Thursday, June 30, 2022

Good morning. It’s a bright beautiful sunshiny day and headed to 90° here in Central Florida. We began our morning watching upstairs downstairs on our BritBox subscription. It’s a really good series!

Last night we met LaDonna and Wayne for dinner at Takis in Eustis. It was good food … but if you’re looking for ambience and quality service, go to the Takis in Leesburg. After eating, they came back for cigars on the front porch and to visit with the doggies. They had a wonderful trip for their family reunion in Tennessee and shared pictures and brought us a couple of souvenirs. They are such good friends. 🥰

Great niece Crystal with Gregg’s dog Foxy. 

Great great niece Avery with her best friend, Foxy. It’s so nice to see little Foxy being loved. She was Gregg’s heart. 

Mark just came in from the backyard looking pretty hot and tired, he assures me he is just puttering this morning. 😥 (I like to putter too … but mostly inside the house!) 😁

This afternoon is game day for me. Mark will relax then and chill in front of the TV. (he has a big birthday next Wednesday!) 🥳

Game day fun … Rummicube with Rose, Pat, Anita and Elaine   3 of the 7 rounds I won. 😁 Much wine was consumed … I had low carb beer for a change. I was a nice afternoon. 

Mark worked on his work barge project replacing some decking. 

It’s not pretty … but getting prettier. 😂 Hey, it’s a work barge for tree trimming. 

Wednesday, June 29, 2022

Good afternoon. Yes, we’ve had a couple of very busy days. Today however we caught up with our things at home and are going to meet Wayne and LaDonna for dinner.

Sunday, June 26, 2022

Good afternoon y’all and happy birthday wishes to Dawn and to Jim. Many more healthy and fun years ahead are our wishes for you both!

They’re off to St. Augustine on the motorcycle for a couple of days fun!

Enjoy your special day Jim. Cheers 🥂 

Today at our house we’re prepping for The Villages for two days of appointments. 

Saturday, June 25, 2022

Guess where we’re off to? 

The Rocky Horror … it’ll be a B L A S T … we have the props! 🤪

Well THAT was a blast 💥 

Randy was smashing in his pearls and red lipstick! 😂

Nancy was costumed but sure participated in do the Time Warp dance. 

Time Warp in the aisle!

Meeting the cast … too bad I can’t sing 🎤 😆

After a couple red wine 🍷 🤪

Mark’s shirt glowed 

Singing anyway 😂🎶

Hahaha … what a great night! 

Thursday, June 23, 2022

Good morning sunshine! It’s another gorgeous day here in Central Florida.  Our humidity is low and there’s a breeze so it feels nice. (Mark says it’ll be hot later this afternoon … but it’s summer. 🤷‍♀️) 

Last night we had a nice time at Pat and Ken‘s. Rose and Jim were there, Deenna and Eddie and Mary. It was fun to catch up with everybody and hang around in the pool. Pat made slushy drinks, but I did not partake. It is amaretto, orange juice, simple sugar syrup, and seltzer water. Mark liked it! 

Today is paperwork day, so I am doing my May/June bookwork. Mark took the dogs for a golf cart ride and trimmed a few plants at the entrance to our community.

Wednesday, June 22, 2022

Good morning. We were both up fairly early, had breakfast and while I listened to Charlie Rich and had a 2nd coffee, Mark gathered up tools and went to work on his barge, the SeaGar. 

I puttered with my houseplants, repotting and propagating some for gifts. It’s a beautiful day here, overcast and low 80’s. 

🥳🐾 Robbie played humpy with his favorite toy … and walked about wearing it awhile. He’s such a sweet boy. 🥰

This morning, when Mark went out back with the dogs, he heard some screeching and couldn’t figure out what it was. He looked up in our big oak tree and there were TWO barred owls. We’ve been concerned about them since the pine tree at the end of our street was cut down. Maybe our oak will be their a new home!

LaDonna and Wayno will be back Monday from the family reunion in Tennessee with presents for Robbie and Queen Bee as they call her. 🐾😂 It’ll be nice to see them again. 

