Dog Days of Winter?

I wonder if there is such a saying as dog days of winter? Unlike my husband who looks everything and anything up on Google and now AI is getting into the act, I am okay with not knowing some things. In fact, I think that I told you I have mostly avoided any news if you don't count that I knew the Olympics were starting last Friday night and what a spectacle it was! We did not see it all, but what we did see was so special that I hardly could absorb any more stimulation. Oh my! You just might recall that our twins once modeled and went to Milan for that purpose. And as it so happened, David was chosen by Giorgio Armani to be in that season's runway show. Back in Orlando Bruce and I were dying; thrilled for David, and sad for Bill. Having children is not for the faint of heart is it? Anyway the costumes, the Italian flag in the form of a runway show, the music was so brilliant. We are watching the sports at every opportunity.

Last week was quiet as far as being out and about, in part because some days were so darn cold! When last we met in this post, I wrote that snow remained on the ground and I had a few fun photos of the remaining snow and ice I wanted to share, including this stem I am holding from the big hydrangea plant. Even though we have been here for a few years now, I cannot get over how plants come back to life. Remember this when the new blooms arrive in early summer.

This was the view of town a week ago Monday, taken from our front steps.

The Cherokee Scout, our local newspaper, asked for snow photos and you-know-who delivered.

They printed the one above, as well as one of Bruce shoveling snow, however they chose to crop it and I was not thrilled with how it came out. 

Lastly, this:

Oops, I got ahead of myself. I kept getting a kick out of how the snow melted just so that this looked like a little person to me.

Do you see it, or am I crazy??

It was the absolute coldest night of the winter thus far.

Mr. Bruce, while traveling the country and building restaurants in cold climates, spent some time in single digits, but not so much for the Mrs. in this household. 

Maybe that is why he has had enough of this winter? 

So, what do I do when it is so darn cold? Cook. I was making some baked potato soup for lunch.

It must have been not long after completing my last post that we went out to lunch and ran into Mr. Vespasian there. He is now 87! 

Every day he spends time at Chevelles, sitting at the bar and enjoying conversation with his posse. He's got a three beer limit and then he goes back to his apartment which is about two blocks away.  He told us he still drives by the house most days, probably to make sure that we are taking good care of it. 

In that last post I also mentioned that I had some thrilling, at least to me, Cedar Waxwing photos to share, but the snow storm took precedent. Well nothing as dramatic as a snowstorm occurred this last week, so let's get back to those birds!

They are in the process of stripping all of the berries off the plants, seemingly with no concept of personal space!

If I had to guess there were at least twenty of them and nearly that many American Robins chowing down.

And while I do like the Robins, it is the Waxwings that I could not get enough of. I wonder how in the world this one was injured? 

Robins and Cedar Waxwings often chum around together, sharing food sources.

I took these last week and I have not seen any since! :(

Sandy has her birdbath on the ground and they were taking advantage of the water source.

It was absolutely freezing that day, but in that type of situation, I just grin and LOVE it!

This morning was lovely when I went for a walk. In a small town, the courthouse oftentimes dominates the skyline.

The birds were enjoying the "balmy" weather and I am only slightly kidding. Today it is meant to be nearly 60 degrees, making everyone happy. I was but a block from the house when a pair of Cardinals made an appearance. 

The Northern Cardinal is the state bird of NC and maybe that is why I see so many of them? I find it so fascinating because in Orlando I rarely saw more than one pair, let alone multiple pairs in one place. The same holds true for Blue Jays although it is rare for me to be able to get a good photograph of one. That is, until today.

And lest you think I only take pictures of birds, here is one I took on another day.

My eyes are always on the lookout for photo opportunities and with so much practice, I am pretty good at spotting things others overlook. Like in the scene below for example. What do you see?

Here is what I saw and thankfully with a zoom lens I can show it to you as well.

Meet a tiny little Song Sparrow.  

The fellow below, a Northern Flicker, is a type of woodpecker that digs in the dirt for food. My equipment and skills will never allow me to get a good flight shot, but should you be interested, look it up! The gold color lining the lower feathers opens up to some gold magic that is beautiful!

See it right near the tail? He had a heyday digging in that dirt while I was watching.

Bruce hung up the little "Card Trick" experiment that I made to decorate my sewing room.

Our pastor Wil was on a month long leave for spiritual renewal and we welcomed him back last Sunday.

