Every Picture Tells a Story

As such, I'm including a bunch of stories. Seems to me that loads of folks like their birthdays, ranking it as one of the biggest days of the years. I'm not one of those folks. I do, on the other hand, love everything about Christmas. Biggest day of the year for me.

I went ahead and did the Winter Garden market on Christmas Eve, mostly because I knew that I wouldn't be missed for much of the day. Jonathan, Alissa and Bruce went to the movies again, seeing Sherlock Holmes. As you can imagine, aside from a few rushes of folks here and there, mostly the market was quiet. My sales though were better than the last few weeks. While there I saw this funny t-shirt on a man who graciously allowed me to photograph him.

Cute, huh?

My plan was to have a little family get together before the big, gigantic extended family meet up on Christmas afternoon at Lisa and Danny's house. While thinking aloud about what I might cook, Bruce came up with the menu. Roast pork and potatoes, asparagus and waldorf salad. Perfect. Will do.

After dinner, stockings were passed out and hopefully enjoyed. Note the tablecloth which never really got made. My intentions were good but as anyone who has ever sewn will see in a heartbeat, the selvage is showing! After Dave, Bill and Michelle left, Bruce and I hit the sack while Jonathan and Alissa finished up their wrapping chores.

Christmas morning, while I was in the shower, Matt called via FaceTime from Melton Mowbray where he's spending the holidays with Tom's family. Duh! I have no photograph of that! And people have the nerve to say I'm always taking photographs! Once Jonathan woke up we used his iPad so Matt could watch while we opened the gifts he left for us while here for Thanksgiving. Very 2011! More about gifts tomorrow, otherwise this post will go on forever.

We may have been making too much noise which woke Alissa. As is our custom, those who wake up last, open the first gifts. Surely I've written about this before, and if so, bear with me. Someone smarter than I shared that strategy when the children were young and we've kept it going all these many years later. This year, as has been the case for a number of years, Bruce and I have a $50 limit for the gifts we give each other, thus freeing up more money for our loved ones gifts. Bruce did a beautiful job wrapping all the gifts he found for me.

He is our bow king for sure!

Jon and Alissa even brought Baxter gifts.

I needn't tell you he wore his new little Santa hat just long enough for a picture! He's cleaning up the crumbs from one of his treats which came from the "Groovy Dog Bakery" in Austin. Indeed, Baxter is a pretty groovy dog. Alissa had fun chasing hin around the living room while he had his stuffed toy, pictured on the left, in his mouth. Gifts for all!

After a nice breakfast, Jonathan was lounging on the couch, doing what many young people do--play with their phone, whether it be texting or watching videos!

Later on, Bill arrived, unwrapping his gifts while we all watched. Afterwards I asked him if he would play the acoustic guitar which has been here in one room or another ever since he left home seven years ago. We tend to forget just how good he is when we don't hear him play for awhile. It was a real treat.

Finally David and Michelle came over. We couldn't wait to give Dave his big gift which Bruce wrapped up nicely the day before.

He was, or at least it seemed to us, completely stymied.

Initially Michelle was a little dismayed wondering where the new safe was going to go, however, today after Bruce, Dave and Bill set it up, she seems a little less unhappy with us. She was definitely happy with the apron I made for her.

She's reading the card I included which told her that the rick rack came from Bruce's mom's sewing basket. Something along the lines that three Mrs. Peck's will have their hand on this apron.

Piling into two cars we made our way to Lisa's house. Good grief, what a crowd!!! 28 was the final count! Don't ask me why but I didn't check the battery life on my Olympus before we left. Once there I did a little photoshoot with my niece Lib's daughters. More simply, Maureen's granddaughters who have grown up considerably since I saw them several years ago. There was just something about Hannah's look which made me want to take more and more photographs. Today she turns 15.

Her little sister Lucy is a sweet quirky little girl who claims to want to go into comedic acting when she grows up. Her long, brown, wavy hair and funny little outfit were perfect for a photo shoot out on the back lawn.

Obviously I was running my battery down all the while! Michelle gave David a remote controlled helicopter which was quite the marvel. Rich, Spencer and Maureen are all caught looking up while it floated skyward.

I am plum crazy for this picture of three generations!

Lib, Jen and Michelle were also out back enjoying their drinks in the incredibly mild weather.

Unlike me, Lisa is quite the table decorator. It was so darn pretty everyone was afraid to use it.

Feeding that big a group is quite a challenge, however she and Danny made it happen.

Because of the battery situation I've no pictures of anyone else but let me tell you it was a full house! Just as my battery gave up it's life I took this picture of Jonathan and Spencer who is so darn cute, no one can keep their hands off of him!

Although I took a few with my phone, it's just not the same as using a prime lens.

We made an early exit so that Jonathan and Alissa could meet up with Jonathan's best friend for years, Ryan and his wife Stacey. According to Bill, things got way livelier after our departure.

