Counting the Days

I started to write that this is the longest while that Bruce and I have been apart, and come to think of it, that is true. For some folks that may not be a big deal, but it sure is to us. That said, it won't be long now, or so we hope! The certificate of occupancy inspection is set for Wednesday;  God willing and the creek don't rise, he'll be home soon thereafter.

Meanwhile I've found ways to keep busy, or sort of is probably a more realistic description. Sports, thank God for sports on the weekend! Then too, my friends have been so good about inviting me over every few days, for which I'm extremely grateful. Sunday was finally a beautiful day, with bright blue overhead. You know how friends suggest you read such and such, or see such and such movie? Well, the other morning, sitting in Pam's kitchen, she told me about her Mom going to a church in Winter Park that made her very happy. Well, not one to ignore such a sign, I decided to see for myself. The service was lovely, the choir divine.

The sanctuary was not too shabby either! On my drive home from Winter Park I stopped into their Central Park and saw the new peacock fountain. Peacocks being the symbol of WP it makes sense, right?

One of the keeping busy tasks I did while watching golf was to go through old magazines that were stacked amongst my cookbooks. How I still have magazines from the year 2000 is beyond me!

The little pink bag pictured above is to hold my camera lenses in my handbag, although I must admit, it is a bit of a stretch fitting it all in with a camera too! After going through a few of these I decided that had I not made anything from them in all these years, it was okay to put them in the recycling bin and so I did. All except for an exceptional turkey recipe that I finally isolated.

As I type, Orlando Utilities is on our street to fix a water main leak in the cul de sac. Because our street is so short, they parked in front of our home, and man is this a big ass tire on the back hoe!

Huge! Currently the are digging up a good bit of our neighbor's paver driveway which I'm sure is stressing her out quite a bit!

Speaking of neighbors, you've heard me speak of Corrine and Herb, along with Regina, many times. Well, here they are:

In the course of her walking Argyle every morning, Regina brings the newspaper up to Herb and Corrine's door, saving them the trouble. Poor Herb, his faculties are diminishing daily, whereas Corrine is still sharp as a tack, albeit slightly feeble. They are both 89! Anyway, on Sunday evenings Bruce takes their trash and recycling bins out to the street after doing the same with ours. In his absence, I did the same last night, however, in my case there was a slight glitch. Like a dummy, I shut the gate before heading over to their house, which sounds fine and dandy unless you've locked all the doors!! Regina to the rescue!! She has a house key, thank goodness, otherwise I'm not sure quite what I would have done. :)

Mockingbirds are not so colorful as a cardinal but they still are kind of pretty, albeit noisy. This one, standing on one leg in the tabebuia tree caught my attention from his call.

I've been over to Sue's house, checking on her kitchen, which is still slow going. While there, she wanted me to photograph her daisies, so I did, using the vintage setting on my camera and her pretty stool.

Bruce asked me the other day if I had time to retrieve his car from the airport and he'd take a cab home. Do I have time??? Seriously? Pam and Glen gave me a ride yesterday afternoon, and it was surprisingly easy to find it on the fifth floor of the terminal top parking. The day was so lovely you could see downtown from there.

The company did not mind, but after eight days it just seemed silly to leave it. On my drive home did I ever have a treat, coming across a field on Conway Road with both cattle and four beautiful horses. Parking the car alongside the road, this made me so happy.

A little one....part of a threesome.

I am so puzzled by those horns? What kind of cow has curved horns? Does anyone know? With all of the rain we've had this summer, the empty fields are exceptionally lush.

I'm not sure why I made the above black and white....does it work for you?

The sky looked like this out the front door when I arose today.

Posting that picture, reminds me that I actually resorted to cleaning on Saturday, including the glass entrance doors. Pathetic! Nonetheless, the sky remains brilliant blue as I type, and the air is slightly, and I do mean slightly cooler. This morning's bike ride was actually pretty pleasant with many photographic opportunities presenting themselves, however, none so unusual as this one.

Now, I'm all for expressing oneself in outdoor decorating, but panda figures are a first for me. I rode past, then thought, that's really something, and that was before I saw the cats. At first I thought the siamese mix was a statue, but then it moved so I knew I had that wrong. And you might be tempted to think the one engaging with the pandas is a statue, but that's not true either. Not only were there these four cats, but there were two more that, for a moment, I thought were a mirror image of one another!

If six cats weren't enough, I saw yet another one walking onto the property! Clearly, these are some serious cat folks.

Finally, someone else got very creative with their garbage cans.

Although I have not seen the movie, even I know that those are Minions.

There will be a time in the future when I look back on these days and think to myself, what was there to whine about? Some folks would love to be able to read any time they feel like it, and especially if they are reading a novel as fine as Plainsong, or A Spool of Blue Thread, although I don't think so far it is Anne Tyler's best. That said, who am I to disagree with the Man Booker Prize nomination for AT?

Anyway, forgive me if I sound whiney because I really have no right to do so. Next post I'll do better.

May the sky remain blue, and the sun shine on,

Gail