ❤️

MEMORIAL DAY

Thank you to our Veterans...freedom isn’t free. 

This morning, it was 78° when we woke up. Mark packed up the outside of the RV after our fun five day event while I tidied up inside. We were on the road by 1130 and home at 1330. (I think I like the 24 hour clock best, and I’m going to adopt it from here on in.)  It was an easy drive home, even taking a winding road shortcut. Ha ha. Yes, Mark was quite brave as we were towing 42 feet of beast behind us. 😳 During the drive, we listened to Alan Darcy’s CD; very nice original music with lots of 🎷. Well done Al.

We had a nice surprise when we open the mail today ... 

Lynn (and Lew) sent us this neat camping throw blanket! We have some great friends! 

Sunday, May 26, 2019

Good morning! Wow! Whatta PARTAY last night! Alan Darcy was on fire. Our friend J.R. said it best ... 

“You know you’ve found a great entertainer when OLD people are dancing to AC/DC!” Haha, true. Here are a few fun pics I took last night. 

And now onto today ... it’s a pool party and lunch (in the hall due to this heat wave!) 

Meanwhile, Randy and Dawn are celebrating granddaughter MaKenna‘s 10th birthday today with the family. We’re sorry to be missing the get together at the Olive Garden! 

Sue and Wayne met their friends Amy and Raymond and went to Snug Harbor restaurant for dinner tonight.

Nice area! They are close to where Dawn‘s mom lives! 

For us, after the pool party, Karen ordered pizzas and we all ate in the hall. Afterwards, we came home for a while and sat outside with the dogs after it had cooled down. The humidity is so low. 

We’re thinking tonight about our friends in Oklahoma and the horrible weather they’re enduring. Our extra dry weather has something to do with the Gulf’s warm moist air fueling the tornadoes. 😳

Saturday, May 25, 2019

Good morning 🌞 ... it’s going to be a 🥵 98 today here in Winter Haven! (93 at home 😜) Luckily, VIP has use of the A/C hall all weekend! All the games are inside. 😅

This morning is a pool party, and at 1 o’clock a horse race derby party, and at 5 o’clock cocktails, then a hosted dinner at 6 followed by the “Cool Voice and Hot Sax 🎷” of Alan Darcy. We’ll be partying hardy today. 

The derby party was so much fun ... animated horses, “play money” and super prizes to bid on. We won on 2 races and had $350 to spend and silent bid on a few things. I got an aluminum terrarium! Schweeet. 

Derby hats 

Pete, operating the races ...

Yes, his derby hat is a horse 🐴 😂

Friday May 24, 2019

Good evening y’all. We started our Friday with a dip in the pool with Karen and eventually Pete. (He was busy icing down the beer and getting the drinks ready!)

Mark brought out his new BBQ and made us lunch. Karen had some hot dogs and rolls, Mark had brats and potato salad so we made a good meal for the 4 of us! After eating, I helped set up the hall with tablecloths and decor ... lots of helpers, so it was easy-peasy. 

Tonight was potluck at 6 o’clock, so we took our cakes and sour cream over and had drinks before dinner. We sat with a couple, Fran and Pete, who are well traveled. They’re very interesting! After dinner, Karen ran a fundraising bingo for the veterans of central Florida. The last bingo was a pot of $220 ... but no luck for us.

We came home at 9 o’clock to spend a few hours with the dogs before bed. It was a fun day.

Thursday, May 23, 2019

Good afternoon sunshine and 92F. It’s unusually dry for springtime in Central Florida with 37% relative humidity! (All the moisture is feeding storms over the midwest!) 

We had a great sleep last night and both feel good today! Yay! At this campout, 55 rigs from the VIP club  are arriving today and tomorrow! They’re coming in covered in lovebugs if they drove I-95. 😱 

This afternoon, we went to Walmart with Karen & Pete while they picked up supplies for the camp out. Mark and I found a few things we couldn’t live without. Ha ha.

It was actually a beautiful afternoon, hot, but a good wind. At 5:30 we picked up Karen & Pete and went to Harry’s Old Place in Winter Haven for dinner. It sits on a small inland lake and has been there for 50 years. Mark had a fish Reuben sandwich and I had a filet with mushrooms. That was the best filet I’ve had! Everyone enjoyed their meals and had a fun time.

After dinner, Karen joined us on our patio for a drink. Friends Joan and Terry arrived to join the party. Eventually, Pete finished his work and came to join us. We sat out and talked and laughed for a while. At 10:30, the space X rocket launch from Cape Canaveral.

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Good afternoon sunshine 🌞 ... we’ve arrived at Winter Haven for the Memorial Day weekend! Get out  Old Glory and relax! 

Robbie was riding shotgun on I-27. 

