And So On...

Since Poppa did his cleaning of the laundry facilities...he has done the following:

He discovered a crack in the "start" button on the dryer.  I tried to get a picture, but my camera doesn't do close-ups as well as Auntie Colleen's camera...can you see the little crack?  The button still did its job, but Poppa likes things perfect.

So, we went to Auburndale and got a new button and he put it on the dryer.  It does work better.

And it looks as good as new!  One evening while I was watching TV, Poppa disappeared.  When I went looking for him during a commercial I found him polishing the brass handle on the front door.

Another evening when he had disappeared I found him out by the pool cleaning the table and the outdoor furniture.  It looked really nice when he was done.

He has taken some leisure time too.  More on that later.

I think Munchie is going to be just like Poppa....he spent his weekend at Gramma's house helping Cousin Taylor make breakfast.

And later that same day, he helped Gramma make dinner.

Correction

As you are, no doubt, all aware - Squeegie and Poppa proof-read my blog postings for me.  Squeegie has asked me to make an important correction.  He has informed me that the Aunt formerly known as Auntie Grumpy is henceforth to be known as Auntie Smiley.  Go figure.

After the Visit - or - Poppa Does Laundry

The day following the departure of our guests, I threw the sheets and towels in the laundry.  The View came on and Poppa went to put them into the dryer....sounds good so far - right?  He disappeared into the laundry area and soon came back out to the living room to ask how the powdered detergent got into the fabric softener dispenser.  Of course, I had no idea - I use liquid.  It had been there since we arrived.  I had tried to get the cup off to clean it, but it wouldn't budge...and I had forgotten to mention it to Poppa-Fix-It.  All right he says and disappears into the laundry area again.  Pretty soon I hear the dryer running so I assume all is well.  After a few minutes I realize that he should be back out by now, so at the next commercial I sneak in there to see what is going on....

Well....there he is scraping the scudgey stuff from around the rim of the washer lid - which incidentally is no longer attached to the washer at this point.  I peek into the washer and it is perfectly clean - no powdered detergent in the fabric dispenser any more!

Whoohoo!  What a nice job he did.  Next time I looked the washer was all back together and looking like new again.

While I was watching the View I started Auntie Colleen's first silly sock, since I had finished Kev-Inn's second one.  Now he has a pair...what?  I know, I know, they don't match - they're silly!

And by this evening I had one of Auntie Colleen's silly socks finished too....

Later in the day, after the washing machine renewal, Poppa headed in to empty the dryer (I can't remember what I was doing?).  He decided after removing the sheets and towels so I could fold, put away and/or remake that the dryer needed cleaning out too!  He thought the pipes were getting clogged with lint... so....

.... the dryer was pulled out to allow access to the flexible vent pipe in behind it.  And,

the back came off the dryer to allow access to the interior vent pipes - and to remove any lint getting near the motor and stuff in there.  Then,

it was all carefully put back together again and pushed back into place.  He then started cleaning up the linty mess he had made....this is what he got.

At this point, he declared the laundry facilities to be ready for the next wash day.

But, that was a few days ago.  This afternoon he went golfing, after a dip in the pool, so I decided to get out my knitted lace pieces and get them ready for dispatch to Auntie Colleen.  Here is the Lattice piece that I promised a picture of earlier.....

This one needed a lot of pressing, and I'm still not totally satisfied with it...I'm convinced there must be another pattern for lattice-type lace that would turn out smoother, without so much work.  It really should have been dampened and stretched across and down - especially at the bottom, but I just didn't have the equipment or the space here to do that - so hopefully Auntie Colleen can doctor it up a bit when she gets it.  This piece is packaged up and ready to go now, it is about 12 inches long.  These are the other three pieces that are ready to go.....

...the top one is the Rosebud, the centre one is Diamond and the bottom one is made-up....let's call it Trolley Lace.  Auntie Colleen got the Hilton Lace (the first one I made) earlier this week and proclaimed it acceptable (actually she was very enthusiastic about it).  Hopefully she will like these as well.  I am working on Dundee Lace now, it looks like this....

It is quite deep, but it is very fun to do.  Just to give you an idea - it takes about 3/4 of an hour to do one complete pattern repeat - and that time just flies!  So if you're ever bored and wanting time to fly - just start doing knitted lace with string!

The Visit - Chapter Four

On our final full day with Auntie Grumpy and Auntie Denise, Poppa wanted to take them to the Atlantic side of Florida, so they could wet their feet in the ocean.  That is always a favourite thing of ours and he wanted them to experience it too.  So we climbed into the car and headed east to Daytona Beach Shores.  That is one of the remaining beaches where you can still drive your car right onto the beach and park.

There weren't many people on the beach, the breeze was a little cool on the east side of Florida.  However, it wasn't cool enough to keep the girls from getting their feet wet in the great Atlantic Ocean.

