Peak Season

or so the woman said when answering my phone question about the timing for visiting the Butterfly Encounter at Lukas Nursery. In order to keep myself sane, this week I've been going on outings whenever possible. Monday morning, around 10, it was possible. Arriving with the new camera in tow, I entered the hot and humid atmosphere of the aviary, which in this case describes it well because I saw way more darling little birds than I did butterflies! They were darting all over the place, and was it ever something.

Who wouldn't be happy when seeing a bird with POLKA DOTS? I mean seriously...

Apparently there are gobs of types of finches in this beautiful world of ours, mostly ones I've yet to see. All I know about this one for sure is that it is cute as a button.

Below is a Spice Finch which is really interesting as yesterday afternoon I made a homemade spice cake, one I've not made in forever. As a young girl, when asked what kind of cake I wanted for my birthday, you know, in the days when people actually made birthday cakes, I always wanted spice.

In addition to finches, they also have little quails that clean up the ground. I've seen brown ones, I've seen white ones, never have I seen one that I'm calling deep rust. Seriously cute.

They have a room, if you will, with Painted Lady butterflies ready to be both fed and held by the customers. You dip your index finger in some Gatorade, hold it below the butterfly; they hop on!!! The attendant told me their taste is in their feet.

Although there was a Giant Yellow Swallowtail flying around, not once did it land for even a moment. There were quite a number of this very attractive green butterfly.

And then something terrible happened--my camera battery died. I mean the screen went black. How could this happen, you ask? Well, interestingly enough, before leaving the house, I thought I'd checked it, but apparently I did not read it correctly. There was so much more I wanted to photograph, however, it was not to be. I was hoping the attendant would feel bad for me and validate my admission for another day that I wanted to drive twenty miles, however, she felt none of my pain. :)

Note to self, always take a second camera, it is not like you don't have one!!

Yesterday's excursion was to the Orlando Museum of Art to see the Florida Prize in Contemporary Art, an exhibit that is closing within the week. Although that exhibit did not engage me much, you'll see something in a few minutes from it, I thought the museum as a whole was terrific. It's been way too long since last I visited.

So, take a look at the piece on the wall...

Can you guess what is under the openings on the left side panel? POSTAGE STAMPS!! There are punched, or that's what I'm calling it, holes with the stamps visible. Now that is really something, isn't it?

The permanent collection spans many genres, some super, some just okay.

I loved the movement in the sculpture, so lovely, the figure and painting in the back, not so much. Take a closer look at those two.

You may find yourself wondering just what is attached to that head gear. Well, I'm here to tell you that, for the most part, they are painted bird figurines that must have taken the artist a long time to collect. Or, perhaps he came upon a bird statue lovers' estate sale? One that also had gobs of crocheted potholders? I'll never know.

I found this piece fascinating...the statue is made from plaster casts, you know, the kind people used to wear on their broken arms. The photograph added another dimension.

I was especially intrigued by the self portrait pictured on the left below--made with stamps. No, not postage stamps, rather the kind that you use with an ink pad. The accompanying text explained that the artist also makes art with food, say chocolate sauce, photographs it, then of course discards it.
Sort of like my experiments with milk, food coloring, and corn syrup.

Okay, so about those prize winners....while in another gallery I kept hearing this clanging noise that was pretty much getting on my nerves. Here is the source of said noise.

Expertly created, however, a clanging metal on pots leaves me a little cold. Finally, probably my favorite painting in the whole museum....tada...a sheet!

I suspect that sheet won't do a thing for some of you, but I found it astonishing. The rocks were really great as well, but that sheet....WOW!

I would be remiss if I left out the cool sculptures on the plaza in front of the museum. Above you saw the sitting one, here are those standing about.

Actually it was a photograph of these that I saw in the newspaper that made me finally get off my butt and see them in person. I was not disappointed. Should you be interested in seeing them for yourself, they will stand mute outside the museum until the middle of January.

All views presented are my own...feel free to disagree with me!

So, we have some God made beauty, and some man made beauty. Isn't life amazing?

Trying to stay busy,

Gail

A Garden Tour

Don't panic--I'm not showing you everything!! For someone who thought she was through with taking care of living things, I've sure taken on a lot. Although they don't cry, get in trouble, or the like, all these plants take a lot of looking after!! A few minutes ago I counted the different types of plants I have in just the back yard and there are twenty; many various colors of the same. For instance, I have four hibiscus plants, two red, one ruffly orange, one plain pale peach. Same goes for geraniums--red, coral, white and purple, not to mention the hanging basket by the side door, I call this one candy cane:

For sure not what they call it, but it works for me! The hibiscus bloom like mad sometimes, other times they are just green bushes:

In the forefront the spicy jatropha tree is filled with red blossoms.

Mostly I do the planting, however, a few weeks ago Bruce surprised me by planting all of these darling little dianthus plants on a Sunday while I was "vending" as he likes to call it!

When I left for the day they were still in their trays and in the ground only in my imagination. Adorable aren't they? Lots of the time I go for the two-tone as you can see.

