Here We Go Again

There's no denying that, although not official as far as the calendar is concerned, Spring has sprung.

I have six orchids in varying stages of blooming which just thrills me. Having a booth next to an orchid seller was a gift that keeps on giving.

Speaking of having a booth, my career as an outdoor artist officially came to an end on Friday when we gave all of our show supplies to Cheryle and David. She's in a show in downtown Windemere this upcoming weekend so do be sure and say hi if you are in the area. Better yet, go to the area! Saturday morning, while I cleaned house, that is after we sorted out the garage minus the show stuff, Bruce went over to teach David how to assemble all the poles and panels. As it had been more than a year since last he put it together, it took quite a while. I can't say that I really notice the floors are cleaner, but I did manage to force myself to mop the whole house. That, my friends, is note worthy in this household!

Sunday morning the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and with that in mind, I asked Bruce if he minded skipping church for an outing to the Lake Apopka North Shore wildlife drive, something I've wanted to do for quite some time. The promise of seeing loads of birds is very appealing to me. He agreed, and we were off, making a quick stop along the way at the new soccer stadium which is to open this weekend, or so I think. Swarming, and I mean swarming, with construction workers, I told Bruce the project manager must be losing some serious sleep right about now. He knows that feeling all too well.

The first place we went was actually the area where you go hiking, something that did not interest Bruce all that much because he said I've seen all this kind of landscape before, which is very true. I did, however, point out how gorgeous the new spring green leaves were in the bright shiny sun!

He was unimpressed. 😀

How about a lakeside iris, does that work for you?

Heading back the way we came, we joined the line up of cars moving 10 mph for 11 miles with not a whole lot to see, if I'm honest.

There were some birds, most of the common ones, and we did see two alligators, but for the most part we probably were there too late for much in the way of bird activity. That said, we parked to read some signs, and I did see this little cutie.

That yellow is so brilliant isn't it? I turned to others to confirm my suspicion that it is a female yellow rumped Warbler. Fitting, right? Hanging onto that same fence was this pretty little birdie.

Aren't they super cute? It is always fun to spot birds you've never seen before. Or, at least I think it is.

Monday was Days for Girls and although the task I was given was not my favorite, I'm still thrilled to be a part of this group of giving women.

Speaking of sewing, last week I went over to one of our guild member's homes who has the most amazing sewing studio upstairs. Oh my! And so organized!

Above is one side of the room, and here is the other, including this machine called a long arm for serious quilting.

Using those handles, the quilter almost draws on the fabric with a needle and thread creating beautiful patterns. Yup--still working on quilts for Pulse. To say Mary is super talented is putting it mildly.

In a move that won't surprise you in the slightest, the day I was to be over at her house at 3PM, I made a quick stop at the cemetery which is less than a mile from her home. While I was there a man with a huge lens on his camera mentioned that he'd seen the feathers of our owl friend in the bottom hole of the tree. In other words, on the nest. In fact he took a shot and tried to show me, however, with great restraint, I said I didn't have time. His words stuck with me though, so yesterday I went over to see for myself. Oh my goodness, use your best eyes to see what I saw.

We talked about perspective in photographs last week, so heeding my own advice, I'm giving you just that in the photograph below.

I was so freaking out...amazing stuff! From the photograph above you can tell the sky was dull, the sun hiding behind the clouds, as it still was when I walked over to the eagles nest, where I saw the eaglet standing up. Although I took some shots then, they aren't worth sharing, however, much to my surprise, the sun peaked through and here is one worth sharing.

Totally amazing how large the eaglet is! Won't be long before it is flying! Because my car was parked near the owl's nest, I could not resist another peak into the nest area, this time with no success. Scanning the trees, look who was watching me.

Not for too long though, he/she kept flying higher and higher in the tree.

Birds that have been way too plentiful, in my view, are Turkey Vultures, which have been circling overhead in big numbers of late. Driving up to Publix yesterday, I had to turn the car around to get a closer look at this..

At first I thought it was a coyote, or a dog, it was so big, however, the pictured man told me it was a raccoon, which by the time I had to run back out about three hours later, was completely gone. Yikes--real life in action!

Monday morning I saw a Gastroenterologist and I'm having a colonoscopy tomorrow, due to someone else canceling. I figured I might as well say yes to that day before I backed out! Today is clear liquids for me, which is going to be very hard . My plan is to stay as busy as I can so I won't think about my regular meal times, beginning with the quilt guild meeting this morning. If I have the nerve, which is yet to be determined, I will show the solids quilt I made for Bruce's car. Time will tell!

As to the move, we are working on getting Global Entry, the marriage license has been ordered from the County Clerk, and there are two promising leads on a Baxter caregiver. So, all in all, we are making progress. More details as they happen, but for now we are mostly just going about our business as usual. Bruce working, me looking for birds!

yours truly,

Gail