An Unexpected Blessing

To begin with, let's discuss the new look of the blog. Actually, it is a rerun of an old format that I changed to make my blog look more modern. While that was a good idea, it was more difficult to find older posts for those readers who are brand new to my humble space on the World Wide Web. I wonder if that should be capitalized? Hmmm...

As you will now see, the posts are listed on the right, going back all the way to my humble beginnings in 2007 when I was writing nearly every day, albeit very short posts. I was a college student at Valencia who detailed what it was like to be an adult learner in a sea of teenagers. My struggles with various classes, including all FOUR math ones that I was forced to take to get my degree. I was asked the other day about joining a book club and while I declined, it was nothing personal, just the feelings I've held onto since being told to read this and that during those two years. At any rate, make of it what you will.

When last we were together, I mentioned seeing the owl, thanks to the gardener. It's always a good day when I come face to face with a Barred Owl.

Such beautiful birds. After reading my last post where I raved about the film, Winged Migration,

Connie asked to borrow it, watching it the same day, followed by rave reviews today. That made me happy to learn that others can share the joy of birds. Speaking of which, I realized that I'd forgotten to show you the Black and White Warbler, aptly named.

And while I would have loved to show you the cute face, it was next to impossible because it was so tiny and moving around like crazy. 

Since January 17th I've had an obituary beside my computer, not anyone I knew personally, although having read it, I've no doubt I would have gotten along with 99 year old Lucile just fine. No, it was just that, contrary to contemporary thinking, somehow she, and I quote, "moseyed through ninety-nine years on a regimen of La Cantina steak, crossword puzzles and minimal exercise" It was a long obituary, filled with what I considered golden nuggets that I won't bore you with, that is aside from this final one..."An accomplished putterer, never in a hurry, she believed in overlooking today what could be put off until tomorrow." Apparently a recipe for a very long life! Okay, one less item on my desk.

As to our unexpected blessing, it went something like this....Saturday morning is usually a busy one in our pickleball group with quite a few players joining in. Unfortunately, although the forecast was for rain, it was meant to start in the afternoon. Instead, it began lightly raining as we arrived. As such, it was decided that the courts were too wet to play on and maybe later would work. One thing that Bruce has been working on, along with a few other men, is trying to turn one of the tennis courts into some pickleball courts because while there are a couple of tennis players in our village, there are about 30 regular pb players. As I've mentioned before, the city of Orlando is way behind the times and there are no dedicated outdoor courts in town, however, there are six in Winter Garden so we decided to head out there and take some measurements. Much to our surprise, there were four folks playing on the very wet courts.

He's watching them in the above photograph. Have I told you that he is going to be in a tournament there on St. Patrick's Day? Yes indeed, he and Denny are entering in the over 65 age bracket!! He is both nervous and excited as the day draws nigh. Anyway, when the folks finished their game, they stopped to chat with us. One of the guys was/is the COO of Margaritaville and lives nearby. While that was interesting to learn, what was even more so was the other fellow who we learned is named Mike. Having noticed his t-shirt with the USAPPA logo, along with the words, Pickleball Ambassador, we knew he would be a wealth of information. Indeed he was. Oh my goodness.

Not only is he an ambassador, he coaches and had driven over from Mims, about 70 miles away for a referee class. Because of the super wet conditions, the class was canceled, leaving him with time to chat. Not only did he chat, he began coaching us!!! Right away he pointed out that Bruce's serve was illegal, something Bruce was so happy to learn in that setting, rather that at the tournament! I won't go into too many details on the serve problem, but let's just say that he was doing it correctly before, only recently having changed it due to a misinterpretation of a new rule. As you well know, I'm new to a sport, so I've had a big hill to climb learning the skills I need to not make a total fool of myself. I've still got a long way to go, but I will say that I can't wait for Nancy to visit again in March to remind me of my progress. Mike got out on the court, and we practiced some with his helping us with our foot work and in general how to become a better player.

The weather was darn wet and dreary, so you might think that he would want to quit, however, he stayed with us for at least two hours! It was really something...as we drove home I said to Bruce, "that's one way to make lemonade out of lemons." 

