Memories from Murphy

As Christmas is but days away, I wanted to stick close to home today. We've been asked numerous times about going home for Christmas, but although it has only happened once before when we were in Vancouver, our Orlando family is okay with us not being there. Of course it helps that we have sons who have wives with families which, let's be honest, should take precedent over ours! Happy wife, happy life and all that jazz!

Where shall I start?? Maybe reporting that the prints are in the store? As far as I know, only one has sold and that was to Jenn our friend with the wine bar. She wanted to be the first to buy something of mine. Now how sweet was that? Would you look at that...a birdhouse! There is quite a bit of competition around here, so I am keeping my expectations low.

Christmas cookies! Nothing new, been making them since 1977, but for some odd reason, this year they turned out crazy good with perfect size and delicious taste. It's funny how some years that happens isn't it? 

You might note something striped in the background and that would be two potholders made with the fabric Nancy sent me as part of our Christmas gift. I suppose I mentioned that I brought the sewing machine this trip?  As well, I made some Christmas napkins along with a decorative placemat for the island.

Perhaps I mentioned that while in Asheville we popped into JoAnne fabrics and these are the results of that shopping excursion. I brought almost nothing Christmassy with us, in spite of knowing we would be here for Christmas, but I did bring placemats, something we use daily. It made me happy to get them out of the cabinet in early December.

Laura made us some lovely Swedish Christmas bread featuring cardamon that her family has been making for generations. 

It was light and yummy! Fantastic as French toast too!  

A funny thing happened a few weeks ago that might amuse/interest you. Atop the living room bookcases here, there was a huge metal bucket with an emblem of some sort imprinted into the metal.  I thought to myself, "self" why don't you gather some pinecones and fill that up with them as part of our decorations. Going down to the property edge, I gathered what I could find, pinecones unlike any I've ever seen before.

Before we could put said pinecones in the bucket, which btw, I had nowhere near enough, Laura got in touch asking if she could come pick something up from the cottage. Well, duh! It's your house, so yes indeed! The bucket, she wanted the bucket to use for letting the dough rise. Perhaps I'm imagining this, but it seems to me that she said she would be making 50 loaves!!! Honoring her families traditions, which if you have watched any Hallmark movies, and it must be said, the litany of other companies who've gotten into the Christmas movie act, she would be in good company. Last week we were treated to a small gathering at their home for other Swedish fare including her recipe for spiced wine in the Swedish tradition. If I could make the symbols on my computer to type the name I would. 

There is so much of Charlotte here at the cottage that she helped design and lived in for five years or so. For one thing, there is Huckleberry, her cat, who is still roaming around today. Oftentimes he loves perching on John's truck,

and on these winter afternoons he is often to be found sunning himself on our front steps. How he stands the cold is beyond me! And it has been cold to the tune of 23 degrees the other morning, although we are now in a mini warming trend. An 80% chance of rain is the Christmas forecast with no mention of anything white! 

One of the things I periodically come across are recipes that Charlotte printed out in 2002, one of which was for focaccia and I thought, what the heck, I'll try it.  We'd had it at the restaurant and it was delicious so here we go.

It was far better than it looks!! I will definitely try it again, and as for the holes, Bruce did them for me because my attention span is so abysmal, I would begin doing them in a row and then before long, well you know how I am. Next time I will not flatten it as much and we will make the holes deeper. As to olive oil, I think it could use more. 

While we are still in the kitchen, setting up my sewing machine on our dining table, the ironing board is in the kitchen with plenty of room to move around. Continuing our thrift store goodies, this iron! Would you believe $2.00? You should.

Lastly in the kitchen, let's talk fresh eggs. I bought the eggs at the last farmer's market and they were left on the kitchen counter per their instructions. When we returned from Asheville I wondered, had I let them get stale? Contacting the folks via facebook, she told me about the water test, meaning if the eggs floated they were bad. If they stayed on the bottom and laid on their side they were still good but not as fresh and if they were on one end, you are golden. I gave it a try.

Oh boy I almost forgot. There is a chicken coop next door that has gone unused for some years, however, John is now set on strengthening it so the coyotes can't get to the chickens and get this, we are to be part owners of said chickens! That's the plan anyway. Holy cow, this is getting interesting!

Oh my, the winter sky with a sliver of a moon and the beginning of sunset. For those of you wondering, if you love taking sunset photos, go for it now as winter sunsets are the absolute best!

The shadows are great as well. 

