Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Good morning it's 1030 and I've just done the dishes from Mark cooking breakfast. We need a break from the house and have a list of things to get at Home Depot, if possible. It's forecast to be 91 today so I guess the dogs will be at home while we go shopping! I don't like the thought of both of us being away while our generator is unprotected. That sounds goofy, right? Well, we did live in South Florida where we have already heard of generators being stolen. 

The traffic lights from 473 towards Leesburg on 441 were working, but south of 473 wasn't. It was crazy driving! We spent $100 at Home Depot for a few necessary supplies including an outside broom and an inside broom. Ha ha. Although we were using the app gas buddy we didn't find any fuel. People were lined up at the pumps hoping a fuel truck would eventually show up and they would be first in line. It seemed rather pointless so we headed to ABC liquors where we found skeleton staff running the store with a small generator. Yay. 

There's gonna be a PARTAY tonight I know 🎶 😋

Whew! It's too hot for much outdoor work this afternoon! OMG a half hour and I'm soaked. My job today is to rake up the debris on the gravel patio and put the bar and it decorations back. DONE. 

Mark utilized Da Mounty to pull the leaning tower of palm upright. Actually I helped by driving while he braced it. Done ✅ 

Randy and Dawn arrived just after 4 o'clock, exactly when we both needed a break. We poured wine and sat around the kitchen counter with a fan blowing on us. Sweet. Life is Good. We shared a few funny, horror  stories and then decided to put our feet into Lew and Lynn's pool. Today's temperature was 70° and it felt great. Mark and I put our suits on and eased in slowly. It felt great; I sure miss having a pool. 

Sue and Wayne are visiting a work friend in Iowa tonight at a campground. It's so nice to have friends along the way. Jan has 3 Westies ...

Westies ... Scottie cousins. 🐾💕

Mark cooked chicken cutlets and pork chops with corn for dinner tonight. It's fun, kind of camping in the house. Ha ha. What's not fun is doing the dishes in a pot of cold water. Yikes. 

That's it for tonight. We are going to sit listen to music on Pandora with a couple of tea lights burning while  sipping cheap wine. A perfect night. It's pitch black outside and 79F ... it'll be 71 in the a.m. Ta Ta. 😍

Monday, September 11, 2017

Hurricane Irma is a b*atch with whistling wind and pounding rain. 

She's had her eye on our house from the northern turn yesterday. Of course our power is out so no TV to update us ... very thankful for internet updates! 

You know that freight train sound all survivors of tornadoes report ... well we've heard it a few times but the weather radio quit broadcasting a couple hours ago! Seriously, it's just static! 

There's some creaking going on upstairs but we don't have an upstairs! Hmmm ... that's creepy! Thank heavens for my diet Sunkist orange 🍊😜.

Maybe we can get the dogs out for a walk when the eye wall arrives ... MAYBE. 

3:45 ... Dogs walked ... drinking 2nd Crown (us, not dogs!) and feeling like the worst is over. (Always an optimist ... my mom always said I saw the world through rose colored glasses.) Come to ponder that I don't find it a problem. 🤔

It's now 11 o'clock and the wind is still gusting to about 40 or 50 miles an hour. There is no rain, so we are able to get the generator running and give the refrigerator a boost. We have a window shaker in our bedroom to cool it down. That'll be our refuge from the humidity. Robs and Bee are laying in there now, snoozing. It may be a week before we have fuel at any of the local stations so we will not run the generator all day. 

Randy and Dawn had some damage to their back porch and the water is up over there dock. Other than that, they seem to be doing OK.

Sue and Wayne are traveling today and plan to stop in Flandreau South Dakota tonight. Apparently there's a casino there! Ka-Ching. 

Our friends Pat and Ken have roof damage. Mark is going to climb up and check ours. We had a leak at the Sunroom (from the valley) so we might have damage too. There were some heavy things hitting the house last night! Weren't we lucky that we had no broken windows! 

Here's tree-mageddon courtesy of Irma. The view is looking toward Shelby & Steve's place. (Maybe we can get him to fire up the tractor to help us clean up.) 😊

The Sycamore and Sweet Gum are deciduous trees classified as self-shedding. I think they shed!!! It's now 715 and we are preparing dinner by candlelight. How romantic! Our neighbors teenagers Riley and Parker came over to help us rake up and pack up the tree debris in our front yard. Sweet! After that, we were exhausted and came in for a glass of wine and then a swim and Lew and Lynn's pool. The pool was 69° after all the cold rain! Believe me it felt very good. 

