Sunday, February 28, 2016

A pretty quiet weekend..........!

Well Rich still is not over this flu/cold; just seems to hang on to that cough.  Trying to get to bed early......Rest is usually the best medicine.


On Saturday we joined our friends Nick and Tonyia at the IHOP Restaurant in Sebring.  Initially, Rich was hesitant.  He remembered that the last time we were there, he was very disappointed, and said he would not go back again.  It had been so long since we'd been there, that he could no even remember why!!!

 We found that they did have a whole lot more on the menu than what we remembered. I was looking forward to the Chicken Fajita Omelet, but noticed that they had changed it; not so much the omelet itself, but what came with it - so I passed, and opted for the Spicy Grilled Chicken Sandwich.  Rich selected the Strawberry Shortcake Pancakes, Tonyia the stuffed French Toast, which looked awesome!!!! and Nick go the platter with eggs and pancakes, and bacon etc combination.  The food was actually very good, and everyone left full and happy!

We had originally planned on heading out on the lake to fish, even if it was just for a couple of hours, but about the time we planned to go, neither of us felt like it.  So, I cleaned the bathrooms and mopped floors, made up a crock pot full of Potato Soup - and Rich spent much of the day gathering everything he needed to do the taxes.  My very first time ever making potato soup, and it was pretty darn good.   Watched a few programs that we had recorded, and called it a day.

Tomorrow - back to the grocery store to get what I forgot on Friday!  Company coming on Tuesday, my niece Christine Benjamin is coming for a visit.  Plans are to head for Northport on Saturday morning to visit with our friends from PA, and then meet up with other friends, Nathan and Krystal at the Visani Comedy Club for dinner and show that night.


Friday, February 26, 2016

Happy Birthday Dennis



Happy Birthday Wishes 

to a very special man from Dad and Me!!  Hard to believe he turns 47 today!   We are so proud of him in so many ways.  Wish so much he and the family loved closer so we could spend more time together.


Now that Rich has joined family and friends on facebook - he spent the day before Dennis' birthday going through pictues of him when he was a young boy....and he could not resist sharing them.............They really are quite precious!  And certainly do bring back memories of over 40 years ago





Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Celebrating 42 years~

It was 46 years ago that Richard and I first met, and today we celebrate our 42nd wedding anniversary.  It has been a wonderful journey together, as Rich says "spending that time with my best friend and love of my life. "  We put these pictures on face book today, and we had so many friends and family members who sent their congrats and best wishes.  The message from my niece Diane sums up our journey the best.  She wrote:   "Happy Anniversary to you both!!  How fortunate you are to have found the one who makes every day so special and the one who completes you.... good for you!!"   

So true,


 Rich knows how very much I love flowers, and today he surprised me with a beautiful vase filled bouquet.    And this evening our good friends surprised us with dinner at the Olive Garden Restaurant.  Krystal and I started the evening with a glass of Berry Sangria. Excellent and overflowing with fresh fruit!  Dinner was excellent, with everyone opting for something different.  Guys started out with soup:  Rich with the Pasta e Fagioli, and Nathan, the Zuppa Tuscana.  The ladies went for the salad, but our waiter, so efficient and so friendly brought salad and plates for four!  ( And gave us a great pose for a picture!)   Dinner  included Build your own pasta bowl (Rich) Linguine with Asiago Alfredo Sauce.  Nathan - Chicken Parmesan, Krystal - Chicken and Shrimp Carbonara, and I had the Baked Parmesan Shrimp over Penne pasta.    Thank you Nathan and Krystal for sharing this special day with us.

  

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Happy Birthday Rich

Actually, yesterday was Rich's birthday, but don't want to miss documenting the great day that we had.  He got so many birthday wishes on face book, that he was still replying and thanking people today.  Never thought you would see either of us on face book - but have to admit, it's fun keeping in touch with family and friends.

Up and about early in the morning ( has to have his coffee before he gets busy
with the stock market).  But by 8:00 o'clock he was awake enough to read his birthday card, and open his birthday gift.  A new shirt!  But I really think he was more excited about the cake - with butter cream icing!

No surprise.

More Birthday wishes on face book - And this one, a special one from his son Dennis.


At 5:00 o'clock, we met Nick and Tonyia at the Mexican Restaurant here in town, where they treated both of us to dinner to celebrate Rich's birthday.  Thank you so much, Nick and Tonyia - so very gracious of you.   Burritos and Fajitas - Dinner was excellent.


And later in the evening the phone rang and it was the yearly birthday call!  Birthday greetings from the whole family - one at a time, Dennis, then Chauna, then Dalton, then Krystal!  What a nice surprise!