Somehow we managed without him, but we most definitely missed him and his family very much.

One day last week we played pickleball in the gym in Andrews. Here is what that space looks like.

It is wonderful for the super cold days and if one is not playing, there is a walking track above.

Are you tired of birds yet? I sure hope not because here is a pretty Brown Thrasher that I spotted this morning.

 Reading this little piece earlier in the week, I realize that while it not for everyone, it works for me. 

"Somewhere out there, someone is listening to birds instead of the news and the world feels kinder there."

Okay, on a serious note, last Thursday at Soul Table, while I was making Suzanne's name tag I noticed she did not look herself and I asked after her, and also about Rob, who generally comes with her. She told me that Rob died on Tuesday. This is the third ST regular to have died in the last six months and while I know our guests are generally old and not always in the best of health, it still shocks me, especially Rob who was always nicely dressed and looked to be fit as a fiddle. Boo hoo!!

Lastly, before Murphy came to national attention with Braden Rumfelt's American Idol audition,  apparently there was Granny. Oftentimes while having lunch, we read the newspaper and because it is so small, we read most everything. "Hand me the section with the obituaries please," she said to her husband. OH MY WORD! I am reading about Evelyn Louzine Wilson and mostly thinking I have never heard of that name before. The further I read though, I was so surprised when I came across the part where it said that in her 80's she became something of a YouTube celebrity. Indeed she did, and although I had heard of her somehow, I did not know that she lived around here. Thousands watched those videos and if you are curious, click on this link. 

And that is the news from our home in a little mountain town. I hope you enjoyed our visit.

your friend,

Gail

It's That Time of the Year

when there are so many photographic opportunities that I cannot help but share mine with you. Just today I saw two new birds, as well as some old favorites. Then too, you might be wondering, and then again maybe not, but should you be, the way I put a blog post together is by first looking through all of my photographs and doing my best to weave a story around them. Today, that means a whole bunch of photographs, but I'll try to keep the narrative as brief as possible in an effort to honor your time. As always, I do so much appreciate those of you who follow my adventures, in spite of the fact that a good many of them are merely mundane!

Bill and Dave turned 38 on April 1st, but for one reason or another, we were never able to get everyone together, however, Saturday we met at the new Mexican restaurant on Lake Ivanhoe, Mesa 21 for lunch. From the looks of things, I should have kept my sunglasses on like Michelle! Seriously, I absolutely cringe when I see a photograph of myself, and that, my friends, is why I am generally the one behind the camera!!

My sweet Davy even smiled in the picture for his Momma though so that's saying something! The lakefront faces the I-4 construction, which is not particularly picturesque, but this guy doing stunts on the lake sure was.

I'd love to recommend the restaurant, but alas, in my opinion, it still has work to do. That said, it is very hard for a restaurant to get everything right, don't you think?

Sunday we finally got back together for a Hill's Happy Hour with pretty much the whole gang in attendance. Bunker and Cathy, our hosts, had only just returned from a trip to Holland and Belgium, so they were more than kind to get us all together.

I remember when they first invited us, now probably almost two years ago, and it seemed so weird to have a gathering in a driveway, but honestly, it works really well.

The last Monday of the month is our Days for Girls sew day, and despite having only about 15 in attendance, a whole bunch of work was accomplished. In the foreground are the washable pads, cut and ready for serging around the edges.

My part was to sew that middle portion on long panels of flannel which are then cut into what you see above. It is surprising how labor intensive the kits are, however, for such a worthy cause, we are all thrilled to be able to do our part. One of the ladies that comes regularly is Sally...80 years young, and all the way from Zellwood. Her resemblance to my deceased mother-in-law is uncanny!

In the parking lot, the baby car sat between two Honda Pilots!

The one on the right is the exact model that I traded in for the MINI, and I can't say I miss it even one little bit.

Today was the first time I had a bicycle ride since the flat tire, and oh my gosh, what a difference! Before it went flat, Bruce had put air in my tires, saying they were very low, as in 20 pounds in the front tire, rather than 60. I'd been thinking that I was getting out of shape because it had been so hard to ride; I can tell you from experience that correct tire pressure makes all the difference in the world. Anyway, I have still not given up on the owls in Southern Oaks, so I went looking there first. I am happy to report that there was a fair amount of poop on Nell's driveway; a very good sign indeed. Scanning the trees on both Sweetbriar, and Buckwood, I, all of a sudden, noticed a large bird back on Sweetbriar! Documenting my sighting first, I rode back over, only to have it fly off as I approached. Although I would have loved to have gotten a closer shot, after watching it fly away, I am delighted to report that it was a Swallowtail Kite, a bird I'd never seen before.

