Clearwater Lake and More

While we have been traveling back in time of late, lots has been happening in the here and now.

 As it always does.

 Remember the car trouble I mentioned last week? The one that interfered with my DFG duties? Still happening and all we can say is "Thank God for extended warranties!" First they replaced a part that cost around a thousand dollars. Wasn't enough. As I type, it is still over at the dealership awaiting a NEW transmission and another part!! Now Bruce has a loaner, but for a good part of the week he used either my car, or a rental car. It was quite the stressful week for my honey. 

One thing I neglected to mention about our London trip was that my glasses broke. Or maybe I did, but that fix by Team Peck worked fine, and then the other arm broke off two weeks ago. Time for new glasses which I now have had for more than a week and not a soul has noticed even though they are both a different shape and color! That's a tiny whine about becoming more invisible by the day as we old folks do. 

Anyway, Bruce came with me when I was picking them out and one thing he noticed was a skeleton for sale at Costco. I balked. "Silly", I said. A few days later I thought to myself, if B wants a skeleton, by God, he should have one regardless of what I think! $28 later he did. When he hung it up, it immediately took me back to my days in x-ray school when we had one hanging in our classroom. Indeed it is kind of silly, yet still fun even for a naysayer such as myself. And yes, the eyes are that blue.

Bruce spent most every day last week at the church with one project or another. A closer look at the capitals and you will see the gaping holes that the guys repaired. Luckily there are still craftsman that can do that sort of thing, however they are mostly our age so whether this kind of repair can occur in the future is questionable.

And here they are nearing the finish line. Today the scaffolding is coming down, after which the painters will finish both the porch and the columns.

What just about did him in though was the project below. To a casual observer it is probably hard to believe that the demolition of what was there, along with the installation of this new piece of play equipment for the preschoo,l took about sixty man hours to complete. Not only did it have to be put together, there are 12" deep footers filled with concrete for stability underneath the sand. Bruce and two other men worked in the blazing heat, (yes it is still blazing hot around here) for two afternoons and then on Saturday, during a church workday, as Bruce says, "the calvary arrived" in the form of a father/son team with fresh energy. The blue part at the top is a shade sail which will also need replacing.

As to finishing the quilt, it is getting there; probably at least eight more hours of work. Listening to hours and hours of "This American Life" podcasts made sitting for all those hours in front of the sewing machine enjoyable. It takes a long time to machine quilt, even as simple a pattern I am doing! When I wanted to take a break I read the new Elizabeth Strout book, Olive Again, which is terrific, albeit somewhat sad.

So, earlier in the month I ended a post by saying we saw some deer and nothing more. Today I am rectifying that situation and I hope you enjoy traveling with us to Clearwater Lake in Ocala National Forest. We left early, stopping at WaWa for gas. As I pulled out my camera to photograph the emerging color in the sky, this fellow put on a little act for the camera.

 

With the handy iPad in my lap, we discovered a new route that took us through some lovely rural scenes. Note the Golden Rain tree blooming in the background, our version of Fall color.

Before we knew it we were turning into the park and by golly, a deer ran across the road and into the woods, an awesome way to begin an outing.

And here, my friends, is Mr. Peck, along with a Sandhill Crane couple standing on the shore of Clearwater Lake.

It is well documented in this space how much I like these birds who spend huge amounts of time grooming, as do many other birds. It's been a long while since I was close to any, so between the deer sighting, and the birds, well, I was already satisfied with our trip.

 Bruce took off to join one other boat on the lake,

 and I took off on a walk to see the campgrounds. Here we go again!

Unreal, I thought to myself. Then again when, while watching the woods I saw SIX deer, two pictured below!! I could not believe my luck.

Being a Monday, we mostly had the entire place to ourselves, although there were maybe two groups in the campground. The ranger told me there was a 1.3 mile walking trail around the lake, so why not? A very sandy path made for easy walking amongst the Pines and scrub. Which is to say, not that pretty, but not too strenuous either.

Many years ago we visited Clearwater Lake because Bruce had come her with his family as a boy. There was the sweetest seven year old boy in the lake, who told me as I walked in myself, that the fish were nibbling his toes. As the name implies, it is clear indeed.

And although it was early October, the water was warm enough, even for adults. For the record, the fish found me lacking.

While I was chilling in the water, I began seeing butterflies, only one of which I was able to photograph, primarily because it landed on the sand (!), staying put for some time which begs the question, "why?" Warmth? Can't be nectar so your guess is as good as mine.

Before leaving we took one more drive through the campground, noting those that had adequate shade and space. A lake view is a definite plus. Long shadows for sure.

 Here is the entrance sign off of SR 44.

Rather than returning the way we came, we drove a short distance, seeing the sign for the Boy Scout campground, a place where Bruce and his Dad came regularly. There was at least a mile long road before we came to this sign noting the various campgrounds. Bruce has fond memories of his time at Camp La No Che.

Interesting that we should come across this place because as we drove back from North Carolina, one of the things I did was read to Bruce about modern day Scouting, including the requirements for badges. Furthermore I asked him to recite the motto and pledge, which he successfully did. Once a Boy Scout, always a Boy Scout, as the saying goes. His camping skills go back a long, long way.

Next post we will visit Orlando Wetlands Park, one tiny section shown below.

