Friday, March 31, 2023

Good morning. Mark is off taking some items to the Humane Society store while he goes to the Home Depot to pick up supplies for putting a gutter alongside the RV roof. I guess we are starting our conversion already. Ha ha. There’s never a dull moment in this house.

In our area March came in like a lamb and is leaving like a lamb. It has really been a beautiful month. Yes we have had some wind, but virtually no rain nor bad weather. How has Mark been in your area? Lamb? Or a lion? 

Thursday, March 30, 2023

Good afternoon! It’s beautiful weather here today. I’ve just come home from Rose’s game day where I played Rummicube with Elaine, Carol and Nancy. It’s always a nice time catching up on the neighborhood news. 

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Good morning y’all. It’s another day in paradise, just a tad cooler than yesterday. 

Nancy got a new ball 🎳

Mark ran the day’s errands while I tidied the homestead and measured the RVport for its metamorphosis. 😅 It’s only in my head so far … using the far end 20’ for a screened swim spa. The concrete pad is already there 🤷‍♀️ … need the electrical looked at but otherwise 🤩 it’s easy-peasy. The RVport portion could be screened with a doorway OR the swim spa with a screened gazebo around it. There’s already a side-door from the house to it. 

This afternoon we’re meeting our new bowling team member at the AMF to order her new ball and bowl a couple games practice. The summer league starts April 10th. 🥳🤩🎳🏆

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Good afternoon. It’s eBay listing day here at our house. Mark was up early getting the Dodge ready for its detail appointment. Well, 9 o’clock came and went and no sign of our detailer. When I checked into it, they had our records, but no appointment set. So, we had to start over again For next Tuesday. It’s a good thing we didn’t start an ad for the truck yet. 

It’s 8:30 and I’m putting eBay on the back burner til Thursday. Mark’s been cleaning up the driveway and RVport … always puttering about. 🥰

Monday, March 27, 2023

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS 🎳 🤩

Can you believe it? Our very first year of league bowling and we held onto 1st place for 4 weeks … then won the playoffs!!!

Yay us!!

The Chickadees won the first game and made us work for the next games. In the end we won 3 of 4 games. 🥳

After coming home to feed the kids we went to Applebee’s for burgers and drinks! It was fun. 

That’s our story for the day! 🏆 

Sunday, March 26, 2023

It’s another day in paradise. Mark and Wayno tromped about the woods this morning and spotted coyotes and a turkey. The mornings are cool … but the afternoons are heating up. 

It’s mostly a hangout type of day. The kids and I made popcorn 🍿 bit Mark’s not into that so he ate banana chips. Watching the Bass Masters, Jeff Gustafson’s in first place. We met him out fishing in Kenora a few years back. Cool guy. 

Sue and Diane are digging up treasures for me to put on eBay! It’ll be a good job for me on Tuesday while our Dodge is getting detailed. Mark has started pressure washing the RVport floor … guessing paint is next. 

It’s golf cart ride time before we meet the K’s for dinner! 

Dinner at Stavros was good! We always have some laughs and tonight was no exception. 😂 Back home was American Idol … but Mark fell asleep after eating pasta. 🤣

Saturday, March 25, 2023

Well it was a very big day for us. Our Brookstone went with it’s new family. They’re a wonderful couple, about 10 years behind us, just retired and ready to travel. They’re heading to Oklahoma City first … then Connecticut. Happy trails. 

Well, what’s next for us? Selling our big Dodge dually. We’ll have it detailed and listed soon. It’s totally set up for hauling. 

Yesterday’s bowling was a struggle. Mark thinks it has something to do with bowling two days in a row. We won one game out of three. No problem. Perhaps we’ll do well on Monday! That’s our wish! 

Our weather jumped up to 91 … it was nice sitting on the front porch this evening with a great breeze! 

Here’s the aurora borealis over Mackinac island last night. 

Ta ta til tomorrow. 

Thursday, March 23, 2023

Good morning. Mark was up early to go turkey hunting with Wayno! It was a beautiful morning, in the upper 50s. I know they will enjoy their hike today.

