Celebrating

 Today is a special day for brother Roger and Lynn.  They're celebrating their anniversary as well as Lynn's recovery from her heart condition.  Enjoy the day.  Our thoughts are with you.

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Last night Mardi and I had dinner with Barb Gallina at the Power House Restaurant.

Another celebration as Barb continues her impressive recovery from brain surgery.  Attitude and determination are everything!  Keep up the good work Barb.

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I hope that you all have had a relaxing Easter weekend.  

Stay well.

Wacky Wednesday

 Drove Mardi to her office this morning so she could retrieve her car from storage.  So, I just got to use our underground parking for two nights 😞.  I'm back yarding it again until December - what a thoughtful guy I am 😇.

Then I headed to the greenhouse to start repairing stuff.  First project is the Wacky Wednesday (a sales day) sign.  Totally rotted, so I have started to build a new one.

Got sticker shock when I visited the lumber yard.  One sheet of 5/8 plywood, good one side, $75!  This will be an expensive sign!

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Mardi and I attended our first Optimist meeting of the year.  The main topic was the need for volunteers for our booth at the Winona Peach Festival in August.  That's our main fund raising venture for the year.  We'll be there.

Stay well.

Credit Charges

 No particular news today, but some advice.

First the no news.  I spent the day unpacking, putting stuff away, renewing prescriptions, saying hi to my son and grandson at the greenhouse.  Nothing exciting, but it felt good.

Now the advice.  As I always do, I also checked off my credit card receipts against three months of statements.  Took a long while, but it was worth it.  While my card was helping me spend money in Florida, it was also apparently allowing someone to spend $39.54 at a place that, on the statement, goes by hamiltondigsubs.  So I called the credit card phone centre and told them about it.  Now my card will be cancelled and replaced in case there is another fraudulent attempt to use it.

Over the years I have discovered over $2,000 worth of fraudulent charges on my credit cards.  Makes the job of keeping and checking all my receipts worthwhile.  Hope you all do the same.  It always bewilders me when I hear folks say they don't want their receipts.

Tomorrow it's back to the greenhouse.  Apparently they need me 😉- stuff is broken.

Stay well.

Home Again

 Arrived home at 4 p.m. after a very nice drive.  Sunny and not a lot of traffic.

Saw snow at Erie, Pennsylvania, our first sighting since Savannah, Georgia...................outside an arena 😁.  

Our day started at 3C in West Virginia.  Temperature was 17C at the border, but just 8C in Stoney Creek.  That's OK, we'll manage.

Time to start planning next year.

Stay well.

Almost There

 Tonight we're in Weston, West Virginia.  Just six more hours to get home tomorrow.

Some of the rural roads in South Carolina are very pleasant to drive.

Love those Live Oaks!

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This morning, while we were at breakfast in the hotel, a good looking young couple came in.  He was wearing a T shirt with an AK-47 on it and the words "Take it from me".

He looked like a nice guy.  Apparently you can't tell the brain dead by appearances.

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We crossed the New River Bridge and I was reminded of my late friend Roy Mandy.  Roy and I crossed on the catwalk under the bridge one time on our return trip from Florida.  Cold and windy!

https://bridgewalk.com/

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Tonight we had dinner at Giovanni's, which we assumed was an Italian restaurant.  Wrong!  It's a family restaurant owned by a guy named Giovanni.  But Mardi managed to get spaghetti and meat balls.  I settled for a hot beef sandwich and mashed potatoes.

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If you have a minute, check out this video.  You don't need to hear the discussion - the young lady didn't want to pay for the orange peel because she wasn't going to eat it.

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=2&ik=7483712618&attid=0.1&permmsgid=msg-f:1794429785539338642&th=18e71861f573e192&view=att&disp=safe

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Stay well.  We'll see some of you soon.

Hilton Head Island

 Hilton Head Island was our destination today so we could spend a bit of time with my three daughters.  I don't get to see them very often, particularly Barbara and Jo-Ann who live in Ottawa.

We stopped at Shelter Cove where there was a craft show in progress.  I was particularly intrigued by the guy who works for a flooring company.  He takes the scrap ends of the flooring and makes signs from them.

My favourite can't be shown on this family blog - sorry.

We met the girls after lunch and they took us down the boardwalk through the marsh to the beach.

These are all my ladies on the beach.

We played the dice game, Farkle.  Unfortunately, Jo-Ann and Kathryn hogged the limelight, winning all the games and leaving the other folk behind.

Dinner at the Crazy Crab was very good, and our high energy waitress, Kristen, took our picture.

We parted after dinner and Mardi and I ended up in Beaufort, S.C.

That effectively ends our winter vacation.  We have fourteen hours of driving ahead of us to get home.  Hopefully by Monday afternoon.

