Return of the Cruising Bunny's....

[K2-Mich]

Happy Saturday All. Coffee and Blueberry Muffin time!

It rained STEADY from about 3:30 A.M. and is dripping out there right now a little.
Got a few Thunder Boomers, but the wind right here was calm. Thank goodness.
TV has weird scattered lines and patches on the screen every so often, but that's been going on for 2 days now. Time to call Comcast and ask about that. Just not sure I can deal with the AUTO-VOICE LADY this early in the morning.

Wish Chicago wasn't such a ugly drive, I really need to go and see my brother AGAIN. I'm thinking of just driving there myself. I do good on the highway as long as I have my Serbian thumb drives hooked up to the radio that keep me distracted from the semi-trucks. I'm going to try and call my brother today and see if he answers. Hospice did call my sister-in-law and told her he is failing. It has to be extremely hard on her not being able to go see him. Another reason he's failing so quickly.... he's totally alone.
She's out of the hospital and in a Rehab AGAIN getting dialysis 3 times a week and trying to get her strength back so she can WALK out of the place. Along with congestive heart failure she's not much better than my brother. She finally is agreeing she needs to be in a Assisted Living place. I curse that guy that hit her car and caused most of this grief for her. Her leg is still a mess.
Their house closed yesterday, so at least she doesn't have to worry about that place anymore. Mentally that has to be driving her crazy. That house was her life. Okay, enough Doom and Gloom from me. Life sucks at times and I'm glad I have my Extended Family to lean on at times like this. Thanks folks. I wouldn't wish any of this on anybody.

I really need to take my grocery list (thank goodness it's a short one this week) and get over to the Kroger's early. I've paid the bills online already and balanced the checkbook with the statement and we have a few CENTS left I can spend!

Hope the rain wasn't bad in any of your areas. Not sure that Lee even got any. Bill, you may get some today.

I'll be back later. Gotta get a cup of coffee take my pills and get to the store. Hugs to all.

Karen: Hope that Scooter is doing okay today. Hope that having 3 teeth pulled doesn't cause any issues with chewing. Does she eat wet or dry food? That would make a difference.
Art is watching our neighbors 2 new rescue cats .... Bert & Ernnie... and is thrilled that they both eat DRY FOOD. Art says it's a pleasure not to have to open canned food and dish it out for them. He just changes the water, adds more dry food if needed to the bowls and cleans out the litter boxes. Oh and plays with them for awhile. What a good CAT SITTER.

Later........

 

[A’Burg Guy]

What ever you decide about the drive to Chicago just please do so with a clear, undistracted mind. Did anybody else just hear Tony laugh about K2 having an undistracted mind? Serbian Thumb Drives... do they hook on your steering wheel? Keep smiling' kiddo. You know we're here for you. Sending extra love and hugs your way.
Yes Dave, "Joe" is a really neat independent coffee shop in Kingsville. About 30 minutes from here. We do enjoy stopping in. Their coffee is good and the staff is always upbeat and friendly - but not overly so. Mustard Skittles are not going to be available here in Ontario. Unless you enter their contest for a giveaway. Bet I don't sign up for that one.
Like Kathie, we had a night of thunder, lightening and rain. For the first time in weeks Ava and I didn't make it out for our early morning walk. She seemed to realize it was raining and didn't want to go for her walk. A quick trip into the yard was just fine. If it stops we'll get her to her Navy Yard and maybe even Fort Malden too. A little longer walk for all of us.
We do have some groceries to pick up today. No, I don't know why retired people have to wait until the weekend to shop either.
Be good folks and we'll see you all later. Hopefully the day treats you all well.

 

[nlb1050]

Good morning. The hand is doing pretty good. Every hour I have to bend the fingers as much as possible then straighten, well the thumb hardly bends because of the wrap and the index bends but nor very good because of the wrap. I take the wrap off tomorrow morning so the bending should be much better. It is so hard doing things with the non-dominate hand.

All have a great day.

 

[Bellalago Belle]

Good morning, everyone! Put me down on the list of not ever wanting mustard skittles or ketchup popsicles. Either of them would make me sick to my stomach!

