Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Good morning. I was up at 3 AM to unplug the crockpot. The dogs roast beef crockpot dinner was supposed to be finished at 8 o’clock, but the potatoes and the butternut squash were not tender yet. Anyway, it ran most of the night and the house smelled like delicious roast beef. I couldn’t sleep, so I got up and finished up the process of mashing things together adding the supplements, and storing it. Then of course it was wash up time. Mark managed to sleep through all this racket and wandered out at 7 o’clock to find Ms. B and I snoozing on the sofa. 😂

Mark has just come back from taking the kids for a golf cart ride, so I guess you could say these two Scotties are well taken care of.  🐾🥰 

We met Randy and Dawn for bowling today.

Of course we had lots of laughs, and a few good games. Mark had a Cobb salad for lunch which was only nine dollars, and it was huge and good! Randy and Dawn shared a quesadilla and I had boneless wings. Everything was good. 

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Good morning. We had a fun time last night at Pat and Ken’s. Talk turned to a notice of public meeting from our Lake County. There will be a hearing for a new development for a 120 lot single-family residential subdivision. It will be Northwest and east of our Harbor Shores Road. Although this will not really affect us per se, it will add traffic to our Harbor Shores Road. For this reason, we need to attend and voice our concerns. We will need a traffic light and perhaps a wall between the neighborhoods. Then there is the question of adding more homes onto the water sources. 

Walking home from Pat and Ken‘s last night, the blind mosquitoes were horrific. I will have to call the county today to do a spray. We must’ve had a major hatching with all the rain. They are aquatic midges, but for some reason Randy doesn’t get them on the Apopka canal area. 

We are finished up with the shower stall at the K’s except for the showerhead and diverter. Here are a few pics … 

Pictures can’t capture the sparkle of the glass tile, but you get the idea. 🤩

I can hardly believe that we are nearing the end of August, so quickly. Do I detect a smell of pumpkin spice in the air? As soon as September 1st arrives, you would think the calendar had changed full on to fall. Everything will be pumpkins and autumn decor. Ha.

Monday, August 29, 2022

Good morning. I was awake half the night, very excited to watch Artemis launch to the moon. Of course, being a first, there were delays and now the next date will be September 4th. I will be watching. Anyway, we were up early as well to go to the K’s house to clean up and put trash out for Tuesday’s pick up.

I vacuumed and cleaned the granite, mirrors and dusted everything down. Then Mark came in and vacuumed again, so I think we’ve got the dust under control. While I was dusting the rest of the house, he went out and washed Sue’s car and took it for a joy ride. Ha. There is a little drywall patching to do here and there where there had been old water damage. I have the towels from the master bathroom in the wash, as you know they had to have picked up dust. And, the bathmats too! We’re not planning to be here too long today as we have been invited to dinner at Pat and Ken‘s along with KimBob. 

Meow 😸 

Saturday, we went with Randy and Dawn to our favorite Mexican restaurant in downtown Eustis. This time, Mark Randy and I ordered taco salad. Now everything there has always been delicious, but these taco salads were awful. There was no seasoning, no flavor, just lettuce, tomatoes and whatever meat we had requested. I had requested shredded beef which came out looking like lumps on top of my salad that I wouldn’t have given to my dogs. So, I certainly do not recommend their taco salads. I was expecting something flavorful like Taco Bell used to serve. They were our favorites with a little hot sauce added on top. These at Del Sol had no refried beans in them whatsoever. 

Afterwords, RanDawn  came back to our house and we played Mexican dominoes and chatted until 1130. It was really fun to catch up with them.

Saturday, August 27, 2022

Good afternoon. It was so nice to wake up and just take our time this morning. We had a very busy week, and now onto jobs here at our house. As you heard last week, we need a new septic field dug. This involves taking down two of our huge queen palm trees that we planted 22 years ago! Of course at that time we had no idea where our septic field was. We only learned that in the last few years. Anyway, who knew that a queen palm puts down roots 4 feet deep. What? We were always told that they were shallow roots. Well, apparently they are not. No wonder they survive through all the hurricanes.  

That’s my guy! 😍

Crank it … using the come-along. 

Yank it … I was scared to watch! 

