Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Good morning. I see the sun peeking through a layer of clouds. We had rain overnight which meant the Scotties  refused to go outside for a potty. They are a funny lot, and don’t like to get their feet wet. 🐾💕 

The red cardinal has built her nest in the crook of our tiki umbrella. She has now laid three eggs and sits on the nest most of the day.

Spring has officially sprung! We can’t use our tiki bar until the chicks are grown. 

We have a few things to do before putting the RV into its port later today. We have a repair to do on the leather loveseat. Hopefully, it goes well. Yesterday I mixed up some acrylic paint for the bathroom cabinet drawers. The edges were getting water damaged from me washing my face. Anyway, they turned out well and are now waterproof. Mark is installing them back in the rig now.

The drawers and cabinet door reinstalled ...

We’re happy with it! 

Here are the pictures from the love seat repair. It is Thomas Payne furniture, quite expensive. The company advertise it as European leather. Well, as Mark says, they got some pretty thin skinned cows over there.

My repairs ... the damage; gessoed, acrylic color match paint

I don’t know how well it will stand up, but if it’s anything like the boat seats, we’re golden. 

So the rig is now into its port and all tucked in ready for the next adventure. Tomorrow, turkey hunting season starts so Mark and Bob will be off enjoying those type of hiking adventures. Me? I will be painting tomorrow.

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Good morning 😃. It’s a process of getting back to normal after a whirlwind trip to see family in south Florida. The laundry’s done and the RV re-stocked with basics and necessities. 

No pictures taken today so I random rolled my phone pics a few times and voila! Moi! 😂

The lower cabinet in the RV bathroom was getting a little water damaged around the edges. Mark took the doors off today and the drawer fronts and I refinish them. He’s doing a waterproof spray on them now and tomorrow we will reinstall them. They look 100% better already. Next, we have a leather repair to do on the reclining loveseat. I hope it turns out OK. Anyway, that was pretty much our day. I did a lesson from my art course but it is not finished yet so I will post it tomorrow. That’s it for today. There were a few thunderstorms in the area so we sat on the front porch after dinner and had a glass of wine and a cigar. That was it for our day. Tata till tomorrow.

Monday, March 29, 2021

Well, good morning sunshine! I missed writing yesterday’s blab. So, here goes. 

Sue and Wayne invited us for appetizers and pizzas at their lovely home! It was lovely and breezy so very comfortable sitting outside. The Scotties came along and were good kids staying in their pen alongside the hedge in the shade. LaDonna and I sat with our feet in the pool for a bit to keep them company. 🐾💕

Sue prepared Buffalo chicken dip while Wayne made bruschetta. We hardly needed the two Jet’s pizzas ... “hardly” yet we each had a couple of pieces. 😜 Wee Chiki Monkey was a tad of a diva, but otherwise uneventful. It was a super evening. 

Now, today it’s time to head north and get back to home base ... and 6 loads of laundry. 😳 there’s no rush to get it done as we have a few minor things to take care of on the interior of the RV before we put it into its RVPORT.  

The trip home took an hour longer than usual. We started out on the turnpike and got as far as Glades Road when we were in standing still traffic. We got off at the exit and headed to I 95 which we took to Fort Pierce. This added some time, but was better than sitting in traffic idling. Once we got home, the sorting out of mail etc. began. I’m still doing laundry now at 8 o’clock. Tomorrow’s another day. Hope your Monday was grand! 

Saturday, March 27, 2021

Good morning. I was up early tidying the RV from yesterday and prepping for a visit from Matt, Tiffany, Hailey and Isabella. It’s been two years since we have seen them in large part because of Covid. Last year‘s booking was canceled as the RV parks closed.

PARTY TIME 🥳 

The family ... Izzy and Hailey are growing up fast! 

Matt was a natural ... playing corn toss with Hailey

Hailey’s catching up to Matt, even walk the same. ❤️

Izzy enjoyed the wild chicken! 

They arrived about noon and didn’t leave until 8 o’clock. We had a wonderful visit, some laughs and caught up on family news. Mark and Wayno cooked the chicken and steaks perfectly ... potato salad, coleslaw and LaDonna’s baked beans were great accompaniments. All in all, an A-1 day. 

