SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 2014

Oh yes! There's sunshine ... but a chilly 55F.  

Yesterday, Mark and I started the vegetable soup diet ... this morning, he's down 4 pounds. WTF? The last time we did the diet was prior to my knee surgeries ... three rounds of the routine was a twenty pound loss for us both. 

I had a little shopping to do today and Mark went to Shell; saved $.30 a gallon on gas with our Winn-Dixie points. That's not bad. The last fill up we saved $.45 a gallon. Sweet. 

My poking around on ancestry.com has turned up a few photos and one very interesting fact. When we were growing up, Dad told us how our family name came to be. The story was that one of our ancestors went to Ireland and aided the Irish to oust the royal dane family. When he tried to return home to Scotland, he was a wanted man and could have been hung for treason. According to the story, he altered his (and our) family name on his documents. Dad thought our name was originally McTaunsh but he was spelling it with a "u" rather than an "i".  It was actually McTainsh. 

The genealogist we hired 15 years ago didn't find this link despite my dad having shared his story. But, things are easier now with so many records online. Anyway, this is ancestor, Peter McTainsh. 

Sue and Wayne are enjoying a beautiful weekend at Disney's Fort Wilderness RV resort. 

It looks like a great spot and perfect weather! Stevenson's are dog-sitting, by the way, so Sue and Wayne will be carefree!

Mark and I watch the Paralympics sit ski ... OMG it was crazy wild. We found ourselves holding our breath while watching!  What daredevils!

It's change the clocks night ... Spring forward. 

FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 2014

Happy birthday Wayne! We wish you a wonderful year ahead. 

Mark and I went to bed fairly late last night, about midnight, and then there I was wide awake at 3:30 in the morning! What's with that? So I got up and watched a rerun of Downton Abbey.  Finally, at 7:30 I went back to bed and slept until 10 o'clock. I might be in quite a quandary when the clocks move ahead tomorrow night. I'm not a fan of time changes!!!

Today is overcast, with a north wind. When Mark walked the dogs this morning, he declared it cold outside and started a fire! It was 69 inside this morning and a cozy 75 now. Nice. 

Linda and Randy stopped in for a short visit this afternoon. Bob and Jill left about noon today. They had a great visit with them. 

It's been a relaxing day of TV and the fire burning! 

THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2014

Randy's dinner party was terrific. He cooked Chicken Parmesan with a side of spaghetti. Delicious! Bob and Jill were in recovery mode from their Western Caribbean cruise aboard a Celebrity ship.

 

I think Bob was still recovering! Their cruise package included booze ... LOL. 

Jill bought a beautiful Swarovski crystal bracelet watch. I should have taken a picture ...

It's similar to this but in gold ... it looks like a cuff bracelet until you push the display! Suddenly, wearing a watch is in style again. 

Unfortunately, our forecast is calling for rain so there will be no boating today. :-(

Meanwhile, I'm still working on Ancestry.com and added this World War II photo ...

It appeared in the London daily and was entitled "The Fighting Sons".  

Tonight was Yaya's, so Mark and Lew went over to Randy and Linda's to shoot pool. 

Rose made this cute palm tree from a bell pepper and carrot. 

We had a little rain today, but most of it went way south. Fort Lauderdale area had tornado warnings until 7 pm

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2014

Brrr ... it's only 55F this morning with a front to the north of us. We were just discussing dog haircuts ... maybe not just yet. 

It looks like spring is near ...

Morrison Tree Service arrived about 11:30. By 1 o'clock, the offending limb was down. Our receipt says "dangerous limb" so it may be tax-deductible! The tree trimmer said that the $400 should be deducted from our home tax? It's worth a try ... I'll drop into the County Office and see what the taxman has to say. 

It wasn't all easy-peasy as DUKE ENERGY did not come back until 5:30 to put the power back on! That was a bit of a worry has three neighbors homes were turned off too. The service truck was leaving just as our neighbor Bonnie arrived home. 

Randy called and invited us for chicken Parmesan tonight! Bob and Jill Kalika are in town so it's going to be a party!!!

Can you see the tree climber at the V in the tree? Mark watched him climb. He scrambled up there unaided with a cigar in his mouth!!! Mark named him Johnny dreadlocks. LOL Mark suggested he might enjoy a career in the elevator business. But Johnny dreadlocks said "Hell no man I'm afraid of heights!" He went on to explain that being up high on a tree doesn't bother him but being on a high floor in a building does. Go figure?

At 6 o'clock, we left for Linda and Randy's. But first we had to pick up breadcrumbs for the Chicken Parmesan, and a case of diet tonic for Jill. 

Tomorrow, I'll post some pictures from the evening. 

TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014

Good day, eh? I hope it is at your home too. 

