Bittersweet

When last we met, I wrote about our friend Jeff nearing death. Sadly, last Thursday morning it came to pass. Lori asked me to take their picture during our last visit and although I was hesitant, I'm glad she did.

It has so hard to imagine that just four days later, he is no longer in this world, however, we are heartened to know that he is no longer suffering both the pain and indignity of a serious illness. Friday, February 7th we will gather to celebrate his life. I did a search of my blog for posts mentioning Jeff and they are many as he and Bruce worked together and were good friends for many, many, years.

Speaking of my blog, I am coming up on my 13th anniversary of blogging. Wild, right? Folks that I've written about have come and gone, but Jeff was a constant. :(

Shall we move on to a cheerier subject? I should think so.

Last Sunday the courtyard at the church was so beautiful with the fallen blossoms of which there are hundreds.

I know Christmas has long past, but I was remiss in not mentioning a super gift I received from Jackie. The heavy box from Canada was opened at the border; perhaps they were surprised to find two boxes of lard along with two containers of Magic baking powder? I could not have been happier! Wondering what lard looks like?

I followed the recipe on the box of Tenderflake, making six mounds of dough at once, two of which I used to make a chicken pot pie, with the other four going into the freezer for a future use.

There is just something about a crust made with lard from the ease of rolling to the savory taste that I find so appealing. Hurray for our Canadian friends who are so good to us!

Lots of birds around these days. Way more than I can count, like the flocks of Cormorants that were just outside our back door.

Above is only a fraction of the huge number that always attract the shore birds from who knows where. Apparently they stir up the water so much it drives the fish towards the shore.

On any given day I see maybe one or two large birds, aside from Anhingas which are ever-present, but when the Cormorants come to town, well that is another matter entirely. I counted 15 the other morning!


Just saying.....I began this post yesterday morning, however, an interruption from the man who loves me ended my writing. A good interruption though. We are planning on gutting our master bathroom and spent hours and hours trying to come up with a layout and overall plan. I, for one, never got out of my pajamas until two in the afternoon when it was time to go check out some cabinets! Not my style, but it was a cold and gray day so actually it was perfect.

Okay, so where was I?

That's right, White Pelicans are in the house! Or maybe I should say were because I've not seen any in days, either on Lake Davis, where the photo below was taken, or on either of the lakes on property.

Of all things, as I was just watching the Mergansers swimming on the lake, I could not believe that it hadn't occurred to me until just now, that the term "snow birds" got its name from this very thing. Well, duh, silly me. Speaking of snow birds, for the most part, the visiting Robins have been flying high, spending their time gorging on the Camphor berries on the many trees out back. Sunday morning I noticed a group on the lakeshore and tried to get some photos of them drinking from the lake, most of which are not great, but I did have a huge surprise when I finally looked at them on maybe Tuesday---

Do you see what I see? Of course I'm looking at it on a computer monitor and you are probably on the tiny screen of a phone so maybe not. Nevertheless, there is a bird amongst the Robins that I was delighted to see, a Cedar Waxwing is on the little branch over the water! The crazy thing about this is that while I was talking to fellow bird enthusiast, Leslie, (purple shirt), at Days for Girls,

I was mentioning how I was hoping to see one soon. Little did I know that I already had. For a few minutes I popped outside to call Bruce who had left earlier than I to go to the dentist for a crown and and filling. Not one much for the dentist, I was hoping it went well, and it did. Having gone to the same dentist for 35 years, beginning anew with his replacement has actually proved seamless.

Anyway, I could not help notice a tiny bird clinging to the trunk of a palm tree, but of course, I did not have camera in hand. Retrieving the Olympus from my car, I followed the little cutie around, never really getting much, which btw, seems to be a recurring them with my bird photographs.

Consulting my phone bird id app, I never found it, so I sent it to another bird lady who could not figure it out either. Must be one of those "snow birds!"

Keeping me away from my desk, there were four parties this past weekend. I know....a good problem to have. With the miserable traffic here in Orlando, it took a lot for me to drive out to the Dr. Phillips area but it was worth it seeing how happy Cole and Courtney are to be having a baby boy. How she was going to work two 12 hour shifts in a row this week as a neonatal nurse is beyond me.

Oh my gosh, she reminds me of a certain blogger you know who once delivered twins! I joked with her that she was going to miss her shelf.

Supposedly two weeks until Conner's arrival, but we shall see. Cole is Dana's son whom we have known for years. You remember Dana, our fairy godmother from the market? While I don't miss the market at all, I do miss seeing Dana regularly. Many years ago, Cole's fiancee was killed in a car accident and it was years before he got over it so when he and Cortney fell in love we were so delighted.

Although I did not take any photographs, we had an amazing time at Lisa and Oren's lovely home Saturday night and then on Sunday evening it was time to celebrate Susan,

who was not so keen on wearing the tiara, but after all, she is the queen of our complex, also known as the Association President. Husband Dave ordered pizza for the gang,

and Sandy made a beautiful and tasty chocolate cake. We are a lucky bunch to have landed here at Lake Pineloch Village, aren't we?

And now, fully dressed, I am going to look at tile. I'll let you know what I find.

your friend,

Gail