Friday March 26, 2021

Good early morning! I was awake at 3 o’clock so got up to catch up on the news of the week. Mark and both Scotties are sleeping. 

Today ... grocery shopping for our family cookout tomorrow then dinner with Sue and Wayne at the Yacht Club. 👩‍✈️ Having grown up with boats, this’ll be a fun night for us.

Fine dining ... prime rib for Sue and I ... yellowtail for Mark, sea bass for LaDonna, salmon for Wayne and I think a steak for Wayno. Delicious, all of it. 

It’s now Saturday morning as I add to this Friday blog. We arrived at the yacht club and were met at the door by Sue at 6:30. It’s a lovely building, many different areas to dine and a large dance party room. Wayne had booked us a large table with a view of the yachts. 

The food was fabulous, the wine flowing and a Fantabulous time was had by all. It’s a fine South Florida lifestyle! 

Here’s the evening’s menu;

Thursday, March 25, 2021

Good afternoon! We’ve had a wonderful day starting with Mark cooking breakfast for 11 o’clock. We had Shay’s recipe of chili relanoes and sausages. Sue came over for a coffee and joined us for a taste of the casserole. Robbie really enjoyed seeing her, auntie humpy. Ha ha ha. 

There’s a lot of wildlife around the park, from a chicken to iguanas, parrots and raccoons. Here’s LaDonna feeding a wild chicken. 

LaDonna named the hen McNuggett 😂

This afternoon, LaDonna and I painted for a few hours while the guys puttered around. This evening we went to a restaurant on the Intracoastal waterway for an early dinner. With Covid, we like to go out very early when things are not busy. We had our choice of tables along the waterfront and chose a nice shady one with a ceiling fan over us. It was great, we saw a lot of boats go by including some well over 100 feet.

The food was very good, pub grub, but of course a bit expensive being on the water in South Florida. Never mind, we all decided it was worth it.

Lots of boats today! 

Randy and Dawn phoned while we were sitting out back here on the patio and the guys were smoking cigars. (We didn’t stay for a second drink at the restaurant at those prices.) Ha ha!

Tonight we are invited to the L’s place to play a game of marbles. It’s been a fun-filled week so far.  The guys won two games and we girls won one! 

Robbie with Uncle Wayno at their rig tonight. 

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Good morning. We met Sue and Wayne at the Beachcomber for a beautiful breakfast under the Tiki hut. It was lovely and cool, no wind and great service. 

Wayne, Sue, Mark, Julie, Wayno, LaDonna ... we’re stuffed. 😂

Lobster Omelette for me!!! Awesome! 

Very funny thing happened last night. Shorty Hotpants was behaving himself ... Sue said it was because he was wearing the citronella bark collar. When Mz BeeZee barked a few times, Sue suggested trying the collar on her. Mark, just goofing around,  put the citronella dog collar on himself and barked. Oh my God we sure laughed when it’s sprayed all into his beard! 😂

Back at the RV park, I tidied up the rig and had a nap. The nap did not take for Mark, so we headed over to the L’s at 3o’clock to see what they were doing. Drinks ensued and the dogs enjoyed their new bark box. This one was entitled magicians and of course that is a dove in a hanky trick that happens to be on my head. Not sure how that happened, but lots of laughs. 

Hahaha

After a barbecue, we sat outside with a bonfire until 1030. It was a beautiful evening, but so very noisy in this area with traffic. as Mark says it’s planes trains and automobiles around here. 

That’s it for today. 🥰

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Good morning. I was up and took the dogs out just before 7 o’clock and heard the cacophony of I 95 traffic. It’s a song, just a different song than we are used to. Last night, the wind was from a different direction or, maybe now there is no wind?  Either way we didn’t hear it much last night. 😂

So yesterday’s story, I will continue here. Mark and I were well set up by the time LaDonna and Wayno arrived. We went next-door to say hello then left them to set up ... then join us for happy hour. We were on our second drink before they arrived. 20 minutes later, LaDonna went back to their rig to discover the sinks backed up with water and water pouring out of the undercarriage. Everything had to be emptied from the outside bins, and there was water inside on the floor. LaDonna was mopping up the inside with towels. We ran over with some towels and helped out. There was a lot of water. The bins had at least 4 inches in them! 

