Look What I Found Yesterday!

Sue and I took another marathon bike ride yesterday morning. She's a bad influence, or maybe a good one, depending on how you look at things. I was crouched under the new oak tree with four bags of caladium bulbs given to me by Eric last week when I was too busy to plant them. Must of been a little after 8 in the morning, just an hour after sunrise; really, the perfect temperature for gardening. Looking up I saw Sue come into the driveway on her bike wanting to know if I was heading out. Well, first come inside and see the globe lit up. Greeting Bruce, who was working at his desk, she thanked him for recently finding her a punch bowl at a garage sale. The original plan was for both Bruce and I to do the yard work, as I mentioned there was more than enough for two, however, he was on a mission to connect an additional monitor to his computer, so we decided to take it to the streets. I think it must have been at least a good hour or more before we returned, by which time he was nearly done with his task.

As we rode through the shady streets of stately homes in Harbour Island, the streets beyond called to me, so we rode a bit on Orange Avenue, checking out all the pretty streets running perpendicular to the busy road. My goodness it was both pretty and interesting. Seriously, do you know anyone who has one of these in their back yard?

That said, it must be a lovely spot to sit and watch the wildlife and sunsets on Lake Conway. :)

We saw big house, we saw small houses, all of them interesting in their own way. Realizing it must be getting late we retraced our route, heading home on Ferncreek when we ran into one of Sue's friends who was out walking. I'm pretty sure her name was Christine. We had every intention of heading straight home, however, Sue just had to show me Christine's office in her back yard.

Yup, she writes in there! A girl after my own heart with her solar flower:

Parting ways at the corner of Fern Creek and Pershing, she went east, and I went west. Back to my bulbs. It pained me to do so, but I pulled out all my straggly white petunias. The caladiums are coming up like mad, and the petunias were interfering with the display. May 15, 2012, the display was considerably better than this year to date.

As well, Eric told me it was finally okay to cut my narcissus stems back; they too were getting in the way. While doing so, I began cleaning up the lady palms in the jungle when what should I find?

Woo hoo! This time the nest is much closer to the ground, and there are actually three eggs! I'd just about given up hope because last year the babies looked like this on May 15:

Curious how they are getting such a late start, I'll take what I can get. I knew something was up because as I was weeding close to the nest, the cardinal basically started yelling at me! 

While Bruce trimmed, I weeded. While he edged, I mowed. Calling later in the day, Angela remarked how our yard looked like it was professionally done. I replied, we are professionals, both of us having worked in the yard since we were very, very young! It's a good way to keep active, and I hope I can keep it up for a long time to come.

Out back, that supertenia is showing off what it means to be super!

My goodness it's getting huge, starting off life at our home in about a pint sized container! Then too, I'm pretty sure I used a Miracle Grow potting soil, so there's that to consider. I got in the pool up to my waist in the afternoon (!) and scrubbed the pretty tile.

Bruce left for the airport about an hour ago, heading to meet his contractor in Houston, the location of his new projects. It's a double site, one for a Seasons 52, and one for a Capital Grille. They really know how to put him back to work! As he left, I serenaded him with, "on the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again." He was only mildly amused.

He'll be right back tomorrow so this afternoon seems like a good time to go look for his birthday gift. I'm hoping something will grab me because heading out, I have not one good idea. To think that my boyfriend will be turning 60 on Saturday! To think that I will in December! Who could have imagined when we started dating at 13 that we would ever get so old? Certainly neither of us.

Wasn't it so nice of my sister Lisa to send me a card yesterday congratulating me on my good fortune of late? There's just something about physical mail that is so appealing. Another good find for the day. :)

I Can See Clearly Now

I don't know about you but I'm notorious for putting off tasks that I don't like. Surely it's not because I don't have time to do them because with a schedule like mine--who wouldn't have time? The truth of the matter is, that sometimes, I'm just plain lazy when it comes to housekeeping.

For whatever reason I woke up this morning thinking TODAY is the day to clean those sunroom windows. And so I did, and really, it wasn't so bad after all. Perhaps you're like me when facing a task such as mine, you think someone else might have a better idea on how to do things than you do. Of course, I turn to the internet, as I bet, on occasion, you do as well. I knew I was going to use a long handled brush with some sort of mixture, but what kind, I left up to Google. Ammonia, alcohol and a drop or two of dish soap. I remember once asking the folks at Publix how they got their bakery cases so spotless and they told me the secret was alcohol. Drying effect and all. What I didn't need was a video to show me how to mix it up. Apparently some people might . Check out this video on how to blend taco seasoning spices! Can you imagine? I mean really. A person who is going to be making their own taco seasoning surely wouldn't need a video would they?

