Cruise is Over

Lori posted an album of 283 pictures that I loved and snagged a few from. Above: Lori, Audrey, Eve and Trish Dawes.
Below, Jason, Audrey and Matt.

Audrey met some new cousins: Sierra, Hannah, and their mother. Janet. They drove to Seattle from White Deer, Texas. Janet loves havng all her brood corralled in a car.

Casey and his Dad, Shane-Lori's eldest brother. Casey is just shy of 7 feet tall.  From all reports a grand time was had by all on the Seattle to Alaska (and back) event. Spoke to Eve yesteday and her 17 pounds of Salmon they caught had arrived. They caught 19 or 20 and had about 12 fight their way free.

Here in the Sunshine State-the sun has been pretty intense. Hot days. I gypped the dogs a little on their morning walk today because it was already pretty hot by 8:30 when we finished. This evening I took them to the beach where the breezes were great. The two leggers had the same idea so it was pretty busy but we found a good parking spot and the doggies reveled in new sights and sounds. They were completely good. I am puttering with the house next door and this one-refining my arrangements here.

My physical training is paying off. My balance was pretty darn good today. Had a good workout and since I was out, ran some quick errands while the dogs stayed refrigerated.

I am still reading Classic Mysteries on the Kindle. I have polished off a few others too. I downloaded The Autobiography of Mark Twain. It was held privately for 100 years after his death because he and his publisher deemed it too volatile. If it echoes Mencken, it will be right up my alley. My patio is turning out to my satisfaction and is a good place to read.. I was not aware that lizards chirped. When my music is playing out there and the fan blows breezes at him he waxes operatic. Sounds like those animal sounds in Muskrat Love by Captain and Tennille. I am not crazy about reptiles as a Class. but I am kind of fond of this little guy. Buddy knows where he lives, though.

"You are doing very well."

"You are doing very well." are just the words you want to hear from your Doctor. Dr. Cohn warned me we would only have an hour. Only? Only! I've lost 5 pounds, have some drug side effects but overall I am doing well. Doesn't change the diagnosis, I told him: "Old, overweight and ugly."

Dr. Cohn's office is way west and a trip down the 441 brings me to a Super Wal-Mart. I bought a lot-so much cheaper than Publix and Winn-Dixie.  Bought some cheap(er) pots for re-potting. My yard is looking fabulous if I do say so myself. All credit to Jason and Dean. I restored order to the shed. Found some of Robbie's treasures behind some big sheets of plywood.

Napped after lunch and woke up to a gully washer rainstorm. It is drizzling now. A pleasant soft rain to water the plants. The lightning shows have been spectacular.

I've hit the Internet several times to follow the adventures of the Norwegian Pearl.  I've had a couple of SMS messages from Jason when they have been in port. Ship Internet is very pricy so he finds wifi ashore to play Word and shoot me a note.. I think their little soiree is a huge success. Unless I miss my guess they are headed South today.

Cuz Donna (Denver) evidently wrecked her knee in a fall. Friend Jackie (Casper) got dumped from a horse and has a hairline fracture in her pelvis. I (Florida) strained something in my shoulder yanking on a palm frond. We birds of a feather age-wise need to be kinder to our bodies. Getting brittle.

Heat Wave

It is roasty-toasty here. Thank goodness for Air Conditioning.  The tropics and my patio are conducive to Lori and Jason's donated plants prospering. As I pinched dead leaves this morning it struck me as too much green and not much else. So I went to Home Depot and bought some flowering plants on sale, some rock for my paths, some potting soil for projects. Coming home I decided to wait until cooler dusk to  enjoy my labors. 

