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.