Christmas Lights

Yup, today is my 67th birthday. I have been writing this blog since I was 53 years old. Crazy to think of, right? Today has been amazing with my loved ones showering me with gifts and love, however, before Christmas 2020 fades in memory, I wanted to show off some fantastic Christmas lights that we saw a few days ago instead of anything birthday related. Seemingly folks have gone all out this year in an attempt to brighten everyone's spirits and for that we are thankful.

I'd seen a map of light displays in our area with the map showing that along Curryford Road, there were four stations for folks to stop and take selfies. Or, in our case one person takes the photo and the other is in it. With that in mind, on a very chilly December 28th, we headed out to see what we could see. Of note is that sadly, the displays were made by furloughed Disney employees, putting their talents out for us non paying folks to enjoy. May their real jobs return soon!!

There was a lot more to this one, but I'll move on to the Cosmic Christmas display down the street. 

This one was so cute, and amazingly we ran into some folks we know there. Orlando proper may be big, but our part of Orlando is a small town. I would show more, however, we'd never get anywhere with that plan!

It's a Winter Wonderland in a funeral home parking lot!

Very cute indeed. I'm ashamed to say that although Bill and Fallon have had their lights up for weeks, we only just went there on this night. I had a bit of swelling pride when I think about how they have transformed this once ugly pink house, with no yard, and only a vision of what it could be.

For weeks Fallon had been telling me that we had to see the display on Clemwood that we walked to with them last year.  The reason I posted the link to the 2019 post is for those interested, you can see how much more they have added. Furthermore you can see that the years may change, but I'm still baking the same cookies! Anyway, it is fabulous, even more spectacular than last year. For one thing, they dedicated it to--well, you can read it for yourself.

Sadly, they began working on it October 1st in order for it to be ready for November 1, which explains the Covid numbers that have increased dramatically since then. At any rate, they sit out there most nights to chat with the hordes of people that come to ooh and aah.

They explained that they have a friend with a bucket truck who comes to wrap the trees and hang the high lights.

While last year they used mostly white lights, this year that brought out more color and it is just gorgeous.

I'm thinking that either David or Frank, or maybe both, must work in the arts because it is so beautifully done with every detail more wonderful than the next.

What a wonderful thing to do for our community and we were sure to thank them for their efforts which must be considerable, not to mention their electric bill!!

It used to be, when the kids were growing up, that Lake Arnold Place was filled with magical displays, and while there were some, after seeing David and Franks, well how can anything compare? Goofy is one way. The house had some figures in the yard ,but what caught my attention was this lit room. Very clever, or goofy, depending on your tastes.

From there we went by our very first house, bought at the end of our first year of marriage. We were so proud of that place, situated directly behind Bruce's childhood home, but when a huge recession came in 1977 and construction work was almost impossible to come by, we sold it to my sister Nancy and her then husband David and moved to California. I fondly remember coming home with my first born to this house.

A few streets away is Vine Street, and whoa nelly, there was one house with so many blow up figures in the yard I wondered how they could even get in the house! Aha...there was a walkway after all.

Normally I am not a huge fan of blow ups, (seriously what must it look like in the daytime?) but in this instance, well, it was darn impressive.

Who knew that they even make a VW van blow up?  That Santas is pretty darn cute, isn't it?

Our new friends Keith and Patty had planned an outdoor party, however, out of an abundance of caution (!) we decided to forgo it this year. 

 The good news is that we have our vaccine appointments for next Friday. Our friend Mary had it yesterday, and although her arm is sore today, she said it was all done very professionally and there is not a thing to be concerned about. 

There's always next year when I turn 68 for a party!

