Collections

I remember, gosh, it was years ago, that my brother Pat found it interesting that I frequently photograph, what he called, collections of things. While downloading a bunch of photos I've taken in the last few days, it struck me that he was on to something. Thus, today, I present some recent collections, beginning with some beautiful fall leaves Bruce brought home last evening.

Stopping, on his way to the airport, he picked up these gorgeous leaves alongside the George Washington Parkway, near Arlington Cemetery. There are loads of good things about living in Florida, however, fall leaves are not one of those good things. These are so fresh, they almost still feel cool! I'd like to keep them around until our Thanksgiving feast to spread around on the tables, and I've read about preserving their freshness in a mixture of glycerine and water. Has anyone ever tried that method?

How about all the odd colored pumpkins recently available?

I, for one, knew nothing of blue pumpkins until this year.

While on my way to Lowes for some annuals, I drove through the peacock neighborhood which was jam-packed with peacocks. As in, probably 70 (!) roaming through people's yards. The males have all done their molting, and their tails are just beginning to grow back in, albeit without color yet.

The funny thing was there were so many of them that it made it somewhat difficult to drive down the street, ESPECIALLY when a man came out in his front yard with seed--there were like 15 in the road as they scampered over to eat.

I'm not entirely sure about these blooms, but I think they must be some sort of Morning Glories? The shade of blue, well, purplish-blue, is so appealing, one you don't often find.

Lately, one need only look up above for blue--since our monsoonish September, rain has been scarce around these parts, with hardly a drop all October. Most days clouds have been absent, however, when they do appear, they are lovely.

Crows on the bottom left--still scads of them, both just before sunset, and then again, before sunrise. I'm no cloud student so I'm pretty clueless about what any of these types are called; I just know when I find them interesting.

They hardly look real. Do you agree?

This morning I came across a collection to beat most collections.

Riding my bike East on Pershing, I saw a sign near the corner of Ferncreek advertising an estate sale. Although I had no money with me, I rode over to see what sort of stuff they had. As you know, I'm a little conflicted regarding estate sales, feel sort of funny going through another person's life, however, I suspect someone in the family needs money, and because there are plenty of customers who line the streets, ready and willing to part with theirs, estate sales flourish. Putting that all aside, as I walked my bike around back, I spotted some fabric. The worker said, if you are a sewer, this is the place for you. She WAS NOT kidding. Has anyone ever heard of a sewing hoarder? Well, now you have.

From what I could tell, the woman had been purchasing fabric for nearly 50 years. One entire bedroom was filled with it--boxes, shelves, closets, and even the floor! Zippers? Every color of the rainbow, not to mention lengths, were stored neatly in shoe boxes. Hundreds of zippers. The same goes for threads--oh my!!! Shelf upon shelf filled with sewing books. You literally had to climb over stuff to look at all of the fabric. Not confined to the one bedroom, fabric hung in the closet of another bedroom, probably twenty huge moving boxes overflowing in the garage. Even the living room! People, coming in behind me, took one peek through the door opening, and gasped!

Not only are all the fabrics in pristine condition, many of them are labeled as to the type of fabric, the cost, and the date and place purchased. This is some of what I brought home and I believe these are the oldest--dated March 13, 1969. The pink in the front cost 50 cents a yard, on sale from 69 cents. Purchased at Belks, in what I'm presuming is Albany, Georgia. Rummaging through as much as time permitted, I came across an old Ivey's box, as well as a Jordan Marsh one. In 1969 I was in my sewing heyday, the 10th grade; is it any wonder I was enthralled with the fabric from my youth? It was like stepping back in time. If only her clothing patterns were my size! Then too, our Mom worked at Belks in the Colonial Plaza, so there's that. Ivey's was a big department store back when Orlando had actual places to shop downtown! I came away with 16 different pieces of fabric, most of them 2 yards or more, as well as some machine needles, and a few other things. The total cost: $25.00. Anymore good, made in America fabric, is impossible to come by, making this stash very inviting. Furthermore, when was the last time you saw dotted swiss, or pique? So few people make their own clothes now that most of the great clothing-type fabrics are absent from store shelves. I have no clue what I will do with most of it, however, you and I know I'm a project kind of gal. In fact, my sewing machine is out, as I type.