Tonight we’re going to Pat & Ken’s for a swim party and drinks. I hope the pool is warmer than Nancy’s (78 after the rain yesterday!) 

Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Good morning. I was awake at 5:30, and Mark by 630. We’re going to take a load of tile from K’s house to the dump and then go for breakfast. After work, a bit of pleasure.

Chipping gun in action 

Yesterday, we worked on tearing out more tile from Sue & Wayne’s master bathroom shower stall. It’s a big job, but going to be so nice for them. 

The buckets are full of broken tile but a couple of  area pulled off in sheets! Lucky. 

We met Diane & Kris for burgers at Applebee’s at 6 o’clock. It was fun … a nice local restaurant. 

Sunday, June 19, 2022

Good afternoon y’all. It’s a day of storms all around us with the weather radio ringing every few minutes. As is usual for our cloister by the lake, there’s been nothing here!

Yesterday RanDawn were at the gym when a microburst hit their area. Furniture on the dock was in the water when they came home … and the front lawn umbrella, well … 

it’s a mess! 😳 

It’s now 515 here and we’ve had no rain although some areas have been hit by very heavy thunderstorms. Everything is to the east and west of us now and, like I say, nothing came through here. We have our own little slice of paradise. Ha ha.

We took the kids for a nice golf cart ride, 81° and cloudy. It was lovely. There weren’t many people around, I guess all in celebrating Father’s Day. And happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there! 🥰🥂🍾

Tonight I made the salad and Mark cooked the steak and mushrooms! What a feast. 

Saturday, June 18, 2022

Good morning. This is a tough blog to write about. Nothing wrong with the family, but a friendship hit the skids. Let me explain.

Nine days ago, our friend Marky mark began a group text to five people regarding his marital woes. Now these five people know him very well, and we ignored what he was texting. This went on with pages and pages of text where his wife was defamed. That was a very bad idea, as we are friends with both of them. I did a reply text last Saturday and said we didn’t know what was going on, but that we love both of them and if there’s anything we could do to help we would. No reply to that, nor to the other two texts I had sent two days before when I noticed his garbage cans were still out and his dogs have not been walked. Apparently, as I know now, he was having a manic outburst. After Thursday nights work, Lani left for her sisters in Orlando. She had told us a few days before all of this began that she was going to sort out her mothers clothing and pack up what was left in her mothers bedroom. That all made sense to us, but none of this lashing out at her on his texting mess. 

Then, last Sunday, Lani came over crying. Then, we got the second side of the story. Without revealing any facts, neither one thinks the marriage can be saved. Our friend Wayne O was on his way to his boat, so we asked him to pop over and give Lani some advice. Well, you know who was looking out his window across the street. After days and days and days of texting, he suddenly shut up and did nothing more than lay on the couch for the next six days. He only left the house once when she went to work on Tuesday. 

Knowing us as you do, we are concerned for the two little dogs. Eventually, we did see him take them down to the circle for a walk. 

After his big reveal, all we could say amongst the group of us was that the curtain had been pulled back and there sat a very small man. 

His rants and his raves have cost him friendships. We put his house key into his mailbox, no note. Lani said it was delivered and he had no comment. It took four days for our key to wind up back in our mailbox. Then, when we got home from working in the villages yesterday, our garbage cans were still on the driveway. Mark said, lol, well, I guess Marky Mark and I are officially divorced.

Lani is back at her sisters where we wish she would stay for safety sake. Over the course of our for 4 year friendship, we have seen his outbursts before. This out burst has apparently caused him to be sick and depressed. Well, in our opinion, he did it to himself. He cares about nothing but money. When Lani sold her personal home, he demanded that money go into their joint account. She had other plans for it and it does not belong to the marriage. He has in the past, insisted she sell her mothers house and move her sister’s family out of it. There’s more to the story, but you can see where this is going. A friendship, hit the skids. 🤷‍♀️ 

Thursday, June 16, 2022

Good evening y’all. It’s 94F here today. We walked the Scotties to the circle, but that was all we did! Whew. 

The new plantation shutter arrived last evening and Mark installed it in the guest room today. It looks really nice, and finishes off the room. Other than that, we gathered up tools we will need tomorrow at the villages. 