As mentioned earlier, it has been cold but it has not kept us from playing pb. Layered up for sure. My side is nearly 100% thankfully. As has become my custom, I go out on the porch when it gets light in the morning to see how cold it feels.  I was freaking out on this morning as I looked to the end of the driveway just before daybreak.

Putting on shoes immediately, as well as a coat of course, I grabbed my camera hoping they would not take off before I made my way down the driveway. This little guy walked right to me!

The light was dim, the lens was wrong, but I did manage to get eight of them in this shot. Look closely!

And you better believe I hightailed into the warm and cozy house when they ran off! 

The river walk continues to provide entertainment in unexpected ways. Honestly, when I came across the Eastern Bluebird action, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Well maybe a wee bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea.

This was taken last Saturday and I am sad to report I've not seen any action there again! You can well imagine that I will keep trying. Exiting the official walk, I landed in front of a darling house that I may have pictured before with Corgi Christmas decorations out front. Does that ring a bell? Well, on this afternoon, I was greeted by the real thing.

And one more!

Ordinarily I might not even include these, but because I want to remember the encounter, here they are. Watching someone pick up dog poop is not my favorite pass time, but on this occasion I did so with interest because the picker-upper person was the lovely young woman who owns the beautiful Corgis. Boy did she have a story to tell! Blood cancer at 40 followed by horrible chemotherapy that caused irreparable damage to her hips! In January she had both hips replaced because she lacked blood supply to her joints. Plus, it took multiple visits to different doctors who all dismissed her complaints before she was diagnosed. That sort of thing makes my blood boil! After a horrible couple of years, she finally thinks she can get out a little bit and I emphasize little. Her husband wanted to go to Iceland, but he agreed to go to Fort Wilderness campground instead. Quite the trade-off huh? She explained that she is not quite ready for a big trip. I hope that when I left, it lifted her spirits just a little bit, knowing someone was willing to listen and empathize with her story. The corgis...our darling former neighbor Regina, who turned 87 btw, has one who is aging and whose heart will break if Argyle does not hang on longer than she! Come to think of it, Regina did act like a queen!

Winter, you have just begun, by the calendar anyway. 

I was bundled up as sunset was nearing on the Valley River. Usually we play pickleball until around lunch time and that is because we are starting later rather, like 9:30 or so when the temperature is maybe above freezing, we have lunch, followed by a little rest for the man of the house, and then we head back to town when he works on his aging bodybuilder stuff and I roam. Then it is dark and then we head home to the fireplace and our cozy surroundings. Should you be curious. :)

Friends, the birds are having a heyday at our feeders! 

Gosh if you only knew how many photos I have of the sweet things. One morning it was particularly exciting as there were so many, including two Cardinals who kept chasing one another. This photo is big and the birds are small, but it shows what they were up to.

Do you see them??? If only you were reading a blog post by a better photographer! Nevertheless, it was quite entertaining seeing them go at one another. John told us that some of the leaves stay on the trees until the new ones push the old ones off. I'm thinking what you are seeing is what he meant.

In spite of all the local festivities, it is still hard for me to imagine Christmas is but days away. Some folks we know who are from Florida are planning to go out to eat but in a first, I plan to make a Prime Rib. When I saw Ingles had them on sale, I thought to myself, "why not?". Hopefully, we will have fun cooking something new. Through the magic of Facetime we will stay connected with our beloved family. One thing to note is that last Christmas in Murphy, the temperatures plunged and folks, including Hank, had frozen pipes. Apparently it was very, very cold. It won't be like that Monday, but whatever it is, we will make the best of it!!

Merry Christmas dear friends from,

your friend,

Gail

We Have Blue!

Last Sunday night Bill mentioned, with trepidation of course, that the pool was getting a little green. Oh my gosh son--how much chlorine is in the floater??? He admitted not much. Pour in a jug ASAP. If only it were that simple....

After nearly a week of daily fiddling, we now have the bluest water since Bill bought the house SIX MONTHS AGO! I'll spare you all the details, however, it goes without saying that I am overjoyed, as is Fallon who left me a message exclaiming how phenomenal it looks.

Finally, it is ready for swimming and not a moment too soon as the weather ALL week long has been warm and dry. Let us hope and pray that the dry spell does not break tomorrow when I'll be at the market!

If you can imagine, Bruce bought into my idea of painting these little panels that fit inside the garage door windows, blue. Because our door is a little low to the ground, he likes to keep them covered, and they were, however, the panels were showing their age. It looks amusing now doesn't it?

