At the Weekend

Or, at least that's how they say it in Britain. When last we met, the weekend was in full swing. For homebodies, like ourselves, we had way too much fun at the weekend, that's for certain.

I had my first Uber experience on Saturday, and if our driver was any indication of other drivers, it could very well be my last! Meeting at Dave and Michelle's condo, we brought Baxter along to keep their dog Ginger Rodgers company while we were gone. Michelle did what you do to get an Uber driver, and we all piled into his car. Well, most of us did anyway. They were all in, and I had one foot on the floorboard when the driver started to pull away!! The Peck men simultaneously cried out STOP! So, after I was in, he wanted to take I-4 to get to downtown. Those of you who have been to their home know that is about the silliest method to get there that you can think of. I will say he followed David's directions, and we arrived on Orange Avenue safely. So, there's that.

Walking to the stadium is, at least for now, the most expedient way to get there, as they have little to no parking nearby. Actually, it was great because Church Street was packed with people, either going to the Orlando City game, or the NCAA basketball tournament featuring the Florida State Seminoles in the first game, and the Florida Gators in the second. So, loads of energy! Stopping into the Rusty Spoon for a drink, where, btw, I had a Cucumber Martini that was fab, we stuck ourselves into the corner of the bar at the only remaining seat. Well, who should be sitting right there? Jim and Carrie whom we met when we did that Ronald McDonald event. They were just as much fun this time as the last time we met them.

Drink done, and we were once again off the races. Make that the stadium! Michelle led the way, and fortunately, both she and David were wearing colors we could spot in a crowd. In other words, not purple. (We are walking by what eventually will be parking areas.)

Purple shirts, purple hats, purple everything, including the smoke bombs that go off when the Lions score.

Looks like we are pretty close, doesn't it? Yup, David's seats are eight rows up from the pitch, so it feel like you are sitting court side at a basketball game.

Lions win! And the crowd went wild!

Sunday we were back in the pews at First Congregational, and glad to be there. The day was spectacular for the art festival, however, we skipped that because we are not currently in the market for art. I know it is fun to roam around looking, but I also know how hard every artist has worked to be there, and when there are only lookers, it is so frustrating. Generally, these days, I don't want to add to anyone's discouragement.

Instead, Bruce convinced me to go to Vanberry's on Orange Avenue across the lakes from us, and what should we see from our table? Why, an Osprey nest!

And Dr. Parillo, pictured with the white hair and green shirt!

This falls under the category of should you care to know: the biopsy results were just fine. 👌

After dinner over at a friend's house Sunday night, you can imagine how partied out we were. So, Monday, bright and early, chores took center stage, including this again!

Not only did I have a frozen bottom of the freezer, the same held true for under the vegetable crispers. You can see what we did all yesterday morning. Plus, we're unclear whether the problem is fixed or not. From what I've read. there is a class action suit against Samsung due to a faulty design. This is one way to force yourself to toss out food hidden behind other food in the refrigerator!

I have been making some quilting samples to try out a few of the designs from the fantastic book I purchased at the class.

Another very important thing happened yesterday afternoon, just as I had finished bringing in the laundry from the clothesline; Matt called to chat. And chat we did over Face Time, like 2 1/2 hours of chatting. At various times, Bruce and Tom joined the conversation, adding to the fun. I so count myself blessed to have sons that actually enjoy chatting with me. They had a wonderful time in India, although my Uber story would not even register mentioning compared to the rides they took in India. Matt stopped short of giving me all of the gory details. But, all's well that ends well, so there is that to be grateful for.

This morning on my bike ride I went to visit "our eagles." Just as I was going through the gated area to enter Harbour Island, I peeked into a construction site for a new home on Lake Conway. Well, although I was pretty far away from the nest, there it was in plain sight, with not one, but two eaglets in view.

I cropped it a bit, hoping you could see the one standing, and the top of the other one's head. Naturally, I kept going and had myself a little treat.

Some of you will see it immediately, while others who couldn't care less, may not see the flapping wings of the eaglet. I never did see both of them when I was closer, but how about this identical pose?

I always forget that most people are not reading this on a computer with a large screen. Hope you can see it on your phones!

Naturally, this led to a little detour while doing errands...

There sits the cutest car on the road!!! I not only love driving it, but was changing the time to DST, ever a breeze!

Mama Owl is still on the nest..

While Papa, who I could not easily find, was napping and scratching. Sounds like a man, right?

There were three other photographers near the eagles nest, but we didn't even need to check that out, did we? We have our own!

It was bird city there, with tiny birds chattering all above my head. Look at this cutie...

Oh drat! You are on your phone, and may not see it! I believe it is a Black and White Warbler, which I've never seen before. I have, on the other hand, seen Tufted Tit Mouse before, but never have I seen one eating a caterpillar! Holy Cow!

Small birds are really hard to get good shots of in the wild, much harder than large shore birds which were out in force at Lake Greenwood. It is times like this that I do so wish I had a longer zoom lens!

I would have LOVED to get a closer shot of that Great Blue Heron!

It seems live everyone's orchids are blooming like mad this year. I am loving mine, that's for sure.

On this one plant there are three more stalks with blooms, or whatever you call them. Don't really know. Do you?

Enough with blogging, time to head into the kitchen to make this Blueberry-Lemon cake! I'll let you know how it is.

yours truly,

Gail