You Just Never Know

Here's a newsflash---I put on makeup this afternoon! And just how long have you been without, you ask? The short answer is, far too long. The truth is, between the heat and just plain laziness, I've been looking not great lately. I wanted to look better for my darling husband when he returns from his church work. Let's see if he notices!

And while church is taking up a lot of his time, he still managed to finish this for our living room and I could not be happier with the color. Or having the television hanging on the wall.  I can't wait to show Roger, over at Ace, a photograph. Don't know what I'm talking about? Here's a link to my last post in case you missed it.

Speaking of which, have I told you that I'm an administrator for the Lake Pineloch Village Community facebook page? From that involvement I have learned a lot about engagements, page views, reactions, and what have you, all related to whatever I post. For my personal page, I am not privy to all of that information, but I can tell that a lot of regular readers are not seeing my posts. How else to explain no reactions to some of the most interesting photos I've ever taken? The point is, there is a lot going on behind the scenes of facebook, that's for darn sure.

A lot goes on behind the scenes of Days for Girls, thanks to our fearless leader Sharlene, who works tirelessly throughout the year. Monday we packed kits for an upcoming shipment to Malawi. I began the day, along with other volunteers, counting bars of soap. Lots of soap. 700 went back into inventory with the rest packed tightly in boxes for the trip to Africa. Next we filled the shields with liners,

which made their way into Ziploc bags, heading down our assembly line. The bags have five more liners, two pairs of panties, a washcloth, instructions, and an additional Ziploc that the girls use as a washing receptacle. The final step is closing it all up and stuffing into small drawstring bags.

Before long our boxes of menstrual kits will be loaded on a container ship, headed to West Africa where Helen will distribute them. Should this charity interest you, here's a link to their webpage.

Because we finished an hour early (!), I went to see Maureen. It was Bingo day and that is always fun. Although Maureen had three cards, she was not one of the winners. When someone does win, they all sing, B I N G O....

It was the first time I'd seen that young man who is helping the woman in purple hear the calls. He's been volunteering for four years which I find remarkable. Unfortunately I cut Maureen out of the photo! She is adjusting as well as she can to her new life in a wheelchair.

Holy cow...we have a small tomato!

We've no clue if it will ripen in this blasted heat though. Speaking of which, well, it is hot. With rain sometimes. Which is why I try to walk as early as possible. Do you see what I see in the big tree?

Stay tuned...

My Green Heron seems to be hanging around and since he got no love in my last post, here he is again. Of course it could be a girl, couldn't it?

Remember we talked about bird identification and how there is so much to learn? To the casual observer, these two look very similar,

however, the foreground bird is a Little Blue Heron while the other is a TriColored Heron. Now you know.

Well, the nearly grown up Cygnets are changing colors, little by little. This took me so by surprise that it is not very crisp but it does the trick of showing how they are changing.

Speaking of which, another tricky part of identification is the molting stage. This Wood Duck couple looks way more similar at this time of the year. The male is on the left although it is hard to tell given that he does not have his brilliant colors.

Those eyes give it away!

When I've not been out looking at birds, I have been thinking about, or working on the bedroom. I got all of the dark blue done, however, we aren't certain about that soffit.

As you can see, I put some green paint on one wall trying to pick the color for the rest of the room. It is Georgian Green by Benjamin Moore. I painted more of it,

however, Bruce remains unconvinced, voting for the color I auditioned on the other wall. Wyeth Blue by BM.

Input from you would be most welcome!! Next week the crown molding will go in, and then we will actually do the final painting. Hoping to have a decision by then!

One of the projects Bruce has been working on at church is the rehabilitation of the large front porch columns that are in serious need. Peeling paint and deteriorating sentinels is not a good look. He's interviewed several contractors, or at least as many as do that kind of work and put a budget together. In other words, project managing for no pay, and he couldn't be any happier.

While he keeps on working, I keep looking at birds. This morning I saw one of my favorites, the Limpkin picking up a snail.

Apparently, one of many, many eaten in this same spot.

For the most part I've been confining my walks to Lake Davis, mainly because of the shade, but this morning I walked around Lake Cherokee as well. And you know what? Not a swan to be found. Where could they be? Part of the lake is inaccessible as far as sight lines, but once around the houses, I peered through my zoom lens, seeing a little white, but alas, it does not look like a swan to me!