Mark woke up this morning and decided a large limb has to come off the sweet gum tree. So, the tree trimmers arrived, but said the power must be off!!! Well, yes, that's a good idea. So now, we are waiting on Duke Energy. 

Meanwhile, Randy called and needs a Linda sitter while he goes to Walmart. Mark made arrangements with Duke to come tomorrow at noon, so put off the tree trimmers until then. So, he's gone to do his family duty and I'm holding the fort. LOL

My sister, Diane, sent this to me ... funny; very funny. LOL

So, I checked my stock of wine cartoons and, voila, there was a case of them. LOL

Sue and Wayne at Ruth Chris ... LOL

Mark and Julie at Olive Garden :-)

Fish 'n Chips comin' up ...

Bwahahaha ... c'mon, that's funny. 

The wine of choice at my house. LOL

Mark arrived home at five with news that Randy's pal Greg was on his motorcycle and hit by a car. He's alright, fortunately, but there's a lot of damage to his bike. Randy was expecting him to visit soon, on the bike, but that will now be delayed. 

Today, I restrung Sue's and my pearls, adding bicone crystals. Mark said "They pop!"

Updated ... but still elegant. They'll feel like new baubles again. 

Our friend, Jim, returned my call tonight. It was really good to talk with him and hear he's doing a bit better. Grieving is a personal journey, with a definite beginning but no definite end. Personally, I'm still in the disbelief stage. 

Mark and I watched a few shows, drank a bottle of wine and had an early night. 

MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

Good Monday morning, sunshine! It's a bright 65F ... 78 by noon. 

Our good friend and Scottish Terrier breeder, Bonnie Parker, sent pictures and the following message;

"Heart Of America Specialty in St. Louis this past Friday and Sat. zippy won his 9-12 class. Diana got 1st place in her class, and Belize took 2nd place. They did better than expected for their first show."

Miss Diana Ross ... and mom, Bonnie

"Zippy"

"Belize" 

Bonnie has been carefully breeding healthy, happy Scottish Terriers. It looks like she has the conformation down to a science! Congratulations, and well done!!!

Randy haggled a new lawn mower from Sears ... 2 years out of warranty! He and Linda dropped by to return our mower on their way. (And we always thought Linda was the negotiator!). LOL

Our lawn man, Matt Yoder, arrived in the middle of Randy and Mark offloading the mower from his truck. I was about to call Matt as we hadn't seen him in two weeks. He has been very reliable, so I thought maybe he hadn't received our check in the mail. Unfortunately, he had been in Michigan for his 35 year old sister's funeral. She passed away from breast cancer. So sad. 

Mark cooked a crockpot pork loin for dinner ... it was very good.  His vegetable combo was good too. Asparagus, green beans, potato and onion ring topping. I'm so happy he enjoys cooking!  

I worked on Ancestry.com for hours today. The information highway has stalled until I get some clues and pictures from my cousins. It's been an interesting historical journey. ALL our ancestors crossed at least the Atlantic Ocean at a time when one out of seven perished on the crossing. Imagine the fear ... and yet they emigrated! The dream of a new life was so strong!

The liner that carried the family to Canada in 1919. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 2, 2014

Last evening's Mexican dominoes winner was me! It was anyone's game, right to the end. We had so many laughs! Randy, kept forgetting one of the rules; when a double tile is played, the double must be followed with a single. If the initial player doesn't have the followup tile, they pick a tile from the boneyard pile. This continues around the table from player to player until the follow-up tile is played! Randy was surprised every time it came around to him ... LOL. 

There was a little cussing from Randy when he had to play on a double. "That's so wrong. I didn't play that tile. Why should I have to play another one and ruin my run?!!!" Lots and lots of laughs. Fortunately, we did not wake Linda up. 

This morning, we were both up early and started our chores. Mark is doing some boathouse reinforcements today, and I am working on a pearl necklace. 

There's a funny story from yesterday's GeorgeFest parade. I wasn't going to mention it on the blog, but Mark thought it Blogworthy. Haha. While we were watching the parade, Three photographers were snapping pictures. I didn't pay attention ... local newspaper photographers, who cares? Finally, Mark, who notices many things I don't, said "I've had it!"  "Had what?" I asked. 

"That guy has taken 4 or 5 pictures of you!!! He's zooming right in on your face!"  Mark said. 

"What guy???" said I. 

"THE STALKERAZZI" 

It's a gorgeous day today, mid-70s and sunny. Randy planned help for Linda sitting so he could go to Lowe's, Sears and the Hideaway. We're very happy that he has found someone he can trust, who Linda likes, and Randy is able to get a breather from the sad situation. We invited them to come for a waterfront fire tonight, but don't know if Linda will sit still.

The first necklace made from my pearls! I was able to incorporate a Pearldrop that my friend Klaus Moeller had given me back in the 80s. It was on a gold chain; but is now happily residing on my new necklace. 

There's some good TV tonight. :-)