It is a good thing I had a lunch date with Jean and Bev today because I would have come home with even more!! Add to that, they were closing the sale at noontime, so no possibility of making a second run. It was fun while it lasted for sure. I'm stunned wondering what it must have looked like yesterday on the first day of the sale. The too, the sales woman told me they had already filled two dumpsters worth of stuff! I always say that living in a smallish home keeps me from collecting too much, but that surely did not stop this woman!

Well, that's it for collections today, however, I did want to mention two excellent books I've just read: "Long Man", by Amy Green, and  "Equal of the Sun" by Anita Amirrezvani. The settings could not be any more different with the first set in in Tennessee during the last days of the depression, whereas the second one is set in Iran, 1576. If you're looking for something good to read, either of these, or so I think, will suit you.

The Far Side of Town

For the most part, Bruce and I, while in Orlando, stay pretty close to home, generally venturing not much further than Winter Park. This weekend we made some exceptions, heading out to the Orlando Home Show at the Convention Center on International Drive. We'd seen an advertisement in the paper that Chip and Joanna Gaines, from the HGTV show, Fixer Upper, were going to make an appearance. Since it is one of the few shows on that channel that we both like, we decided, why not?

The convention center is huge! The home show was horrible, looking more like a trip to Flea World or something on that order. Yikes!

Although they were not scheduled to appear until 6PM, we arrived at 5 to walk the show and see what we could see. NOT! Junk, junk, junk! It shows you the popularity of the show that all of the seats were filled by 5. After seeing a few rows of nothing, I stood adjacent to the stage as B walked around. Naturally I started a conversation with a nearby lady, and we both agreed, that on the show the couple seems so genuine. Well, that they were in person, and then some! Apparently they'd taken their four children to Disney during the day which is where Chip got his Chip hat.

Count me a huge skeptic when it comes to the folks on HGTV, but this sweet couple has a different story to tell. Amazingly enough, a producer came across Joanna's blog (!!!) and called, wanting to meet her. After their meeting, which they described during their talk, the producer went to HGTV to pitch a series. They said NO! There was a lot of back and forth, however, eventually, the HGTV folks agreed to give them a third look. The producer spent a week filming everything they did. Chip, who hardly let Joanna get a word in edgewise, described how he could not get comfortable with a cameraman beside him. It was such a cute story, and there is loads more to it, but suffice it to say, the week ended with a relaxed Chip, and the rest is history. Not only did they talk longer than the allotted time, they answered questions from the audience, followed by asking the audience trivia questions with prizes they brought with them from Texas. Although we did not stay for it, they did a meet and greet as well. Bruce's estimate of the crowd? At least 300 people crowded around the stage. How many chairs were there? Maybe 50!

As we were driving there I was amazed to see the progress on the Orlando Eye.

Mostly because when last we went out that way, about three weeks ago, it looked like this:

I'm finding conflicting reports on when it is to open, maybe this Winter, maybe next Spring, but I bet when it is up and running, it will be super cool. Years ago we visited the London Eye, and it is an experience not soon forgotten.

So, that was Friday night on International Drive; Saturday night we drove to Black Hammock Restaurant on the far extreme other end of our metropolitan area. The occasion? A surprise party for Kathy, our market neighbor, hosted by her husband Jim.

Jim has been talking about this party for most of the year. To say he was excited is putting it mildly. Kathy recently retired, and the party was to honor that. Behind Jim is his 93 year old mother who looked, and acted, like she is maybe 73. Because we've been "market neighbors" for seven years now, we've met the whole family many times; she doesn't seem to age a bit! The smiling young man on the lower right is their youngest son Karl who went through about a two year health crisis. It is so good to see him healthy once again!

This was our first visit to Black Hammock,

located on the shores of Lake Jessup, a huge lake, known for being the most alligator infested lake in Florida. Jim and Kathy have lived in the area for 30+ years on their five acres.

Jim taught high school Biology for 30+ years, and he still enjoys getting in front of a group. In the early going he outlined Kathy's work life, along with what it has meant to their bank account. Later on, much to all of our surprise, he brought Jeremy, their oldest son up to the stage with his guitar, while Karl used a maraca, and Jim SANG to Kathy.

Is Jim a singer? Let's just say we all gave him an A for sincerity. And just what did he sing?

