Thursday, December 15, 2016

Good morning. It's a dull, cloudy day (right now!) oh where are you Mr. Sunshine? I see parcel under the tree not there the day before. Could there be a surprise for moi? 😁

Tomorrow is our Robbie's sixth birthday ... and I have a box of doggy cupcakes from Piglet's Pantry for him and BeeZee. (They are so nice at that store. When I bought the box cupcakes they gave me three little doggy bones for the birthday boy!) 

 

 

Inside Piglet's ... named for their late greyhound, Piglet. This wonderful shop has been open since 1997. 

This morning, I rode with Mark to his appointment in The Villages. He enjoys taking the back route down 42, but I'll be darned if I could find my way. LOL. It was a lovely drive through the country where we saw horses and donkeys, goats and llamas. One of these days when I go with him we will go to Eaton Beach on Lake Weir for lunch. Today, however, he wanted to go hunting. And, I had more eBay photos to take. 

A package arrived from Bonnie and Roger in today's mail. The dogs were extremely interested once I took it out of the brown wrapper. Boy, they sure have a good noses ... they knew for sure whose house it had come from! It's under the tree waiting for Christmas Day. 🎄

Randy and Dawn came over this afternoon with fancy treats for Robbie's birthday ...

 

from Piglet's Pantry! Wow! Lucky pups! Yes, Robbie shared with Mz BeeZee. 🐾💕  So we had a glass of wine or two and yakked. They decided on Stavros for dinner and left about 5:30. Mark arrived home from the forest at 6:15 ... so we ate crockpot meatballs. (Good stuff.) 

We're thinking about Jim G and hoping his knee is feeling better ... now 1 week post op. 💕

Tonight, it's a quiet one here with the doggies enjoying rawhides while we watch Telly. 

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Good (early) morning! 😁 I just looked at the clock and it's 430 in the morning 😳 and I have already been up for at least an hour. Ha ha. I thought I got up about 630 so, I guess I better finish my soda and go back to bed for couple of hours. 🙄 (Anyway, the doggies were happy to go outside and enjoy the full moon filtering light through the palm trees.) BTW, do you watch James Cordon on The Late Late Show? He's a wonderful entertainer on his own ... but you've gotta  his carpool karaoke. 

Hello again. Now it's 8:30 ... and daylight. Ha! Anita is picking me up by 11 for our luncheon at old Lakeside Inn with Christmas 🎄shopping downtown Mount Dora after. 

 

What a beautiful afternoon on the front porch! 

 

Anita and Dawn ... 

At 5, Elaine & Roger are hosting a Christmas cocktail party at their home. Yay ... more fun. 🎄 (There were 20 partiers keeping up with the excellent festivities until 8:30.) What FUN we all had! We have plans for a New Year's Eve party ... some bowling with John & Anita ... and cards with Elaine & Roger. 

Back home we snuggled up with the doggies and watched Telly. 

Sue and Wayne were dancing tonight at the Elks ... so lots of fun there too. They'll be here soon for Christmas ... just over a week away. 

💋

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Good morning. It's 64° going to 82 later today. That's not too shabby for December in Central Florida! We had a relaxing start before Mark headed to The Villages for his 11 o'clock appointment. Afterward, Mark took our Kia to the dealer for an oil change ... then he went Christmas shopping! 🎄 (My Christmas shopping is done and wrapped. How are you doing?)

At 1 o'clock we neighborhood gals met at Carol-Ann's for game day. It was nearly 3 o'clock before we took a breath from yakking and began a game. Unfortunately, Sandra's younger sister had an aneurism last Friday and is still in hospital. After that, we began Mexican Dominoes at one table and 1,000 at another. 

 

Sandra, Carol, Elaine & Carin. 

 

Pat, Florence & Phyllis ... missing from the pic was Carol-Ann, Anita and myself.  It was so much fun! 

Back home, Mark had been wrapping Christmas gifts and talking with Randy. (Tomorrow, Dawn is meeting all we girls at the Lakeside Inn for our festive luncheon!) More FUN! 😜 We can't get too crazy as Elaine is hosting a cocktail party at 5 o'clock. 🍾

Tonight, it's doggies on the lap and TV with plenty of relaxing. 

Ta Ta ... 🎄

Monday, December 12, 2016

Good morning. It's impossible not to be optimistic with beautiful sunshine breaking through fog. (It must have rained last night but, we didn't hear a thing!) 

Randy phoned to say he and Dawn had spent the day on the bike and rode to an interesting pub with a quaint shopping area in Winter Gardens. Apparently it's dog friendly as Randy saw a great Dane wearing boots and did a double-take! LOL 

It was a front door open kind of start to our day at 74F.  Mark left at 9:45 for his appointment in The Villages. When he arrived home, we had a few errands to run regarding Christmas preparation. Otherwise, was a mundane Monday here in paradise. 🌴

Over the weekend we had three eBay sales. Yes, it had been terribly slow for a while, but I didn't have many listings on there. We arrived at the post office 10 minutes early as ours closes for lunch hour. How's that for a small town feel? Anyway, at 1 o'clock the parking lot was filling up. Yay for us.

In the afternoon, we both fell asleep for an hour. Sweet! I am reminded of the number of days at work when I could have used a 20 minute nap. Haha! ✅ When we woke up, it was happy hour on the back patio with the dogs and 80°. Sweet. 

After a dinner of coleslaw and sliced pork, Mark groomed the doggies while we watched a show called Fantasy Island. OMG it was awfully corny. How did we watch that crap in the '70's? Blah! 

