Here and There, Part Two

The smart thing to do, early this morning, would have been to have gone straightaway to Publix, however, had I done that instead of my bike ride, I would have missed this lovely winter sunrise.

Actually, as most anyone knows, this is taken pre-sunrise. In fact, I took off around 7 this morning, immediately noticing the show going on above me, so I rode as fast as my little feet could pedal down Ferncreek to the boat ramp on Lake Conway. If you can imagine, I even took my shoes off and waded in a bit to get a shot past the boat house! Beautiful and peaceful, although there was one truck parked there already, so apparently someone was out on the water.

Woo hoo--I also saw, for the first time in ages and ages, the eagle!!!

The light was still quite dim, and of course the pine on which he is perched is about 80 feet tall, so with my equipment I'll never get too good of a shot, so this one will have to suffice. Good photo, or bad, I was just elated when I came across him.

So, after riding toward the eagle house, I turned around, heading back to the boat ramp. The streaky sky and golden light were spectacular.

Fantastic, right? It pays to get a move on early!! The truth is that I have barely any time to write today as we are taking Michelle out for her birthday dinner in about an hour or so, followed by picking up Jon and Alissa at the airport tonight.

With that in mind I'm going to show just a few of my favorites from the last few days. We pulled up at a garden center and were greeted by this wonderful scene:

And, who amongst you has ever had the pleasure of a Christmas cactus that you never thought would bloom turn into a MASS of blooms one year? This was on the front porch where I rarely saw it so for now it is out on the table by the pool.

Corrine, who turned 89 just two weeks ago brought over magazines for me a few minutes ago. She walked across the street with her cane which disturbed me. I cut her some of the fudge I'd just made and gave her two pieces of the SHORTBREAD I made the other day. The shortbread is going to be a post in itself when I have time. All of this reminded me of the hibiscus bloom I filched from her plant the other day because the color was outstanding!

Here's a little fellow all ready for the upcoming Rose Bowl between FSU and Oregon! No, for those of you who don't know my dog, it is not mine. For some reason he was roaming a neighborhood I was riding through.

For the record, Publix was a mad house, as you knew it would be only a few days until Christmas......

We'll talk soon,
Gail

Late Fall in the Garden

Yesterday, in spite of the fact that I wrote I was getting right on my chores, I have to admit, I became distracted by my garden. Or what passes as a garden during late fall. First off, it was gray, gloomy, and wet from intermittent rain. Nothing like the rain while Matt and Tom were visiting, but enough to make for a miserable day.

Cheering myself up by taking photographs, the first thing that got my attention was a big crop of big mushrooms amongst my purple petunias.

Aren't they something? For the record, I did not place that fallen bloom atop them. But you knew that already.

Adjacent to this area is a big patch of purple plants that I started from a cutting gleaned from Angela's garden. They just spread, and spread! This time of the year they have these cute little white blooms, or that is what I'm calling them for lack of a better term.

The cool thing is that Cheryle has since taken cuttings, planting them in her garden, so the spreading business continues. Another shared plant is this coleus; again from Angela's garden, or make that her former garden! Still miss that girl living across the street.

The color is quite cheery don't you think? And guess what!!! I have a bloom on my paperwhites!!!

Although there are loads of green stalks, aside from this bloom, and one more I noticed yesterday, the remainder of the plants are just that---green stalks. That is infinitely better than last year when all I had to show were the bare green stalks. Have I mentioned how much I like white flowers? I read somewhere that they really stand out in the dark, and indeed they do. Presently, I have white pentas, and petunias, as well as my two paperwhite blooms.

Much to my surprise, the Christmas cactus is blooming like mad. Last year, nary a bloom. Perhaps there was some benefit to moving it onto the porch shelf?

And, while we are out front, how about these geraniums?

Technically, these are in a pot I purchased, so not really IN the garden, but still they are worth showing. I had no idea what color they were when I bought them, so it was quite a pleasant surprise when they began blooming. Although it looks as if the one on the left is two-tone, there are really two plants with the fuchsia being the odd ball of the bunch.

Then there are the Nandinas, sporting lots of bright red berries. Love.

By golly, I've run out of garden photographs to show, so let us enjoy a little Christmas cheer from inside. A few years ago my friend Sue had a little booth inside an antique shop where she sold old stuff. Imagine that. Anyway, I picked up Mr. and Mrs. Claus from there.

Aren't they fun? Last year when we were decorating for the party, everywhere we put stuff up. Not so this year, but I did want a little something in the kitchen so this is what I did.

May I just say again how much I am LOVING my "new" kitchen? Thank you for your indulgence.

Well, today, once again the sun is shining with temperatures in the mid 50's. Perhaps you wonder why I'm always writing about the weather? The reason is two-fold--one, because it affects me so much, and two, because this blog is a record of life here in Orlando. A lovely friend came by the market Sunday, and during our conversation, she mentioned she'd just begun reading "Camera Crazy." Nice. That said, because she is new to this space, she had no idea about the original impetus for blogging, or frankly, that there are nearly EIGHT years of posts! I can hardly believe it myself. I was just a young thing of 53 when this all began. My word, how time has flown. For the record, here is my first post on Valentine's Day, 2007. I certainly have become more verbose. :)

An Anniversary of Sorts

Waking up this morning I immediately began puzzling about today's post. How best to summarize my feelings on the anniversary of my mother-in-law's death? Am I sad, or am I happy? Sad, because we'll not see her again in this life, or happy that she's reunited with her loved ones in a better place?

Both Bruce's brother and sister urged him to visit the graveside, which he did yesterday morning after setting up the booth. Returning in the afternoon, I asked him how he felt, to which he replied-- "mixed feelings." I know what he means.

Although my father has been dead almost half of my life, I've gone to the cemetery maybe three times. Mostly, because I know he's not there. Sure there's a marker, but it means little to me. I prefer to think of both the good times, and the bad, while he was still living. Have I ever told you how we had to polish our shoes every afternoon when we returned home from school? Shoe inspections followed when he got home from work with punishment meted out if they weren't done properly! I suspect today's children have not once polished shoes, however, if I were having to buy shoes for eight people, maybe I would have done the same. Times, obviously, have changed.

But I digress...

Taking the trash out to the can out front, I immediately knew what I would use. Why, of course, the Christmas cactus I brought home from her house. For two weeks or so, I've watched as buds appeared and wouldn't you know it--today the first one opened wide. Now, that's how I like to commemorate her life--with a tangible reminder of her. Serendipity? Maybe, but it sure speaks to me more than a headstone.

I can just picture her delight upon seeing the cactus, which, undoubtedly she'd babied throughout the year, come to life once again with brilliant fuchsia blooms. Furthermore, there was this in the Times on Saturday: Blog of Yesteryear If you watch the slideshow, you'll be sure to recognize one of the diaries. Pretty amazing to me that it showed up now. Coincidence? I don't think so.

Making her gingerbread this Christmas, (although I did not attempt the pinwheels because I lost the recipe) using her scissors when cutting threads on Matt's quilt, those kinds of things keep her alive for me.

Rest in peace dear Judy Ann Peck, you've left much good behind. Thank you, thank you, for giving me your son to share my life with, and be the father to my children. I loved you, and still do.