What happened? Well, Wayno had left the water on, thinking he had turned the valve to freshwater supply whereas he was actually filling the tanks. I’m betting Mark can explain it better, but, the event was a flooded rig. They ran fans inside overnight and this morning will be a tidy up before we go cruising around the beach.

BEFORE DA FLOOD

Well we had a great evening. First we took a drive down Fort Lauderdale beach and saw some of the spring break crowd, along Pompano Beach, passed the new pier and then over to Sue and Wayne’s mansion. They cooked a large batch of Pickerel, a mixture of potatoes and onions, a nice salad, and lots of wine. It was a fun evening and absolutely beautiful weather.

Sue and Wayne prepping dinner! It was great! The Scotties were there as well, in their pen, in the shade next to the bushes.

This was noon time happy hour after they had finished tying up their rig. 

Tomorrow, we’re going out for breakfast. That should be lots of fun.

Monday, March 22, 2021

Good morning. It’s another cloudy drizzly kind of day. I don’t know if I’ve seen more than three of these days in all the years I’ve lived here. And two of them have been this week. Ha ha ha. Anyway, we are headed to the land of sunshine down south, unless they have the same weather we do. Oh well, it’s going to be fun to see Sue and Wayne and Matt, Tiffany, Hailey and Isabella.  

We arrived at the campground safe and sound, and then our excitement began. More tomorrow.

Sunday, March 21, 2021

Good morning! We started our day with the Scotties on the bed for an hour. They enjoy a Sunday morning sleep-in too. 🐾💕

Our neighbor Lynn has moved to her ‘new’ home in the Scottish Highlands, about 10 minutes away. We hope it’s everything she wants, but a bit sad to see her go. The past year has been tough for everyone. We’ve all missed our usual activities like game days, YaYa’s, neighborhood get togethers and the Christmas parties. For Lynn, it was far worse having lost Lew in February 2020. 

Mark’s been loading the RV with Matt’s things left here years ago ... plus things Mark is gifting him. I went through my jewelry and have a bag of goodies for the granddaughters to sort through. Their Easter 🐣 baskets are ready, plus Visa gift cards. It’s going to be fun going south for a visit! 

Sue and Wayne have invited us, plus the L’s, for a fish fry at their home on Tuesday. 🥰

We have nicely located sites ... looking forward to seeing everyone. 

This afternoon we made a FaceTime call to Rick in BC.  Everyone there is fine, life is still on hold while they await vaccinations. Rick said it’s ridiculously slow going and people are frustrated. There’s an anti-mask movement that got out of control when news cameramen approached. 🤨 Ruth is volunteering at a food kitchen and keeping herself busy. Rick plans to be back to puttering about the mill soon prepping for a spec house. It was fun talking to him; always some laughs between us. 

Randy and Dawn phoned tonight to wish us a fun trip and to remind us to give everybody hugs on their behalf. It’ll be virtual hugs, but whatever. Ha ha. They are fine and happy to say that Dawn‘s mom is coming April 26 for a visit. It’ll be nice to see her as she couldn’t come last year due to Covid.  

We had our usual last minute eBay sale that Mark is currently boxing up and getting ready for shipping tomorrow. We will probably just take it with us and find a post office there. I’d like to have the label ready though. 😜

That’s it for tonight. American Idol is on and we just poured a glass of wine. Ta ta til tomorrow. 🥰

Saturday March 20, 2021

Good afternoon! It’s a windy 🌬 Saturday and our lake is churned up. We took the kids for a ride to drop off papers at our new accountant’s office in Mount Dora. It’s a big relief 😅 ... I have no idea of the cost, but one has to do what must be done. The accountant has located a bookkeeper who will do the 2020 books 📚 then pass back for tax preparation. 

In other news, we thought Robbie’s stitches 🧵 would come out today but Dr. Wilson felt a few more days are needed for proper healing. (My leg isn’t healing any faster either.) We both need to be patient. 