It was cool enough to keep us from staying too long there and we headed back to the villa after about an hour.  We stopped for supper at a Chinese Buffet place, the food was ok, but we weren't overly struck by it.  Then we headed straight to the villa and arrived in time for a dip in the pool.  There wasn't as much breeze inland and the swim was great.

The girls were squabbling over the noodle and I gave up on trying to get them to share - just let them fight it out.  It seemed all too soon and it was time to get out and settle down for the night.  Next morning the girls finished packing their stuff back into their luggage - along with the new stuff that they had bought - and we headed to the airport again.

Somehow it wasn't as happy an event as when we went to pick them up, this time they were heading away with the luggage.  But, with no choice, we went and got their luggage checked in and then they got into the line for security screening and all that fun stuff.  It wasn't long until they had disappeared.

Can you spot them in this line?  When we got back to the villa it seemed kinda empty and quiet.  I powered up the computer and tracked their flight home, so we knew they had landed safely.  While we waited for that news, I finished Kev-Inn's first silly sock.  I experimented with the changing of the colours and was quite pleased with the way it turned out.

Squeegie decided he wanted to be "on TV" and asked me to take this picture.  Silly bear!

Murfee the Wonder Dog went nosing around in an interesting location ...just so I could see that there is very little snow left at home.

And little Munchie went to visit Gramma on the weekend and checked out the beach where Mommee and Daddee got married.

He kept wondering where all the people went.

The Visit - Chapter Three

On the third day of Auntie Grumpy and Auntie Denise's visit the weather was warm and sunny and beautiful, typical Florida weather.  So, we decided to do a typical Florida thing and go to the beach.  Poppa wanted to take the girls to the Gulf side and chose Siesta Key because of the very fine, soft, white sand there.  We went out for breakfast first, and it was mid-afternoon when we arrived.

We decided that before we walked in the surf we would all wet our whistle and we shared a bottle of pop.  Poppa and Auntie Denise put their sun bonnets on and away we went.

The two girls got looking for shells.  Unfortunately there are not as many shells along Siesta Key as there would be at Treasure Island, or even some of the more southern beaches.  Actually, that was why we chose Siesta Key - we find that the beaches with lots of shells are rough on bare feet since the sand is composed of finely ground shells and some of the pieces feel like little pieces of broken glass.  While they were strolling along the shore with their feet in the Gulf, they did come across this marine speciman - we decided it was a large jelly fish - but it was definitely uuuugly!

After a while Poppa got into helping Auntie Denise look for shells.  He has a really good eye for that sort of thing - and a special knack for finding things that other people (like me, for instance) don't even see.

Our stroll up and down the beach took us about an hour and a half, and by then we were ready for supper and after a stop at Bob Evans we headed back to the villa and made a cup of tea for the three tea lovers, before we headed to bed.

Back in Canada - apparently the robins are arriving.  Uncle Shaun interrupted this little guy's hunt for the big worm, to get a picture.  Little guy looks less than impressed, but note the lack of snow on the somewhat brown grass!  Maybe by the time we get home the grass will be showing signs of turning green again!  Things are definitely starting to turn green again down here in the sunny south.

  I think maybe by the time we get home our little Munchkin will be swimming too - this photo seems to indicate some progress in that direction.

And by the time Munchie finishes those swimming lessons he is worn out!  Here he is on the way home from that session with Coach Daddee.  What a doll!

The Visit - Chapter Two

On Friday we spent the day shopping since the weather was rainy.  We stopped at a few of my favourite shopping spots, and Auntie Denise had a great time, while Auntie Pauline spent more time looking than actually buying.  Our last stop was the Florida Mall, so we stopped there for a bite to eat.

On Saturday we decided to go to Disney.  With school break in Canada and in the USA, we thought we might get a jump start on all the tourist types.  And, because we all wanted to, we started at Epcot.

Then, as soon as Auntie Denise got all the pictures she wanted for a little while, we did our tour of all the sights and International Ave.  The weather was perfect - not too hot, and not too cool, with a bit of a breeze and lots of sunshine.  Late in the afternoon we decided to hop on the monorail and head over to the Magic Kingdom with the intention of watching the parade and then going back to Epcot for the fireworks. 

 

You just wouldn't believe the hordes of people we ran into at Magic Kingdom.  By the time we made our way through the throngs to the castle, we were hot, tired and thirsty.  So, after some consultation, we decided to go back to the villa for some R&R.  On the way home, at Auntie Grumpy's request, we stopped for supper at Bob Evans and then crashed for the night.

I did manage to finish Mommee's silly socks.   Here is the end product.

What?  I know they don't match....they are called silly socks - remember?  I also started another piece of lace for Auntie Colleen.  This one is called rosebud and looks like this.

Can you see rosebuds?