Amazingly, with that intense cloud cover there was a tiny chill in the air during our visit. TINY being the operative word. It was fun while it lasted!

your friend,

Gail

London, the Final Installment

If it seems to you as if I have been writing about our trip to London for ages, you are correct. In a city the size of London, there is so much to see that you could write about it every day of your life and never cover all that it has to offer. Perhaps some people do just that? 

Because it had been five long years since last we visited, and who knows when we will return, I'm savoring the experience for as long as possible. Today, however, will be the last time so beware, it is photo-intensive! Beginning with color! Merely an advertisement for a burger joint, it still made me happy with the intense color palette. Speaking of burgers, every place we visited served vegan burger options, unlike our previous visits. Veganism, or so it seems, is going mainstream, or as an article in our Sunday paper called it, a "plant based" diet. I like that term, don't you? Increasingly we seem to be labeling people, a trend that does not please me much. Plant-based just sounds nice to me.

It is never hard to figure out where the pubs are because most of them are laden with beautiful hanging baskets of gorgeous flowers. The Shard looms over the pub and the London Bridge train station.

Tom and Matt left us on our own for dinner the first night we were in the hotel, so we roamed a bit of the neighborhood, coming across the interesting Vinegar Yard-- decorated shipping containers made over into shops. Coming soon to cities all over is my guess.

Rising early the next morning, I popped downstairs for a walk, just in time for a weak sunrise behind Tower Bridge. Amazingly, I had the place mostly to myself, enjoying the quiet before the onslaught of people later on in the day.

 A better look at the colorful pub.

Not far from the hotel I came across a lovely garden area which I learned is known as Potter's Field because it once was the site of a famous pottery that made Delftware. 

 Oh how I love seeing the hanging baskets bursting with colorful blooms.

 Massive Geraniums lined an iron fence in front of an old hotel.

Actually, the Shard looms over everything in that part of the city! Who knows how much longer the European Union flag will continue to wave in England? Yesterday afternoon Matt called and we discussed Brexit and the recent votes, another of which was to happen in a matter of hours. Just checked and the vote was rejected, paving the way for even more confusion.

 

 We were to meet Matt at 11 for church at Southwark Cathedral, a few blocks away.

The photo below was taken following the service which turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip for me. Beautiful music, beautiful setting, excellent message shared with my son and husband...what more could I ask for?

 Tom met us in this garden following the service. Borough Market is just to the right side of this space which was the site of a terrorist attack in 2017 when eight people were killed. Unimaginable isn't it?

 A lovely lunch at a place called Bill's.

Don't believe every photo you see because although I got this fellow alone, the area around there is bustling as it could be on a Sunday afternoon.

Next up we visited a place called London Mithraeum, where you are first greeted by artifacts found on the site of the early Roman settlement here from the time London was called Londinium.

Below the building is the space where the remains of a temple to the god Mithras were excavated over a four year period. Right in the heart of the city of London, which by the way, is really only one square mile in size. Tom, our walking historian, knows so much about the history of London which made our travels around the city all the better.

Back above ground, the present day London, specifically Tesco, where I saw something else that will be coming to cities all over. A complete absence of check out clerks to be exact. Around here we still have both clerks, and self check out, yet it probably won't be long before the clerks are all gone.

Tom suggested, since we were in the neighborhood, we visit Guildhall, the place where London began and those are not my words, they are on the brochure sitting on my desk! Plus, in all the years of living in London, Matt had never visited so he could discover it at the same time as his folks.

It all seems complicated to me, but essentially, in the early days, guilds were vital to the governing of the city and this is where they met. (horrible synopsis on my part!). On the property there is a beautiful art gallery,

underneath of which are the remains of an amphitheater from Roman times. I am quoting from the brochure....."The City of London was under Roman rule for a fifth of its history. Around AD43, the Romans established Londinium; within 30 years they had probably built a wooden amphitheater. This version, buried under centuries of later buildings, opened to the public in 2002, Discovered in February 1988, it took 13 years of fieldwork. Can you even imagine? Gladiators in London???

As it was near closing time, we were not able to see as much as we might have liked, however, a very nice security guard did let us into the Guildhall in spite of it being roped off to visitors due to some maintenance. So much history happened in the space below.

 Moving sculptures of the men who shaped London's future line the walls.

 Our travels next took us through a very old market, the name of which I've forgotten.

Walking over London Bridge, the same that experienced the terrorist attacks, it is hard not to notice the new bollards on the sidewalks, installed to ensure that no one ever drives on them again with the intention of hurting someone. The lads led us to a tower, nicknamed the Walkie Talkie building, where Matt had made reservations for us to visit the Sky Garden.  Sweeping views of London,

 are visible from their three story windows on all sides of the building.

 And why is it called the Sky Garden, well, because there is a garden in the sky, that's why!

 Oh what a lovely space to view London from 38 stories in the air!

Perhaps you read about this building some years back when it was discovered that light reflecting  from the building was strong enough to melt car parts among other things. The photo below shows the retrofitted cover to keep that from happening again.

By now Matt and Tom were touristed out, so we parted ways with clear instructions on how to manage the trip to Heathrow in the morning. Well, we all know how that turned out now, don't we? I took an evening stroll, loving the lit up Tower of London.

 The office buildings facing the plaza area provided some unexpected delight.

 So fun and modern!

Following our reuniting on the tube, Bruce took this happy photo of me while we made our way to the airport, the ending of a fantastic, action packed trip, thanks to Matt and Tom.

And that, dear readers is the end of our trip. Did you make it to the end of this post? Hope so!!

your friend,

Gail