Back at the Homestead

Holy cow, it's been forever since I wrote a blog post! Have you missed me? 😁 

Two weeks of activities is mighty hard to recap in one post, but you have to start somewhere, so here we go.

My title might have been a hint?

Indeed, Florida has welcomed us on Sunday afternoon. In a first, we took the interstate, and while way more stressful the time it takes to get from NC to Orlando is a good deal shorter. Leaving Murphy at 7AM, rain was falling as we began our journey,

and continued for far too long. Thank God it was the Lord's day because the traffic through Atlanta was bad enough in the pouring rain, I can't imagine if it were a weekday! While I did miss seeing the little towns along the way, a highlight of the drive was the presence of loads of wildflowers along the interstate in Florida. Oh my goodness, the construction on the turnpike widening!

The Villages seems to go on forever and ever, taking over a large part of the upper middle of the state. I predict there will come a time in the future when there is little to no separation between towns. Grateful to be home safely, we had called the twins asking if they could be there when we arrived. Being the exemplary sons that they are, we opened the door to their warm welcome. Apparently the house was stuffy, so they got a head start on airing it out. Although they turned on the water, all of us forgot about the breaker to the hot water heater, so when I turned on the shower Monday morning I was in for a surprise.

Let me tell you, the floors were so darn dusty, walking barefoot was very unpleasant indeed. So far, I have gotten to the floors, but dusting the furniture is another story. Our mission here is to accomplish as much as we can, including I'm having my teeth cleaned this afternoon, meeting with friends, no pickleball so far because our time has been spoken for. Monday we did switch storage units, well actually, we were thinking we would clean it out for good, but once we saw all of our camping equipment, along with Christmas stuff and a generator, we realized that was not a realistic goal. Our new home has plenty of space for that sort of thing, but for now we are taking baby steps. You may wonder why we bothered and the answer to that is that we were trying to save a little money. As it turns out, after weeding out some things, the new space is perfectly adequate. 

I'd forgotten about the otters. Yup, so wrapped up in the deer and small birds we have come to love, I'll admit that my Florida wildlife has taken a back seat. I walked out the back door and good grief, there it was.

Amazingly, after a brutal last week of super high temperatures in Orlando, this week it has been mild and pleasant, thus the front and back doors are open. We have become accustomed to both darkness and almost complete silence, so while there is a cool breeze coming through these open doors, there is also the faint sounds of airplanes and traffic.

Speaking of traffic, Nancy has accompanied me for two days of shopping. It is almost comical how quickly I'd forgotten how fun it is to shop, rarely doing so aside from Walmart during our months away. So I just mentioned above about getting rid of stuff and now I am buying stuff? You read that correctly! While I have purchased some clothes (thank you Ross), mostly it is decorative stuff. Bruce is reluctant for me to remove pretty things from this house, thus I am buying. That said, I am reluctant to have a house with all new things because where is the character in that? I need memories!

Driving the baby car again has been fun if you don't count the THREE times people have nearly run into me. Yikes, the traffic here! We popped into Target to check out the new pickleball display and were not disappointed. So many cute things!

It is astonishing how much the sport has moved into the mainstream in the years we have been playing. To that, of course, I say, why not because it is so much fun to play!!

One of the reasons we waited until Sunday to drive home is I was asked if I would help with photographing the opening ceremony and events for the Senior Games. What fun that was. Should you be curious, click on this link for more. A highlight for me was watching an 89 year old man win a gold medal for the football throw. Having heard so much about it, we were not sure what to expect, but now we have seen for ourselves that a good time is had by all. 

I took a little stroll to see what I could see here and was not disappointed in the least. Surprised to see two Common Galinules in the lake, the anhinga and pollen were expected, as was the low water level after very little rain for the last month. 

My very first business card looked something like this except it was a red hibiscus.

Speaking of photography, I have told you that I did not win in either the photography or literary, haven't I? Maybe next year. 

Where once a huge oak stood, the bed in front of our unit has been finally replanted ,and while some folks, or so I've heard, are disappointed with the new look, these Ixora are such a beautiful color.

As is this Calla Lily beside Jane Lou's unit.