Kathie - Be very careful if you do make that drive to Chicago alone. That Serbian thumb drive sounds weird. How many thumb drives do you have? You give new meaning to being all thumbs!! LOL Seriously though, sorry to hear that your brother is failing so rapidly. I'll keep him and you also in my prayers. By the way, that tree in Aruba you mentioned is a divi divi tree. I have a little metal one I bought on one of our trips to Aruba as a rememberance.

Dave - I know of only one person who built a house with a safe room and that's not far from us. It took the guy over 10 years to build the house and looks so out of place in that area. I'm sure Bill & Rita know the house I'm talking about. The rest of us just take our chances. No safe rooms and no tornado warning sirens. We like living on the edge!

Bill - I forgot about Aruba. I already told you that I hate you, right? I know I told Rita. Aruba is just about my most favorite place to visit. Staying there for a week, you will get to see so much of the island. If you have a car, that is. Don't forget to have an Ariba Aruba for me. Loved that drink!

Lee - Sorry the rains kept you and Ava from your morning walk. Hopefully, the rest of the day will only get better.

Karen - I hope Scooter is doing well today. Did you get any of the rains yesterday? We didn't get 10 drops all day. It got dark and looked like the heavens were going to open, but once again, the rain went all around us. We're hoping we have better luck today. Bert put fertilizer down and he needs the rains to soak it in.

We have G&E coming this afternoon, so I'll make a charcuterie board to tide them over until dinner. Nothing fancy tonight. Just a simple ground beef and pasta dish in tomato sauce. A favorite of mine since childhood and the rest of the gang loves it too.

We were laughing last night. Talk about feast or famine - company 3 days in a row and after that nothing. Which leads me to my next bit of news ... The Grille is closing for about 2 months! We have a new management company and apparently they were not happy with anything about the Grille. They are planning a deep cleaning of all areas, plus a totally new menu and a better trained staff than what they've had. Nothing lost with them being closed. We're lucky to go there once a month these days. Their food specials have been horrible and very overpriced for a place that is being subsidized by the HOA. They're pricing the food like they're downtown Orlando. They've lost us from back in the old days for sure.

On that note, time to put together a shopping list for Bert for the rest of the things we need for dinner. Take care , gang, and have a super afternoon.

 

[billg3540]

Hope that the deep cleaning (and if it is going to take two months, that should be a very, very deep cleaning) and a new restaurant staff return the Grille to its earlier status, BB, though it does seem that the place has had a very checkered history going back to, was it Chef John?
Rita and I went out to dinner last night at a close by spot that we occasionally frequent, and we actually met one of Rita's cousins and her husband, who we haven't seen in perhaps a dozen or more years. That is the second time we have run into someone there that we knew years ago. That shouldn't seem that strange except that there is a popular restaurant where we used to live and, despite dining there for a couple of decades, rarely, if ever, ran into someone we knew.
Yesterday I learned that a fellow who I worked with for many years at the Governors' Conference has been diagnosed with the type of brain cancer that Ted Kennedy had. He's much too young to have such a tragedy occur. He is undergoing treatment at the Lahey Clinic so at least he is getting the best possible care.
It appears that our good fortune of missing out on the severe weather that has been plaguing this region of late, may have run its course and we are under a "severe thunder storm watch" until 9 pm, so we will be battening down the hatches pretty soon.
Take care everyone and stay safe.

 

[flgirl51]

Good afternoon! Scooter does seem to be doing better today, thank you all! She is moving around a bit more & even went out on the patio for a few minutes this morning. Last night she got up & down from the bed on her own a few times so hopefully she is on the mend.

Kathie, I know first hand how quickly elderly people decline when their family isn't able to be with them. Please drive carefully if you make the trip to Chicago. Scooter normally eats dry food & wet food, but while her mouth is healing I'm only giving her the pureed wet food.

Dave, Unless the vet can show me some pretty compelling reason why Scooters other 2 teeth need to be pulled I don't think it's going to happen.

Pat, the Grille sure has been an interesting business venture for sure, seems to start out good with new owners & then quickly go downhill, hopefully the next people will be able to get it back to it's former glory! Scooter is 13 and every time surgery of any kind in mentioned I always worry if she will make it thru.

