SATURDAY JANUARY 31, 2015

Good morning on this last day of January! (Already!) It's a chilly-willy 48F here but going to 66 later ... and 75 tomorrow. I know! We're spoiled here in Florida. LOL. 

Perhaps Oscar should party in the southern States at this time of year!

Mark tidied up the "stump" site and discovered it burned to ground level. Great! Grass will take over soon. Done!

Today, we have a surprise birthday party for our pal Lynn Zido. Lew booked the Copacabana in Mount Dora. We haven't been there before; it'll be a blast. Randy will meet us there!

There's room for humor today! Haha. 

Sorry guys ... 

We arrived at Copacabana about 5 o'clock and of course, ordered drinks. At 5:30; still no drinks.  We were bordering on a Cuban missile crisis!!!  LOL. Our waitress disappeared and a comely  young man took over and retook our drink orders! , Lynn, Lew, Ben & Natalie arrived at the party. Mark ordered a. Sambuca for Lynn and got the party started. It was a great time, with a lot of laughs!!!

The birthday cake arrived with a big 60!!! Lynn gasped, then blew out the candles! Haha. Yep, get on with life!!!

The B-I-G cake. 😃. It was a fun time!

There were some very nice gifts and some gag gifts!

Jeanette and Lynn surveyed the push up bra! LOL. Haha. 

Randy had lots of laughs ... but was caught texting Dawn mid-celebration. 

Haha. R spent his evening texting Dawn. ;-) What a fun night!!! And, bowling tomorrow!

Ta ta. Hope your Saturday was fun. 

FRIDAY JANUARY 30, 2015

It's a bright, beautiful morning ... and it's Friday! Yay. I began my morning looking at Scottie collectables on eBay. Two hours later, I found my first birthday present! 

It's a very cool charm that I will add to my charm necklace! 

Yes, it's vintage, so it has a few dings and scratches, but that just adds to the charm of the charm. LOL. (I'm vintage too, and I have a few dings and scratches!) 

This photo shows why it's called a bubble charm! I love it. "Happy birthday to meeee!"

Mark chopped and chopped and kept the tree stump burning. It's a job that he loves! Robbie spent more time outside with his daddy. This afternoon, I have a return to make at Hobby Lobby. Cards! I bought 3 cards yesterday ... $12.50! WTH? It's paper! Hobby Lobby's card selection was lousy; 99% are very religious. So, I'm going to Dollar Tree ... $1 a card is a better deal!!!  Sheesh!

Haha! Dollar Tree just opened a new store near us today. For $10.60 I bought 4 decorative trinket boxes, a bag of 100 cotton balls, spaghetti sauce, two bags of licorice, a birthday card and a card of gift bows! Sweet. 

Giordono Wines from Italy called with a good special ... so birthday gift #2 is on its way. "Happy Birthday to meeee!" LOL

Randy popped in this afternoon for a visit. Robbie knew he was coming and barked when he heard the motorcycle! He's getting more personality daily as an only pup in the house. Randy had a coffee with us and we yakked and watched Pawnography ... darn, he's pretty smart. LOL. Randy would have beaten the experts. 

This evening, we are going to watch the Vikings and enjoy a nice fire inside. Ta ta. 

THURSDAY JANUARY 29, 2015

Good morning! It's a lazy, snuggle-buggle day here!

Looking through the bunny ears ...

Robbie, sitting with lucky me, watching the morning news! 

Robbie the Bruce, being cuddly, Scottie-style! Just in case you don't have a Scottish terrier, Scottie-style is "I'll snuggle with you for just a few minutes. But you had better really appreciate it because it's really not my nature!" Heehee. 

Today, we had some food to take to our local Humane Society, and drop off some items at our local recycling scrap yard, then off to Hobby Lobby for a gift, Pet Supermarket for Wellness Chicken and Walmart for ground beef! Robbie enjoyed coming along for the ride with us! 

Here's a doggy giggle for today ...

Let's hope some of that was Photoshopped! LOL

Today, Randy and Dawn have taken her car into Ford for a recall. Apparently, this is the second attempt to fix the issue. Last night, at the bowling alley, we told Dawn about Randy's lawnmower experience with Sears. We laughed and said we hope he doesn't take his sledgehammer with him today.  Of course, that meant telling the entire story to Dawn. LOL. 

Hahaha. 

Sue and Wayne will be home from their cruise tomorrow, I think. They've had excellent weather!

Us? Mark thought we should have a stump burning party. It was a small party, as we forgot to invite anyone else. LOL. It was a beautiful evening, no wind. We got the fire lit and sat outside and had several glasses of wine! 

