HALLOWE'EN 2014

BOO!

There was (is?) an old mansion on Kildonan Drive in Winnipeg that local kids avoided on Hallowe'en. The long, winding gravel driveway was densely treed. But, by Hallowe'en, the trees stood bare while moonshine cast her eerie shadow. Eeeeek. Whhoooo. 

Of course, we girls were compelled, no, DESTINED to creep up the stone stairs and grab the icy knocker. Bang bang bang ... "Trick or Treat!" (Old Mr Dale wasn't friendly ... didn't have a family ... lived alone in that huge 1890 manse. His companions, 3 black Scotties!) No sign of life. Haha. BANG BANG BANG ... "TRICK OR TREAT" we hollered. 

Then, a light, a silhouette with knife held high, screams, stumbling, shoving, pushing one another, racing down the stony driveway, screaming and laughing. (We never got candy, but we went every year for the thrill.) LOL

Here in Florida, Trick or Treat is a lovely evening with balmy breezes and swaying palm trees BUT tomorrow our first cold front arrives ...

and we'll be enjoying our fireplaces that seldom get used. Enjoy. 

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014

Good day! I was up early to take our Scotties for a potty break at 4:30. They didn't want anything to do with it and refused to step off the porch! WTF? Mark discovered the issue when he went out at 8:30. The sprinklers ran during the night and the grass was wet. Our dogs don't like wet grass. Haha. My bad. Anyway, I couldn't get back to sleep so began my day early.  We had to leave about 8:45 for Longwood for Maggie's 10 o'clock cold laser and chemo. 

I dressed the kids in their Hallowe'en costumes; but dear little Robbie had outgrown his Frankenstein costume. LOL. The only part he could wear was the collar with a huge safety pin. Oh boy!

Miss Maggie looked grand and was the belle of the vet's office. She jumped up and gave everyone kisses! 

This got me on a theme of dog Hallowe'en costumes for today! Enjoy! Oh, by the way, Maggie is doing very very well. Her liver enzymes have reduced, and her blood work remains good. 

Here's an adorable Daschund dressed as  Barbara Eden's character ...

Hee hee hee. 

C'mon, there's no mistaking who this is!

Michael Jackson, the king of poop. LOL

Shaq ... 

Yeah, that fits. Haha. Love it!

Who's waiting for a knight in shining armor???

Hey, where's my Scotch and cigar?!

Sir Winston Churchhill, no doubt about this one either. 

Come visit me at the "Jersey Shore"!

Snooki???

"Movin' On" ...

Hey, Dawg. 

Tech N9ne ...

Lookin' fly!

"I'm New York City born and raised" ...

Homemade and ingenious. 

Liz's ex?

Larry Fortensky? 

OK ... Now for news of the day ...

Scott will be pleased to learn there will be a second guest room at Saint's! Randy disassembled the office, donating file cabinets, two desks and a cabinet to the Leesburg Humane Society shop. Kudos, Randy. (We stopped in for a couple of hours after Mags' appointment and "helped" load the furniture ... plus "helped" drink beer.) ;-)

There's a new judge in town! Greg B bowled 190 today! 

Here's the proof ... Who's the man???Congrats, Greg. 

Yippee, we have some cool weather coming our way this weekend! We have some aged oak ready for a cozy fire. 

Ta ta. Hope your Thursday was great. 

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2014

It's "Hump Day"! Good morning from the Sunshine State. ;-)

Today, we have to pay the price for having parked at the ocean. As you can see, Mark began washing the RV. 

Yes, that's him up on the roof with a scrub brush!  Once it's dry, we'll put it to bed in the RVport until January. 

Today, I am cleaning the inside of the house, doing the weekend's laundry and vacuuming. Maybe I can do some house painting this weekend; it's going to be cooler!

Randy has chosen Saturday, November 29th for Linda's "Celebration of Life". Mark and I will help with the organizing and setup. 

Aw, cute eh?  

At 3:30, Mark backed the RV into the port. First try! 

Cool. Good job! 

I think he's ready to drive semi's for a living. LOL. 

Whew. What a day. But the chores are done! I suggested going out for dinner tonight for date night; but it turned out to be hot dogs at the kitchen counter. Haha. 

Modern Family is on ABC tonight. It's their Hallowe'en special and always great fun. 

Ta ta. Enjoy. 