Oh yes, and the long and the short of the Munchie story looks like this.

Hee!  Get it?  The long and the short?  LOL!  Munchie got a new bathing suit and he is still taking lessons and preparing for the 2022 Olympics.

The Visit - Chapter One

Poppa's sisters were due to arrive via Westjet at quarter to 11 on Thursday, March 11th.  Just for the fun of it, I decided to check their flight status about supper time.  The status at the time was "On Time".  OK - all is well.  We had supper and tidied the villa one more time.  Poppa said we needed to leave the villa about 9:15 to ensure we were there in good time.  So, about 8:30 I checked the status again.  This time the flight said "Delayed" with a new arrival time of 11:30.  All ritey then, we didn't need to leave until about 10, so we sat down for another interval.  At ten we hopped up and headed over to the airport.  By the time we got there, the big board said 11:45 arrival time.  We wandered around the airport a little, but all the stores were closed for the night..... except McDonalds........ so we stopped and had a Mac Snack Wrap.... they are quite tasty little things and extraordinarily inexpensive.  By the time we were finished the flight was "In Range" and it wasn't long before it was "Arrived".  Hurray!  Of course then it seemed to take forever before Poppa finally spied the girls trudging along the hall coming from the arrival gate.

Then we headed off to the baggage retrieval area, where the baggage turned up surprisingly quickly.   Once that was accomplished, Poppa helped the girls take their luggage out to the car and get it loaded inside.

See Poppa in his Florida clothes and the girls in their Canada clothes?  Hee!  I love Florida!  Come to think of it, the girls look happy to be here too!  They were both feeling quite weary after their long day of driving, waiting and flying and were pleased to get into the back seat where they were greeted by Squeegie and Taffy.

Away we went heading to the villa, and the luggage was brought in.  We all had a cup of tea, and then headed to bed - about 2:30 in the morning as I recall!

This picture was the next morning before we set out for a day of shopping!

Here and Gone

The girls (Auntie Denise and Auntie Grumpy) arrived safely.  We had very busy four days and now they have arrived safely back in Canada!  Poppa and I had a good time - we hope they did too!  I haven't downloaded any pictures from my camera yet - but here is a shot from Auntie Denise's camera.....

This was taken while we waited for the shuttle in the parking lot at Epcot.  We went there on Saturday.  I'll show you more of their visit when I get my own photos downloaded.

Have you ever been so desparate to find something to read...that you read a dictionary or an encyclopedia?  I have.  Remember how I told you that Munchie loved his books?  Well, one day after Mommee had tidied up all his toys and stuffed all his books into the toybox, he decided that he just wanted to read something, so he grabbed one of the books that he often sees Mommee and Daddee reading.  Since they both read it, then it follows it should be interesting - right?

Meanwhile - back in Canada - there are small signs that spring will be sprung by the time we get home.  I got this little beauty from Auntie Colleen yesterday.

Hurrying now to watch the View!  More later.

Yesterday and Today

Yesterday was by far, the nicest day we have had all winter.  It was about 80F and the pool felt wonderful.  It was so hot, that Poppa decided to take it easy in the afternoon and go golfing later.  But, he couldn't keep himself away from his clubs and went out to practise a bit....

He didn't use golf balls, just ticked some tees...apparently that is a good thing to do....and he did quite well!  Mind you, he did manage to break a couple..and then spent quite a few minutes searching in the grass for the little broken-off piece.  You can see that inviting pool in the background and it didn't take long for him to decide to go swimming instead of practicing.

Meanwhile, Taffy worked away at Mommee's silly socks and finished the first one....

While I finished off Auntie Colleen's second piece of lace....

...which ended up at about 27" long...enough for some crafty creations by Auntie Colleen.

Today Poppa spent quite a while getting the villa spotless because two of his sisters are coming to stay for a few days - Auntie Denise and Auntie Grumpy (Pauline).  The place is spotless now and we will head to the airport later to pick them up.  The weather is supposed to be fairly decent after tomorrow when they are calling for rain and storms.  So, probably tomorrow we will spend the day shopping, and the next day head over to Disney or the beach or whatever the sisters would like to do.  Once Poppa got the cleaning and vacuuming all finished he sat down with Squeegie and played some computer games.  He's getting really good at that and he does that when I am watching the View, since he's not that crazy about Barbara, Whoopi and the gang.

I started another piece of lace in the ecru colour.  I started a pattern that I had here and didn't like the way it looked at all.......but I liked elements of it.  So I took the little flower element and put my own trim on the bottom and it looks like this....

It doesn't actually show up too well in this photo, but I'll get a better one when I get it finished (which will be soon - I have about another two inches to go and it will be about 24" long).  But, this gives you the general idea of the size and colour.

So, if there are no new posts for a few days, it's because I'm busy getting pictures of the sisters and all the fun things we are doing while they are here!