Our friends LaDonna and Wayne are on their way north for a family reunion in Tennessee. They are in Georgia for tonight, and said it is blistering hot. Well, it’s hot here, but apparently much cooler than there. 

This current heat wave is supposed to last until Monday! 🥵

Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Well it was a hot day today. We went up to the villages today and did a little work at Sue and Wayne‘s house. The big walk-in bathtub was removed and made way for the new shower stall. It would’ve been nice to do a little trimming of the roses but it was in the mid 90s in the afternoon. Maybe next trip up there I can do them. 

Back home, we had to get ready quickly to meet our neighborhood group for friends night out. This month we went to CJ‘s in downtown Eustis. I think everyone enjoyed it, and the dinners were good.

Rub a dub dub, who needs a tub? It was tough carrying it out, it weighs close to 200 pounds. 

Tuesday, June 14, 2022

Good evening. It was a fun afternoon at Cheri‘s game day. There were about 10 of us, and we played a few rounds of rummy cube, phase 10 and some of the group, Mexican dominoes. It was quite hilarious as Cheri had Neil Diamond‘s album playing in the background, over and over and over again. She didn’t seem to notice but we were all joking about it. Towards the end of the afternoon I asked her, could you please turn it up Cheri?; and she said oh what would you rather listen to?   😂  

After dinner, we went to Kim and Bob‘s for a few hours. It was really nice … A good evening.  

Sunday, June 12, 2022

Hey from Central Florida where it’s summertime already! Mark was up early washing the Kia and the Mounty before the heat of the day. We were late to bed last night … nearly midnight. 

Dinner with Nancy was fun! The roast Mark cooked was nice and tender! We had potato skins, veggies and a Caesar salad too!  After supper Mark sat Bee and Robs on chairs. They watched us eat cheesecake, every bite. When Mark picked up the platter with pieces of cheesecake leftover, Robbie scarfed a piece before it passed him by. 😂 OMG we all laughed! It doesn’t seem to have done him any harm but I gave him a GasX at bedtime just in case. 

🐾😂

The three of us played chasing marbles for a couple of hours after dinner. Then, we went on the front porch while Mark had a cigar and the dogs ate the frosty paws treats that Nancy had brought them. It was a very nice evening.

Tonight, we are meeting Randy and Dawn for dinner and hope they will come back here after for a visit.

Saturday, June 11, 2022

Good afternoon. Mark is cooking a rump roast today so I invited our friend Nancy to join us. I sure hope it turns out nice and tender. Ha ha. Anyway, the wine will be flowing and we will have an enjoyable time.

Today is our friend Shay‘s 🥳 birthday. We left her a wondrous rendition of happy birthday on her phone. 😝 That emoji is the face Rick M will make when he reads that line. 😂

It would have been my friend Rhona’s birthday as well. She’s been gone more than 22 years now, way too soon.  

KimBob are at Kim‘s sister‘s wedding today. It’s been a big to do since the engagement last Thanksgiving. I know they will be happy to have it over with, although it is a joyous occasion. Since they don’t live on the coast, they are having to drive two hours each way down to Titusville for all the events. And there have been wedding showers, bachelor parties, bachelorette parties,  rehearsal dinners and the like. 🥂🍾 We wish Tina and Lance a strong and happy marriage.  

Friday, June 10, 2022

Good afternoon. Well, Yaya‘s last night was very nice. There were only eight of us, we down from the usual 20. Maybe it will build back up, but if not, we have the core group. Carol put on a nice feast for us. She had baked chicken in a cream sauce, a big salad, fruit salad and cheesecake. That, and our drinks and we were all having a fine time.  

We watched the 1st of the January 6th insurrection report. The coverage was well documented! I hope if you didn’t see it that you will! It’s important. The video coverage was intense. 

This morning, we stopped at the Humane Society store on our way to Publix to get our COVID-19 booster shots. This is shot number four, I believe. Anyway, it was all easy-peasy being a Pfizer shot. At the Humane Society store I found two beautiful lamps that fit with the colors in our house. I have put them on the dresser in our bedroom and they look gorgeous! And … $40 to a good cause. 