Green, green, and more green! But no swans. Where could they be? I'll keep you posted.

While leaving I decided to go a different direction and am I glad I did. You just never know what you will see, and in this instance, pulling the car over to the curb, I hopped out because, by golly, there was a pelican on Lake Davis. (not there during my initial walk around the lake)

Now that I've had time to do research, I've discovered it is a juvenile who, apparently does not know that she should be closer to the ocean. Watching from the shore, I knew when some ducks came into the picture,

that the Pelican would do something. It sure did!

Took off, flying towards downtown.

As an aside, so wondering what the SunTrust tower will become when the sale of the bank goes through. Anyway, I kept my eye on the bird and sure enough, it came back for a fish, plunging headfirst from the sky. As they do.

By now I knew I had to get going, having errands to run. As I walked back to my car, who should I see but Harris sitting on his big front porch. We chatted, and it was he who said, "you just never know" what you will see on a lake. Isn't that the truth?

your friend,

Gail

Thunder and Lightning, Oh My!

While selling photography those many years, I was often asked if I had a photograph of so and so...butterflies, giraffes, elephants, cars, you know, all manner of things that captivated people. One request that came often was for dragonflies. I do have a lovely pink dragonfly, but I never had any that looked like this one perched on my clothesline the other day. Is this little guy cute, or what? Maybe it's a girl...who knows?

Let's see what I can find out about one that looks like this....way too many for me to sort out! Anyone else familiar with dragonflies?

Wonder of wonders, we finally heard the glorious sound of thunder last evening. I had to run up to Publix a little after six last evening, and I thought you would enjoy seeing this fantastic yellow tree against the stormy sky.

While talking to Bruce about twenty minutes later, I told him I thought it might just pass us by, however, much to our relief, I was wrong. Going to sleep to the sound of rain was such a blessing. I'm thinking we didn't get that much, but at this point, we will take anything the heavens offer!

Well, my friends, a lot has been going on around here. As you know Mr. Peck was not here for his birthday, but I went to his party nonetheless. Cheryle and David were having a get together, and when I told her that both Pam and Bruce had birthdays last week, we decided cake was in order. I made two, with the first one being this Ina Garten Beatty's  Chocolate Cake.  As you can see, mine looked nothing like hers!

Sort of a leaning tower of cake; at least the name of cake shared the last name of our hosts! The Beatty's do such a wonderful job entertaining, they put most of us to shame. The garden is always put to use in the centerpieces.

Having only just returned from a road trip to New Orleans, along with several of their airbnb guests, David had fun making Hurricanes, going so far as to use freshly squeezed juice.

Cake and ice cream is served...

How do you feel about serendipity? I'm pretty much a believer in it, while at the same time believing that everything happens for a reason. Last weekend, our son David called, asking me if I wanted to hang out with him on Saturday afternoon because both Bruce and Michelle were busy. Not something I ordinarily do, I agreed because, really, why not?

During our conversation David mentioned that a unit two buildings away from him was up for sale, and the owner did not want to use a realtor, relying on word of mouth. He claimed it was a fantastic unit that was fairly priced, as well as having a wonderful location in the complex. He suggested we think about it for an investment property, however, he also knew that his Dad has been talking for several years about us living in Lake Pineloch Village. So, David arranged a showing on Sunday afternoon. The moment we went in the front door we were pretty much sold because of the view of Lake Willasara. The folks who lived there spent 24 years enjoying that view, however, they never upgraded a thing, which turns out to be perfect for us because we can now make it our own. The view from the bedroom..

As are most of the lakes in town, it is low, but not nearly so much as some. The folks put in serious sliding doors against the screens so you can shut off the living area and open the sliders for breeze on the porch, but if it is too hot, you can shut them and open the others so it can become an air conditioned space. Pretty clever, I'd say.

It is smaller than our home, but not by much. Then too, I am so looking forward to having a larger shower. While I've become accustomed to a 1960's sized shower, I can't say as I haven't wanted more for a while now.

