What Kind of Bird Are You?

I may be the only person who has never heard of DOPE, or maybe not. Every single Sunday someone tells me about something new, and in this instance, a woman told me about DOPE, a personality test that claims everyone is one of four bird types: dove, owl, peacock, or eagle. I'd forgotten all about it until I was handing my sales book over to Bruce to record, and noticed I'd written the acronym down.

Because we all know how fond I am of birds, I checked it out, linking it to my blog. Except at first I did not take it myself, then thought better of it. How could I convince you to take it if I hadn't done so myself?? While in the midst of answering the 40 questions, which really amounts to clicking your mouse 40 times, Angela called and I told her what I was up to. She knew all about it, claiming that I was a peacock. Really?

Well, guess what? She was correct, apparently I am a peacock, or at least 37.5% so. Following, it claims that I am 27.5% dove, 25% eagle, and a lowly 10% owl. Telling Bruce about it during dinner time, I suggested he take it as well. Well, can you guess what bird Mr. Bruce turned out to be? It was no surprise to me that his major bird, if you will, is an owl.

This little guy is from my Ponce Inlet trip, taken through the wire cage. Bruce's percentages were as follows: 40% owl, 35% eagle, 20% dove, and an even lowlier 5% peacock! Well now. I've always said opposites make the very best partners!

I had to click on "full of trivial conversation" if I wanted to answer truthfully!

Speaking of birds, I realized that some folks may have never seen an osprey before, so in the spirit of education, here is last weeks osprey and mockingbird.

Did you know the mockingbird is Florida's official bird? Well, now you do.

I bought some lettuce last week which was almost too perfect to be true. I'm thinking they put these heads into some machine to make them look so symmetrical.

It was such a cute little head! I got to thinking about the time I learned that baby carrots are not babies at all, rather, they are shaved down from life-sized carrots! Some of us are so easily fooled. :)

As well, while at the market on Saturday, I purchased some baby cucumbers with the intention of trying my hand at pickle-making. Around these parts, we love pickles, although, heaven only knows how these will turn out.

It will be about a week and a half before I know how they taste. Looking up some recipes online, I really wanted some mustard and dill seed, however, Bruce called me from Publix saying he could find neither, so we're giving pickling spices a go. Because I like garlic pickles, there are about four cloves in the bottom. Am I crazy or what?

Don't you just love cherry season?

Raniers are tasty all right, but expensive, so generally I buy the Bing cherries which are pricey enough! This photo was taken at the market on Sunday, which was not too bad, both heat and sales-wise. Plus, I  had early visitors--the beautiful Condon family. My great nephew Spencer has been walking for about a month now and he was pretty much loving testing out his new found freedom:

He's the cutest darn thing you've ever seen, and such a sweet spirit! I hope their luck holds out when baby boy #two comes along this fall!

Let's take a little stroll around the garden shall we? Our poor little gnome is showing the effects of our hot Florida sun, fading more each day.

He's still awfully cute though. I told you I re-planted the window boxes with red pentas and white lantana. The pentas are blooming just fine, the lantana is only days away:

And then there are my crown jewels, the dahlias! My word they are a gorgeous flower, and pretty soon I'm going to have more than you can count, as there are about 20, yes I said 20 buds on my three plants!!

Some are variegated, some are just plain deep red, or not really red--maybe pinkish red? Somehow this bloom has a little extra row of petals on the bottom. To be honest, I never dreamed they would even come back, let alone thrive like nobodies business!

Because Bruce has been home for a few days, I'm making meals of a little more substance then when I'm alone, thus, groceries needed to be purchased yesterday afternoon. Plus, I could not, for the life of me, find my box of "London Cuppa", which is my everyday tea; the whereabouts of my latest purchase is a mystery to me. Except most of the time they have it at Marshalls, so off I went, in spite of the threat of rain. Paying for my purchase I glanced towards the glass doors, and talk about a rainstorm! Good grief, the thunder and lightening were amazing, even setting off car alarms. Standing under the portico, I was convinced it would not last long.

Convinced and reality are two entirely different things when it comes to rain in Florida! Eventually I went back into the store to wait it out. Now, I love a good shopping trip to Marshalls, but not for nearly an hour! Finally, asking for a bag for my handbag, I took off my shoes, and made a run for it! Arriving home I found Mr. Bill visiting with his Dad, showing off some new boots purchased from eBay. Nice. The bank has him studying at home for yet another license. Have I told you he's moved over to SunTrust, joining his brother at the same bank? Well, he has, beginning last week. After Bruce took the bird test I asked him what he thought our boys would be. The twins--definitely eagles. Jonathan I'm thinking would be a dove, but it is Matthew who has me completely stymied. No clue.

In true peacock fashion, which means I'm willing to take risks unlike my owl husband, I tried parking my bike along a bit of an incline this morning. Not a good move Gail. I took a sideways tumble, landing in gravel on my left hip and ankle. The good news is that my camera, which I'd been holding in my right hand, suffered no damage. The bad news is that, in an effort to break the severity of my fall, I'm thinking I might have twisted my back. Then again, perhaps it's only temporary discomfort and it will be as good as new later today. That, my friends, is a bit of that peacock optimism at work!