We have sold our beautiful 36ft Columbia sailboat and now have to complete the little details; such as changing the title over except we haven't got the title as we never received one from Mr. Auf*****?? Don't know where he is either. Well, we will just go to DMV and try to get a copy. Have all the data so that shouldn't be a problem, I hope.
Just finished a week of looking after the PASS program myself while Andrea went to Mazatlan in Mexico. She looks after an orphanage there. She will be back Monday. I am off swimming as it's Friday. Will continue this a bit more when I come home.
Sent all cards for Mother's Day US except my mother. I have decided to cut off all communication with her finally. Took me so many years to discover she resents me and really doesn't want me to contact or see her anymore. I guess she really never wanted to see me and I just kept pushing myself on her. The last time I visited in 2009 she didn't even offer a place for me to hang my clothes, or a drawer to put my stuff in. I just kept it on the floor in my suitcase. She also tried a number of times to pick a fight but I didn't bite this time. I am just fed up with her abuse and constant picking. She married him and that's not my fault. I have been away from England for 54 years. One would think she had got over it by now. She is an unhappy, miserable person and one with whom I do not wish to continue a relationship.
What is sad is that she has denied me the opportunity to visit my sisters. (Maybe they really don't want to see me either.) The other people that are around my mother, according to her, have been told about me and how awful I am (my mother has always been a very good liar.) It is embarrassing to see them and I feel they are embarrassed too.
Want to wish all a Happy Mother's Day on May 8th, 2011

Today was really a surprise. We started to put together the stereo units from California. At least Neil did. What a puzzle he had. There are four units all apart and no directions. Also there is only one bag of screws and bolts and stuff. There should be two bags so he put together the TV stand and the cabinet that had the LP's in. We ran out of the bolts and screws and pegs so took a trip to IKEA in Tampa on Saturday to see if we could get some more. They were out of most of the spare parts, which are free by the way, and we took all they had. Neil put together one of the tall cabinets minus the glass door. That is what is missing in the other bag of parts. I found a place online that sells the hinges so bought then at a cost of about $2.00 a set; not bad for that. Hope they work well though.
Got one completed and have another to go. Bought two beautiful painting for Alfred Gockel and must hang them as soon as we get the room painted. Have painted part in the pale green and want to paint the rest in the Creamy Pebbles, a creamy beige, before hanging the pictures. It takes such a long time to get the house in order. At least the ceiling no longer leaks, thank goodness. We have painted and finished the family room and the kitchen is almost finished too. Need to put up the back splash and then the range hood. That is for next weekend. Going out to dinner tonight with Millie and Neil. I really enjoy that as we haven't seen Millie since the weekend before last at Sea Critters. That restaurant is getting a bit much now. Always seems busy and the food isn't as good as it used to be. We always love a good fish place and esp. the Moon Under Water on the St. Pete's waterfront but that is so far and a bit expensive. It's also hard to park. Seems there is always something going on in downtown St. Pete's. Will go to the market tomorrow.

