Mr. Bill and I will be doing the drive again tomorrow to Miami for his appointment at Bascom.
It's Mini-Season now in the Keys. Locals and mainlanders are here with boats to ravage the waters to collect their 6 lobsters before the fishermen drop their pots. Hemingway Days went well, another Ernest look-a-like was crowned. The Today Show was here doing their bit on vacations. The weather held up and from what I've heard around the islands they stuck to the western side where all the weirdo's and weird stuff is. Did we look like clowns? HAH... All peaceful everywhere else. Jimmy was on tour so they did the substitute music thing.
Mr. R cooks eggs everyday. Hmmmmm is that weird?
Mr. L went out the other day to scout out areas to find lobsters ahead of season and saw just about nothing. We're thinking that there are those out there that are way ahead of season. He went with friends to spearfish while checking out honey holes. Didn't even have fish big enough to spear around the coral heads. But he always brings me home a goodie... tee hee... a Cowrie Shell.... perfect condition and a large one at that, sitting in 20 feet of water. He spots everything, a true treasure hunter. Speaking of treasure, the teams working for Mel Fisher are doing really well now, finding a hoard that is still lost out there. Word on the islands is they are ON IT NOW.
Miss P is doing her thing. Working, enjoying swimming everyday in her pool. She has a perfect wonderful roommate in Anna. She is a treasure and they are true pals as well as co-managers at the M-Store. Her ankle looks so huge and swollen it bothers me but she shusshes me away when I mention it.
Claude Buhler, the travel writer/journalist, along with a fabulous photographer, Kathleen Dodge, came to Louie's for a piece he is writing for a Swiss zine and several mag's. He is gracious, very intelligent, and everything you'd expect of him. It was an honor to have him ask to do a piece on us due to requests from his crowd. We were one of two restaurants in town he did, Blue Heaven was the other. More on that later when the article comes out in France, Austria, Switzerland and Germany, I guess. I set them up for a lunch and introduced them to the chef and the owner, and they thoroughly enjoyed the food, atmosphere and view. It is nice to get great comments.
Been busy, although it's been fairly slow. Weather has been up to 90 and wow, that's strange.
We are on candle number 3 for Brownie, they are lit day and night, and the next lit before the prior burns out. He is thought of daily, first thing in morning and last thing at night. The cats are done wondering I think, but I'm sure much more bored than when they had the duty of watching him.
More Later Gators....
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
We're back
Queenee and I had a very nice weekend in PA. The drive down sucked — we hit heavy rain and fog in western MA, but once we got into NY, it wasn't too bad. Not much traffic, thankfully. Then in NJ, I somehow managed to go west on Rt. 22 instead of south on Rt. 202, adding more time to the drive. Regardless, we got to Uncle Ed's in one piece.
DB is staying with Uncle Ed for a while. I was trying to give Queenee a little privacy with her brother, and DB was great company for me; smart and interesting, and we were both surprised at how much we have in common considering the age gap. Some clever and lucky girl is going to snap him up.
Friday we met Aunt Dottie at Aunt Flo's. It was good to see them both, especially Aunt Flo. She's lost a lot of weight, but she is as feisty as ever. We went out for lunch at a local eaterie, then got to say hi to Shirley before heading out to meet Uncle Ed and DB for dinner.
Saturday was the cousin's party at Gerald's house, where we met Aunt Dottie again. What a fun time we had! Lots of food, a lop-sided volleyball game (no, I did not play), and good company and conversation. We're going to try to organize a bigger reunion next year, hopefully in July. More on that later.
Sunday the four of us went to see Sharon and the girls. Erica had D with her and Laura brought M, who is just past two months old and is a gorgeous baby (no surprise there, right?). She smiled and gurgled and snoozed the whole time we were there, nary a whimper or cry. She's such a good baby! Laura looks great, but she always does, just like her mom and sisters. I missed seeing Em this trip, but hope to see her in a few weeks. One of the cousins from Saturday's party has a painting show opening in mid-August and I want to drive down to see that.
We ate at the Pineville Tavern Sunday night. It's very different from the last time I ate there, which is several years ago. Much more rah-ha-tra now, but they still make a good pizza.
