Wednesday, September 7, 2016

It's a right fine day here in Central Florida ... 79F (with a high of 88 by 5 o'clock.)

We loaded a cooler and took BeeZee and Robbie with us for a "Date-Day" lunch and 3 hour ride! 

It was gorgeous ... a 7 MPH wind. We cruised to downtown Eustis to see the new kids splash pad. It's well located, behind the big pool, alongside the lake. 

Robbie just chills on the boat! He's very laid-back!

Beez prefers testing every seat but stayed about 15 minutes beside Mark.

Robbie and BeeZee had grilled chicken while Mark had hot wings and I had a swamp salad. (Hey, my salad was delicious, but the name is gross!) LOL

Beez listened to the birds and enjoyed the wind. The Dead River is in the background. There was a beautiful breeze coming off Lake Eustis. 

Cruising home, Robbie on his lap, we had a wonderful afternoon. The rest of our day will include relaxing and watching a movies. 

Randy and Dawn are babysitting (young!) Brandon Junior today. Tonight, Dawn's son Brandon will be picking up his son, but not until Dawn cooks him a steak dinner! Not too shabby! Mom babysits and cooks for him. Ha. 

Sue and Wayne got on the road today about 10 and stopped for the night around Duluth, Minnesota by 8ish. It was a long day due to slower roads. 

That was our fun day! I hope your Wednesday was good too. 

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Good morning sunshine! We began the day in our usual lazy way. I made low-carb shakes for breakfast while we watched the news. 

We recorded the four part series of the 15th anniversary of 9/11. It sounds as though it might be very depressing, but a lot of details have come out that had never been released before. It's just amazing how unprepared we were for anything other than a cold war attack. It's on the History Channel in case you're interested in watching it. There is an entire generation who knows nothing about 9/11, so that too is another reason to re-air it. 

Mark took an eBay package to our post office while I readied a cooler for our afternoon boat ride with the Scotties. They stayed home yesterday while we cruised, so today was their fun time. 

It was breezy and perfect; not too warm. There were just enough little wavelets to splash and keep them interested. Haha. 

Robbie, at the bow is trustworthy; Mz BeeZee is still learning and sticks close by me. They really enjoyed their cruising time. (They don't know yet, but they're coming to lunch by boat with us tomorrow.) 

Crystal sent a cute pic of little Avery. She wants to help in the kitchen!

She's really intent on the task! Obviously she's been watching her grandmother Darlene, and mother Crystal making their family recipe cabbage rolls! I think we have another good cook coming up the ranks. 

Wowsa! Pie crust too! Awesome!

Sue and Wayne are having dinner with pal Rose tonight then leaving for home (Florida) first thing in the morning. We're looking forward to seeing them by Sunday. It's time; 64F in Kenora today as a high and dropping to 50 overnight. We wish them smooth roads and fair weather. Drive carefully. 

I just saw this on FB and had to share it. LOL ...

Ta Ta til tomorrow! 

Labor Day September 5, 2016

Happy Labor Day! (We are mighty pleased that we no longer have to labor at 9-to-5 jobs.) LOL ... But we did, we made a good living, and we gratefully celebrate along with our fellow Americans!

So, good morning. We have boating plans for today with family and friends! (The "poor" dogs will be on guard duty at home, pouting!) 

Everyone arrived right at 1 o'clock and so we loaded up and headed out. It was a perfect afternoon with a 14 MPH wind at our back's. 

Mark, Jim, Lew and Ken.  

Dawn and Randy cruising along!

Although it was still cloudy, it was a perfect temperature and wonderful afternoon.

Hurricane's had our table ready...

L-R ... Randy, Dawn, Lew, Rose, Jim, MOI, Ken, Pat, Lynn & Mark. Everyone's meal was very good. 

Pat ... Just enjoying the ride!

Mark, Lynn & Jim. 

Jim and moi. Haha. 

YEEHAW from Rose. 

I suspect we had too much fun! We cooled off before eventually heading home on the boat about  an hour and a half later. The kids were happy to see us, and we began a party on the patio with a game of Bimini ring toss. 

Is that a cup of coffee you're stirring Mark?

Well that was our day and evening.

Made in America! Party on!