Later on, we are meeting Lynn, Steve, Nancy, and our new teammate Linda at the bowling alley for practice. Linda will be joining us on the summer league.  

Oh what a fun afternoon we had! Linda hadn’t bowled for 30 years … but she picked it up by the 2nd game. We’re in good shape for summer league play. 🎳

Nancy was on Lynn & Steve’s roster today. Since there were six of us we took 2 lanes with 3 on each and rotated. (Mark didn’t take a pic of their scores.) 

Mark and Wayno saw deer and turkeys today … no shots fired. 😂 

Kim and Bob were on their porch this evening and called in a barred owl. 

TWO owls came … and one landed on their pool screen! 😂

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Good morning. It’s been one of setting appointments for the dogs semi annual bloodwork panels, and dermatologist appointments for us.  This was all complicated by the ringer on my phone being turned way down. The dermatologist office called me back twice but of course I didn’t get it. Oh well, it’s fixed now. We also had a problem with one of our blink cameras. As usual, taking the batteries out and letting it reset, seems to have fixed it. It’s amazing how letting things reset tends to curate in this new technological era. 😂

Lovely spider’s web dressed with dew. 

My big job today was listing some clothing on eBay for Shih Tzu rescue. It’s very time consuming but in the end, satisfying to get it on there. Mark jas gone grocery shopping and tonight we are meeting friends for dinner.  

Lollygaggers was quite nice. We had a big table for us six … Kim & Bob and Wayno & LaDonna. It wasn’t busy so we had good service. It sure was fun getting together … always some laughs. 

Tuesday March 21, 2023

Good afternoon sunshine! When Mark got home from his trail hike he found me into some spring cleaning, between laundry and floor mopping. 😂

I’d emptied the front porch … so we together washed the screens, walls and furnishings. Hopefully pollen season is over! Everything smells so clean now. Then I moved the plant stands out to the porch from the Sunroom … then the plants. It looks nice … ready for spring cocktails on the porch! 

We took the kids for a ride on the Caddy and saw Bob was outside. He was getting things together to plant some trees! It’s been a work in progress for them. Last month they had a new lawn put in! 

Monday, March 20, 2023

Good afternoon! It’s a bright, beautiful sunshiny one here in Central Florida.  

We bowled today … and only won 1 game! Drat. We might still be in first place for next week’s playoffs. 

Earlier today we dished up another batch of homemade food for the kids. 

Looks good eh! Pork loin, rice, cauliflower, spinach, kidney beans … and that’s just what I see. (Mark’s the chef.) 

Guess that’s it for today. 🤷‍♀️

Sunday March 19, 2023

Good afternoon! We had a boating day planned but it’s a bit chilly … so Mark and I went bowling instead. As it turned out, the weather wasn’t as forecasted. The wind is just 9 MPH out of the NNW … and it’s 67. Still, we do prefer 80F. 

Mark chatting it up with a local pro who is still kicking butt at 79 years young. 

RanDawn called tonight and updated us on Scott’s troubles with inappropriate food at the rehab facility. Ha ha … it does sound awful. That’ll be motivation to get home asap. 

American Idol is on tonight … one of our favorites. 

Saturday, March 18, 2023

Good morning! It’s S A T U R D A Y 🤩 and a day to putter about the house! First up, the plants! A few needed repotting and tidying up. 

This mix is working well for the indoor plants! Prior, I was using Miracle Grow and the plants we’re developing burnt leaves. Too much “food” in the mix? Or not enough drainage? 🤨

Mark helped me repot the big fern … the leaves are 3’ long! Mostly though, we just needed a quiet day. It’s been a couple of stressful weeks. Today was chill. 

KimBob are visiting their newest grandson, Ollie. 

He looks just like his grandpa… same attitude with the finger. 🤣 Bet Ollie likes Merle Haggard. 🎶

Scott is doing well with his new hip … 🎶 He’s doin’ the hippy hippy shake 🎵 🤣 Friday was therapy, the weekend free then therapy starting Monday. Keep getting better Scott! We’re all pulling for you. 

