NEW YEAR'S EVE 2014

Good morning on this "Eve" day. It's cool and misty with a forecast high of 64F. Lynne was first up ... me, last at 8:15. After coffee and toast, I tidied up the kitchen and baked Orange Dream cupcakes for Lew and Lynn's party tonight! (Maybe they won't look "so fluorescent orange" in the evening light!) LOL. 

Lynne and I went to Hobby Lobby and Winn Dixie along with 99% of Central Florida! What was the big draw? Party supplies? Maybe. I've not seen our region that busy, ever! Haha. WE needed more wine! Haha. 

Our Australian Tawns family celebrated (a day ahead of us) and sent this cute pic of Mel and Miles!

Hogmanay traditions were honored I'm certain. 

On a somber note, today marks one year since our dear friend Joyce Gauthier passed away. Our thoughts are with Jim and family as they attend a memorial service. 

Tonight? We're going to Lew and Lynn's party at 7 o'clock. It's a "dress warm" night ... pictures tomorrow!  Meanwhile, make some joyous noise at midnight to keep the evil spirits at bay ...

and to be certain of a wonderful 2015. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

TUESDAY DECEMBER 30, 2014

It's a brand new day ... a chance to see the world anew ... 

Les and Lynne Stevenson will arrive this afternoon having made good time from Winnipeg. We have (Mark's) homemade Turkey Barley Soup simmering and Champagne on ice. Haha. 

There's a 70% chance it WON'T RAIN TODAY ... so, maybe Happy Hour aboard "Mrs R B"? Les and Lynn would love it!

Well, they arrived at 1:30 and we had lunch and yakked. It was so much fun catching up on news. Randy came over at 3 for cocktails and news ... LOL. 

Mark served his Turkey Soup and rolls about 5:30 ... along with a bottle of champagne. We had a toast to old times and plenty of stories. Randy took a care package home for Dawn of soup and Lynne's Apple pie! 

It was a great time!

MONDAY DECEMBER 29, 2014

Good morning! I've seen posts that some folks took down their Christmas tree on Christmas NIGHT!!! Say it isn't so! (Mark and I enjoy our tree until the day after "Three Kings' Day" on January 6th ... AKA ... "The Twelfh Day of Christmas"!)

There is history to substantiate this ... and here it is. (So there. LOL)

Now I'm thinking this calls for another celebration! Our friend Jacque Jenkins, ordered a King Cake and hosted a party in Fort Lauderdale several years ago. I have now forgotten what we ate, but I do recall a cake complete with the baby inside! It was fun, as all parties are. Haha. I think our friend Fritz Crichfield got the baby!

This morning, Mark took Robbie for a walk and discovered wet bear tracks on the street in front of our house. Perhaps the bear is swimming the canals and walking between the houses to the next canal. Apparently he doesn't care that the sun's up and it's 930 in the morning!

Can you see the wet footprints heading straight for the power pole! Yikes. 

This is Mark's size 10 1/2 foot ... it looks like a fair size bear to me. I'd like to see it but from my window!

This afternoon, we pulled the RV out of its' port. We'll begin painting the north side of our house soon ... plus, the RV is an extra guest suite for the New Year's Eve party goers. 

This afternoon, I started cleaning my gold cutlery set. It had stained and darkened over the years. I read online to use vinegar with a soft cloth to buff it. In my case, the knives had lost patches of goldplating and looked horrible. So, I took Brasso to the knives' blades and removed the remainder of the goldplating. The knives are now gold handled with stainless blades. They look great! Yay. 

I wish I had known about this method ... they would've been on the table for Christmas Day! Oh well, there's always next year. LOL

Mark opened his compressor gift and of course, no hoses were included. So, off he goes to Home Depot to buy them! He wanted a few things at the grocery store to make turkey soup for Les and Lynne arriving tomorrow! That sounds good to me. 

Randy called to say he had worked in the yard all day, cutting grass and sorting out his shed. Dawn is working a long shift today. 

Diane had a bad fall just before Christmas and twisted both her knees. She had x-rays Friday and apparently fractured an old injury. We wish her a speedy recovery! 

Les and Lynne "should" arrive late tomorrow! Hope so. 

Ta ta. 