Yesterday we had the day off from the market because of the semi-annual Fiesta in the Park. To be honest, we didn't mind one bit. My sales have been pretty anemic this month so what's another bad weekend? I did go to Winter Garden on Saturday which was pretty much a waste because everyone was attending the annual "Spring Fever" held a street away. You could find most anything garden related there, which is probably where I should have been rather than behind my table! I did venture to the kids area and saw this girl brushing her little donkey:

So cute!!

Sunday we took advantage of the time off to work in the garden but not before we took a trip out to Lukas Nursery in Slavia. What a place, particularly now in Springtime, although truth be told, Spring may not last very long at the rate we're going.Their selection of large glazed pots is to die for. We roamed around taking in all the beauty of blooming plants everywhere. I was looking for a hanging basket for the front porch to replace the impatiens, which as I told you before, are dying off in droves around these parts. So sad.

The more we talked about the garden, the more mistakes I recognized I've made in choosing plants for various spots. Around the new oak tree has already had about six different flowers, most of which have either not done well, or just don't look right. Remember the beautiful purple salvia I was so excited about? Moved. The spiky yellow flowers moved. Either there weren't enough of them, or they just didn't do as well as I'd hoped. Both Bruce and I immediately fell in love with a new flower, well really not a new flower, just a miniaturized version of an oldie but goodie. This website describes them as petunias on steriods which I hope is the case for us. Supertenias says it all. We counted the ones they had, fourteen which was not quite enough according to Bruce who likes instant planting--none of this watching and waiting business for him! Initially we did not put them on our cart, instead spent a little time looking around at what else was available. Fortuitously, we decided that we'd seen enough and went back to their location. Just as I was picking up both trays, a woman came up saying she was hoping to buy some. I expressed the appropriate amount of sorrow for her loss, but insisted we were buying them all, and in fact, my husband was searching for more. She declined to take no for an answer, saying she'd only stepped away for a bit and was returning for them--"I only need two." I resisted the urge to say, "you snooze, you lose," because that almost described us! Standing my ground, I loaded them on the cart. I did helpfully point out that there were pink ones available. :)

Once we returned home with the back of the Pilot filled to the brim with goodies, I began relocaating the flowers I'd only planted weeks ago. Unfortunately something has been eating the salvia, the leaves are full of holes, although it hasn't seemed to hurt the flowering process one bit. Before re-planting them I sprayed the undersides of the leaves hoping to spruce them back up in their new location adjacent to the side door. The yellow spiky things found a home behind the bench where I grouped them tighter hoping that will make for a better look. Bruce removed two wheel barrows full of dirt, walking them down to the lake lot which was no easy feat!

After hours of work I was pooped and didn't have the energy to finish planting them until 7:00 this morning, just as Bruce was leaving for California for a few days. Hopefully I've found a flowering plant that lives up to it's name!

Now that I see the plantings in a picture I see I could have planted the back ones further away from the tree. Believe me, it was hard going what with all the roots so they are staying where they are!! The yellow guys behind the bench:

I'm loving purple flowers these days! In the foreground is another new one in the pot--what else--purple and yellow!

The caladiums are going gang busters, some with leaves almost a foot tall. Regina was by this morning and couldn't get over how big they are. I was showing off a new variety I found at Lukas picture in the front:

I'm going to give Bidens another chance, or as I'm now going to be calling them, "yellow charm" because they really are charming and the pot said it was so.

This morning I planted some in front of the blue bird bath. Charming indeed.

Purple, purple and more purple--I can't get enough!

And yet another one:

My niece Laura is going to love all this purple--her favorite color. All the stooping and bending wore me out after about four hours so here I sit typing instead. There are still three trays of grass plugs to put in the back yard which may very well have to wait until tomorrow. Although I wore gloves and shoes,  my fingernails look a fright, as do my toenails! Tonight is the funeral for Bruce's co-workers son and I'll be going for the both of us. I'm thinking I'll have to give in and head to the manicurist.

Before I do though I wanted to share a little laugh with you. I did a little Google search to see if my bio on the Sundance page (written by yours truly) would register. Instead I came across this, which goes to show you that you can't believe everything you read on the web! I laughed so hard when I saw two of my prints in an auction on the Goodwill site, calling Bruce in to check it out. Bold photographic prints indeed.

Hodge Podge

 Does this look familiar? Regular readers know just what is coming next.

Remember me mentioning Lisa bringing over the letters on Tuesday night? Well, she also brought over a photo album, which as it turns out was mostly of Carol, however this gem was spotted by Nancy. She called out "Come look at this Gail!" Here's a reminder of why we were so astonished at the above picture from our parent's home in 1956 when I was just a wee one.

Good grief! I looked high and low for a picture of them both re-covered, but this was the best I could do, which will do just fine as I'm happy to be reminded of the dramatic change! Nonetheless, I was so happy I finally got my scanner to work so I could show you the blast from the past.