Things have not gotten any better on the political scene since our election of President – elect Donald J Trump. 

 

December 19 the Electoral College casts their votes on the presidency. I don't suspect anything will change, but I'm sure there will be a kerfuffle. 

Tomorrow is game day for me and another appointment for Mark. Friday will be Robbie's sixth birthday! Party is planned! Arooo

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Good morning. It was cooler than we've had in quite some time so perfect for getting a few chores done. Last week, Mark started by washing one side of our vinyl picket fence. The dealer recommended never to pressure wash it as this would cause pitting and deterioration of the surface. So, after Mark cleaned it (last week) he sprayed it today with car wash 'n wax. 50% done. Fences are a huge investment ... so, best to maintain them as required. 

Fence BEFORE:

 

Fence AFTER:

 

Nice eh? "30 Second Cleaner" works!

Me? Well, I had more eBay listing to do which take awhile. We're expecting RanDawn to pop in on the bike sometime this afternoon, so it's not all work work work today. Right now the Scotties are working on frozen rawhides, so all's well. 👍🏻

Our pal Jim G is in serious pain after knee replacement surgery last Friday. As I recall, the first week is grueling before the pain gets bearable. In the end, it's worth it. 

Tonight we watched "Shitt$ Creek." It was corny-funny, but entertaining. Now it's "60 Minutes" and relaxing. 

Tomorrow, back to busy-ness. Ta Ta. 

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Good morning. It's a rather chilly start in the 50s. Mark was so excited, he left for the forest by 530. He says it's his place to restore sanity after a crazy week. 

 

BeeZee and I are enjoying a snuggle while watching the BBC world news. (We haven't seen Robs yet as he likes to sleep late ... in his comfortable bed.) 

Mark saw big buck tracks in front of his truck ... missed him. 😝 Never mind, it's just good to be in the woods! 

Wayne arrived home safely last night from his business trip to Italy. 

 

Shorty Hotpants & Julius were watching at the front door ... plus Snoopy. Cute, eh! (Tonight, Sue and Wayne went to dinner with Carol and Jack, and Sue and Emile ... dancing at the Elks.)

Tonight was Sharon & Art's annual Christmas 🎄 party complete with dinner and musical entertainment. Randy & Dawn were invited too so we knew it would be extra fun! The decorations were over the top ... and there were tons of folks there. Alan Darcy played his saxophone and sang. 

 

Sitting in the gazebo and listening to the entertainment outside. 

 

Dancing on the patio ...

 

Pat visiting with Lew ...

 

Meredith and Ken dancing? (With a plate in hand?)

We were quite amazed at the number of plates of food that Randy consumed. It was fair to say that he was bamboozled at a previous party which caused him to have an excessive appetite. 🙄

When we left at 10 o'clock, the four of us walked outside and Dawn jumped into this white vehicle saying to Randy, "I guess the honeymoon really is over because you didn't open the car door for me!" 

 

Well, we all burst out laughing as she had jumped into the wrong car!!! Here she is running away from the mystery vehicle. 😂

Mark and Lew had drank a bottle of Bailey's Irish cream between the two of them in about an hours time! Mark could scarcely walk to the car, never mind drive a block home. LOL

Well, it was a fine evening with plenty of laughs. By this time, Randy was feeling fine and they drove home although we invited them to stay. That's it. We're pooped. 

Friday, December 9, 2016

Hey, good day! We were ALL up at 5 a.m. for no particular reason; well, maybe we were fussing about our lack of TV issue. 🤔 The Scotties were happy enough to watch the news on our little bedroom Telly because they were able to be on the bed with us.

I do like to "sleep on it" when things are topsy-turvy like yesterday's equipment failures. Although Walmart's extended warranty will cover repairs at Vizio (totally free), it's going to take some time. As I mentioned to Mark, I dislike disruptions to our lives so ... I ordered a new Vizio and when the repaired one arrives back it'll be tucked into a closet as backup. 😜

At 10:20 I got notice that our TV had arrived at Walmart. We finished up our morning routine and rushed over to the store only to find that it was still on a truck on the loading dock. So, we did a little shopping and checked back. By that time it was a madhouse in the pick up area with people paying up their layaway on Christmas presents. Oh boy! Eventually, we gave up and finished our shopping, took 20 minutes or more to check out, and headed home. On the way home, Mark said in a lovely little voice, "it'll be fast and easy ... we'll just pop in and pick up the TV at the store!" 😝

After a rushed lunch, he jumped in the Kia to head to The Villages for his 2 o'clock appointment. After that, he will swing by Walmart as the TV is now ready. The three year extended warranty paperwork is not, but, I guess we could get that at a later date. Whatever! 

 

It was chilly enough at 5 AM for the kids to enjoy their coats for the first time this year. Don't they look dapper? Speaking of cold, Rick and Ruth are hunkered down in their condo with snow flying. Brrrrr ... they will definitely be in Florida next winter, says Ruth. 👍🏻

 

This is Rick and Ruth's view. He said it was just beginning to snow again! 

Well I just had an email notification that Mark picked up our TV. I had better pour a drink for him before he starts hooking up the wires. Ha ha. Maybe that will help it go easier. What do you think? 😬

 

Ho Ho frickin Ho ! 

 

By 630, we were sitting with our second glass of wine enjoying our new telly. Amazingly, all our Comcast recording's are in tact. 

Ta Ta til tomorrow. 😘