Marching Orders

It seems as if there are others catching up with my fascination, as this piece points out: Obituaries are a thing now..

So, that one was good for a laugh, not so much with this one, sent to me by my friend Cheryl, recalling the funeral for our neighbor: Kids Shame Abusive Mom. I've waited a very long time to read one like that!

Yesterday's paper ran this obituary: I'll leave out the name, but underneath said name, it reads, "Mom, the Myth, the Legend." Naturally that caught my eye! The body goes on to say that she of course "was loved by many and had the heart of gold. She lived life just the way she wanted....on her own terms!" Pray tell, what does that mean? She ran traffic lights if she didn't feel like stopping?

Speaking of the deceased, it seems as if the older I get, the more I sound like my Mother. As a young person, this seemed an impossibility, but by golly it has come to pass, as in today's blog post title. If I heard that once from my Mom, I heard it a dozen times! Ask Bruce about others because they could probably fill a page!

You didn't think that Matthew would let his Mom worry about what to wear in the English weather now did you? Of course he wouldn't. After reading my previous post he, called Monday afternoon, giving me my marching orders: a quilted jacket and boots. Like a dummy I asked if quilted jackets were in style. Duh! Would he have told me to get one if they weren't? Looking online I found a multitude of choices answering that question pdq. Don't know what pdq means? Another one from my Mom--the lol of her generation, meaning pretty darn quick.

While chatting with him, Angela came over, ready to start the move. And so we did. Actually not quite that quick because I was working on the pool and couldn't stop immediately. Earlier in the day I rode down to Lake Conway, parking my bike at the Ferncreek boat ramp.

This is the same place I took my current best seller, the old VW van. Every single time someone buys it I'm happy because it seems to make them happy. I was so lucky to have come across it when I did, a few days after Christmas, because I have yet to see it again, despite regularly riding this route. The clouds, of course, are for Karen.

Loading up the Pilot after the pool work was accomplished, we drove the 2 1/2 miles to the new house, and what a house it is, filled with all manner of beautiful woodwork and doors. Oh my, those doors are nice; pocket doors, swinging doors, a dutch door, which for those who haven't heard that term, is a door cut through the middle so the top half can open and the bottom stay closed. We worked until nearly 7:30, finally stopping for a sandwich at the old house. Matt, Angela's husband, is unhappy about moving, not wanting to leave the neighborhood. It goes without saying I don't want them to leave either, after all, it is Baxter's vacation home!

Isn't he just the cutest? Unfortunately, Tanya, our groomer, did not cut his hair quite short enough around his eyes, which will too soon be practically covered! Then again, maybe it's because he is getting older, and you know how men get those crazy eyebrows!

Tuesday morning, beginning at 8:30 we started in again loading both the Pilot, and her Lexus, making multiple trips between the houses. I don't know what else to tell you about it except that we worked all day long until 5:30, when I said it was time for me to get back home. I know one thing I can say: it is a big house, four bedrooms and four baths, an upstairs and downstairs, and so many other rooms I practically kept losing my way. I finally hung a piece of art on the wall to mark the stairwell which I kept passing. That may sound crazy, but it is a bit of a spiral, with the opening upstairs looking almost like a room entrance!

I gave her that much time on Tuesday because Wednesday the palm trimmers were coming at 8:30 in the morning. Arriving promptly, they cleaned out the smaller palms,

removing all the seed pods we simply cannot get to. These all look much improved and more importantly, which by the way, I'm mostly seeing people say more important, which I know is off topic, but I wonder why that is. Anyway, the seed pods are all removed, along with the dead fronds.

The squirrels are not going to be one bit happy, however, I sure am; the seeds kept dropping in the pool, clogging up the cleaner. Ignore the next photo, it's for me to remember their name the next time I need them!

While they were working away, a lady I'd met at Winter Garden came to the house to pick out some images to use for canvases at her new office in Longwood. Apparently she lives out that way because when she came into the house she remarked that she always forgets how cute the neighborhoods are near downtown. :)

After everyone left I went to Nordstrom, which I know does not surprise you in the least. Although I don't have the jacket in hand just yet, they ordered one for me, as well as the boots which were not in stock in my size. Before Bruce left for his department meeting in the morning, I told him about the jacket, and he told me that cords were back in style. So, now I have two new pairs of cords as well. Actually I'm glad they are in style because I find them very comfortable indeed. Leaving the store the sky was pretty gloomy,

which would have been fine if not for the photo shoot scheduled for 5:30. Canceling it due to the rain, I did decide to meet the young woman at her house which is only blocks away. I brought along my hat to use as a prop. Actually it is for a senior picture, the latest trend amongst teenagers. Thinking it might be a good idea to do a few test shots on her covered front porch, she was game.

Oh to have skin like that! We're going to try again for Friday evening, hoping the weather will cooperate.

I bought the hat at Nordstrom Rack a while back, and I'm pretty much obsessed with hats at the moment. People look at me funny, but I don't mind. I also bought a straw fedora with a black ribbon. Previously I never looked at hats, but yesterday afternoon found me in the hat department trying on a bunch of cute ones. Perhaps it is the Downton Abbey influence? Which, by the way, we finished season three on Monday night, and are anxiously awaiting the next season. Don't be jealous DA fans, but it starts in the UK while we are there!

While helping Angela move the smaller things, one thing became so clear to me-- once we removed the wall art, the house, despite having all the big furnishings still in place, was pretty much a shell. It's hard to put into words, but if ever I saw the power of art, this was the time. In turn, this makes me happy that for some people, my photographs are affordable enough that they can bring some into their houses, helping to make it a home. :)

Marching orders for today: photograph something beautiful!