After completing the sunroom, including the door, I tackled the side and front glass doors as well and am I glad I did! I can hardly hold back a minute longer before showing you the CUTEST bird picture I've ever taken!!!

One of our baby cardinals showing off how grown up he is. Or maybe it's a girl? I can't tell just yet, probably more out of ignorance than anything. I suppose that little crest must say something wouldn't you think? A few days ago I bought that little bird house on a stand he is perched upon, placing it on the ground right below the Nuttery. For the moment the squirrels have dumped all the food once again, so prior to me taking this photo baby was eating off the ground. I took this through the clear door so now you know how why I am so happy. After little guy finished his shaking I then saw his SIBLING coming to join him!

They scooted away before I could get anything more. The cuteness is almost more than a person can stand!

Now that we've got that out of the way, what really happened is that while standing at the kitchen sink preparing my lunch I looked out the window and what should I see but....

Yep, a long as heck, black racer snake who, shortly after this was taken, slithered into the bushes on the right which house above bird house! Plus you can see all the seed. Boo hiss. I may have to get nasty with the squirrels. I know my friend Karen used to spray some bothersome raccoons with ammonia which sent them running; maybe that would do the trick?

While eating my lunch at the kitchen table I spied some activity through the side door. My goodness there were two blue jays digging through my new purple supertinias which are not faring nearly as well as I'd hoped. Is it any wonder I get anything done around this place. It's non-stop action!

I'm thinking this is a male and female. What you don't see so well in this case (bushes in the way), is the one furthest from you has a stick in it's mouth which he carried away. Baby blue jays next?  While visiting Appenbury's, a local garden center, I learned that although the supertinias are great bloomers, they are not quite as easy to grow as I was lead to believe. Apparently, watering them is tricky--too much and they don't like it, same goes for not enough. Hard to find a happy medium which I'm learning fairly quickly.

Yesterday at bridge Jean asked me what the heck is Instagram? Let me show you I said, pulling out my purple-clad iPhone. I took Debbie's photo first, while she was dealing the cards as you can plainly see:

You'll remember that Debbie has just re-joined us after nearly a year's hiatus while undergoing breast cancer treatment. She is such a joy to be around; her attitude as I've mentioned before is remarkable. Well, that shows in the picture doesn't it? I'm not sure I could go out in public with my hair just beginning to grow and wear GIGANTIC hoop earrings to boot!

Jean was up next and in fact I did post her photo to Instagram because she kinda liked it. Instagram to facebook= simple. Here's the unedited version of Miss Jean who is over 70 and recovering from open heart surgery only two months ago!

Another thing we have in common, aside from loving orange, is, she too, is a former x-ray tech! I have so enjoyed not only learning to play bridge, albeit slowly, but meeting all the wonderful ladies. I'm one lucky gal.

So too is the person who recently sold a version of "The Scream" for $120 million. I couldn't agree more with this commentary from the NYTimes though. It's kinda like the current salaries paid to CEOs of large companies--really? Is anything, or anyone, worth these astronomical sums? Of course not.

You may very well be wondering how it is that I came across the taco seasoning video and I won't keep you in suspense one minute longer. I agreed to take dessert tonight for a little impromptu party over at Barb and Steve's house. A trifle seemed like a good idea, however, after searching for a recipe, I discovered I don't have one ingredient or another, so Toll House cookies will have to do. In fact, I need to head into the kitchen right about now.

Before I do I wanted to thank my friend Karen Howard for her kind comment yesterday. Sometimes, even after posting 991 times, I feel as I did when I was writing post #1. Is anyone reading what I write? Do I really have anything worthy of anyone else's attention? Is it all just an exercise in futility? And then along came Karen....

Beginner's Luck

While on holiday I used my iPhone every now and again to check my email. I used it for lots more than that for maps and fact checking like who sung what--that sort of thing--so glad I finally succumbed to a smart phone. But that's another story....

I think it might have been on Wednesday that an email came through from Etsy saying someone included one of my photos in a "treasury" which to my mind kind of predates Pinterest. Same idea really except instead of choosing from the whole web people choose things they like from Etsy. So that was kind of cool. It was the heart cloud.