The ride home was much better and we were back in MA in six hours flat. We hit a couple traffic jams and were unlucky enough to get behind a funeral procession crossing the Tappan Zee bridge.
I've got photos, of course, and will get them edited and add names (once I know how to spell everyone's name) eventually. For now, you can see the raw images straight out of the camera.
Ebony kept me up most of the night last night, very happy to see me and looking for love, petting and songs. She's becoming quite a singer. The fox seemed happy too, she came early last night! PopPop said he didn't feed her at all while we were gone, but hope springs eternal and she came by anyway — this time she wasn't disappointed!
DB is staying with Uncle Ed for a while. I was trying to give Queenee a little privacy with her brother, and DB was great company for me; smart and interesting, and we were both surprised at how much we have in common considering the age gap. Some clever and lucky girl is going to snap him up.
Friday we met Aunt Dottie at Aunt Flo's. It was good to see them both, especially Aunt Flo. She's lost a lot of weight, but she is as feisty as ever. We went out for lunch at a local eaterie, then got to say hi to Shirley before heading out to meet Uncle Ed and DB for dinner.
Saturday was the cousin's party at Gerald's house, where we met Aunt Dottie again. What a fun time we had! Lots of food, a lop-sided volleyball game (no, I did not play), and good company and conversation. We're going to try to organize a bigger reunion next year, hopefully in July. More on that later.
Sunday the four of us went to see Sharon and the girls. Erica had D with her and Laura brought M, who is just past two months old and is a gorgeous baby (no surprise there, right?). She smiled and gurgled and snoozed the whole time we were there, nary a whimper or cry. She's such a good baby! Laura looks great, but she always does, just like her mom and sisters. I missed seeing Em this trip, but hope to see her in a few weeks. One of the cousins from Saturday's party has a painting show opening in mid-August and I want to drive down to see that.
We ate at the Pineville Tavern Sunday night. It's very different from the last time I ate there, which is several years ago. Much more rah-ha-tra now, but they still make a good pizza.
The ride home was much better and we were back in MA in six hours flat. We hit a couple traffic jams and were unlucky enough to get behind a funeral procession crossing the Tappan Zee bridge.
I've got photos, of course, and will get them edited and add names (once I know how to spell everyone's name) eventually. For now, you can see the raw images straight out of the camera.
Ebony kept me up most of the night last night, very happy to see me and looking for love, petting and songs. She's becoming quite a singer. The fox seemed happy too, she came early last night! PopPop said he didn't feed her at all while we were gone, but hope springs eternal and she came by anyway — this time she wasn't disappointed!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
RIP Brownie
Brownie was euthanized this morning. It was an extremely hard decision to make. We will miss our Brown-Town terribly. It hasn't been easy for him these past couple years. Rap & Milky took their last walk with him this morning and just seemed to "know". We hope we did the right thing for him.
1969
“That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” - Neil Armstrong
I remember sitting in the kitchen late at night and watching the moon landing on a b/w tv. The Eagle had landed sometime mid-afternoon (my memory could be wrong), but we were waiting to see a man actually walk on the moon. PopPop and Queenee were transfixed; as kids who had grown up with the space program, we were less so. Putting a man on the moon never seemed out of reach to us. Looking back, I realize what the enterprise took, technically, financially, and the courage or recklessness of those early astronauts. It's far more impressive to me in hindsight than it was that night. And it's amazing that nobody had the foresight to protect the original tapes! Do the conspiracy theorists really need help?
The NY Times has a good 1969 timeline - it's fun to see what all happened that year.
Oh, and Happy Birthday to Peter!
I remember sitting in the kitchen late at night and watching the moon landing on a b/w tv. The Eagle had landed sometime mid-afternoon (my memory could be wrong), but we were waiting to see a man actually walk on the moon. PopPop and Queenee were transfixed; as kids who had grown up with the space program, we were less so. Putting a man on the moon never seemed out of reach to us. Looking back, I realize what the enterprise took, technically, financially, and the courage or recklessness of those early astronauts. It's far more impressive to me in hindsight than it was that night. And it's amazing that nobody had the foresight to protect the original tapes! Do the conspiracy theorists really need help?
The NY Times has a good 1969 timeline - it's fun to see what all happened that year.
Oh, and Happy Birthday to Peter!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Tub & Tile Cleaner
Can I vent?
