Adventures

On my bicycle ride the other morning, following another fruitless search for the owls, I got out on Summerlin and noticed this amazing tree is once again in bloom. I hope you like how I've framed the waning moon....

While on the subject of flowering trees, the Jacaranda are in bloom, gracing our blue sky with such lovely lavender flowers.

Naturally I do love those blooms but oh my gosh--the other day, tagging along while Irene looked at houses, I saw a tree that stopped me in my tracks. Well, actually after looking at the house which was a no go btw, I had to retrace my route to see this tree that I'd only seen from the main road. It is that kind of tree--a real show stopper.

Except I need your help with identification because I sure don't know what it is, and neither did the homeowner who was out working in his carport. Here's a closer look at the stunning blooms.

Even Pam, the master gardener in our friend circle did not know what it is. Any ideas?

Irene is one of Pam's oldest friends, dating back to their early adult years in New Jersey. After living in Portland for more than ten years she is coming back East and plans on making Orlando her home. Last October I gave her the name of a wonderful friend and realtor who she has been working with from afar. The market in Orlando is kind of crazy right now--with a low supply and high demand you get that one who is looking has to move fast. Much to our delight, a home became available just a few streets away! Pam and Irene are discussing the future of her new backyard!

It is all very exciting, and by the end of May, Irene will hopefully be situated in her new home. Did I tell you that Irene is an amazing quilter? Well she is, so that will be fun. :)

Meanwhile on both Tuesday, and Wednesday, we dined out with Zarita, Bruce's kitchen designer who was in town from Vancouver, as well as Jesse. Remember them?

I suggested we go to North Orange Tavern. Duh, Jesse called saying there is no such place. Right. North Quarter Tavern. Well the food was just as delicious as I'd remembered. Poutine. Have you tried it before? I had not so with a Canadian at the table I thought it was a good time to give it a go and was it yummy! Talking to Jonathan last evening I mentioned it and he was very familiar with it; apparently it is one of those trendy dishes and since he and Alissa live in one of the trendiest cities in the country it should not have surprised me one bit. Well the jokes on me because a quick Google search turned this up. Now I know that should I want it again there is no shortage in Orlando!

Wednesday evening we, once again met them as well as Dell, the Executive Chef for Earls on the east coast. Walking up I got to see the ongoing work, which is finally coming along nicely. The steel you see is the frame for the patio roof. As well, over PF Changs, that cut out in the wall is for the new windows for Earls.

Perhaps you don't see the steel? Now you do!!

It is going to be so dramatic that is for sure! It is also an enormous undertaking, but Mr. Bruce is hanging in there really well.

So, while we are eating I happened to glance at the adjacent table and who should I notice? Why, it is Sarah from SunDance!

That's her looking my way. I don't know about you, but sometimes when I am accustomed to seeing someone in a certain setting, when I see the same person randomly, I do a double take. That is exactly what happened here. Sarah is who talked to me at the market, what is it now, maybe four years ago? Apparently she said to her friend, "there is one of my artists over there, I wonder if she'll see me?" Why yes I did!

Does anyone else think it is downright amazing that I have three large bird nests to watch? I sure do. Riding home I saw the herons having a bit of a ruckus because a strange heron was in the live Pine tree next to their home in the dead Pine tree. This one harassed the interloper away.

Speaking of harassment, it is really interesting to watch the small birds scream at the big birds. No owls today but all was not lost; the blue jay thought if it it made enough noise the hawk would fly away. Nope.

Not a chance!

Pam's roses are going crazy, so I asked if I might bring some home.

 Remaining closer to home, here's what I'm working on for another donation.

 The little owl fabric will be the backing. Natch.

Yesterday was super warm in the afternoon, and finally it gave way to evening showers, something we'd not seen in weeks. Our plants are happy for the downpour.

The distant fence is covered now with blooming Confederate Jasmine which I have Bruce to thank for. Several years ago, he built an extension to our fence to hide our neighbor's ugly shed, losing both big toenails in the process!! You wonder how, don't you? You should after reading something like that! What happened is the ground sloped downward, and his toes were jammed against the front of his tennis shoes. Add to that, moisture, and now you know. It took months and months for them to grow back which explains why I am so keen on giving him credit where credit is due!