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2014

Good morning! We were up early for a run to Sorrento for Maggie's cold laser treatment. Speaking of running ... are you ready for a giggle?

Blade runner, right? Haha. Thanks, cousin Hugh! Australians have an edge on humour. 

Good morning moonshine! I'm awake too early (again); I awoke hungry. What's with that? (Well, we ate snacks at happy hour ... but no dinner = bad idea, I suppose.)

Aurelia phoned to wish us a happy 20th. They just put their RV into storage, safe from Canada's winter. Their next trip is planned ... Arizona in March! 

Sue sent this pic of the new gate at their dock entrance. It looks great and will keep the Shizzles safe from the canal. 

After the vet appointment, Mark cleaned the RV carpets and washed the kitchen floor. I baked a chocolate cake for tonight's pizza party. 

This afternoon, we're meeting Randy and Dawn for our weekly bowling. After that, they're coming over for pizza!

Randy kept us in stitches, as usual. 

Mark had a pretty good day ... 172; strutting his stuff after a good ball. LOL

Randy and I dressed the pizzas while "winners" Mark and Dawn sipped their drinks and watched. It was a day of good fun!

Tomorrow ... it's back to cleaning the RV and putting it to bed. Ta ta. 

MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2014

Yesterday, while we were at the Funky Pelican celebrating, we saw a young couple posing for pre-wedding photos. It was very strange! The couple were dressed in evening attire black, sitting on the wet sand (trying to look "normal") and then ankle deep in the water. The man's pants were soaked to the knees ... and both their butts were covered in wet, sticky sand. WTF? 

Here's a quick pic of them with their zany photographer under the pier. Strange, huh?

This morning we awoke to sunshine and the constant waves rolling in. Since we have to go home today, I put a load of laundry in the washer and got to tidying up. Oddly enough, this type of sand hardly tracked into the RV! 

My cousin Hugh, from Australia, sent these cool graffiti artist works. Some of them are downright brilliant. 

The woman's face is simple, but dramatic! 

I think I would have done this as Einstein. Haha. 

Now this is a mural, not random graffiti ... but pretty neat. 

Cute mouse! 

About 11:45 we were all packed up and ready to go. It's another beautiful day, 73°F and sunny. Although we're only 68 miles as the crow flies, driving on the back roads would be 73 miles but the route we're going to take on the freeways will be closer to 90 miles. It's nicer to have extra lanes and a shoulder when we're towing! 

Arrived home at 1:45 having had two idiots cross our path. The worst was a young ponytailed girl driving a Dodge pickup. She tried to do a U-turn in front of us, overcompensated, lost control and swerved into our lane. Screech ... 

Randy texted that he and Dawn would like to pop in. I sliced some cheese, found some crackers and put Mark in charge of drinks! Sounds like happy hour!

It was a good happy hour. We showed our weekend pictures and caught up on news. Dawn had some big news ... her divorce papers were signed this morning! Mark gave her a high-five ... I gave her a hug knowing those feelings can be a mixed bag  ... but Dawn was taking it well and happy to have that chapter in the past. So, congratulations Dawn!

That's our news for today. Sue has been planting seasonal flowers at home ...

It's always a big job ... but a good feeling when the job is done. 

TV tonight ... ta ta. Enjoy !

IT'S OUR 20th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

It's 7,305 days of "Good morning"!

It's 4 homes renovated ... 

One wee boy raised ...

It's 4 boats with pole holders ... LOL

Nine vehicles haggled over ... 

One big-ass RV purchased ... LOL

It's a 20 year financial plan revised thrice 

Six dogs adopted ...

Three birds rescued ... 

Two careers navigated ...

Three surgeries survived ...

Four parents lost ...

Two sisters gone too soon ...

A dozen friends gone too young ...

Eight cruises enjoyed ...

Ten road trips logged ...

Six overseas and Canada trips ...

And one TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY at the seashore. Muah! Life is good!

Good morning ... from our RV's window; what a lovely way to start this day!

Mark cooked his cheesy scrambled eggs while I tidied up and made toast. Afterwards, we drove to Flagler Pier to check out the Funky Pelican ... it's a neat spot overlooking the ocean. By 4 o'clock there should be plenty of shade, so maybe dinner there tonight? It comes recommended ...

Bahama Mama had nice things in her shop; but nothing I needed. Gee, what's wrong with us??? LOL We have too much crap from too many travels!