Top Gun - Maverick is a great action movie! We both really enjoyed it. Best seen on the big screen! We got back home in time for a little thunderstorm which tree branch into the transformer, and start a fire. Lani called the fire department but by the time they got here, the branch had fallen to the ground and the fire went out. Anyway, we are without power for a little while. The truck just drove by and said we will have it back on very shortly. Always something exciting.

Thursday, June 9, 2022

Good morning. It’s been a morning of cleaning house and organizing. Mark went to Home Depot and to Winn-Dixie. Meanwhile, tonight is Yaya‘s at Carol’s, the first we’ve had in a long while. Although I’m looking forward to it, I want to be home to listen to the beginning of the public hearings on the January 6 2021 insurrection. 

Wednesday, June 8, 2022

Good afternoon y’all. It’s eye doc day for Mark … in Wildwood, near the Village of Brownwood. 

Great clouds today!

The K’s are at their cottage now, getting unpacked. The ‘new’ coffee table arrived safely. 

It’ll be full of knickknacks and paddy whacks soon enough. 

RanDawn called … they’re going bowling today with the granddaughters. It would have been fun … but we had the appointment. Next time. 

Back home by 3, we had coffee on the front porch with the kids. Nice afternoon. 

After dinner, while we were watching TV, we had a little light rain. Now it is 74° and we are going to sit on the front porch with the kids. 

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

Well it’s now 8:30 in the evening, and we’re sitting down watching TV. Mark, Bob, and Wayne went to the woods this morning to put a few cameras around for 30 days. What did they say today? Only a peacock. Very resplendent in his colors. I thought they should’ve brought them home to live safely in our neighborhood. Ha ha. 

Sue and Wayne were at their cottage today, but are spending the night at the coach at the campground. Tomorrow, they plan to get the coach moved over to the cottage where it’s a little easier to get settled.

We were invited to go swimming tonight, but we’re just a little too worn out after our busy weekend. Tomorrow, we have a trip to Wildwood for an eye doctor appointment for Mark. Otherwise, it’s just been a nice day around here. I sat outside with my coffee until 1030 with the dogs. It was hot later in the day so we took them for a ride in the golf cart and didn’t walk until 730. That’s it for today. 

Monday, June 6, 2022

Good morning. I’ve been up for about an hour, but Mark is having a sleep in this morning. It’s a grocery shopping day … some tidy up … a few eBay listings … a golf cart ride …

and then we are meeting Diane and Kris for dinner. 😊

We were back home by 8:30, having had a nice evening with Diane, Kris and their friend Barbara. She is quite a character, much like Diane. Food was good, and we now know what to order on burger nights! Kris and I had whiskey burgers, and Diane and Mark had bacon cheeseburgers. Our server was great. 

There were storms all around us this afternoon. We didn’t get any rain, and Diane said all they got at their place was just a sprinkle. This was a really cool cloud that we saw on our way home on Radio Road.  

Up at Anicinabe Park in Kenora, Wayne helped a fellow back his fifth wheel in. Here he is with Shorty visiting the guy. 

Well, that’s our news for today. Ta ta til tomorrow. 🥰

Sunday, June 5, 2022

Good morning. We started with a bright beautiful sunshiny day but when I went outside to take a picture of my orchids in full bloom the clouds had covered the sun. Anyway, here they are …

Ours have always been later bloomers! Beautiful eh?

It was a perfect day for a boat ride! We loaded the cooler and the Scotties and picked up the B’s for a two hour cruise. (KimBob had been invited, but already had plans to meet friends in Tavares so they were away in their boat.)

Markymark and Lani relaxing … we putted around for an hour and a half until we noticed dark clouds to the north of us. We hurried for home only to have the rain hit downtown Eustis, not our side of the lake. By this time we were ready to be home to watch Upstairs Downstairs and nap. 

Beautiful day on Lake Eustis. 

Later in the afternoon, Markymark thought it would be a good adventure for us to all go to our favorite Mexican restaurant in downtown Eustis.