Shall I close with something beautiful. Of course.

Happy weekend my dear readers,

Gail

A Week of Rain

Around these parts, we are not accustomed to a week of constant rain, and that is how we like it. I'm well aware that in other parts of the world this is completely normal, however, it is not something I want to get used to. We are not talking a little sprinkle friends, this week has been more like a monsoon; it is pouring as I type, and not for the first time today. Unlike some folks in the area, we have had no hail, nor have any trees gone down thus far, for which I am grateful. You know those four events beginning tomorrow I wrote about? Good thing two of them are indoors because I'm thinking the other two may be cancelled if the weather forecasters are right. Then again, we know how often they've been wrong.....

In between showers, I've left the house a few times, each time with my camera in tow.

I was able to sneak in a bike ride yesterday morning, and while doing so, I remembered that my sister Nancy had been asking for some new photos to use as wallpaper for her phone. Regina's garden, my go-to spot, had several of these beautifully colored amaryllis in bloom; I'm thinking I got there just in time because they won't last long.

My plan was to set up my FAVO space yesterday as well as drop some new inventory off at the Polasek. The first part was not accomplished, the second was. I did leave my stuff in Room 139, however, the walls are not yet hung. Just as I arrived, a huge downpour came, flooding the parking lot due to the volume. Waiting to carry things in, I chatted with Will who told me had something to ask me..... Okay. Apparently, in my last post, when I wrote I was loathe to promote my time at FAVO, actually not really loathe, but self promotion is hardly my thing. Anyway, he read it so it seemed as if I don't have FAVO love, but you and I know that is a misinterpretation. I love FAVO--the place, and the concept. The great folks I've met there--a big fat bonus. The air is clear.

Walking into the Polasek, camera on my shoulder, I was struck by this bird of paradise with the blooms nearly intertwined. So much orange love going on...

Plus violet, magenta, pink, white, green, and the list goes on. Just as I was leaving it dawned on me that I would be seeing Pam in a matter of hours and she could have brought them over, but, I guess it was for the best because I got a chance to see what is left in the gift shop.

An invitation came from Cheryl, asking if I wanted to join her and a few friends for a cocktail party at 5:30--you bet, was my answer to that. How could I say no when her house, formerly, Lois's, is only a few streets away? I can do that even in the rain. Forgive me if I mentioned this before, but while I was doing the Gainesville show, Lois came to see me both days which was so sweet. She is a most interesting woman, and although I'm getting to know Cheryl, the buyer of her home, I still miss visiting with Lois. One of the things we talked about were the renovations Cheryl and David did on the house. She wondered if I had seen them yet, and I had to say no. Now I have.

Lois and Bob had a house full of mid-century Danish furniture which has been replaced with modern art, including a large collection of African art, and modern furniture to go with it. Walls were removed, the new carpet pulled up, and the exposed terrazo floors refinished. Although Cheryl is a commercial interior designer, she has a knack for residential as well, judging from the house. The turquoise interior wall, several bright orange walls, with most of the rest painted white, made for a fantastic look. Pam is in the foreground, drinking wine, and rubbing one of Cheryl's two beautiful cats. I really have to admire someone who can have guests the night before a two week trip to Berlin!

Everywhere you look, the African iris are blooming like mad--gorgeous. I need to find a place in my garden for some of these beautiful plants.

A week or so ago, Matt gave me a trial digital subscription to the New York Times. I couldn't be happier with that unexpected gift because heretofore I've had to content myself with the ten free articles a month. Now, I can read with abandon. Where do you stand in the great cursive debate? That article is one of many reasons I love the newspaper!

Mr. Jonathan turned 30 yesterday. How did this happen so soon? And how is it that both Bruce and I will turn 60 years old this year? Rhetorical question for sure, but I sure don't feel like I'm 60. Well, maybe my poor memory gives it away? It looks like a visit to Austin any time soon is out of the question as both J & A are super busy with their jobs, and then comes the honeymoon to Japan. No time for parents at the moment, which I completely understand.