I'm pretty sure it was the next day that an email came through with even more exciting news--a sale. The heart cloud. Coincidence? I don't know. What I do know is I was completely shocked and didn't know what came next. What came next was a call to David, giving him the opportunity to say "I told you so", something he is wont to do on any number of topics. Actually, his first words were "Congratulations Mom."

After struggling with the mailing process, off it went. And now nothing. No views, no orders. Totally beginner's luck. Now I need to learn the ropes on how to get people to my shop. Saturday the Winter Garden market was fairly slow for me but I did meet some folks who stayed and chatted for a good long while. After looking at some of my images the man asked me if I sold online. "Well, sort of," I replied. He went on quite a while about how he'd been selling jewelry on Etsy for three years and it is possible to get seen, it's just that there are tricks involved which he was only too willing to share. In fact, he claims he'll be back next week with a book to guide me through the process. We shall see now won't we?

In another new development, a week ago Sunday, just about the time we were closing up the booth, a couple came along and shortly after meeting, the woman started talking to me about their business. What kind of business you ask? Art publishing, or something like that. SDGraphics is the name. I spoke with her last week and sent her an album of requested subjects. She called just as I was sitting down to blog and had some complimentary things to say including the fact that she'd shown the album to someone else who said the same. Would I send specific images again? I answered yes. Here again, I have no idea if anything will come of it, but I won't know unless I try. Think the art you see in retail stores which in their case are HomeGoods and Kirklands. Apparently the way I would make any money out of this scheme is volume. Once again, time will tell.

I got a new car on Thursday--a Honda Pilot.

In a nutshell, the Element lease was due, we needed more space, and so we got this. Pretty plush when compared to the Element that's for sure. A bonus is that when the kids come to town we will actually have seats in our vehicle! Bonus round two--the shed has a lot more room in it now that the back seats for the Element have been restored to their rightful place. Did I really type kids??? They are far too old to use that term!

More importantly the cardinals have hatched and in fact have LEFT the nest as far as I can tell. So here is how I first saw them:

All snuggled up they were. You'll have to click on it probably to see the little eye in the front. I can't wait to see that nest up close what with the paper in it and all. The day we went to look at the car I went out front, watching the nest from a distance, when lo and behold, I saw this little one on the edge of the nest:

The original Mohawk! Actually he isn't on the edge in this one but before long he was.

Those wispy little feathers in the front are really something aren't they? I just knew he was fixing to take off and sure enough he did--a little jump onto an adjacent palm frond which is what you are seeing in front.

From what I can tell about timing, perhaps the eggs hatched while we were on holiday, one of the reasons I was so distressed that all the feeders were empty when we returned. The thing is, now I can't find them anywhere. I mowed the lawn today, which looks excellent if you really want to know, and there were no baby cardinal sightings. I'm slightly worried because, although the pictured chick looked good and ready, the remaining chick appeared to have no interest whatsoever in leaving the nest. Where have my little cardinals gone????

The yard is kicking into high gear what with the warm weather we are having. I'm beyond thrilled that the caladiums are popping up like mad. I took this picture on Friday and today there are even more!

Another very exciting happening around the Peck Casa are my blooming orchids. Forgive me if I'm repeating myself but my sister-in-law Ruth's parents gave me an orchid two years ago Christmas. After all the blooms finally gave up the ghost I placed it under what some might consider a tree. A month or so ago I began to notice blooms forming. If you can imagine, there are 29 buds!!!!!!

It's crazy hard to photograph it well because the stems go every which way and on each one there are gobs of buds and blooms. Fantastic!!!

And then there is this one I got from my market neighbors, Jim and Kathy:

The potential blooms on this baby are not nearly as impressive but still nice. There are birds and butterflies everywhere in our yard. So nice to commune with nature...

How cute is this little one:

I took this through the big window in the living room between the open blinds. I'm considering taking down the blinds so they are not in the way?

I began this blog post hours and hours ago. Happily I spoke with Matt and Tom on all matter of digital media--first FaceTime, then iChat, and finally the regular phone. Crazy I know but good. They both gave me input on the Etsy shop tags--a way for people to find my stuff. Agreeing that worn towels was not good, Matt changed it to just towels. Oftentimes you'll find me going on a bit about how technology isn't such a good thing; of course this is said when I'm not in need of the amazing things that can now be done with same.

Speaking of which, while we were gone, and I was eating out all the time, I couldn't help but notice that all sorts of folks would be sitting together at a table looking at the screens on their phone. This bothered me a lot. When we got to the market last week we learned that one of the vendor's husbands (our age I might add) died while driving a car at 80mph. A heart attack obviously. In the blink of an eye,  he was gone. Love the ones you're with my friends. Will you?

