Good Times

Yes, that's right, it was a perfect weekend in every way. No, the market wasn't so great, however, I wasn't shut out. In fact I sold nine things, which truth be told, with so many, many people out of work in Orlando, I count myself fortunate. Fortunate indeed.

Before we go much further I wanted to share this lovely post from our dear son Matthew:http://www.fiftyfivehundred.org/post/856967812 
Make sure you click on it to see what he's all about these days. I can hardly believe it's been seven years since  last we visited London, but it has. A 50th birthday celebration for my darling husband was the occasion. It was an amazing trip, including flying first class on Virgin, which can't be beat. Arriving in London, one of the first sites we saw was a spectacular building under construction. We roamed the city until we got close enough to see what it was all about. Bruce was so enthralled that he had one of his photographs enlarged, and framed, keeping it in his office until the recent downsizing to a cubicle. Next time you're here you'll see it in the hallway.  Here's what I'm referring to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30_St_Mary_Axe These days it's apparently affectionately, or not, nicknamed The Gherkin building. So, the other night the phone rang ,which in itself is pretty rare these days, and who should be on the line, but Matthew. Well, he was more than delighted that Bruce was home so he could personally tell him he'd just had dinner at the top of the Gherkin! I can tell you this much---seven years ago when we saw it, we NEVER in our wildest dreams would have foreseen that OUR son would be hobnobbing around London, and dining there like nobodies business. Simply amazing.

Continuing the son update, here's what's going on with Jonathan:http://cbs2chicago.com/local/river.city.flooding.2.1825286.html 
Saturday afternoon while driving home from a kayaking trip (Bruce paddled, I drove) Jonathan called sounding mighty desperate. If you've clicked on the link you can understand his consternation. Fortunately a friend's father has a furnished townhouse in a suburb of Chicago to which Jonathan and Alissa have fled, along with Tia, their cat. Rumors are flying about as to when the building will be habitable again. Miss Alissa will turn 30 this week, and the recent turn of events in her life were highly unexpected. Jobless and now homeless, not to mention someone ruining her camera recently, is taking it's toll on her psyche as you can well imagine. I'm so sad about all of this.

I've said it before, but it bears repeating, that I cannot believe how many capable and hardworking people I know are jobless. What, oh what, is the answer?

Well, let's talk about something fun, shall we? Here is Mr. Bruce preparing for his eight mile trip on the Wekiva River. Arriving just after 8 on Saturday, he put in here before the crowds came, fishing his way down the river. Driving into the place, we saw a mother deer and her baby crossing the road. Merely saying I was excited at the sight doesn't really do it justice. Camera fogged by ac, alas, no picture!

First stop for me was Wekiva State Park. The weather was a bit cloudy and things were still damp from Friday night's rain. I suppose with the number of stairs to get down to the springs, you'd imagine it is almost a sinkhole. My sons will remember some good times at the springs.

I roamed around a bit, however, I'm too much of a wuss to go into the springs these days. Mostly I read in the car until the humidity got to me. I do like those orange life preservers though.

Wekiva Island is the new name for a place once was called Wekiva Landing. Just down the road from the state park, I headed there hoping for some shade, only to find there was none to be had. Changing into my bathing suit, gathering my book and camera, I headed to the river. Look what I found:

Arriving several hours before Bruce's ETA, I settled in. After a bit, the heat was so extreme, I got up my nerve and jumped into the river, finding it oh so refreshing. Between the wonderful book I told you about, swimming, and all the activity surrounding me, the time passed quickly. Eventually Bruce paddled within sight and I went to meet him with the car. Excitedly he told me he caught (and released) more fish than he could count. To say that he was happy is putting it mildly. Did I mention he was also hot and tired? Well, he was. Once we were home, and things were mostly put away, we both took naps. Bruce loves a nap, me not so much. As you well know, I'm a world class sleeper and once I'm out, I do not wake very easily. Because we'd had a late lunch, dinner was popcorn.

Arriving home from the market I found this on my desk:

Actually I took the photograph this morning as I prepared to eat it for my breakfast. The mug is one Matt gave me some years ago from the Columbia Road Flower Market in London, which as of tomorrow, will be in his neighborhood! After reading my blog post about cookies--can you imagine he didn't know this already?--when he saw this at Eisteins, he knew I'd be a happy girlfriend. He was right.

After finishing unpacking the car Bruce asked if I want to hang out back. There's really nothing that cools off a market girl faster than a dive in the pool, so I agreed. During my absence he'd put up a both a bird feeder and some new torches which delighted me to no end. Needless to say we ended up eating out there, but this time we were much more careful about our wine consumption!

Normally this time of year the afternoon rains keep us from eating out back, and swimming late in the day. Well, this year is far from normal. Freezing cold in the winter, and now almost NO rain. We are going days and days without it. Oh yeah, before I forget, we had our lawn people out last week; fortunately Bruce was home to talk to them, and what we think went wrong is, the first guy to put fertilizer and weed killer on the grass this year. It seems as if he got carried away, thus large portions are dead. When I say dead, I mean no grass at all. Large, ugly spots of bare dirt. It only took us about ten years of care to get us where we were which really makes it all the more discouraging. HOWEVER, they are taking responsibility, and if come September things are not vastly improved, sod will be placed at no cost to your friends, the Pecks.

Digressing, digressing, digressing. The pool temperature is perfect right now--- here's your favorite blogger's dear husband with the newly shorn Mr. Baxter on Sunday evening:

He may look pretty calm here, but he likes swimming about as much as he likes walking!

Today's post title is from a popular photograph I sell, but it definitely fits for this weekend. We also went to a downtown Irish pub on Friday night, returning home early enough to watch State of Play, a film we both thoroughly enjoyed. Often people ask me about my photo editing, and mostly I tell them I use the Picasa feature, "I'm Feeling Lucky," which pretty much sums up my life. I only wish it applied to all my loved ones.....