Have you tried rubbing alcohol to clean your mirrors? I suggest you do.

Am I ever glad the plant vendors at Winter Garden have ivy in their arsenal. It had been far too long since this hardy indoor plant made an appearance in our home.

By golly, the rain has stopped, at least for now. Hopefully it stays this way for the next two hours as the man of the house is flying home from California, hopefully to arrive around dinner time. Speaking of him, the retirement plans have been put on hold. Bruce has been telling anyone who will listen that I'm working him too hard around the house! Imagine that! No, after actually looking over our finances, along with doing a budget, the idea has been shelved for a few years. You'll be happy to know that some changes in both work load, and travel schedule, have been negotiated to his benefit. :)

This afternoon I was so darn delighted to see I had two little blooms on my dwarf gardenia!

Isn't it cute? Rain included for free. I love that little star pattern, speaking of stars, I've now had to retire two prints, both of which are painful to do. One is a starfish in water, and the other an interesting peacock feathers. Why, oh why, did I limit them to 25?

Tanya is here grooming Baxter out in the truck, and this blogger needs to make her way into the kitchen to make some dinner for her traveling man.

Thanks for reading! I hope something contained within has made your day just a wee bit brighter.

The Daily Ride

Today is not one of those days that I was dying to get on my bike--humid, windy, and overcast. Just when I thought I'd have to wear a jacket every day, it went and turned hot on me. As in, I finally turned on the air conditioner yesterday afternoon. I can't remember a longer spell when we did not have to use it, so that's good. Something else that's good is while I was at the Apple store the other day I asked the "genius" about the charger for my Shuffle. Telling him I could not find it, he offered a few suggestions. Later, while chatting with Matt, I discovered that I had it after all! I completely forgot that the charger was just a little usb cable. Music to my ears!

After going nine days without riding, between both markets and being sick, my rides this week have strictly been five miles around the nearby neighborhoods. Happy days that the confederate jasmine is blooming once again. Now, if only I'd get my sense of smell back, I can fully appreciate their yumminess.

My taste buds are still a bit off, AND I have not one, but two cold sores, one of which just popped up this morning. Let's hope the Abreva works it's magic.

Angela has a large garden area in her front yard, filled this time of the year with blooming begonias and a couple of really spectacular amaryllis. This red one is huge!

The pink stuff in the background? Begonias, and more begonias.

Yesterday I stopped to visit with Sue--always an adventure. She and her friend Kathy have a business renting out vintage goods for weddings. Like me--not a day goes by that she's not looking for something new.

I had not the slightest notion that vintage wedding stuff was so popular, but I do now. The above photo is taken in the bedroom she uses to store their treasures. Plus, she's got a bit of a green thumb which I'm slightly jealous of. Look at this fantastic Italian Parsley!!

Although I have a gigantic rosemary plant, parsley and I don't seem to get along so well. Did I mention I was jealous?

Along Pershing I saw the red passion flowers are beginning to bloom:

Aren't they terrific? I always think of a helicopter when I see them. Frequently I've made known how much I love the angel trumpet flowers--I suspect you're a bit tired of me raving on them. That said, today I saw a tree bursting with white flowers that just had to be shared.

Mostly I've seen either yellow, or peach, so this white one is a really special find.

The woodpeckers have been doing their thing on this tree I saw along Bumby for a very long time, or so it seems.

I need to check our oak to see what is happening from the daily woodpecker visits! They are cute birds and all, however, I'm not too keen on them ruining our tree.

It is so windy outside right now, the wind chimes are going like mad. Once the fallen tree was removed last Friday, I discovered that not only did I lose a little metal table, but some lovely wind chimes as well. :( 

Riding down to Lake Conway today, I saw little waves going, something you don't often see in a lake.

