Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Rain, Rain, and MORE Rain

I will have to call Lisa later to find out what her handy, fancy rain gauge has to say but by my eyes and ears tell me we've had a lot of rain in the last 24 hours. It's pouring as I type. Last night the wind and rain woke me up several times, with rain greeting me when I awoke at 6:30 this morning. Reminds me of my time in California but add five months of solid rain and you'll get the picture of why I begged Bruce to come back to Florida! Actually I didn't have to beg him, just asked nicely. Last evening I put all my sad, neglected porch plants out for a good soaking--you can see they need a trim:

I had a suspicion that we would have no visitors at the museum today and I was right except for one woman who came in to pick out some note cards. The inventory is mostly depleted with very few options, however, I've never witnessed someone take so much time to pick out three blank cards before. If you can imagine she spent FORTY minutes to pick out 3 seventy five cent cards!!! I was wanting her to get it over with because I wanted to photograph the new exhibit called, "The Fine Art of Craft." When I walked in I was bowled over by what I saw. Four artists are represented and my, oh my, is their art fine.

Normally taking indoor shots is a no-no, but the director of the museum gave me the go ahead; she's hoping to make an album for facebook. That will be up to her. Apparently, at least one of the artists has been in the Smithsonian, which is to say that I'm not the only one who thinks the work is great. I'm only showing two of the pieces but there are about 35 so if you live in Orlando and are intrigued head over there before the show ends on June 30th, the day the museum closes for the summer. Hurray for that.

A few weeks ago I was fortunate to run into a friend of mine from the gym, really I met her at least twenty five years ago at the Fort Gatlin Swim Club, our saving place when the children were young. Being the mean mother that I was, not to mention frugal, we rarely used the air conditioning. My boys thought it was outrageous, but I used to tell them that if they had everything they needed, or wanted when they were young, that when they were older and on their own, it would be a much harder adjustment. Having known some misery myself in my youth, I have taken most things in stride. I said most, not everything, but you get my point. Anyway she immediately launched into a long list of great books she'd read in recent months and am I glad she did. I've just begun the fourth recommended title, Sarah's Key; and I can say there has not been a bad one in the bunch. I'll let you know how I like this one. When I saw her I'd just gotten my new lens; she was kind enough to let me photograph her in the parking lot--mind you I was holding onto my cart with one hand so as not to let it roll into her Mercedes SUV while using the manual focus. She's a rich girl.

In a bit of retail news, I was thinking that the recession may solve one of the things I most dislike about shopping these days. Choices, of which there are far too many, may become smaller, which in my opinion is a good thing. There are seven web pages on Nordstrom's site of Handbag City, making decisions way more difficult than necessary. In other retail news, in yesterday's paper I read in the business section that a Park Avenue boutique is closing after a mere two months. For those of you who aren't familiar with Park Ave. it is a "tony" shopping and dining street in Winter Park. The owner says he is going to try selling at Sanford flea market. Have you ever???? My last retail news is VERY big--we are getting not one, but two H&M stores! One will be at Florida Mall--six miles from the house!

Time to fix a little supper and curl up with the book. Thanks for reading!
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Listening to: Shearwater - I Can't Wait
via FoxyTunes

1 comment:

Amaya said...

I agree about recession shopping. I am no longer buying shit that I didn't need - or trying not to anyway. And one of my new favorite past-times is sifting through consignment stores for fun and unique finds.

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