Look Who's Blogging on Monday!

Today's photographs are a tribute to my kind friends, the wonderful gardeners who are kind enough to share their beautiful work with me, and you, for that matter. The new header is from Lois's garden, which did not impress Angela all that much, but it sure impresses me.

Here's a beautiful iris from Regina's back garden, aptly named "Regina's Iris.And next up from Eric's garden, some gorgeous hollyhocks, which are mostly associated with the North. Apparently, if you know what you are doing, you can grow these beauties in Florida. Hollyhocks were one of Mom Peck's favorite flowers, probably because they reminded her of her mother's garden in New York
Aren't they a beautiful shade of pink, or I guess I should say, pinks!

Since our last get together, we've had Jeff and Connie over for dinner Friday night, Saturday market, pedicure, shared a good time with an English couple at Graffiti Junktion (not a typo!), and then Sunday at Eola. All well and good, however, if I dare admit it, the climax to my weekend was the delivery of the zebra chair on Sunday night. Fantastic!!! Mr. Richard, the upholsterer, outdid himself!

You will be seeing his handiwork just the minute I can adequately photograph its' charm. Is it possible for a chair to have charm? In this case, I think so. Not fair you say--she tempts us, and then producing nothing. It's just that the weather is so gloomy this morning, following a stormy night. The thunderstorms and wind woke us several times. According to our rain gauge, more than two inches of rain fell. The light is just too poor to get anything, but I promise, you'll be seeing it in due time.

Actually, aside from the markets, most of what we did was very last minute. Jeff asked Bruce if we'd meet them for drinks, which I agreed to, and actually dressed for, until I realized how much nicer it would be if they just came to the house for dinner. Those of you who know me well, know that entertaining at the last minute is not my style. Instead I prefer to plan it out, spending lots of time preparing the meal. Well, who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? Once I got the affirmative, I headed to Publix for some supplies. About an hour or so later, we enjoyed a lovely meal together. As you may recall, Bruce was traveling most of the week, so he was delighted to relax in his lovely new home after dinner!

As for the pedicure, I realized at Saturday's market how, once again, I'd neglected to keep myself groomed as well as I should. After unloading, I was fortunate to get an appointment with Rudy, the girl I've been using for a year, or so. My color, you ask? Baguette me Not. A lovely shade of coral for spring.

Arriving at Graffiti Junktion, I said to Bruce, "We're the oldest folks in the place," which was mostly true. Maybe that's why we ended up chatting with the English couple, the second oldest couple in the place, seated behind us. Eventually, we gathered at one table, sharing my gigantic serving of nachos. When I say gigantic, I'm definitely not exaggerating--they serve it on a 16" pizza pan, with only a $10 price tag. My failing memory does not allow for name recall, but they were very fun to be around. He has a construction company near Clearwater, cleverly calling it BBC, which stands for Beach Building Company. Gin & Tonic flowed.

No rain at the market on Sunday!! Now, that's headline news my friends. The weather is warming up quickly now; before you know it, instead of the cold, I'll be cursing the heat. Crowds were pretty good, and sales not too bad. One couple ended up buying 10 things for their beach house in New Smyrna, if you can imagine. Get this, turns out they live in one of the huge houses just down the street on Summerlin. Small, small world.

To date, I've been unsuccessful in convincing Rick Flair to pose for the cameraVery pretty, don't you think?

Market Report

 

If it isn't one thing it's certainly another.

Finally, I had a good day. To date, it's been a rough September, barely selling anything on all my outings. Yesterday I had not only new customers, but returning ones as well. It's made me realize that once someone has purchased something from me, they might just return for more. Good deal! As well, setting up in the same place each week allows some potential customers to see my offerings several times before they end up buying something. Such was the case with the sunrise picture next to Bruce. He thought our booth looked so good he had me photograph it! That's quite a compliment from him. So anyway, as the day progressed sales kept coming, both large and small. That's just how I like it--a variety. More importantly to me were sales of new pieces. Don't get me wrong, I love to sell the popular ones, but the new ones please me the most.

