Sunset/Sunrise

First off, I don't know what to make of this on two fronts...

Being on Overstock.com is really something, courtesy of my art publisher, Sun Dance,  and secondly, how weird is it that it appeared on my phone? I guess we all have a love/hate relationship with technology; so good for learning stuff and keeping in touch, so creepy that "they" can predict your habits. How do you feel about it?

Last evening, before supper at seven, I asked Bruce if he wanted to head down to the lake for a few casts to which he replied--good idea. He'd been working non-stop for hours and hours and it was time to call it quits. Following our meal, we took our little doggie, a chair, a camera (of course!), and the fishing gear. Thinking I might get a good sunset, I thought wrong.

It was nice, but not what I was expecting. Some dogs love the water, ours, not so much. I was shocked when he put his paw in the water!

Perhaps you notice that he has been recently groomed? As in Saturday, so he's looking quite good, and I imagine, feeling much cooler without all that hair! As is her custom, Tanya put a little kerchief on him which he promptly shook off. Not so fast buddy! A holiday party is coming...

So, Mr. Baxter put that paw in the water because he was trying to get Bruce's attention after he shrugged off his sandals and stood on the sandy bottom of the shoreline. The only color in the sky was to the East.

Or, at least I think it is the East!! Anyway, not much, whatever direction it is.

After about an hour, with darkness looming, we made our way back home in surprisingly pleasant conditions. Just enough breeze to keep both the mosquitos away, and the humidity down.

This morning Bruce took off for DC, leaving around 6AM. I woke up while he was cleaning up, allowing me to give him my love and best wishes for the next two days. Looking out the glass front door, I noticed a seriously red sky during the sunrise. Hopping in my car, camera in tow, I drove a few blocks to a clear spot facing East. My what a show over Lake Pineloch! David and Michelle live on the left side of this picture in case you are curious.

As you know, I'm sort of a proponent of the red sky at night, sailors delight saying, however, the last two days it has let me down. Yesterday morning was as red as can be, and not a drop of rain fell! Speaking of rain, have you been watching the news about the flooding in Texas? My goodness me. Jonathan and Alissa are mighty glad they are in San Fransisco for a friend's wedding instead of the misery they would be facing in Austin.

Before I forget, I finished the Nancy Drew book, and it was a good one. What girl wouldn't have loved reading about her capers? I marked a passage from the book to share from page 191:

The waiting officers did not disturb the conversation, for Nancy seemed to be leading up to something important. They were astounded at her cleverness.

Don't you just love it? George and Bess were pretty clever themselves.

In nature news:

• After enduring the long winter in Arkansas and Tennessee, Nancy spent a lot of her time outdoors soaking up the heat and observing the garden. It was quite a tree watching the Spicy Jatropha tree living up to it's reputation as a butterfly magnet.
• Out front, a dragonfly was hanging around, unlike any I can remember seeing.

• The air plant is putting on quite the show right now.

Super cool, right?

• And now for your daily owl photograph...

Baby was so close yesterday. Nancy may have come away with the impression that her sister has gone plum crazy as I generally talk to them during visiting hours! Doesn't he look so cute in spite of those crazy long talons?

Two or so weeks ago I mentioned that the kids at RT-Art were the best, and I even took photographs of them to share, but other stuff took precedence. No longer...may I introduce Stefani?

and Kevin...

These two work their sizing magic on my prints, however, without Trish, making sense of all my emailed orders, nothing would be accomplished. Believe me, those emails can be confusing!

On the same day that I took the above, I finally spent my Christmas gift card from Dave and Michelle at the Lily Pulitzer store on Park Avenue. Choices, choices, choices...

That sure is a colorful store, and coming from the likes of me, you know it must be so!! I chose the navy dress closest to the door. 

Finally, we had the pleasure of some visitors from North Carolina last week, Karen and Jim Howard who are pictured looking at my wall calendar of photos from England.

Karen's Mom was a war bride from England following WWII. She's a genealogy nut who once tried to get me started on the Price family genealogy, however, I got mostly nowhere. Picking up the mantle and with Jane's help, Tom's Mom, Matt filled in most of the blanks on both my Mother and Father's side of the family.  My dad's family is from Wales, mostly places with names no Florida girl could hope to pronounce.

And there you go, I believe we are all caught up for now.

Stay tuned for more of the exciting, as well as the mundane,

Gail

What Next?

You might think to yourself that it is no ones fault but our own that creatures have been making their way inside our home and you would be right to presume that. Many years ago it would have been unthinkable to leave doors wide open, however, not because of birds, but flies. Oh my, they were, in the words of my late mother, "as thick as thieves" around these parts. For whatever reason this is no longer the case allowing me to leave both the front and back doors wide open during the lovely weather we've experienced this winter. Plus, the optimist in me thinks that rarely things go wrong. I'm not a complete fool, but mostly I look on the bright side of life.