It’s been awhile since we’ve enjoyed dinner in a restaurant ... so early-birds we will be. LaDonna and Wayno are meeting us ... then coming home for front porch cigars! 

It was great fun to actually eat in a restaurant and go home not having to do the dishes. Ha ha. Wayne and LaDonna came back to the house, we sat on the front porch for an hour while the guys had cigars and then we went and played a game of marbles. Well, many games as the guys kept beating the girls and we wouldn’t quit. Ha ha ha. It’s a fun game.

Friday, March 19, 2021

Good afternoon sunshine! It’s a bright beautiful sunshiny one here! We pulled the RV out ... 

I finished filing the 2020 ... then got our bookkeeping files sorted and a tax package pulled together. Our friend Nancy recommended her (local) accountant who I phoned. Hopefully ... we can drop this off to him. 🤞

It was happy hour with Yaya‘s tonight at 4 o’clock. We played a game that Cheri

Devised which was a lot of fun ... we had lots of laughs. We had to match up the movie stars known  name with their born name. Wow! Surprising! Hopefully in a couple of months we will be able to get together physically again.

At 5:15 we went to Nancy’s for happy hour. We had good conversation, plenty of laughs, and got home about 8 o’clock to make our dinner and relax. We are so lucky to have this wonderful neighborhood and friends.

Thursday, March 18, 2021

Good afternoon! It’s been a busy morning with dental cleanings for us both ... then a bit of Easter shopping for the grandkids. 

Mark was up early, outside cleaning the fence when I got up at 8 o’clock. What a guy! (He has quite a ‘To Do’ list ... that he wrote for himself. 

Well this day went to hell in a hand-basket. I discovered my accountant of 26 years died this month. RIP Stanley ... you are missed. Now, what to do? I phoned Diane as she originally referred me to Stan way back. 

It’s not going to be easy for us to find a trustworthy fella. Sad. Stan went in hospital for a minor surgery and something went wrong with anesthesia; he died two weeks later. 😢

Wednesday, March 17, 2021

Good morning y’all and Happy Paddy’s Day ... no dining out and revelry for us (again) this year. 

Mark had his annual eye doctor appointment today ... all good; no change. 😊. It’s a hot(ish) day here at 89F, 1 degree under the record. No outside work today. I was busy with my art classes; finishing up a fun lesson which involves making a deck of cards ... art related. It’s all fun. 

The Scotties had a golf cart ride with Mark ... Robs on the front seat! He likes that. 

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Yes! We finally have Robbie’s lab results and his tumor was benign!!! What relief we feel. Champagne is on ice ... we’re celebrating my good dermatologist news and Robbie‘s good vet news. Life is good. 😇

It was a busy art day for me ... and Mark scrubbed the white fence in the backyard. It was looking dingy ... like new now. That was an expensive investment but it cleans up nicely and never needs painting. 

Mark’s been watching a Cardinal flitting in and out from our Tiki umbrella ... 

She built a beauteous nest! Will be happy to hear the little chicks in there soon. Well, it’ll be a little while because there aren’t eggs yet. Yeah yeah, what came first? The chicken or the egg? 😂

We had happy hour on the front porch, after dinner and our walk. That is our healthy routine since January. No more 4 o’clock, now we eat, walk and then have happy hour. Well aren’t we healthy!   Ha ha ha ha. That’s it for this evening. We are relaxing after a tension filled 8 days!

Monday, March 15, 2021

Good evening y’all. It’s been a fun day puttering about the house. Mark made some ribs on the smoker yesterday, then finished them on the grill tonight. They were very good! KimBob brought over some leftover Cowboy Caviar and Pasta Salad for our dinner. Yum!

Well I had excellent news today from the dermatologist office ... the biopsy results were negative. I’m good. 😅 

Robbie 🐾💕 is feeling good, back to playing humpy ... no results on his biopsy yet. I left a message for Dr. W; hoping for good news tomorrow. 🤞 😇

I completed the first painting of this week’s class ... an abstract flower garden. 

Sunday, March 14, 2021

Good morning from sunny Central Florida. Robbie is feeling a bit better, actually we think quite a bit better, and Miss BeeZee was feeling her oats today. All the toys are out and they had a little bit of playtime and now are both snoozing. I guess it is time for their staff to tidy up the mess. Ha ha. That’s what Mark and I are, the staff.