Sunday, September 4, 2016

Good morning! Even though I'm up very early, I have a wee Scottie who is happy to see me, climb on my lap, snuggle and watch Ancient Aliens. Mz BeeZee, you are a wonderful sweetie. By comparison, although Robbie came to the Livingroom, eventually, he's not an early morning guy. Haha. I went back to bed and neither of us got up until 10!!! 

While we were outside last night, our quite athletic Scotties played on the shelves behind the patio bar! Robbie started this a few days ago. Mark was very concerned that he might catch a nail in the metal grid of the shelves. So, he cut up some rubber puzzle pieces and lined the shelf with them. Now the doggies love to sit back there and watch for lizards. 

As you can see, Ms. BZ is "monkey see, monkey do!" LOL 

I noticed last night that our huge sycamore tree was starting to show the very first affects of an early Florida winter. Well, maybe, but I do notice a tinge of yellow and red in the leaves. It would be wonderful if over the winter season we had a birdbath freeze. LOL. Hey, it's our equivalent of the four seasons. Ha! 

Our English cousins visited their ex-pats in California last month. What a good-looking group. 

Mark, Sharon, Sophie, Freya from London with Hudson, Kelly, Landon and Leigh who now live in Southern California. What a great family, always so much fun. 

RanDawn had a day on the bike planned. Sometimes they'll come by for a visit, but not today! Hopefully they had a good ride. 

We had a quiet day. Lew and Lynn invited us for a swim but we were just leaving to shop. So, we missed that invite. Rain messed up my boat ride plans, so, it was a (nice) quiet day. Tonight, a movie for us and fresh rawhides for Beez and Robs. Life is good. 

Sue and Wayne are closing up the cottage and plan to leave Wednesday. They might be here by Saturday. Yay. Usually they stay on our driveway but with it still too hot, they need 50 amp to run both A/C units. 

Tomorrow, we're planning a late lunch cruise! Yay. It's a good forecast for after lunch so we plan to leave at 1 o'clock. 

That was our day. Ta Ta. 

 

Saturday, September 3, 2016

"Shake, Rattle and Roll" sang Big Joe Turner ... and Tulsa Oklahoma rocked a 5.6 earthquake and rolled Bonnie and Roger right out of bed. Glasses were rattling! Here's the news ... 

(Mark and I were staying in our RV at Twin Fountains RV Resort in Oklahoma City during the 2011 quake. It was a very strange feeling being frightened and not able to control the source!)

I

Egad ... can you imagine the ado when a company in low lying Florida tried acid fracking right next to our sacred Everglades! Believe me, our schmarmy governor thought it would sneak past we Floridians! NO! They got a cease and desist order! Keep the pressure on our elected officials ... Florida has a fragile ecosystem. 

On the Florida election docket in November will be a constitutional amendment regarding SOLAR ENERGY. Please read it very carefully and vote "NO" on AMENDMENT #1 ...  (It is a badly worded amendment that "them" a monopoly over SOLAR ENERGY!!!)

Well, that was a bit of a mouthful to start our day!  LOL ... so, it's just a regular one here, fortunately. (Solar proponents wouldn't be generating much energy today as Hermine's tail end has blocked our sunshine, again today.)

It was a perfect day for Bowling. Can you believe it, Mark had 4 turkeys in three games of bowling plus spares and strikes. His scores were 157, 235 and 177 ... Wowsa! Yes, I bowled too and my scores were 90 (yucky!) 115 and 121. It was $1 day, so cheap entertainment and lots of fun.

Well, that's enough yak for today. It's snuggle buggle time with the doggies! Mz Beez wants to sit on my arm and look out the window, well Robby wants to snuggle on my knee. Life is good.

Friday, September 2, 2016

Things that go bump in the night are a bit unnerving! Mark slept through the wind and rain while I investigated at 4 this morning. (The Scotties had made their beds under the dining room table.) Haha! They're very smart! The noise seemed to be our outdoor Sunroom blinds bumping the house. 

Stay safe everyone in Hermine's path! 

Since we were on what is called the "dirty side" of the hurricane, we had gusty winds with the rain bands. During one of the blows, I heard the front yard trees bowing in the wind and decided to take the dogs and myself back to bed. The Scotties were very happy to get on the bed with us and stayed there for 2 hours! 