Pam phoned at seven to check on us and we had a good gab. Although we have texted and phoned Matt, we have not heard how they did in the storm. Sue and Wayne had a friend check on their house in Pompano Beach and they had a tree fall into their lower level but not much house damage. (Currently they are in South Dakota on their way home to Florida.)

Here's our kitchen with the fridge yanked out (generator plug mged in) plus a fan and a camp lantern hanging. Egad, what a mess. It's a good thing we have a propane stove. Tonight's menu is chicken sausages and rice. 

Fabio! 😍 just corrected me that it is chicken sausages with green peppers, banana peppers and gahlick! 😂

By the way, the front door is open and we have a beautiful evening. Every bit of humidity is gone from Central Florida. Mark's sister Paula is now getting Irma's tropical winds in North Carolina tonight. Stay safe!

Some of the nice things about no power ... STARS!!!  We're listening to the owls 🦉 tonight; where did they hide during the hurricane?

Ta Ta til morning. 

Sunday, September 10, 2017

Good morning. It's 4 AM and I'm up to check the progress of hurricane Irma. Right now Irma is 55 miles southeast of Key West moving northwest at 6 miles an hour, category 4 - 130 mph. Key West streets are wet with many trees down and reportedly pieces of gingerbread house trim scattered about from the historic homes. The hurricane warning covers 18 million people in Florida. Wow. 

Since the track of hurricane Irma skirts the west coast of Florida, cities like Naples and Tampa will take the brunt of it. Storm surge will be 9 to 12 feet there and goes inland for miles. Devastation will be widespread unfortunately. Curfews are in place. Rainfall will be 9"-12". 

Here in Lake County Florida it is quiet with light rain. By tonight, Sunday, we will have tropical storm force winds and thunderstorms. Being on the "dirty side" of Irma, tornadoes will be the main threat. TORCON 8.

Haha ... is that one of Randy's stinky Crocs?

Update ... 3:30ish ... raining here, not much happening yet. 

6:30 ... Irma's  a knockin' ... and we're a rockin' wine. We've heard several transformers blow around us, but at the moment we are lucky to have power! 🤞🍀 This heavy wind will continue throughout the night. 

This is the view from RanDawn's deck ... the highest water ever! Their neighbor's lot is lower but you can see it's up to the seawall. 

Saturday, September 9, 2017

The rain began at 3:30 a.m. with the first rain band from Irma. Since the eye wall track has shifted toward Florida's west coastline our wind field will be from every direction. Hmmm ... 

Mark and I rolled the boat canvas into it's zippered (towing) covers. While we were busy at the boathouse we noticed our next door neighbor hadn't done a thing to prep his property. We may acquire a few things we don't care to have. 

This FB post was last evening with folks still evacuating Florida. Many vehicles have been abandoned, out of fuel. (Where are those people?)

Sue and Wayne are starting for home and crossing the border today.  They plan to stay in Grand Forks tonight. Strange coincidence but Wayne sister Marlene is in Grand Forks today. They plan to have dinner with her tonight.

Flying BeeZee ... and there's no wind yet. 😂

Sue and Wayne arrived in Grand Forks about 5 o'clock. They met with Marlene and Harry for dinner!

Sue, Marlene & Harry 

Mark cooked shrimp on the Pizzaz for our dinner tonight. Yum! Afterward we sat on the front porch for an hour sipping wine and watching a neighbor "work." Fun. We heard a few "booms" around and decided to head inside. Tonight, around midnight thunderstorms will begin ... then by noon tomorrow will be tornadoes. We will be under a TOR-CON 6 which means you have a 6/10 chance of seeing a tornado within 50 miles of your location. (Hurricanes are predictable whereas tornadoes are sneaky.) 

We will be charging our phones and turning them off tonight. We'll check in on the blog here when we have cell service. No sweat 💦 

Ta Ta til tomorrow. 

Friday, September 8, 2017

Good morning. What a beautifully clear sky with the full moon when Robbie and BeeZee wanted out at 5:30. (Hey, they both had 💩) 😜

Our day started with a hilarious update on Hurricane Irma ...