As if we didn't have enough to think about, now this, right? Bruce got home last Friday night after midnight, but he was up bright and early, so we went to see it at 9AM before signing any papers. What I neglected to mention is that both Bill and Dave looked at it with me last Sunday, and it was quite the show with both of them "double teaming" the owner on price. You had to have been there, but I will say, I could have never done what they did, negotiating about a 10% discount. :)

In Texas, Bruce's job is nearly finished, on time, and mostly on budget. The managers take over on Wednesday meaning any further work has to be accomplished over night. I am so proud of his team there because they have done an outstanding job, so much so that Bruce can almost say they walked across the finish line, something he is always striving for. Woo hoo! The opening is about three weeks from now.

In my last post I mentioned I was holding back some photos, but now is the time to share them. The green heron from my last post was quite the find, as was these Limpkin chicks who were valiantly trying to catch up with their parents.

Eventually they did..

We learned from an earlier post that they primarily eat Apple snails, and here is one of the parents with just that for the chick.

So all very exciting. This was on Lake Cherokee, situated a block from Lake Davis. I parked by the former, than walked over to the latter, where I saw an Ibis in breeding colors.

Those legs and face are crazy red this time of year! Lake Davis is SO low with all these weird circles along the shoreline. At least fifty, I'd say.

After walking around the whole lake, I'm thinking perhaps reeds were there and withered from the drought?

I saw a Mom on her nest in an oak tree.

As well, a heron that I'm not quite sure if it is a Great Blue, or not. Seeking all kinds of input from readers today, aren't I?

Walking back over to Lake Cherokee, I was struck by how much I oftentimes take our beautiful lakes and scenery for granted, having seen the same thing over and over again. Then too, most of the millions and millions of the tourists that visit our area yearly, never do see the "real Orlando."

Yet another puzzling thing I saw were quite a number of nests (?) amongst the reeds that looked like this.

I'm heading back over soon to see what is happening with these reed tepees. It is such an awesome time of the year for photo enthusiasts, that is for sure!

Days for Girls went well yesterday with quite a few volunteers in attendance including my friend Leslie who has taught me a thing or two.

She has been with Sharleen since the beginning two years ago. In another room, several women were putting together the 53 kits, packing them into boxes by panties size.

Should you be reading this blog for the first time, here is a link to Days for Girls International, obviously an organization I feel strongly about. We learned yesterday that there are five countries that now have woman making the kits to sell to their own countrywomen! Fantastic, right?

I'm still moving photographs, watching ten years of our lives pass by. The scrappy quilt continues as well.

As I type, the sky is a gray mass of clouds that we all hope will bring more thunder and lightning, followed by a big downpour. A girl can dream, can't she?

yours truly,

Gail

Who Doesn't Love Spring?

Seriously, is there anyone of sound mind that doesn't love Spring? What with all of the beautiful flowering trees and plants, not to mention the darling little babies being born, what's not to like? Of course, you aren't as obsessed with the bird thing like myself, or, maybe you are.

I know I'm not the only one as each time I head over to Greenwood I meet new folks, both male and female, who can't get enough of the owls, or the eagles. I might venture to guess, some of those same folks are even more obsessed than I am, going there daily, rather than every couple of days, as is my practice.

Of course, that was before this happened yesterday morning.

So, here's the scoop....

After Bruce left for his Dallas flight early yesterday morning, I thought to myself, "it's been a few days since you were last at Greenwood, why not go now?  Why not indeed? Parking the MINI around sunrise, I was hoping I would see both of our bird families, and I was not disappointed in the least.

Do you see what I see in the upper branches of the lone Pine tree?

You may remember me talking about the "golden hour" and here's quite the example of that.

From talking with other enthusiasts, who are more knowledgeable than I, this is probably the male eagle, watching the nest from afar. I had the place all to myself, or so I thought until I walked closer to the nest,  seeing the eaglets testing their wings.

It was there that I ran into Jack Rogers, my former Historical Geology professor from Valencia, who had driven over before school. We talked about the owls, and he told me he'd seen the owlets already.

Say what?? Oh my gosh.

Walking over to the trees, we spotted both parents, the Mama was perched behind the nest amidst the Spanish Moss, while the male was in his usual location in the adjacent tree. After a bit, she popped on top of the crevice and there she was as pictured above.