And oldie but a goodie....Sea of Love. It took a lot of guts to follow Joseph Martens, pictured above with the tambourine under his foot--he is one of Orlando's finest singers. We know him well as he's been at the market now for probably five years. Apparently Jim hired him back in January! Neither Bruce, nor I, enjoy driving much at night, however, using two expressways, he drove us safely the 23 miles home.

Sunday, oh was it ever beautiful!! Thus, huge crowds, and great sales for your favorite blogger! As well, there was a costume contest for the vendors with the top prize being three months of free rent. At $30 a week, that is a pretty darn good prize don't you think? Not being the costume type, I enjoyed some of the other vendor's creativity.  She sells olive salad.

While the Jolly Green Giant sells amazing pottery.

The first place winner was Medusa!

I admire folks who can come up with costumes like these, don't you?

My word, where has the morning gone? Lunch time with my honey....

It is My Job to Notice Things!!

Wednesday, after dropping Cheryle home after our trip to Costco, where regular gas was only $2.88/gallon by the way, I noticed hundreds of these fuzzy balls in her driveway.

They even outnumbered the fallen acorns, which is really saying something. Imagine my surprise the next day to come across this in the Orlando Sentinel. If you click on the link you'll learn more about them, including that they harbor baby WASPS! Who knew?

Meanwhile in her backyard the Plumeria tree has a gorgeous multi-flower bloom.

It goes without saying, well wait a minute, I'm saying it....anyway, the fragrance is just as marvelous as the appearance.

The other day I remembered that my Panasonic has some settings I've not explored for some time, including a retro setting, which I used to photograph Sunday's market just to change things up a bit.

I tried it around the house after making a pumpkin bundt cake.

You know what we've had for breakfast today!

Yesterday, on my way to pick up some prints, I was compelled to turn around after driving by this scene. Honestly, a truck as tall as a house?

Apparently they put the giant out front, reserving the side driveway for the mini car? There is just so much that contradicts in the above photo that I had to document the sighting. You just never know about folks, an old VW owner with a truck half the size of a house? What are these giants called anyway?

Furthermore I noticed this on a residential fence near the corner of Virginia and Bumby.

Occasionally when people discover,( usually by my telling them,) that I've been writing a blog for nearly eight years, their first question is "what is about?" Well, anything that you can think of? Seriously, I never really know how to respond. Any ideas?

I've got a few clever Halloween yards to show you!

From across the street I did not even see the skeleton in the hammock! This one, while not so clever, holds interest as well.

Our daughter-in-law joined the Junior League of Greater Orlando this year to be more involved with our community. To tell you the truth, she is the first person I've known to be a part of this organization which once held the reputation as a place for debutantes. Do debutantes still exist? Anyway, that reputation is a stereotype that has been shattered around here. Thus, because everyone else in the family were participating in the Halloween Hustle, Bruce and I decided to join them for the 5K on Thursday evening. We met the gang at a field adjacent to Lake Baldwin. Our niece Katie, and my sister Lisa, as we waited for the race to begin.

Katie is the pro in our family, having run in both the Paris, and New York City, marathons in the past. Lisa, while not on Katie's level, also has experience running, whereas you already know that neither Bruce, nor I, are runners, however, we can walk, and walk we did.

There was a good sized crowd out to raise money to combat childhood hunger. The weather was absolutely perfect with a slight chill in the air. I didn't hear the first place winners time, however, second place was 17 minutes and something. We managed to walk it in that time PLUS 40 extra minutes! Afterwards we went to Gators Dockside for food and drink where a good time was had by all.

The great thing about having such a long running blog is multi-faceted. One feature I see, but you don't, is a place where I see what posts people are clicking on for whatever reason. I'm oftentimes amused at the key words that people type in that bring them to my blog. Then there are the titles I see that people are reading. I, too, can search, and most recently I did a search for unusual acorn drop which I knew I'd written about before. Sure enough, I discovered one in 2010, a month or so before the coldest winter we've had in anyone's recent memory. I would link to that post, however, I've discovered another post that I'd obviously forgotten I'd written, although looking back, it was pretty good, AND, without a single photograph, if you can believe that! Written before helping Jonathan and Alissa with their move from Chicago to Austin. As to the cost of gas? I recently found my notebook with the log--I was pretty darn close--$79.00. (By the way, I never include a link that I don't find worthwhile. :) )

So, that's what's been in my radar for the last couple of days. What's been in yours?