We also learned that their newly resurfaced courts hold far more water than the old ones, so they use this contraption to remove excess water.

It looks like something Mr. Peck might have dreamed up. 

In bathroom news, who knew how hard it would be to choose fixtures? I thought I'd settled on oil rubbed bronze, in part because of the windows, and in part because it just feels like it would be warm choice. Warm, you ask? Well, chrome is cold feeling and great for that vibe, however, my style is more cozy. Or so that is how I like to describe it. Turns out I don't like the Delta orb (oil rubbed bronze) much, preferring the Moen finish better. That said, I like the design of Delta more. Those are the two brands that Herbert asked that I choose from. So now I am thinking maybe I will use the bronze in the tub and shower, and a beautiful Champagne Bronze in the sinks, along with that same color for door hardware. I know it sounds crazy, thus I have not pulled the trigger on my order. Yikes!

So, remember how they had a sign on the door at the counter top place about Covid-19, refusing to allow customers in the building? Good call because I have now learned that not only does the owner have it, two of the office workers do as well! Fortunately the lady who helped me was not amongst the positive tests, however, that has left her as the only one in the office, so we are still waiting on our quote. Furthermore, while talking with Patty about my shower curtain dilemma, she spurred my creativity and I've got some fabric on the way. 

Perhaps you wonder why I frequently include weather news and if so, here's the reason. Oftentimes I will hear people make comments about the weather, maybe that it is far rainier, or the temperature is either hotter or colder in such and such a month. Well, I've got this handy thing called a blog which helps answer those questions. So I am sad to report that we had to turn the air conditioner on for two days, something I abhor in January! We've had fog and cloudy early mornings followed by mostly pleasant, if you like warm temperatures, weather. I mention the clouds because super sunrises have been hard to come by of late.

Oh who doesn't just love the colors of the male Wood Duck?

I'm very much hoping this pair will produce some babies come about March! It may have been the same day that I was looking for the White Pelicans when this guy popped out of the water, rubbing his face on the ground, sort of like Baxter used to do with rugs.

As far as the White Pelicans are concerned, after watching the film, I'm even more stoked when I see them, wondering where they have come from and where they are going. Sadly I did not get any decent shots of them, but rest assured, I will keep trying.

To take my mind off of bathroom fixture decisions, I made some peanut butter cookies, sprinkled with Kosher salt, this afternoon. Oh and the cookie jar was empty. That too. I'll sign off for now because I've got some cookie deliveries to make.

Until next time, I remain,

your friend,

Gail

As a Matter of Fact, We are Keeping the Tub

When I've told people that we are finally updating our master bathroom, the first question I get is "are you keeping the tub?" Most of our friends have removed the tub, opting for a large shower instead, however, because it is the only tub in our place, ours is staying, albeit with a paint job. Paint job, you ask? Indeed, you can paint a bathtub, something we know because we've done it before and it worked beautifully. Although we are ordinarily not bath takers, every now and again a bath is a fine idea. The more I've played pickleball, the more the idea of a hot bath to soak my aching joints sounds very appealing. So, are you interested in more details aside from the bath? 

Let's go....

I believe it was Monday morning that we'd arranged for Herbert to come to the house to discuss the project. If you don't know who he is, well, let's just say he is what might be considered a God-send because he can do it all. You need plumbing work, he's your guy. Drywall--for sure. Electrical, no problem. And the list of his skills goes on. 

We'd planned on tackling this project far sooner, however stuff got in the way, including Covid-19. Now that we've had our first vaccine, and soon to be second, we felt like the time was right. Speaking of the vaccination, our friend Mary told us that about ten days after receiving hers, her arm began to redden and itch at the injection site. Sure enough, ours did too, nothing serious and is gone now but when I asked Fallon about it she said that type of reaction has been very much reported.

