We are in a state of shock around here today--- the temperature is hovering in the mid 70's! Quite a drop from the mid to upper 80's we've been having for weeks.
Weather was definitely on my mind over the weekend what with the weather folks claiming a 70% chance of rain for both Saturday and Sunday. You guessed it--they were exaggerating big time. It did rain on Friday afternoon during our drive to the Bruner's place on Lake Hart, near the Lake Nona area of town. Matter of fact, it rained quite hard, but happily it did not last long.
Not too long after arriving at their mini-mansion, the rain began again in earnest lasting only a hosr while which allowed everyone to enjoy their fantastic backyard. Unlike the Peck family, the Bruner family likes a great big house! I was so darn excited once we entered the screened in, two story back porch and I saw a little sandhill crane family prancing around by the lake.
According to Mark, the babies are only a few weeks old. Adorable! Another super cool sighting was Michelle's pineapple plants, all five of them had fruit; she related that they'd all come from one pineapple some years ago.
They are such a great color, perhaps because they've been grown on the
porch? A little later a group of the ladies convened on the dock to chat
about "girl stuff." Michelle is leading the group bringing fresh provisions and I bet you don't have to think too hard what they are!
The stormy looking sky remained that way throughout the night and into the morning. Although I knew in my heart that the weather forecast was probably wrong, I decided to stay home from Winter Garden on Saturday, instead of vending, I scrubbed the front porch and cleaned the gutters. Sounds like fun right? I am happy with my spiffy looking clean front porch.
No doubt you can tell I didn't take this after the clean up as there wasn't a sun ray to be found that day. No complaints here because the temperature was perfect for working outdoors with water, not too hot, not too cold. And now, if we ever do get serious rainfall again, the gutters will be relatively clean and do their job. Actually, we did get rain on Saturday, but not until much later in the day and overnight. It's a strange thing to be awoken by stormy weather in Florida. If it's going to rain with thunder and lightening, it's a pretty sure bet it will be mid-day.
Here we go again--should we ignore the weather forecast or what on Sunday? We chose to ignore it although Bruce did put the sides on the tent. Happily, they were an unnecessary precaution! Many of the vendors did not ignore the weather report, instead staying home and you can bet, kicking themselves around noon time.
Typically the bridge pictured is packed full of both tents and people. I had a day full of visitors including Jenn and Rich, with the most adorable one year old around.
I kid you not--Spencer is pretty much the sweetest little boy in the world!
Visitors, visitors, visitors--not once did I pick up my book which I don't have to tell you is a good thing. Sales were so-so, socializing--fantastic! Once we were home and unpacked, Bruce spray painted my tent weights so next week when we are away from our home base, we'll look professional.
Week after week they keep my tent grounded, getting pretty banged up in the process. This photo makes me wonder what people who don't get the daily paper use when they spray paint. Seems like it won't be too long before most everyone shuns a daily paper....
Last evening as we had dinner poolside, we saw one of the female cardinals perched on the fence and both Bruce and I think she looks sort of tubby. How about you? Do pregnant cardinals get tubby? Anyone know about this?
We slept well last night with the cool breezes blowing through the open windows, but not before Bill called at 9:30 with a problem. Apparently, the top of one of the sprinkler heads just outside his door blew off, allowing the water to spray into the air like a geyser. You can imagine what thirty minutes of this did to his new plantings! This morning, at first light, darling Bruce went over with a broom, shovel and rake to help him get things back in order. You, no doubt, are unsurprised at this account if you've read this blog for any length of time. :) Because Bruce joined the same gym Bill and Dave use, he frequently meets one or the other there while I'm at my weekend markets which has been very nice indeed.
The first thing I needed to do this morning was order. You know how much I hate to order--anything to put it off! Why not a little garden inspection first I thought? Surprisingly, when I picked up this blossom laden branch just a bit, it broke off. Once I saw the underside of these flowers I didn't mind a bit. I pictured them a few days ago in my post entitled,
A Garden Tour, and they look very different indeed.
I also discovered that a few of my cherry tomatoes are ripening. Bruce, honey, I need a photograph of me for my blog...
Tiny little one isn't it? Fighting my battles with the squirrels and the bird feeders is one thing, but when I saw one of the tomatoes lying half-eaten on the porch, I am now ready for war! I suspect the squirrels will win judging from their squirrel-proof bird feeder performances.
And then there was the call from Regina to attend to. Several days ago I asked her if I could cut one of the blooms from her magnolia trees which cover the tree by the dozens. Come and get it she said, and so I did. As you well know, I take this sort of photography seriously, trying various angles and backgrounds. Once my limited creativity was spent, I carried the bloom into my office. Maybe one more shot for good measure? Black and white perhaps?
Now when I tackle something like this it's pretty much by the seat of my pants. The bloom came home with glossy leaves, and a little bit of a bent stem, proving hard to find a way to keep it upright. Once I'd taken the above, the magnolia flopped out of the glass, dumping all of those cool match stick looking stamen (?) onto my work table.
And that was that. The magnolia is a goner as far as looks are concerned, however, the fragrance is perfuming the air as I type. Heavenly.
The order? Pretty much done, or so I hope.
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