Thank You Notes. Have You Written Yours Yet?

I'll admit, I haven't, however it is on tomorrow's agenda. During the last month I paid so little attention to my business that today I both did some practicing and ordered some new stuff, along with some customer favorites. Predictably my first sale of the year yesterday was "It's a Promise." I can't blame folks for loving it, I know when I saw it in person I pretty much gasped with delight. So, on we go, another year of shooting and selling. Amazingly enough, around September or so, I thought I'm doing well this year, perhaps I can meet my sales record this year. By the grace of God I did so by around $4,000. Crazy, right?

Talking to Nancy on the phone today she told me she'd read my last post about the wooden spoon and had to chuckle. Why, you ask? Well, while she was here last weekend she used that room for her stuff and saw the wooden spoon on the windowsill, wondering why I had one in a bedroom. She went so far as to pick it up to carry to the kitchen when apparently she either got distracted or assumed I had my reasons. This amused me greatly.

During the last couple of days that Jon and Alissa were visiting we did a few things, including a little afternoon spent in the Ivanhoe Village area. I asked Alissa to take a picture of me and J sitting in some chairs in front of our favorite furniture store, Something Different. And so she did.

So, there we are. As are my car keys sitting in my lap. So what Gail. That's easy for you to say. Following our adventure in the furniture store things got even more interesting as I wanted to get some reading glasses out of my car and could not for the life of me find my keys. Controlled panic ensued. Purse dumping, scouring the store, and self recrimination followed. Eventually both Alissa and the store worker suggested we ask in one of the other shops, and sure enough, someone had turned them in! Here's the thing--we wondered how in the world it happened, and now, after finally unloading the photos on my camera for the first time in a week, I see the evidence. Now we know.

Alissa loves taking photographs nearly as much as I do, frequently we like the same thing, although she's a whiz with her iPhone whereas I am not.

After some snacks at White Wolf Cafe, which were yummy in case you are wondering, we made our way into "Rock 'N Roll Heaven," and did we ever have fun. I can never see anything Beatle related without thinking about my dear friend Karen Hirsch who actually saw the Beatles in person as a young girl when they played in NYC! Plus, she had Beatle trading cards! Who knew there was such a thing?

Poor Paul with his arm lying on the ground....

Who knew there was a General Hospital board game????

Perhaps all my GH watching when I was a junior and senior at Melbourne High School influenced my decision to work in medicine? NOT! I did love it though; every afternoon after school. Other girls were in clubs and sports, I watched GH.

So, in some bad news/good news, Matt Stromberg's brain cancer has returned after a 20 year hiatus. Obviously that is the bad news, the good news is that following a four hour surgery yesterday morning, he is recovering miraculously. Previously he lost mobility and speech ability--this time it seems as if that will not be the case. Normally Matt is a party animal and loves dancing however, at the party he was on the "dance floor" only briefly as he had been recently suffering both headaches and vertigo. Now we know why. If I could tell you more I would but to date that's pretty much all I know aside from he will be having chemotherapy and radiation as soon as possible. Both Angela and Matt are remaining calm, relying on their faith which seems to working quite nicely for them. :)

Recently I've discovered a shop that I love--R. Nichols Stationary and Gifts, located in the same strip center where Roger and Trish are moving the printing business.

If you are so inclined, check out the link, particularly the "about" page--a wonderful success story. Anyway, this morning I realized it was the first Monday of the month so I took a little trip to Leu Gardens which happens to be just down the street from the shop. Score!

The citrus grove, which by the way, these were already lined up for me:

 And your know how much I love variegated foliage:

There were the usual plethora of Moms and strollers! It warms my heart seeing all the stay-at-home Moms in evidence. Speaking of Moms, Jen, our niece by marriage is a good one. She is turning her boys into little hipsters:

They visited me at the market yesterday which is always nice. The day was sunny and bright which you know made me very happy indeed.

While we are on the subject of foliage, well, at least we were, Jane and Ray, Tom's parents sent this beautiful foliage basket for my birthday which arrived amidst the chaos of the window replacement.

As you can see, the painting is not complete, however I do have a crazy new turquoise rug!

Finally, my sister Lisa is a turtle fan. This morning a woman with a small boy in tow was dropping popcorn kernels into the lake and by golly the turtles seem to like popcorn nearly as much as I do.