As you can see by the list above, there is a lot of steps to tackling a remodel, so I had Bruce walk me through it in the order things were meant to happen. We'd planned on going camping this Sunday, but for a variety of reasons, we canceled the trip in order to focus on the project. I'm sure you've read all about delays in getting materials, so we felt it best to keep moving rather than interrupt the process for five days. Finding floor tile was first on the agenda. Before we moved in we had the popcorn ceilings done, followed by wall painting, and then new flooring. Well, the ceiling guys did not heed our instructions and dropped all sorts of goop on the bathroom floors which proved very difficult to remove. Thus a new floor is imperative. Except, apparently I'm not easy to please because I made about four trips looking for tile that I thought would be just right. I won't bore you with all of the details, but I brought some samples home and guess which one we chose?

If you guessed the ones on the left, you know us well. I love how it ties into the wood floor; we'd already planned on painting the vanity dark blue and now I will use the green, albeit maybe lighter, for the walls. One bonus is that the price was excellent, although that did not play into our decision. And what pray tell does this bathroom look like? Big.

Another good thing about the floor tile is that it will blend just fine with the wall tile which is in great shape and really just needs some contrast to make it work. The wall of mirrors is coming down, thus lots of drywall repair. Now I'm just trying to figure out the fixtures. Should we go with trendy brass, chrome, oil rubbed bronze, (which would kind of match the window), brushed nickel, or maybe black? Decisions, decisions! Black is probably out as I'm sure it is hard to keep clean, not to mention probably shows mineral deposits over time. The countertop will be a white quartz with a bit of veining. For that I drove over to Stone Crazy on Silver Star Road, the same folks who did our kitchen. I was greeted with a sign on the door,

"Sorry, no visitors inside the showroom due to Covid." As is seemingly the case everywhere, when I opened the door and hollered inside, the woman who came to the door wearing a mask told me that two of their workers tested positive, so no one was allowed inside. Fortunately she came outside and was able to show me some slabs, as well as providing me with a sample to take home. We stayed very much 6 feet apart, should you be wondering. Asking me to send her a photo in order for her to give us a price, I suspect that she was somewhat surprised when this arrived,

along with the photos,

which I'm including so that we can do some comparison after things are gussied up.  Another question is lighting. We looked at some fixtures, but I'm wondering if they will get lost in all of that wall space. While I know it is not trendy, I'm thinking of just painting what is there, the new wall color so that it might blend in. Hmmm.....

The good news is that because the tile came from Floor & Decor, we were able to pick it up immediately.

Bruce took it to the storage unit and will pick it back up when the time comes. The project begins the second week of February which is just around the corner, thus our urgency. 

Meanwhile, the robins are still here, eating all of the camphor berries that they can to prepare for their migration North.

That sweet husband of mine surprised me by going on the web and finding the Winged Migration film that I was raving about. Made twenty years ago, we watched it last night and it was just as thrilling as I'd remembered. While I know that you may get tired of bird photos, when you watch something like that and ponder the miracle of migration, you just have to think to yourself, every bird sighting is a treat. Including the Brown Pelican that was on our lake this week!

Along with the pelican, those are gorgeous Wood Ducks that we feel so fortunate to see with regularity, something that I do not take for granted. Susan reported seeing some White Pelicans on the the big lake, but to date I've yet to witness that glorious sight. Soon, very soon.

You might think that all I do is bake, yet I do enjoy preparing meals almost as much. I made a version of a Thai noodle dish, cutting up all the fixings, along with making the peanut sauce.

Sometimes we eat it cold, but for this dinner, it was hot and I added shrimp.

We've had quite a run of chilly days of late, however, today is warmer and as I just said to Bruce, "it is a glorious winters day." Made even more so by the fact that moments after typing the above regarding Susan's pelican sighting, she texted me to say that they were back. Immediately I quit typing and zoomed down there to see them. Beautiful bright blue sky, the same with the water, and the presence of 25 White Pelicans completed the picture. Plus, I may have seen a few seagulls as well. Once home, I checked out back and sure enough, we've got some too, however not yet close enough for a photo op. I did, on the other hand, see the owl, thanks to the gardener. What a day to be a bird nut, right???

All that chilly weather makes for an interesting lake in the early morning with steam rising to greet the day.

With all of the shopping for bathroom stuff, our refrigerator is bare, thus, it is time to head over to Publix.