It's all about the Scottie dogs tonight! ;-)

Our neighbors Candi and Jim came home from a basketball tournament with their son Parker. Parker, Grade 6, about 6 foot tall, excels at basketball. LOL. Tomorrow, they go to Maryland for a tournament. Go Parker, yay! He is a very modest young man. When asked, "How did you do in Tampa, Parker?" He replied, "Not bad." They won the entire team championship!!! Not bad at all.  Haha. 

So, the wine kept pouring (seemingly magically) and Robbie enjoyed sitting on daddy and mommy's lap. LOL. We couldn't believe the numerous airplanes we watched fly, silently, from Orlando airport. Last night, three UFOs were spotted over West Palm Beach, and Lakeland, Florida. We would have loved to have witnessed that tonight!!! WTF!!! Where are you you alien rat bastards??? My iPhone was all ready for you! 😉

So, Ta ta. I hope your Thursday was fabulous!

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 28, 2015

Happy birthday to Mark's sister Paula in Asheville, North Carolina. (I know I'm technically one day late, but my calendar reminder didn't ding til 5 o'clock last evening, so I'm blaming that.) When we spoke last night, all was well with her and the boys. 

This morning, it was 50° so we lit a roaring fire! It's lovely here. I had to run to the post office, but this time I had the label prepared and the box properly wrapped. LOL, you see, I am trainable!  These eBay sales are addictive. Ha ha. 

Speaking of eBay, the Harley Davidson coveralls that Randy asked me to list a couple of days ago do not yet have a bid! (Surprised?) He said "If they don't sell, I'm going to wear them again!" (That will make Dawn bid on them just put them in the dumpster!!!) bwahahaha. 

We met Randy and Dawn at the bowling alley at 5:30. It was dollar night! Every crazy kid was there including speedy Gonzalez in the lane next to us!!! 

Randy was about to release the ball ...

When out of the corner of Randy's eye he saw speedy Gonzalez zip by and throw his ball!!! Well, this continued for a while until finally Dodie blew up at him. Poor guy!

We made it a proper date night by going into the Top of the Burgh lounge at the bowling alley for a pitcher of beer and supper. It had been a long while since we've celebrated date night!!! It was a great evening!

The gutter ball fund collected another $7 tonight! Maybe we'll be lucky with Lotto tickets. Haha. 

Mark was our high bowler today at 159 and 149 ... Great games with all the distractions we had there ... it was dollar night!!! Yikes. 

I hope you had a great day too!

TOOSDEE, JANUWARY 27, 2015

😛 ha ha. Good morning! It's a bright beautiful day here in Central Florida. We both slept well and we're up at 7:30 with Robbie dog. Mark cooked bacon wrapped wieners for breakfast this morning. Strange, but good! Atkins seems to be working for us, so we'll keep going! We'll be skinny in no time. A.k.a., as in, we will never be skinny! LOL

Robbie is quite excited as uncle Randy is stopping over for a bowl of chicken soup today. If there are two exciting things in Robbie's life, it's uncle Randy and chicken, and in no particular order. Ha ha. Randy is busy turning out the cabinets beneath his TV. It was a bit of a rat's nest as any cabinet with solid doors becomes.  It was a rather depressing day for him. Some days ...

Mark went for lawnmower parts and grocery shopping today, while I added more items on eBay. Egad, if everything sold, I'd have to go shopping again!!! 

Randy spent a few hours visiting and ate a bowl of Mark's homemade Veggie Soup. It was good, very good. (I had some for dinner!)

Sue and Wayne are still cruising the Caribbean ... expected home Friday. 

Friends in the northeast; we're thing about you. Mark found this Facebook posting and wanted to share it. 

Ouch! Oh, that hurts. LOL. Stay warm, stay safe. Ta ta. 

MONDAY JANUARY 26, 2015

Good morning. Or is it? Oh my aching head. Quite apparently I was over served on the wine. Unfortunately, Mark remembers everything. LOL

Wintery morning in Florida! Still gorgeous!

Yesterday, Mark was walking Robbie when he saw a riding lawnmower in front of a neighbors house with a "FREE" sign. 

Once Mark got the mower home by pushing it, our other neighbor Lew came over ... He had offered $100 for it last year ... but wasn't able to buy it. LOL. So, Mark offered to sell it to Lew for $75. They had a good laugh. 

When Mark showed this picture to Randy yesterday, Randy got excited and wanted to buy it. So now, Mark has a job to rebuild it. (He needed a project.)