Run!!! 

Where’s Mark? 😱

Whew! As I said in the video, “I guess he did know what he was doing!” 😂

This evening, we are meeting Randy and Dawn for dinner and then playing dominoes over here.

Friday, August 26, 2022

Good afternoon. We were both up about 5 AM for some ungodly reason. So, after breakfast of bacon and eggs we got into washing more of the sunroom windows. It sounds simple, but each window Hass to be numbered and removed. Then cleaned both sides by Mark while I clean the tracks. Anyway, the deed is now done and the room looks fresh. 

Jonathan, our tile guy finished up today with the tile and is now grouting it. We thought we might be able to head home yet, but he says it’ll be another three hours or so. 🤷‍♀️ We’ve been here 6 days now! Yes, there’s plenty to do in the villages, but we are housesitting. Robbie really wants to go home. 🐾🥰

It’s National Dog Day! 🥳🐾🥰

Here’s the helpers, watching golfers as dad and I clean the windows. 

Thursday, August 25, 2022

Good morning. It’s an absolutely gorgeous start to the day. I walked the dogs along with Mark before he left to go to our house to meet up with the septic pump company. We are sure hoping that it is just something caught in the filter in the septic system. Otherwise, we are going to need an entire new field! 😱

So at 9:30 the first worker Jamall, arrived. Yesterday the poor guy was coughing like crazy all day. He thought it was from cutting concrete wallboard on the saw. Whatever it was, he sounds worse today so Jonathan sent him home. So, we are down one man on the job but Jonathan assures me it will get finished this week. (I sure hope so, things are piling up at my own house.) 

Sue and Wayne had company. Lynn and her cousin are visiting! Friends from Northern Harbor came over. It looks like a beautiful day. And I love the new windows! 

Here’s an update on the K’s tile project. It’s going to be fabulous! 

Well, we need a new septic field! There is no filter on the tank going to the field! Drat. 💩 We’ll have to take down two beloved queen palm trees before the new field can be dug. And, the RV must come out of storage so the equipment can access the backyard. Yikes. Ca-ching. 🥹

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Good afternoon. It’s about 4 o’clock and we’ve had a reasonably busy day. The tilers are working on the bathroom job so Mark and I got into cleaning the tracks and the windows in the Sunroom. It’s a big job, but we don’t have to do it in one day.

Have you seen this? I still feel like a teenager most days. 😂 And, I got a pimple today. 

Relaxing at 4 o’clock. Time to make the dogs dinners. 🐾🥰

We had plans to go to Longhorn tonight, but Jonathan, has other plans. He wants to get the tile floor in tonight. No problem, that’s why we are here! Rice cakes all around. 😂

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Good morning. It’s a bright beautiful sunshiny day here in Central Florida. The workers arrived at 9:30 and Mark went to Ace Hardware to pick up a few things I needed for my front door project.

Mark prepped the front door for painting. He asked if I’d need a rag for wiping it down. 

Now here’s a mystery! How did a leg of Mark’s moose pajamas (from Oklahoma days 11 years ago) wind up in the K’s rag bag? 🤣 Someone’s got some ‘splain’ to do. 🤔 

The front door turned out great! 

Monday, August 22, 2022

Good morning. It’s 845 and we are expecting the tilers to arrive between nine and 10 o’clock. It’s very exciting, as this project has been going on since June! Anyway, we all had a good sleep and we are up and ready for the workers. Robbie and BeeZee are confined to the kitchen with gates, to keep everybody safe. Mark is just back from walking them, so we are already. 

My cousin Elliott sent me his monster croc art. Cool eh! He specializes in nightmare stuff. 😂 His handle is D.E.B.T. if you’re into amazing art. Elliott created the Blasta beer unicorn … Unbridled Unicorn! 

So tonight we met Diane and Kris at Applebee’s for their burger night. As always, excellent service and delicious food. We had lots of laughs, and heard about Diane and Kris’s newest friends and planned travels. Those two are too adventurous for sure. Back at the K’s house, we sat out on the back patio and enjoyed the cool breeze,  From the 90’s  this afternoon  to 78 this evening! Perfect. You’ve gotta love it here. 

