Doing What I Do

The market went well on Sunday, although I have to admit, I was maybe a little more tired than usual once it was all over. Plus, we missed all the Citrus Bowl hoopla which was a shame. Arriving home just as the Orlando City game began, I turned on the television, and oh my, were the folks having fun! All in all, an exciting day for Orlando soccer fans. One thing I was hoping to do at the market was talk to the police officer who helped me, both to thank him, and ask exactly what happened because I still can't figure out how I got from point A, to point B. He'll probably be back next week, and once I know that, I'll happily put all this behind me.

Except wait--the bills are coming in! It is fortunate indeed that we have health insurance because to date the charges have come to---get this--$17,965!!! You could buy a Hyundai for that! Or a Kia, or a good portion of a MINI Cooper. Ridiculous. One of the charges was $400 for the ER doctor who came in my room for all of five minutes, never to be seen, or heard from again. Just shameful what they charge. By the time the ambulance bill, and other charges come in, you probably really could buy a MINI Cooper. And this, my friends is for less than 24 hours of care, or what they call "care!" On the other hand, I am here to write about it, so that's good for something. Had I not been medicated pronto, apparently my colon could have perforated, and that would be that. A scary thought.

On the brighter side, I finally rode my bike yesterday morning, and did that ever feel good. The weather has been glorious for the last few days, seriously good. I was so, so happy to come across a dogwood tree in bloom a few streets away.

Actually there were two in the same yard, one out front ,and one behind a gate. The owner saw me photographing in the front, and invited me to see the beauty in the backyard. He did not have to offer twice!

Everywhere you look there are either trees, or flowers in bloom. This bird of paradise was particularly striking as it seems there are two "blooms" joined together.

In our own yard my yellow gerbera daisies are blooming. I vacillate between leaving them on the plant, or cutting them for the house. Because two new ones are popping up, I cut three.

After getting the laundry on the clothesline yesterday morning, I went shopping for some badly needed food. I began at Clemons, the produce market on Curryford Road. I'd planned on getting some strawberries, however, a flat of them was not on my radar until he told me they were closing out the flats for $2.00. You know how I love a bargain, so a flat it was. Expecting to find all sorts of overripe berries, I was pleasantly surprised to find that was not the case at all. I went to work on those berries, starting with freezing as many as would fit on my pan!

In a case of buying local, these came from Balm, Florida. According to the link, not only is the area agricultural, but there are four tropical fish farms. Furthermore, there are only 1, 457 residents there. The name is sweet, isn't it?

I cut others up for strawberry shortcake, and I made a Strawberry coulis for pancakes and waffles.

And still there are a bunch left. I think when I finish with this I'll take a few quarts to Cheryle for them to enjoy...

I have this thing for Roman Meal sandwich bread, and after numerous attempts to get the Publix folks to carry it again, (with no success), I find it at the Neighborhood Wal Mart. Not my favorite place to shop, but I just love that bread. Unfortunately yesterday they were out of it (!), but my trip was not in vain because I found the most gorgeous tulips! The deep coral red of the one, and the purple stripes of the other bunch were entirely too gorgeous to pass up.

The green thing to the left are some cool bookend vases I picked up at an estate sale for $2.00. They are super cool with open tops for a plant. I just loved the color, shape and texture. Speaking of color, a young woman on Sunday was puzzled by the variety in my booth, a subject we've covered before. After thinking about it, I told her the only thing unifying my output is color. I am driven by color. How's that for an answer?

While on the subject of color, I took this photo to show off the variety of greens in the landscape just now.

On the far left is our newish oak tree which is still losing leaves, whereas our neighbors big oak tree is sporting the beautiful green of spring. And then there are the pines--good grief they are tall!

Most of the time when I'm on my bike I take my Nikon with the Tamron zoom lens because it covers a wide variety of distances. That said, that lens is not nearly as good as my Panasonic, or at least in my opinion. The reds with my Nikon never seem quite right. The Panasonic, oh my yes. Here's one of our cardinal buddies looking particularly good through the Panasonic lens.

Sunday, while watching the soccer match, a male cardinal perched on the side of the bird bath outside the window. Bruce and I both watched as he didn't seem to put any weight on his right "foot." He stayed for quite a while, both drinking and taking a dunk, which is always fun to see. As to his little foot, I wonder what the problem was????

It is good to be well again, and once again, I thank you all for your concern.

Until we meet again,
Gail