Prohibition Repealed!!

Before you get all wondering about what a kook I am, let me explain. I am crazy for my drinks, whether it be orange juice and hot tea in the morning, ice water throughout the day, my Coca Cola at lunchtime, and wine with dinner,  please don't make me give any of them up for even two days, let alone TEN! That's what it was, not the original 14 that I first wrote, and thank God for that! Making no apologies, I admit I am a serious creature of habit. So there.

Not only was I without one of my major drink components, but I was mostly without my husband, who is working like crazy, including Saturday and Sunday of last week. This week too. That insane workload will soon be a thing of the past when the restaurant opens, at which time, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed here, we will go on a vacation. A necessity for Bruce, and a luxury for me.

This morning I set out pretty early on my bike, and I ask you, is there a lovelier sight than the sun rays penetrating the treetops? Don't they write songs about this kind of thing??

Don't you just love it? As well, the night blooming cactuses were still open, and do they ever attract the gnats or whatever these tiny bugs are!

At other times they are bee magnets, but for whatever reason today it was the tiny fly-like creatures.

Before leaving the house, a hawk sat for a bit on the telephone pole in our neighbor's yard. Nice that a songbird perched making the size difference super apparent.

A good bit of the week has been uncharacteristically dry, however, just when I've restarted the sprinkler system, it rains.

We have a tiny little hill on Gatlin Avenue between Lake Gatlin and Lake Gem Mary...don't ask me why I thought the newly paved road looked nice after the rain. I just did.

I also thought these seed pods, on a stranger's Palm tree looked super neat, however, as much as I love this type of Palm tree, I am thrilled it is not in my back yard because those are some serious seed pods, enough to clog up my pool cleaner for most of the year!

Perhaps it is the orange?

During the week Cheryle asked me to come photograph her for an online contest she'd won. Her neighborhood is trading the flamingos around the yards and they woke up to this display, which matches her beautiful blooming tree quite nicely, don't you think?

Before I met Cheryle, I am not too embarrassed to admit that I had no idea what was meant by Pastels in artwork. If you had told me it was a stick of paint, I might not have believed you, especially since Cheryle rarely uses pastel colors. Turns out they come in all sorts of colors, including deep red.

Plus they are messy, thus her apron and gloves! Because she is very photogenic, we were done in no time.

Last evening there was a lovely rainbow as we traveled down Mills Avenue, while it was raining no less.

I went to church this morning by myself. Having been lazy last Sunday, I realized how much better the week would have gone had I not given in to sloth. The air conditioning is being replaced, so the services are being held in the chapel at Rollins College for four weeks. Proving what a small town Orlando is, Maureen asked me if I'd met Mary Jo, the church administrator; they worked together years and years ago at Park Avenue Wine and Cheese. She is pictured in the coral blouse in the lovely Knowles Chapel, the same place David and Michelle were married.

The outside is just as lovely as the interior, complete with blooming formal rose gardens!

The evening of Dave and Michelle's rehearsal was the worst day for the stock market during the recession. David used a good deal of self control to hold it together when his livelihood looked as if it were falling apart and he was paying for the wedding! Many years later, that has not proven to be true, and we are very thankful for that!

As I was leaving, stopping to photograph one of the beautiful fountains,  one of the young ladies from the church put herself right in the picture by mutual agreement, of course.

If all goes according to plan, next November, Bill and Fallon will be married there as well. :)

So, now I'm waiting on Mr. Peck to return from work. The artwork is all hung, the furnishings in place, the patio flooring installed, and should an impending storm hold off, the barricades, or hoarding as the Canadians call it, will come down tonight. It is looking really beautiful, if I do say so myself, because you can make a safe bet that Mr. Peck sure won't say it!!

Normality returns,

Gail

p.s. I'm feeling fine, well even better now that I'm off that nasty pill. I told someone, taking something that you hate 30 times is a real bitch. Anyone need half a jar of applesauce?

p.p.s. then there is this found on Mills. Avenue. BTW--driving by Pulse on my way home tons of memorials remain with tons of folks visiting.