Happiest of New Year's to all my faithful readers and may 2021 being untold blessings. 

your friend,

Gail

A Porch and Screen Christmas

 Had someone told me back in March that we would be spending Christmas on the front porch of David and Michelle's place, frankly, I would not have believed them. Those were the days when the pandemic was in its infancy, at least to our knowledge. In our instant gratification society, what can't be solved quickly? As we are continuing to learn, Covid-19 has turned the world upside down, an has been anything but a quick fix. Florida, with our large retirement population, has now had, more than 21,000 deaths to date. Heck the United States has lost 332,000 folks to this deadly virus. Imagine those astounding numbers for a moment.....291,000 American lives were lost in battle in WW11, so less than what has happened in the last nine months!! Although the vaccines are bringing hope to this sad state of affairs, it will be many more months, if not years before we can all breathe a sigh of relief.

That said, if you have not had someone close to you almost die, it is relatively easy to assume it will happen to someone else. We know better. If Cris could get it, anyone can. Which is why we continue to live very cautiously, including on Christmas when we met up with our in-town family on the porch in spite of it being darn cold. In the last nine months I've been inside another persons home just twice, both of which made me uneasy. I hate feeling that way, but if I want to know, say in two years from now, how I really felt during these tumultuous times, I have to record it like it is. And yes, we do play pickleball with folks, but we keep our distance, both on the court, and in between games. Without that activity we would probably be stark raving mad by now!

But back to Christmas, we slept in until around 7!! First thing, I checked the outside thermometer to see just how cold it was. Never as cold as predicted but the first time in years it has not been hot. 

Woo hoo! And while it is not a traditional Christmas Eve dinner, I'd made a quiche because Nancy brought a sweet pie plate to me during her last visit and I wanted to put it to use. Thus, we had quiche for dinner, followed by quiche for breakfast on Christmas morning. Maybe it was the pie plate, who knows, but it was probably the best one I'd ever made, so having it for several meals was no problem at all. Quiche Lorraine with home grown chives should you be wondering. Lard crust too!

I cannot remember the last time it was cold on Christmas so having it be in the upper 30's was a real treat. Shoot, I never get to wear my long jammies so being able to do so was the first gift of the day. Followed by a lengthy Facetime chat with Matt and Tom who had just finished their Christmas lunch. We opened gifts along with just plain enjoying each others company. After a good long while I mentioned that perhaps they were tired of looking at a screen to which they replied that that is how they spend their work days, staring at screens. London, as you have probably already read, is back on lockdown, what they term Tier 4, meaning not much of anything is open aside from grocery stores. With a fast spreading variant of the Coronavirus appearing in London, the government is taking no chances. 

That would be Tom sporting his cracker crown. A few days earlier we received this lovely arrangement from them to brighten our Christmas table.

It is still beautiful five days later...hurray for In Bloom florist.  Speaking of tablescapes, this year Bruce left it up to me to make the chest in the entryway look festive, something I am not very good at. Still, I gave it my best shot.

Oops, I've gotten ahead of myself. Even before the quiche was warmed up Mr. Peck turned on the television to watch Hallmark. While I moan and groan at the predictability of their movies, they are sweet and soothing aren't they?

You might note that there are very few gifts this year and the little we had were most decidedly in front of the tree as there was no room under the tree! Bruce did shove one under the branches in front but of course that meant there was no where to walk. We've already begun thinking through how exactly we will get it out of the house! You'll be the first to know how we accomplish the impossible. :) As always, the master wrapper did the honors....look at these sweet packages for me.

One of these gifts was sweet (Sees candy), one was a crazy hard looking puzzle and one made brought tears to my eyes. Something sentimental you ask? In my view, yes. Ever since I was a girl I have been fascinated by inventors and in particular, the greatest of them all, Thomas Edison. Now I will find out even more about the man whose inventions changed the world forever, including fluoroscopy which was one of the first procedures I learned while in xray school.

Then it was 1:30 time to head a few doors down to our gathering which I chose because their porch has the most comfortable furniture. Michelle had set out some goodies and we brought a few, along with presents on a hand truck. Of course Gracie had to see what all the fuss was about!