So blessed to have such a great family and friends.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Cold Weather, Celebrations and Friendly Gatherings

 Have to start this blog with a Happy 18th Birthday wishes to our handsome, smart, talented, absolutely awesome Grandson, Dalton.  Love and Hugs from Pa Pa and Grandma Do Donald!    Dalton turned 18 on February 13th!  A few of our favorite 2015 photos ......from Black Lake, Playing with the Davenport West Marching Band, with his girlfriend Sara, and my favorite, with his Dad, Dennis, and Pa Pa, Rich.




This past week, we have had some of the coldest days so far this winter.
 February is usually our coldest month, and about mid week we got down, well into the 30's.  This house is very well insulated, and we have yet, in over 2 years, to turn the heat on.  We did however, get the fire on in the fireplace, long enough to take the chill out!

Friends Nathan and Krystal needed to head out for a few days for some horse training classes, so on Wednesday they dropped off Miss Ava.  As always we truly enjoy having her around.   And from the pictures below - you can see we spoil her a lot.  But I think she likes it!  She is such a sweetheart!


On Saturday, friends that we have not seen a quite a while came to spend the day with us.   They got here early morning, so that Rich and Nick could head out in the boat and some fishing.   They were gone for 4 or 5 hours - but the fish were no where to be found!  At least it was a beautiful day to be out on the lake.  While they were gone, Tonyia and I played some Mexican Train and opened a bottle of Moscato! Unlike me - she's not real big on white wine, but I always keep a bottle of Moscato - because I know she likes it. 


We played three games of Mexican Train, and I LOST all three!!!!

They stayed for most of the day, enjoying a dinner of goulash and meatballs, Italian bread and home made cheddar biscuits.    Good food, good friends, good wine..........  What more could you ask for? 


 And so...........today is Valentine's Day!  

On Wednesday Rich started coming down with a cold/flue like symptoms. and had a couple of pretty nasty days. Saturday felt a little better - but today he's back to doing a whole lot of resting. 

Today - I woke up with a bit of a stuffy nose and scratchy throat!  Oh NO!!!!

We had been thinking of going out for dinner ----------- but Not Today!!!  Looks like it will be left overs or Take out/Deliver for dinner tonight.

Monday, February 8, 2016

A pretty busy week

Wow, it's been almost a week since I've updated.  Time just seems to fly by so quickly any more, or everyone is so busy these days, it's even hard to find time to spend with friends!

It has been real nice having some cooler weather, and even Rich has donned the sweats, to get out fishing, even if it has been only out on the dock.  He went out on Tuesday for only about an hour, and within the first five minutes hooked on to two pickerel;  nothing after that.

  Plans were for him and his friend Nathan to head out fishing on Saturday morning. The boat was ready, he had a dozen and a half minnows and a dozen or so worms, up before 7:00 am and ready to go. We had checked the weekend forecast just a day or two before, but this morning it looked real cloudy. Checked the weather and there was a 70% chance of rain - so the guys called off the fishing venture.

But despite the forecast, the weather just continued to get better throughout the morning and early afternoon.   Rich decided to just go fish off the dock.  He had a lot of company too; Zolfo and Augie, the dogs next door, gave him a hearty welcome, and a beautiful egret landed on the dock and spent most of his time just a few feet from Rich.  This was one that we had not seen before, very pretty, with almost a lime green color around the eyes.   Only thing he hooked onto was a nice large mouth bass..................and a mud turtle!  It would have been a real nice morning out on the lake.


Mid to late afternoon the rain did arrive and hung around for several hours.

No thunderstorms, but it did rain quite hard and quite steady.  There was the lovely Blue Heron, who perched himself on the dock railing and did not move for hours!

Rich had hoped the guys could make it out fishing on Sunday, since Saturday was a wash.......but the lake was covered with white caps, with winds about 15 mpr.

About mid week, we got a nice surprise from my nephew Dan Benjamin.  Dan
lives in North Carolina, and a week or so hit a deer.  Sheriff let him take it home, where he dressed  and then cut up the meat.  We've heard that he makes a pretty mean Venison Jerky and that he's seriously thought of selling it.  When we  received a package in the mail from him, it included  Plain, Pepper, Cheyenne, and Honey flavored Jerky!  I am not a big jerky person, but Rich said it was excellent.

Rich made a trip into Sebring late in the week to go to the Gun Range for some shooting practice again.

Determined that the ear plugs that he uses had to be replaced.  Noise is so loud inside.  Also as he learns more about using the gun, he's figured out that he has to do some minor adjustments with the sights, as his shots are hitting about 4 inches further to the left than his aim.