Bill, that is pretty cool running into long lost family members in the restaurant like that! I've run into friends here in Ocala occasionally but it's a pretty rare event even here.

lee, I too was guilty of a little grocery shopping this morning. I don't know why the week days just always seem so busy I never get around to it. Plus I also use the "excuse" of looking for yard sales, but on days like today it was just to hot to stop even if I had seen any.

We haven't had any rain to speak of for the last couple days, it's gotten dark & rumbly a few times & then just seems to go right around us. Looking outside this morning we may have gotten a very light rain last night, but if so I never heard it. Enjoy the rest of your weekend all!

 

[Bellalago Belle]

Lots of thunder & lightening here right now. Keep your fingers crossed that we get some rain out of this.

Have a great rest of your evening. See ya tomorrow.

 

[K2-Mich]

Hi GANG! Bring on all the HUMOR you can find. I can use it! And YES, Tony is laughing his head off at my "thumb drive" comment.
But let me tell all you SMARTIES that I looked up how many different words cover Thumb Drive and you'd be surprised! Ha ha.


Synonyms for thumb drive include12345:

• Data stick
• Flash drive
• Jump drive
• Pen drive
• USB key
• USB flash drive
• Memory stick
• USB drive
• Disk drive
• Storage device

Not going to be driving to Chicago just yet. And I can just imagine what Art would have to say about me driving alone when I bring it up! But he knows I'm a good driver and once my mind is made up it over!

I managed to buy everything on my list except for Raisins and Deep Coffee Filters. They didn't have the Coffee Filters and I forgot about the "raisins" until I got in the checkout line, and I wasn't going looking for them at the point.
I managed to spend $108.00. And that was with Digital coupons of $20.80. I didn't buy any paper supplies or cleaning supplies or meat. Crazy prices these days.
I did get a really nice Watermelon for $3.99. The Italian Veggie Mkt wants $8.99 for the same brand of Watermelon. Go figure.

I did call Comcast and they did a re-set of the TV box. I hope it took care of the issue. I was lucky and did all this by a text and NON-HUMAN help. AI is right around the corner. (Alternative Intelligence)

Later gang. Be good.

Karen, if you're going to church tomorrow can you please say a few words to the Big Guy Upstairs for me and my family. Thanks.

 

[flgirl51]

Karen, if you're going to church tomorrow can you please say a few words to the Big Guy Upstairs for me and my family. Thanks.

You got it Kathie, I will even light a candle for you❤

 

[K2-Mich]

Karen.... you made me tear up with the "light a candle". Thanks.
We light candles in our church too. For the Living and for those that passed.
Nite all!

 

[fatherdav55]

Whether it's by yourself or with Art, I do hope you do make that trip to see your brother and your sister in law at least one more time, K2. Thoughts are with you and yours. Oh the growing number of pills we have to take every day.

Lee; K2 has an "undistracted mind? Let's just be happy that she has a mind.

Ava is like our pooches, not wanting to step over the door's threshold when it's raining.

I'm surprised BB that with all the nasty storms Florida gets they don't require "safe rooms" in new builds. And the series, "As The Grille Turns", continues. Whatever this new management company does, I'd bet that soon after it reopens prices will once again increase.

Bill; At times it's amazing how small this world is. Especially when we're away from our home and area and still run into people we know.

Happy Dance time for Scooter feeling better, KC. I guess I didn't get the memo telling all Bunnies to go grocery shopping over this weekend. Forget about lighting the candle for K2, she'll just bitch about the smoke.

 

[A’Burg Guy]

Good Sunday morning everyone.
All of the trimming is done, the front grass is cut and as much of the back as I could before the batteries ran out. The back especially was still pretty wet.
Lots of classic cars, hot rods and customs down town today for Amherstburg’s Gone Car Crazy auto show. The event officially started at 10:00 but we were down with Ava around 8:00. There were already lots of cars and people!
When we stayed in the community in Haines City Dave I was surprised how quickly they threw up a home. No time to build a safe room in the middle of the house When it goes up that fast! With the changing weather patterns I think we will all soon need safe rooms!
Ditto bumping in to people you know when you least expect it! Our best one was seeing a friend from Kitchener when we were on Riverwalk in San Antonio! And none of knew the others were going to be there.
One would think that a well run reasonably priced community restaurant would do well in your neighbourhood Pat. I guess I already see the error of my statement. How was the gathering of the clan last night?
Kathie, you have such a good sense of humour rolling with the things we throw at you. But that’s why we do. We care.
I forget which church we were in Karen and you could light a candle for someone. For a small donation of €2.
Gotta get a move on.
I do hope that everyone has a fantastic Sunday.