SUNDAY DECEMBER 28, 2014

Good day, eh? It's a warm (advection fog) start to our day! 

Mark chopped the logs on our driveway from the Camphor tree slew last week. Slew and hewn. LOL. Then, we phoned Randy and Dawn ...

and it was off to meet them at The Hideaway! We're passing Palm Gardens raw bar ... it was very busy! There were about 100 boats out today! (A record, I think!)

Robbie the Bruce was a lucky dog today. Haha. He was invited to go bar hopping with us. Perhaps he missed Maggie a little ... he was much quieter today ... at least until a noisy JRT stuck his nose in Rob's business. LOL. The heavily tattooed "lady" didn't raise an eyebrow. 

Dangerous Dave was playing guitar and belting out the tunes today! Pontoon is a favorite with the group. 

There were pontoon boats to the horizon on this 84 degree afternoon!

Mark and I had lunch ... a Taco Salad and Buffalo Chicken Planks with fries. Of course Robbie had a piece of plain chicken breast and ice water. He was on guard, under the table, for the first hour but then relaxed a little. It was a first bar adventure for him. We think he did very well considering the loud music and hundreds of people there today. We all enjoyed a couple of buckets of beer, and wine and then it was off home. Thank you Randy, for a wonderful afternoon treat!!!

Robbie found a good spot next to dad, and out of the wind. 

Ha ha ha, Robbie looks a little "hung over" in this picture!

Randy and Dawn stayed another half hour and took this beautiful shot of the sunset at The Hideaway.

It was a good day, a very good day. Ta ta. 

SATURDAY DECEMBER 27, 2014

It's going to be a warm one today and forecast to be nice into January. Maybe boating to The Hideaway this afternoon or tomorrow is an idea!

The Stevenson's arrive in a couple of days ... hopefully in time for Zido's New Year's Eve "Partay"! We will pull our RV onto the driveway for extra accommodations ... Randy & Dawn are invited too and will stay overnight. Fun!

I had fun posting a few photos on Facebook from our Christmas Day festivities. It was great to read the comments and hear about our London clan's wonderful Christmas for 16!!! That reminds Mark and I of our days in Boca Raton hosting Christmases. LOL. We hosted 16 one year, 15 for many years. 

Mark went early to the Home Depot to pick up parts to repair our fence; it lost the wrestling match with a tree branch. Me? I'm doing laundry today and prepping the house for our pals, Les and Lynne. They'll arrive on the 30th, we hope, or the 31st and stay til January 3rd. Yay. More fun! And boating! Haha. 

The flowers we received from River Oaks Animal Hospital in Maggie's memory are so lovely today!

I gave them fresh water and a stem trim this morning! Maybe they'll last another day. 

My cousin Alex Tawns and his girlfriend Courtney visited Mel's mom for Christmas.

Alex's dreadlocks are as long as my hair!

My cousin Flo Tawns is skiing in Japan!

Flo is on the right, wearing a blue jacket! 

This afternoon I posted pictures of the glasses I'm looking for ... 

and Mary-Beth knew the highball glass was Cristal D'Arques!!! I've placed a bid for some on eBay. Thanks Mary-Beth. 

The gold rimmed wine glass remains a mystery. I'd like to find 3-5 of them, if possible. 

It's about 7 3/4" tall. I'm not sure what to call the bowl shape. It's not tulip ... maybe bell shaped?

Sleep well my friends. It's happy hour here. Ta ta. 

BOXING DAY - DECEMBER 26, 2014

Good morning y'all. It's a 57° morning in Central Florida and Mark is cooking breakfast for everyone of leftover ham, potatoes and applesauce. Sue discovered my Pineapple Delight in the back of the fridge. Ha ha ha. We forgot to get it out for Christmas Day dinner! There's always something we forget. It's tradition. 

I'm often asked, what is Boxing Day? Over the years, I've heard different stories about it and decided today to see what Wikipedia said. Here it is. 

Everyone's gone! Rick, Ruth and Daisy left about 10:45 for their boat in Stuart. Wayne, Sue, Julius, Shorty and Rose left about 11:15 for Stuart and then Pompano Beach. We had a wonderful time with them here!  

Did you know, there's a song sung on Boxing Day ... aka St. Stephen's Day?