Our friends Allan & Scott are playing at Citi Fire but we were too worn out after dinner. That was our day! 

Sunday, August 21, 2022

Good evening. Mark and I had an afternoon visit with Diane ‘n Kris and presented her with the tiki alligator I painted. (She loved it and found a place to hang it on their patio.) 

This evening we went to Lake Sumter square ti hear Paisley Craze. It was a small turn out, probably because it was raining very lightly. We had a drink and stayed an hour and then headed over to Spanish Springs where the Rick Melvern band was playing and a lot of people were dancing. It was a good time. 

Back to the K’s house, we sat with the dogs on the back patio and enjoyed the quiet evening … and ceegars. Tomorrow, the shower tile job begins. 

Thursday, August 18, 2022

Good evening. We were up fairly early and over to Pat and Ken‘s to tidy up their screen room before they arrive home tomorrow. Mark brushed the pool while I checked the chemicals. Bob is going over later to backwash the sand filter. It sure has been nice enjoying their pool for six weeks. We’re spoiled! 

Maintenance time! 

Yesterday, we had a fun but busy day! We met Randy and Dawn at the bowling alley and played two games. We sure had a lot of laughs. On Wednesdays it’s $1.50 a game … you just can’t beat that price for entertainment. 🎳 Today I ordered new bowling shoes for Mark as his are starting to dry rot and he needed a half size smaller! We’ve both lost 25 lbs … now my bowling ball is very loose. We put some tape in the finger holes but I was still dropping it. 😂 (Bowling backwards!) 🙃  I called the bowling alley today to find out what it would cost to drill it and put in finger tips. $75 they quoted! Heck I can buy a new ball on Amazon for that price … so that’s what I did! Woohooo. 

And last night, we went to a new restaurant in downtown Eustis called brick and barrel. Just the bar area is open, but the service was very good, food excellent and the place was packed. That’s a good sign for the official opening early next month. They will open the front portion of the restaurant. (It was ‘friends night out’, but only seven of us there as Deenna and Eddie are traveling as are Pat and Ken.  Next month we’re going to LaPalma for FNO. 🥘 

It’s evening, after sitting on the front porch for an hour, we took the kids for a golf cart ride. We had rain this afternoon and it caught us off into the mid 70s. It was really nice. 

Sue and Wayne are going to Bruce and Heather’s for dinner tonight. They’ve had more rain in their area, just what they don’t need this year with the continuing high water. 

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Good afternoon. Today has been a day of fun pop-ins. Our friend Mary came over with some canvases for my art projects. She is still cleaning out things from her mother’s collection. I am very happy to get them. We had coffee and a good visit. Because of her auto immune issues, she doesn’t attend many neighborhood events in larger groups.

Then, Randy popped in after he was done golfing. He had a rough game today, but definitely had some fun. We like to tease him about how many golf shirts he has which is getting near 100.  Of course he and Mark dusted me on my growing house plant collection. 😂 Then, that conversation morphed into Mark‘s hunting items, and we called the truce. Ha ha Ha. No Mark has gone to visit Bob to loan him a hunting target. 

Our weather has become dry, and we have to run the sprinklers later today. Mark noticed that the lake of the woods was getting a lot of rain again. When I checked with Sue, they still haven’t gotten the dogs out for their morning walk because of the rain.

Sunday, August 14, 2022

Good afternoon. It’s a bright beautiful sunshiny afternoon here in Central Florida with a temperature of 88°F. We took the kids for a long golf cart ride and saw several neighbors out working in their flowerbeds. It was quite the beehive of activity. 💐 We stopped to talk to Nancy for a few minutes. She said our friends Pat and Ken will arrive home on Saturday from upstate New York. 

Spot the Scott … you can see a little of Robbie‘s beard behind us. 🐾🥰

This has been my style of gardening recently. I am into my plants lately. Everything old is new again. Ha ha, you see macramé plan hangers everywhere in the stores. It feels so 80s 😂  (Mark has been doing reverse gardening at the end of our canal. It had become very overgrown and had stopped the wind from keeping the water moving and clean.) 