Back to Normal

The Peck household is back to normal again.

Mr. Peck is once again behind his desk with a phone connected to his ear. Meanwhile, Mrs. Peck had her follow up doctor's appointment yesterday, and learned that after only three weeks of treatment, her blood pressure is looking mighty fine, as is her entire scope of blood work. Once again, Dr. Parillo mentioned stress as a reason for hair loss, however, after insisting that I have virtually no stress in my life, we both agreed to call it molting. So, all good news on that front.

Furthermore, Mrs. Peck is back in the saddle again. You may have noticed no references to bike riding of late, and that means you are quite the observer. Between all of our remodeling, at both our own home and Bills', not to mention icky weather, my poor bike was getting lonely. No longer!

So, while riding I'm looking every which way to find interesting things. This time of the year means Halloween decorations, a fairly recent phenomenon. No longer is a carved pumpkin, set out on Halloween night, with a candle, sufficient. Call it the "everything from China is cheap" effect. Anyway,  I'm seeing some pretty crazy stuff out there, meaning YOU will too. Let's start with something cute, shall we?

My observations are not confined to my bike riding time, a disclosure that I'm sure will not surprise you. While waiting at a traffic light I could not help but wonder if, during law school, this attorney thought she would ever become an ambulance chaser, or fear monger--take your pick.

On another corner, I see these folks are taking the "stand at a corner waving a sign" business to another level all together!

Can you imagine being inside that contraption for very long? Please note, sports drink bottle in grass in front of chair....

After a seriously long time abstaining, I finally had a pedicure last week. Count me surprised to see the crazy new foot baths they installed in my absence. I wasn't able to get a good shot of the LED lights that change along the edges......

Walking back to my car I came across a place called "Sugar Divas Cakery." The window display of cakes was inventive, to say the least, and in spite of my lack of understanding regarding the cupcake craze, I not only went in, but I bought a cupcake as well. Asking the young woman behind the counter if she made them, I learned that the owners Mother does. Here's a lime, something or other, flavor, which was mediocre at best.

Cute but really, what is the point? Super sweet icing, and sticky cupcake. Don't bother if you're in the area.

Working in the garden a little bit last week, I made the rounds of the yard, picking up pine cones discarded by the army of squirrels living in our trees.

I don't know if the pine cone level is up or not, but what I have observed is that there are an awful lot of dropped acorns in the street. During the festival as we walked on the grass, there was a crunching sound beneath our feet as we traveled over hundreds of them. Why bring this up? The last time this happened we had a super cold winter; that would be 2010 while Matt and Tom were visiting for Christmas. We shall see now, won't we?

Have I already told you Matt is in Johannesburg, following his trip to Sydney? He's collecting cities like he once collected CDs!

Whereas the acorns mean something weather related, what is a person to make of this?

I could not believe my eyes the other day! Why, oh why, is the peach tree flowering in October rather than January/February? God only knows.

Saturday morning, during my ride, I noticed some fluttering in the air over a stranger's yard. Then it landed, and I just had to go see what it was. By the way, not knowing someone never stops me from checking something out! I got right close, about half way up from the street, seeing this guy in the morning dew.

How cool is it? Very cool, or so the owners and their granddaughter thought, once they came out to see what I was looking at! Everyone took photographs. Is it just me, or does that look like a Halloween face to you? This was a few streets away, so following our conversation, I rode home, got my macro lens, and went back. Still there.

A little tricky in the deep grass, but very interesting, nonetheless. Wonder how long it stayed there?

Most of Saturday afternoon was spent signing prints to replace the ones sold at the festival.

And then, by golly, Bruce came home at 7:30, much to my delight. After a bowl of chili together, I watched. with baited breath. the Seminoles beat Notre Dame. He, on the other hand, could not stand the suspense, instead started sorting out his new computer. It was a nail biter that's for sure!

The paint brushes are put away, as are the other tools, while the old tools are, once again, seeing use. You might be surprised how much a computer figures in when you are project managing. It will be a few weeks before B feels comfortable with his new computer, but you can bet he WILL master it.

Normal feels good.

Glorious

Really, that is the perfect word for the weather today. When people tell me they don't like the color blue I am completely mystified. How can you not like the color blue???? The sky is BLUE! Would you rather have gray? If so, you are just plain crazy in my book!