Here's hoping that your winter day is far better than you'd hoped for when you got up this morning.

your friend,

Gail

p.s. You may have wondered why I don't soak in the tub currently and the answer is that the drain plug is broken, an inconvenience that will be remedied within the month.

Back to Birds

Right now, the weather is fine. More than fine actually, the kind that helps a person understand why people from Northern climates flock to Florida for the winter.  Not just people, birds do as well. Many mornings, in the last week or so, the air is filled with the chattering of hundreds of American Robins feasting on the many Camphor trees on the property. Fuel for migration. Isn't it just astonishing to think about migration, how the birds know where and when to go? I, for one, find it amazing. I've looked for the film, Winged Migration, on streaming services with no luck, but I can say, unequivocally, that it was one of the most profound pieces of filmmaking that I've ever seen. And that was even before I was a bird nut!

So, without further ado, let me show you some of the birds I've been enjoying, some new ones, as well as some old favorites. 

It has been such a pleasure having these beauties visit again, some normalcy in the midst of the pandemic. 

Speaking of which, cases continue to skyrocket in Florida, making us ever so grateful that we were one of the lucky ones to receive the vaccine. A few days after I'd written the earlier post, which you can read HERE should you have missed it, the hospital just down Orange Avenue from us began giving out the vaccines and about six friends were able to receive theirs without incident. Others have not been as fortunate as all of the doses have been given out already. Here's hoping they will once again have an allotment. No one I know has had any more of a reaction than a sore arm, although Carolyn did witness one at the hospital that must have been scary! Closer to home, Peg is steadily improving, never having had to be hospitalized, and Yvette says that she feels just fine. Whew!

Try as we might there was nothing we could do to help the Anhinga who, after six days, looked like this.

The shot above was taken some days ago and I've not seen the bird since, making us wonder the outcome. It is hard to imagine that, with all that goop keeping the beak shut, it could survive. 

Ibis have been finding space in the trees out back,

as has this unidentified bird.

It happened one gray day that not only were there scores of Robins, but the above bird as well. Now you might think it is a Crow, and maybe it is some type of one, however I ran into a fellow named Andrew who worked for Florida Fish and Game Bureau who is well versed in birds, and he could not figure it out either. It did not help that with no blue sky to provide contrast, it was really hard to make out the features.

When we first moved here, it really bothered me that there were downed branches along the shoreline and I did not hesitate to retrieve them for aesthetic purposes. Well that was just plain dumb of me. Over time I've learned that they are a vital part of the ecosystem, providing a place for birds to perch when they are not swimming as evidenced by this pair of Mallards.

With glee I spotted two pairs of Hooded Merganser ducks two days ago; I'd nearly given up hope that they would visit this year. That said, they are maddeningly difficult to photograph because either they hang out in the deep shade, or swim too far out for my lens capability. Let's just say that there were dozens of trashed shots and still this one is lacking because it is only two males. I'll keep trying because the female bears very little resemblance, a characteristic which is not uncommon in the bird world.

Aren't they just awesome?? So smart with that color scheme. Speaking of color, the other morning the weather was not ideal, so instead of playing pickleball, I went for a walk around Lake Davis. I mention the gray sky because when that is the case, the water looks more like a blank slate rather than the reflected blue of the sky. I present a Blue Teal duck.

That same day I went over to the nearby wetlands adjacent to the cemetery where I saw a passel of Wood Ducks and lots of bare Cypress trees. 

I think I learned to appreciate bare trees more from living in Vancouver that glorious year. There's just something about being so close to the circle of life that feels very soothing to me. 

Walking around Lake Haven there, I saw a new bird! A tiny one, that's for sure, which I have now identified as a Black and white Warbler.  About the size of the palm of your hand.  

While thinking about small birds, holy cow, one of them, a Carolina Wren,  came into our house unbeknownst to me, that is until I saw it in Bruce's office, flying from place to place to perch. (I hate it when the formatting goes haywire and I would fix it if I knew how!)

Not to mention poop, as it seems that when they are frightened, it is a natural reaction. So, what did I do? Panic, sort of. First, of course, I grabbed my camera, followed by, "what the heck am I going to do?" thoughts. Well, before long it flew into the living room, followed by landing atop the ceiling fan in the sunroom. Quickly, I shut all of the sliding glass doors, opened the back screen door and hoped for the best. It worked, but not before it pooped on our white sofa! 