Mark went through his Christmas loot and tidied up. I began this message and snuggled with Robbie for a few minutes. Now it's time I look under the tree and sort my loot. Ha ha

At 2 o'clock we headed to the bowling alley ... Randy got a ball from Dawn for Christmas! 

He was awesome with the new ball!!! Afterwords, we came home for excellent leftovers ... and wine. It was a good evening. 

Randy, Robbie and Dawn! Cute. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2014

Good morning...a cool 57F in Central Florida. Mark, Rose, Sue and I are up ... no sign of Rick, Ruth nor Wayne! (I suspect a few hangovers in the crowd!) It was quite a "Partay". My mince tarts were a hit ... and a plate of cookies disappeared! 

As you can see, our little house has a great RV resort. LOL. Sue and Wayne's Prevost ... plus Rick and Ruth's Mercedes View. (Our Grand Junction is in its RVport.)

Yesterday  was Miles' 10th birthday ... 

the theme this year was video making! I'll try to get a copy as I bet it was awesome. Haha. 

Rick wheeled in a bin full of Christmas stockings ... one for each of us stuffed with great gifts. It was really a surprise! And fun!!! 

After opening our parcels, we were getting hungry. Ruth prepared a delicious breakfast casserole for us all ... and with Mimosas or Poinsettias in hand we ate in the Sunroom! It was a much quieter gang than last night! Everyone disappeared for a rest afterwards and to regroup for the day. 

These lovely flowers arrived yesterday from Dr. Greer and wife, Annie, and staff from River Oaks Animal Hospital in Longwood in memory of Maggie. 

It was so thoughtful! Imagine, Tulips at Christmas!

Our dining room table is laid for eleven festive folks. 

The menu is ... Poinsettia Cocktails, Festive Citrus Salad, Roasted Turkey, Gravy, Ham, Whipped Potatoes, Cornbread Stuffing, Green Bean Casserole, Cream Corn, Mandarin Cranberry Sauce, Applesauce ... Wine ... then Plum Pudding, Mince Tarts and Raspberry Shortbread Cookies, Apple Pie and Coffee. 

Randy and Dawn arrived at 4 having had a busy Christmas Eve with her family. Unfortunately, they had an uninvited guest ... a water moccasin snake! Dawn and her daughter discovered it in the screen porch! Yikes! Randy killed it with a BB gun. (That's a first!)

Diane and Kris arrived about 4:30 with items for Shih Tzu Rescue. Rick and Ruth had stockings for Di & Kris too! It was good fun. 

Randy got a Scottish Tam with red hair ...

and it looked great on him. Haha. I know it's only an optical illusion, but his T-shirt looks like a Scottie dog motif!!! LOL

Rick and Ruth had such a good laugh over it all. 

Dinner was "on time" this year! A miracle! LOL

Sue, Wayne, Ruth, Rick and Rose ... wearing our paper hat crowns!

Kris, Diane, Dawn and Randy. 

The Christmas hosts ... Mark and Julie. We look a little weary, as Wayne had to take this picture about four times. LOL

The party broke up earlier than usual with everyone gone home by 10:30. 

It was so much fun having everyone here ... a very Merry Christmas indeed. 

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 24, 2014

AND A PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE !!!

It's Christmas Eve and a muggy 82F this afternoon. This morning, Sue, Wayne, Rose, Mark and I met Randy at Olivia's for breakfast. (Dawn is working until six!) We had a lot of laughs over breakfast, with Randy's antics. Haha. 

Mark and I came home to cook potatoes, and generally get things started for tomorrow's big feast! 

Rick and Ruth should be arriving soon!

It was pouring rain when we "girls" arrived home from the mall! We got R & R parked and plugged in beside Wayne & Sue's new rig. 

Tonight, Rose has prepared meat pies for our dinner, and Mark will do roasted potatoes with green beans! 

Well, Christmas Eve ended with craziness and debauchery!  Haha. Dinner was very good BUT we opened the magnum of wine at 4 o'clock ... Waaaay too early! LOL. MANY "buddles" later ...

Mark managed to get Rose's tourtière pies out for dinner ... but not before the party got C R A Z Y. Haha. It was good fun!

Merry Christmas, and to all a good night! xoxoxoxo