A trip for gun oil, ear muffs and ammunition was also necessary.   Awaiting order from Amazon for 34dbnrr Ear Muffs.


And on Saturday evening we tuned in to the Republican Presidential Debate!

With other plans for the weekend, we didn't think we'd have time to visit the Annual Arts and Crafts Exhibits at the Highlands
County Fair, Devane Park on the circle  here in Lake Placid.  But between the fishing on the dock, and the late afternoon rain, we headed down to check things out.  They expected about 25,000 people over the two days.  Not bad for this little town.

We actually found a place to park real close to the circle.  Glad, because I knew that even though the event area is small that after making the rounds, my back we appreciate a short jaunt back to the car.

There were really a lot of different vendors set up, and some of then quite unique. The outdoor water fountains, painting demonstration/exhibit and of course Henscratch Farms were a few of my favorites.


Not long after arriving we found our way to Toby's Clowns where we were hoping we'd find our friends Lavern and Bob Krisby, aka Fluffy and Silly Willy.  And we did.......and were introduced to a few of the other funny faces. And as I got ready to shoot a picture of Rich with the two of them, this nice gentleman told me to get in the picture too.....  And three of the other clowns joined in before he took our picture.  Very nice guy!!.........  And Rich got to go fishing again, in the kiddie pool.  We ventured on a little further and found our neighbor, John Thompson, aka the Trunkman.  His supply of trunks was a bit low - but only because he'd had a good day selling!  Great news.


A few more exhibits/booths...... Pretty much anything you wanted to eat, Hot Dogs, Sausage, Chicken Skewers, Gourmet Dips, Fudge and Candies, Spaghetti and Meatballs, Strawberry Shortcake, Funnel Cakes  and more.........

 Yes Rich found his way to the tent with the funnel cakes, and I found the wine tent!  And we stopped and checked out  the caladium, the veggie, the flowers and crafts...

And always a favorite are the animals, where today we saw the turtles, and iguanas, the eagle and the cats and dogs from the Sebring Animal Shelter.


Not a bad week after all.

Highlight for this coming week, will be the arrival of our favorite canine visitor.  Miss Ava will be arriving on Wednesday and staying with us until next Monday, while Mom and Dad are away.  That will be a fun time for sure.

And I've got another new recipe to try this week; a ham and potato casserole with another batch of cheddar biscuits!




Monday, February 1, 2016

Changing Temperatures, but Pretty Good Week

This past week was a mix of temperatures; from cold and rainy, and sunny and windy - to perfect for being on the lake.   Early in the week Rich finally got someone to come over and look at the boat motor.  Real nice guy - who was familiar with our home town of Elmira, NY, and our fishing lakes out near Tyrone, NY; Lamoka and Waneta.  He found a small electrical problem with the motor and had it fixed in just a few minutes!  Good news!  And before he left he took our name and contact information.  He know people who rent on Lamoka and Waneta and said he'd check into a possible rental.  We'll see...........

So on Tuesday or Wednesday we finally got out in the boat.  Absolutely beautiful day.  Took a ride down the canal and out to the lake.   We didn't go too far from the canal entry, as the gas tank was just below a 1/4 of a tank.  Didn't have any live bait with us, but we drifted for an hour or so, fishing with a jig, but didn't have any luck.  Clouds came in and it got pretty windy and the water got a bit choppy - so we headed back in.  It was nice just being out on the water for a while.


The rest of the week was a bit cold and wet.  But Friday, Rich took a trip into town got gas for the boat and picked up some worms and minnows, and we headed out mid morning on Saturday and fished for 4-5 hours.  Nothing spectacular,  but Rich did catch a nice 3 lb, large mouth bass, and I could 5 really nice, pan fish (Blue Gills).  Was hoping Rich would fillet them....but he said I had to have a minimum of 6 - and I just could not catch that 6th one.   Fished in the bay on the northern part of the lake, and then over along the west side.  Saw the plane take off on the other side of the lake. 


 I spent a lot of time this past week watching the Australian Open.  Saturday I was over joyed when Serena Williams LOST........ and Sunday when Novak Djokovic beat Andy Murray!    Sunday was a perfect day for cooking out, so I made a potato salad and skewered some chick and veggies for Rich to cook on the grill.  And then today I made up a batch of homemade cheddar biscuits that we'll enjoy with some left over macaroni and cheese.     Probably have to take a nap later!  Iowa caucus tonight!  Unfortunately results won't be in until well after midnight!!!  We'll see if I make it or not!   Go Trump!