It was a 2 hour drive from home, lots of stop and go on 27. The campground is quite nice, nothing really paved, but decent size sites and some trees. We are very close to the pool and might even go in tonight. After all, it is 90° here.

Sue and Wayne are on the road north, dodging storms! They stayed at KOA Forsyth tonight. 

Bonnie and Rogers are in storm ravaged Oklahoma. Although they have some standing water from all the heavy downpours, they are a bit higher than some areas. Their problem is roads washing out! Stay safe ... be careful. 

The red pin over the “A” in Okla is Bonnie and Roger’s. 😱

This evening, we went for dinner with Karen and Pete to a restaurant called Harbourview. We didn’t see any harbor, but there was a nice view of Lake Shipp. It appears to connect to several other lakes as we saw quite a lot of boat traffic. 

Ha! Where’s the view? 

Back at the RV, Mark and I sat outside for a while with the dogs. It’s a beautiful evening with a nice breeze! 

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Good afternoon. Yes, it’s sunny and it is hot today. I’ve been working inside, remaking a few tops for summer. Three done ... three left to do, maybe next week. of course one job leads to another and there were a few things around the house that needed ironing. Believe me the iron does not come out too often. 😜 

Mark puttered around a little this morning, but is still not feeling very well. He decided to try and Advil cold and sinus, but he is still sneezing! 🤧 Me? Still sinus crap ... but feeling okay! 

This afternoon, Mark took Robbie for a recheck on his eye. The medication is working, so now twice a day for the next week. I hope that clears it up for the little guy. 💕🐾. 

Diesel fuel is up ... yeah; always at this time of year, plus our leader is playing cat ‘n mouse with Iran. It’s going to be a pricey summer, but that’s life. At least our truck was only $80 to fuel up today, I’m sure Sue and Wayne’s rig will be $800. 

Mark was tired of cooking, so tonight we went to Stavros for dinner. They’re special tonight was Shrimp Alfredo, Greek salad and Garlic toast. It was all delicious, and we brought home enough for lunch tomorrow! 

After dinner, we heard from Sue and Wayne who had settled down in Ormond Beach for the night. Tomorrow, they will see Diane and Kris in San Mateo before heading north to Canada. 

Mark and I are heading to Winter Garden tomorrow for a camp out. Woohoo ... 🎉 

Monday, May 20, 2019

Good afternoon y’all! It’s a brilliant sunshiny day here in Central Florida. We’re puttering about the house, coughing and hacking but and staying away from everyone else! 😷 Actually, I’m MUCH improved ... but Mark still feels like crap. 🤧 Since humor is the best medicine ... 😅

😂😉

🤩 ✨ 😳

Did you watch the 3 hour finale of American Idol? We were both pleased when Laine won. He was the best all around entertainer. There were other singers with perhaps more range, but overall, LAINE ⭐️ HARDY 

Sunday, May 19, 2019

Yes folks it’s just a picture, but with perfect rainbows from the prism in my front window on a sunny Florida morning. Happy Sunday. 🌈 

Mark had a bad night with coughing and when I woke up found him sleeping in his recliner in front of the TV. Oh boy, I had a few of those nights myself in the last two weeks. My sinus infection continues, but it is definitely clearing up. Plus, I have a an appointment with an ear nose and throat specialist at the end of this month. I think what Mark has is the good ol’ common cold. Achoooo Ahemmm. Poor guy! 😞

Today, we are going to load up the RV for the memorial weekend fun. We are just about out of everything in this house so the shopping list is a mile long. Our grocery store is being revamped, in a major way. It’s really difficult to find things there right now. But, we have a “40 times the points” coupon, so Winn-Dixie it is! Ca-ching. ($301.74 in purchases ... we now have $69.00 Winn-Dixie points!) Sschweeet. 💰 

My big job today was to bake two cakes for the upcoming potluck on Friday night. Rather than bake them in the RV with the forecast in the mid 90s, I baked them today and froze the cakes. I’ll ice them Friday as they thaw! I baked one strawberry cake and one triple chocolate Bundt cake. (At the June campout potluck we take meatloaf, so that will be Mark’s cooking department contribution.) As Mark says, we tagteam the chores!

At 7 we went cruising the hood with the kids on The Caddy. It was lovely with a good breeze off the lake. 

Tonight’s American Idol finale. We’re betting on Alejandro ... but hoping for Laine. We’ll see. 😜

Saturday, May 18, 2019

Good afternoon y’all ... happy Saturday! Mark wasn’t feeling well this morning so we opted to stay home today. (We missed the annual boat cruise to Hurricane’s for lunch.) Mark came down with a cold and I’m still in recovery mode with Sinusitis. We’ve got to be prime for the upcoming Memorial weekend. 