Meantime, the dogs have taken to chasing the big lizards. They don't even seem to see them when they are morsel size but the bigger ones are an affront to territory. Part of said territory is my storage shed. I enjoy watching the chases, unsuccessful to my best knowledge, of the speedy lizards by the dogs.  I looked out and Honey seemed frantic, running the perimeter of the shed. Buddy was not in sight. Then I heard him making little noises under the shed. I called and called-he is good about coming. Honey was panting and hot so inside she went. Then I got worried about Buddy-it being close to 100 degrees. I was on my belly in the dirt trying to see him.  A biggish lizard came face to face with an O.F. Neither of us enjoyed it. I discovered the shed is well anchored. Thought about calling the fire department. Then I emptied the shed over what I thought was a likely spot to take up the flooring, got my hammer and a pry bar and started to bang away. Straightened up and turned around to wipe my brow. There was Mr. Bud-Bud looking at my efforts, quite interested to see if it were a better way to attack the lizards.

Evening saw my projects completed. I need to go get a few bigger pots because some to the plants are obviously root bound. The patio is going to be an interesting place when I am finished with it.

Busy Day

Walked the dogs at 7:00 a.m. met with a hopeful contractor ( friend of a neighbor) at 8:00 so he could bid on repairs to the house next door. Went to Ace Hardware for the last pieces needed for the gates next door.  The house has been empty for 3 years and recently the air conditioner disappeared.  The neighbor kids have used it for a playground.  With the gates secured, I got a "Beware of Dog" sign for over there because  my doggies  have run of the place now.  I thought I cleaned my house yesterday but when Jason and Lori's neighbor, Marcia, dropped in, my eyes got critical: I have been in the throes of DIY for so long the clutter had accumulated. Drills on the dining room table, etc. So I attacked that problem and got it fixed after Marcia left. It was good to see her. She is building a house so she was  unfazed by my bit of clutter.
Napped and fixed dinner for we three hounds.  The I loaded them up and we went over to J and Lo's house to do a perimeter check and take our walks. There were three coons in the yard across the canal. Honey was ready to chase them. We started for our walk and Marcia and Maximus joined us. Then Bill and Anoup (Terrier) joined us and we had a great walk on a temperate evening.  Bill has lost weight-drinking ice water. He has some work lined up.  All good news for him. Stopped at Winn-Dixie for some frozen yogurt and saw a mean fist fight in the parking lot. Called 911 but  an off-duty cop (he said) broke it up. A lot happened today..

Galloping Along

The Audster had her beautiful curls cut off for the summer. She loves her hair short. She is cruising with Dad and Aunt Lori and Uncle Jason, Granny, honorary auntie Trish-real cousins from 10 to 17, and Uncle Shane and Aunt Janet from White Deer, Texas. They left from Seattle today and will return next Sunday after seeing the bright spots in Alaska

I have been enjoying the cruise by reading all about traveling on the Norwegian Pearl and looking in on the Bridgecam as they sail:
http://www.kroooz-cams.com/ncl_pearl/pearl.php

I have been threatening to go on a cruise "when the dogs are gone" but they will never be gone and I treasure them 24/7 365 days a year.

In Toasty Florida I have been busy. I have been securing the premises next door. Ace Hardware told me I won an attendance award for not missing a day. It is really close and I do go there a lot. After getting the area secure in back of the house I pried a couple of staves off the fence and the doggies had a ball. They have two yards and a whole new set of dogs to bark at through another fence.  I had thought I would travel to Wyoming about now. I am not crazy about traveling through the widespread heatwave. I will get there this year but who knows when? Not me. I will stilll coordinate with the residents of "Camp Pampa" for a visit and to rest up a bit. They are not home now.

Catching Up

I was once again tempted to update my Apple iTunes software and once again it destroyed my ability to connect to the Internet. I did a rollback to no avail. Two consecutive days with Verizon technical asistance followed. The last helper told me it was time for a new computer. But I had learned enough to try a few things. I got my Internet Connection working and have both Internet and iTunes on my little netbook computer which operates on the XP Windows version. So I am back in business AND can enjoy my considerable investment in my music collection.

