Wayne's Day ... 3-7-16

Yes, it's Wayne's birthday! Happy happy dear brother-in-law! Enjoy your Mediterranean cruise!

It's a bright, beautiful start to our week! Yes, the door is open and the dogs are watching squirrels (quietly!)

Randy and Scott arrived on their bikes at 11:15 to go to Okeefe's by boat for lunch with us. It was a nice ride with the wind at our backs; through the Dora Canal and onto Lake Dora. We tied up at Wooten Park and walked to Okeefe's where we sat on the patio. Tuna melts, burgers and Reuben sandwiches were devoured. 

Scott and Randy hoisting a beer at noon! Thanks Kyle ... the Scotch Harvest beer was pretty good. LOL

After lunch, we walked over to the Ruby Street Grill for Scott's photo sitting in the big beach chair. LOL

Scott was a good sport! (Hee hee ... you should have seen him getting out of the chair!) 

By 2:30 we were home playing Mexican Dominoes. 

Belize loves uncle Randy too. She helped him play dominoes. 

Tonight we relaxed, brushed the doggies and watched The Voice. 

Bonnie and Roger were busy at their home unpacking from the weekend dog show trip. They ran out to grocery shop and came home to loose puppies. LOL. Fortunately, it wasn't any worse than pee to mop up. Guess what they bought at the store ... DSO! LOL. Bonnie said they're hooked. Oh that totally refreshing orange sparkle! Yum. 

Okay, that's it for us. Mz B is giving me the look. It's bedtime! Where are our treats? Ta ta til tomorrow. 

Lunch on the Dead River 3/6/16

Good morning! Yes, it's bright and beautiful ... perfect for a boat ride to Palm Gardens. 

The cypress trees are showing a hint of green ... Spring is on the way! 

Robbie had a chair but Belize sat on dad's lap for some chicken and fries. We had jalapeño poppers, a ham sandwich and buffalo chicken ... plus a few fries. It was so busy there! 

"The Sage and the Apprentice" said one admirer. LOL. Another walked past Robbie sitting on a chair and gently ran her hand around his face. He was stoic but gave ME a look for guidance. Good dog!

Back home we relaxed with the kids and puttered about the house. It was time to clean the medicine cabinet(s) of out-of-date leftovers. While I was cleaning out our 3 mirrored cabinet over the bath sink, I opened the far right mirror door before the middle one was totally closed. Well, that was a big disaster! The right mirror door popped out of its hinge and fell toward the center cabinet, breaking BOTH its hinges! Yep, 3 hinges snapped on 2 doors! Mark is going to try our secret nato crypto glue from the 2015 RV show. It's amazing stuff! We'll see ...

Randy, Dawn & Scott showed up on their bikes for happy hour aboard "Mrs R B". We didn't know but it was Scott's FIRST ride aboard! How could that be we all said? 

Uncle Randy loves Mz BeeZee. Cute!

Well, we poured some drinks and took (another) cruise. 

Mz B played hard to get, but Robbie welcomed Scott. It was lovely putt-putting into Sunset Bay and down to the Gator Hole. 

After feeding the kids at home, we headed to Stavros for delicioso dinners! That place is a great bargain! Tomorrow, another perfect cruising day is planned. 

Tonight, it's THE LAST Downton Abbey episode. We're going to miss our British "family".  It's been a great 6 year series! 

Ta ta for now. 

Spring cleaning – 3-5-16

Good morning. We woke up to sunshine and cooler temperatures. The SpaceX rocket that went up yesterday successfully launched its' satellite, returned to the "at sea" pad ... landed ... BUT unfortunately, of the four landing legs failed to descend. Darn it all. It sat for a second or two before it tipped sideways and exploded. Wha-wa. 

Awesome! Landing the rocket safely at sea!

It's thought one landing leg failed due to freezing. :-(

Anyway, it's spring cleaning here at our house. Mark installed the new (summer) light for the dogs outback while I began spring cleaning my craft room. (We've had the doors and windows open a lot. That's what I get for living large; dust.) LOL. That was a 4 hour task!

Randy, Dawn and Scott went to Daytona Beach for the day on the bikes. Sue and Wayne are doing last minute things before their Mediterranean cruise.

We puttered ... relaxed ... played with the doggies and had an excellent day. Tonight, pasta! So that's it for today. Ta ta. 