We caught up on family news with Pam and some of it required a glug or two of wine. Our sweet niece Olivia is in the midst of divorce from hubs Derek. It’s sad of course, and surprising, but we’re all here for Liv. We hope to see Olivia move back to North Carolina this summer. She has her dog Echo with her. 🐾💕

🐾💕❤️

This morning I made two types of treats for the Scotties ... Pumpkin & Applesauce cookies plus Peanut Butter & Almond cookies. Robbie hung out near the kitchen while I was baking ... he knew. They had one each of both flavors for their lunch. Tonight, they’re enjoying “chew chew bonies” 🙄 😂. 

Tomorrow, we both hope to be feeling more energetic and get our grocery shopping done for the upcoming weekend. I have two cakes to bake and freeze for a potluck dinner. 

Friday, May 17, 2019

Good evening. It’s been another busy day for us. Mark rolled EPDM on our front porch roof and a smallish section on the Sunroom roof. We’ll see how it cures. Our ol’ pal Timichael always recommended it. 

About 10 o’clock this morning we got a call from giant that our rig was all finished and ready for pick up. Since we had already started a few projects, we continued and left about 130, taking the dogs for a ride with us, to pick it up. Yay! The “punchlist” is complete! It was in there three or four times as often the wrong parts were sent out. However, in good grace, they got it done. 

Lew and Lynn got away on their summer trip at 8 AM. By 930, Lew called with the first thing they had forgotten. Ha ha. Lynn had made herself tea and left it on the counter. Mark went over and found it, dumped it and cleaned up. Yes, it would’ve been a moldy mess by the time they got back. Ha ha. We once lost a coffee cup after one of our big trips and thought it had been tossed in the garbage by accident. However, months later, we found it in the microwave! Not a pretty sight. 

Hey, it’s FRIDAY. Or perhaps FRIED-DAY?  It’s love bug season here in the south and Mark just went out to clean the bugs off that we picked up on our drive home. They’ll ruin the paint on the vehicles if you don’t wash them off quickly. For years, we heard that the University of Florida had “created love bugs” in an experiment gone wrong. However, the truth is that they migrated up here from South America some years ago. They’re harmless, even kind of cute, but they can sure make a mess of vehicle paint finishes. 

I saw this doctor’s prescription for cough medicine on Facebook. It is an actual prescription written up many years ago. When I read it, I recognized it as being Randy‘s grandmother’s recipe. It really works, as Randy can attest to. 

Sue and Wayne had lunch today with Carol & Jack at Piranha Pat’s. (They are still fostering the two cheeky wee monkeys and hoping to find them homes quickly.)

That’s it for today. We’re going to go and check out the repairs done to our rig and turn on the air-conditioning so tomorrow we can load it up for the next adventure!

In the morning, we have to be up and out for a neighborhood ‘boat to lunch’ at Hurricane’s! Ta ta til tomorrow! 

Thursday, May 16, 2019

Good evening. It’s nearly 830 and we’re just getting a chance to start the blog. To say it was a busy day is an understatement. 

We were up very early preparing to take the rig into GIANT for its final repair! The parts are in that we need and we expect it will all be done and ready for our next campout, Memorial weekend. We left home at 7:45 and dropped it off at exactly 9 o’clock, our appointment time. 

Last night, I was up at three in the morning and discovered I had a couple of eBay sales, to the same person. And chatting back-and-forth I got another order. So, part of today was at the post office for shipping. Yay! Sales have been pretty slow lately so that was appreciated. (Mark found a stainless BBQ he’d like for our new rig; so maybe.) 😜

Sue has been keeping us entertained with stories about the two foster dogs. They are both escape artists! One snuck out the door with her for a walk with Julius and the mother dog tangled Wayne up and got away with the leash. I guess they’ve been very used to having quiet dogs! These two little doggies are able to climb over doggy gates, puppy pens and rule the roost. Haha. 

Sue and Wayne are now trying stacked doggy gates in the laundry room! (Reminded me of my Freddie Farkel ... and their first adopted, Anna.) 🐾💕😂

At 4 o’clock, we took Robbie to the vet to have his left eye checked. He’s had a little discharge the last 10 days that we were treating at home. He had that a few years ago and we were able to clear it up. This time though it looked a little red and sore. So, we now have some new medication and scheduled a recheck for him on Tuesday. 

Today’s picture is of Bob and Jill on Mother’s Day with their son and daughter-in-law.

Lookin’ great Bob ‘n Jill ... Ashley and Kyle. ❤️ Thank you to Randy & Dawn for sharing the picture. 

That’s it for tonight.

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Hey, what’s up? It’s happy hour here ... 🥂 cheers 🍻 RanDawn will be popping in soon after their errands are finished. 