Almost Perfect

That my friends is how I would describe yesterday-- Monday, March 12, 2012. The kind of day where everything goes according to plan including the gorgeous weather. Why, oh why it couldn't have been like this on Sunday???

That there is Mr. Bruce heading out to the vehicle with a basket of prints under his poncho. I won't dwell on it except to say it was not much fun setting up the entire booth only to take it down about 45 minutes later. Enough already.

Instead, I lollygagged all afternoon in my pajamas, watching first FSU beat North Carolina for the ACC championship, followed by golf. Popcorn and FaceTime chat with Matt thrown in for good measure. I know you'll be happy to learn that he and Tom are thriving. Although Bruce did not change into pajamas he lollygagged right along with me if you can imagine. Even more shocking is that he did absolutely no job related work all weekend long!!! Saturday, while I was at Winter Garden, he met up with Bill and Dave at the gym, showing off his improvement, followed by lunch. Nice to get together with your boys.

Which brings us to yesterday, the already described almost perfect day. One teeny thing kept it from being perfect. I don't mind admitting that I've held out a wee bit of hope that somehow I would get to exhibit at the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival this coming weekend. I know it is silly of me, however, as an optimist, I can't help myself. Anyway, after blogging early yesterday I checked my status on the web site. For months now I've been #3 on the wait list. Imagine my surprise when there was no numeral attached. Could it be that my number was almost up??? The short answer is no, it could not be. Throughout the day I kept wondering if I would hear back from the email I sent asking for an explanation. Finally, around 7 in the evening, the call came through letting me know that there was an error and I in fact am still #3. Maybe next year?

As Bruce was leaving for work yesterday morning he asked about my day plans. I answered that laundry was on my agenda. I couldn't wait to try out this little sample that came in the mail:

That's quite a tag line they have there--"Give the Revolution a Spin." All very clever. Because I've been using this kind of thing for the dishwasher for a couple of years now I'm surprised this is the first I've seen the pod being used for washing clothes. I've been using liquid for years now and try as I might I always have some dripping going on. Revolution indeed. The weather was perfect for drying clothes on the line. I give you "His and Hers."

I got to find out first hand how great my new little Jelly Bean rug washes as well.

Baxter, as you may already know, is pretty much a perfect dog. Easy to get along with, cute as a button, and marginally well trained. There's one little thing about Baxter that isn't quite so great and that is his penchant for pooping on the patio by the clothes line. Before you get all grossed out, remember the mantra--small dog, small poop.

The doorbell rang at 8AM. The technician arrived to do the semi-annual air conditioner check. Nice young man. Everything went smooth as silk. Except for the small patch he left on my new rug as he re-entered the house after checking the outdoor compressor. I tossed the rug in the wash, came out perfect and the BEST part is that it dried outdoors in about 30 minutes--I kid you not. No more proof is needed to validate their claims of excellence.

I got all kinds of things done including: mowing most of the yard, planting more grass plugs, watering my flowers and making banana bread. I also ran up to the bank with Jonathan's car payment and took the pool water to be checked. I was delighted when he said it was perfect as I've largely ignored any maintenance for months now.  Finally the tree guy came. Tree guy Gail?

As I was driving home from getting my fresh orange juice last week  I saw a crew and truck in front of a house. Let's just say this was a very good find. He agreed to come and clean up the palms.

These Chinese Fan palms have gotten just plain too tall for us to manage them ourselves. So lots of brown, empty seed pods, and general all around mess. Furthermore they have been suffering from some sort of disease which, in the words of Gabriel from Arbor Vision, skeletonizes the fronds.

In fact, he used all sorts of terms we'd never heard of, talking like crazy about trees. An Arborist will do that you know. Along with the clean up, he applied liberally a fertilizer which includes something that will help the tree fight off the disease. Wait--palms aren't trees we learned--they are grasses. Now you know.

He climbed up a huge ladder and sawed away.

Surprising how much had to go. I was kind of mesmerized by the new seed pod thing he removed.

A neat spring green color and so intricate. Problem is they end up full of fruits that rats like to eat. To date we've avoided any rats in the house and I'd like to keep it that way. While he was sawing away I was folding the clothes as I took them down from the line. I said something to him about the rat problem and seconds later a rat ran along the fence right in front of my eyes! Please go away!

He carefully cleaned the one out front as well, promising not to disturb Mama Cardinal nesting in the lady palms below (see bottom right.)

Lots of big trees around these parts that's for sure. I'm thinking he's up there about 40' in the air. So, it all looks very good now:

The big Queen Palm also got a tidying up. I am most pleased at my roadside find and the $280 was money well spent!

Mr. Bruce left this morning for a couple day trip to check on projects. Because he's been home so much he was not terribly excited as you can imagine. Not long after he left I made my fourth trip out to Valencia in the last few weeks. You'll recall I agreed to participate in the Red Chair project which I'm doing for free. No problem with that except I had no idea it was going to take me so many tries to complete the assignment! First time I went to scope it out the campus was closed for a teacher work day. Next visit I shot the interior of the gallery with the red chair, and an outside shot, but they wanted another one inside the main building. Okay, I can do that. Drove out there last week and it was Spring Break. Darn!!! Surely it would work today.....yeah right. The gallery was closed to hang another exhibit!! I got what I could and re-shot the outside because the flowering tabebuia tree adds so much life.

So, that's that. As I was driving to my next destination I noticed some purple. Park car, get camera, and here is one of the first irises of the season:

I am becoming more and more enamored of purple flowers including these deep purple salvia I planted around the new tree:

 Are they ever going to be gorgeous once they grow up!!

Birds, flowers, caladium bulbs coming up......Spring has sprung my friends.