How about I show off some cookies to give you another quick visual, a somewhat sweeter one.

Made from an old recipe that called for old fashioned rolled oats, coconut and chocolate chips. Yup, lots of butter and sugar too. 

That made you feel a little better, now didn't it? 

Back to backyard birds, I could not have been more pleased than when I saw this image come off of my camera card. Although last year there were some fun shots of the Red Bellied Woodpecker and chick, it is that red bellied part I want you to appreciate, my first time showing it off to full advantage.Robins galore!

Moving back indoors, here's something completely crazy, however from what I've read, not to be entirely unexpected. This came in the mail three days ago.

Opening it up, I was astonished to find a Christmas card, mailed on December 16th from Steve and Liz in New Hampshire!! Seriously?

I learned from Matthew that they have yet to receive our Christmas card, however, they have received  thank you notes for our gifts. It was only just yesterday that the utility bill arrived, two days after being due!! What the heck?? In other mail news, are New Years cars becoming a trend? I've received three of them. 

On the other hand, the postman delivered a special birthday gift from Matt and Tom yesterday afternoon. One of Matt's photos made into a jigsaw puzzle, taken during their trip out West. Yeah, the same one that was cut short back in March due to the pandemic. That was a story that could not be made up as they dashed back to England before the borders closed!

It is seemingly impossible for me to ever sort out the edge pieces on the first go round. 

Well, I hope you've enjoyed the birds as much as I've enjoyed photographing them. I will sign off, or make that fly off, showing you a photograph that is one of those types that you hope you got, but the action was so quick, most of the time you don't. 

Taken right outside our front door.

Aren't we the lucky ones?

your friend,

Gail

p.s. Matt sent me this interesting article about Inventor of the Q code. Turns out it was based on the barcode.

A Test and a Vaccine

When Peg sent out a text, while we were playing pickleball, that her cold was more than a cold, we knew that our bubble had burst. Seems as if a get together at the pool did not include as much social distancing as is wise, and it was seemingly inevitable that someone else would get it too. Of course at that moment in time, Yvette was also playing pickleball and had no idea that she, too, had it. Yikes and double yikes!

Immediately Connie left, contacting another friend and the two of them went to get tested at a place that uses the saliva test. Others went there as well, finding it convenient and the 48 hour wait for results a fact of life. Because we had our vaccinations scheduled for Friday, and this all happened last Monday, Bruce went online to find out where we could get both the rapid test and the longer one at the same time. Turns out that Orange County has just such a place out on West Colonial that other friends had used. Thank goodness for their insight because those tips were invaluable. 

Firstly they recommended we arrive as early as possible, before the 9AM opening. Leaving at 7:30 we arrived just before 8, easily finding the location which was well marked. 

Note the moving cars with spaces between them. Following behind those cars,

yet another turn,

and eventually coming to a stop near the sign below. Good news for me, just to the left of the far structure there was a bathroom. Whew!

What we did not know, at this point, was just how long and winding the road ahead was. Inching forward a tiny bit, we encountered the cars pointing in the opposite direction, the place we would eventually occupy in approximately two hours. Bruce opened his window, asking the fellow who was probably fifth in line, when he arrived to get such a spot. "Four AM"was his reply!! Because Denny had told us there would be a considerable wait time, I'd brought along a crossword puzzle and Bruce had his book.

Once the clock struck nine, the cars began inching forward, and we knew we were on our time would eventually come. True to the sign, around 90 minutes later, we made our final turn towards the tents.

Woo hoo! Almost there. Right about now I should mention that both Peg and Yvette are having mild cases, neither of them very sick, although almost ten days into it, Peg began having chills again while Yvette has no sense of taste or smell. 

Meanwhile, I guess it is my optimistic nature, but I felt pretty confident that neither Bruce nor I had it, but making sure was prudent, just in case I was being a fool. Once at the spot, it was all done quickly and  efficiently, especially because we had preregistered and had our bar codes ready. We both had the nasal swab, as well as the one they insert into your nose much deeper.