Stay warm and well.

Heading Home

 Mardi finished packing this morning, so we're ready to go.

We said our goodbyes to Maureen and Matt and we were on our way.  I don't know how many couples could spend a month together and still remain friends, but we've been pulling it off for many years.  Thanks, M & M!

The traffic in Florida was much heavier than I expected for a Friday, and our 4.5 hour trip took over 6 hours.  We had occasional showers in Florida, but in Georgia it turned into a full blown rain.

Nevertheless, we still had time for our hop-on-hop-off trolley tour.

The rain mostly prevented good photos, but I took this one of Florence, the Flag Lady.

Apparently, Florence met a sailor and fell in love.  He promised to return and she promised to wave a flag at every ship until she saw him.  She kept her promise, but poor Florence died of a broken heart 44 years later - he never returned.

Our trolley driver was Miss Denise.

She kept us entertained the whole trip and was a fountain of knowledge.  She also gives hugs.

We plan to return next year and take the tour in good weather when we can actually hop-on and hop-off and enjoy the sites that are pointed out.

We ate dinner at a Thai restaurant.  

Food was excellent.

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Tomorrow we see my girls.  Looking forward to it!

Stay well.

Special Friends

 Today we headed to Miller's parking lot to meet Kathy, Lorrie, and our new friends Andrea and Dave.  Then we took them on a tour of Orange Lake with a stop at the Lazy River.

After a nice afternoon we then headed to back to Miller's for dinner, where Maureen and Matt joined us.

A nice day with some wonderful friends, both longtime and new.

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Tomorrow morning we finish packing and head for Savannah.

Stay well.

Spring Training

 Two birthdays to celebrate today.  The first is sister-in-law Lynn, who is recovering nicely from a serious heart condition.  Well done.  Enjoy your day.

And my niece Ethel's son Jeff (I hate saying grand-nephew) is also celebrating today.  Lynnie, could you pass on our best wishes please?

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Today was the last golf game for Mardi and me down here.  We played Deer Creek again.

Nice swings ladies!

That completes my spring training and I made the team!  Quadruple A Midget is where I think the guys plan to play me.  Beggars can't be choosers!

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Tomorrow we head over to Orange Lake to show Kathy, Lorrie, and their friends the Lazy River.  Should be fun.

Stay well.

Slow News Day

 Birthday greetings go out today to Lillian Kopysh.  I hope that Barry takes her out for a special birthday dinner.

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Other than that important information, there is no news today.

You're welcome!

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Tomorrow it's golf.

Thursday pools.

Friday - the party is over and we're heading for Savannah.

Stay well.

Meal Turns

Today we recognize the birthdays of Mardi's cousin Jill, and Sylvie Couture, who is celebrating number twelve.  All the best to both.

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So..........today was my turn to cook........therefore we headed to Miller's.

There are people who smile (there are other words that I could use here) about my lack of culinary skills.  But I have good reasons.

Mom was a stay-at-home wife and mother.  With four kids there wasn't much choice.

While at public school, my job was simply to study hard, practice the accordion, and have a good time being a kid.

In high school, after my dad died, I had three part-time jobs to help supplement the Mother's Allowance that Mom tried to subsist on.  No time to study, let alone learn to cook, and my grades dropped into the low 70's.

I married a woman who also had a career, and who hated housework.  That job fell to the girls, particularly Barbara.  But she did make meals and who was I to take that away from her?

I worked overtime at Dofasco to get ahead, spent time with the kids, fulfilled my Optimist obligations, and renovated every house that we owned.

That is the guy that Mardi inherited, and surprisingly, she doesn't seem to mind feeding me.

Left to my own devices, I get by on sandwiches, with the occasional soup or salad.  Given my life experience, I don't think of meals as an "event".  I had to focus on other things.  I enjoy food, but I basically eat to stay alive.  And that isn't likely to change.  

Getting back to my turn to cook - thank you Mrs. Miller.

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Nothing planned for tomorrow, but I'll try to come up with something more interesting to talk about.

Stay well.

Baseballs and Ballrooms

 We headed out this morning all dolled up for the Jays game - especially Mardi with her Great White North, Jays hat.

And Matt and I.

Maureen was wearing her 2024 Spring Training shirt, but we forgot to take her picture.  Sorry Maureen.

We got there about an hour before the game and got one of the last parking spots at the Legion, across from the park ($20).

That's the park to the left, and the Legion on the right.  Pretty damn close!

No green beer, but they did St. Patrick up proud.

And the prices were right - Meatball Sub, or Italian Sausage, with Chips $8.  Beer $3. ($9 at the park).