Not only am I hearing the calls of a Fish Crow, I am hearing neighbors talking and the tap, tap, tap of a Pileated Woodpecker.

Returning from my little walk yesterday, now I know why there is so much plant debris on the sidewalk leading up to our unit. 

With such a huge beak, they can make a big mess in a hurry! Yesterday afternoon was pretty darn lovely.

Last night, while Mary was here visiting, we all noticed the reflection of the nearly full moon sparkling on that water. 

A beautiful sight indeed, however, we left behind some pretty beautiful sights in Murphy, including what I've seen called all sorts of stuff, but I'm just calling them the beautiful yellow flowers blooming along the river. Diane told me about this section of the walk that I'd never done before, and once I did it, I had to have Bruce see it for himself, thus my picture.

The reason I'd not done it originally is because when we first went to Murphy last May, this whole area was underwater. Sounds pretty scary, but actually the water level in both rivers is controlled by the TVA. Perhaps when we return they will have released the water from the dam and this will be no more. I will be sure to let you know. We use the above bridge daily.

Of course I am worried about our birdies in our absence, but that's probably pretty silly. In any case look what is happening outside our windows.

Mama bluebird spends much of her day inside that hole watching out for who knows what! We have no real idea what is happening in our sweet nest box, but we are assuming it is good!

I had been watching and waiting for the iris which are plentiful in the bed below the feeders. One day, finally this happened,

which was very exciting indeed. The reward is below.

Looks as if we have another bird couple to watch. House finches.

Do you notice anything else aside from the birds? Smart readers that you are, of course you notice that the tree is budding out after months of bare twigs! 

The hummingbirds have returned! (I believe that is a squirrel on the upper left)

As have the Barn Swallows! Or at least I think that is what they are. Last summer they were plentiful and one nice sunny day, I will get a better look. The photo below was taken on a gloomy, and now I recall, it began raining as I was walking that day.

I was so excited to see them I ignored the rain.

Lastly two amazing trees that I've seen, both of them will likely not be in bloom when we return. Although the bloom looks quite similar to a hydrangea, this gorgeous tree below is a Snowball Viburnum.

The volume of blooms is only rivaled by the gorgeous pink dogwood. Oh my golly!

While I thought Fall was the most glorious season in the mountains, as we have discovered, Spring is mighty nice as well. Winter was totally worth it!

Okay, well at least you know that I am well, just busy.

Until we meet again, I remain,

your friend,

Gail

Meanwhile

Before I found Charlotte's Cottage to rent, and we took off to see it in person, lots of other stuff has/had happened that I want to document, so here goes a smorgasbord of images and time frames.

But first let me just say the drought is officially OVER. Rain every day, but mostly in the late afternoon and even overnight. We have been able to play pickleball in the morning, but those who have been waiting all day for work to end so that they can go play, like our son Bill, have been out of luck.

One day in the last month, probably on a Thursday when we have a resting day, Bruce drove us to Oxford, Florida to the Engage Pickleball store. The paddles are made in a building behind the storefront which is nice because there has been some controversy about the quality control of paddles coming in from China. Speaking of which, that is why we went because not only do they sell their first rate paddles there, but also blemished ones at a serious discount. We bought the latter. 

So, why I am mentioning this now? Well, looking through my photo library and seeing this,

I was reminded that when I asked the gentleman what work he did prior to moving to the Villages, he said he was an executive of the Evelyn Wood Institute in Chicago for 28 years. You would have to be of a certain age to remember that name and in truth, while I for sure knew the name, the actual speed reading method was a mystery. Imagine my surprise when I came across this scathing article about a new biography. Let's just say that time has not been kind to the idea. That makes me wonder how the new foreign language lessons by Babbel will be viewed in 25 years time. After all, seems to me that both of these ideas fall under the category of "if it sounds to good to be true, it is to good to be true." 

Before leaving for North Carolina we attended a lovely birthday dinner party for our friend John who turned 80 last month. 

Sitting beside Bruce is Liz whose book launch happened on Bruce's birthday!! Although we were not able to attend due to his birthday dinner, Nancy went and said it was a rousing success with a large crowd!!  What book pray tell? What began as a blog turned into a book! (click on the link friends!)