Before leaving St. Pete, I went back, once again, to the water's edge in hopes of seeing the sun rise over Tampa Bay, an activity that has been sorely lacking in my life for far too long.

There is just something so special in watching a sunrise, in fact, I'm more partial to them than I am to sunsets for some odd reason. The birds and the fishermen were up and out with the sun. :)

So what have I been doing with myself with Bruce gone for six days, after spending every day for the last six months together???

One thing I did was visit with Jenni at the church to talk about her vision for the book store. And of course, while there, I took some photos!

While waiting to chat, I could not resist taking this one of the minister's dog, which apparently has the run of the place.

I had a wonderful time catching up with Bev over a glass of wine, and in her case, Sam Adams Cherry Wheat beer, which she begged me to try, however, being the stubborn non-beer drinker that I am, I could not bring myself to do it! She, along with some of her closest friends, went on a two week cruise of the British Isles which was filled with both pain, and pleasure. Sadly, she came down with a horrible case of bronchitis marring her visit to my beloved London. She did her best not to let it slow her down, paying for it dearly once she returned to Winter Park! Now, though, she is almost as good as new.

Then too, I had dinner at Cheryle's which is always an entertaining surprise. Because David was to be at choir practice, I thought it was just going to be the two of us. NOT! You may recall from a long ago post that she and her husband are "airbnb" hosts, with a steady stream of guests. As I was pulling up, a young couple was only just arriving with bags of food from the market up the street,  Freshfield Farms. Over wine and cider, the cooking began, and went on, and on, and on. My goodness me. Aaron and Goldie are from Brooklyn, visiting Orlando to go to Universal Studios Harry Potter extravaganza. Furthermore, Sammie, along with his seven year old son whose name I did not catch, were visiting from Brazil. So, there was Cheryle preparing food for us, Goldie and Aaron cooking for them and us, and Sammie doing the same. Talk about lively!

Lively does not do the evening justice. While there, Cheryle did take time to show me the room she's turned into a studio for her pastels. In the last few months she's gotten back to creating, and man was I impressed! Her talents are unceasing.

With the glorious change in weather, I even took Baxter for a walk one evening, an activity that we don't engage in often. Jonathan will be happy to note that B has not forgotten how to walk the curb.

Before leaving I began seeing hundreds of crows flying over our back yard. I don't know why they don't land in our five giant pine trees; they seem to prefer our neighbor's trees, just down the street. After a while they seemed to fill nearly every branch.

You can just imagine how loud they were, can't you? It was a sight to behold, especially when all of a sudden they decided to play "musical trees!"

Nature is so cool isn't it? What, you have to wonder, makes them move around as they do? Once we were home, I still could hear them, and looking out our front door, I could see them as well.
And do you want to know why I could see them so well? Because it is my favorite time of the year! My front door is wide open, and in spite of what our neighbor men had to say about it, I'm keeping it that way every day that the weather is stupendous.

Those creeps, Pete and John, told Bruce that it was dangerous for me to leave it open, blah, blah, blah. They may prefer to stay in their air conditioned cocoons, but I need fresh air just the minute the temps lower, and the humidity stays away. Having a screen door might be nice though. Aha--another project!!

The weather is predicted to be fine for the weekend both when I do the market, and Mr. Bruce finally comes home Saturday night, just in time for the FSU-Notre Dame game. Let us hope that by the time I blog again our Florida State Seminoles are still undefeated.

This one is for both Jonathan, and Karen, taken when the two teams last met here in Orlando.

Go 'Noles!!!

A Plethora of Photographs

In my last post about our trip to St. Petersburg I mentioned the helpful staff at the Hollander for good reason. Zach, the front desk clerk, not only gave me directions, he also told me that if I walked the four blocks to the water I would surely see DOLPHINS that come right up to the seawall. After my disappointment in not seeing them in Savannah, I was thrilled with that piece of advice. Thus, I got up early Wednesday morning to see what I could see.

Forgive me because there are going to loads and loads of photos included in this post because we saw such great stuff I can't figure out what not to show you!! Let's start, shall we? Stick with me as long as your attention span allows....

Walking as quickly as I could, I came to the waterfront. You'll be proud of me--I'm not even showing you the fantastic homes I walked by! The pelicans were out just waiting for this fisherman to throw something their way.