Bowling for $$$ ... 3-4-16

Good morning y'all. Yes, it's a bright beautiful morning, again, so I won't mention it. LOL

Did you watch the Republican "Debate" last night? Egad, indecent insults ... it was ridiculous. I'm wondering if this is the final demise of the grand old party? 

So our first stop of the day was to drop off items at our Humane Society's store. After that, we went to meet Randy and Dawn at the bowling alley. It was a blast today! We always have fun but today was FUN. LOL. Lane 12 had a red pin mixed in the lot that popped up in random spots. For some strange reason, it really threw us off! (It was like the red high heels on the table at Granny's Attic!) We'd take aim at the head pin but the ball went straight for the red pin. Heehee. 

Reasonably "good" scores for the "Would've-Could've-Should've Team".  

Randy loved it when Mark had to toss $2 into the tin! (Dawn, Randy & I pay on gutter balls ... Mark pays when he fails to get 3 strikes in a game.) In all, $5 went into the box (plus $3 in winnings from the last GBF lotto ticket winnings) ... so $8 in scratch-offs for next time. 

Put the bill in the box Mark! ;-)

That darn RED pin! Haha. 

Scott arrives this afternoon to rondevous with RanDawn for a Daytona Beach bike outing tomorrow. The weather is forecast to be mid 80; perfect. 

This evening, Mark and I stepped outside to watch the SPACEX Falcon 5 rocket launch ... and off to the ISS. 

Fabulous! What a great era we're living in. 

Speaking of fab ... my sweet Belize gives great kisses! 

Ta ta til tomorrow. Enjoy your Friday night!

Yard Sale - 3-3-16

Bonjour. Francaise? How much? Got any gold/silver/guns? (And that's how we rolled out of bed this morning.) LOL. Ya gotta love the tire kickers that arrive too early for a community yard sale. Mark and Lew checked out each other's loot  before the first buyers arrived. 

So, good morning. It's a chilly 55° climbing to 81 today. Robbie and Belize are having a blast looking out the screened garage door. Robbie is quiet, but Belize has a low throaty growl for whoever walks up to Mark! 

I've mentioned before that both Robbie and Belize have the same mom, Rosie. Rosie is the Scottie on the right. 

She is a retired showgirl as well, and now lives in Tulsa with pal Bridget. (What a great picture!) Speaking of shows, Bonnie and Roger are enroute St. Louis with all 5 kids in their travel crates. (We don't know how they manage as we were loaded up cruising home with two dogs and luggage from Tulsa!) Haha. 

Well, we sold $105.50 of our meager offerings. Seriously, we've sold so much on eBay in 14 months we're almost out of excess stuff. Awesome, right?

Tomorrow, we have a box of goodies to drop off at our local Humane Society resale shop. Mark is starting a lighting project for the dog's fenced area. During the summer months, we get blind mosquitoes. They don't bite, are related to fishflies, but tiny, about the size of a mosquito. If you have a white light on your house (or even a white stucco house) they are attracted to it. Hence "Blind Mosquitos!" So, Mark puts a light out on a tree away from the house or, in the case of the dogs yard, mounted on the fence facing away from the house. Brilliant! That's my guy! ;-)

We had such a laugh this afternoon with Robbie and Belize on a major dog run. It lasted three or four minutes and both were huffing and puffing afterwards. LOL. I saw it commenced with Belize! Good girl. Robbie-dog needed some exercise today. LOL. Other than being outside for the garage sale, it's been an indoor type of day. Volusia County has a controlled burn going on and we are getting ash and smoke from it 40 miles away. Phew. 

Rick and Ruth have made it safely to Tucson Arizona. (Or "Tuck-sun" as a Winnipeg friend once called it.) LOL. She was a hoot. Bernice Gingel.  I knew her at United Grain Growers, UGG. Anyway, I digress. LOL. Rick and Ruth are getting new tires put on their coach before leaving on Saturday.  

So that's it for tonight. We sat on the porch for a few minutes, but the neighborhood is a-buzz getting ready for tomorrow's garage sale, again. So ta ta for tonight. It was a good day here. I hope yours was too.

RV Project Done - 3/2/16

Darn. I woke up too hot at 2 a.m. and crept to the kitchen for ice water. Both doggies were sound asleep in their beds. Ten minutes later, BeeZee discovered me up and jumped on my lap. Sweet girl. 