Blue eyes! Using a spray paint that we purchased for our new frames, I think it will make me smile every time I see it. I'm getting close to using that same blue on the doors, although I don't relish the idea of painting a door with so much glass after doing so on two sets of french doors at Bill's house!

Remember how I told you that Cheryl's house was uber-cool? Look at this spectacular, and blue, pool area.

Since moving here, and closing her interior design business in Chicago, she has made good use of her skills in both the house, and gardens. What's most remarkable for me is that I visited this home on numerous occasions when my gardener friend Lois lived there, and although it was nice then, it is even nicer now. Rather than the pool being in the back yard, this one is surrounded by rooms, making for a very cozy feel.

In keeping with today's theme, I about freaked when I saw Sue's latest find.

While visiting Angela to see Bruce's handy work there, we sat and looked at various magazines and catalogues. It is nice looking at things online, but really, there's nothing quite like the tactile experience of leafing through the pages of a magazine. Or, at least that's how I feel about it. Anyway, I had to photograph this one page from her HGTV magazine. I believe they wrote this article for me.

About the only one I answered correctly is Wise Owl! How about you? My motto is that if you like the name, you probably like the color. I'm not much of a fan of any of these names. While we are thinking about paint colors, I can hardly wait to see what Matt and Tom choose for their new flat which they are only days away from owning.

Jonathan and Alissa fell in love with the television show, "Friday Night Lights", and in fact, they loved it so much, they put Austin on their list of places to move to from Chicago where it was entirely too cold for Florida folks. They loved Chicago, as does most anyone who either visits, or lives there, however, after three ultra-cold winters they decided it was not for them. Anyway, just down the street from us is Pershing Elementary, which is sporting new paint colors along with their mascot saying.

Don't get it? It's an inside joke. Not really!!! The Dillon Panthers were the fictional football team. :) Just thinking of them as I rode past the other morning.

So, what exactly did Bruce do for three days at Angela's house? He did this.

Angela did all the painting, leaving the installation of the cabinets, hardware, counter top, moving plumbing, and electrical, to the expert. Plus, all new cedar behind the cabinets as well. I wish I had a before picture of what was once an outdoor kitchen on her gigantic gazebo. The prints are by yours truly.

If you can imagine, Kirklands has purchased another one of my images...

A few years ago Maureen gave me an air plant for my birthday. When not blooming, I'll admit, they don't look like much, however, when they are they are like no other in the plant world. This year it is having a hey-day.

Don't you just love it?

The other day, while at our home away from home, Bruce found a dog roaming in the street. Carrying it up to the garage, he found some rope to keep it from running away again until we found the owner. Or, make that, he found the owner after calling the vet's number on the tag.

The dog was cute as a button, and friendly too, until the owner FINALLY came to get him. We learned that he runs away with some frequency, and with the barking he did when the man arrived, it might just be because there are problems at home? We were both a little taken aback when the man did not even thank Bruce. Hmmm....

Well that was a good story to share with Regina who has a Welsh Corgi of her own.

Bruce is really enjoying getting to know our neighbors better. Between working non-stop at his job, as well as helping me with mine, he previously did not get much chance to mingle. Now he can.

In the midst of doing errands yesterday, lunch time rolled around. As you know, we are breakfast, lunch, and dinner folks, rather than grazers. Anyway, we decided to have some lunch at The Olive Garden on Sand Lake Road. To make a long story short, the manager came by asking if everything was done well. Indeed it was. He next came by to process our credit card. Okay. Well, returning, he asked Bruce if he was the "legendary Bruce Peck" from Darden? Apparently he had worked with Bruce many, many years ago during the creation of Smokey Bones. He was all but unrecognizable to Bruce because while battling a rare cancer he has lost 100 pounds. It was really nice of him to say that--we both smiled broadly. That said, I'm hoping it doesn't make Mr. Bruce a little blue himself.

Are You a Collector?

 I've been away for a few days, thus we've got some catching up to do haven't we? How about if we do so without much fuss, letting my photographs tell most of the story?

I've been busy planting as I've already described in an earlier post. For the moment it's all done, all that's left to happen is for the sun, rain, and time do it's thing, hopefully with positive results. Cold weather could wreak havoc, however, I prefer to think positive. Some cold, not too much thank you very much. I could not resist this beautiful color of geranium:

I've nestled it in the middle of a pot that already contained a pink plant Nancy purchased while here. It's providing height, or so I hope!