Michelle, David and Grace were dressed in festive attire, while I wore a little Santa headband. That would be our heater in the foreground. Those are Fallon's boots on the right and here's her pretty face.

She has the look of someone who might be thinking...is this really happening? Am I sitting out in the cold? Michelle gave me an excellent idea for David's gift which Bruce mostly wrapped, as in three sides as it was so big!

Curious? Wonder no longer!

As the primary cook in the family, he had been thinking of getting one and now he just needs to learn how to use it!

Bill asked for a pickleball paddle from Santa and Santa delivered. 

I went back to the house and got mine and we hit balls back and forth in the parking lot using the lines as our net. Both Bill and Dave were once a force on the tennis courts so using his left hand due to right shoulder surgery a few months ago, Dave took over for me in the parking lot game. The girls got goodies as well as did Santa and Mrs. Claus. Apparently I set my camera aside to play and didn't get any more photographs. Champagne along with the goodies completed our holiday celebration. Oh wait, I remember why my camera got no more use, a Facetime with Jonathan and Alissa out in Texas. After nine long months in their apartment in Austin, they finally got away, heading back to Terlingua and Big Bend National Park.   Fortunately the wifi was great so we had a very long chat, including me walking down to the lakeside pool to show him the beautiful sunset. Then Bruce took over the call which went on for a good long while. And with the sunset, the temperature began plummeting which meant it was time to get indoors again. Earlier I did have the girls come down to peek their head in the door to see the showpiece. It won't be long now when all of the pretty lights, both indoors and out will be packed away again until next year.

Will there be a porch and screen Christmas next year? That's hard to know but to tell you the truth, this simple celebration was still beautiful even though it was different. After all, the first Christmas was even more simple, so who am I to argue with that concept? 

Simple was good. 

your friend,

Gail

2019 Christmas post.

2018 and it was written just two weeks after Bruce retired. Hard to believe it has now been two years! 

2017, there is cold and then there is COLD!

 

Blogging, Camping, Baking

A few days ago, while discussing my blog with someone, I said the great thing about having a blog was that it is written in real time making the observations current with the date and time. Mostly that is true, but sometimes when I am writing about a trip, for instance, a week or two may pass before I finish the story. Speaking of which, it was Christmas, 2006, when Bruce gave me a digital camera for Christmas, one of those gifts that change your life for the better. I can still remember opening that gift, being shocked, and my first reaction was that I didn't need it, nor could I see the tiny screen! How wrong I was!! Because Matt was home for Christmas, he and I went to Leu Gardens so he could show me how to use it, including what "menus" were for. I'd no idea at the time! 

And here we are nearly 14 years later and hundreds of thousands of photographs later, and darn if I'm still not at it almost every day! The blog, I began with Matt's urging, in early February of 2007.  Again I had not the faintest idea of what I was doing; apparently I've learned along the way. How long will I keep it up? Who knows, but one thing I do know is that once I have passed away, my children will most definitely have a record of their parents lives, which as I ponder that thought, perhaps is a gift itself. 

Okey dokie, where were we? Manatee Springs is where. 

Firstly, one of the reasons that we came home a day early is two fold. One, I was a tiny bit worried about the tree having enough water, and two, I really needed to get my Christmas cards out. I know, to some that is an old fashioned idea, but heck, I'm an old fashioned lady! And if this year has taught us anything, it is that we cannot take relationships for granted!

I told you it was a tree for two rooms! Amazingly, it has dropped very few needles and we are but days away from Christmas. A few friends have stuck their head in the door for a look and they all say, the size has to be seen in person to be fully appreciated.

While on the topic of decorating, Bruce put up my Christmas bunting in a new place this year and it is making me very happy indeed.

Now we are back to camping...