Good day! Yes, it's a front door open kind of day, again! Gotta love winter in Central Florida. Mark cooked bacon & eggs for us and an egg (to share) for Belize and Robbie. They've been eating well ... it's time to weigh the kids at our vet office. The new clipper arrived a couple of days ago for trimming dog faces. 

Today was "the" test. Mr. Squirmy, Robbie was totally relaxed for Mark! No more Mr. Bunny Ears! LOL. 

Bob and Jill arrived home safely to their Sadie who had been boarded for a month! She apparently had a great time and played well with the "big dogs".  

Jill was able to check the WebCam and see Sadie, a Hovawart, having a blast with her pals. I'm willing to bet that she was very happy to see her mom and dad come for her! It's time to get back to the woods and wolf patrol. Yes, really. 

This afternoon, I finished touching up the new RV bead board wall.

It's a little difficult to see it with the bright sunshine coming in through the open door but it looks nice; a metallic glow. 

Another RV project was to add a steel sheet behind the canvas. Now my Route 66 oil painting functions as a magnetic display board. 

Cool idea, eh? We'd gathered several mementos and ran out of display space. 

Tonight, it was dog playtime, brushing and walking. By 8:30 the kids were into chill mode. I hopped into the hot tub to relax a cranky back while Mark enjoyed a fishing show. 

Tomorrow morning we have a community garage sale and we have several "bigger" items to display. As Sue knows, I usually sell out due to give-away prices. LOL. Hey, we don't like to haul things back in. 

So that was our day. Sue, Wayne, Lynne & Les went for dinner at the Elks in Pompano Beach. The food and music is generally good there. 

Ta ta til tomorrow. 

Beware the Ides of March 2016

Good morning. Yes, it's another bright beautiful sunshiny day. The door is open and the birds are singing. Life is good.

When Rick and Ruth visited, they brought a ponytail palm plant for us. The funny thing is, we had just bought one for ourselves for the backyard! Yesterday, Mark put it into a bronze pot with plenty of new soil. We decided it will reside on our front porch. At the moment, it's on a table, but as it grows taller, it will be put the floor. So, thank you Rick and Ruth. It looks great; a good idea. Muah. 

We phoned RanDawn's to check on the travelers trip to Winnipeg; but they hadn't talked to Bob 'n Jill yet. Their flight home was a midnight arrival. Later today, Randy & Dawn are dropping over for a visit. Yay. 

Mark and I decided on a couple games of bowling on our way to Walmart. Hmm, Mark did well, me, dreadful. More practice is needed. I cannot go 10 days between bowling outings. Blah!

Back home with all our groceries and loot, we put things away and prepared for Randy and Dawn's visit. They arrived about 530 having just visited Mary, Brandon and Brandon Junior, five months. Mark put salsa and chips on the Sunroom bar and we had drinks there. Tonight, Robbie was happy to sit on the floor, while Belize wanted a barstool. Boy, she caught on quick! LOL

Uncle Randy and aunt Dawn cuddling  Mz BeeZee. (She gave lots of kisses!)

Robbie decided enough was enough. I put him on the barstool, and he gave aunt Dawn a big kiss. LOL

Rairnt! (As they say in Tennessee.) haha. 

So, hors d'oeuvres were done, and it was time to serve the pizza. Mark asked me to bring in the bottles of wine. That was a simple request, right? OMG you won't believe what happened.

I carried the two carafes of wine, one Chardonnay and the other Cabernet. As I went to set them down, I accidentally clinked the two bottles together, and as you can see, the bottom fell off one carafe and red wine went everywhere!!! We all stood stunned for a minute. Mark put the dogs on the back patio in case there were any glass shards. As it turned out, the base of the carafe fit perfectly on the bottle ... a clean break! I found our carpet cleaner, while Randy poured white wine over the spilt red wine to neutralize it. Yes folks, that's what you do. White wine over red wine erases it.

WTH? Thank heavens we own a carpet cleaner! A few minutes later, we had it all cleaned up, like it never happened. Dawn said her "crash, boom, bang" was catching!  LOL. Perhaps it was just reusing our wine carafes too often. It was total glass fatique! LOL. Heck; where can you go for a floor show with pizza?

By the way, here's a pic of our 90% done  backsplash project. Nice eh?

So that's it for tonight. Randy and Dawn headed home at 9:30 as she works tomorrow. Mark and I finished tidying up and started the dishwasher. The tablecloth came out of the washer looking clean. All's well. LOL. Ta ta til the morrow.