Jason came to town for a few days to collect some stuff for the Alaskan Cruise (like cameras!) and complete the deal on the house next door to me. It was a bank repo which had $16,000 worth of liens from the city for code violations. It needs some work but he got it at a terrific price, thanks to his patience. They tried to stampede him more than once but Jason is a cool customer. I'll take him to the airport in the morning. The excitement is mounting for the cruise. Lori and Jason, her brother, wife and kids are going, Matt and Audrey and Eve are going. Our friend Trish is also going. I hope they have a ball. Whiners and party poopers over the rail! Bon Voyage Saturday.

Jason and I had good times together-explored some new restaurants. Y'all come-I know some goodies! He is not a shopper but I coaxed him into Big Lots and a Ross's. I love a bargain. Bought some stereo speakers/amplifier for the netbook for $20.00.

It is warm here. We go earlier and earlier for our morning walk and later and later for our evening walk. I bought a nylon windbreaker at a tourist trap so I could walk the doggies in light rain anyway. They got a little soggy and then they got fluffy. Enjoyable.

A blog entry focussed on the 4th of July went into blogosphere oblivion because of my computer problems. The picture above was taken in my front yard. I had planned to go the beach for the fireworks display on the pier. The traffic was crazy so I came home. Turns out my neighbors-the sniper cop and the glass installer are the Clark Griswolds of July 4th. Very impressive competition. The current collection of dogs are not much bothered by fireworks.

I have been testing the Kindle-the battery is supposed to last a month. I got a huge collection of classic mysteries for a pittance. I have been living with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson for several days. I think they might be gay. No skin off my nose.

Good help is Hard to Find DIY version

An after-market improvement I like on my vehicles are ventvisors-you can have windows open a bit, rain or shine. With my small town mentality, I went online to order some from JC Whitney. Though labeled for my van, they were the wrong ones. I accosted some other O.F. by Publix in Pompano and asked him where he got his-same van. He told me a Chevy dealership about 6 miles down the road. I passed on that. On a whim I tried Advance Auto Parts, in the neighborhood. They had what I needed! So far I have twice their value invested but I have them installed. Bankey stopped by to check on me and he has a Chevy truck so I tried to give the Whitney ones to him. No fit, either. When Bankey gave me his card last time he was here I noted it had an RV on it. I asked him what he would charge to detail the exterior of mine. The weather has caused his business to have the slows so we struck a good deal for us both. He tested some spots and if the whole outfit shines like the test patches, I will be thrilled.

I hung the flag and gave the house a good cleaning today. Even washed the bedding. It is ready for company. I don't use it. I sleep on top of it with a little blankie in case I need it-I usually don't. We were a little late on the dog walk this morning so I cut it a little short because of the heat. Honey griped and complained all damn day. We went early this evening and she took me for a walk! She had leftover energy and knew where she wanted to go. We did a mile easy. No dawdling except for business.

We had a dry day today. Stuff is growing like crazy-even mushrooms in the front yard. The across the street neighbors took a vacation. I am sensing there is" trouble in paradise" over there but who knows? They are both very nice so I hope it is transitory if even real. Their kids are kind of squirrelly but I can see where it comes from.

The post-office lost a package I ordered from Amazon. This is the second time. The first time they found the package- they had delivered it to 820 instead of 320. Very annoying. This package had a $13.00 mp3, FM radio,I wanted to use at the gym-seems everybody has one or an iPhone. I am afraid of breaking my iPod so I splurged but, once again, it was a waste. Ran up to Brandsmart and picked one up for a little bit more. The TV sets at the gym all have FM transmitters. If you want the sound, you tune to the particular frequency for your TV. I am getting wise to the ways of the gym. The only people I ever see running the stairs are bouncy girls. It seems pony tails are mandatory for the ladies. They swing to and fro in the rhythm of their hips on the treadmill. Hypnotising. The guy next to me on the treadmill Friday was wearing black gloves and had a persistent cough. I liked the gloves but not the cough. I have my little kit in a baggie: radio, washcloth for sweat and wiping equipment, chewing gum.