Meanwhile

Before I found Charlotte's Cottage to rent, and we took off to see it in person, lots of other stuff has/had happened that I want to document, so here goes a smorgasbord of images and time frames.

But first let me just say the drought is officially OVER. Rain every day, but mostly in the late afternoon and even overnight. We have been able to play pickleball in the morning, but those who have been waiting all day for work to end so that they can go play, like our son Bill, have been out of luck.

One day in the last month, probably on a Thursday when we have a resting day, Bruce drove us to Oxford, Florida to the Engage Pickleball store. The paddles are made in a building behind the storefront which is nice because there has been some controversy about the quality control of paddles coming in from China. Speaking of which, that is why we went because not only do they sell their first rate paddles there, but also blemished ones at a serious discount. We bought the latter. 

So, why I am mentioning this now? Well, looking through my photo library and seeing this,

I was reminded that when I asked the gentleman what work he did prior to moving to the Villages, he said he was an executive of the Evelyn Wood Institute in Chicago for 28 years. You would have to be of a certain age to remember that name and in truth, while I for sure knew the name, the actual speed reading method was a mystery. Imagine my surprise when I came across this scathing article about a new biography. Let's just say that time has not been kind to the idea. That makes me wonder how the new foreign language lessons by Babbel will be viewed in 25 years time. After all, seems to me that both of these ideas fall under the category of "if it sounds to good to be true, it is to good to be true." 

Before leaving for North Carolina we attended a lovely birthday dinner party for our friend John who turned 80 last month. 

Sitting beside Bruce is Liz whose book launch happened on Bruce's birthday!! Although we were not able to attend due to his birthday dinner, Nancy went and said it was a rousing success with a large crowd!!  What book pray tell? What began as a blog turned into a book! (click on the link friends!)

According to Bruce, John is his church boss when it comes to projects. A fun fact about John is that he was an engineer for Harris Corporation where our father worked as well. Our father commuted to Melbourne for nine years before finally moving our family there. Thus, I graduated Melbourne High school rather than Boone. 

Lighting that clever 80 candle turned out to be a bit harder than it looks. Bruce to the rescue.

I have not mentioned a lot about the upstairs construction, however it has been ongoing. For the most part, now that they are actually in the construction phase rather than demolition, it has been tolerable. That said, a few weeks ago they told Bruce that they needed to acsess their new plumbing location from the ceiling in our bathroom!! Yikes was my reaction. Bruce moved our stuff away from the bathtub.(I am including the photo below because of the weird lighting; after all, this blog began as a photography space so I might just as well act like it sometimes)

This is how it went down.

Or perhaps I should say up? There was talk of leaving a grill over this hole,

however, I was partial to just the ceiling. They did an excellent job repairing it and it is none the worse for wear.  

Every April there is but one iris along the canal that runs behind David and Michelle's place and it brings me joy each and every time that it blooms. 

I am also happy to report that the tiny flowers on our Arctic Snow bushes have begun to appear.

You might recall that not only did they freeze this past winter but Bruce moved them to make way for the patio which is why we are so excited to see these tiny white flowers come again.

A rare otter sighting on the shore of Lake Willisara!! Naturally I was thrilled.

Speaking of our little lake, the water level was getting super low with weird giant aquatic plant roots floating to shore.

While our lake was what we consider low, Lake Davis has been shrinking for months now. Checking up on the cygnets, two of them remain.

With the recent rains, here's hoping it will soon fill back up. Holy cow, I never posted this crazy picture!

It was unclear whether or not she was part of the group of Yale students we met who are conducting a year- long research project at the lake or just someone who likes sitting amongst geese. 

Something new were some lovely sunflowers blooming along the shore, probably from birdseed. 

Have I mentioned the hawk nest here? I think so. At any rate, I could never get a decent shot of the nest activity, oh wait, that's not true at all. Oh well, here goes anyway. I discovered the hatchlings way above my head on a recent walk about.

The calling is what drew my attention. That, or movement, are good indicators about where to look for birds. Try as I might, I can't seem to share a good article with included bird calls from the Washington Post that Matt sent. Relevant to my interest he said. Truer words were never spoken! Actually the claim was that listening to the sound of birds is good for mental health and who am I to argue with that?

While the kitchen at the cottage is fully stocked, I plan to bring a few things with me, including my favorite pan.

The air fryer is coming along too. As to a mixer of some sort, I will have to check with Laura on that. The work on the quilt continues. I can't remember why but I was looking at photos on my phone and came across the year of the quilt, 2016, when I made at least ten of them! Crazy, right? Most all of them were gifts. Not only quilts, but I came across two wallets, along with multiple tote bags, including this one for Jonathan and Alissa.

When I show the finished quilt, you will get why I included this photo. 

Lastly, something I will want to remember is the fun hours we spent at Gregg and Suzanne's spacious home on Lake Conway learning the card game Hand and Foot. It's a super fun version of Canasta, a game that Bruce and I spent countless hours playing when we were young. I would ride the Greyhound bus over from Melbourne and spend the weekend with his family. Canasta was a super fun pastime that we often shared with his Grandma Peck. But I digress. Suzanne showed us her unique way of shuffling the five decks needed.

They fed us, entertained us and allowed us to have the seats facing the lake at sunset...what's not to like?

Now I can rest easier. Lots of things I want to remember are now in print. As to remembering, that is suspect but at the very least, the search bar on this blog will help me find them with a few key words. Over and over through the years that has served us well.

We are counting down the days. 17 days to go.

your friend,

Gail