God bless those workers...can you imagine what it must be like doing the same task from 9-5, day in and day out? Not to mention the worry! I had the larger of the two pictured women and both could not have been any more pleasant. As we left the tent, both of us kind of swallowing hard to recover from the nose probe, we were so pleased that we had arrived early as the line of cars to get in was absolutely incredible! I had estimated that there were at least 100 cars ahead of us....well, the line when we left, snaked through the whole road out of the park and at least 1/2 mile down Colonial Drive and then onto another road!! Now that would be some kind of wait!! Actually we learned from a friend a few days ago that there are signs when you pull onto the park property that say expect a four hour wait from there. 

Oh how we hate you Covid-19, let me count the ways.

It was with a sigh of relief that we received texts, even before we pulled into the complex, saying our results were ready to be viewed on the special website. Negative/negative. Although I got my negative results from the PCR test on Thursday, Bruce received an email saying his specimen was contaminated. We decided that should he develop any symptoms he would go through the ordeal again. To date none have emerged.

So, on Friday morning we left the house, prepared to wait again for our time slot of getting the vaccination between 10-12AM. We drove to the vast, mostly empty, convention center on International Drive, following the provided signage. I will say it was not nearly as helpful as the ones at Barnett Park, however, the set up is fairly new, whereas the testing site has been open now for about nine months. 

I'd brought along the iPad and this time we killed time by watching several great videos about the origin of pickleball back in 1965. How they made up the rules as they went along, to the history of paddles, going from shaped plywood to the beginnings of what are called composite paddles. Turns out an early young player's Dad made them from scraps he brought home from Boeing. Good thing they were fairly short because this line moved quickly. We came around this corner,

and there it was!

My reading of the Edison book has made me hyperaware of inventions, both the tweaking of old ones, and the use of new ones. Which brings me to the barcode. Who knows who came up with that technology which would change the world? I did not, and now, much to my astonishment, I have just learned that it was based on Morse code!!   Amazing, right? Then again, perhaps you knew that? 

While not quite a barcode, this was used to mark us before we received the shot.

Undoubtedly based on an earlier invention. Anyway, EMTs gave us the shot in our preferred arms and it was super easy. Mostly anyway. In the photo above you might note a man with a blue shirt on and that man turned out to be a photographer for the convention center who stopped my EMT from pulling the needle out of my arm in order for him to take some photographs!! Appropriate, right? After about a 15 minute wait in the parking lot, with medical personnel standing by, once assured we had no reactions we were sent on our way. Again it was done quickly and with efficiency. I will say that the initial encounter with the website was a little tricky, but once I found the instructions, it worked just fine. Not only does it now display our encounters, it has our next vaccines, scheduled in February.

On the first day it was a bit sore to the touch, on the second, way more so. Now it is day four and it feels fine. Bruce had some chills and general malaise on Saturday afternoon and I was as lazy as I could be, but we are both fine now. One thing I have learned is that the next dose is greater and more uncomfortable. Furthermore, Fallon had her second dose and she had a very miserable 24 hours. Fortunately, for most people, those types of reactions are short-lived. 

So, now you know. In an effort not to worry our out-of-town sons, I've kept this quiet until now, our in- town sons were freaked out enough! In any case, we feel fortunate to have, hopefully dodged the disease. Now we are hoping our friends recover sooner rather than later.

One week since this all began, our local hospital, two miles away, is now scheduling vaccines and five of our friends took advantage of that today. There are, or so it seems, some advantages to being over 65. :)

In other news, it snowed in Austin yesterday and I will say I was a wee bit jealous when Jonathan and Alissa did a Facetime with me as they walked around the block.

For some reason, my last post seems to have fallen through the cracks and should you have missed it you can click HERE. 

Finally, have you tried blistering Shishito peppers before? While normally not a huge pepper fan, should you see them where you buy produce, I can recommend them highly. A tip I read was to oil the peppers, not the pan and it was an excellent idea.

Now, my dear ones, I am heading into the kitchen, where I plan to do some baking in order to refill the cookie jar. 

your friend,

Gail