😱 So, Mark filled the hot tub while I packed towels around the window sills (Driving rain!), made more ice blocks, filled bins for toilet flushing and caught up laundry! 

Since we've never had a Cat 2 come directly over our area folks are paying attention. Jim phoned Mark to report there wasn't a parking spot available at Lowes, Home Depot or Publix this morning. That's good as folks are listening to the forecast. 

Haha. Nope. Slim to None, and Slim left town. 😜

So after bringing in the backyard furniture and knickknacks, we decided a ride to visit Randy was in order. We loaded up Robbie and BZ and visited. Dawn was at work until 8 o'clock and has to work tomorrow until 2 o'clock. Anyway, we had a few laughs with Randy ... and another happy hour drink. Ha. 

Mark got a tweet from Lew asking if his patio umbrella was "up."  Mark told Lew that he sold it to Randy for $20. Ha. (Randy offered the cash right away!) 😂

Jim G phoned about 8:20 to check on our Irma preparedness. We had a good gab; great to hear from him and that he's doing so much better. 

Sue had a chance to see Lynne and Les's new SeaRay at the Yacht Club. 

Congratulations! It's a perfect boat for them! 👍🏻

The old Yacht Club (1955) looks pretty great. The building is from the 1800's! 

Tonight, Sue and Wayne are having dinner at Aurelia's and Tony's. 👍🏻 Have fun! 

That's it for tonight.

Thursday, September 7, 2017

Hey, how's your 🌎 today? Mark and I are 90% Hurricane Irma ready. It was nice to see we live in Florida's SAFEST area. 

The Caribbean islands took a heavy hit yesterday. Fraser posted pictures today of St Martin's devastation. His condo is livable but no electricity or water. We were happy to hear he made it through the storm. Rick and Ruth checked in on us and invited us to BC. Sweet eh! Anyway, we have checked in with Matt and Tiffany in Boynton Beach. Since they live on the intercoastal they may have to get a hotel further in land. 

Treats at the bank for Robbie & Bee. 

Taco salad treat at home for us. 

This afternoon Fairbanks Construction arrived to look at our sunroom roof (again.) We hope this time they can fix the ding dang dong drip. 

Tonight, Mark is helping Jim bring his barbecue in to their new porch. That will be their cooking source when the power goes out! Me? Well it's Yaya's at Florence's house; party time! 

Florence, Carol & Meridyth 

Carin, Rose, Deena & Anita

Florence's poodle Max was so funny. He checked everyone out and decided my pant leg deserved an extra bit of fascination. After 3 rounds with all the ladies he came to me thinking he'd hump my leg. I politely removed him the first and second time. The third time Max tried it I shooed him away and said, "Forget about it Romeo!" Well he backed off and gave me a dirty look and scruffed up the carpet. Haha 😂 ... 

Mark helped Jim move his beast of a barbecue into the porch then had a cigar and drink (or two) with him. When we got home at 8:30 we checked into the hurricane update. 😱

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Good morning. Ms. BeeZee and Robbie had us awake at 7 o'clock with a hurry call. They did enjoy rawhide yesterday so drank more water. Oh well, it was time to get up and check on hurricane Irma's progress. We put the TV on in the bedroom and watched the coverage as it was over St Martin. We thought of Fraser Barnfather riding out the storm. He posted a few pictures on Facebook during the eye wall and was doing OK at that point. It's a wicked storm! Now, hours later, no update from him. His last post was this: 

We certainly hope he is doing fine and just without phone service!

Mark left at 7:45 for canned goods and nonperishables at Winn-Dixie. I sure hope they have my Sunkist diet soda as everywhere has been sold out lately! Come on folks ... you've got the market hooked; now supply us. 😁

Mark made taco salad for lunch and it was as so good we had taco beef pizza for dinner. Odd but good. 

Randy and Dawn were relaxing tonight. Dawn had 5 busy days with family and visiting Disney with 3 little girls. 

Haha ... well Charlotte was impressed. (Randy was master of his domain for a few days.) 😜

Diane and Kris will be at their Fishcamp during the storm. We hope we all fare well in Florida during this trying time. 

Sue and Wayne are having dinner with Lynne & Les tonight. Nice. Hope they get a pic of L 'n L's new boat!

Tonight we're watching the 3rd night of  The Road to 911 ... fascinating. Ta Ta til tomorrow.