I was not thinking bright and happy thoughts when I walked into the sunroom Friday morning and discovered a large toad on the floor near Bruce's briefcase. YIKES!! Quickly shutting the French doors so said nasty toad would remain at least in the sunroom, I went to get you know who. He was still showering but promised to get there ASAP. Although I proposed a jar to rid said sunroom of the toad, Bruce gently picked him up, even pausing long enough for me to take photographs.

According to Bruce the toad must have been burrowing in the dirt because he was covered in it, making him far less attractive than normal. I know some folks think toads and frogs are cute, and in fact, I do have the toad swimming in the pool photograph hung in our hall bathroom, but a photograph is one thing, in the flesh--not so much!

Once the toad was safely in the backyard, and the back door firmly shut, we finished getting ready for our day trip to Gamble Place in Port Orange. The weather was a bit dreary as we left but improved throughout the day. Because we arrived about twenty minutes before the gates opened we took a look around Cracker Creek, the adjacent property where they rent canoes and kayaks. As we got out of the car the first thing I saw was a male peacock on the front porch rails. As is often the case, once you have a pair, they multiply pretty quickly. We ended up seeing at least a dozen peacocks, or I should say mostly peahens, with a few peacocks showing off in the mix.

This peacock had such lovely coloration! They offer a one hour pontoon boat ride at 11:00 down Spruce Creek which we decided was just the thing to do after visiting Gamble Place.

GP was used primarily as a hunting lodge for the Gamble, of Ivory Soap fame, family. Apparently there was a mansion in Daytona Beach where they slept, making day excursions to the creek. At one point (1938), one of the heirs of James Gamble was so enamored of the new Walt Disney film, Snow White, that he had an architect build a replica of the Black Forest cottage as seen in the film.

To the left of the main building is a burned out cypress tree trunk used for the witches hut! As you can see the azaleas were in full bloom and not just adjacent to the cottage but huge bunches of them everywhere.

Bruce was amazed at the quality of the workmanship on the cottage which was much larger than I'd expected. A playhouse was it's function. Meandering the property, we took in what we could, however,  because the boat tour time was quickly approaching, we didn't see a lot of the place in depth,  but enough to imagine why he chose the location for a summer retreat.

The family that now owns Cracker Creek named it that because, as we saw in a demonstration after the boat ride, the sound of the cow whip makes a loud crack, and I do mean loud. To put your mind at ease, it turns out the whip was used not to beat the animals but to give them a scare so they would keep going during cattle drives. Captain Jim demonstrates the technique:

We learned that the incredibly loud crack comes from the whip breaking the sound barrier. And now you know the origin of the nickname, Florida Cracker! The boat ride was lovely with soft breezes under partly cloudy skies. We saw a few juvenile alligators sunning themselves on the banks much to the delight of the other guests who were visiting the area for Daytona Bike Week from parts up North.

At this size they look kind of cute don't they? As well we saw some newly blooming air plants clinging to the old oak trees amongst the Resurrection Ferns.

All those squiggly brown things are the Resurrection Ferns which according to our very knowledgeable guide turn bright green after a rainstorm.

During Kate's funeral Bruce mentioned he'd have to take more photographs of me if we were to do a slide show at my funeral. He started the project on the boat.

No makeup!!! Bruce convinced me I didn't need it, however, I think he doesn't see what I see. :-)

The azaleas were really breathtaking with a gorgeous shade blooming that I can't recall seeing before.

After lunch at their picnic tables we headed North towards Ormond Beach to visit The Casements, the winter home of John D. Rockefeller. Driving through Daytona Beach was pretty interesting with all the bikers just arriving. I asked Bruce, what exactly do they do for a week? It remains a mystery. By now it was raining so the volume on the streets was naturally diminished.

Joining a tour underway, we unfortunately didn't get as much background information as I would have liked, but that's why we have the Internet isn't it?

According to Wikipedia the house was named for the casement windows which are absent these days; mostly hurricane damage through the years. Amazingly the top floor holds a Boy Scout museum and a Hungarian Costume museum. Weird, I know.

The Boy Scout Museum was begun as an Eagle Scout project by a local young man in 1980 and it's been housed there ever since. The collection of memorabilia is really astonishing including this final letter to the Scouts from the British founder of the movement.

There were uniforms from every era prior to 1980, and when I tell you it was really well done, you'll just have to believe me.

Bruce was a Boy Scout for a long time and his brother Cris went onto become an Eagle Scout. Those knots Bruce uses to tie down my tent every week--the Boy Scouts. Being prepared for anything--that's the Boy Scout motto!

The other folks on the tour weren't as interested in the Hungarian costumes so we made a quick run through of that room.

Really beautiful hand made costumes.

So, all in all, it was a terrific day trip. Of course any day I get to spend with Bruce is terrific, but then again, that goes without saying.

When you've lived in Florida most of your life it is easy to take it for granted, however, there is so much to see and do that it's really no wonder people the world over come to Florida to both live and play. The last few years have really opened my eyes to the wonder that is Florida, despite the heat and live creatures that come into our home uninvited!