I sure hope we get some rain out of all this bluster. Bruce did not arrive home until 2 this morning due to severe storms in the Southeast; perhaps we're getting some of the outer bands. That said, of course I have my markets this weekend which rain always makes challenging. Then too, our great nephew Spencer, my sister Maureen's grandson, turns two, and his doting parents, Rich and Jenn, have a big afternoon party planned. No rain tomorrow! Let's get it all behind us today!

In other news, I was doing a little cleaning, (imagine that!), and came across two Christmas gifts I'd forgotten all about. Jon and Alissa had a camera theme going on for me, including a pouch for my market money, an adorable t-shirt, as well as the little key chain and soap pictured below.

How I set this aside and forgot it is beyond me! The map beside it? I'm planning a little trip for next week--somewhere in North Florida, an area of the state I've seen nothing of aside from our trips to Tallahassee while Jonathan and Matt were in school at FSU. Any suggestions?

The best news to happen this week, however, is the Certificate of Occupancy granted in Santa Monica!!! After nearly a year of set backs, they are finally officially doing business at the Seasons 52 in Santa Monica! This is the last job Bruce has been working on so now we can move forward with his retirement plans.

Now what? Who knows? The daily ride for sure.

According to Plan

Don't you just love it when your day goes according to plan? In my case, most of the time my plans might be termed fluid, however this morning I had a plan, and it worked! Surprise, surprise.

I began by ignoring this space until I returned from my duties. Typically I'll wake up with some ideas, sitting myself right down in front of the computer to write. Typically this makes me late. So I stayed away until now when I should be cleaning or something. Just this morning while driving I realized that aside from running the dishwasher, sweeping the kitchen floor and changing the sheets, I've not done one lick of cleaning. Should Nancy be reading this, rest assured I'll do better next week.

Here's what happened: I had a custom order!!! Can you believe it? Me neither. Anyway, I picked up the 10 prints on my way to bridge yesterday (won some, lost some), doing the signing and packaging last evening. Plus, once I returned from shopping yesterday afternoon, there was an email from Mayanne asking if possible, could she order two more of a different print? Sure thing was what I had to say about that. Mr. Roger was kind enough to print last night, leaving them on the porch for me to pick up this morning on my way to deliver the others.

I am more than delighted that my buyer bought local, after all, they are going to local people, so why not keep it all in Orlando?

And then it was off to the Polasek. Haven't heard that name in this space for a while have you? I've been taking a break, which may or may not continue. Today, however, I went to help Trudy whose emails are so plaintive I couldn't say no this time. There is a weird exhibit there--Russian Propaganda from the Cold War.

It's not often one sees Cyrillic in Orlando now is it? Bizarre right? I'm happy to say that my boredom level was very low because there were 12 visitors, almost a record for me. Plus, while there, Trudy flattered me by saying how much she loved reading this here blog. There was a time when anyone could ge me to do anything by complimenting my children--alas, this blog is now my child.

Since Randy Knight left the gardens in early summer, the wonderful Pam Paisley has been overseeing things somewhat. Trying to streamline the maintenance she removed about a gazillion pots which needed daily waterings. Things still looked nice, or at least as nice as they can in early December.

All righty now, we are caught up for today, but how about yesterday you ask. Let's see, what did happen yesterday aside from bridge? First off I ate, only after photographing of course, one of the tangerines Kathy gave me on Sunday from their trees. I'm a tangerine nut. Love how easy they are to peel, the flavor, the seeds, not so much.

I snuck in a photograph of one of Angela's blooming amaryllis which, believe me, is stunning in person. Multi-layered it is.

Although I don't think the name is Candy Cane, it should be! Bridge was good; I remembered more than I thought possible.

And then there was some shopping to complete. I only came across this today, Made in America, and I wasn't totally successful but I was mindful nonetheless. The reason for my haste in shopping boiled down to shipping. The longer I waited, the more it cost. Coming out of Nordstrom I thought the green trees loaded with red berries against a cloudy sky was worth photographing.

Maybe you don't? I've been keeping my fixed lens on the Olympus which makes composing photos very interesting. Challenging in some respects. Always sharpening my skills.