I had a bit of a fail with one of the meals I prepared for our dinner one night. Because the Shepards Pie was so successful, I thought I'd make a version of Chicken Pot Pie this time. Making the filling at home before we left, I envisioned a hot, comforting meal in the cold weather. While the hot part worked out fine, having never used biscuits for a topping I had no idea that they would be a soggy mess that had to be scraped off as it was decidedly unappetizing as served.  The chicken part was pretty good though. 

As it was so cold that night, instead of trying to stay warm by the fire, Bruce arranged our chairs in the tent with the heater going full blast. We had loads of fun playing Yahtzee, in spite of him winning two out of three!

The morning that it was below freezing, I put on my coat and boots over my pajamas (!) and got on my bike to ride to the spring and river. No folks were around to see me in case you are wondering. Some might call them smarter as they stayed in their warm RVs, however, they missed out on some amazing scenery because the warm water in the run produced an ethereal landscape. 

Imagine my surprise when I got to the end of the boardwalk and the same held true for the river! It seems fitting that there was a perched vulture alongside the dock as they are so numerous in that park.

Quiet and still, it was magical. If you read my last post , this scene looked entirely different. Isn't that just  astonishing to think of? God is a magician. 

According to the stats I have access to, not many folks did read that last post, so here's what the same scene looked like a few hours later. I stand in awe...

Late Wednesday afternoon, a MINI came by hauling the neatest little camper that you could ever imagine. Naturally, after a bit, Bruce went down to visit and find out if the man had made it which indeed he had. With his four year old granddaughter in tow (no pun intended), he'd driven from Maine to take her camping!!! As we were packing up to leave, they walked down to have a chat. She was adorable and chatty with me as the men talked. I'd gotten my hairbrush out to use and she said she'd like to do it for me. While doing so she asked if I had some boo boos on my face, or was it my skin? Out of the mouths of babes!! Seeing my camera she asked if I'd take her picture and you don't have to ask me that question twice. Of course I will.

Honestly, she was like a little doll. Eventually they left and after finishing our packing, we drove out of the camping area, getting not very far when I realized that I'd not taken a photo of the camper so we turned around and headed to their campsite. She was thrilled to see us again. The camper is made of wood and holds a queen size mattress as well as having a kitchen in the open back. So neat!

You do meet some nice folks while camping. Three brothers set up next to us, talking the night away as two were from out of state, but gathered for camping before heading to St. Pete for their Mom's 96th birthday celebration.

This Christmas season's gift giving has been a bit of a challenge for me, well really it has been so weird, but one thing I'm still doing is baking and sharing. My standard sugar cookies were a hit with the pickleball clan one chilly night.

Then I made some coconut macaroons from an old recipe of our Moms. Yesterday afternoon I began making Bruce's mother's gingerbread using some adorable measuring cups and spoons from Nancy.

Aren't they the cutest?? Chilling the dough is mandatory so I got back to it this morning. It takes FIVE cups of flour and makes a ton of cookies, some of which will go to friends and some to the freezer. This time I gathered the dough into a big fat log shape to chill and when it was time for rolling, I used the bread knife to cut off a big slab. This dough is a breeze to roll.

So, I may be able to blog, take photographs and bake, heck I can even camp in freezing weather, but one thing I cannot do well is decorate cookies!! I tried though.

These days most folks would have gone to Google, but I am not most folks, as you may have guessed by now. These conversation pieces do taste good so there's that. I've had this bag thing for ages, never using it until today. Maybe that's why it has been in the drawer for all these years. Because I knew better?

Well, did you see the conjunction? While we did see two dots in the sky, I can't say it was as neat an experience as I'd hoped. But then again, we did not have a telescope as did one of Patti's neighbors who allowed her to see it for herself. According to her, it was amazing. If you haven't seen any photos, here's some from folks that know what they are doing.

I will say the sunset was pretty darn good!

And that, my friends, is it for this installment of Camera Crazy; I've got clothes to fold which would have been nice had that chore been done earlier but those cookies....they took forever!!

your friend,

Gail

p.s. It has been chilly this week and the forecast is for a cold Christmas. Very unusual for what isn't this year?