Later in the afternoon, after Bruce arrived for the packing up, several ants decided that my sweaty flesh would be tasty. Yes, it is still murderously hot in the later afternoon, particularly during the closing down phase, but I digress. As you well know, ants and I do not get along all that well, somewhat like mosquitoes and I are not compatible. Thus, the inside of my left forearm began to not only itch, but swell alarmingly. So there's that...

Now, picture this--once we were home and settled, I walked out to Bruce's desk to tell him something, turned to my left, and walked straight into the corner of the sunroom couch frame bending my little toe back in the process. Not good. I went flying headlong onto the couch in pain. Bruce and Baxter jumped up to check on me immediately. Sounds pretty silly doesn't it? Anyway, getting back into a sitting position, I thought I was ok until later on when my toe began throbbing a bit. I climbed into bed with my latest book which we'll discuss in a future post; I will say this much, charming so far. Then again, I never need much of an excuse to get in bed early....

If there were a pause button on a blog, this would have been the paused section from yesterday.

Bruce came home, then after supper, I went to Mr. Roger's house to discuss the images for the gallery show which is fast approaching. This was a find in my email box this morning: Orlando WeeklyOf all things, they don't mention that I'm a fledgling photographer.

Hopefully it will go well, although I did not choose the pieces for the show. All of them are new to the public; they are all very similar, chosen as a theme. I just realized that every one of them was taken at home! Maybe I should have called the business--In & Around the House? Six of them were taken in the backyard, with the other two staged in the kitchen and hall bathroom. Not being my favored way to do things, I'll have to trust the professionals that it won't be weird having things so alike.

Jim and Kathy's son is showing marginal improvement after 24 days in ICU. Signing the consent forms for a tracheotomy for their son is something they never expected to do. This young man needs a miracle because the longer he is in the hospital, the greater his chances of contracting MRSA! If you are the praying kind, now would be the time--his name is Karl.

Because I've titled this post, "Market Report", I realized I should mention Saturday's market at Whole Foods. The red hibiscus on black and white polka dot, (you saw it first in this space), sold as a 20x20 canvas on Saturday. Finally, I had a good day there. The truth is that for a while now, the market has been in serious decline. WF withdrew most of their support, no longer having b-b-que on the patio and no live music anymore. The solution Dana came up with is to move the market to the Dr. Phillips Marketplace just up the street a few blocks. The locals tell us it will be a good move and I hope they are right. Starting this Saturday!

While typing this I just received an email from Bruce telling me he would have been sitting right next to our mayor on the plane to DC, if not for the fact that Mr. Peck was upgraded to first class. Wonder what he's up to.

Can you believe museum day is here once again? It is and that means it's time to get a move on...
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Listening to: Corinne Bailey Rae - Call Me When You Get This
via FoxyTunes

Vandalism

It might seem strange for someone who has done really well with a photograph of graffiti to be complaining about it but this sort of vandalism makes me sad.

As I was coming upon it my first thought was that some rabid Florida Gator fans were getting in gear for the upcoming football season with a slur against the Alabama team. Duh! Am I naive or what? The second one they managed to make it more like one word. I'm all for free speech, however, I think defacing someone's property is the worst way to do make a point. Driving by that evening we saw a man repainting both walls. Thank you sir.

Write about movies! This was a reminder to myself to write about some movies we've seen. Last week we watched Into the Wild, which turned out to not be very good at all. There were a few good things about it, but ultimately it was about a very selfish boy who broke hearts. Although he may have had good intentions, what it portrayed to me was a life lived without regard for those around him. Plus, it was entirely too long. Even the great cast couldn't make up for that.

I wrote that reminder on, say Wednesday night, before we learned that John Hughes died. So many of his movies were great; I suspect Netflix will be inundated with requests to rent his movies, many of which are classics. My friend Elena re-posted this and I'm doing the same: Sincerely, John Hughes It is hard to imagine this happening today what with the death of letter writing.