I was pretty much freaking out at the action before my eyes! The cuteness of this was making me crazy! Plus, I felt so blessed to witness nature in action.

Down she went...

and the action began, with her feeding the owlets a rat. Curious, every now and again, they would look out into the wider world.  Glancing at my watch every so often, I had to take my leave because I actually had something important to do. I left Jack with his tripod...

Once home, I made a mad dash to get ready for Days for Girls, finishing one of the quilting lines before packing the sewing machine, as the quilt was still under the needle. We had a real treat during our time together. Make that more like huge inspiration from Helen, our partner, who actually distributes the kits to the girls in Malawi. Look at that beautiful smile!

She absolutely radiated goodness! Her descriptions of the dire conditions facing the people of Malawi brought tears to my eyes. Passing around a scad of photographs of the young woman who actually receive our kits was enough to get all of us inspired anew. She claims, and I don't think she is exaggerating one bit, that we are changing girl's lives with our work. On her last trip she distributed nearly 800 kits from our group, which may not sound like a lot to you, and I'll grant you it is a drop in the bucket of  the needs, however, each kit takes so many steps to make, I think it is miraculous! Should you care to know more about the mission of Days for Girls, please click on this link.

Pictured below are the two dynamos that make it all happen, Sharleen, in the foreground, and Helen in the back.

When I got home, I set up my machine to keep working on the liners, although Baxter sure seems to have other ideas about me using my chair!

Actually, I pushed him closer to the back and sat down anyway, sewing about ten more liners together before the pull of my bird obsession proved to be too strong. Back I went to Greenwood in the late afternoon, and naturally, I ran into others that I know. John,  is the one who originally told me about the owls. The middle woman is Kim, and Sally in the mustard pants, is one of our Hill's Happy Hour group. Having told her about the eagles and owls, a few weeks ago, she is completely hooked as well. That said, we only saw the eaglets hopping around in their nest.

Good grief, I went back again this morning!! Forgive me for showing yet another photo but in spite of the hundreds I've taken of owls in the past few years, it is only just now that I am loving those marks on her inside tail feathers. Very retro actually. (apologies for the poor lighting)

Aren't they cute? This morning there was not a repeat of yesterday's action, however, I met a woman named Candy who was not only a lovely person, she was also a fount of information. Go to Lake Eola and see the baby swans was her advice.

You might be surprised to learn that once I quit doing the market, I don't think I've been back to Lake Eola ever since. Weird, isn't it? Throughout my years there,  I would always see the swans hatching, well, because I saw them every week. Heeding her advice, I drove the few miles over, and began walking around the lake. I came across this display which is very important to our son David who will be attending over weekend. My sweet twins will be celebrating their 38th (!) birthday on Saturday. Because of Dave's plans, our plans with them will probably have to wait until the following weekend.

If you've been to Lake Eola, you know the swans are plentiful, which means you have probably seen many images of them on Camera Crazy before. That aside, I could not resist another of this graceful bird.

Lo and behold, as I made my way past the Wrestlemania sign, look what I saw...

Holy Cow they were cute as can be!

I suspect, just a few months ago, the lake would have filled the area where they were sunning themselves, however, because we are now considered to be in a mild drought, the lake is very low.

So, I kept walking and YIKES, more cuteness!

Let it be known that choosing what photos to put into this post was extremely difficult. As in excruciating, because there are so many cute subjects. 😀

On we go over to the area adjacent to the swan boats..and, here they are!

While standing there, a darling young woman from Ohio stopped to take photographs, and we oohed and aahed over them together. How could you not?  Eventually, they went for a swim as swans are wont to do.

This may or may not have been the right move, going to Lake Eola, because that was a bunch of cuteness all in one place;  clearly, I have enough obsessions at the moment.

Seriously, how can I help it when Spring provides such a bounty of photographic opportunities?

Tearing myself away, I stopped to buy more thread, as I've used up an entire spool on the quilt, and there is still a half to go, as well as picked up our taxes in Winter Park, gladly paying our bill.

And now, my friends, it is time to get back to work on the quilting, that is, until the arthritis in my hand forces me to stop. A camera doesn't hurt it one bit.

yours truly,

Gail