Breathing A Little Easier

So, I just got off a little Face Time chat with Matthew who assures me I need not worry. Easy for him to say! Actually, he did ease my mind just a bit. For those who've not been following the news, there is widespread mayhem in London with violence, burning of buildings, and looting. When I read that there were riots in Hackney, I nearly panicked. Remember I said I'd roamed on Hackney Road one morning?

Sadly, there are other cities in England experiencing violence as I type. We discussed that most British policeman do not carry guns,  mostly clubs (?), which must be very frightening indeed. God bless those brave souls. I felt so darn safe in London, and ordinarily I believe that is the case. Darn those bad boys!

Oddly enough, while reading a short story called Neighbour Rosicky, by Willa Cather, at the museum this morning, it contained these few lines:

"In the country, if you had a mean neighbour, you could keep off his land and make him keep off yours. But in the city, all the foulness and misery and brutality of your neighbors was part of your life"

Yesterday was not such a great day for me. Every now and then, my old illness rises to the surface, draining me of all energy. Although I slept for ten hours Saturday night, nearly that on Sunday night, I still couldn't manage to do much at all on Monday. Waking up this morning after yet another marathon sleeping session, I knew right away, that for the moment, the lethargy is gone. I was up and at 'em bright and early, as in 5:45, accomplishing more in the hours before I left for the museum than all of yesterday put together. Hurray!

I did manage yesterday, after writing my blog, to jot down notes about what I really meant to say if I'd been thinking clearly. Let's go over that list right now.

• This sort of thing makes me crazy. No wonder EVERYONE feels less attractive. The images presented in the media are all a result of using PHOTOSHOP excessively!
• My friend Robin posted this and I couldn't agree more: "When gifts are given to me through my camera, I accept them graciously. (Minor White)
• There are not one, but two, baby cardinals in the nest. I went to check on Momma Cardinal and lo and behold what I saw through the branches was a little mouth peeking out of the nest! I ran to tell Bruce who suggested I get the ladder to try to see from above. I couldn't see a thing. He, on the other hand, saw the two of them. I'll soon be looking all over the yard, or really, listening for their little cheeps, and hopefully, we all will be seeing their development soon. I needn't tell you that I'm hoping they both survive.
• For months now I've been looking for my previous wallet because I knew it contained my SS card. During all our cleaning I kept hoping we would come across the darn thing. We didn't. From the time I was 12, I've had that card in my wallet, so don't go thinking I'm a loser or anything. And why, pray tell did I want to find it? These days, when renewing one's drivers license, one needs not one, not two, not three, but FOUR pieces of identification. What a stupid pain. Post 9/11 hysteria in action.
• I found it! While retrieving some blank music CDs to use for Bill's iPod, I merely wondered what was in a box. Yup! Just when I was NOT looking, I found it. Happy Days.

For four years plus I've been taking photographs nearly every single day. While Nancy was here, mostly I didn't have the time, so once she left. I got busy. I got out my Nikon to practice, using the manual focus with the results below:

There's our little watch dog on the front path, ready to bark his little head off if a stranger appears.

By now you're sick to death of my bird bath, but I'm not:

You know I have caladiums, but did you know Angela has them as well? She bought the only one of this kind while we were together. I'd have fought her for it but she's way younger and taller.

Isn't the color terrific? Next year...

One of the things I kept from Bill and Dave's treasures was this signed, Major League baseball:

I can't read the signatures or anything but it makes for good photography practice.

Just before we went to England I finally had to give up on my beloved petunias. The English folks knew this and were kind enough to have planted oodles of them in all the gorgeous hanging baskets I saw. Nice folks, those Brits.  Replacing them with periwinkles, I expected upon our return to find them nicely settled in their new pots. They were not. Actually, to be more specific, one of them looked very shabby indeed, caused by the excessive rain from not only the sky, but the overflowing gutter above it. Because they'd not been there too long, my attachment was not great. Once again, I was on the hunt for something to make it through the summer. I found these wonderful plants at none other than our market. 

Mostly I bought them for their colorful foliage, not even realizing until I took this photograph that there are tiny little purple flowers as a bonus. Plus, apparently, lizards like them too!

Allrighty now. I've covered my notes, I've covered that both Matt and Tom are safely eating dinner at home, and I've covered my little down time. I'm breathing much easier now.