Mark finished the TV hookups and everything is working well. Cool. While he returned the rental equipment to Comcast, I tidied up and redecorated around the cords etc.  Done ✅. 

Sue and Wayne are fostering two little dogs this week. I think Sue is having way too much fun with them and is headed for a foster failure. Haha. 

Here’s one she’s calling Cheeky Monkey 🐾💕 She’s 1 year old. Toys were cast about the family room and the two young dogs were playing. 

F U N 🥰. Julius (front right) is bewildered. 😁  SHP likes the “girls!”

After happy hour, we went to the Fish Camp for dinner. We had a great time ... 

Haha ... hey, it’s a date night picture. 😍

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Hey, it’s nearly 8 o’clock and we’re watching “free” over the air TV for the first time in decades! Yup, we cut the cord with cable. Tomorrow we’ll return the rental equipment and settle up. Done. 

Meanwhile, it was game day at Lynn’s where 14 of us gathered to play Phase 10. We had lots of fun. In the end, the hostess won! 

When I came home at 4:30 Mark was ready for some tech support ... 

Lynn popped over to check the connections ... but in the end it was a faulty splitter. We got 86 channels ... plenty of content for us. 

Monday, May 13, 2019

Good morning. Well, it started out to be a lovely but muggy morning. We now have a thunderstorm, a bit in the distance, but with a nice rainfall for us. Robbie is snuggled up on the sofa with me. Mark went to do the banking and a little bit of shopping while I do laundry. Haha ... I just sneezed and blew Robbie right off the sofa. Ha ha ha, what a fraidy-cat. I’ve now taken the second antibiotic and don’t feel much of a difference yet, hopefully by tomorrow I will. It’s frustrating to have no energy whatsoever when I have things I would like to get done.

Happy Birthday to our friend Rick aka 

(that’s a Rooster not a chicken) 😂 in beautiful British Columbia. Enjoy your special day! 

I believe it’s Ruth & Rick’s wedding anniversary! 

Happiest of Anniversary wishes ❤️ 🥂🍾 💐 from we Floridians. Party on!

Sunday May 12, 2019

Good morning sunshine! I kept Mark awake last night with coughing ... now this morning it’s unbearable sinus pressure. Advil Cold & Sinus to the rescue. (I hope it works fast!) 

Well, happy Mother’s Day to all the women with children and pets. A mom is a mom. 🐾💕 enjoy your special day.

Mark took me to the local doc in the box and got some fresh antibiotics with a diagnosis of a cute sign you situs. Ha ha. There’s nothing cute about this! I’m feeling exhausted, with swollen sinuses a barking cough and in general, horrible. Perhaps tomorrow will be a little better.

Our sunshiny wee place. 

Saturday, May 11, 2019

Good morning sunshine! We’re invited to Lew ‘n Lynn’s for a dinner party tonight. I elected to make dessert and pulled out the “it’s so simple” recipe from friends Karen and George of Wisconsin. Well, it’s NOT simple; 5 steps with back and forth to the fridge to chill it between layers. Hahaha ... the dishwasher is full of pots ‘n pans, mixing bowls and spatulas. I’ll be baking my triple chocolate cake for future invites. 😜 Anyway, I hope it’s delicious! 

Lynn’s dinner party was awesome! Turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, rolls abd gravy for 14. Wowsa. 👍🏻 

Happy hour ... Caril in foreground, Dick, Lew, Mark and Eddie in the family room. 

Rose, Jim, Lew, Eddie, Mark and me at the table. 😋 

Ken, Carol, Dick and Nancy 💕

Hostess Lynn ❤️

After much coaxing and laughs, Dick checked out Lynn’s super-fuzzy rug. 😜

Well, as you can see from the pictures, we had lots of laughs and lots of fun. Afterwords, we sat around the pool with a few drinks in hand with our feet in the cool water. Life is good. 

Friday, May 10, 2019

Good morning. I was up at 5 o’clock, coughing with my latest round of bronchitis. What the heck is up with that? It sure comes on fast. Anyway, I have antibiotics so I should be good in a day or two.

It was cooking morning for the kids. I made garlic potatoes and sweet potatoes plus frosty paw treats. Meanwhile, Mark puttered about outside for a few hours. 

Sue had her tooth removed this morning and is home with an ice pack on it. Hope she’ll feel great in a day or so. 

Tonight, we are meeting aunt Jane and Mark‘s two cousins at the crazy gator for dinner. 

We felt bad for Jane. Her doctor took the car keys away ... reduced cognitive function. 😐 She’s always been independent!  We had a nice time at dinner with Kathie and Barb, Mark’s cousins. They were helping Jane adjust and learn the ropes.