A Cold Snap in Early November?

Who, pray tell, around these parts can last remember the temperature dropping below 50 degrees on the first of November? Certainly not I. In spite of my cold weather predictions (see acorn drop references), I sure didn't see this coming! It was nice though--a welcome break from the relentless heat and humidity.

I bought something else at the estate sale that I did not want to show off before I knew how it would wash up; I'm happy to reveal this adorable, and well made, blouse purchased for maybe 50 cents.

I found it stuffed in a box mostly filled with fabric, and the little Spanish galleon print was more than I could resist. Or, maybe they are called Clipper ships; whatever the technical name, they are both cute and unusual, a winning combination in my book.

So, after a thorough cleaning, followed by a long spell in the gorgeous sunshine, I ironed the blouse, and while doing so, I came across two tags, one from the manufacturer, and one from the shop where it was purchased in Key West. Although I could find nothing about Hermans in Key West, I did find a little bit about the McMullen company based in Glens Falls, New York. Or so it was for about 90 years. From my research I discovered that the tags changed through the decades, and the one in this adorable blouse is from the 50's. Do I ever love a good recycling. This blouse has taken quite a journey to reside in my closet, but the quality is such you would never know it! Had the temperature been a bit higher I would have surely worn it already.

As discussed in the past, once you start looking for one thing online, it generally leads to more, and in my case, it led me to some articles about Jordan Marsh. I hope you're not tired of hearing about JM because I'm not tired of writing about it.  This amazing article, written by Jean Patteson, who by the way, wrote the lovely obituary on Bruce's mom, details what JM meant to Orlando. Young people will find it incredible that the escalators were one of the main attractions, with JM hiring--get this--Eastern Airline pilots, and stewardesses to assist people on opening day!!! Then too, I was registered for my wedding at JM, AND I always bought my white stockings there while in x-ray school--a huge expense as they were constantly running! You'd have to be of a certain age to remember when the hospital was filled with people wearing only white.  Jordan Marsh back in the day...another amazing article about the store in Miami, complete with their own swimming pool!

All this to say that the older one gets the more the past is on one's mind. Of course some people reading this blog do not live in a city that has undergone the drastic changes that Orlando has seen in my adulthood, making it hard to relate, but believe me when I tell you that is as different as night and day. Some is in a good way, some not so much. C'est la vie!

Allrighty then, putting the past aside, let's talk a minute about Halloween. Four children came to our home, two from some other neighborhood, and two boys belonging to our former longtime neighbors, Chuck and Zoila. I got the biggest laugh when Bruce, ever the optimist on Halloween, told the first two boys, "only one candy bar," thinking we might run out. I'm still chuckling about that.

In no particular order, here's a few things that have never before appeared on the pages of Camera Crazy....

Absolutely no clue what this pink bunny stands for on the shores of Lake Como. Appearing a few months ago, I finally stopped to take a photograph. Although the Cypress trees rimming the shore line, are showing some fall color, I've seen other Cypress trees with all new needles.  What to make of it, I do not know.

Cheryle and I took a nice bike ride the other morning, heading into Harbor Island, a nearby collection of fantastic homes on the shores of Lake Conway. Let's just say that she might be even bolder than I am when it comes to going on people's property! In this instance we were admiring a fantastic front yard filled with tropical plants including one of the nicest Traveler's Palms that I've ever seen.

Then again, it might be a White Bird of Paradise Palm.....anyway, stunning!

While visiting Maureen the other morning, as we stood in her driveway, she showed me the fallen Drake Elm leaves which proved to be very interesting. When was the last time you saw little leaves on both sides of a stem?

I laid them side by side to show off this cool phenomenon.

Bruce was kind enough to make little fall wreaths for our doors after his wife, full of ideas, but a poor implementer, brought home the materials.

How it looks on the blue door is subject to individual tastes.

Speaking of orange, these are super cool blooms that you see everywhere right now.

Not in my yard, but plenty of other folks have them. I do, however, have more than my fair share of squirrels.