 I think it must have been Thursday night that I made, for the first time in my life, this recipe for Bernaise Sauce with some of the tarragon you saw last week.

Sadly, Bruce got home from his trip much later than I'd planned for, thus when we got around to eating so close to bedtime, I ate only a small portion, thus I'm still not sure what I thought about it. It came out fine, it's just that I've never eaten it before so I've nothing to measure it against. I'll have to hunt for something else to eat it on.

Friday morning while walking Baxter we finally ran into Regina who invited us to visit in her back garden. Apparently, her daughter is "holding her own." Argyle, her new Welsh Corgi was having a blast chasing our little Baxter around! Fortunately, I had my camera slung over my shoulder so I could get some shots of him to share with her:

Friday night we had a much too expensive meal at Nick's Italian Kitchen in the Sanctuary building downtown.

Our review would go something like this:

• Pretty good ambiance, however, with Bruce facing the swinging kitchen door, it could have been better.
• Salads are a weakness, overdressed by loads
• Same problem with spaghetti, way too much sauce
• Bread in upper right of basket was super good, the eggplant goop in bowl, not so much

We try our best to support local restaurants, however, more often than not, we go away disappointed.

Saturday I headed out to Winter Garden which was a bit slower, however, still enjoyable. I took a few photographs there which pleased me.

I'm a sucker for little things, including these peppers:

Then, the citrus, which is just ripening:

Naturally there's more, but I'm sure you've seen enough. Saturday afternoon and evening were spent watching college football. What a game between Alabama and LSU! Fortunately FSU had a great win on Thursday night. Up next for our beloved Seminoles? MIAMI!





I'm not much of a collector, although I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority. What's more, I've discovered after a lovely Sunday spent at Renningers with my honey, that the depth and breadth of collecting is unfathomable to me.

Because Fiesta in the Park took over Lake Eola on Sunday we had a rare Sunday off. These days Bruce claims all he knows how to do is work, so it was up to me to think up something to do. Furthermore, he spends SO much time sitting at his desk, said activity had to include movement. The day began cool and cloudy, with intermittent rain, however, it was no deterrent. Renningers is located on Highway 441 outside the main town of Mt. Dora, an easy 30 miles or so from our home.

It's been years and years since we visited, with both of us having little recollection of what it is like. Better than we expected. The prices on lots of the stuff did surprise me though; I told Bruce I'm much more accustomed to "thrift shop" pricing. I'm thinking if my new little $1.00 sailor salt and pepper shakers were to be displayed as part of a S&P shaker collection, they would fetch $20.00!

As you can see behind Bruce, the outside buildings are little more than large sheds, however, inside they look anything but like sheds. The fronts look pretty neat as well:

We were among the first to arrive. We wandered, and we wandered, and we wandered. Neither of us bought anything,  although I'm still sorely tempted to purchase a gorgeous Haywood Wakefield dresser/desk combo we saw inside. Oh my, is it ever terrific looking, however, I can't begin to think of a place to use it. I found the same piece on Ebay for slightly more.

I couldn't help but think of my Matthew's sweet tooth when I saw this display:

And here's one for my sister Carol for whom horoscopes are a guiding principle:

One of the pieces I inherited from Bruce's mom is a Carnival Glass vase. While Bruce was chatting with another vendor, I moseyed into Betty's stall to look at the CG. After visiting for a bit she agreed to a photograph. See Penny in the basket? Apparently, she's never once, in three years, moved from that spot during Betty's work day.

Betty is a collector. Not so much any longer, but for many, many years it ruled the roost in her home. At one point, her husband added on a room, 16x24 to hold all 724 pieces of Carnival Glass she'd amassed. Stunning, isn't it? Eventually she sold the whole lot to a collector from New York state who came down with a truck to haul it all back to HIS collection. These days, she still buys CG, however, she sells it, enjoying it for a time before letting it go. She's spent 26 years selling glassware at Renningers, which is a story we heard over and over throughout the day. Collectors are definitely everywhere. Who else would purchase all manner of tubes and tins of bygone tooth paste? We saw those. Seriously, we saw everything. A very amusing way to spend the day.



Finally, I had to share this Incredible!!! website. Now, THAT is a photographer

Awash in Red

While nothing to do with the title, it's worth mentioning that when Bruce saw my cold sore this morning he remarked that he's known me a very long time and this is the biggest one he can ever remember. Nice. I'll spare you the photographic evidence. Fortunately it's mostly on my face so it's not nearly as painful as one on my lip. It's been years since I've had one and it goes without saying, I hope it is years until I have another one.