 

[nlb1050]

Good morning. Just had a shower, after taking the wrap off my hand, had to have Bruce start it because there is Velcro on both ends and then had to have him take the last off. Just had him put bandages over the stitches. While in the shower I had to scrub the had to get all of the orange cleaner off that was put one pre surgery. And today is the first day I am able to put in my false teeth since I took them out Thursday night. After getting home from lunch I will put ice on my index finger since it is swollen.

Our home has no safe room, best we can do is the master closet or under the arch between the living room and great room. Fortunately we don't get very many tornadoes, mainly only with a hurricane and we have been lucky the last few years.

We will be going to lunch in awhile.

All have a great day

 

[Bellalago Belle]

Good late morning or good early afternoon, depending on when I get this post finished.

Kathie - Nice of you to look up all the different names for your thumb drive. Of course, I knew what you were talking about, but just couldn't resist giving you a hard time and to lighten things up a bit. But then again, I could say that Tony made me do it!! Glad you got your cable straightened out.

Dave - Lee is right about how fast they put up houses here. Unfortunately, that results in some shoddy workmanship. M&J are in their house over a year and a half now and they are still having issues with some of the construction that was done. They are not about to give up until all the problems are fixed. We were lucky that when we built this house they were taking their time and making sure they got things right, even though there was no safe room. You have to remember that most houses here are all cement block on the first floor at least. You rarely see a wood house going up, so we do have a bit of protection from tornados, unless you take a direct hit.

Lee - You should see all the construction going on in the areas all around True Blue Winery. They can't stop building new subdivisions and t he scary part is that these homes are sold even before the foundation is started! Trouble is there's lots of building going on, but no new roads to handle the traffic. Nice that you got an early peek at the cars at that car show.

Bill - How neat to have run into Rita's cousin while you were out for dinner. Nice that they recognized each other. You were right about the Grille. People still talk about what a fun place the Grille was when John ran it. Now John lives on Martha's Vineyard and spends a lot of time with his small grandchildren. No more restaurants for him.

Nancy - Glad you were able to take a shower. Got a race to watch today?

We had a nice visit with G&E yesterday. I'm glad to know they are just as confused as us with the wedding plans the bride's mother is making. We'll get to meet the bride's parent aa week from yesterday at a party at G&E's house. This should be interesting.

Well I see that I was right wishing you an early good afternoon. Time to find something for lunch and then decide if we're doing anything before the rains once again show up. Have a safe Sunday, everyone!

 

[billg3540]

Well, we were only under a severe storm warning and tornado watch for about half an hour last night but aside from several flashes of lightning and some rain, we seem to have escaped unscathed. It was a fast moving storm that ended up leaving us with much more moderate temperatures today which is sunny but much less humid and temperatures about twenty degrees cooler. The next several days are predicted to be equally wonderful.
Not sure why, but although I know the series had good reviews, I had never watched an episode of Parks and Recreation in how ever many years it has been on. Last night, desperate for something to watch, I found a channel that was showing a marathon of the series and actually found it enjoyable. Guess I am a sucker for dumb comedies and it clearly qualifies but then again I loved almost all of the Farelly brothers movies and I was a Schitt's Creek addict.
Hard to believe how fast July has gone by. Time certainly does fly (even if you're not having fun). Between the pictures of the Christmas decorations already appearing in stores, and the TV ads for Back to School items, it seems time is flying even faster than ever. Wish everyone could just sit back and enjoy the present and let the future wait.

 

[Bellalago Belle]

Bill - Back to school specials started here July 5th. Schools here open a week from Thursday. Teachers have to start back this coming Tuesday. The party is over for them and kids are down to a precious few vacation days left.

 

[K2-Mich]

Hello Wrabbits!

Fantastic day for me.
Just got off the phone with my brother George. The nurses aid called me and then handed the phone to him. He sounded weak, but could answer my questions with a strong YES each time until I think he dropped the phone in his bed. Just good to hear his voice!

