The Countdown Begins

As most of you already know, Matt and Tom are FINALLY coming to Florida. Not for long, mind you,  but anything is better than nothing after all this time. Waking up in the middle of the night, I worked on putting some sort of itinerary together in my head, as is my wont. Now I just need to get those ideas down on paper so that they can choose what sounds appealing. I know, or at least I think I do, that both of them will enjoy a visit to the new Sprouts at Colonial Plaza. A visit there last week showed me that it is their kind of grocery store. We always love grocery shopping if only to compare what is readily available here.

I know when I was grocery shopping in downtown Vancouver, the stores were very small in comparison to ours and I think the same holds true for London. I will await their correction if I am wrong. 

As if a pandemic weren't bad enough, this mess in Ukraine is unbelievable. Realizing that mess is a poor word choice, it is just too painful to even type the word "war". Our friend Irene's parents escaped Ukraine when Stalin was punishing their country and when I ran into her today she told me that she still has family there who are scared out of their wits. Putin is a bastard in my opinion. Not a word I use regularly, however, it seems fitting in his case. The bravery of the Ukrainian people is so admirable. May peace prevail sooner rather than later. 

On a much lighter note, I finally made some cookies that were pretty and mostly the same size!

Still in the kitchen, Matt's great friend Liza is a tremendous baker who posts photos of her lovely creations. She recently was on a mission to bake an old-school Pineapple Upside Down cake and finally found the recipe she wanted from an old Southern Living magazine. That prompted me to get my wedding present Betty Crocker cookbook down from a top shelf.

Which led me to make an old fashioned Sour Cream Coffee Cake from the cookbook. While tasty, what was most remarkable was the fact that it came out of the tube pan like a charm thanks to a little help from my best friend. And that would be Bruce. 

 

Using the back of a spoon to smooth each layer before adding topping, I was pretty proud of myself to have made it work. Yeah for old-school!

Here's something you probably don't know about this couple. We love popcorn and eat lots of it, especially when there's been a late lunch or neither of us is very hungry.

Microwave is good, but stovetop is better!

Let's stick with food for a bit. 

We popped over to see what had become of Charlie's Bakery which we'd read had recently been sold. Talk about old-school. They opened the year we graduated high school. As you probably already know, I grew up behind this shopping plaza making this is part of my very old stomping grounds.

A new modern sign, and a new product, after all these years. Oh, and a very sleek new look too.

That new product would be ice cream. Vegan too which might please our London family. Bill tells me that a friend from high school bought it; hopefully it will last another 50 years under the new ownership.

Saturday I noticed some lake movement and lo and behold, there was a Brown Pelican!

Lo and behold #2 was the brief appearance on Sunday morning, just as we were getting ready for church, of four White Pelicans and a whole host of Cormorants. The action didn't last long ,but when there are about 60 new birds on our little lake, it creates quite the sensation.

You just knew I would find some way to segue into birds didn't you?

Indeed.

The previous weekend it was the Great Backyard Bird Count. Naturally I had to participate. Briefly, if you don't choose to check out the link itself, it is when for four days people around the world count the birds that they see to better understand the global bird population. That said, there are some incredible birds to be seen on that site, so if you have any interest at all, I suggest you check it out. 

First we visited the Heron and Cormorant nests on Lake Adair. Secondly I checked out back. Finally, while Bruce was fishing, I drove over to Lake Davis in the late afternoon where I saw more birds than I could count. As in well over a hundred! I can't remember a time when I went birding late in the day, so it was quite the revelation. The Red Winged Blackbirds were both noisy and plentiful.

Speaking of bird calls, you may not see any, but this tree was full of avian activity.

Just as I rounded the corner I spotted a Red Shouldered Hawk on a light post. 

Note the red just below the pictured eye. Well, not too much later the above hawk flew away....and landed...

Oh my goodness! Well it is breeding season so I suppose not to be unexpected, but for sure it is a first time sight for me.

Unfortunately for me I was shooting directly into the setting sun, so not great photos, but you get the idea.

Continuing on after this exciting discovery, the huge crowd of Ibises came into view, along with 

more birds landing in the water. I knew they weren't ducks, but what could they be?

Egyptian Geese is what they could be! Now for most of you this seems like no big deal, but for geeks like me, it is a big deal because for months now they have been absent after mysteriously appearing on the lake about two years ago. Was I witnessing their equally strange reappearance? That I don't know for sure, but taking to some very unlikely looking birders, think young hipsters. they seemed to think that it was indeed their long awaited return. Make of that what you will.

Was I ever delighted to have gone that afternoon, not only to add to my checklist, but just to witness so much activity.

Closer to home, while I wish there were more birds coming to our feeder, for the most part it is the Tufted Tit Mouses that keep us entertained. With super quick movements, it has been so hard to get a good photograph but finally I think I've done it!

Isn't it as cute as can be? Such big feet for such a little bird.

So last weekend I was counting birds, but this one I was counting the days until our firstborn and his beloved come home. They did come at this time of year four years ago when Bill and Fallon married on March 3, but that trip was a bit of a blur as we flew in from Vancouver and I can't remember a whole lot about the visit. I do remember buying my dress two days before the event. Nancy was here too. If we did anything fun aside from the beautiful wedding, I cannot remember it at all. And that, my friends is why I have a blog! 

Anyway, the weather should be nice enough, the yellow Tabebuia trees have begun their annual show, and the light at this time of year is beautiful.

Less than four days away!! Woo hoo!!

your friend,

Gail