What's on my to-do list today... Let's see. Perhaps I'll be boiling water several times to put in a pail to wash my fairly new, all over the house wood floor. Why you ask? Because my dear husband decided to do me a wonderful favor (after my bitching about him doing nothing, while I'm at work). The saying goes, you get what you ask for.
Coming home Wednesday, kicking off the shoes on the porch, walking in found me sticking to the floor. I drop my purse, keys, gallon of milk and look around. Things seemed to be orderly, dishes done, but looking down wondering what the hell I just stepped in. My mouth opened to a big O like a cartoon character. The floor was a complete smear of stickiness. My husband was on the chaise watching Cash Cab, and asked, what's wrong? "WHAT'S WRONG!! What did you do to the floor???!!!"
"I washed it" was the reply. - "WITH WHAT"??? - "The cleaner" - "WHAT CLEANER?" -
"What is your problem? You come home yelling and I worked all afternoon washing the floor for you." - "WITH WHAT DAMMIT?" - "What is your problem? How about a thank-you"...
This is when I started my search, under the sink etc. Also when he got up and now being mad at my negative response to his wonderous cleaning activity, and stated, "It's in the trash, I used the whole thing." - "WHAT THING" - I open the trash to see a large spray bottle of some foaming tile scrub liquid completely empty. Yes the entire "new" bottle for the outdoor shower was empty. and where was it? ALL OVER MY BEAUTIFUL WOOD FLOORS.
I asked, "Can't you feel this under your feet?" He's feeling a bit confused now, and said, "Well, now I do, I sat and waited for it to dry, this is the first I felt it." Okay, I'm tired and I look at him.... OMG.... I look at him... We all know the look. I state the fact.... "It's tile cleaner," (lowering my voice) - "oh, I didn't know" - " OMG, Thanks for nothing" (Oh, boy,,, I'm thankless now).
I go to the fridge to get my glass of wine I've been saving in the 1/4 full bottle for a few days, which is probably corked but who cares right? and that's gone! Someone from the "ghetto" came up the night before and helped themselves to it.
So, okay, are you feeling me? I start stomping (not really) but actually unsticking my feet as I walked around to access the damage. Yup, he did the first thorough job of his lifetime... Yup, he actually moved the furniture out onto the porch to really clean the floor. Are you kidding me????? "OMG!" - "What did you expect me to use to clean the floor?" - "HOT WATER! We have to get this off the floor NOW" (peeling my feet off the floor at that point) - "Do you want me to go get you some wine at the store and you can go out and relax and I'll re-mop with hot water to get it off?" - "FORGET THE WINE" - I go out to control myself..... I can't even look at it now... I hear him grabbing the mop and running the kitchen sink... 5 minutes later, he calls, "I've washed it off" -- I cool off and come back in, pretending none of this ever happened. Oh yeah, you guessed it... stick stick go my feet.... now it's even more smeared. I about hit top blood pressure trying not to say a thing. He went on and on from there about how I don't appreciate him and anything he does...sound familiar?? Now, what could I say? I opened my mouth, "If you want to live like this, I just don't care anymore, I won't mention all the other sticky surfaces in the house that I never bring up because I know your trying to do a cleaning job" (gone wrong), and put my OCD or ODC or whatever it's called that I'm thinking I have at this point aside.
So what if the toilet bowl inside is clean but, the sides look like a public restroom, so what if the kitchen counter looks clean but a continent of flies could live off it for months, so what if the lights are left on all night if I go to bed first, or that something on the floor is to be stepped over rather than picked up. Argh..... so what!? Today will have me spending a few hours on the floor. What used to be a simple hot water mop job for me is now more than I can imagine. Okay, if he had his own blog he could rant on me I'm sure, but he doesn't.
Enough for today, I feel better now, and need to get more coffee and empty out the room to start the process. I'll put on some good music, get in the zone of happiness and do the deed.
One last thing... On the bright, positive side, I'm sure the floor will be the cleanest it's ever been.
If the shine is still there!
What's on my to-do list today... Let's see. Perhaps I'll be boiling water several times to put in a pail to wash my fairly new, all over the house wood floor. Why you ask? Because my dear husband decided to do me a wonderful favor (after my bitching about him doing nothing, while I'm at work). The saying goes, you get what you ask for.