I've just come across this fun little website, actually it looks like a blog; you might enjoy visiting it for more fun, not to mention, pretty useless trivia:
 http://flowingdata.com/2010/07/30/how-to-win-rock-paper-scissors-every-time/

Wednesday night it turns out Bill's band, "Exit the Ride" was playing in a  downtown club called the Social. Nancy could not have been more thrilled that she would be able to see him perform live. Lisa made the trip down from Longwood once again to join us. The "Price" sisters headed out for the evening. Photographing concerts is not something I've mastered just yet, but I keep trying. Jonathan, Alissa, and Matthew, all seem to do it with ease, but not me. That said, here's one of the band onstage minus the drummer:

Part of the problem is that they won't stay still long enough for me to get them all in focus! Anyway, after the show here's one of Bill and Nancy goofing around:

Ryan, Bill and Lisa show off the guns:

It was lots of fun except for staying up way past my bedtime. Yikes, I need my sleep! Not a good thing to have to take someone to the airport at 5:45 AM after an evening out. This time, however, Nancy made her flight with time to spare. Lisa left late morning, and this little blogger mostly rested after so many consecutive days of partying! Bruce arrived home from Massachusetts last evening just as I was chatting with our favorite new homeowner. Yep--Matthew called to chat and hear all about the wedding. There's talk about bringing a British boy to sunny Florida for Christmas. I hope Matt can make that happen because Tom has never visited the USofA. Plus, it could be nice to show him that all Floridians are not as crazy as the ones that make the news. You know of what I speak no doubt.

This morning I visited Lukas nursery again to check out their large pots.While there I popped into the butterfly encounter to see what I could see. The butterfly population was down somewhat from my visit last year, but oh my word, do they have a new attraction that is even more fun than the butterflies. A smallish screened room with finches that are absolutely beautiful, mostly new to me.

Not that I've seen that many or anything, but was I ever both surprised, and delighted with this pair:

I could not get over their coloring! I wonder which one is the male/female? Notice the first one's long middle claw! As far as the pots are concerned, it was truly too hot to make a decision. Seriously, I almost felt sick with the heat which typically does not bother me too much. Not today--pictures were all I came home with!

While there I couldn't help but think of a funny story from long ago. We once had a pair of finches, not nearly as colorful as these, which lived in a cage on our screened porch. One day Bruce was cleaning their cage with his shop vac. If you can imagine, he somehow sucked up more than he bargained for. Like the finches. Yikes! Sweet Mr. Bruce was devastated at the time, however, now it seems a tiny bit funny. Or does it?

I suspect you've just about had enough of me for one post so I'll sign off, wishing all a lovely weekend.

Out of Synch

By Thursday night I had to admit that having Bruce working at home for four days was a tad too much. Here's his set up:

Please don't think I'm ungrateful. I'm only speaking the truth. Plus, I'm not telling you anything I haven't already told Bruce. After explaining to him that I'm accustomed to silence and order, he understood. Or so he said. He's there but he's not. He is on the phone constantly using his boss tone. I imagine that some people who work from home slack a bit, however, you've already gathered that Bruce is not in the camp. He actually works harder and longer.

Sooo...on Friday he decided to not work at home. In fact, he didn't work at all. We used the opportunity to head out to Lukas Nursery (http://www.lukasnursery.com/) in Slavia. What a treat. The plants are wonderful and there are so MANY to choose from. Butterflies were flying free and here's one:

You will note the beautiful blue sky as well as the magnificent color of bougainvillea. Good stuff.

Primarily it was a recognizance mission. Naturally Bruce had a notebook and sketch he'd drawn and he made notes as to what plants we most liked. The weather was hot but we'd arrived just before 9:00 so it wasn't too bad. Wonderful pots and garden ornaments. Terrific!

Because we were driving right I showed Bruce the museum gift shop to get his feedback. At the same time he was able to see our wonderful new exhibit of works by Charles Turzak: http://historyrat.wordpress.com/2009/06/10/charles-turzak-coming-to-the-front/ Michelle has made a case with all his wood block cutting tools which was very impressive.  And then on to lunch at El Porto. If you live in Orlando and haven't tried it, you are missing the boat. I know I was. It's one of those places that someone who has been there before lets you in on the secret that it's not only delicious but cheap as well. If you like Mexican food, check it out in the KMart shopping center across from Winter Park Village.

Umbrella ordered--check. Colorful large ceramic pots--still working on. Glass tiles for pool edge--check.

Moving on, I'll be picking Nancy up at the airport in a few hours. There's a wedding in the family on Sunday evening at 5:00.  Lisa's daughter is marrying her high school sweetheart in less than 48 hours. Sound familiar? Here's hoping their love continues to grow like some other couple you know. Excitement is in the air

For those of you who don't know much about Nancy, let me just tell you she is an organizing queen! Years ago she did my not only my spice cabinet, but my closet as well. Wonder of wonders, I've been able to mostly maintain her ideas. She loves the stuff, whereas you know that I'm not so into it. Do I sound selfish wanting her to help me with a few other closets? I'm only thinking of her obsession! Seriously, we'll see what she can find to make better around here.

In case you were wondering, the door is finally fixed in excellent fashion.

Time to hang the clothes on the line now so I'll leave you to your holiday weekend plans. Hope it's as nice as ours will be. As I type, Bruce is out on the lake fishing, something he's been able to do a few times this week. The fish are biting!

P.S. Probably the real reason I don't like having Bruce work at home is that it highlights how hard he works and how little I do. You think? Ouch!