Well, we bought a house in May 2010, and it's gorgeous. It does have some anomalies such as a goblin in the dishwasher and the roof continues to leak like a sieve in the family room. We came into the room when it was pouring down rain, as Florida does in the summer, only to see the water running from the ceiling onto our TV and it was awful. Neil went onto the roof, which is flat, and found a depression in one spot where the slanting roof meets the flat roof. The water pours down the slanting roof and pools on the flat roof which has, over time, cracked and the water pours in through the crack onto the ceiling and through a slit of about 4 ft and down onto the floor and TV. What a mess. Luckily it didn't damage the TV, just splashed a bit of water on it.
It took Neil a whole weekend to build a wood frame over the flat roof, layer tar paper, tar the end part, and then paint with white silicone paint. He had an awful time doing this as it was so windy and the tar paper kept blowing around. It also was difficult to layer the paint over the wrinkled tar paper but he did it. We had it licked, or so we thought. There was a couple of days when it rains slightly and there was no leaking. Well, this week we had a ferosius storm and pouring rain all night. Neil got up in the morning and shouted at me. The rain was pouring in the family in exactly the same place as the orginal leak. There was no difference in the pouring in of water from the first time. I was fit to be tied. What had all that work on the roof been for? Neil had obviously missed parts of the roof and the water just ran under the wood frame and pooled again under it in the same cracks that were there before.
The dishwasher is another creepy situation. It is a Kitchenaid, bought in 2004 and top of the line. It didn't work and so we had someone look at it and they decided it was the power cord. We changed that at a cost of $25. AND the dishwasher worked. Then it stopped working. I then called an applicance repair company around the corner from us. Hansen's and they came out, a young fellow, not too personable and he opened the control section of the dishwasher and found two Palmetto bugs (Florida cockroaches) living inside the control panel. YUK. He killed one of them, the other got away, and cleaned out the control panel at a cost of $138.75. IT WORKED again, for a couple of days then quit again. This is a nuisance. The young fellow came out again and said that the dishwasher needed a new computer. He got it working and that lasted a couple of day. It quit again and so I went on the Internet and found the exact computer for the Kitchenaid dishwasher. Cost, $97.85 including shipping and handling. It came and Neil installed it. That was not the problem as the dishwasher still didn't work. I decided to send the part back to the company, at my own expense. I did get a refund, minus the shipping to me and the shipping back to them; a total of $14.75. We then decided to get another dishwasher so we went to Sear's outlet. The people there are less than polite or even considerate. They are rude and inconsiderate. We asked about Sear's repair or service dept. and got a phone number. I called and he came out- before that I bought the Sear's repair warranty for $205 and the Sear's guy said the fuse in the control panel had blown. He fixed it and left. The dishwasher worked for about two weeks. I called Sear's and a girl on the phone from Sear's outsource somewhere said I should go to the breaker panel and reset the switch. I did and it worked again. So far so good. Got my money back for the computer and all seems well. Next we put in a new sink in the kitchen and bought a brand new garburetor which Neil installed. It is so clean and so very quiet and the sink is gorgeous. We had to put in a new hose for the dishwasher; which we did. Now, the dishwasher doesn't drain all the water at the end. Neil mops it out with a sponge into a basin. Well, tonight, the 9th Jan. 2011 the blasted thing quit again. The light went on NORMAL but when I pushed the START, nothing happened. Blow that, I was so made at this dishwasher I decided to kick it. Which it did with my slippers on. Didn't want to damage the front of it. Damn it all the wretched thing worked after I kicked it. What the hell is going on? There must be a hex on this place or, at least on the dishwasher. Well, it is still working. Got the man to come out again to see why it doesn't drain all the water out. I think it's the two way valve in the hose to the garburetor. He's coming on Friday.
I start my new job tomorrow and I'm so looking forward to it. I will be teaching grade 5 kids and helping with their homework. Mostly they do the FCAT examples so that they can all pass the exam in March. Closing now and see you tomorrow.

18 July 2008
Forgot all about this blog space and haven't done a thing to it since 2006. Need to get on with it.
Decided not to complete the MH at 100 as the noise from the gate is too much. Will finish the work on 124, the electrics, and get it out to sell or rent. Shirley, Jay's daughter might like it. I will send her the pics of it when I get a chance to take some.
Neil is working at West Marine for 6 months now and loves it. He is a customer service for Port Authority and takes phone calls from all over the US and Canada selling boat parts to businesses. He is the top person in the place as he is efficient and makes the most sales. He is also good on the computer so he gets lots of personal business calls.
He feels a bit under the weather today as I do. I have had a swollen gland on the right side for three days now. It is not good and I don't want to go to the docs as he will prescribe antibiotics and I hate taking those.
I went to England on the last part of May and stayed until 3rd June. I was surprised at how well my mother is doing. She looks great for 90 years of age and is still driving. Louise is looking good if a bit skinny. She has resigned herself to the problems with the breast cancer. Jacky is overweight and needs to lose some of it. Rod looks great if a bit greying at the temples. Des is as big as ever and we had a wonderful time on Sunday, 2nd June at Jacky's. She made a great salad layout with cold cuts, salad and cheese. The English do have the best cheese in the world. Met Sarah, Georgie's daughter who is at University and studying anthropology or something like that. She has long very dark, almost black hair and is quite chunky. She and Georgie look alike and both are on the way to serious overweight. Neil, Georgie's husband, is a big guy too. He is in the computer tech area and sets up networks for businesses like Philip, my Neil's son.
On the way back, I stopped in Detroit and met Paul for the first time since he was born. I was so happy to see him and he a handsome chap. His wife, Jennifer, says he is a lot like me. He has a temper and is a private person like I am. I can see a lot of me in him even though I haven't seen him for many years. Do wish I had known him many many years ago and got to live with him.