After walking the kids we sat on the front porch. Mark had a big Cuban ceegar and Scotch. I had a rum and lime. Now it’s TV time. Ta ta til tomorrow. 

Friday, March 17, 2023

Happy St. Patrick’s Day ☘️ y’all … 

it was news to me but we’ve all been these cuties at some time in our history 🤷‍♀️

………………………………………………………..

This afternoon was bowling with the Friday league. It was fun, a great team to bowl with. In the end, we won three out of four games. After bowling, we invited Nancy back to have corn beef and cabbage with us. Mark had started the crockpot this morning and it was fantastic. Nancy brought a bottle of Prosecco and a party was had.  ☘️ 

Now tonight is just relaxing and watching some TV. There was a launch of a rocket at 7:50, but too cloudy here for us to see … rain is expected tomorrow. 

Thursday, March 16, 2023

Good morning sunshine! We love life in Central Florida. 

Just another pretty bird local to our region. 

For us it was grocery shopping … some high fiber foods for the pantry and some frozen meals I like. Then, we dropped the Kia off an alignment and oil change and went bowling on lane 23. We both got turkeys. Ha! On the way home Kia phoned. 🙄 “They” won’t do an alignment until we buy new tires … and guess what? Kia has a tire sale on right now!!! Geez, we don’t have many miles on the SUV yet. 

Congratulations to Scott 🥳 … successful hip replacement surgery done today and he’s already been up walking! 😎 Cool dude! Keep walking. 

Aurelia called tonight. She and Tony are enjoying their travels but next year’s trip will be straight to Ft. Lauderdale in January. The pesky automatic step is now working. Yay! It was a magnetic switch in the door. 

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Good morning. I can’t believe it’s 47° and drizzling. No wonder I slept in until 8 o’clock today. Actually, it’s the time change, and my body thinks it’s 7 o’clock. Whatever, Time to get up and get the day moving.

Well that was fun! Mark came back from walking the kids and said our neighbor’s SUV had front end damage. I was making a cuppa and got distracted, concerned about Nikki and her dogs. After talking with her and learning she was just shaken up, no injuries in either vehicle, I went back to my coffee. HA! My coffee was all over the floor and down the face of the dishwasher! Yup, I’d forgotten to put a cup under the spout. 🙄😂 If that was the first time it’s happened … but it wasn’t. Now I need a checklist for making coffee. 🤣

Sue and Wayne had lunch with Jack & Carol today. It’s about a year and a half since we’ve seen them at Bella Roma.  

Mark’s doc visit was good today! Now we make changes to his diet. 

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

Good morning! We’re up and out early meeting our RV buyer in The Villages to sign paperwork. Sue had some donations for eBay anyway so it’s a combo trip. 

It cooled down overnight and I needed a long sleeve shirt! Darn. Mark is still in shorts and a t-shirt. 

With the paperwork signed it’s a done deal. 🥳 The buyer couldn’t get an appointment for new plates in his County til next Tuesday. So, the rig stays here for a few days. No problem. 

It was game day at Nancy’s this afternoon where we played Chasing Marbles and Mexican Train Dominoes. It was lovely … nice breeze coming off the lake. 

I gave my sweetie a fresh haircut for his doctor visit tomorrow. 🥰

We’re relaxing tonight watching Night Sky on Amazon. It’s caught our attention. 

Sue & Wayne were out to Longhorn’s tonight with friends from the yacht club. Hope it was fun. 

Randy golfed today … first time after hip replacement in January! He did a 97 …. very good considering all. After that he and Dawn took the grandies bowling! Dawn scored a 117 in the 3rd game! Tomorrow they’re going to the movies!

Lynne S was at granddaughter Kylie’s hockey game … amazing what they’re into nowadays.

Sweetest hockey player ever! Lynne is an ardent fan! 

That’s it for today! Ta ta til tomorrow. 