According to this from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, it is "the coolest bird on the planet." Woo hoo!

From there I went to check on my eagles, and I must report that it looked as if the nest was abandoned, with nary an eagle, or eaglet, in sight! Because it seemed that the eaglets were only branching, rather than flying, I don't know what to make of it. Naturally, I will go back. :)

As it had been quite a number of days since last I visited Greenwood, well, I just had to go! Bruce was on the phone, so, pointing to my camera, I waved goodbye. Pulling the MINI over to the curb, I saw most of the eagle family in the tree that you've seen photographed before. I'm horrible with distances, but I'd guess it is about 400 yards from the nest tree.

As you can see the eaglets are nearly the size of their parents already! But, of course, what I really wanted to see was the owlet. Remember the nature paparazzi? Just me and the guy John, who originally told me about the owl back in early February. He showed me this little guy..

who must be hiding from all those birds of prey! You think?

After much searching, this is the best shot I was able to get of our owlet, and that is not saying much, is it?

On the other hand, it was a big day seeing that Northern Flicker, well actually a pair of them, still hanging around the nest, although I'd heard the chicks had gone out on their own. PLUS, I saw this bird for the first time ever...

This bird is called a Great Crested Flycatcher. It is here that bird haters may just want to bail out because there are quite a number of photos forthcoming. All I can say about that is, I could not help myself, and neither could you had you seen it in person! Yup, there are two of those birds, and they have a nest just below the Northern Flicker nest.

There was all sorts of action between these two kinds of birds, with the NF sticking his head into their hole!!

The absolute nerve!! The next photo is not great, by any stretch of the imagination, but it does show how cool a NF looks when it is flying.

When I showed Bruce the photo of the NF feeding her chicks he didn't think it was a very pretty bird, but I think he may change his mind once he sees this. I mean, who wouldn't like a bird with polka dots?

And now we know that there is gold under them wings, don't we?

Well, that wasn't too bad, was it? I had planned to save the Wood Duck babies for another post, but I've changed my mind because they are just so darn cute.

Not to mention, that instead of the thirteen we saw in an earlier post, there are now only six remaining.

Life in the wild is mighty tough, or so it seems to me.

Finally, and this has no relation to birds, but it does have a pretty big impact on the Pecks. Our little Baxter, as has been documented before, is having his challenges with getting outdoors before he does his business. Never a good thing, we were both very dismayed to discover he'd wet on a rug by the back door, and it had gone unnoticed overnight. Thus, our brand new wood floor was damaged!! Fortunately, Mr. Peck has a few tricks up his sleeve, and with some ingenuity, along with some serious weights, it is fine for now.

Having never had a dog before, we don't quite know what to make of it, aside from wanting him to stop!

yours truly,

Gail

A Good Day

Sometimes days are so good. Easter Sunday was one of those days, beginning with a packed house at church, well no surprise there, but everything about it was joyous, including the wonderful work done by the Flower Guild. That is one skill I am sorely lacking, flower arranging.

These were in little paper cones, heading to shut ins following the service. Then too, the altar was gorgeous. As I was walking there with Liz to look at the brimming baskets, Talia, (one of our ministers), and her family, were looking to have their photograph made. I could not resist taking one of them myself.

Talia not only spoke about butterflies during the children's service, she wore them as well.

Michelle had made 1:15 reservations for brunch at Luke's in Maitland so, because church lets out around 11:30, we had some time to kill. Making the most of it, we went to the cemetery in Winter Park where Bruce's folks are buried. Unlike Greenwood Cemetery, which you've seen plenty of this spring, there are very few headstones, instead there are flat markers making it much more difficult to find your loved ones, in my opinion.

 I don't know about you, but I vacillate on the whole burial thing; cremation, or in ground?  Spending so much time in a cemetery will make a person think about such things.

We had a wonderful time with Michelle and David at Luke's, a new restaurant in the same location that once housed Steak and Ale, the place where we went for our senior prom all those years ago! You'd never know it to look at it now!