Here's hoping you had a lovely time making memories,
Gail

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

While falling asleep last night, ridiculously early I might add, several titles for this blog came to mind. None of them stuck. The one I've chosen is entirely literal. We're going to be all over the place today. Furthermore, there will be lots of pictures!

 So let's start with the other morning shall we? I received an early Christmas present from Matt, in fact, he couldn't wait to give it to me, mostly I think because after reading so much about our birds, he wanted to see them in action. Anyway it's a clever bird feeder called The Nuttery which claims to be squirrel-proof. As you well know, squirrels have had the run of our place lately, what with chewing a hole in the kayak, dropping palm seeds in the pool like mad, AND eating all the bird seed. Always one looking for a solution to a problem, Matt brought out the big gun.

Now, seeing birds is something that is easy to take for granted; we had no doubt there would be bird sightings. Except there weren't. Bruce insists that they don't like the safflower seed I bought, so we went back to all sunflower seeds. Finally, Mrs. Cardinal made an appearance, however when she did, I was the only one around.

So, now you know what the feeder looks like. The morning after Matt left, I got to see Mr. Squirrel in action and you will too if you keep reading! Because he'd done as he pleased in the past, he hung out on top for a moment,

undoubtedly scoping out the competition. He got a little closer to the prize,

 And still closer,

 showing off his acrobatic skills. Finally, not to be thwarted he hung on for dear life,

still getting nothing!!! I wish I could remember how he got back on the pole, but for some reason I have no photographs of that action. The Nuttery won the battle, leaving Mr. Squirrel to pick up the droppings,

although, in this photograph he still seems to think he's the champ!

Switching gears now, I was thinking about how the simple things in life can either amuse me or bring me pleasure. Who else do you know who can get excited by a new plastic container and perfectly peeled hard-boiled eggs?

Seriously, does anyone else come to mind? I, on the other hand, keep marveling at the clever design of my new container. And the eggs! Perfection! Maybe it is because I spent many, many years not knowing how to properly prepare hard-boiled eggs so that peeling them is as easy as spreading butter on toast. With my faulty memory it's a miracle that I can recall anything, however,  I still remember signing up to bring deviled eggs to a party at the hospital years ago. A disaster--every egg looked like it was pock marked! Now I know better.

You should have seen my face when, after opening a new box of Coke, I pulled out these cans.

Never, in all my lunch time, Coke drinking years have I come across a white can! Turns out it's a "Save the Polar Bear" campaign. I once read that if a merchant put some charitable offering on the product, sales went up dramatically. Wonder how this will fare?

Apparently, I'm the only one who is wildly jazzed about all my new flowers. Instead people complimented the food on Thanksgiving. Remarking on this to Bruce and Matt, they assured me that my flowers were great, but it was okay if I was getting the most pleasure from them. How about the color on this poinsettia? Fantastic, right?

I came across this fascinating piece on NPR about the sounds you still hear in your head, think, Green Acres theme as an example. How about you?  Do you still hear sounds in your head of long ago jingles or theme songs?

After both Bruce and Matt left this week I was feeling a little blue. Not horribly, just a little sadness. During the last week I've had the opportunity to spend time with two different mothers and their first borns. And, of course, I was spending time with my first born. It was an interesting experience, watching both Jen and Liza interacting with their children. Nothing quite compares to your first born child. All four of my sons have a special place in my heart--if you know what's good for you, you best not criticize them too strongly. A little is okay, more than that and the mother bear comes out of me! Having said that, there is so much effort with the first child. Well, duh-- you are just learning how to parent. I really don't know what I'm trying to say except that your first born will always be your grand experiment, at 7 months, 22 months, or at 35 years old.

I took a walk with Baxter in our neighborhood to shake off my sadness, knowing that seeing the world in action is good medicine for whatever ails you. I've been trying to practice with my camera phone with limited success. We were just fixing to get moving when I decided it would never work while hanging onto Baxter's leash. Running back into the house I grabbed the Nikon off the counter. Good thing that I did, otherwise, I would have NEVER been able to get a shot of this eagle!

Because I had the camera over my shoulder a young man who was exiting a back yard after cleaning a pool, pointed out this magnificent bird. Apparently, while cleaning the pool he heard something overhead and there it was, high up in the oak tree. Fantastic! We watched for a few minutes as I tried to move in closer. Because he only had his phone, I offered to send him the photo via email so he could have proof for his family. Only a few minutes later the eagle took off with yours truly trying her best to react!

Clearly, I'm not a wildlife photographer, but you do get the sense of his wing span. I can't help thinking that this experience was meant to be for any number of reasons which I'll leave to your imagination. 

Had enough of me for the day? Of course you have! Finally, we have enough to play bridge today so I've got to get moving towards that end. Let's just hope I can remember how to play....

Gail