Monday, March 13, 2023

Good evening! It’s been a busy day! This morning we were in touch with our RV buyer who wired their payment to us. It’s official. We’ve sold our Brookstone RV. Tomorrow we will meet them and hand over the title and keys so they can get their insurance in place and license plate. It’s a big deal … Mark and I have been RVers for 17 years! What’s next for us? Who knows. 😂

This afternoon we bowled … and we are still in first place! The team we bowled against was pretty evenly matched. We won the first two games, they won the 3rd game. 🎳

One of the bowlers, Reese, asked us out to dinner. So we met him at Applebee’s for burgers! It was great … had a nice time getting to know him. (He’s taken a shine to Nancy.) 

So that was our day! 

Sue and Wayne played Bingo tonight in Margate …

Sue said it was challenging as the caller sounded like Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther movie. 🤣

Sunday, March 12, 2023

Good morning. Welcome to daylight savings time. Ha ha, I absolutely hate time changes and wish we could just stay on this! We, the people of Florida voted for this years and years ago, but apparently it has to go through Congress or some such nonsense. 🙄

😂

Mark is calling this palm Sunday as he is trimming one of the palm trees before landscape bulk pick up on Monday morning. 😂 I see that Easter is quite late this year, maybe we could manage to put a ham on the table for a family dinner. 

Saturday, March 11, 2023

Good morning. We were up extra early as we have a person interested in looking at our RV which we have listed for sale. They texted they were on the way from Tampa heading home to South Carolina. I don’t know if that speaks well or not. We shall see.

Nice couple moving from Tampa to Ocala … don’t know where we got SC from? 🤷‍♀️

Our RV showing went well … it might just be sold. Time will tell. 

Our friend Rick called from Kelona BC today. We had a good chat. He is looking forward to knee replacement surgery in April. Hopefully, he will get down to Florida for a visit but in the meantime is planning his usual fishing trip to Malachi lake in Ontario. Maybe he will see Sue and Wayne this summer.  

Friday March 10, 2023

Friday was Pam‘s funeral in Apple Valley, Minnesota. Mark had found her old friend John who was so sad to hear the news. He had spoken with Pam just the Thursday before she passed. At that time she had talked about moving out of the area to Nashville or Florida. At that point, she had not made up her mind apparently.

FAMILY did a beautiful job getting things done.

It snowed, quite a lot, and more was expected on Saturday. Paula said it was an icy landing on Thursday! 

Goodbye Pam. You’re missed. 😥

Thursday, March 9, 2023

Good evening. Today was catching up on household things! Sue brought me a few bags for eBay! I spent some hours researching and starting the listings. 

Tomorrow, Mark will take the eBay pictures! Then I can finish listing and catalogue them. It’s what we do to help animal rescues through donations. We were getting low on merchandise … and you never know what sells! 

So our English cousins Joan and Sylvia used to say “knock me up in the morning” and we’d laugh, obviously interpreting it incorrectly. 😂

So THAT’S what they meant!!! 🤣🤣🤣

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Good morning. It’s 10 o’clock, sunny and windy as all get out.  I only mention the wind because we are going boating today ha ha.

This is Jim’s last day in town and we wanted to get him out boating. We are not worried about Jim, but Sue might be cold and hanging onto her hat. 💨

It was windy, but not rough on the lake. We had a good lunch at The Waterfront Grill on Lake Eustis. The Reuben sandwiches were awesome said both Sue & Jim. Mark and I had salads, very good.

Back at the house Sue needed a coffee which sounded good to me! We had a nice visit! They’re going to Oakwood for ribs tonight! Good food there! 

Mark and I forgot to eat. 😂 We picked up Nancy at 4:30 and bowled 4 games! It was good practice! We’re tuned up for Friday’s games. 

Tuesday March 7, 2023

Good morning! It’s a bright, beautiful sunshiny morning here in Central Florida! 

Happy birthday Wayne! We’re looking forward to singing (off key) to you tonight. 🥳🎶🎂🥰

Last night’s pic of Wayne is a nice one … 

This explains why Wayne’s so young … 

Mark and I ran a few errands today before my 10:45 doctor appointment. We had an ebay sale … the 1st in a week. All was well at the doc’s office but he wants me to lose some weight. Hmmm, that’s a tall order. More salads … more veggies and less dense food. Blah 😂

Randy and Dawn got back to the gym today; first time since November. Randy said he’s older and wiser now therefore will not overdo it. Ha! 