I heard an advertisement on NPR the other day for a mini series on HBO, called "Olive Kittredge" featuring Frances McDormand as Olive. I immediately called Cheryle, insisting she should watch it because she not only has HBO, but I felt sure she would like it. Having read the book in 2009, I wrote about it in this post. "Why not come over and watch it with me?" she asked. Don't mind if I do, and I'll bring my husband along too.  It is little wonder I could remember little of the plot, only that I loved it. So, so great having a searchable blog to find out what I thought in real time.

In that same post, I wrote about hearing from a long time friend who I'd not seen in ages. She emailed me telling me her son found my blog---that would be you Karen!!! She's been a faithful reader ever since, God bless her.

Sunday was a day off for us, the market was closed for the Fall Fiesta in the Park which I'm thrilled I had no part of as Saturday the winds were 25mph, not to mention chilly, chilly, chilly. Sunday, the winds died down, however, the temperature stayed mighty chilly for a Floridian. We went to see a movie instead. More on that later.

Finally, guess what size that blouse is? Size 12!! If ever there were a case for how vanity sizing has permeated clothing, this would be it. :)

Well, That was Tough

I'm referring to many things with that title. First off, Bruce had to leave on Labor Day early to get to Chevy Chase. He always hates leaving on a Monday, especially on a holiday, but it had to be done. Before he left however, he did his best to see what could be done with our internet connection which has been spotty for weeks now. You may remember they came to fix it, but the problem is not solved. He rushed off to Walmart to buy a new modem and was going to install it when I said, don't bother, we'll get one for free from Bright House, not pay $67! I'm just living with it for now. Anyway, after chatting with Bill about his vacation, I headed over to Leu Gardens for a bit, before the heat sent me back home to the pool! Lots of butterflies on Monday around noon.

Secondly, I'm referring to Florida State's loss to Miami on Monday night. If only I didn't care who the teams were, it would have been a thrilling game! Thirdly, I hated watching it by myself. I so remember watching games with a room full of Peck men. :(
Sadly, I had to pace around the living room by myself, although Jonathan called before the start of the game. I expect he was so agitated he didn't even want to chat about it later. Furthermore, memories flooded back about a letter Matt wrote when he first went to FSU, aged 17, about standing in line for days to get tickets to the FSU-Miami game. It is remarkable to think how times have changed in these few years. Lastly, it was on SO late!

Backtracking a few days, returning home from the Whole Foods market on Saturday, I found an email in my inbox from an old friend who wrote that she'd been reading this very blog for months now and wanted to touch base. That made my day. Apparently, her son found it and passed the link on to her. Nice.

The Sunday gig was a waste. Well, that's not entirely true because I did sell one small print! It's been a long time since I've been skunked and I thought this might be the day, but fortunately someone came through for me. As well, Bruce got to have a break, so that was good. Yet another good thing was that I wasn't hot in the slightest because it was INDOORS! While I was there, Dana called to tell me that one of the vendors that was set up quite close to me for the last year or so died in her sleep! She was only 50. Not so nice.

I went to the Polasek yesterday for a very slow day--no visitors at all! Fortunately, I'd brought Olive Kittredge along to keep me company. For years Bruce wanted to move to New England after spending so much time there building restaurants. In particular, he still wants to move to Vermont. I'm like, "honey it is WAY too cold there!" He usually responds that it's not that bad, but I believe the weather charts prove otherwise. I've always told folks that I don't know how I would do in the cold, but I sure know that lots and lots of gray days would not be good for me. In addition, I don't think my personality suits New Englanders. I'm way too chatty for the folks from there. In fact, with my penchant for asking questions, I do believe they might just call me nosy. I prefer to think of it as curious.

By now, I'm sure you're wondering why I'm rambling about New England. The book is set in Maine with the main character appearing in various degrees in the chapters. More like a portrait of a small town and the people who populate it. One part that is so hard to take is when her only son moves away, not only geographically, but emotionally as well. I'll say this much, Elizabeth Strout is one fine writer.

On the other hand, I've been thinking of late that I may not want to go through my whole life without the experience of seasons. It seems like there is something I'm missing out on. Some people argue that we have seasons here, and we do, but there are only two---greater and lesser summer. Don't know where that will lead, but it's something I've been pondering.

