Smorgasbord

A big apology to my hard working husband who contributed the finishing touches on the bathroom and got not a word of love in my last post. Previously the baseboard was tile, however, we learned that folks are now using wood in modern bathrooms so....

Bruce rented a mitre box from Home Depot and went to work. Not an easy task using an unfamiliar saw, but the one he still owns is not large enough to cut the width of the baseboard we are now using throughout the house.

No doubt you will notice my blooming geraniums!!!!

It is not easy for a man to get down on the floor, especially in a cramped place, but he pulled it off with aplomb.

Not only did he do the baseboards, but he put up the new shelves and a towel ring!

Now that towel ring doesn't mean much to you, but Lord have mercy, it excites me! With a huge mirror taking up all available wall space behind the toilet and mirror, the towel hung out on the counter. Not ideal as the counter is not all that big, thus my excitement. Anyway, that about does it for the bathroom update. Woo hoo! Chatting with Anne yesterday afternoon, she mentioned she didn't remember the former owners ever wanting to do much to the place. I told you her memory was fantastic because she is oh so right about that, which turns out not to be a bad thing because we can remodel without feeling bad about ripping out new stuff. A win-win actually. As to the shelves, by now you are well aware that I love to decorate with things that have meaning, thus the jar I filled with shells Bruce's Mom collected has the top billing. An old black and white photo of Jonathan on our roof taken by Matt, as well as a clock he suggested I purchase many years ago. The sunflower photo is from a trip we took driving in Switzerland. Memories my friends.

Speaking of which, here's what my sunroom couch and surrounding area looked like for days on end.

I found loads and loads of photos of Carol, but perhaps the one below says more than I initially thought.

Taken probably twenty years ago, when we picked Mom and Carol up at the airport following their trip to England. That big smile of Carol's was something to behold. Everything about her was just a little big bigger than the rest of us girls, demanding your attention. As an aside, I remember loving that blouse I am wearing and I wish I still had it! We leave in the middle of Friday morning for California joining her friends in celebrating her life. Lisa and Nancy are going too.

You may recall that in the throes of Carol's illness, as well as Maureen's, we got the news that our friend Jeff, who had just proposed to Laurie, received a very serious diagnosis. Does that ring a bell? Anyway, here he is looking fit as a fiddle, having had surgery and treatment that is working!! He is on the upper left with Laurie across from him.

Steve and Barb (l) joined us for a meal the other night and it was so good to see them all.

When it rains it pours as far as get togethers go. Sunday evening we went to Pam and Glenn's house, and how about these three guys wearing essentially the same color shirts?

Now if they were blue, I would understand...

Irene made the beautiful Lemon Buttermilk Bundt cake that was to die for! She and Pam are looking for birds in Pam's beautiful gardens.

Well, you just knew I'd get around to birds, didn't you? I checked out the Mute Swan family at Lake Davis and they are looking good with the entire family still intact.

I was watching the Wood Ducks the other afternoon and two ducklings remain so that is happy news. These two were either taking a bath, or cooling off.

Is there anything more sweet than the wonderful fragrance given off by a gardenia bloom? Why, yes there is. How about a few hundred in bloom at once as seen beside our building?

The fragrance is so intense you can smell it from around the corner! I had a revelation of sorts this week when, first I saw the Corn Plant with what looked like pods cascading down the plant, but when we returned from Pam's the other night, I was stunned to detect a heady perfume emanating from those blooms.

I've seen plenty of Corn plants used indoors, and had not a clue that they produced such a fantastic display. Perhaps it is only when they are outdoors, as this one that resides beside our courtyard gate? What I discovered is that the fragrance only occurs in the evening. Here is a bunch more info on this exciting plant discovery, and if you have one yourself, be sure and read the comments as they will be an encouragement.

Bill and Fallon are on their honeymoon! Finally, after celebrating their one year anniversary in March. Their Mediterranean cruise began in Barcelona and as predicted, they are loving it all! And from the photographs I've seen, their weather has been ideal so far, unlike ours that is heating up big time with the summer storms beginning in earnest. As we were driving home from an errand on Lake Margaret Drive, stopped at a traffic light, I exclaimed to Bruce---"look at those clouds! They look very strange." Whipping out my camera I took one looking South,

and one looking North. It is the band that I found so unusual.

And while we didn't have any tornados, within minutes of taking these, we did have torrential rain and high winds, what some are calling a "micro-burst." Having the car door nearly ripped off when I got out in it, I can attest that it was pretty intense!

When Bruce asked me what my Monday plans were, I said I wasn't sure. Never did I expect to happen what followed a few hours later.

Here's the scoop:

Bruce texted me a photo of a bird, asking if I knew what it was as he'd just found it along the sidewalk while walking to the gym. Bringing my camera and a box, I zoomed up to the front of the property. He happened to find a plastic fork on the ground and put the little one in a box.

I had no idea what it was, but we both knew it wasn't good to find a bird on the ground.Thus, I took it home and did something I shouldn't have done, according to the Audubon folks I contacted after doing it. I found an eyedropper and fed it a bit of sugar water. A few times we did not connect, so that is what you see on the box.

It was a several hour saga as I sent them the photo, we talked, and they told me they thought it was an American Kestrel which made sense once I downloaded the photos I'd taken with my zoom of the bird atop the power line pole, 60 feet in the air! Quickly, well relatively speaking as there is no getting anywhere fast here, I drove over to the center in Maitland, Dawn met me at the back gate as they were closed to the public. I was ushered into the back rooms where banding was happening and two people were each holding a Hawk. Crazy, right? After filling out paperwork, she asked me to go  home and scan the area for some cavity that the bird might be calling home. Explaining I would try but seriously, it was beneath a huge power pole, so where could the nest be? The little baby, practically a newborn was shivering by the time I arrived, and they immediately placed it in an incubator. The reason for having me search high and low is because the bird was unharmed and they want to return a fallen bird to its parents ASAP. Bruce took some photos on his way home and still we couldn't find anything. I drove home a way that would put me across the street, and I took a few through my windshield as I waited at the interminable light at Michigan and Mills. (a story for another day.)

The above was taken to give them an understanding of the area. I zoomed in on the top of the largest power line and holy cow, when I checked on my computer, there was a bird! I rode my bike back and actually found Mom and Dad on the lookout for their baby.

And that's all I know. I sent them plenty of photos and it is up to them to contact OUC, the power company to make arrangements to return the baby to the nest inside the cap of that power pole. Calling them just now, it went to voicemail. A lot of effort for one baby bird isn't it? Hearing the little cheep, cheep, cheep from my back seat, well we did what we could. Bruce just returned from being up front and there is no sign of the parents. Boo hoo!

your friend,

Gail