We had a lot of laughs when I pulled out my pink selfie stick, and took a picture. What a fun group of friends!  Dinner was great, as always there. 

Sue and Wayne are staying in international Falls this evening, and will cross the border to Canada tomorrow morning. There is very high water this year, and more rain expected. Hopefully, the water will recede over the next few weeks and they will have a nice summer at their cottage.

That’s it for tonight, it’s off to bed. 🥱 

Saturday, June 4, 2022

Good morning. We were up early, getting our chores done. It’s a cloudy morning, but no rain expected for our area. Tropical storm Alex is dumping torrents of water on South Florida! Many roadways are flooded. 

Sue sent me an interesting post on a restaurant that has a Lego land feature. The train delivers drinks. Ha ha.

Buffalo Phil’s Pizza & Grill  … Wisconsin 

So last night dinner at Applebee’s was great. And yes, they do have the $6.99 burger night on Mondays. It’s a good thing Sue suggested I ask about it as it is not on the menu! We were surprised to learn that Wayne and LaDonna had canceled their trip to Maggie Valley as well. They love it there, I can’t figure out why they wouldn’t go ahead without us. 

Mega celebrations continue in the United Kingdom and across the commonwealth for Queen Elizabeth II.

Wednesday, June 3, 2022

Good morning. Yesterday Mark and I discussed canceling our RV trip to Maggie Valley and Nashville for this summer. With his eye surgery not scheduled until mid September, and the tearing being an issue, we decided it was a safety issue and for the best. Yes, I could drive, but I wouldn’t want to haul the rig through the mountains. So, reluctantly, I canceled and let LaDonna and Wayne know of our change in plans. It was to be a three week vacation in Maggie Valley, at a resort right downtown. Never mind, there will be other times to travel.

So today, I got busy with my plants, just shuffling some around, laundry and floor mopping. Mark finished off around the new septic lid and spread the dirt that had been dug up yesterday.

Sue and Wayne are on their way to Wisconsin Dells where they will relax a couple of days before continuing their trip.  That’s a pretty neat area. Pam met us there a few years ago and we toured the area with her. 

Diane and Kris have listed their RV for sale. They haven’t had time to use it, and have other things brewing at the moment. 

After having our septic system pumped out and flushed yesterday, we added a funny sign in the bathroom. (Not everyone is used to septic systems!) KimBob were here plus Mark and Lani, and they all thought the sign was great. As a matter of fact, they asked where I got it (Amazon) and ordered one for their homes.  

Tuesday, June 2, 2022

Congratulations to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 70 years of service. We watched news coverage this morning on ABC. 

Today’s home “fun” was having our septic system serviced for the first time in 22 years! It was a mystery to find the “lid” which turned out to be cemented down. After the tech William unearthed it and chipped away the seal the fun began. Basically, we were lucky! Although there were a few fine roots in the tank everything was vacuumed out and we’re good for 3-5 years.  Mark opted for a raised lid added onto our system for another $250. All totaled, about $550 … better than it might have been. 

We had errands to run … pay the licenses for our fleet, and a few things at Walmart. The Mt Dora store parking lot and sidewalks are torn up and getting a cart nearly impossible. I garnered one from a man who looked like he was finished with it. 😂 Of course I couldn’t find what I wanted but managed to find some new throw pillows and a wicker tray. Nice. 

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Good morning sunshine! As we welcome June, it’s the start of Hurricane 🌀 season 2022. Our ritual of readiness begins … 15 gallons of drinking water ✅ … generator fuel ✅ … trees trimmed ✅ 

So hey, we’re in good shape! Tomorrow our septic system will be pumped out … the first time in so many years that we don’t even know where the lid is! 🤨

Randy and Dawn had a power outage yesterday for more than two hours. A thunderstorm rolled through their area and must’ve been quite severe. They had the granddaughters there for an overnight stay. All’s well today. 

Sue and Wayne are on their way north for the summer. We wish them safe travels and an easy crossing at the border. (Mark and I never have an easy crossing at the border 🙄)  The K’s will be in Nashville tonight. Miles and miles of truck traffic … 

Aha! There’s the problem. 😂