Heading around the corner, I could see the open expanse of Tampa Bay and wouldn't you just know it, when I was about half a block from the seawall, I'm almost certain I saw a dolphin jump. I could not get there fast enough!

Sadly, in spite of staying there for a good long while, not once did I see a dolphin. So, back to the hotel I went, passing by the beautiful Vinoy Park Hotel.

Oh my, is it lovely! A side note here--a pink hotel looks good in a beach town, a pink house in Orlando, not so much. Taking a side street towards 4th, I came across this on the side of a convenience store!!!

Count me very happy.

While having a delicious breakfast at the hotel, our Scottish server made a recommendation that we visit Gulfport, which she said was like a mini Key West. I said to Bruce that long ago I've learned to take the advice of locals, so off we went, only about six miles, but what a different look with pink and turquoise houses everywhere! Beach Street is cute as a button with antique stores, art galleries,

and restaurants. Bruce is talking to his new boss in this photo, standing in front of a combination Post Office and antique mall.

Unfortunately it was hot--will it ever cool off?? Nonetheless, we made our way down the street, browsing all the cool stuff. This little area is an artist block,

Visiting a store where we spent a bit of time, the proprietor gave us some restaurant tips, one of which was for an Italian place called Pia's. I'd seen it from across the street, and knew it would be a nice place to eat just from the outside. The inside of the courtyard where we ate did not disappoint!

These burning candles fascinated me...

Well, it was just delicious, as well as being scenic. The little red bread tin delighted me, with again, good looks, and what was inside was just as good as the outside.

The cold white wine was refreshing on a hot and humid day. Generally Bruce doesn't think to take a picture of me, and I'm fine with that because I always look so horrible, however, this one wasn't too-too bad.

And, although it looks like there's something grave going on, my eye is just fine. Looking in the mirror I do not notice that one eye is so kooky, but man, does it show up in a photograph!! What can I be thinking by including this??

In the "you learn something new every day" camp, we discovered that although the front side of this building is called Gulfport Casino, it is not a gambling place, rather it is a dancing room. Apparently the term casino can mean either. Did you already know this? Count us surprised when the woman at the desk explained the name.

Next stop, after driving only about six or seven miles, was the venerated Dali Museum. Venerated, and for good reason, not only is the exterior of the building super cool, so is the interior, AND the contents. This is the portion of the blog where there will definitely be, what might be termed, photo-overload!

I have no clue wht there were three Porsches parked out front! Once you come around the side of the building it looks like this:

Every side is so interesting, especially to a builder.

It must be said that neither Bruce, nor I, were big fans of Dali, however, once you see the entire body of work displayed, it is hard to argue with his mastery of the paint brush. If you are wondering how in the world it came to be in St. Petersburg, you can read this article to find out more. The collection is housed on the third floor to keep it as hurricane proof, re--flooding, as possible. You reach the third floor after climbing an incredible spiral staircase.

Right then and there, you know you are in a special place. We began with a docent led tour, however, I could barely hear her without getting so close that I looked like a dork, so we did about half on our own. She did tell us that there was a reason Dali painted cherries to make the painting on the last wall.

As well, we learned that a trip to the art supply store to buy Venus colored pencils inspired this huge painting.

I could gush on and on about it, but you get my drift, so I'll move on, but not before I show you the view from across the street showing all the glass.

It was worth every penny of the admission, so if you're visiting St. Pete, do not miss it!

We drove along the water, and as we did so, I asked B about heading over to Vinoy Park for a chance sighting of dolphins. Parking, we walked to the water's edge along the sea wall. I spotted some folks a bit down the way, and just knew that is what had caused the gathering. Good grief, was it wonderful watching the dolphins who, I'm sad to say, never really came out of the water completely.

Just enough to blow a little air. :) There were lots of them, or maybe the same ones, but they did indeed come up to the wall where the water was so clear you could see them rolling around.

So, so wonderful. Then too, because it was an hour or two before sunset, there were birds!

It's hard to tell which one is the bird, or the reflection, isn't it? The remainder of our evening was spent on that wonderful verandah, once again talking to folks who we didn't know when the night began, but by the time we went up to our room, knew a whole lot about.

I told you the day was wonderful didn't I?