Thanks!

Thanks, everyone, for the kind words and prayers for Mickey. He survived another day...and spoke from his heart of his concerns about the coming days. He is confident he will be healed in heaven. So am I!

Count your blessings!

Long day ahead...

My big brother is now home from the hospital with Hospice, surrounded by family and friends. His tender heart is literally worn out, and so is he. I want to go collect some hugs while I can, so Dick is arranging a car rental (we only have one vehicle here) and I will head to Albany as soon as I can get packed.

Mickey is just shy of turning 69 next month. It will be a glorious celebration for him...

I'll be careful and be in touch as I can. Thanks in advance for good thoughts for our family.

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Let the good times roll!

Happy Fat Tuesday from windy paradise! I'll take the wind over the ice reported back in Mayberry. School is closed another day (it is too dangerous for buses to go on some of the icy back roads).

Have any of you ever celebrated Mardi Gras in New Orleans or Mobile? We haven't...we don't like the huge crowds...but I would love to sit on a balcony high above Burbon Street and watch the festivities from up above.

Do you have a Mardi Gras tradition? We always attend the annual Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday) pancake supper at church. Today represents the last hurrah before Lent begins tomorrow. Milk and eggs were at one time forbidden during Lent in long ago England, hence the pancakes to use up the household supply of those items. So now you know.

Got beads???

Monday with friends

Our day began with breakfast at (where else?) John G's with Lyn and Terry, long-time local friends, followed by a stop at a local craft place to use a good coupon and pick up a few supplies.

Dick and Bill have gone pedaling around the park, so I have the remote control all to myself...hello HGTV...but now the Olympics are on, so I am enjoying watching that while I do a little work around here.

Today is going to be our warmest day all week...maybe 70. A cold front is moving through tonight, but I'll take that over the snow that is still in Mayberry where schools are closed today, and not because it is President's Day.

Spread some cheer around today, whatever you do! And stay warm!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

No, Dick, this is not the chocolate I had in mind for you. Ummm, something maybe on a smaller scale...like a Reece's Cup. Or a bag of M&Ms. Shoot...you like chocolate covered cherries. That's it (plus, I don't like them and won't be tempted to eat any!).

Lynne and I found that Hoffman's is a chocoholics paradise! She found some cutsey chocolate alligators, dogs and ballerinas to take back to her grandkids. I'm sure they'll love them.
The day is supposed to be a romantic one, but this is what we'll be watching this afternoon. The Daytona 500 RULES the day here in the south! Brian and a few friends will actually be there enjoying the madness, um, race. I much prefer watching from the comfort of our own patio and big screen, with no crowds to fight, and my own potty inside. I guess that is a sign of gettin' old.Come join us for a hot bowl of chili and a cold beer if you are in the neighborhood. It'll be relatively quiet, and no crowds! Guaranteed.

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!

Before...and after...

Dick worked on our washer/dryer all afternoon yesterday, trying to get the drum to line back up. There was some fussin' and cussin' and nicking of knuckles...and the occasional come hold this assistance needed. He even called the repairman to discuss possibilities, and the repairman said in his six years of fixin', he had never heard of our problem. Great! Leave it to us to pave the way for the professional. Dick will definitely call and tell him how he finally fixed it.

And of course we had a deadline for him to get cleaned up so we could go out to dinner with friends. We were only about 20 minutes late, because he wanted to get that sucker fixed and back into place. See how it blocks the hallway? So back into place it went, all hooked up but not tried out and off to dinner we went.

When we got home, full of blackened Mahi, he put the door back on the washer, then the wooden doors back on the cabinet it sits in. I fed a load of laundry inside, shut the door, and turned it on. Success...happiness...and one back rub for my sweetie. It was hard work, bending over this thing and lifting and squatting. His back is getting too old for this kind of work!

No schlepping laundry to the laundromat. Hallelujah! We now have one load of darks done...and the whites are happily spinning. I love that sound. Roll, Tide, roll!

Thanks, honey. You are the bestest fix-it guy. I guess you think this is my Valentine's present, right? I know...I'll buy YOU flowers...and chocolate. And you don't even have to share the chocolate. That's true love. Besides, I do have a new potato pearl necklace. It was draped across that lovely bag of *stuff* from Tuesday Morning. Nice.

So what are you doing for your sweetie for Valentine's Day tomorrow? Dick, you get another back rub. I promise.

Friday already...

So this is what I accomplished yesterday. A little something for the grands and for friends...and a replacement for Amy's bracelet that Doodlebug accidently broke. I love him anyway.

I learned that I need to get a work light because our overhead lights just don't hack it when working with small items like this. After playing around with the glass beads, I will eventually move on to some semi-precious stones that I have. I have a necklace in mind...with matching earrings, of course.

My washer/dryer has a problem. The drum is off center...no, I didn't overload it! It has been sounding a little sluggiesh...like a belt is slipping or something. Dick is gonna have to take it out and get to the innards to see what the problem is and hopefully fix it. I'll have to use the facilities here at our park until then. Keep your fingers crossed that it will be a simple fix.

It is another sunny but windy day. We could get good use out of some windmills around here!

You know what Friday is here in Florida--beer and wings night! Enjoy your day, whatever you do. And wear RED to support our troops! Speaking of, welcome back to the USA, JQ. Thanks for your service 'over there' in sand country!!! Hopefully you'll be back in Mayberry real soon.