A Photographer's Life

 Well, this photographer anyway! 

This morning when we arrived at the courts it was not only chilly, 52 degrees chilly, but there were a multitude of spider webs wet with dew on the fences. After playing my first game, well, you can guess what I did can't you? Should you have guessed that I retrieved my camera from the car you would have been spot on. 

Very few folks at the courts know anything about this blog aside from one Miss Nancy who learned of it from a Florida friend. If you can imagine, the woman whose name escapes me, asked Nancy if she was playing pickleball with me in Murphy to which Nancy replied, Gail who? Said friend claimed that I was a famous Orlando blogger which was quite the surprise to me! Anyway, thank you to whomever you are! Nonetheless, several of the players expressed surprise, probably from seeing anyone with a real camera in their hands and wondering how in the world I was going to photograph the webs. 

I guess, try? 

One of the ladies insisted I take it with her back to the fence which turned out pretty cool, didn't it?

It is simply amazing how intricate webs are.  Sounds a bit like something we all are very familiar with and that would be the world wide web which indeed snares us and sometimes won't let go!

There were dozens of others but even I know when to quit! There are a bunch of ladies that not only play pickleball, but quilt as well, so the reference to spiral quilting after seeing the above rang true.

As you can well imagine, I take more photographs than is strictly necessary, but sometimes I just love the light and can't resist.

Of course I will want to remember this sweet bouquet of zinnias Laura gave us from her garden. She, of the recent Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year fame, Laura. Yup, somehow we have found ourselves well connected in this sweet little town. I have said it before, but it bears repeating many times over, how lucky we feel to have found this darling house and these lovely neighbors. Not one iota of drama which soothes my soul. Having so many wonderful things to photograph right outside the door, well literally right outside the door,

has added hundreds, well let's be real, thousands of new photographs to my overflowing library! 

While I typed that there was no drama around here, it depends on what one calls drama. In our case, every single deer spotting makes for drama for these Floridians. Sure there are deer in Florida, but I could count on both hands and still maybe have a digit or two to spare, the amount of deer I have seen in the wild. I spotted this sweet fawn on the front lawn this past Saturday morning. 

Taken through the screen, I was so happy even if it does give it a fuzzy appearance. I wanted to call out to Bruce but at the same time I wanted the fawn to stay where it was. Oh the conundrums we face!! The doe was some feet away and over time the fawn thought I might just as well go and join my mother, scampering off.  WELL, looking in the other direction I was freaking out as three, count them, three bucks appeared out of the trees!!!

Unreal I tell you! Fortunately by then Bruce had joined me on the porch, making us very happy indeed. One thing that we noticed and I have now confirmed it with a bit of research, is that the deer lose their tawny brown color as winter approaches and turn gray.

Sometimes I neglect to look at all of the photos I have taken and that would be the case with this mantis because I can assure you, had I seen this before, I would have used it in my bug post!

I can hardly believe I took it, but I assure you I did. As you may have already noticed this post is going all over the map with photos and stories of things that interest me or I think might interest you. So, allow me one more shot of the mantis on the newly installed very dark brown mulch.

From that same garden bed, lots of plants were trimmed including these neat ones that I am leaving out to dry.

I will admit that my feelings were slightly hurt that no one seemed very interested in my exciting Robin photo so let me try again for a response!

Let us go to the kitchen now. A visit to the farmer's market on Saturday was very successful resulting in these local goodies. (not my messy tea bag birdie!)

How does one resist a dozen which includes a green egg? One doesn't. Interestingly enough, the egg adjacent to the green one turned out to be a double yolk!! Both of us agreed they were very tasty indeed. When buying them we got a little lesson regarding eggs and their storage. Turns out these organic eggs can be left on the counter for weeks. As well, she claimed my baked goods would see an improvement so testing it out I just had to make this oatmeal cake, an old recipe from Bruce's mom.

So yes to the eggs, and a double yes to the okra. Roasting it with cajun seasoning was a winner.

The best part of the okra was that there was no slime. NO SLIME! Don't you just love that cloth napkin Nancy gave us for our anniversary?

Gosh, there is just so much to report. Like how the river is diminishing. Note the water level on the rock. I suppose the water line is a clue too. :)

John had told us that what we were seeing when we arrived was considered a lake and in September it would go back to being a river, but at the time we just didn't get it. Now we have seen it for ourselves, although I can't say that I get it yet!

What is so interesting is that before it looked muddy but the truth was that it was an illusion due to the brown bottom and rocks. That reminds me when we visited Blue Ridge last week, stopping by a small park on the Toccoa River, we could not resist standing in the cool clear water.

That would be one of the two jeans skirts Nancy brought here for me, both of which are getting plenty of wear. Although not today as it is quite chilly this morning and gasp (!), I have put on a light pair of pants! Gasp because I hate both pants, and shorts, but will probably have to get used to them sooner or later.

It might have been on our way back from Blue Ridge that we stopped for a brief time at a roadside cemetery. Wandering cemeteries is a pass time that I enjoy, imagining what life was like for those I see memorialized. What do you think could have happened here? 

Did Wade die of a broken heart? How sad the two of them must have been when this happened in their married life.

Can you read it? Enlarge if not. Losing not one, but two infants? 

I will admit to scanning the cemetery for mushrooms, something I seem to be doing everywhere we go since I discovered how interesting they can be. 

Quite the pile of them right? It is a type which I have now forgotten the name of as there are dozens and dozens of them to be found here in North Carolina. 

Last week, our field trip did not take us too far away. John, who is an Energizer bunny btw, rides his mountain bike on the Piney Knob trail system just outside town. He had been encouraging us to give one of the hikes a try and so we did. Bruce kept reminding me that at the rate we were going it was going to take all day to go only a few miles. And why might that be, you ask? Blame it on the mushrooms that were begging to be photographed!

By the time I spotted these Bruce was a ways ahead of me as he knew that I would eventually have to catch up. I think I did have to call him back when I spotted movement in the leaves and saw this creature which I am calling a toad due to lack of knowledge about what it really is. The camouflage is amazing!

I have become accustomed to my iPhone identifying plants and flowers, bugs too, but as for mushrooms, it is a no-go. Amphibians as well. Perhaps it is this?

On our way to Blue Ridge we stopped at a super weird place which I will show you in more detail another day, but this sure caught my eye while we were there. I love seeing weird stuff like this.

Peer out the window for a preview of the place!

Remember we stopped at the vineyard that was closed? The one with the Palominos across the street? 

The owner was quite chatty and suggested, in spite of us being there while they were not open, that I head down a few rows for grapes that were soon to be harvested. Each row had the grapes covered with a mesh to protect them from the hungry birds. 

That color, right? 

Well here is something to celebrate! 

The doors are wide open; let Autumn begin!!

So, a glimpse into this photographer's everyday life. Stuff just begs me to take a picture.  As soon as I typed that sentence it reminded me of a funny incident in our family's past. Our twins were on an episode of the show called "Get the Picture" on Nickelodeon and it was quite the experience. Those were the days!

your friend,

Gail

p.s. It does really take the two of us, but how to work that into a title, I really don't know how.