According to Bruce, John is his church boss when it comes to projects. A fun fact about John is that he was an engineer for Harris Corporation where our father worked as well. Our father commuted to Melbourne for nine years before finally moving our family there. Thus, I graduated Melbourne High school rather than Boone. 

Lighting that clever 80 candle turned out to be a bit harder than it looks. Bruce to the rescue.

I have not mentioned a lot about the upstairs construction, however it has been ongoing. For the most part, now that they are actually in the construction phase rather than demolition, it has been tolerable. That said, a few weeks ago they told Bruce that they needed to acsess their new plumbing location from the ceiling in our bathroom!! Yikes was my reaction. Bruce moved our stuff away from the bathtub.(I am including the photo below because of the weird lighting; after all, this blog began as a photography space so I might just as well act like it sometimes)

This is how it went down.

Or perhaps I should say up? There was talk of leaving a grill over this hole,

however, I was partial to just the ceiling. They did an excellent job repairing it and it is none the worse for wear.  

Every April there is but one iris along the canal that runs behind David and Michelle's place and it brings me joy each and every time that it blooms. 

I am also happy to report that the tiny flowers on our Arctic Snow bushes have begun to appear.

You might recall that not only did they freeze this past winter but Bruce moved them to make way for the patio which is why we are so excited to see these tiny white flowers come again.

A rare otter sighting on the shore of Lake Willisara!! Naturally I was thrilled.

Speaking of our little lake, the water level was getting super low with weird giant aquatic plant roots floating to shore.

While our lake was what we consider low, Lake Davis has been shrinking for months now. Checking up on the cygnets, two of them remain.

With the recent rains, here's hoping it will soon fill back up. Holy cow, I never posted this crazy picture!

It was unclear whether or not she was part of the group of Yale students we met who are conducting a year- long research project at the lake or just someone who likes sitting amongst geese. 

Something new were some lovely sunflowers blooming along the shore, probably from birdseed. 

Have I mentioned the hawk nest here? I think so. At any rate, I could never get a decent shot of the nest activity, oh wait, that's not true at all. Oh well, here goes anyway. I discovered the hatchlings way above my head on a recent walk about.

The calling is what drew my attention. That, or movement, are good indicators about where to look for birds. Try as I might, I can't seem to share a good article with included bird calls from the Washington Post that Matt sent. Relevant to my interest he said. Truer words were never spoken! Actually the claim was that listening to the sound of birds is good for mental health and who am I to argue with that?

While the kitchen at the cottage is fully stocked, I plan to bring a few things with me, including my favorite pan.

The air fryer is coming along too. As to a mixer of some sort, I will have to check with Laura on that. The work on the quilt continues. I can't remember why but I was looking at photos on my phone and came across the year of the quilt, 2016, when I made at least ten of them! Crazy, right? Most all of them were gifts. Not only quilts, but I came across two wallets, along with multiple tote bags, including this one for Jonathan and Alissa.

When I show the finished quilt, you will get why I included this photo. 

Lastly, something I will want to remember is the fun hours we spent at Gregg and Suzanne's spacious home on Lake Conway learning the card game Hand and Foot. It's a super fun version of Canasta, a game that Bruce and I spent countless hours playing when we were young. I would ride the Greyhound bus over from Melbourne and spend the weekend with his family. Canasta was a super fun pastime that we often shared with his Grandma Peck. But I digress. Suzanne showed us her unique way of shuffling the five decks needed.

They fed us, entertained us and allowed us to have the seats facing the lake at sunset...what's not to like?

Now I can rest easier. Lots of things I want to remember are now in print. As to remembering, that is suspect but at the very least, the search bar on this blog will help me find them with a few key words. Over and over through the years that has served us well.

We are counting down the days. 17 days to go.

your friend,

Gail

A Stressful Week

 Not to worry, we are physically fine.