After having a late lunch I went with Angela to her home in Lake Mary. She spent much of last week painting, which I had agreed to help her with, but my mind said yes, my body said no. She'd hired some stagers to get the house ready for selling. When she and Matt married they decided to move into his house and she's been trying to sell this one off and on for more than a year. Some of what they did was good, some not so much. When we got back home I rummaged through closets finding stuff to make it look just a bit homier. Amazingly, she owns the house free and clear, paying it off in only four years, but she'd love for someone else to own it now. I hope the real estate market improves enough for a sale soon.

Here's what one of my dumpster shots looks like:

I'm going to post this right now while I still have a connection. Hope your week has gotten off to a great start!
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Listening to: Zero 7 - In The Waiting Line
via FoxyTunes

A Mixed Bag

I'm not sure what to say about this bookGirls From Ames, except that it was a very quick read. As is oftentimes the case, when I finish a book that I'm unfamiliar with, I read comments on Amazon to see what others are thinking. Interestingly enough those reviews helped me to realize what I hadn't while reading the book. There are eleven stories to keep straight with similar names, Karla, Kelly, Cathy, you know, the names of every forty year old woman you know. No girls named Courtney, Campbell, Chloe--you get my drift. As an aside, this list is fun to see what people are naming their children these days:Name Game. So, that was the first problem. The second is the notion that who we were in high school is who we are forever. I just don't buy into that. It seemed as if in some ways they were stuck in the past. Plus, some of the posters mentioned the women were boring and I have to agree. Maybe I'm just being picky--anyway, read it for yourself if it interests you and let me know what you think.

This morning was the first of the week with sunshine which naturally thrilled me. As such, I went outside to finish the hand sewing on the dress in the good light. The birds were chirping like mad this morning so I brought the camera outside as well. I never got any bird photos but I did get this. Wanta guess what it is?

And here is the dress--notice I'm not showing the zipper side!

This is the nicest cotton I've seen in a while, more like pima cotton maybe. Instead of top stitching, this time I decided to spruce up the same pattern with a bit of piping. My skills are still a bit rusty, after all it's been probably ten years or more since I made clothes, so I've no idea why I'm not just sticking with the pattern; possibly an attempt to make it look less homemade. It took me a ridiculous amount of time to figure out how to get that piping on the pocket opening, however, eventually I figured it out. The great news is that it fits me perfectly. While showing it to Bruce I mentioned the zipper and he said, "well, don't show me", and I didn't! He also mentioned I'd made it just in time for cooler weather. Ah, how quickly we forget that September is probably the WORST month for heat. I'm never quite sure if it is because we are so sick of it by now, or what, but it's usually still pretty miserable into early October.

While folding clothes this afternoon I realized how little I've left the house this week. Tuesday the museum stint, Wednesday the library and history center, and remarkably, that is about it. I'm still not 100% up to par and with the weekend coming up, I've just stayed home. I'm skipping my usual stint at Eola because I agreed to do a market at the new Jewish Community Center in the Dr. Phillips area. I met a darling young woman at the Whole Foods market some months back who asked me if I'd participate and I agreed. She's really in her middle thirties, which I guess makes her twenty years younger than me--yikes, I'm getting up there! It could be a bust, which I'm fully prepared for--but then again, who knows, it could be great. Bruce will get a welcome break from setting up the tent, and I'll be able to stay indoors--a winner on both fronts, although he never, never complains about the set up.

That's another thing that sorta bugged me about that book. There is a section where the girls rate their husbands on a 1-10 scale. Maybe it's because Bruce is such a winner and I've been so fortunate to be married to him all these years but I just felt it crossed the line of good taste. The author was smart enough to keep the answers anonymous, carefully noting that none of them rated less than a 6. Ick. I say give those husbands a chance to rate those wives! What they'd probably say is that they spend way too much time wrapped up in their friends lives!

The good news is that Olive Kittredge has arrived on my front porch. No sooner had I finished the Girls than while getting the mail I saw the familiar library bag by the front door. I am so grateful that even with all the budget cuts happening in our government, the library still delivers. The are, however, cutting their evening operating hours, closing at 8 instead of 9. I can live with that. I'll tell you right now the first chapters are terrific.

Kathy called this morning with an update on their son--not good. I've not heard from her since, but it seems as if a third surgery might be in order. Bruce is scared he will contract MRSA and I am too.

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Listening to: The Postal Service - Recycled Air
via FoxyTunes