Friday, April 2nd, 2021

Good morning. It’s a bright beautiful cold central Florida morning. Well, cold is perhaps an exaggeration but it is chilly. Mark and his friend Bob have gone turkey hunting today. It’s not easy to get a permit, but they both won the lotto this year. It’s the first time Mark has turkey hunted in Florida. I hope they have fun hiking about. Mark is carrying my old 1968 Remington Wingmaster 12 Ga. shotgun. I bought it about 1980, used. 

April 2 always reminds me of Freddie Farkle, my old English Springer spaniel rascal. Oh he was a handful, but so much fun, a bit on the crazy side, and very adventurous. If you met him, you would never forget him. Some of the crazy things he did was circle around a yacht club member Hirsch Lerner who’s dog Moses was circling his legs ... Freddy Farkle lifted his leg and Peed on attorney Lerner’s green pants. Oh my God, that was terrible. After that, Freddiebwas attracted to green pants. Don’t wear the green pants near Freddy Farkle. Harold Scott learned that lesson ... he was another yacht club member from Scott paper. 🐾💕 Happy birthday to the memory of my Freddie Farkle. 

Thursday, April 1, 2021

Good evening from sunny Central Florida where it’s 72F. This morning, LaDonna and Wayne stopped by to drop off a fish cleaning station table for our dock. It is stainless steel, much nicer than the plastic one Mark was using. These two are so incredibly generous. We had a little visit before they left for a family luncheon in the Villages. It is their son-in-law‘s birthday celebration. 

After our routine chores were done, I begin painting on a large floral abstract style acrylic. It’s fun, just a very loose style, different for me. Maybe be done tomorrow. 

After salad tonight we took the dogs for a walk down the street when our UPS man turned the corner. The dogs recognized his truck immediately and started their Scottish war cries!!! Mike is so nice; stopped his truck, got out and brought them a cookie each. Hahaha. 

Matt and Tiffany bought a 2017 GMC SUV yesterday. Their old station wagon needed repairs and had become unreliable. Congratulations to them. 13-year-old Hailey is catching up to Matt’s 6 foot one. (The girls are gorgeous, and well-mannered.) 

When we were in South Florida and in particular at the yacht club with Sue and Wayne, they told us about a member who had passed away in January. She was very active and aged 105 years. I said to Sue, this is a good goal for us to strive for. Our mother lived to 93, and her father 96. We certainly have longevity on that side of the family. Then I found this article on baby boomers.

By the way, this is A photo of the woman from January of this year. I’ve got to say, she’s gorgeous. 105! Wow. Sue said she was very active.

105 years young! 

Good news on the Pfizer vaccine as it has found to be effective for six months, and against all variants. That means we will probably need booster shots come September for Mark and me.

Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Good morning. I see the sun peeking through a layer of clouds. We had rain overnight which meant the Scotties  refused to go outside for a potty. They are a funny lot, and don’t like to get their feet wet. 🐾💕 

The red cardinal has built her nest in the crook of our tiki umbrella. She has now laid three eggs and sits on the nest most of the day.

Spring has officially sprung! We can’t use our tiki bar until the chicks are grown. 

We have a few things to do before putting the RV into its port later today. We have a repair to do on the leather loveseat. Hopefully, it goes well. Yesterday I mixed up some acrylic paint for the bathroom cabinet drawers. The edges were getting water damaged from me washing my face. Anyway, they turned out well and are now waterproof. Mark is installing them back in the rig now.

The drawers and cabinet door reinstalled ...

We’re happy with it! 

Here are the pictures from the love seat repair. It is Thomas Payne furniture, quite expensive. The company advertise it as European leather. Well, as Mark says, they got some pretty thin skinned cows over there.

My repairs ... the damage; gessoed, acrylic color match paint

I don’t know how well it will stand up, but if it’s anything like the boat seats, we’re golden. 