We barely had time to recover before it was time to head to David and Cheryle's for another fantastic evening at their place. Cheryle's gardens are on par with those over at Pam's house, with both haveing more butterflies than you can count! I was delighted to take this photograph after thinking about the chrysalis, and the Easter story. Plus, there are three cute little red bugs!

Before dinner I walked over to the lake with Catherine for her evening fish feeding ritual.

Drat....no pictures of the group, however, perhaps that is a good thing because I have more photos coming. In fact, probably too many, but one thing I've learned over time is, you've got to get them when you can! Come summer and the heat...oh wait, we won't be here for the worst of it!

Can you think how that day could have gone any better? I surely cannot!

Monday morning, I began working on the quilt, while Bruce flew to Dallas. Stan Fuller, the owner of Earls is coming to take a look at his investment. I say he's the owner, but really there are four Fuller brothers that oversee all of their over 150 restaurants. I decided to do a little wave pattern...simple and sweet, or so I hope!

After a few hours I needed a break, so I popped over to Greenwood for a little owlet hunt. No luck, but I did meet a sweet, enthusiastic woman from Winter Garden while I was there. She'd come to see not the owls, nor the eagles, but a Northern Flicker nest. Sally told me about it last week, and at the time I did not see it, however, yesterday morning I sure did, and now you can too!

Pretty cool, huh? You should have heard those babies squawking when Mom arrived with food! To tell you the truth, I had never even heard of a Northern Flicker before, but now I have.

Then I went home and quilted some more, attached the binding, ironed it in place, and here it sits waiting for me to sit still for some hours. I chose a solid hot pink backing fabric, and because I found no pink and green striped fabric, I went with solid green.

Except for the top of the quilt where I was about two inches short, so I had to add more of the Lily squares. Thank goodness I had them!

On our jaunt around Lake Eola the other night, I saw two things I wanted to see again, so I left before sunrise this morning to see what I could see. The lake looked lovely in the early morning light.

Albeit low...seriously low, because we've had no measurable rain in months. It is bound to start sometime soon, isn't it?

One of the things I wanted to have a closer look at was this mother swan sitting on her eggs. Presently there are two batches of cygnets, and now we'll have a third!

There were white feathers strewn everywhere around the nest which leads me to believe she was fighting off some predators. Your thoughts on this?

This duck looked as if it were going to lay an egg any minute!

Or maybe a bunch, as I saw another duck who stood up revealing about eight eggs! Walking around the lake I came across the most recently born cygnets who are so darn cute!

The cuteness--oh my!!

I've lost my siblings!!!!

What I was really interested in seeing, well, don't take that too seriously, I am interested in most anything that crosses my path. But I digress....Saturday night we saw some Moorhen babies, and I was hoping to see them again as they are cute as can be, albeit hard to photograph all that black.

There are about six of them running here and there along the shoreline.

Leaving our newborn theme, this swan was fascinating to watch as it dunked under time, after time.

Here is one of the most photographed features at Lake Eola, aside from the swans, both of which are pretty cool if you haven't seen them for years and take them for granted like I do.

Mission accomplished at Lake Eola, I stopped at Greenwood on my way home because I was so hoping to see the owls. Staying behind the barrier, I scanned the upper branches of the trees, craning my neck so far back, I was thinking what a nut I was, as it was quite uncomfortable. What we were all beginning to expect to see easily, was now a no show. I walked over to the Flicker nest which is actually between the eaglet and owl nests, and while watching for a few minutes, heard some big bird commotion. I looked over and saw what all the fuss was about--a hawk.  Little birds love to harass the bigger birds.

It was then that I began to hear the unmistakable hoot of an owl. Walking again under the big trees, I finally found Mama...

Again, straining my neck almost to the breaking point, only a small exaggeration mind you, baby was perched way higher than Mama, very hard to make out, but at least I know it has branched and is still safe.

Interestingly enough, this tree is outside of the boundary. :)

Whew...that was a bunch of photographs wasn't it? In my defense, most of the quilt bloggers I come across will show the same quilt about six times in the same post, usually in some park, or hanging on a barn, you know, stylized. When you come to this space on the web, I like to provide at least some variety, albeit heavy on BIRDS!!

Truthfully, unless I am sick, everyday is a good day, for which I am so very grateful.

yours truly,

Gail