Ceiling to Floor

I know you've all heard the term floor to ceiling, however, today I'm flipping it the other way around. Why, you ask? Because that's just about how Nancy has me cleaning. Yes, today I'm getting around to posting about the here and now, not the lovely London trip. There's still more to share in that department, but let's catch up with what's been going on the last week or so, shal we?

Nancy stayed with our little Baxter in our absence. Plus, she's been busy getting our house organized. As has been well documented in this blog, I'm not a great cleaner. Sure, things are neat because I don't like it any other way, but clean? No way. Yesterday, while Nancy worked mostly in the hall bathroom, I tackled ours, going so far as to clean the exhaust fan! Plus, washed all the light fixtures, changed bulbs, washed the walls and the list goes on. In the meantime Nancy cleaned my blind, scrubbed the tub and shower walls until they look better than I've ever seen them. Furthermore, she even took all the knobs off and bleached everything! Did I sleep well last night? You bet!

Today, on the other hand, I took a break from cleaning and went to play bridge. Surprisingly I hadn't forgotten everything I knew. It was great to catch up with the ladies although truth be told, much of the talk concerned all the sick people we know. When you are young that topic rarely comes up; our age--way too often for anyone's liking.

So I mentioned the market the other day which was great. Sales, not so much, however, the visitors I had were wonderful. It was very good to see the fountain back in business:

The company responsible for renovating the fountain was under strict orders to have it operational by the 4th of July for the annual fireworks display. Rumor has it that it is beautiful, although I've not seen it at night just yet. Silly me because we went out to eat on Monday night and I should have checked it out!

Now and again I've found time to go swimming in our beautiful pool. The other day I couldn't help but head inside, getting my camera to photograph the tiny little red flower from the jatropha plants surrounding the pool which sometimes make their way INTO the pool.

On Saturday night we went to Barb and Steve's for dinner at their new condo in Lake Nona. We had a marvelous time, made even more so by the wine they served. Steve is not a wine drinker; nevertheless, sometimes people give him wine which he hoards for special occasions. I'm so very happy our visit qualified for a special occasion. When we arrived Barb said she wasn't so sure about the 1983 bottle of French red wine she opened because the cork was so crumbly. "Here taste it Gail." Which I did and promptly pronounced it amazing! Cork be damned! Seriously, it was so complex and just plain terrific. Turns out, after further investigation, that if you were to try and buy that bottle it would cost $499!!!!!! Can you imagine paying that for a bottle of wine? I can't but I'm very, very glad someone did.

While at the market on Sunday I saw Richard, the head of the Historic Preservation Board, and asked him if the annual calendar contest submissions were closed. Yes, they are Gail, but if you have something and can get it to me tomorrow I'll consider it. So I did. As you may recall I took those photos back in June. Trip planning got in the way of following through. Mr. Roger was kind enough to print them Sunday night and I dropped them off at City Hall after passing serious "security measures." Before getting back in my car I saw this display in front of the construction site of the new performing arts center. I can only assume it was from an art class somewhere in the city.

Just as we were leaving for the aforementioned dinner date, some warning lights came up on Bruce's dashboard. Monday afternoon he dropped it off at the BMW dealership and here's what I have to say about that. Thank goodness for extended warranties! What was a $2,000 repair cost us $53 deductible. Anyway, I took him to the airport Tuesday morning at 6AM and took this on my way home:

There is still just a little bit of rural land left in Orlando--this is taken off Judge Road.

Today I did a little Christmas shopping after bridge, coming home to make a delicious quiche from the Agnes & Muriel cookbook. When Nancy returned from Zumba, she was glad there was a cook at home.