I packed it all up last night, forgoing beautiful wrapping in favor of plain tissue paper. Sorry M & T. After sealing the package I walked into my office to discover I'd left something homemade out. Well, duh! I slit the bottom open and did my best to stuff it in that way. More tape.

A post office run was first on my agenda this morning--see, I told you things had to go smoothly; for once I wanted to be on time to the museum! Lady luck was on my side today BECAUSE, not one single person was in line!!! I filled out the paperwork, paid my $31.00 (crazy!) and I was headed to Mr. Roger's house in record time. Because he lives blocks from the downtown core, heading to the law office was a breeze. After finding a parking place, I walked the three blocks, handed over the goods and sailed over to the museum. According to plan....perhaps I should do more planning in the future?

Maybe I should start now? As in spruce this house up a bit before my honey arrives home from a very hard week. Sounds like a plan to me.

Happy weekend friends,
Gail

Microblogging, or not....

My friend Josie tells me micro-blogging on sites like Twitter, or Facebook, is the wave of the future; this does not bode well for narrative writing. I'm still going to buck the trend and keep writing. According to the newspaper I read while eating lunch, writing each day increases your brain power; Lord knows I can stand a little bit of that.

When last I left you I was pontificating about photography's place at art shows. I was hoping to hear back from someone about this matter, anyone have an opinion? I've begun to wonder just what is "art?" I've looked up the definition although I'm not sure that tells me what I want to know. Furthermore, who decides what great art is anyway? We all know that some artists now considered masters were shunned while living. How does one place a value on art? Is it skill, creativity, color, nuance, or the ability to make the viewer either think or feel that sets some artists apart from others? Sounds like I should take a class!

Despite the ongoing weekend art festival, I still did well at my markets.

Speaking of which I was delighted to see Lisa and Danny at Eola on Sunday. I think I was chatting with someone and looked up to see Lisa. She was astonished to see the transformation of the market, barely recognizing it from her earlier visits. They walked around the lake, staying to not only listen to music, but have some delicious treats. I think Danny drank a half gallon of the fresh squeezed orange juice, and I know for a fact Lisa enjoyed some delicious sweets. Danny is still having treatments, which are keeping things under control, but the side effects are not so great, one of which is extreme fatigue. It is difficult to exercise under these conditions, but owing to his indomitable spirit, he's still trying.

Whether or not what I'm doing is artistic, I'm in a show this weekend in Deland. With the flagging economy this might prove futile, but it is always good to be in juried shows every now and again to improve your street cred. I'll be surprised if anything comes my way, but I'm giving it my best shot. Bruce left yesterday morning for his inspection in Kissimmee (perfect as always!), from there straight to the airport for his inspection today in Foxboro, MA. After he's done there it is on to CT to check on the progress of that job. He won't be back until sometime Thursday evening which makes for a very long week. I hate to drag him up to Deland on Friday afternoon to set up the tent, however the show begins at 9 on Saturday morning. We'll be hard pressed to set up in the morning because it takes forever. The amazing thing about Bruce is that no matter how hard he works he never complains. We could all learn a thing or two from him.

I've been somewhat entertained by all the old fashioned things becoming popular once again now that the economy is so tattered. Cube steaks, a mainstay of both my childhood, as well as our boys, have seen some astounding sales increases. I've been reading that movie tickets sales are soaring, as are candy sales. By candy I don't mean Godiva, I mean Necco wafers, the cheap stuff. In case you are wondering, here's how they stack up. Not one to jump on a bandwagon, I took this a month ago trying to make an interesting photograph.

We had some much needed rain yesterday which sent me over to Leu Gardens to take advantage of the gray skies and wet plants. The pictured amaryllis plant was not only drenched, but the color was unbelievably saturated. Hoses and sprinklers are poor substitutes for a good long rain. Everywhere you looked there were large stands of the beautiful bulbs. The rest of the day was pretty much non productive on my part. Today, however, is another day, and I've already done a bunch. I thrive on a combination of activity and routine.
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Listening to: Blur - Music Is My Radar
via FoxyTunes