Last night, we met Kim and Bob over at Pat and Ken‘s pool. We had some drinks and floated around in the water for a few hours. It was a balmy 87° in the pool. We didn’t bring the dogs with us last night as they had just had haircuts and baths. (I’m sure they were a little bit annoyed with us. 🐾) 

Robs relaxing after his haircut and bath yesterday. What a handsome guy! 

Cute haircuts eh! 

Diane posted a picture of Beau yesterday. He is looking so healthy! (I shared his picture online with aunt Jane’s family and they were all happy to see him looking so well.) 

Such a cute guy … king of his castle too! 🐾🥰 👑 

Pam phoned the other day and had been in New York visiting with Daniel and his family and Bob and his. Bob and Tracy were in the United States for summer vacation with their kids. This year they chose New York State and Texas for their visiting. We were happy to hear that Pam was able to fly there and see everyone. 

Bob & Tracy visiting in NY

I Our pal Rick called yesterday on FaceTime. He is back in BC from his annual fishing trip in Ontario and had a wonderful time. This year, however, the fish were too big ! What? It’s true … they weren’t keepers. Ruth had gone kayaking in the Broken Islands and was back from her summer trip. She too had a good time. Now they are planning to use their new motorhome for a short adventure trip, just the 2 of them. 

Congratulations 🥳 🥂 🍾  … safe travels! 

We phoned Matt this afternoon and caught up on their news. Of course the girls are back to school as of last week. Izzy likes her class and has made a new friend. Hailey and her friend Angelina are back to vet tech training. Tiffany had just gone to work. Everyone is doing well … we hope to visit them once Mark’s eye appointments are finished up. 

That’s all the catching up news! 

Friday, August 12, 2022

Hello from Central Florida in the Sunshine State. Lucky for Mark and me it was cloudy this morning! 😂 We’d bought three new plants to finish up the landscaping re-do at the K’s. 

Two Barley Blue Agapanthus and 1 Yellow/Red Lil Coreopsis were dug in along the dry stream feature by the front door. (It’s so clean!) 

The plants look so tiny shooting it from this angle.  😂

Roses are deadheaded and fertilized … looking neat and tidy. 

Tonight, we relaxed and watched more of Skinwalker Ranch.   

Thursday, August 11, 2022

Good morning. Mark and Wayno have gone hiking the woods this breezy day I hope they’ll enjoy it. Bob wasn’t able to make it today. He has had family commitments this week helping to move his mom into assisted-living. We know how exhausting that will be for them both. 

Me? Well, I’m in charge of breakfast for myself and the dogs. Ha ha. So it was boiled eggs all around, straight from a bag. 😂  It’s a good thing Mark “likes to cook” … because my style involves too much convenience food. 😉 Anyway, Robbie and BeeZee enjoyed their breakfast very much! Our Scotties are so easy-going. 

Our friends Rick and Dee have asked us to go RVing with them the first week of September. I wish we could, but will have to pass as Mark has more eye doctor appointments, and I’m not sure if the shower tile job at K’s might spill over into a longer timeframe. Anyway, we are booked to go with them in October and November.

Sue and Wayne have had company at their cottage for a few nights. 

Happy birthday Larry, my former administration. Ha ha. Larry has said about our family “it’s like marrying into the mob … you can never get out” 😂 

Larry has brought a special friend from the great state of Texas. I hope she enjoys some Canadian hospitality … and chips from the Kenora chip truck! Yum. 

Sue and Wayne have managed to get the Ranger out of the boat house and at least get a ride on their bay. Although the water is receding, finally, it is still very very high for this time of year. 

This morning I plan to go to our local jewelers and get a link taken out of my Gucci watch and two links out of dad‘s JewelWay watch. New batteries and both will be good for a couple of years. Losing a ton of weight has caused my rings to be loose too. 😂 I may just have a ring guard put on the one that is problematic.

Well … Dad’s watch had been stored for 22 years with the battery still in it. Although there was no corrosion, something had compromised inside the watch. It would work for a minute or two and then quit. So, it is just in the curio cabinet on display along with his warm medals. 🤷‍♀️ I had a link taken out of my Gucci, so it was not a wasted trip to the jeweler. 