Yesterday morning I went to pay for the new tree. I brought our checkbook along with my bank deposit from the weekend. Lots of cash. It hit me that why not use that cash for something besides new inventory? I rarely spend any of the money I earn but now that I've amassed some it's high time I start. Across the street from the nursery there's a big field with horses which you know me--I can't resist!

Bill, whom we've talked about in the past, is 80 and still loves working with plants. Apparently at one time his landscaping company was one of the largest in the area. Anyone who drives into the airport will notice his handiwork--all the big trees lining the entrance. The tree will be coming from North Florida with the planting scheduled for next Friday. You may recall he got me the jatrophas from Miami which are the inspiration for the blog title today.

The plants are covered with little red flowers which is just as we hoped. In the foreground of this picture you might notice some little green sprouts. You guessed it! Oak trees everywhere from  the massive acorn drop earlier this year. As well, I planted two large red hibiscus plants which are beginning to bloom. In fact, I think there are about twenty buds already. Here's one of them:

Not pictured is a big bed of red impatiens that are simply wonderful!

Continuing the flower theme, I realized yesterday that all flower pictures are merely covers. I mean how many millions of times have tulips been photographed? The other day on public radio there was a piece about "American Idol." It had to do with the contestants singing covers and one of the judges mentioned that if you don't bring anything new to the song, what's the point? I've been thinking about that a lot lately in regards to my photography. Judging from the lack of comments, I've posted no photographs lately that make you say "Wow!" I'm working on it folks. In fact, after buying a tulip plant at Publix I've been obsessed with finding a new way to photograph a tulip. I've taken probably thirty shots with different lights and backgrounds. Using a little spray bottle I bought especially for this purpose, I sprayed water on them as well. Even still, I'm not sure I've got anything.

I'll say this much, in person this tulip is gorgeous. It's opening larger every day.

 After paying for the tree yesterday I did a few errands which took me by three of my former residences. It's no secret that we like this part of town, neither one of us lives more than three or so miles from where we grew up. For some folks, that's not enough adventure, including two of our children. Bruce and I, on the other hand, are perfectly content to know our way around, run into folks we know all the time, and continue to put roots down. One of the homes is the one I grew up in, another really isn't there any longer. Sometimes that makes me sad to think that all the living we did in that residence has been wiped away. We bought that house when we moved back from California, a small three bedroom with a gigantic family room, practically as large as the rest of the house. Before we even moved in we discovered I was pregnant, and in short order we found out it would be twins! No sewing room for Miss Gail! Those early years of raising Bill and David were pretty rough, to say the least. I had to put our then nearly 3 year old into service helping me because Mr. Bruce had to work very long hours to bring in enough money for the five of us. Imagine--we were 25 years old at the time. And then, a few years later, along came Jonathan. Finally when Jonathan was 2, and ready to get out of a crib, we found a four bedroom home where we spent the next ten years which were mostly great. Along the way we remodeled every space. Well, I say we, it was mostly Bruce doing the big projects including this amazing sandbox with fort on top which then had a bridge to the swing set! So many great hours spent out back with the children. When we put that house up for sale the offer included the aforementioned play equipment. Sadly, we left it behind. Within a few years those folks let the house go into foreclosure which was followed by someone tearing it all down.

I have to say that despite raising three teenagers in this home, it's been my favorite. Sometimes it feels weird that Matt never really lived here except sporadically for short periods of time. He's now lived away from home as long as he lived with us which also seem strange. As a parent you know that's how it will go but they will always be your babies.

I do have great neighbors here for sure. Tuesday evening while walking Baxie I was passing Regina's home when what to my wondering eyes should appear but a Welsh Corgie at her gate! Seriously for a moment I thought it was some kind of illusion because the dog looked just like Abbie. Turns out after Regina's daughter nagged and nagged her to get another dog, she did. Meet Argyle:

He's one year old and lively as can be. I took Baxter back over there last evening for a little play date although you can see in this picture how much Baxter enjoyed himself:

He really did have fun running around and nipping at Argyle but only for so long. After being chased all over the year he plopped down in front of where I was sitting to rest. I was there to take some photographs for Regina to share with her loved ones who've worried about her since Abbie had to be put to sleep. Baxter was jealous, the little stinker.

I've had my lunch now after returning from my Thursday morning bridge fun with the ladies. Today there were 8 of us which made things perfect. I'm learning, albeit slowly......