Rick and Ruth will be happy to see that Randy's Christmas present, "Jimmy" was making the rounds yesterday!

Randy is wearing it a little different in this pic ... mimicking Dawn's hair! 

But, this pic is my favorite ... 

Randy modeled his Harley Davidson "Vintage" coveralls ... Dawn is NOT a fan of this fashion. LOL

It was a busy one around our house today. There was laundry, a run to the post office; then a second run to the post office because I forgot the mailing address ... LOL ... (I wasn't popular as I had asked Mark to come along because it was a large awkward package I was mailing.) 😁  At that time, I interrupted his lumberjack fun. He's been working so hard to chop wood and wheelbarrow it around the back to stack. It's quite a physical job. 

Me, I did three loads of laundry and photographed more items for eBay sale. Mark decided I could list some Craftsman wrenches he no longer needs. And, of course, Randy's coveralls! I am still doing penance for my overindulgence of wine last night! My stomach is rumbling. Haha. It's going to be a Betty Ford week!

Sons of Liberty, a 3 part series began tonight ... plus we had Downton Abbey to watch; a lazy evening! Ta ta. Sleep tight. 

SUNDAY JANUARY 25, 2015

Brrr ... it's 43F this morning! That's a "cold-front" alright! Haha. Mark had a lovely roaring fire going when I ambled out at 8:30. 

Our friend Bonnie Parker in Oklahoma is marrying next Sunday. This is the cake topper!

Beautiful, isn't it! To be factual, there should be more Scotties and one Westie. Haha. 

Our Robbie is invited to Randy & Dawn's today, too. This will be his first meeting with the granddaughters ... and I bet he hides from them! We'll see. 

Mark giving Robbie a beauty treatment in the kitchen sink! Hey, you got a look good for the girls! LOL

We arrived a little early to catch Dawm wrestling with the Sasquatch chicken. LOL. It smells great! Dawn's son Brandon arrived with girlfriend Mary ... then daughter Brittany with children McKenna and Charlotte and boyfriend Allan. A nice, friendly bunch. 

Well, the chicken's still on the stove ... having a second glass of wine ... 

So, everything went to shit. Randy put on his 1980s Harley Davidson coveralls. And we were all in hysterics. Here's an example of the eBay ad ... 

YeeHAW!!! Vintage 1980's Harley Davidson coveralls. (Plus his and hers dentures.) LOL

So the Sasquatch chicken was finger licking good!!! Yeehaw. We had an excellent time ... We went out to the Harley garage to shoot pool and Mark beat everyone. After they all left, we went into the house and finished the wine. Bad idea. 

So, that said, we're to bed. Ta ta. 

SATURDAY JANUARY 24, 2015

Busy busy busy ... Good afternoon! It seems we got up full of vim and vigor, (Dad would have said, "Piss 'n Vinegar"!) LOL, and got tons of odds and ends done. 

Mark cut and bundled firewood then decided to relax in front of some manly movies today. He did cook breakfast and vacuumed, though! 😍

Me, I made two jewelry sets for sale on eBay and tidied up my untidy Arts & Crafts studio. It was a muddle. Haha. 

This purple passion is 1960's vintage beads, cleaned and polished, then made into something fresh. 

Next I whipped up a set with Rhodonite & Quartz cubes. So pretty with a porcelain 

Pink Carnation pendant. 

Otherwise, it was a quiet Saturday. 

Randy and Dawn prepared their home for The "Sasquatch chicken" lunch party tomorrow that includes her daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren. It will be the first time that Mark and I meet them, so we must be on good behavior. Ha ha ha. Hey, we'll try. 

Sue and Wayne left on their anniversary Eastern Caribbean cruise today. 

It looks like they'll be honing their bowling skills while on board with Carol and Jack! Cool beaners!

Tonight? Mark and I are going to Stavros for Eggplant Parmesan and Greek Salad. They are both delicious dishes. We're going to allow ourselves one piece of garlic toast each, as a treat. This Atkins diet gets tedious if we don't have a little "carbs" here and there. 

Robbie was happy to see us home with garlic bread! He got just a small bit ... well, maybe two bits. 

Tonight, relaxing with a glass of vino. Ta ta.  

FRIDAY JANUARY 23, 2015

Good morning from bright sunny Central Florida. I have a busy day with errands! Two eBay packages must be shipped, then there's banking, the DMV to pick up our Kia title, then a few and grocery items! Meanwhile, Mark decided to play lumberjack again! He and Randy did a tremendous amount two days ago, but the tree is still standing about 20 feet tall.