We had a super fun weekend. Friday night we went to Ember, a nice downtown spot we'd yet to have tried. Loud and happening. Saturday, I did the WF market which was sad. I sold two pieces for my trouble. I did get to see Norka, my little friend who collects the rent, and Cole, Dana's son who runs the market. He'd begun celebrating his Saturday birthday Friday night and was feeling mighty poorly. Fortunately I didn't have too long to dwell on it before we went over to Dominic and Maria's beautiful condo for dinner, but not before Bruce toured me around the house showing off his handiwork. As you know he rarely takes a Saturday off, but this week he did. Mostly he was thrilled with his installation of a wireless cable router so now his television in the garage has more than two channels to offer. He did some rearranging to give us just a bit more room out there as well.

Before I forget I saw one of the ladies I worked with at the hospital at Saturday's market. Actually Suda is the one who bought the Subaru from us after I bought my darling yellow MINI Cooper. Anyway she and her husband Gary brought me up to date on their sons progress through the teen years and on into college. I asked her about another woman's children and things were much less pleasant. All three of her children are a mess, one with bulimia, one with two children, no job, and only 23, and one who is seriously injured from a motorcycle accident suffered on his eighteenth birthday. Can I just mention how grateful we are that our sons navigated those years without too many lasting problems?

Wicked heat on Sunday maybe thinned the crowds at the market, but it didn't keep them away. I had the best sales day I've had in quite a while (19) proving once again (I know, how many times will I repeat it?), that you can never predict what will happen when you go out. What pleased me the most was the sale of three pieces which I thought were never going to sell! After work we joined Dana at the wine bar across the street cooling off a bit with chilled Savignon Blanc. We were all pretty worn out, her from all the market drama, of which there is surprisingly a lot, and me from the heat and all the transactions. Plus, we had lots of surprise visitors. My friend Karen showed up about the same time as Matt and Angela arrived by bicycle, just behind Bruce who cycled up early to meet his mom there. She brought me a lovely little bouquet of flowers. She kept remarking on how she couldn't get over how big the market is now. Neither can we for that matter. Here's Bruce resting after spending nearly two hours setting up our booth:

From reading this blog one would think that I'm the only one with something to sell but these days here's a sample of what you can find at the market:
Nine tents of produce
Grilled corn on the cob
Kettle corn
Lemonade
Salsa
Home-made soap
Variety of cheeses
Pasta
Vegan Rice Bowl
Outdoor and indoor plants
Two orchid vendors
Jewelry GALORE (Dana says she gets so many requests she could have a jewelry market)
Smoked Turkey Legs
Fair Food
Olive Oil
Cupcakes
Homemade Cookies
Quiche and other French treats (superb, I might add)
Massages
Candles
Stained Glass
Face Painting
Finger Puppets
Specialty Coffees
British Food
Gyros
Homemade aprons
The list goes on but you get the idea--there is a lot for sale with more people every week wanting to join in.

And then there is Out & About Photography....

Lastly I was wondering why it had been so long since I blogged and then I remembered. I spent perhaps eight hours re-doing my online gallery. I'm hoping to get some feedback on the changes please. You can most easily go there from the link on the right hand side under the flickr badge. Jonathan and Bruce were kind enough to give me their opinions already.

The Incredible Shrinking Gail

Market Praise
Lest you think I only take photos of flowers.....

In final market related stuff--today's picture is of Roger, his wife Trish in black, and their two dogs, Max and Samantha. It was about this time last year that I began selling prints made by Roger. They were just cruising around like this last July when I met them for the first time.

It was with dismay that I looked at the scale this morning...down to 104.5 (digital scale). In this house it appears that I need more calories, and Bruce needs less...what's a cook to do?

The Olympics are spectacular, especially the swimming; I only wish they could put it on earlier. It is pushing my limit to stay up till even 10, so naturally I missed the dramatic relay race on Sunday night. It's just not the same in a re-run.

Have I told you these two kitchen tips before?

