Ya Ya's 1/7/16

Good morning from foggy Central Florida where it's 55°F. Mark left at 8 o'clock to scout a new hunting area. As hunting season is over Sunday, I suppose it's for next year. He needed to get out in the woods! 

Me? Well, it's routine household chores this morning, but tonight is our first YaYa's of 2016. Carol C. is hosting in Scottish Highlands with Margaritas and Mexican food. Ole! 

Since I finally had an eBay sale yesterday, it's time to list a few things I've been gathering. Yes, I still have painting to do on the bead board, but plenty of time as it won't be installed until after the granite countertops. 

Crystal posted this adorable picture of Avery in her Christmas outfit gift from Great Gigi in Florida. (Randy). 

YaYa's was excellent! Carol cooked a big feast for us complete with Cheese Cake & Key Lime Pie. 

Lynn, Nancy & Pat ... lots of fun! We were so full of wine and chocolate! 

Richard arrived home too early! Haha. Carol sent him to their office. 

When I arrived home at 8:30, Lew and Mark were watching President Obama in his Townhall meeting on proposed gun control. (They had eaten venison burgers and we're drinking wine. Happy happy.) 

Blacklist is on after this ... so Ta ta for now. 

Metallic Glaze? 1/6/16

Imagine our surprise when we found out our favorite faux glaze by Martha Stewart is out of production! Say it isn't so! We planned a metallic-look backsplash for the Orlando house. Back to the drawing board, or rather, Google. After half a dozen phone calls, I found 1 gallon of Benjamin Moore Studio Finishes Metallic Glaze for $127.33 at The Villages. It's not Martha Stuart, but it would do in a pinch. Hmmm, I recall paying $60 (or so) when Home Depot carried Martha's label. At that price, it's worth looking at other ideas!

Well, that settles that. I went to Home Depot and found Hammered Silver and Hammered Copper enamel paint. So, at $11.88 a quart, Hammered copper it is. LOL. When I got home from the store, Mark had transformed the sunroom into a work room with drop cloths and the panels laid across our pool table and a portable table. Voila! We can easily get three coats on here. 

This morning, we dropped Robbie at the vets for his very first dental. Although the vet said his teeth are clean and he doesn't need it, we've noticed him rubbing his face with his paw. Something must be bothering the little guy. The vet phoned at 11:30 to say his dental was finished and Robs was in the recovery room. We're out of sorts without our Robbie helping with the chores. At 3:30, we will pick him up.

Since were not going to be painting in the carport, due to cooler weather, Mark backed the RV into its port. I'd like to put new backsplash in there, but maybe after we get back from Tulsa. I've been reading up on smart tiles, gel infused vinyl tiles that look like glass. They are very expensive, but not heavy like ceramic or glass tile would be. And of course, weight is an issue in the RV.

Ha ha. Mark tried the hammered copper paint but did not like it. He went to Home Depot to exchange it and try and have Home Depot color match Martha Stewart's gold paint. Twice they tried, and could not get it even close. So, we are now going to do it hammered silver. This should look nice on the backsplash as Sue is thinking stainless appliances are in order. 

Robbie is home, guzzled some water, ate half a dinner and is now having a snooze.  We're going to relax and watch the boob tube tonight. Ta ta. 

Workday 1/5/16

The wind was fierce last night whipping tree branches and moaning around the eaves. But we were so comfortable in bed we didn't want to get up. Haha. So there it is. Even working one day in the week it's the very morning we want to sleep in. 

Sue & Wayne's Shih Tzu, Julius, has had more seizures. Poor guy! Sue is quite the detective and found this article on Rosemary Extract. It's in many dog food treats!

I checked Robbie's treats ... and it's in there. Guess I'll be baking cookies for the dogs now! I wonder if brown rice cakes would be OK for them?

