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

Around the Block

There are three different routes I can take when Baxter and I take a morning walk. Last week I showed you what there was to see going South from our home. Yesterday morning we took the walk down towards Lake Jennie Jewel and instead turned North. For a few houses we walk on Summerlin, then turn East onto Pershing, making a circle back towards our home. The houses on Pershing are a bit of a mixed bag, some nice, some not so much. For a good while there is just the wall that runs around Southern Oaks which is nice because there is not much for Baxter to sniff or pee on. You would think of the hundred or so times I've made this walk I wouldn't find anything new to photograph, but you'd be wrong. Every time something new catches my fancy.

For as long as we've lived here the Sims have lived down the street on the lake. Walter Sims, according to the fascinating obituary link, was born the son of a sharecropper. A former State Representative, his wife Gail is left to care for a pretty big house and property. For many of those years Mr. Sims had a grape arbor which I photographed and had Mr. Roger print. As he aged, he could no longer bother with the grapes, thus it was dismantled, however, I had photographic evidence of its' former glory. One of the joys of my current gig is making people happy for one reason or another. Taking the 11x14 print down to her house, you would have thought I'd given her a million dollars she was so thrilled. She couldn't wait to show it to the children--probably adults my age. :)

Another thing I've always liked about their property is this wonderfully colorful boathouse that pairs pretty nicely with their bright yellow house.

I should ask her if that color was her idea or Walters. As well, I need a reminder what kind of bird houses those are on both the side and back--I'm thinking some kind of owl, or maybe I remember him telling me a wood duck?  Obviously, home made.

As we traveled down Pershing, this street sign gave me a notion. Is Bliss a Dead End street? Why no, it's an Avenue:

And then there are the banana trees. You've probably seen this before, if so, sorry, if not, you might be intrigued by this big pod thing which hangs from a bunch of bananas.

Pretty neat huh? About a foot, well, I'm not so good at estimating distances, but anyway, a bit above it are the bananas.

Just before we cross Pershing leading back to our street, this odd flower comes into sight:

Since having my camera obsession, I've discovered just how varied and beautiful the flower world is. Sure, I liked flowers before, however, I never had the time or money in the past to have many flowers in my life. Now, I have both the time and money, as well as the inclination. As such, I was a planting fool yesterday with more to come once I finish this! More on that later...

Remember the golden rain tree we've been watching. Here's the aftermath of all those beautiful blooms:

Previously Jonathan commented on the big mess the trees make and he's got a point!

One of our neighbors, who happens to be our insurance agent, has loads of gigantic pines on his property which backs up to Lake Gem Mary. Good grief the crows were out yesterday morning!

They were having a heyday, flying out of the trees in a group and back again.

By then it was just a few houses until ours. Don't say I didn't warn you about re-showing those dahlias!

In person they are absolutely gorgeous! I'm trying to learn a bit about garden design. Losing the tree seemed at the time pretty terrible, however, it's opened up a whole new world to me. Before it was ferns and spider plants. Now, I'm trying all sorts of flowers, with mixed results. Of course I'm still dealing with a large area where the tree stump was ground--a mixed bag as far as soil quality is concerned. That said, I'm thinking by next year it will be the best compost anyone could hope for. We shall see won't we?

During my visit with Lois I mentioned that I'd received a jury summons which coincided with the annual Darden fair. I'd been thinking I could set up on Wednesday evening, leave the other ladies to manage sales (thinking positive!), and hope for the best. She suggested I send in the card explaining why it would be a hardship so I figured what could it hurt. Naturally, while at the post office the other day I had to buy some of the Gregory Peck stamps.

I really don't mind serving, however, if I can get out of it for this date, I'll be thrilled.

Sitting at Lois's kitchen table I couldn't keep my eyes off a triangular vase filled with, what turns out to be, tarragon. "Take it home with you," she said. Never one to turn down an offer like that, I did bring it home and puzzled how I could make it shine in a photograph.

I keep meaning to look up a recipe for tarragon vinegar which I'm supposing goes something like this:

• Tear off leaves
• Place in bottle 
• Cover with white vinegar
• Close and let sit for a bit

Tarragon is one of those herbs that I've not had much experience using. Aside from the vinegar recipe, I'll have to check the link I've included for more recipes. 

Finally, I was beginning to think I was the only one who felt this way about Steve Jobs. A thought running through my mind these last two weeks is that the Occupy protesters are most likely using Apple products to advance their cause.  Hmmm.....