I See Blue!

When Angela and I first became friends, one of the things I found most strange about her was she claimed not to like the color blue. Together, we spent many days talking about home decorating and that included talk about her dislike of blue; back then she was a red girl. Really, who does not like blue? For God's sake, it is the color of the sea and the sky! (old picture from Vero Beach)

It is one of the colors of the rainbow, a loved one's eyes, birds, and even hydrangeas, which might explain why she dug up the biggest, most beautiful display of hydrangeas you've ever seen that former home owner, Mae in this case, planted and nurtured for more than thirty years.

I am happy to report she has now seen the error of her ways, with blue decorator items finding their way into her new home. Whew!

I like all colors, some more than others (think orange), however seeing Bill's pool water finally turn the right shade of blue has me dancing in the streets.

I have worked on this for at least six weeks, brushing, vacuuming, chlorinating, and cleaning the damn filter more times than you can imagine. Arriving Tuesday morning, the first thing I did was scoot out back to see what I could see, and by golly, I saw blue! Now let's hope it stays that way!

Turning one of the bedrooms into an office was off to a good start with the cable installation. In said bedroom there is a wall with built in bookcases built by what might be considered an amateur. Tuesday, Bruce and I set about trying to improve it's appearance beginning with a major, and I mean major, caulk job by Mr. Bruce. Wide gaps are now nicely filled. Before moving the desk against the wall, Bruce put a few things on the wall, including Bill's Rollins diploma, and the old photograph of his namesake, Rolla Jr.
Actually Rolla is Bill's middle name, unusual, but full of history. In fact, Jane, Tom's Mom, while doing some genealogy research, taught us more about him than we previously knew. He would have been Bruce's uncle had he not died in WWII, earning a Purple Heart, which, although nice, was probably not much consolation for his Mom. Speaking of whom, it was her ring that I gave to Jonathan, who in turn had it remade into the engagement ring for Alissa. Isn't that what families are for?

Aha--that's it. We'll use that same blue to paint the wall behind the book shelves! During my lunch run, and I mean for food, not the exercise kind, I stopped by Ace Hardware with diploma in hand, asking for a color match. Turns out one of the colors by Valspar was pretty darn close, and to make matters even better, it passed the paint name test, Blue Fedora. You might be thinking, well this is mighty presumptuous of you, and you would be within your rights to do so. Bill agrees with you.

I knew it was a risky move, and not to mention difficult to paint, which is why I stopped where I did. He is still mulling it over, which is at least a start. I was hoping to give it a classier look, and I think the blue does just that. You can see  how unattractive the bottom cabinets are where white paint has yet to be applied.

I'm also seeing yellow, the happiest color around, aside from orange, of course. :)

Believe it or not, I worked in our own yard Wednesday following a stop at the bargain racks at Lowes. In this case they just plain had too many of these yellow daisies, marking them half price. Now that's the ticket!

I'd so been ignoring our own home that until yesterday this blue pot contained a severely fading poinsettia! The side garden got a makeover, or at least the addition of new flowers, and fewer weeds.

While poking around the back yard, I almost fainted when I came across this orchid blooming while no one was looking!

To tell you the truth, I can't even remember buying it from Kathy and Jim, but surely that is where it came from as they are my go-to orchid folks when I'm in the market for one. Can you see the gazillion buds? What's most interesting about this exciting find is that when I'm not working, I'm trying to find a little time for reading. Currently The Orchid Thief by Susan Orleans is on my nightstand. Have you read it? While at Pat's a few weeks ago, I borrowed it because I'd always meant to read it. Good grief, folks are wild about orchids! My only complaint so far is when she says alligators are as prevalent as crickets--not so fast Susan! Living in Florida pretty much my whole life, I can say with confidence that is an untrue statement. It is sort of like folks who think we experience hurricanes all the time--we do not.

We met Barb and Steve for dinner at Eddie V's, one of the new restaurant concepts Darden bought in the last couple of years. An onslaught of photos to follow because it was fantastic! Plus, Steve was the project manager. He is understandably proud.

I was bitching and moaning about the huge number of parking spaces reserved for valet when Bruce said just take a look, and look I did.

Valet at work under the portico! Bonus points for the Rollins College billboard on the right!!

Steve did not have to twist any arms to convince us to order good wine.

Neither did he when he ordered the crab cakes for an appetizer:

I haven't the foggiest notion how they got all that crab to hold together but it was delicious as was the bread baked on the premises. Note the extreme holes in the bread, a feat I've yet to accomplish in my own bread baking attempts.

I even ordered dessert, a rarity for sure, but since it was sort of a dinner to mark Bruce's leaving Darden, we decided what the heck? Never before have I tasted Baked Alaska, but now I have.

Oh my gosh!!! Scrumptious!

Leaving the restaurant a few hours later, we saw the fountain in operation.

Did I mention the restaurant is lakeside? Everything about it was gorgeous! Being the wife of a project manager, I know Steve sweat blood over this project, all so folks like you and me can enjoy a lovely night out.

Or should I say, former project manager, as today is Bruce's final day. In fact, he's a little blue himself over the end, but I suspect that won't be for long. You know where he is as I type? MIAMI. Yes, you read that right, traveling on his last day. Thorough to the end.