Today, I finished painting the garage floor while Mark wired outlets on the kitchen peninsula. We met John, the kitchen cabinet installer, who works for Jamie, K's realtor. He was very pleasant, and told Mark he had been working in the business 30 years and not seen quality workmanship in a renovation house like we did. He raved about our wonderful painting with accurate lines and rolled smoothly. Then he complimented the clean grout lines. Haha. Actually, it was very nice to hear. 

We picked up our RV at 3 o'clock and all  was fine. I love our new quad steps. Giant Recreation did a lot of work for the money. We were happy to get it home, and halfway parked into the RV port.

 

These are our new quad steps. I love them, as they make getting into the RV so much easier on my back. 

As we had more things to get at Home Depot, we jumped into the Mountaineer and went to pick up the wood for our backsplash project. There, we met Randy and Dawn, looking at tile for a bathroom renovation. 

The four of us came to our place and ordered Domino's pizza, drank wine and watched Teresa Caputo, Long Island Medium. Mark started a fire as it was a cool evening. Lovely. We really enjoyed it. Since Dawn works tomorrow, they were off to home by 9 o'clock. Tomorrow morning, Robs goes to the vet for a dental cleaning and pedicure. 

And that was our day. A bit hectic, but as always, fun. Ta ta. 

T-Town Prep - 1/4/2016

Good morning from chilly Central Florida. (It's nearly time to take the cover off the fireplace!) 

Last night, I pulled 2 suitcases from our guestroom closet and sorted through the travel-size items on hand. We're used to traveling in our RV, which is simple. Planning for a road trip with suitcases is something unusual. LOL  So, after sorting through things, I have a list for Walgreens travel section! Mark and I will have to travel light as one suitcase will be designated for Robbie's things ... really! 

Bonhaven Island Girl (aka Belize) strutting her stuff. This sweet 18 lb Scottie will be joining our home ...

and Robbie will be reawakened!

Are we getting her soon Mom?

Did you know our RV is still at Giant  Recreation World? A new gearbox was ordered for the front jacks plus 4-step entrance stairs. (The kitchen cabinets were installed Saturday at K's Orlando house and we were hoping to pick up the RV after inspecting them.) We may just have to drive over to the Orlando house and pick up the RV another day. Rather than guessing, I phoned Giant and spoke with Ricky. Our landing gear is done and they are waiting for the steps to arrive. Nice. We're close to getting our RV home again! 

This afternoon I began the income tax gathering of papers. Mark helped by going through our postage receipts ...

and cutting the extra junk off the receipts. By the look of it, it's a big job! 

Tomorrow, we're going to the Orlando house again. We have 1/4 of the garage floor to paint, measure for appliances, purchase backsplash beadboard and prime it. On our way home, we'll go 1 exit south on the 429 to Giant to pick up our RV. (The bill is unfortunately over $1800!) Ka-Ching!

Robbie, Mark and I had a nice walk this afternoon in the 67F air. Jazzy (and Jim) were out too, then Lew came along. It was a yack-fest for a few minutes. Neighbor Maryann & Kurt were having a new dock built for a new pontoon boat. Things are looking up in the hood. LOL. 

It's happy hour now. Robs had a good feast of brown rice, peas and chicken tonight. Us? We're having Tortilla Soup that Lynn sent over in our bowl from yesterday's chicken soup. She wisely stayed home from work today. 

Haha! A fire tonight!!! Love it. :-)

That's all the news today. Ta ta. 

Sunday 1/3/16

Good morning! It rained last night and we have a cool 54F. (Nice for us Floridians, not so much for the snow birds!). Lynne and Les took us to Billy's Café for omelettes this morning. Then, at 11:30, they were away to Pompano Beach and their hotel. Meanwhile, Sue called and was going to Costco. She offered to bring them a (big) rotisserie chicken for their dinner. We had a wonderful, fun visit with our Stevenson pals! 