It was such a beautiful day today, we took the dogs for a nice golf cart ride. It’s overcast and just 85°. Next, will be drinks on the front porch. So that is our day.  Ta ta til tomorrow. 🥰

 

Tuesday, August 9, 2022

Good morning. I had a restless night thinking of all the things I needed to do before the girls came for game day at 1 o’clock. Now it’s nearly 730 and what am I doing? … sitting drinking coffee. Ha ha

Good news this week through the Biden administration and to former President Obama for explaining it all in understandable language. 

🥰

After breakfast I got organized for game day! Mark will run errands this afternoon before his doctor appointment. 

It was a good game day, with 12 in attendance. One table played chasing marbles and the other played Rummicube. It was a good day! I’m worn out. 😅

Monday, August 8, 2022

Happy birthday dear Hailey 🥳🎂🥰 … hope you’ll have a great day celebrating. 

It’s back to school in 2 days for the Florida kids. 

Today’s job here was getting new homeowners insurance signed and paid. Yes! We saved money! Whew. While I was on the phone, Mark puttered about tidying up the end of our canal … then took the kids for a ride on The Caddy. 🐾

It was a nice day. We did a little shopping this morning … HobLob and Wally. That’s been our day. 

Sunday, August 7, 2022

Good afternoon. Well, we thought it was going to be a quiet Sunday with maybe a swim later until we got a text from KimBob inviting us to lunch with them. They picked us up at 11:30, and of course we had a fun time. We went to Hurricanes in Tavares! KimBob had been away scalloping for a week with family and had tales to tell. The woman entertaining was a rocker singing the Rolling Stones! Very enjoyable! 

So that was today. 

Last night we had dinner and drinks at the Dog House so we’ve burned the candle at both ends. 😅

Saturday, August 6, 2022

Tonight we had dinner and drinks at Tavares Dog House where Rob Nichols was entertaining. 

It was a fun night! The food was worth waiting for. There was a nice crowd there … lots of people watching. 

Hangin’ with our peeps … 

Ha! Laughed at this sign. 

Friday, August 5, 2022

Good evening from sunny Central Florida. We’ve just had our evening walk ahead of the rain. It was a nice day … not too hot. 

I puttered on a palm pod mask … lots to do yet; Mark went shopping for pizza ingredients. 

It’s a riced cauliflower crust baked first … then toppings added. Truly experimental … turned out pretty tasty! Good job Mark. 

Did I mention our homeowners insurance more than doubled this renewal?  117% increase is ridiculous. So … we had a four-point inspection today and have a plied for insurance from another company. We shall see. 

Wednesday, August 3, 2022

Good morning sunshine! Mark was up early … apparently I was running in my sleep. 😂 It must have been fun as I can’t run since knee surgery. 🤨

Randy phoned last night. They’re thinking of bowling today … and we’ll join in the fun if they do. Makenna and Charlotte had a sleepover last night. 

Our granddaughter Hailey has a 15th birthday this month. Here in Florida she can get a beginner permit. I’m thinking a few lessons might just be the thing. We’ll see what Matt thinks. 

Randy and Dawn were going bowling today with Charlotte and Makenna . So, we tagged along and had some fun. Mark bowled really well … me, very bad. 😳 

Tuesday, August 2, 2022

Good morning. It seems I haven’t blocked for a day or two, been a little busy around here. Yesterday, we went to K’s and did a few little projects. 

Then, we went to a shower door store, and got a crazy quote for a shower door. Heck, I’ve bought cars for less money. 😂

One of the projects was to put a Gila film on the garage window. it’s kind of expensive, but blocks the heat of the sun and gives privacy but still allowing the light to come in. The toughest part was peeling the film to get it started. Yikes.  Mark was laughing at the before and after pictures, so the first one was the Polish version and the next one the American version. 😂

Yesterday morning we went and got our shingles shots. We go back again in two months for the second one. Fortunately, it was covered on our prescription benefits as the shot would be $220 otherwise.  

So after a delicious dinner, Mark and I sat on the front porch with the kids. We had some light rain and a nice cold downdraft. It dropped to 78° and we enjoyed drinks on the front porch. now, it’s 9 o’clock and time to watch ‘the secret of Skin walker Ranch.’ I tell you, it is the best show out there! Love those scientists.