Bonnie and Rogers were enjoying a beautiful day in Oklahoma eating Indian tacos at a Native American festival. 

You two are having plenty of fun I see! 

Mark and I went to Beall's this afternoon for a little retail therapy. For a couple of months now, Mark has been looking for a turquoise baseball-style cap. Well, today he bought a pale green "Salt Life" cap ... and I bought a couple of decorative items for our bedroom fireplace mantle. It was fun to get out and use our $10 off $25 purchase certificate. LOL ... What a bargain.

Facebook popped up with a post from six years ago. It was a bittersweet one. Shiloh (age 12) was in the stroller so I could take him around to his favorite spots because he could no longer walk easily on his front right leg. Maggie was about 4 years old at that time. 

This was taken at Sunshine Holiday in Fort Lauderdale Florida. (Mark was working in Miami at that time.) Ah, sweet memories. 

We heard from Mark's cousin Donny  today. He "booked" our guestroom for a few nights in the middle of November. We are so looking forward to having him here. During our 2014 east coast RV trip we saw Donny in Newberryport, Massachusetts. (It's a beautiful area!)

At Sue and Wayne's cottage in Ontario, their 2 grandsons left for home today ... the last company this summer! Tonight, Sue and Wayne have gone to a dock party. We are sorry to miss it as the dock parties are always a fun time!

I phoned Diane today at their Fishcamp and heard that Kris had broken his hand last week. Although he went to the emergency room, they did not put a cast on his hand. It must've been a very intricate break which needed a orthopedic surgeon. He has an appointment arranged for this Tuesday. Of course all this happened during a time when they were moving from their house across the street to an upstairs apartment at the camp. There's no good time to suffer a broken hand. Ouch! 

Tonight, Mark and I took Lynn for dinner with us to meet Randy and Dawn at Stavros. It was very busy, but we were able to get a table for the five of us right away. Lucky ducks! Of course dinner was very good, as it always is at Stavros. Randy and Dawn continued on to meet another couple at Mount Dora Brewing, at the Rocking Rabbit. Lynn had work to do at home before Lew arrives back tomorrow. Mark and I were happy to go home and have a quiet evening. Also, my favorite show Ancient Aliens is on tonight! 

Egad, we just had a ferocious gust of wind and a rain band! We are thinking of our family and friends on the north east coast and hoping the storm leaves them safe. Ta ta til tomorrow. 

Hello September 1st, 2016

It's our handsome pal Roddy's 70th birthday! 

Mark and I must get our voices pure for singing Happy Birthday to him on the phone ... perhaps the Scotties will add some Arooooo's!

Our friends at the Weather Channel are predicting the (now) tropical storm Hermine will reach hurricane status before crossing the northern portion of Florida. What this means to us in Central Florida will be scattered showers and a cloudy day or two. Well, okay then ... it's time for fun! About 8:45 a (potential) tornado passed to the west of RanDawn's and us. (We never heard thunder and only had light rain!) Lucky us!

Our crazy friend Michael W. in Kelowna, British Columbia shared this today ... LOL

and if you know him, you know this is very accurate. Hahaha. Mikey ranted about misinformation on Facebook lately; people twisting posts to promote their cockamamie ideals. So I sent THIS to him. 

It's YaYa's at Linda T's tonight. Usually she entertains on her screened patio with a beautiful lake view but tonight, we were all inside eating Stavros salads and pizzas. It was a ruckus night with party favors of "buff puffs" for all. Lynn and I found a 2nd use for them ...

and we're boobalicious! LOL

(We wished we had these in high school! LOL) 

As I said earlier, we had a few minutes of hunker down time for a possible tornado ... but luckily, nothing; no thunderstorms whatsoever. Other areas of Florida had heavy rain, etc. It's hard to believe that Florida hangs down into the tropics but hasn't had a hurricane touch it since Wilma in 2005! Amazing. Hurricane Hermine just made Category 1, so mostly a rain maker. 

Another bit of a tough luck in Florida today was the SpaceX rocket exploded on the launchpad during a static electricity test. A new satellite that was widely anticipated went up in smoke. Drat. 

Well, that's my news for today. Ta Ta til tomorrow.