Not Just One, But Two!!

Last evening, following a delicious supper, I decided to run up to TJ Maxx, except, while doing so, I had to take a little detour due to a fallen tree across the road. Must have been caused by the massive rainstorm a few hours earlier. In some parts of the world, the whole "April showers brings May flowers," may ring true, however, in our little corner, the rainstorms usually arrive in June. This year has been a big exception to that as just last week I measured over 4 inches in our back yard rain gauge, which is momentarily out of commission due to the painting which is taking place as I type!

After getting around this roadblock, I discovered that the sunset was phenomenal, except the only place I could photograph it from was the inside of my car. Still awesome though.

What with all the aforementioned rain, it was a miracle that our boating trip on the St. John's River came to pass. Bruce's sister, Michele, along with her granddaughter Annabelle, are visiting from Minnesota. When we first arrived, we were all delighted to see the resident family of Sandhill cranes roaming in brother Cris's back yard.

When I say delighted, I seriously mean delighted, as it was the first time I've been close to a juvenile crane, and they are cute as a button.

That is if you like the scraggly look!

In truth the weather was just right--partly cloudy and warm, not hot. Cris loves taking people out on the boat, as well as his dog Jackson, who seems to like it pretty well too!

Michelle and Fallon preferred the shade.

This, my friends, is the real Florida.

Green, green, and more green. Not to mention lots of water. Having lived on the river for more than a year now, Cris also knows the little side waters, which is not the official name, but I can't think of any other way to describe them. One little detour off the main river took us to what Cris called, "birdhouse lane", although he said only a little while ago there were hundreds of birdhouses, removed recently by a curmudgeon I suppose. There are still a few sweet little ones left.

Birdhouses, along with the ever present Spanish moss. That said, if I see one tiny bit of it anywhere in our yard, I remove it instantly because once it starts in your trees there is no stopping it! After just a lovely afternoon on the river, we dined at Swamp House Riverfront Grille, located a few blocks from Judy and Cris's house.

By now Judy and Katie joined the group.

Seated below the hanging gator, some at the table enjoyed a gator table appetizer, however, I was not one of them. :)

Sunday, the rain held off until I was turning down our street with a loaded car. People who've never been to the market have no idea what they are missing! On any given Sunday you are more than likely to see something like this:

Yeesh! Monkey lady was back, and so too were some cygnets!

My friend Bev warned me to be careful around the owls, and I'm trying; by now I know better than to get too close to a swan and her babies!

Following the market, while at Hill's Happy Hour, our friend Lisa, who lives on Sweetbriar, home to the owls, told me there were TWO owlets, not just one! Are you kidding me? You know where Mrs. Camera Crazy went first thing Monday morning. Looking, looking, looking, I finally found them highly camouflaged in the Magnolia tree.

Oh my gosh!!! I watched for a while and I don't know if you can see this or not, but Papa Owl is beginning a meal.

What it is, I have no idea but he seemed to enjoy it.

How do I know this is Papa? Apparently, the male owl is smaller than the female, whom I saw way, way up in the oak tree over the poop splotched driveway. After swallowing whatever that was, he gave a little nuzzle to baby #1.

We are all obsessed, and can you blame us?

I just got off the phone with Dana who had only a moment to share some horrible, and I mean horrible news. The boyfriend of one of our vendors, Tim, fell terribly ill about three weeks ago. I was sick--Alan is ill, and in a big way. Bacterial Meningitis took over his body, and is apparently, still wreaking havoc, in spite of what I thought was a positive progress report on Sunday. Both legs are, at what I can only hope is, at the knees, being amputated today. I feel just sick even typing it. How old is he? Only 54, and what appeared to be, only a few weeks ago, in excellent health. Further, Matt Stromberg was back in the hospital with pneumonia and a pulmonary embolus. The latest MRI shows the brain tumor growing once again. All treatment options have been exhausted, so it is only a matter of time which I also hate typing, much less thinking about. :(

Why share all that horrible news Gail? Well that just makes me want to celebrate life every single day, as one never knows what tomorrow will bring. Yes, I know that is a overused, however, it still rings true. So, I'm obsessed with the owls? Good. How about you? Loving every beautiful thing God puts in your path? I hope so!

Which leads me to this glorious sight seen on my ride this morning. BTW--I was vacillating between using site or sight in that sentence until I read this.

Now that is one heck of a lot of Angel Trumpet blooms, isn't it?

As I type, this is how the house looks with every single window covered up, leaving me using the lamps for now.

Yesterday they pressure washed everything, including.....drum roll please....