So the rig is now into its port and all tucked in ready for the next adventure. Tomorrow, turkey hunting season starts so Mark and Bob will be off enjoying those type of hiking adventures. Me? I will be painting tomorrow.

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Good morning 😃. It’s a process of getting back to normal after a whirlwind trip to see family in south Florida. The laundry’s done and the RV re-stocked with basics and necessities. 

No pictures taken today so I random rolled my phone pics a few times and voila! Moi! 😂

The lower cabinet in the RV bathroom was getting a little water damaged around the edges. Mark took the doors off today and the drawer fronts and I refinish them. He’s doing a waterproof spray on them now and tomorrow we will reinstall them. They look 100% better already. Next, we have a leather repair to do on the reclining loveseat. I hope it turns out OK. Anyway, that was pretty much our day. I did a lesson from my art course but it is not finished yet so I will post it tomorrow. That’s it for today. There were a few thunderstorms in the area so we sat on the front porch after dinner and had a glass of wine and a cigar. That was it for our day. Tata till tomorrow.

Monday, March 29, 2021

Well, good morning sunshine! I missed writing yesterday’s blab. So, here goes. 

Sue and Wayne invited us for appetizers and pizzas at their lovely home! It was lovely and breezy so very comfortable sitting outside. The Scotties came along and were good kids staying in their pen alongside the hedge in the shade. LaDonna and I sat with our feet in the pool for a bit to keep them company. 🐾💕

Sue prepared Buffalo chicken dip while Wayne made bruschetta. We hardly needed the two Jet’s pizzas ... “hardly” yet we each had a couple of pieces. 😜 Wee Chiki Monkey was a tad of a diva, but otherwise uneventful. It was a super evening. 

Now, today it’s time to head north and get back to home base ... and 6 loads of laundry. 😳 there’s no rush to get it done as we have a few minor things to take care of on the interior of the RV before we put it into its RVPORT.  

The trip home took an hour longer than usual. We started out on the turnpike and got as far as Glades Road when we were in standing still traffic. We got off at the exit and headed to I 95 which we took to Fort Pierce. This added some time, but was better than sitting in traffic idling. Once we got home, the sorting out of mail etc. began. I’m still doing laundry now at 8 o’clock. Tomorrow’s another day. Hope your Monday was grand! 

Saturday, March 27, 2021

Good morning. I was up early tidying the RV from yesterday and prepping for a visit from Matt, Tiffany, Hailey and Isabella. It’s been two years since we have seen them in large part because of Covid. Last year‘s booking was canceled as the RV parks closed.

PARTY TIME 🥳 

The family ... Izzy and Hailey are growing up fast! 

Matt was a natural ... playing corn toss with Hailey

Hailey’s catching up to Matt, even walk the same. ❤️

Izzy enjoyed the wild chicken! 

They arrived about noon and didn’t leave until 8 o’clock. We had a wonderful visit, some laughs and caught up on family news. Mark and Wayno cooked the chicken and steaks perfectly ... potato salad, coleslaw and LaDonna’s baked beans were great accompaniments. All in all, an A-1 day. 

Friday March 26, 2021

Good early morning! I was awake at 3 o’clock so got up to catch up on the news of the week. Mark and both Scotties are sleeping. 

Today ... grocery shopping for our family cookout tomorrow then dinner with Sue and Wayne at the Yacht Club. 👩‍✈️ Having grown up with boats, this’ll be a fun night for us.

Fine dining ... prime rib for Sue and I ... yellowtail for Mark, sea bass for LaDonna, salmon for Wayne and I think a steak for Wayno. Delicious, all of it. 

It’s now Saturday morning as I add to this Friday blog. We arrived at the yacht club and were met at the door by Sue at 6:30. It’s a lovely building, many different areas to dine and a large dance party room. Wayne had booked us a large table with a view of the yachts. 

The food was fabulous, the wine flowing and a Fantabulous time was had by all. It’s a fine South Florida lifestyle! 

Here’s the evening’s menu;