Those claws are really something aren't they?

While I'll be writing paper thank you notes in the morning, I want to take this opportunity to write my readers one as well.

Dear Readers,

Thank you for your kind interest in my blogging attempts. I know that they are not always the greatest, but there are those amongst you that don't miss an "episode", and for that I can't say thank you enough. When I go on and on, you seem to still be with me, so that's such a compliment. Wow! Nearly seven years now....

With gratitude,
Gail

First Monday

For years and years, once I learned about the free policy, I went to Leu Gardens to practice taking photographs. Summer and winter, spring and fall, if it was the first Monday, you would find me there carrying around either my "baby camera" at first, then later, my Nikon. As a matter of fact, come to think of it, Leu Gardens is where I got my first real camera lesson from Matthew. He told me about stuff like white balance, how to use the menus, and a few other tricks. That was probably in the winter of 2008 and I've been practicing ever since. Now, have I ever sold anything I've taken at Leu Gardens? I can think of one that Bev bought, but that's about it.

Oftentimes, while visiting my tent, people ask me if this is all I do. My response is pretty much this is it. What they can't know if they don't read this blog, or know me personally, is that very few photographs are interesting enough for a person to want to hang on their wall. Then too, many of mine are pretty much once in a lifetime opportunities. Although I've taken a gazillion sunset photos on Lake Jennie Jewel, I've yet to ever get another one quite like "Solid Gold." Same with "Beach Daisies"; I've visited quite a few beaches here in Florida and not once has a scene like that appeared. A lot of it is pure luck--being in the right place at the right time. That, my friends, is good enough for me!

Onward to my first visit this year to Leu. Last Monday it was that I figured, why not head over for an hour or two?

That sign sort of fits what I clumsily tried to explain above! Some of it is magic, with most of it practice. :)

There are flowers, however this visit I took a bunch of foliage shots, some close up and some far away. Just as there are a gazillion types of birds, so too there are a gazillion types of palm trees. Because they grow so well here, there is a large section of the gardens devoted to palms. In the foreground is one called a "petticoat palm." Don't you just love that name?

One thing I've noticed in the last few years, the grounds are not kept as well as they once were. Blame it on the recession's forced budget cuts. There is no Disney perfection, that's for sure!

I remember being so thrilled the first time I got a shot of one of these little bugs because they are so colorful:

While on the subject of flying things, I heard from Jane, Tom's Mum, a few weeks ago. Bemoaning the lack of bees in her garden in England, that has not been my experience. I've read about the same thing happening here, but you wouldn't know it from seeing them swarm this cactus flower.

Daily I'm dodging them, buzzing by the dozens on the jatropha tree adjacent to the patio table. Highly allergic to bees, I appreciate their role in nature, but just don't like them around me.

Imagine my excitement when I saw this:      

Is this a worm? My entire cardinal viewing experience up until now has never included them eating anything other than bird seed.  Woo-hoo!

The flowering plants in the butterfly garden were huge this time of year, what with all the rain we've been having, however, the butterflies mostly refused to stay put long enough for a photograph. Luckily,  I saw this one over by the cactus garden.

Despite earlier writing that no more squirrels would grace the entries on Camera Crazy, I couldn't resist posting this one:

After hanging upside down to harvest the seeds, he would flip back upright to eat.

Wiley creatures those squirrels.

Who amongst you can say that they've ever seen a color as gorgeous?

Seriously, perhaps that was a bit of an overstatement, but for my money, this color is hard to beat!

Who amongst you has seen a hibiscus bloom the size of a lunch plate?

I included the bird house for comparison purposes. Perhaps it is not so unusual if you think about how huge sunflowers can be, but to me, their size is really something.

About those foliage pictures I claimed focusing on....here's one:

Layers, stripes, green edging, what's not to like?

While typing this I remembered that it wasn't always just the first Monday of the month, but every Monday was free, and maybe that's why my visits have been so infrequent of late. Better yet, I should just poney up for a Garden membership allowing me to go anytime. Duh!

Before I go I want to share one last photo I took on one of my rides last week. Coming around a corner, I was pretty sure I saw a hawk atop a giant tree stump, and indeed I did.

Stump is not that great of a word choice, however, I didn't know what else to call this 40 foot tree with no leaves. Any ideas?