Monday, December 14, 2020

Good morning. It’s an overcast day with a little rain in our forecast here in Central Florida. Our plans today ... giving the Scotties their Christmas trims and baths. Robbie heard Mark set up the grooming table in the sunroom and ran and hid. He’s so smart! Christmas pictures later ... 

As we all are aware, it’s going to be a different Christmas this year, very difficult for many with a social distancing lifestyle. But, that does not mean it cannot be a very merry Christmas. Just remember, we are keeping safe our loved ones! This nasty virus will eventually pass if we keep doing our part. Before we all start bellyaching about anything, let’s look around and focus on all the positives in our lives and embrace them. Celebrate every new day that you are alive! More than 300,000 Americans have lost their battle with COVID-19. All these challenges that we are facing this year are making us stronger people! Let’s ignore the negatives and be thankful for our lives and the health of all the loved ones that are still here with us, and the things that are still going well in our personal lives. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays from our bubble to yours! 🎅🏼🎄🎶🌟❤️

I painted today on MM’s tiki guy; it’s coming along nicely; maybe done tomorrow and ready for sealing. 

I’m so disappointed in BarkBox this month! It’s Robbie’s 10th birthday on the 16th and his cake and pressies haven’t been mailed yet! Yes ... I called them, blah blah blah, totally annoyed. The order “deadline” was November 28th! Obviously Robbie won’t know, but WE do. 

It was GREAT listening to President Elect Biden condemning the horrid, lying sack of shit we’ve had to deal with the past 4 tortuous years. 🥲

Sunday, December 13, 2020

Good morning. We went to bed extra early last night, 930 so I was up at 5 o’clock. That’s actually a pretty good sleep. Our plan today is a pick up lunch and fishing at the gator hole. It sounds scary, eh?  I’ll take pictures ... meanwhile ...

And off we went about 1 o’clock to the ‘hole.’

Lunch tasted great, hot grinders aboard the pontoon, and warm sunshine. Fishing was lousy at the Gator Hole but we did see something unusual ...

Yes, that’s a paddle boarding cat! LaDonna asked if she could take the picture. The cat loves to go for a ride and hops on when the boy gets his paddle. (Scary! But the cat was sure-footed.)

When it got too hot for me we headed over to our canal (and shade) where the fellas caught a lot of Stripers.

Wayno had help from Robbie. (You can see our dogs like the L’s!)

Leaving the Gator Hole with our lookouts in place. 

We fished at the mouth of our canal, pulled off to the side in the shade. Mark caught the first fish, a tiny sunfish which he threw back. After that, they begin catching stripers. They are very mild tasting fish.  

Here we are back at our dock, and Wayne is showing off a couple of the big fish. BeeZee was totally wound-up and loved fishing. Robbie was interested and stood by the guys, watching. 

They had a cooler of them to clean. 

Well, it was a fun afternoon! Now back home, we watched the ladt episode of The Crown. Very good series. 

Saturday, December 12, 2020

Good morning. I was awake at 5o’clock and saw Mark off hunting with Bob and Wayne. So Mark had a little excitement today in the tree stand. Mr. Yogi went by at 7:30 this morning and gave him the eyeball. Mark was a little tense, but stayed still and Yogi passed him by. Whew! 

That’s a fairly big fella, probably 300 pounds. 

My cousin Debbie, in England, celebrated her birthday. The family went around looking at the lights to celebrate, and still social distancing. Here are a few of their London photos.

Beautiful decorations! Happy Birthday Debbie S. ❤️

This evening, we had happy hour on the front porch. That’s no surprise, but I rang the bell and Markymark and Lani came over and joined us. Lani painted their front porch ceiling a pretty baby blue and Markymark was working on the bathroom tile today. They hope to be in before New Year’s. We had plenty of laughs, a few drinks and a good time. Now, it’s time for “the crown.”

Friday, December 11, 2020

Good early morning. It’s 320 and I have been dealing with an incredibly bad nosebleed for 45 minutes. I think it has finally stopped! I made myself a coffee ... must sit up for half an hour! 

We heard last night that a neighbor that lives three doors from us has Covid. His wife has been walking the dog whereas, she should be under quarantine. Last night, we saw her drive out of the neighborhood just after dinner time. Who do we call? She needs to be under quarantine and not spreading us. We have let our neighborhood know, but what about the stores or wherever it is she’s going?