When I was feeding my mom during her illness (not a great description, but I can't think of any other way to put it) I used to make her deviled eggs for the next days lunch. I finally learned how to boil eggs consistently so they would not only peel, but have a nice yolk without that dreaded grayish-green ring. Here's the trick: cover eggs with tap water in saucepan, bring to boil, let boil two minutes, cover and move off heat for 12 minutes. Run under cold water for a minute or so, then put lots of ice cubes in with the water for five minutes or so. Make sure you crack them on the widest end and they will peel like magic--no more beat up white!

Secondly I'm extolling (is this a word?) the virtues of a pizza pan in the kitchen before. I rarely make pizza, but the pan is in the dishwasher nearly every week. I not only heat those delicious biscuits on there, but roast any number of vegetables on it. As well, a square cooling rack usually fits right on top to broil food on instead of the broiler pan that comes with ovens. Those pans are so hard to clean, just put some foil on the bottom of the pizza pan and the clean up is a snap.

One more household tip--I've finally used a product that lives up to it's name. It's called Invisible Glass made by Simonex, actually Bruce bought it for his car. Anyway I used it on the mirrors and glass table and it's fantastic!

Bruce left early yesterday morning, not to return until late Thursday night. Yikes! We're trying to schedule some anniversary celebration for this weekend because sadly he'll be gone on the actual date. I can remember a time when going out to eat was such a treat, it was almost exclusively reserved for after church, or a special celebration. It's kinda lost its' luster these days.

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Listening to: Leftfield & Lydon - Open Up (Radio Edit)
via FoxyTunes

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Listening to: Radiohead - Pop Is Dead
via FoxyTunes

Being Normal is Not Good Enough

I don't know about you, but even with the best e-mail there is, I still get spam. I am constantly amazed at the titles when I scan them. I used to delete them all without checking, but of late, a few places I do business with have ended up in my spam folder. One time I had over 300 from the same viagra peddler, they were all sent one minute apart. The title to today's blog refers to one of the junk mail titles.

The creator of that title isn't acknowledging that there is almost no such thing as normal as we are all delightfully unique.

In the world of literature, one of my most revered novelists, Anne Tyler, uses her gifts writing about ordinary things in such a way as to make them seem extraordinary. I am in awe of her talents. She can write about a spice cabinet making it seem like the most interesting thing in the world. Same with her characters--on the outside you would probably pass them on the street without a second glance, oh, but their insides are full of surprises.

Enough already..here's what's been happening in our world:

I had the best day ever at the market which I'm hoping bodes well for the upcoming art show less than two weeks away. I had ZERO sales by 1:00 which is three hours after starting. Naturally, I was getting a tad discouraged. Things started happening culminating with one of the earlier browsers returning (while his wife was napping) to buy her the large canvas for Valentine's Day! Earlier, she had really wanted it, but he wouldn't budge. I was not only surprised when he returned, but as you've already guessed--delighted!

Prior to his return an older Chinese couple came in the booth conversing loudly as they examined what I was offering. Turns out they bought six different prints, including a framed piece. Bruce was wrapping them all together (thank goodness for Bruce in so many ways!) with this new cellophane stuff we got when the man snatched it from Bruce's hand and wrapped and wrapped. His wife explained it was because he was in construction. He is an architect and they live in NYC.

Which makes me realize that now my photos have gotten around a bit. Last week it was to Ireland, this week to NYC, in the near past they've gone to Canada, California, Texas, Kansas City, Chicago, Michigan, and England. That's all I can really remember, but who would have imagined? Certainly not me.

Proving that if you get out there with something you are passionate about exciting things will happen. That is what strikes people the most when they are talking to me, how much I love taking pictures. This blog is not called Camera Crazy for nothing!