One of our errands was picking up a custom drilled plastic bowling ball 🎳 for catching spares. I was really miffed that I missed several bunches of pins when my hook ball missed. If you’re a bowler, you’ll understand. 😂 

Dinner tonight was at the Havana club, in the villages. The food was amazingly good, quite noisy, but loads of fun. The service was very good. Happy birthday, Wayne.

Monday, March 6, 2023

Good morning. Mark was up a little earlier than I finishing up the batch of turkey meals for the kids. Today’s fun will be bowling in our Monday league. We are in first place, and hope to stay there for the next four weeks. Wish us luck, Big prizes in store! 🎳😂

We’re back home from a winning day bowling. Each game was close! We’re still in 1st place. It was a fun team we played except for one negative nellie. Oh well. 

Jim is going with the K’s to Applebee’s on the golf cart. That’ll be a fun time. 

Kris, Diane & Wayne … great picture. It looks like a fun night. 

Sunday, March 5, 2023

Good evening. It’s Sunday night and raining. I think I’m going to pour a drink and sit on the front porch with Mark. 

Tonight American Idol is on … our favorite! 

Mark’s making a batch of turkey CrockPet diet food that’ll cook overnight in the roaster. 

Saturday, March 4, 2023

Good morning! The sun is out with a stray shower possible later today! We need rain; we’re parched. 

It’s a day of odd chores and just life in general until we see the K’s and Jim G for steaks. Yum. 

So many laughs tonight! Thanks for the great steak dinner Sue & Wayne. 🥰 So nice to catch up with Jim!

Sun room dinner time. 

Friday, March 3, 2023

Good evening! It was a windy day and Lake Eustis was wild with rolling waves. 

We spent the morning hours stressing out while trying to arrange affordable flights to Minneapolis for Pam’s funeral. After all our mucking about we are not able to go. We have made plans with her son Bob to see them all in Florida in July. (When you’ve lived in Florida for eons you don’t own clothing suitable for a northern trip.) We are at peace with our decision. 

After lunch, we readied ourselves for Friday’s league bowling. Lynn was there but Steve was away fishing in St. Augustine with his son. So the 3 of us did our best but were beaten by (as Mark said) 4 old ladies. 😂 It’s true … they had a 100 point head start with their huge handicap. We couldn’t get in the groove. It was fun and a good bit of exercise. 

Back home, after supper of leftovers, we talked with family. 

On a fun note, Jim arrived for a few days visit. 

Welcome … looking good Jim. 

Thursday, March 2, 2023

Good afternoon. We’ve learned some very sad news today. Mark’s elder sister, Pam of Minneapolis Minnesota was found deceased in her home. We were expecting Pam to be our next visitor while she looked for a home in our area.  

Rest in peace Pam. 

Wednesday March 1st, 2023

I’m a day late starting the Blog. Wednesday was busy … and fun. Well later on …

I started with a doctor appointment for bloodwork … then the usual laundry list of chores. 

Meanwhile, Tony & Aurelia left our area for Florida’s panhandle beach! Happy trails!

After lunch, Mark, Lynne and I met Randy and Dawn at the bowling alley. Lynne was so happy to see them both. (RanDawn were the cheering section while we 3 bowled 3 games.) For the summer league Nancy, Mark and I needed a 4th for our team … RANDY! Of course he had to be convinced. 🎳⭐️😂 The league starts April 10th … plenty of time for his hip surgery recovery ❤️‍🩹. Dawn agreed. 😂 Randy made some jokes about bowling and bet I couldn’t convert a 7-9 split. 🥳🎳⭐️😎 Haha! I did it and no one was more surprised than I was. 🤣 Welcome to the team Randy!

By the way, Lynne has the potential to be a very decent bowler. We suggested she look into joining a summer league in Winnipeg.  

Dinner last night was Caesar Salad, portobello mushrooms and onions with wine. It was so nice to relax and chat. Lynne suggested a bonfire 🔥 and Mark made it happen! We sat outside til 10 o’clock!