We took the Scotties and went for a 40 minute walk on the beach. The waves are much smaller today, but plenty of bird action. This kept Robbie amused! 

Walking the coquina sand beach. 

Robbie and Maggie were drying off after their Beachwalk. We poured a glass of wine and waited while the sand dried. Several Dolphin were spotted just offshore! Mark noted two large fishing boats heading south for the winter season. We wondered if they might be wintering in the Keys, working there. They appear to be shrimp boats.

Tonight, we went to the Funky Pelican at the Flagler Beach pier for our anniversary dinner. We got a terrific table overlooking the water ... and there wasn't a bit of a breeze, just perfect!

We both had Caesar salad, and a couple of drinks before ordering dinner! Mark enjoyed a blackened seafood platter that included scallops. I had fried shrimp with garlic mashed potatoes. Everything was very good! For dessert, we shared the Chocolate Bombe ... A mixture of white and dark chocolate mousse, topped with a chocolate crust. ;-)

Our "selfie" ... in the sunshine. 

Our waitresses' photo taken in the shade; where is the water??? LOL. Whatever. 

So we came back to the RV, opened our champagne and sat outside with fancy glasses and drank to the next twenty years. 

Life is Good. 

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2014

I slept with the window open; the surf pounding the seashore all night. Awesome. Sunrise at 7:31from our rear window. 

It's 57 this morning with 77 forecast for today. Nice!

After lounging about the living room with the fireplace on, we took a drive to the farmer's market, then Oceanside Restaurant for brunch. The place was FULL at 11:15 ... a good sign. We'll have our anniversary dinner there tomorrow night! It's the #1 restaurant in this area; so there you have it. Haha.

On A1A, we spotted a cottage decorated with pirates ... 

I wish it was a restaurant, but it's not; just a beach cottage owned by a pirate enthusiast. LOL. (Those pirate statues are big and colorful.)

Further north, outside Jose Gaspar's Treasures, one motorcycle cop raced past with lights and siren on, followed by a dozen officers on bikes. Following the cops were dozens of bikers, some wearing patches, all roaring south on A1A. We wondered where they were going!

Although I wanted a large piece of coral for home decor, I resisted. We have so much "stuff"! But, it's a very nice piece ...

Back at the RV, we relaxed with the Scotties in the sunshine. 

I'm wearing my flannel from having sat in the shade awhile. 

After an hour, we took the dogs on a 40 minute beach-walk. They both loved it; Maggie enjoyed getting her feet wet, but Robbie accidentally got his toes wet by chasing a Sandpiper into the surf. (We both got wet!) LOL

Our neighbors are setting up a large bonfire on the beach for tonight. We're invited ... high tide is at 9 o'clock so I'm not sure how successful their fire will be!

After consuming one bottle of champagne this afternoon, Mark suggested he'd cook chicken fried rice so we don't go out on the roads tonight. I walked to the grocery for dessert ... Blue Bell Dutch Chocolate ice cream. Yum. 

That's it for today! Tomorrow is our 20th anniversary. On one hand it doesn't seem that long ... but so many changes and accomplishments!  Ta ta. 

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014

My old friend Insomnia is back! Haha. It's 3:30 in the morning and I've watched Scandal, drank a Sunkist, walked the dogs and am ready for some toast. WTF? My plan ... eat toast and go back to bed. 

My plan wiorked! I conked out and awoke at 8:10 rarin' to go. If I have insomnia tonight, I can sit and watch the ocean! We arrived Beverly Beach at 12:20 ... spent 15 minutes setting up, and enjoyed happy hour! WOW! What a cool spot this is ... Beverley Beach Camptown. I hope this is the first of many visits! It's only two hours and 15 minutes from home, and a world away! Off-season is $95 a night, and $115 on the weekends. Love this place!

Here we are ... million dollar view ... waves rolling in! 

The Scotties enjoyed a beach walk! Maggie liked wet feet ... Robbie, not so much. Haha. 

First one of the day, (er, sitting on the sea wall with two leashes and a beer in hand.) Haha. 

Nice! 

Meanwhile, down under, Miles surprised mom, Melanie, that he needed a costume for school. With just 30 minutes, "they" whipped up this Roman emperor outfit. ;-) You're the best Mel. No contest!

It's amazing how many people wander neck deep into the ocean to fish. We know the Great Whites and Bull sharks frequent the Florida coast. Fish from the pier already, will you!!!