Oh my gosh the driveway looks brand new! After covering all the windows, the trim is now nearly done, with the body coming next. Woo hoo! Cannot wait to see it, not to mention, I hope I like it!!

Making the most of today,
Gail

Friends and Family

You would think with all this manual labor we've been engaging in that we would have no time to visit with friends and family, however, thankfully that is not true. Are we visiting a lot? Not as much as we would like would be one way to put it. But on those occasions when we do you can be sure that I take a few photographs of the proceedings, some good, some not so much.

The last time that we saw Annabelle, our great niece who lives in St. Paul, MN, she looked like this:

Well my how she has grown up! Our last meeting was a sad occasion, the death of my mother-in-law. This time, she, her Mamma, and her Nana, as Michele calls herself, came down to Florida to enjoy some heat and sunshine. They stayed at Judy and Cris's house on the St. John's River and we made the trip to DeBary to see them all. I could not wait to see those adorable eyes again. Except when we went outside she claimed the sun was TOO bright!

And of course it was pretty bright to someone who has endured a mostly gray, freezing cold Minnesota winter. After a time she adjusted, having so much fun on the boat, including getting to drive!

That's Aunt Judy helping her steer with Captain Cris keeping his eye on the river. Michele is Bruce's only sister and Cris is his only brother. Mallory, Annabelle's mom, is the best; it was such a pleasure to see the love between them. And not only does Annabelle love her Mommy, she is wild for Michele.

That is definitely not the best of Mallory, she's much cuter than this, however, getting all three ladies looking their best was not in the cards that day. We spent all day on the river, going as far as Silver Glen Springs where the water is crystal clear but COLD. Yours truly did not test those waters--way too much of a chicken.

It must have been Thursday night that we went to Cheryl and David's home for a going away party. Who was going away you ask? Catherine, that's who. Do you remember when I told you about airbnb and how C & D offer their home on that site. Well, Catherine, who lives on the Isle of Man has a brother who lives here whom she has been helping for the last several months, making all sorts of friends while she has been here. The Beatty's home is stunning, both inside and out. We ate poolside, making some new acquaintances during the evening.

We know both Pam, and Patty on the left of the picture, but Bill and Roxanne on the right were strangers when the night began. But, not for long. I was so surprised, after saying my full name, when the man asked me if I was Billy Peck's mom. It's been a long, long time since someone called him Billy, or so I thought. Apparently, and old Orlando folks will get this, they are all members of the Citrus Club, as is Katie, Cris and Judy's eldest daughter. Katy, in a throw back to their childhood, still calls her cousin Billy. So, what I meant by Orlandoans getting it, is that in spite of the millions who have moved into our area in the last thirty or so years, at it's heart, Orlando is still a small town. People know one another, or at least they do around our part of Orlando. Anyway, it was all good fun and I wish this photo had been better...

You recognize Bruce at the end of the table; he's talking to David who is the blurry lady in the white blouse sitting next to the blonde who is Catherine! Clear as mud, right?

While on one of my increasingly infrequent bike rides last week I stopped to see Pam and Glen's garden. Pam is the head of the garden volunteers at the Polasek where I both met her and volunteered for four years. Her gardening talents are abundantly evident surrounding her beautiful home.

Everywhere you look there are flowering plants, some I'm familiar with, most of them I am not. For a time, Pam's mom lived in the same condo complex as David, that is until she moved to assisted living. I told you it was a small town! The front gardens are stunning, caladiums, flax lilies, begonias, asiatic jasmine, all nestled under gigantic oak trees with hanging orchids. Surrounding the pool are flowers, flowers, and more flowers.

Glen was cleaning out some of the spent vegetables, and sweating, of course. It was already hot, hot, hot!

Now that i'm putting this together I realized that the dish Pam made for the party included some of Glen's home grown eggplant. Talk about eating local--we all live less than a mile from one another.

One of the reasons I quit volunteering was because it was just too darn slow for my liking. Sitting inside for three hours, with no one to talk to, was becoming mental torture. So, instead of being a tough girl like Pam is, I quit. She kept on going, expanding the outside volunteer program through the sheer force of her delightful personality. I can't remember everywhere she and Glen have lived, even though she's told me numerous times, but I do recall New Zealand, Indonesia, and Malaysia. That right there is enough to toughen anyone! Organizing field trips to nurseries around the state for the volunteers, she picked up this little beauty in, I think, Vero Beach? Don't quote me on that...

Isn't it adorable? With her connections in the plant world, she's going to see if someone might begin carrying it in Orlando.

So, you see, we mingle, every now and again.