Thursday, December 10, 2020

Good morning. We had such a fun last evening with LaDonna and Wayne ... but after they left, we both fell asleep watching TV and didn’t tidy up the dining room nor the kitchen. It wasn’t a fun morning to get up to and look at all the muddle!. Ha ha Ha. We don’t usually do that. So, after an hour and a half of tidying up I started some laundry and Mark begin working on a project fixing one of our propane fireplaces. We are really enjoying it on the front porch in this cooler weather.  

As I wait for the laundry to finish the cycle, we are readying to go to Hobby Lobby and Lowe’s. Hobby lobby has 50% off on art supplies, and Mark has a list at Lowe’s.

We’re back home after a good shopping adventure. Mark dropped me at HobbyLobby and went onto ABC and Lowes. I had plenty of time to find a Scottie Christmas pillow, a watercolor wash brush, 2 small Xmas gifts, and some whatnots. Everyone was wearing masks!!! Hooray!

Saw this ditty on FB ... rather apropos for 2020!

So ... wear your mask ... wash your hands ... social distance and stay home when you can! 

So tonight, at 8:10, a Delta for heavy rocket launched from Cape Canaveral. We went out on the street to watch it along with Lani and Markymark. Cool.

So that was our excitement for this evening. Now back to watching the crown.  

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Good afternoon. Yes, the guys went hunting this morning. Me? I had quite a bit to do around the house as Wayne and LaDonna are coming for dinner tonight. We haven’t seen them for about 10 days as they have been busy with their granddaughter.

I ordered myself a Christmas present. Mark was fussing what I want, and I really couldn’t think of anything but we do need a new set of stainless cutlery. I bought USA made liberty in the Viking Celtic design. It’s beautiful, and very heavy weight. It had to be soaked in hot soapy water for 20 minutes and then run through the dishwasher to make sure all the polishing compound was off. It’s absolutely gorgeous, glad I went with USA made. In the past, I’ve only chosen without looking where it was made. Everything looks nice in the beginning, but you’ll start to see the shabbiness as time goes on if it isn’t well-made. Anyway, our other set used to be 12 placesettings, but was down to nine small forks 11 big spoons and 10 dinner forks. Where are they? What happens to them? It’s a bit like socks! 

Tony and Aurelia gifted a 4 place setting of Christmas poinsettia china ... and I have set the dining room table with it tonight. It’s very pretty.

We had a fun night. Dinner was great ... we sat on the front porch while the guys smoked cigars. Great evening. 

Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Good morning. I was up before the birds, along with Mark. He had a reason, going hunting with Bob and Wayne. Me? I just couldn’t get back to sleep. 🤷‍♀️ So, Mark has been up since 4 AM and me since 5 AM. It’s a brisk morning in the upper 40s and going to a high of only 65 today. Winter is here, the weather we dream about when it is 90°+ in the summer. It’s another at home day, as it is for much of the population. But, I have food to prepare for the dogs meals, a few bits to wrap up for Christmas, the everlasting laundry and housework, and perhaps a bit of time for another art lesson.

This is the beautiful Donnelly house in downtown Mount Dora. It is the crowning jewel of the little New England-style city. It’s so beautiful to see it lit up, and across from the community center where every tree is wrapped in lights. Did you know that I painted a watercolor picture of it 25 years ago. At the time, Sue and I had signed up for a watercolor class in Boca Raton. The very first class, our teacher was taken ill and we never saw her again. A substitute came in and did her best. It wasn’t the instruction we were expecting. Everyone worked long on their own and had to substitute to ask questions of. It’s too bad, we really wanted to learn watercolor painting. Here’s a picture of the one I did all those years ago.

Well, it’s now nearly 6 o’clock and we’ve had our happy hour on the front porch with the propane fireplace going, ate turkey soup for dinner and are now ready to settle in and watch a little TV. It’s going to be a very cold night here, with the possibility of frost. Oh Em Gee. Ha ha, all of you who have snow think we are wimps, and you are correct. 😂

Goofy picture ... but we had fun. It was 66F.  

Ta ta til tomorrow. 🥰