I heard a "THUNK" and saw Mark had the trunk down. 

We have some firewood to share with our neighbors!

Randy and Mark stacked the branches ready for community landfill pick up. 

Gee Mark, are you expecting a very cold winter? LOL. Yes, we have plenty of firewood to spare. 

Well, it was one of those excursions. The banking didn't go as planned, the DMV title didn't go as planned, the UPS shipping didn't go as planned, only the good old post office came through. LOL. Robbie dog came along for the ride though and he enjoyed everything, including the McDonald's chicken!!! 😍

After making half a dozen phone calls, it looks like Monday will be a rerun of our Friday errands. Ha ha. 

I'm not sure who thought this one up, but I love it. Ha ha. 

Today, Sue and Wayne are packing for their Caribbean cruise! It's for their 41st anniversary celebration! Enjoy. Les and Lynne move in to housesit and doggie sit, so they will have a nice vacation too! It's a great life, isn't it?

Randy and Dawn went to Ocala today, but not for fun. Dawn had a root canal. Yuck. We hope she's feeling much better now that it's over! I bet Randy's making soup tonight. LOL

We're expecting a cold front to come through with thunderstorms tonight. Yay. I love storms ... and rain, but y'all know that. LOL 

So that's it for today. We're going to relax, have a glass of wine and a hot tub tonight. Ta ta. 

THURSDAY JANUARY 22, 2015

Good morning from our house to yours. It's "Throwback Thursday" which I've neglected lately. So, in the spirit of TBT ... 

Here's a picture of Pam's visit in 2012! We were at Hurricane's in Tavares. 

and, of course, Mark had us laughing!

Pam is coming to visit next month! Yay. It'll be a PARTAY. Randy's sister, Lorraine, is coming about the same time, too!

This afternoon, Randy took down his Christmas decorations, finally. LOL. Dawn was at work. Mark ran errands, and got the Kia washed. 

Me? I joined our "Game Day" and loved it. There were 11 lovely ladies. The hostess puts out wine, several bottles, along with snacks and a dessert. We played rummy cube and MexicanTrain Dominoes...My favorite. It was a B L A S T.  I'm hosting in August as we will be here all summer long this year. Alas. Oh well, it'll be fun, and we will be busy adding a gorgeous pergola to our front door. 😍

Randy spent his day putting Christmas away ... bah, humbug. LOL. We're going there Sunday for lunch 

Tonight, it's hot tub, wine and TV. Ta ta. 

 

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 21, 2015

Twenty-one days into this new year ... ALREADY! Good morning ... I'm up early from my "lack-a-soda" cough. Seriously, I laid in bed and coughed ... got up and drank my Sunkist Diet Orange "Crack" and felt fine. LOL. (Mark calls this my crack! I'm addicted!) Funny thing is, Randy now has an addict too ... Dawn has a morning Pepsi!  Hahaha. In the RV last week, the crack of soda cans in the morning was audible. LOL

It's a tad chilly this morning at 54°F ... forecast for 74° this afternoon. We'll take it; it is January after all. Winter. 

Today is our neighborhood ladies luncheon and tomorrow our ladies game day. Gee, not a moment to live, as Randy's grandmother would say. Haha. I really NEED a full 3 days to make "stuff" in my hideaway room! 

Randy arrived about 930 to help Mark with lumberjack duties. I went to check on them about 10 o'clock. They were working on Randy's electric chainsaw. It was like watching Abbott and Costello in the old black-and-white reruns. When the electric saw didn't start, Mark researched the problem and realized the extension cord wasn't plugged in to the wall. (Randy blamed it on lack of a 2nd cup of coffee.) Then, Randy hooted with laugher because Mark bent over and displayed his plumber's butt ... you know, the pencil holder. LOL. Luckily, I didn't have the camera ready. Mark walked back to the chainsaw, and tried it again. No luck. WTF? Randy noticed the chainsaw wasn't plugged into the extension cord!!! Ha ha Ha ha ha. I decided to go in the house and leave them to it. I'm sure there will be a lot of laughs today! 

Abbott, up the tree while Costello runs around below. Oh boy. 

Lunch at 31 Magnolia ... windows wide open; a perfect day! There was even ANOTHER REDHEAD there today!!!

Mark and Randy got a lot done and were 

sitting in front of the Telly when I came home from lunch. 

Here they are going back to work for another round of torture. Haha. 