Finally, in a family related manner, I was unprepared for yet another chapter in the pool saga. I had a notion yesterday to take my automatic pool cleaner over to Bill's for a few days to see how well it would work in his pool. Nice Mom that I am, it seemed like the thing to do. Except, when I opened the lid to the skimmer, where I would be placing the hose, look what was in there!!

A toad with a hitch hiking water bug hanging on to a ring that is supposed to go around the drain!! See that dark spot in the middle. That would be the drain, which pictured toad went zooming down when I turned on the pump!!!!! Then, if you can believe it, it came up in the basket by the pump! It was all very, very unsettling. Will this ever end? Of course it will, as everything eventually does. Like calling your son Billy for half of his life....

Texting Bill, I requested he remove the toad before I returned for yet another round in the pool war! "Will do Mom."

Bruce is still working at Angela's house. It is so weird, he's worked for two days now, and it's just not the same around here without him. Baxie is barking, so let me go see if he is indeed home--it is dinner time after all.

Eating Guacamole at Midnight

Despite my best efforts we ran out of food. I'm told that if all of the food is gone after a party that's a good thing which is a small consolation. As such, my guests were reduced to eating the packaged guacamole, albeit good packaged guacamole, at midnight which struck me as very funny indeed. More on that later as it's been so long since I blogged, and so much as happened, a little recap to follow:

Following last Sunday's market, Jonathan and Alissa arrived safe and sound around 11. During the next few days we did what most folks do before Christmas, including some gift wrapping by Alissa,

some lounging by Bruce, and some laughing by Jonathan. All very cozy. Mostly my shopping was complete, however, I still had one gift to buy for Lucy, our niece Elizabeth's youngest daughter. A trip to Hot Topic (gasp!) at Fashion Square Mall was in order. We were all very happy to see the shopping crowds as the last time I visited it was dead, dead, dead. The Christmas decorations were what some might call very weird. Jonathan adding some levity to our shopping trip:

Coincidentally he is wearing one of the t-shirts he purchased while on his honeymoon in Japan. Seriously, I could not get over the tree...

Then, it was Christmas morning with the small amount of gifts under the tree. I convinced Bruce not to get me much of anything as I do have new windows coming which will be a gift that keeps on giving.

All of the pretty bows were fashioned by the bow master in our home--Mr. Peck and I don't mean the young one! Eventually we were all up and decent in time to have a lovely chat with our extended family in England. Matt and Tom joined Ray and Jane this year in Melton Mowbray where they celebrated the holidays in relative calm, unlike us!

It was so very nice indeed to be having our chat on Bruce's new iPad! Coincidentally, I had been thinking that some nice old-fashioned paper chains would have looked cute on our tree,, and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but old-fashioned paper chains at Ray and Jane's lovely home??!!

We did our first gift exchange with Jonathan and Alissa who bought us many thoughtful gifts, including a signed copy of "The Book Thief," one of my favorites! There are other equally as lovely gifts, however, with the events of the last few days, I'm forgetting most everything. Next Bill, Fallon, Dave and Michelle came over for a bit. More wonderful gifts ensued, including a William Sonoma gift card from Bill, which I can't wait to spend, and a very generous gift card to one of the best restaurants in town from Dave and Michelle. "The Ravenous Pig" if you are wondering...

A trip to the Northside Pecks next...Katie and Joe's house, formerly her parents, in Altamonte Springs. What a super gathering it was with Katie, our hostess, cool as a cucumber, after spending literally all day in the kitchen. Oh to be young again! Here's Jon and Alissa with their Aunt Judy and cousin Jessica:

Of course Judy, above is a Mrs. Peck, and below are three more:

Not entirely true as Alissa has yet to change her name, but as far as I'm concerned, she's a Mrs. Peck to me.

Lisa lives in Longwood, a few miles away which was next on our agenda. Isn't it nice to have a big family? Of course I don't know it any other way...

Pretty much everyone has gathered at Lisa and Danny's house for years now, where Danny does some of the cooking. A retired fireman, he spent years perfecting cooking for a crowd in the firehouse.

That's Sam in the forefront, the boyfriend of our niece Emily, pouring the olive oil. Danny who has had some health challenges for the last few years was in very good spirits which made everyone happy. A cute photo of the twins with him:

Following his shoulder surgery David has lost quite a bit of weight bringing him closer to his brothers', although Bill just can't help himself, he loves having longer hair.

I can vaguely remember a time when there were a lot of children running around, including the two pictured above. There is a whole batch of cousins born in the same year, 1979, within months of one another. Rich, Maureen's son is about two months older than the twins. He has two darling boys including his oldest Spencer shown here opening one of our gifts, a set of charming little children's books illustrated by one of my friends, Leah.