Friday and the 'bog' not complete yet. Have to scrape off all the old paint from the shower as it's already peeling and will not be a good base for the new paint. I think it is damp in there and the paint was damp when it was last put on (umpty, ump years ago). What a job and I will have to take it down to the concrete. It will be a proper job when I'm done though and that's important. Nothing done on the trailer but did have three estimates to repair the roof. The first was out of sight at $3,550 but that did include a roof over and a bit tacked on to the end of the Florida room. We were going to put in a laundry room there but may leave that until the end and add it later, don't know for sure. The second and third were the same at about $2,400 or there abouts. They would put on a polimer cover and seal it. They guarantee it for 7 to 10 years. We went to Home Depot and found the stuff you roll on which is actually like a heavy tar roll. It is rolled out and then sealed with a blow torch along the seam to make it cover the roof. We have decided to do that ourselves. Steve here has the heavy duty blow torch and when we have fixed the boards inside the ceiling we can put that stuff on the outside. The trailer has a metal roof with a fibreglass cap on it. The guy said it was a really good trailer in its day and the fibreglass is great protection. We will put the tar stuff over the top of that. The cost should be about $1,000 to $1,100 only. Home Depot says that roof will last 10 or more years. The roof that's on it now has lasted since 1962 so I am sure we can live with the next one for a long time. Got to get it done soon too as it is getting a bit cramped in the motor home finally but we will put up with it another few weeks. I hope we can get the mobile home done by the middle of August as I want to go to Canada for a couple of weeks and reestablish residency there.

Today is the final of the World Cup Soccer match between Italy and France. I am hoping Italy wins although is doesn't really matter who wins. I am just glad that it is an European team that will win. So far the score is even, 1 to 1. It is a great game and so much more interesting to watch than American football. Also, it isn't as long and I think the players are much better athletes. It's the grunting that puts me off American football and why they have to wear all that gear when they spend most of the time in a huddle or just running up and down the field. Oh well, it's a matter of preference I suppose.

My Profile

Hi, my name is Edony and I am going to keep a running dialogue of the progress on our 'bog' rebuild and the complete renovations of our mobile home.
To start with, the 'bog' is the outside toilet and shower that was built in 1954 and seems as if it hasn't been cleaned since then. It is in dire need of upgrading and we are going to do just that. Today the toilet was removed and Neil is putting down the new liner for the floor. He is going to put down pond liner so that the water won't go through and make the place stink like it did. Whew! what a stench. I think the toilet was the culprit. I used bleach, Pinesol by the quart and various other smell disguises to no avail. It still smelt of urine. I am hoping that it won't smell anymore after Neil puts in the new toilet.
Well, it isn't urine we are smelling but excrement from the termite dust as if that wasn't as bad. The smell is coming from the roof of the 'bog' as that is the only wood we can see. The new floor looks beautiful and the toilet is in and also the fluorescent light which gives a daylight light inside as the place is very dark due to the big trees we are under. The place looks great with a new toilet and seat and a new shower curtain that has a picture of a lighthouse on it. I am going for a sea theme and want to keep the 'bog' looking blue and white and as clean as it was dirty in the beginning. The pictures above are before and after even though we aren't finished with it yet. We are also tearing out the insides of the mobile home while living in a motor home on the lot. There is a lot of work to be done to the trailer as we are going to gut it. We have removed the furnace and the cupboards which were eaten up by termites. The next job is to put on a new roof. We are looking for estimates for that as we don't have very much money and want to do as much of the work ourselves to save money. We bought the trailer for $3,000 and hope to be living in it by the end of July or middle of August '06. There will be lots of before and after pics. of that too.