It was laundry time for me back at home while Mark made a batch of chicken and rice soup. He took some over to Lew and Lynn as she is down with a cold following their anniversary cruise. For our lunch we finished the apple pie with ice cream from last night's feast. Lynne makes it from scratch with lots of apples and cinnamon. Their old neighbor grafted 3 types of apples onto 1 tree and it produces nice big apples. 

Well, both Mark and I had a big nap when we sat down after eating the pie. Haha. With the sound of light rain, it was perfect for a snooze. 

Lyn & Tony (London) sent a pic of their grandchildren. 

Lindford, Elisha, Sophie, Hudson, Landon & Freya ... all growing up beautifully. (Thanks Lyn!)

Tonight, Jim Gauthier's cottage construction is on Timber Kings. Unfortunately, it's only on in Canada at this time. Drat. Mark and I will have to contend ourselves with watching Downton Abby tonight. We look forward to seeing Jim's property this summer.

Bonnie and Roger had the pups dressed up for the holidays.

I especially liked Miss Pink in her fuzzy jacket. (They haven't been named yet and are known by their ribbon color tied on at birth.) Ain't she sweet!!!

Well that's it for today. I hope your Sunday was grand. Ta ta. 

Lynne's Dinner Party 1/2/16

Good day y'all. I'm the only one up at 3:30 ... thought I might find Lynne in the Livingroom already, but no! Haha. Mark is going hunting with Ben early today ... then we'll all go bowling (Dawn's at work til 8) ... followed by a dinner party here, hosted by Lynne. (She imported an apple pie from Canada for dessert!) We didn't see RanDawn yesterday as he cooked at a Veterans appreciation gathering at the Hideaway. Nice. 

Online shopping for Mz B and Robs yielded new collars and tags ...

Cute, eh!

Lynne took Robbie for his morning walk with my usual warning about our neighbor's unneutered male Schnauzer, Sammy. Half way down our street I heard Robbie's Scottish war cry as he and Sammy yelled at one another, safely from opposite sides of the street. LOL. GOOD JOB Lynne! 

Great pic of Kris & Diane on New Year's Eve ...

We took a drive to pick up Randy so he and Dawn wouldn't have two vehicles to drive home tonight. Bowling was crazy fun this afternoon! The Stevenson's donated to the gutter ball fund as well as Randy and me. Mark coached Les into throwing a couple more duds before Randy suggested Les was doing better without coaching. LOL

Lynne prepared her twice baked potatoes and a Caesar salad while Mark put the filet mignon on the Barbie. Wow! Delicious. Dawn arrived at 8:30 and Mark put her steak on. We'd all waited to enjoy Lynne's homemade apple pie, with ice cream. It was a lovely evening. RanDawn left for home by 10:30 as Dawn works tomorrow too. 

Sue and Wayne went to the Elks tonight. (Jack C is out of hospital and recovering at home which is good news, indeed!) Lynne and Les will be in South Florida tomorrow! I hope they'll join the bowlers there. 

It's now 11 and we're parked in the Livingroom watching hockey highlights. Ta ta til tomorrow. 

Friday 1/1/2016

Good morning, and happy new year. It's a bright beautiful start to our day with a high expected of 84°. Mark cooked us a breakfast of cheesy eggs, O'Brien potatoes and bacon. Robbie had an egg too! Les & Mark stayed home to prep for a boat ride while Lynne and I went to Walmart for tomorrow's steak dinner feast. 

The afternoon was perfect for a 3 hour putt-putt cruise around Lake Eustis. 

The weather was great ... partly cloudy with a slight breeze. Robbie enjoyed himself, and as Lynne said, so did the Stevenson's. 

Last year, Lynne took some crystals home to make a window hanging for their Livingroom. Well, she arrived with them ... needing some guidance. LOL. The components were still wrapped up. 

Mark cooked Fettucine with vodka sauce for our dinner while I puttered on the crystals. We all decided a quiet, relaxing evening sounded best. Wine was poured and we settled in to watch Tom Hanks in Castaway.