I "Yuv" these books was his charming comment!

Exhausted, Bruce and I came home while J & A met some friends at a bar for drinks. By golly, it was nearing party time so a big Costco run was what Bruce and I did early the next morning. Now that I had the food I made a game plan which was helped enormously by having the house to myself on Friday. J & A met friends at Disney, and Mr. Bruce went to Miami for the day. Perfect, let the cooking begin.

Originally I'd planned on borrowing some crock pots, however, after asking me how much a new one cost, Bruce made the executive decision to buy three at Target, telling me I could donate them to charity after the event. I did not argue. Otherwise I'd borrowed a cool tool from Dana; basically a hot plate with three pots on top which also worked beautifully. I spent the day from 7:30AM to 8PM working in the kitchen. I told you above about my best efforts! It's too long and involved, but one thing that was a must for the menu was vegetarian chili for Alissa, which is where I began.

I thought you said you had new crock pots Gail when what you are showing is a version from the 90's? Good observation folks--this is the one I've had ever since Bill gave it to me for Christmas way back when. I still remember crying when I opened it, why I did so I can't tell you, however I think it must have been because I thought it was so sweet of him. All these years later he's still giving me kitchen gifts.

Although Christmas day was lovely and sunny, after that the weather turned gloomy with Saturday being no exception. Bruce got the back yard all ready with the tables, chairs, setting up the ice and the like. He even set up a tent for the dj to have a little cozy spot on the pool deck. Then it rained which made none of us too happy.

Actually I took this prior to the rain mostly to show off little Mr. Baxter. I covered the fire pit with a plastic garbage bag and he set up my market tent off camera to keep the chairs dry as we didn't know how long it would last. Fortunately, not too long.

The basket on the left is filled with cowboy boot bubble containers, which if you need some, I have plenty left...

I picked up Nancy from the airport around 2, and am I ever glad I did. She was an enormous help, keeping me cognizant of the clock! Earlier in the day I'd even made a list of what was left to do,

in a new notebook Bruce gave me for Christmas. I know folks love their phones for this, but if you didn't know it before, you do now--I'm old fashioned--I like crossing things off a list.

It's always interesting to figure out how to serve a crowd, but somehow it has always worked. Opening all the packages of paper goods I was very happy how things coordinated.

Aside from the real glasses, most all of this stuff went on the counters adjacent to the chilis, of which there were three types, chicken, veggie, and beef.

With Nancy here I even had time to get myself together, which is pretty rare as I'm usually running around like a crazy woman, never getting the time to think about what I'm wearing or fix my hair. Sisters are good like that. And then it was 6:00, and guest began arriving, and what a time we had!

Out of focus in the background that beautiful girl is our niece Katie. :)

Ha arrived bringing with her the most beautiful French macroons and red velvet cupcakes. Yours truly is in the mirror..

The truth is I took very few photographs, instead I just had fun dancing, chatting, and enjoying the moment. You may have noticed in the photo of Christmas morning, the cowboy boot stockings which I have to thank Angela for. Everyone was crazy for them! Here she's chatting with Bill about his upcoming house purchase:

By golly, there they are again.

Our dj, Scott Thompson was wonderful! It is no secret I like to dance and am never shy about getting other folks to do so as well. In this instance it didn't take much convincing. Lest you think Dave goes around at parties with his shirt open, I'm quick to point out that it was very warm!

Both Michelle in the hat, and Jenn, Rich's wife, are wearing my shirts, having ditched their adorable plaid shirts and boots due to the heat! Ever the clever one, Rich picked up a Texas Longhorn jacket at a thrift store, leaving it in Jon's suitcase when he left for the night. He's an accomplished dj himself, and if I were to guess, he's talking shop with Scott.

It seemed to me like everyone had a super time,

whether they were just talking or dancing. Most all of the cousins were there, including Laura and her boyfriend Jerry from St. Pete. As well, Alissa's Mom and her husband Laz, came up from South Florida,

Apparently, while students at FSU, these three guys were called the Three Amigos,

now either joined by their wives, or fiances. Baxter was having no part of the festivities, demanding to be held by Bruce as I ignored him completely!

Which leads me the guacamole episode. Scrounging for food after hours of dancing seemed like just the way to end a night of fun. Except for Ryan, Stacy, Danny, Jonathan and Alissa, the rest of us were all partied out.

While planning the party, more than anything, I wanted it to be a night to remember, and so I hope it was. I accepted thanks from folks, but the truth is my role was only a part of it--without Sue, Kathy, Bruce, Angela, Ha, Nancy and more, it would have been so, so much less. Thank you my amigos!

And now, tomorrow, I turn 60.......