Now it's happy hour and we had a belated birthday toast to Linda ... it was her birthday while we were at the RV show in Tampa. We all thought about Linda on Saturday and were reminded of her birthday spent there last year. And so life ones on. We never forget, just cope and carry on, as Linda would wish us all to do. 

Tonight, there's some good TV ... and another round of drinks. Ta ta. And, as mom always said, "Keep smiling!"

TUESDAY JANUARY 20, 2015

Morning has broken, like the first morning, Blackbird has spoken like the first bird ... (I miss coffee house music ... where are the Cat Stevens of the music industry?)

I awoke early, missing my dear Maggie and my sister, Linda, both lost last year. Grief is an odd thing. Just when you think you have a handle on it, it rolls ove like advection fog that you can't escape. 

Never mind, the sun always appears and dries up the wet blanket. So, onto today!

Good morning! I'm off to the post office to mail my first eBay sale. Yay. Our local post office is great. I walked in with my supplies and looked for the small Priority Post box. The lady at the counter said, "Here, I'll do that for you." And she did, right down to putting foam everywhere she could and taping it up. I love small town service! 

Next stop was Walgreens. "What may I help you find?" Gee, it was my lucky day!

Mark kept busy readying tools for tomorrow's tree removal. Randy is coming over to assist. I'm sure they'll have some laughs! This is the tree beside our driveway ... Poor thing. Mark hates it because the birds sit there and poop on the vehicles. Nature, huh!

Me? I scrubbed the Dodge's carpeting and spot cleaned the upholstery. It looks great again! But, my back is protesting! LOL   We're ordering a new fancy tailpipe for it and getting the diamond plate buffed. 

After that, I honed my photography skills ... what do you think?

My eBay site is ... RedJulieGale2 ... this should help our Humane Society donations. LOL 

Tonight, there's a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral. We're waiting ... and will run outside to watch! 

I hope your Tuesday was terrific.

MONDAY JANUARY 19, 2015

Good morning! It's Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I know that because I drove to the post office ... and it was CLOSED. LOL

Mark and I got the RV cleaned up and sorted out, the slides in and ready to back into the carport in record time. 

This afternoon, I put items on eBay ... a full time endeavor! LOL. If I can manage a store name, I'll share it. Sue continues to do very well for Shih Tzu rescue. Nice. 

The RV is officially in its port. What a chore it was today ... must have been hungover!  We came in for "Happy Hour" after that! Haha. 

Next Sunday, Mark and I are going on a "Sasquatch" hunt! Yes, really! Randy first heard about Sasquatch Chicken from Dawn. Actually, she cooks it!!! Randy's heard about it ... but never seen it. LOL We're to meet Dawn's daughter Brittany and her family. Oh boy. I hope we can behave. LOL

Pam phoned today ... she's coming next month for a visit!!! Yay!

Ta ta til tomorrow!  

 

SUNDAY JANUARY 18, 2015

Good morning y'all. We were up about 9 o'clock and ate a big breakfast of cheesy eggs and turkey kubie cooked by Randy. 

Rick and Ruth dropped in to say "bye" as they were off around 10 to tour some of the west coast of Florida. One of these days we'll make an RV trip to Busch Gardens. 

RVin' Robbie Rascal ... Relaxin'

I washed the sheets while Randy and Dawn packed and then took Robbie for a long walk. We were on the road home by noon. 

It was an easy road home and Mark backed us into the driveway. Everyone pitched in on the unloading and came in for "leftovers" lunch and to watch the football game. 

Sue and Wayne took Les. Lynne & Jim boating today!

I guess this is "Pelican Point" ... actually Lighthouse Point. It looks very cloudy ... Hope the weather held. 

Wasn't that some game?  Randy and Dawn never made their intended party ... so we carried on here. Imagine Seattle Sea Hawks at the Super Bowl ?!  The "cheese eaters" in my house are drowning their sorrows. LOL. The impromptu party rolled into the next football game so Mark made Chicken Caesar Salads for all. Randy said this is like being at "Weekend at Bernie's" ... it goes on and on. Haha. 

Melanie and Miles (Tawns) say "Hello" from their pool in Australia where it's summer now. 

Looking great Mel and our Young Professor. 😊

Other family news ... Flo is skiing in Japan!

That's Flo in the center ... as all Tawns girls are! LOL

I'd say she's having a blast and getting along nicely. 😜

Our pal Scott "MacComber" will be down in Florida soon, very soon. He finally had some good luck ... and that's all I'm saying. Ha ha.  

Hope your Sunday was a blast. Ta ta.