Yesterday after photographing the swans I went to a huge gallery recommended by a friend. I went there to price framing material last week, but turns out I needed an appointment. Ashley, the girl from last week suggested I bring in some of my stuff to facilitate the process. I'm embarrassed to tell you I was late because I was fooling around with the pictures, but I was. Fortunately, this did not seem to hurt my stock with Chris, the sales manager. He wondered if I might like to hook up with them by making a reference book for his interior designer library. They do LARGE installations of work for HOTELS and other corporate places that use art work. You could have blown me over with a feather! He described how if chosen one photo could become very lucrative. I'm not holding my breath or anything, but that sounds like the bomb to me.

As I stated earlier in this post, I never, ever, dreamed I could be this far in the months since my darling Bruce suggested I make a go at selling my photography. It has come as quite a shock. I'm struggling with the business end of all this, but hopefully I'll improve with practice--it has done wonders for my photography.

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Now playing: Television - Marquee Moon
via FoxyTunes

Christmas Dogs

I suspect this photo will be appreciated by my blog readers. A new market vendor from yesterday, they set up this booth for people to have a Christmas photo, presumably for cards? My favorite parts are the man's butt crack in front and the crooked star on the tree. Try to look at it big and see how ridiculous those little dogs look in that setting. I mean really. They are a ways away from us but I suspect with the amount of dogs we see every week that they will do well. Speaking of dogs we took Baxter with us yesterday and he was eerily good. You may recall in the past he barked, and fussed at all the dogs that came by, not assuming the role of customer magnet we had hoped. He is adorable, but not so much when he is barking. Yesterday however he was almost quiet as a mouse and sat on Bruce's lap most of the time looking sweet. To date we have no plans to visit the Glamour Puss booth.

It has been days since I last wrote because I've just not been able to fit it in. I did the Darden craft fair on Thursday and Friday. I sold 21 prints--mostly small. I did meet some potential customers though which could turn out well for me. It is challenging to figure out what to print for events. I've been told when you think you have it figured out it changes. I'd had a print of a surfer coming out of the water with his board on his head for nearly a month. I sold it on Thursday to a girl who wanted it for her desk (framed and in place by Friday morning I heard). Friday morning someone came to the table and asked for the surfer--oh, you don't have two? Well, no I didn't!

Saturday I was at the museum, then trying to get some house work done, as well as home work! I'm caught up on my music for the moment with my concert review graded already. I've got two more quizzes in that class--I can't remember what else. I listen to the on-line lectures in my office ,the music in my car, and read the chapters when I'm sitting at the museum. It's been a good experience taking an online class but I do wonder what the professor looks like.

Which brings you up to date. The weather here has been spectacular; it is a crime to stay inside on days like these. The market was comfortable, and even enjoyable, for the first time in months. I sold more prints and made more contacts that might be beneficial. One of those contacts is a man Bruce talked to at a neighborhood restaurant while taking his mom to lunch yesterday. (he did bring me back a nice sandwich); he's a web designer who came over to the market to meet me after having his lunch. Let us hope something will come from this!

Off to my Monday market and then NO selling for some days. Oh yeah, Bruce picked up my prints from the gallery replacing them with two more for this months show. You would think this was a full-time business wouldn't you?

Bat Flower

For those of you who don't frequent my flickr page here's the incredible bloom I told you about. The tentacles (if you will) are really about a foot long--simply amazing!

Highlights of the market today:

• Lisa and Amanda surprised us--it was so nice of them to brave the heat!
• A jogger who stopped by in the morning came back later in the day and bought a photo.
• One of my flickr "friends" brought his wife to show her my booth. She was lovely.
• A photographer's wife bought one of my pieces.
• That same photographer had lots of pertinent info to share with us. One of which is that he launched his business at the market. He thinks I have a shot at bigger, and better, venues.
• We made it home in time to beat the rain.

Lowlights of the market today:

• Slim crowds.
• Heat. Sweat.
  
• New vendor: They were plant vendors which normally I would love to have next to us, however he had a line for each customer. Here's what it was: "Welcome to my jungle! I sell global warming protection devices." This shtick was delivered while wearing overalls and a pith helmut. After I had heard it about ten times I wanted to kick him!