The sun was merciless at the game, but it was worth it.  We attended a split squad game and all the regulars, except catcher, were in Dunedin.  The rest of the squad was in Philly (Joey Votto got a home run there on his first swing - boy, I hope he makes the big squad!)

That's Vladdy and Bichette in the picture below.

Toronto won 9-4.  They were leading 5-4 when most of the regulars were taken out by the sixth.  Then the young guys took over and singled Minnesota to death.  Fun to watch!  This could be a good year!

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Despite being whipped by three hours on the road and three hours in the sun, we screwed up our courage and headed for the dueling pianos at Orange Lake.

Here they are playing my request "Piano Man".

And here we are.

That picture was taken by our waitress Bre, who you will see in the next one.

And, with enough liquid refreshment, there is no telling what will happen when The June Taylor Dancers chorus line is on stage.

'Nuff said!

Stay well.

Routine

 After almost three months here, we're running out of new things to do.  Today was a combo of the old:

The flea market in Lake Wales (two pair of sunglasses).

Dundee Citrus Candy Factory (four packs of Key Lime Gums, two packs of Peanut Brittle)

Webb's store (two packages of Goat Milk Fudge and four ice cream cones).

Bealls (Mardi returned a pair of shorts that didn't fit).

Hopefully, tomorrow in Dunedin at the Blue Jays game will be more exciting.  If we're lucky, the Legion across the street which provides parking will have green beer after the game.  Fingers crossed.

Stay well.

Payback

 A fairly quiet day today.  Mardi and I did a bit of shopping at Bealls.  I now have a year's supply of $15 shirts!

Tonight we were invited for dinner by the next door neighbours, Lori and Frank.

The invitation was payback for our dogsitting of Quila.  And, as you can see on the table, we played Farkle, the dice game, after dinner.  Lori is a quick learner - she aced the game.

Tomorrow we visit the Flea Market near Lake Wales.  That should be exciting!

Stay well folks.

An Early St. Patrick's

 When the guys used to get together in late March for golf, we always wore green shirts on St. Patrick's Day.  But, this year Matt and I couldn't do that because we'll be wearing Blue Jays gear for the game in Dunedin on the 17th.

That's why we chose to honour that Catholic dude today at Deer Creek.

We miss you Calvin!

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I had a good game going for eleven holes, before heat stroke wrecked my game.  I finally called it a day on the seventeenth.

The temperature was over 30C and the air was totally still.  Hot sun just beating down.  The things I do to pretend that I'm having fun!

But I wasn't the only peckerhead on the course today.

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It being Thursday, the four of us headed to Disney Springs to see Jeff Howell.  Another great night of music and entertainment with three guys who have become good friends.

They all work the crowd between sets.  This is Jeff with his new brother "Felix".

And Casey with two lovely ladies in the audience.

Although I'm not sure that he enjoyed it 😕.

And Tommy, the shy but talented Sax player.

They played a few Canadian songs in the key of "Eh".

And Jeff played Mardi's favourite song from one of his CD's, "Burnt Out Cadillac" before we left.

Thanks Jeff!  We look forward to meeting again next year!

And thanks again Jeremy.  I expect you to remember what I'm drinking when we return next year.

Thursday nights have been a real treat for Mardi and me.  We'll miss them.

Stay well folks.

Tequila

 The next door neighbours, from Stratford, Ontario, headed to Fort Lauderdale today to watch the Miami - Nashville soccer game.

Maureen and Matt offered to babysit Quila (short for Tequila) while they were gone.

She's 15 years old, but fairly spry and never barked.  

In exchange, we were offered the use of their heated pool, which we took advantage of.

The bartender brought us drinks.

Thanks Matt!

A really nice way to spend some time!  Thanks Quila!

Later, the chef provided a beautiful salmon dinner.

Thank you Mardi!

Today was a good day!

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Tomorrow is golf.

Stay well.

Golf Weather

 A great day for golf - sunny, mid 20's, nice breeze.  So we headed to Deer Creek again.  But, apparently we golf better when we're hot and bothered.  We all struggled a bit today.  Justifies the drinks when we got home 😎.

We'll try again on Thursday.

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Played Mexican Train tonight for a change.  Matt is a good engineer!

Stay well.

Pianos

 Today being Sunday, we headed over to Orange Lake for dinner and the dueling pianos.  Pete's regular partner, Ted, had a mother emergency, so Mark filled in.  He's the guy waving.

Mark is the better of the two guys we saw at Margaritaville.  And he told us that he took an opera major in college - that explains his good voice.

It got some dancers up.

By the way, seeing Matt on the dance floor is an event!  Well done Maureen!

And others joined in, including members of this family from Renfrew, Ontario.

And our own ladies.

Another fun night - until Matt and I lost at cards.

Stay well.