Earlier we went for a drive along the lakeshore and had lunch at a waterfront restaurant. Fish & Chips. Nothing like Floridas fresh fish& chips, but not bad.
Then we drove around and went to Belle Isle, a large park you take bridge to get to. It was packed with picnics everywhere and sun bathers.
Continued on to see my childhood house.
There was someone one the back porch and I got out to talk to the guy. He got the lady of the house to come out and I told her this was my “childhood home” and I left it after I got married. She asked if I wanted to come inside! Well, that’s when I started to cry and she gave me a big hug. Art & I got to see the house inside and we told her all kinds of things she didn’t know about the house. It was something I have wanted to do for DECADES! What a fabulous feeling to have done this.
So I can say I’ve had a great day. I bet Karen’s prayers and candle lighting helped make it happen.

As we drive through the East side of town and the Grosse Pointe area we saw what the storm from a few days ago did. Block after block full of downed trees and branches piled up in front if peoples homes. Sure glad we missed all that. They have a lot of Poplar Trees in that area and the are soft wood trees so hence all the damage.

Hard to believe school starts soon in Florida. They start the day after Labor Day in our area.

BB: Sure hope the new managers of the Grille will get the right menu for your community.
I saw the fantastic new truck M&J got. It’s hugs and a beauty. All the best to them filling that tank! Ha ha.
I paid $46 bucks to fill my Corsair today and it was only on 1/4 full.

Bill: I loved Schitts Creek too. Hated to see it end. I might have to look up Parks & Recreation and see if I’d like it. Not much on in the Summer Bummer.

Dave: I managed to get some Triple Fudge Brownie Edy’s Ice Cresm ON SALE yesterday. Saved $2 bucks on it! It’s really rich and creamy.

Out of here for now.
SORRY THIS WAS SO LONG!

From Pure Michigan!

 

[K2-Mich]

Ha Ha. Spelling mistakes all over the place.

BB: The TRUCK was HUGE.... not hugs! But I know you know what I meant.
We've all learned to read through our silly spelling mistakes.

Correction: My gas tank was already 1/4 full when I went to fill it up.

 

[fatherdav55]

Hot-diggety-dog, another much cooler day for us today. Only into the upper 70's. Sure beats those oven like temperatures recently.

This climate change is a real pain, all over the world.

My Arizona daughter who's been getting over 100 degree temperatures, had a storm the other day come through. And they had golf ball size HAIL. ICE coming from the sky. Had a couple of skylight windows busted. And then right back to 100 plus temperatures.

That was such a sweet story about seeing the outside AND inside your childhood home, K2. Now you can check that off your bucket-list.

They definitely have a lot going on in Amherstburg, Lee.

It's such a shame that after moving into their new house over a year and a half ago, M&J are still getting defects repaired, BB.

You are so right Bill that so few people enjoy the present.

It's Monday, and time to put down those damn smart phones and just enjoy living in the present.

 

[K2-Mich]

It's sunny and way cooler than it's been in WEEKS! Only 61F here in Michigan area.
Per Weather app: At 7:42 a.m.

Macomb, MI
Weather App
Neighbor observed · 14mins ago

Temperature 58° ~ 64°

61‎°F
Sunny
Feels like
‎62°
There will be mostly sunny skies. The high will be 79°.

Dave: Glad you enjoyed my adventure from Sunday's childhood visit. I'm still on a HIGH from that and YES, I can cross that off my Bucket List. Whew!
I don't think I have enough time left on this crazy Earth to get everything checked off the list. Oh well, I'll just chip away at it as well as I can.

Dave, I feel sorry for your daughter and all my Serbian friends in AZ. They have gone 30 days with over 100 temps. And most of those days the temps were over 110 degrees. Now to add HAIL and BROKEN SKY LIGHTS to the mix is horrible. And weather damage like those broken windows or car damage is why INSURANCE RATES GO UP or they just drop you. Wishing her the best.

Today will be a CLEAN and more CLEAN of this house. I'm going to try and get Artie to vacuum the rugs. I don't like vacuuming.

You all have a good morning and day and I'll come back later since I have nothing to chat about right now.