Critters and Cold!

When you read about Manatee Springs State Park what stands out more than manatee sightings are deer sightings. As in, they will come right into your campsite. (should you have missed the first post about this trip, click HERE)  We learned first hand that, in this instance, you can believe what you read on the internet. The first time we saw some was just before dark on our first night as they casually walked down the road in front of our space, quickly darting between ours and the next closest sight, heading into the woods behind us. An excellent way to start a camping trip!

Whenever I plan a trip it is usually about a month out; predicting the weather is well, not happening, other than thinking it might be too hot, usually a safe bet here in Florida. Rarely does one have to worry about cold weather, so it came as a surprise that on this trip it was not only going to be cold, but very cold for a Floridian! Our first night it was chilly, but the second night, whoa Nelly it was cold. How cold? See for yourself!

The clarity of the photo is somewhat compromised due to early morning light, as well as gloved hands! Should you be wondering, sleeping was just fine, in fact I kind of like it after having endured heat for the better part of the year. What is a bit difficult is preparing food, however, once my hot tea was made, it began to warm me up just a bit. The days were crisp and cool and we filled them with plenty of trips down the boardwalk to see the manatees and whatever else we could. With crystal clear water at the junction of the river and spring run, we could see the bottom. As I stood watching, a Cormorant came swimming by with its head underwater.

We soon discovered why...chasing a fish. Watching them, the fish faster than the Cormorant, they kept swimming around in circles in the clear water below us.

The photographs are no match for the actual experience unfortunately. The fish, btw, got away! 

On Tuesday we saw about twelve manatees in the water below; being the first cold snap I suppose that the river water is still warm enough that they are not seeking refuge in the spring run just yet. These gentle giants seem to be able to hold their breath forever as it was rare that one came up for air, making timing that activity very difficult for a photograph. 

While eating lunch one day, we heard movement in the bushes and look who came for a look-see.

He'd come around the night before, finding himself wanting because we keep all foodstuff in the car, both day and night. Another night he came back as we were sitting by the campfire and when Bruce got up to shoo him away, he scampered up the tree!

Rarely do I see as many birds as I'd like, however, on this trip at least I saw some, including several Pileated Woodpeckers.

as well as a couple of Grebes in the water.

The most plentiful, and do I mean plentiful, bird we saw was the ugly Turkey Vulture, both in the sky,

and roosting in the trees.

They are super creepy and I imagine, no ones favorite bird! 

Could it have been any colder the next day? Why, yes it could, and it was!

Because it was SO cold, I put on my hat, boots and gloves and rode my bike over to the spring to see if there were more manatees visible. No, there were not because there was so much steam and fog rising from the warmer waters of the spring. Here's one shot, but I've got a few others I will share next time as they turned out very interesting. At least to me anyway.

An Egret in the mist.

Riding back to our site, woo hoo....look what I saw!

Later on, in yet another trip on the boardwalk, I stood watching the water and turned toward the shore, seeing a tiny bird on a swing which will take some serious looking to find. 

While watching for birds, I noticed a deer amongst the Cypress knees on one side of the boardwalk.

Wow, I thought this is very exciting indeed. Little did I know that soon I was in for even more excitement. Heading back towards the spring, I watched as what I thought was one deer walk under the boardwalk to the other side. Super neat.

Very exciting stuff watching the deer in their natural, as in not the parking lot, habitat. 

My goodness, do I see more? So hard to tell because they blend in so well with their environment.

Before my very eyes, I watched as four of them, yes, four began stepping into the water,

and swimming to the other side!!!

Good grief not only were my hands shaking, making a difficult shot even more so, my heart was bursting with joy at having witnessed something that was so natural to them in spite of the cold water.

This, dear ones, is why camping is awesome!!

More about other stuff next time....more cookies to be made. :)

your friend,

Gail