It must have been Wednesday afternoon that I sat down to write a blog post in the usual fashion. I begin by putting my camera card into the slot on the back of my iMac, wait and see if I've got any good photos, and begin formulating a story to tie them together. Much to my dismay, a message popped up on my screen saying that my photo library could not be found. Great.
Now I can't remember what I'd planned to write about, however, I know this photo was meant to be shared.
And I'd intended to talk a bit about all of the changes happening around our neck of the woods, including this demolition across the street from Publix and the new Lucky Market center going in.
The old house and apartment building were in pretty rough shape, however, you have to wonder where the folks who lived there have found affordable housing. I'd gone to Publix for some seriously needed shopping, something I seem to put off until I'm forced into it by an empty refrigerator! Our upgraded Publix is still a work in progress, but so far the changes are very good. After shopping for groceries in downtown Vancouver for a year, where the aisles are so tiny, I definitely get the Publix slogan, "Where Shopping is a Pleasure." Indeed.
Probably I'd just finished making the dough for the pies I was going to be making Thanksgiving morning. The recipe from the back of the Tenderflake box is for six shells, three of which I used, and the remainder will go into the freezer for a later use.
I'd also spent some time picking out a paint color for the bathroom vanity, eventually settling on a deep gold to pick up the gold flecks in the countertop. Gold is a tricky color to get right, so I brought home a bunch.
Michelle saw my choices and questioned if I was really set on the gold as she does not share my same enthusiasm for color. My reply was, I thought it was worth a shot! Because I was not preparing Thanksgiving dinner for a crowd, after dinner Wednesday night, we went over to Dave and Michelle's place for a visit and to see their beautifully decorated condo, beginning with the outside,
and continuing on every available space inside.
As is my custom, I took loads of pretty photographs, however, in the interest of the length of this post, they will remain in my library for now. Because the next day was their 10th wedding anniversary, we celebrated with some Dom Perignon and reliving that lovely day by watching their wedding video. (photo taken from television screen)
All in attendance that day will remember how much fun was had, dancing the night away.
Somehow, I remained calm even though my photo library was inaccessible. That's like cutting off an arm for me, however, I felt sure it had to be somewhere. After all, where could 155,000 photos go? I'd been storing them on an external hard drive that I discovered was completely full, so my thinking was that if I bought a new one, I could find them somewhere on the computer and transfer them.
Not so fast Gail, as you will soon learn.
Meanwhile Bruce got to work on the vanity, repairing the joints near the bottom as they had some water damage.
Using my dough, I made the pies while he worked on the vanity Thanksgiving morning and afternoon. If you've never made a pie crust using lard you will be surprised at how easy it rolls out and how yummy it is. We sure were. With the pumpkin pie in the oven, I began peeling apples for the second pie that turned out looking like this. Perhaps I should have cooked it a wee bit longer, however, it seemed to be a hit, so that is nit picking on my part.
Vanity with primer...
and here comes the gold, a Benjamin Moore color called Bryant Gold.
Before you go and think I am crazy, yellow and grey are a classic combo, so this is my version of the two. One coat of paint completed, it was time to head over to Bill and Fallon's house for the feast, and I'm using that term literally! They too, have decorated for Christmas and it looks outstanding. That tree is neat because it can go from colored to white to gold lights which seems to me, the best of all worlds.
Every time we are over, I am reminded of the first day that I walked in there with Bill, wondering about his choice. He did too, however, he has great vision, and with a lot of help, it has been transformed. He never fails to tell anyone who will listen how it was my idea to swap the kitchen around and create this opening.
Of course ideas are just that and without someone to execute them, well, they aren't much, are they? Papa Bruce to the rescue, and the same goes for the kitchen cabinets which caused him some sleepless nights! Back to the vision aspect, one of thousands of ideas Bill had was to make the door opening to the kitchen larger which I thought was unnecessary. Wrong! It worked beautifully, making the kitchen seem much larger. Speaking of feeling large, most of the family hung out in the kitchen, and especially when Fallon's Dad was instructing Bill on the finer points of carving a turkey.
Fallon's Mom, Glenda, worked for days on the meal, helping Fallon along the way, and what a meal it was!
The table was so inviting, set with beautiful Spode dishes Glenda had shipped home during a trip to London. The gorgeous cut glass is a gift from her Grandmother.
As most of you know, Fallon is a registered nurse working at Florida East hospital twelve hours daily, and since she'd worked on Wednesday, just before we left she curled up on the couch,
so tired she fell asleep within minutes of our departure. I will admit it was quite the change for me, not preparing Thanksgiving dinner and spending it with my siblings, but the times they are a changing, as you well know from your own life.
Bruce finished up the vanity, adding some handles and now you can decide for yourself whether I am crazy or not.
I will admit that it is different, but I'm happy. Eventually we will be getting a new toilet and flooring, but one step at a time.
A trip to Best Buy, late morning on Black Friday proved to be pretty easy and now to transfer the files. If only it were that easy. I sent Matt an email explaining my problem. It is definitely times such as this that I so wish he were at least on our same time zone! He said he'd help on Saturday which began with a sky like no other.
Lasting only maybe five minutes, Bruce took off in his kayak under this sky to fish on Lake Willisara for the first time. I was confidant there were fish to be caught and released because I see them jumping most days. Not only did he catch a nice Bass, but the otters were playing in the water near his kayak. Big win for the morning!
This marks the end of pretty pictures and the repair and restore begins. Too complicated to fully explain, but Matt helped me locate the files, we repaired and restored the library after many hours, over two different days, with reloading the entire operating system thrown in for good measure because my computer is running so slowly. Saturday required extreme patience, with the massive loss by the Seminoles against the Gators adding to my misery.
But, here's the thing, I have so much to be thankful for, that somehow I did keep the faith. A tenth wedding anniversary, a son who willingly gives his Mom tech support, Maureen safely moved to a new place that will help her take better care of herself, a first Thanksgiving for the newlyweds, a husband who can make anything look good, ducks either fighting or playing, don't know which, outside my window as I type, and I saw a new bird on Saturday morning which I will post next time. What's a girl have to complain about?
Your friend,
Gail
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