Back at the Homestead

Holy cow, it's been forever since I wrote a blog post! Have you missed me? 😁 

Two weeks of activities is mighty hard to recap in one post, but you have to start somewhere, so here we go.

My title might have been a hint?

Indeed, Florida has welcomed us on Sunday afternoon. In a first, we took the interstate, and while way more stressful the time it takes to get from NC to Orlando is a good deal shorter. Leaving Murphy at 7AM, rain was falling as we began our journey,

and continued for far too long. Thank God it was the Lord's day because the traffic through Atlanta was bad enough in the pouring rain, I can't imagine if it were a weekday! While I did miss seeing the little towns along the way, a highlight of the drive was the presence of loads of wildflowers along the interstate in Florida. Oh my goodness, the construction on the turnpike widening!

The Villages seems to go on forever and ever, taking over a large part of the upper middle of the state. I predict there will come a time in the future when there is little to no separation between towns. Grateful to be home safely, we had called the twins asking if they could be there when we arrived. Being the exemplary sons that they are, we opened the door to their warm welcome. Apparently the house was stuffy, so they got a head start on airing it out. Although they turned on the water, all of us forgot about the breaker to the hot water heater, so when I turned on the shower Monday morning I was in for a surprise.

Let me tell you, the floors were so darn dusty, walking barefoot was very unpleasant indeed. So far, I have gotten to the floors, but dusting the furniture is another story. Our mission here is to accomplish as much as we can, including I'm having my teeth cleaned this afternoon, meeting with friends, no pickleball so far because our time has been spoken for. Monday we did switch storage units, well actually, we were thinking we would clean it out for good, but once we saw all of our camping equipment, along with Christmas stuff and a generator, we realized that was not a realistic goal. Our new home has plenty of space for that sort of thing, but for now we are taking baby steps. You may wonder why we bothered and the answer to that is that we were trying to save a little money. As it turns out, after weeding out some things, the new space is perfectly adequate. 

I'd forgotten about the otters. Yup, so wrapped up in the deer and small birds we have come to love, I'll admit that my Florida wildlife has taken a back seat. I walked out the back door and good grief, there it was.

Amazingly, after a brutal last week of super high temperatures in Orlando, this week it has been mild and pleasant, thus the front and back doors are open. We have become accustomed to both darkness and almost complete silence, so while there is a cool breeze coming through these open doors, there is also the faint sounds of airplanes and traffic.

Speaking of traffic, Nancy has accompanied me for two days of shopping. It is almost comical how quickly I'd forgotten how fun it is to shop, rarely doing so aside from Walmart during our months away. So I just mentioned above about getting rid of stuff and now I am buying stuff? You read that correctly! While I have purchased some clothes (thank you Ross), mostly it is decorative stuff. Bruce is reluctant for me to remove pretty things from this house, thus I am buying. That said, I am reluctant to have a house with all new things because where is the character in that? I need memories!

Driving the baby car again has been fun if you don't count the THREE times people have nearly run into me. Yikes, the traffic here! We popped into Target to check out the new pickleball display and were not disappointed. So many cute things!

It is astonishing how much the sport has moved into the mainstream in the years we have been playing. To that, of course, I say, why not because it is so much fun to play!!

One of the reasons we waited until Sunday to drive home is I was asked if I would help with photographing the opening ceremony and events for the Senior Games. What fun that was. Should you be curious, click on this link for more. A highlight for me was watching an 89 year old man win a gold medal for the football throw. Having heard so much about it, we were not sure what to expect, but now we have seen for ourselves that a good time is had by all. 

I took a little stroll to see what I could see here and was not disappointed in the least. Surprised to see two Common Galinules in the lake, the anhinga and pollen were expected, as was the low water level after very little rain for the last month. 

My very first business card looked something like this except it was a red hibiscus.

Speaking of photography, I have told you that I did not win in either the photography or literary, haven't I? Maybe next year. 

Where once a huge oak stood, the bed in front of our unit has been finally replanted ,and while some folks, or so I've heard, are disappointed with the new look, these Ixora are such a beautiful color.

As is this Calla Lily beside Jane Lou's unit.

Not only am I hearing the calls of a Fish Crow, I am hearing neighbors talking and the tap, tap, tap of a Pileated Woodpecker.

Returning from my little walk yesterday, now I know why there is so much plant debris on the sidewalk leading up to our unit. 

With such a huge beak, they can make a big mess in a hurry! Yesterday afternoon was pretty darn lovely.

Last night, while Mary was here visiting, we all noticed the reflection of the nearly full moon sparkling on that water. 

A beautiful sight indeed, however, we left behind some pretty beautiful sights in Murphy, including what I've seen called all sorts of stuff, but I'm just calling them the beautiful yellow flowers blooming along the river. Diane told me about this section of the walk that I'd never done before, and once I did it, I had to have Bruce see it for himself, thus my picture.

The reason I'd not done it originally is because when we first went to Murphy last May, this whole area was underwater. Sounds pretty scary, but actually the water level in both rivers is controlled by the TVA. Perhaps when we return they will have released the water from the dam and this will be no more. I will be sure to let you know. We use the above bridge daily.

Of course I am worried about our birdies in our absence, but that's probably pretty silly. In any case look what is happening outside our windows.

Mama bluebird spends much of her day inside that hole watching out for who knows what! We have no real idea what is happening in our sweet nest box, but we are assuming it is good!

I had been watching and waiting for the iris which are plentiful in the bed below the feeders. One day, finally this happened,

which was very exciting indeed. The reward is below.

Looks as if we have another bird couple to watch. House finches.

Do you notice anything else aside from the birds? Smart readers that you are, of course you notice that the tree is budding out after months of bare twigs! 

The hummingbirds have returned! (I believe that is a squirrel on the upper left)

As have the Barn Swallows! Or at least I think that is what they are. Last summer they were plentiful and one nice sunny day, I will get a better look. The photo below was taken on a gloomy, and now I recall, it began raining as I was walking that day.

I was so excited to see them I ignored the rain.

Lastly two amazing trees that I've seen, both of them will likely not be in bloom when we return. Although the bloom looks quite similar to a hydrangea, this gorgeous tree below is a Snowball Viburnum.

The volume of blooms is only rivaled by the gorgeous pink dogwood. Oh my golly!

While I thought Fall was the most glorious season in the mountains, as we have discovered, Spring is mighty nice as well. Winter was totally worth it!

Okay, well at least you know that I am well, just busy.

Until we meet again, I remain,

your friend,

Gail