Coming home Wednesday, kicking off the shoes on the porch, walking in found me sticking to the floor. I drop my purse, keys, gallon of milk and look around. Things seemed to be orderly, dishes done, but looking down wondering what the hell I just stepped in. My mouth opened to a big O like a cartoon character. The floor was a complete smear of stickiness. My husband was on the chaise watching Cash Cab, and asked, what's wrong? "WHAT'S WRONG!! What did you do to the floor???!!!"
"I washed it" was the reply. - "WITH WHAT"??? - "The cleaner" - "WHAT CLEANER?" -
"What is your problem? You come home yelling and I worked all afternoon washing the floor for you." - "WITH WHAT DAMMIT?" - "What is your problem? How about a thank-you"...
This is when I started my search, under the sink etc. Also when he got up and now being mad at my negative response to his wonderous cleaning activity, and stated, "It's in the trash, I used the whole thing." - "WHAT THING" - I open the trash to see a large spray bottle of some foaming tile scrub liquid completely empty. Yes the entire "new" bottle for the outdoor shower was empty. and where was it? ALL OVER MY BEAUTIFUL WOOD FLOORS.
I asked, "Can't you feel this under your feet?" He's feeling a bit confused now, and said, "Well, now I do, I sat and waited for it to dry, this is the first I felt it." Okay, I'm tired and I look at him.... OMG.... I look at him... We all know the look. I state the fact.... "It's tile cleaner," (lowering my voice) - "oh, I didn't know" - " OMG, Thanks for nothing" (Oh, boy,,, I'm thankless now).
I go to the fridge to get my glass of wine I've been saving in the 1/4 full bottle for a few days, which is probably corked but who cares right? and that's gone! Someone from the "ghetto" came up the night before and helped themselves to it.
So, okay, are you feeling me? I start stomping (not really) but actually unsticking my feet as I walked around to access the damage. Yup, he did the first thorough job of his lifetime... Yup, he actually moved the furniture out onto the porch to really clean the floor. Are you kidding me????? "OMG!" - "What did you expect me to use to clean the floor?" - "HOT WATER! We have to get this off the floor NOW" (peeling my feet off the floor at that point) - "Do you want me to go get you some wine at the store and you can go out and relax and I'll re-mop with hot water to get it off?" - "FORGET THE WINE" - I go out to control myself..... I can't even look at it now... I hear him grabbing the mop and running the kitchen sink... 5 minutes later, he calls, "I've washed it off" -- I cool off and come back in, pretending none of this ever happened. Oh yeah, you guessed it... stick stick go my feet.... now it's even more smeared. I about hit top blood pressure trying not to say a thing. He went on and on from there about how I don't appreciate him and anything he does...sound familiar?? Now, what could I say? I opened my mouth, "If you want to live like this, I just don't care anymore, I won't mention all the other sticky surfaces in the house that I never bring up because I know your trying to do a cleaning job" (gone wrong), and put my OCD or ODC or whatever it's called that I'm thinking I have at this point aside.
So what if the toilet bowl inside is clean but, the sides look like a public restroom, so what if the kitchen counter looks clean but a continent of flies could live off it for months, so what if the lights are left on all night if I go to bed first, or that something on the floor is to be stepped over rather than picked up. Argh..... so what!? Today will have me spending a few hours on the floor. What used to be a simple hot water mop job for me is now more than I can imagine. Okay, if he had his own blog he could rant on me I'm sure, but he doesn't.
Enough for today, I feel better now, and need to get more coffee and empty out the room to start the process. I'll put on some good music, get in the zone of happiness and do the deed.
One last thing... On the bright, positive side, I'm sure the floor will be the cleanest it's ever been.
If the shine is still there!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Living with dinosaurs
Seriously, they do look like something that hasn't physically evolved much since the Cretaceous period.Our group stands at eleven members, six hens and five toms. Of the toms, one is the dominant male and he looks like he's been through the wars. Two of the other four seem to try to push at him for control, but so far, he is still the big bird. We think they are roosting across the street, but they have been spending a great deal of time here in the yard the past few days. I can get fairly close to them, but I keep my eye on the toms. The females are freakish and will run away with the slightest shift in the breeze, but they don't move far from us when we're out in the driveway or yard.