Robs snoozing by the stash. 

Mz Bee has her stash under the table. Ha! What a beautiful mess for a Subday morn. 

I am finally feeling back to normal after having my second Pfizer vaccine on Thursday.

Saturday, March 13, 2017

Good morning. It’s a bright beautiful sunshiny day here in Central Florida. I am on the housekeeping routine today and cleaned the Keurig coffee maker with vinegar. I ran the vinegar through several times ... then ran several cups of clean water rinsing it thoroughly. My1st cup of the day has a little bit of a vinegar tinge. Ha ha Ha. No good deed goes unpunished. 😇

In keeping with the kind of 12 months we’ve recently had, our dishwasher crapped out today. It’s not a big deal when there’s just the two of us, but we are used to using it. As a matter fact when I bought my first house at age 19 I spent the first six months without a dishwasher and then got one. Wayback then it was $360. Imagine that!  I bought one today for about the same price at Best Buy. 😂

Mark worked on and finished the sunroom ceiling today. We got everything put away and I begin hanging the white sheer curtains for summertime. It’s always nice to have everything cleaned up. We both had a nap this afternoon plus a golf cart ride with the dogs. Life is good. 

We had a fairly lazy day and just enjoyed a pizza for dinner and watch some TV tonight. While Mark was searching on Facebook he came across a posting that Crystal‘s grandmother had died. We will have to make a call tomorrow.

This is the painting I did for the “double exposure“ lesson.

It was rather an odd one to do, not my best work, but something new to think about. So that’s it for today. More tomorrow. 💕

Friday, March 12, 2021

Good afternoon. Mark was up early, about 6 o’clock, to give Robbie his pain pill. I slept until 8 o’clock. My second vaccine caused me a riproaring headache when I woke up, but otherwise I’m feeling pretty good. As suggested, I am just taking it easy today and doing a little painting. Robbie and I are both relaxing in the Sunroom with ancient aliens on TV.

Mark is gone to take our old TV to the dump and then to do some grocery shopping for the weekend.

My sweet view from the art center. Robs is so sweet. 

Well, I petered out about 230 and slept the rest of the afternoon until dinner time. I guess round two of the vaccine got me. LOL. After dinner, we went for a walk with the dogs then sat on the front porch for an hour with wine and Mark at a cigar.

Tonight, we watch the end of the bloodline series on Netflix. It got kind of weird at the end. Ha ha.

Tata til tomorrow. 🥰

Thursday, March 11, 2021

Good afternoon. It’s been a busy day so far. My 2nd dose of the Pfizer vaccine 💉 was 9:30 today. It wasn’t too busy at that hour, and I was in and out in less than 30 minutes.. The RN that gave me the shot explained a little more about the delicacy of the protein used in this particular vaccine. She told me not to put ice on my shoulder afterwards! I didn’t have to with the first one and certainly wouldn’t with the second, but I’m betting that some people have. That can possibly break it down and it won’t be as effective. She said there are many things they are still learning about all the vaccines. She hasn’t been home to New York in 14 months. It’s been a front line job for her since COVID-19 was first mentioned. She works seven days a week doing vaccinations! 😇

Robbie is doing quite well today. He’s had a couple of pain pills but doesn’t seem to be too bothered by everything. After he had his lunchtime pill I put them on the sofa with a blanket and Miss Bee cuddled up with him. Awww 

So cute! She’s trying to be comforting.  🐾💕 They stayed like this for about an hour before everybody got overheated. It is Florida after all. LOL

After I got home from my vaccine appointment, Mark went to Lowe’s for a refrigerator water filter ... then picked up our new Sunroom TV. It’s a monster, 58 inches. We looked at what we had paid for the old TV, 48 inches, and in 2007 with the mounting bracket, we paid $1998. This one was $399. Wow, what a difference in price. No wonder there are no TV repair services around anymore. It’s a throwaway world. 

Yup. That’s my installer! Mark had it hooked up quickly. It’s a lovely picture! 

Just for our golfer friends ...