The hens split up from the toms today. The toms went across the street early this afternoon, while the hens lazed around under the ironwood tree and mozied back and forth from the back yard to the bird feeders. They finally decamped across the street just before 6pm.
Monday, July 13, 2009
The Uniform Project
I'm really enjoying this blog. Sheena Matheiken and designer Eliza Starbuck came up with a fairly basic, reversible (a huge help) black dress, and Matheiken is wearing it every day for a year as a year-long fundraiser for the Akanksha Foundation, a grassroots movement that is trying to educate slum children in India. It's a good cause and should put the incredibly corrupt Indian government to shame (that won't happen, of course).
I expect she'll end up with a closet full of very cool shoes and accessories. Maybe she'll have a huge fund-raising eBay sale at the end of the year!
I expect she'll end up with a closet full of very cool shoes and accessories. Maybe she'll have a huge fund-raising eBay sale at the end of the year!
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Vista ?
Wabbit, honestly, it's not that bad... actually I"m THRILLED .. today is the first day of being back online and WOW. Thanks for finding the right laptop for the job. I really appreciate your research and finding one that will get me Windows 7. I know all these posts are short and sweet. I'll have time on the weekend to catch up with all your posts. but i did notice.... WHERE ARE OUR COMMENT PEOPLE????
Hope we have readers. So, until the weekend kiddo's! oxoxoxoxoxooxoxox
Hope we have readers. So, until the weekend kiddo's! oxoxoxoxoxooxoxox
Haircut Anyone
So, I've become the "Cutter". I'm getting really good at it and "they" are coming from miles just to look better!! Pop Pop,,,, I"m cutting better than ever now... you too wabbit.... I'm ready!! BTW, this is L's friend who was the last hold out on the long hair. They are all done now, L, Frenchy, Zac, Chris, and Chris.
June 30th Party
Our anniversary the 30th for 30 had us at MissP's for a family cookout. Mr. B played Shamu in the pool with Pip, Anna (Miss P's roommate) P and Mr. B were crazy silly. R, L and myself stayed dry!!! i CAN'T tell you how silly this cookout was... after 30 years it's not surprising to me though!!!Cornea Man
So, as wabbit said... five cornea's and none were any good for Mr. Bill. It was a long long day, he sat in his PJ's till 3:30 or so with a big L on his face waiting. Much has happened since this day, and I'll fill ya in on another post. For now he's seeing 3 specialist one of whom is Dr. Eduardo Alfonso of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. Thankfully! We go back on July 27th for another consult on what he wants to do.
The Clean up Man
During the Nan & Pop Pop visit we missed many photo ops... but we got this one after a long fun Friday night bonfire. The cleaner was out early Saturday.
Years of Togetherness
So, I'm back aha, tee hee, tra-lah...
Here are some faces from the far past of 33 years for me and 35 for Mr. B... still coming down to visit! Only face missing in this group is the Godfather Rudy.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Stupid Vista
I'm still having computer problems, so posting here will be slower than usual.
D's and P's were here yesterday for an impromptu BBQ. Sausages, hot dogs, corn on the cob and plenty to drink made for a very nice afternoon-evening. They got here early enough for YP to take over mowing the lawn from PopPop, who got off to a late start thanks to the riveting men's final at Wimbledon. YP's friend Hillary is visiting and got here in time for a late bite to eat. It was a fine day. Even the weather cooperated for a change — we were beginning to think we'd never see the sun this summer, but yesterday was sunny and warm, with a good breeze to keep the mosquitoes at bay.
I hope everyone had a fun 4th!
D's and P's were here yesterday for an impromptu BBQ. Sausages, hot dogs, corn on the cob and plenty to drink made for a very nice afternoon-evening. They got here early enough for YP to take over mowing the lawn from PopPop, who got off to a late start thanks to the riveting men's final at Wimbledon. YP's friend Hillary is visiting and got here in time for a late bite to eat. It was a fine day. Even the weather cooperated for a change — we were beginning to think we'd never see the sun this summer, but yesterday was sunny and warm, with a good breeze to keep the mosquitoes at bay.
I hope everyone had a fun 4th!
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