Any number of things have brought unwelcome stress into our lives this past week, beginning with the upstairs remodel. To better understand my angst over the situation, you first have to know that having lived on the first floor for four plus years with nary a sound coming from above, the noise from a complete demolition of a 1,300 square foot space is a lot. Furthermore, I will admit to being sensitive to loud noises whereas Bruce, having worked in construction his whole life, somehow can tune it out. The noises, as I mentioned in my last post, began a week ago Saturday, Easter Sunday, and the remaining days of a normal work week, just not the normal hours. Instead they began at 8AM my friends, finishing up at 6PM. Hour after hour until every cabinet, door, floor, sink, bathtub...you get the idea, was removed. I will say that unlike what you see on television, they did a really neat job of things. All of the above was put neatly into the back of a big moving truck to be hauled away. That impressed me. As I type there is only the sound of scraping above my head. :)

Bruce and I work best when we stay on a schedule. In spite of what others say about retirees not needing to worry about setting an alarm clock, ours goes off every day at 5:45, allowing us enough time to prepare for the day ahead. That said, more than once this past week it has been raining or threatening to do so which has left us a little adrift. What else is there to do when you are fully dressed at 7am? To tell you the truth, I don't even know what we did those days. Today was the same with sprinkles happening as we drove to the courts, leaving them a little too wet for our liking. We take no chances because, Lord knows, we never want to go through any broken bones again! I did get an early start on this, however, a project, yet to be revealed, was begun here at home. More on that next time. All that to say, when our schedule is disrupted, I don't much like it.

Finally, the condo mess continues with some serious drama this past week. Because David is so entangled, we are, by extension. There are most definitely former friends pitted against one another. As you can imagine this has left us unsettled... 

So between the remodel, the condo troubles and the schedule not as we planned, it has been stressful, or at least that is how I am describing it. Should you be in my shoes, you might look at it entirely different. 

Good grief, do I sound like a whiner? Maybe so.

Joys, that is one thing our pastor mentions each week, joys and concerns. That is what I should have title this!! Because, despite my whining, lots of joyful things occurred. Speaking of church, here's our annual photo in front of the Easter Cross.

Our friend Cynthia, along with some other ladies, have blessed us so much with their gift of arranging flowers. Not only were there the two huge displays in front but another huge one below the cross.

I was nervous indeed that the flowers would be knocked off one of the tables as the children gathered!

Yesterday they did something no one has ever done before. Unfortunately my photo does not do it justice but it looked like a flower garden instead of a traditional arrangement. 

The swans were seen gliding along Lake Davis with their four cygnets in tow. 

Sadly, I have returned since taking the above, say five days hence and two of the cygnets are no more.

On the other hand, the mating birds seem to be seeking me out; I swear I've never seen so many before.

Just Saturday, while Bruce was working, I watched a pair of Anhingas, who btw, are quite boisterous, leaving no one wondering what was happening!

A joy for me this week was looking out the back window and seeing a swan on the lake. Hurray! Not too much longer I saw a second one sparking a hallelujah!! That is, until I learned that they were fakes from Thomas who fishes the lake multiple times a week. From afar they looked pretty darn good.

I began to suspect something was amiss when one, they never moved, and two, kept their distance from one another! From recent experience I knew that probably wouldn't be happening this time of year.

Well lookee here.

A few months ago this nest adjacent to the courts, was active and then I thought it was abandoned. Now I am not so sure as this happened last week. 

Lookee here, part two. A series.

It starts like this,

phase two:

phase three:

All I kept wondering about was not the drowning bit but those claws! A Common Gallinule, or some folks call them Moorhens.

I sort of wish I had not gone on my whining rant because, as I scanned through last weeks photos I realized I'd seen all sorts of interesting things. Interrupting the flow just now because I was searching for an event in my blog using key words. While what I was looking for did not surface, THIS POST from 2007 did. Oh my goodness, you must read it!! 

This happened while I was walking around Lake Davis. A goose whisperer perhaps?

For, maybe the last month or so, I have been searching for the hawks that inhabit a nest Peg told me about on the property. While I found the nest readily enough, the actual birds seemed to be AWOL. As such, while I was driving towards the gate while talking to Maryanne, I instantly said I would call her back. Finally, I was seeing one of the Red Shouldered Hawks on the nest. Jumping out of my car after stopping in an out of the way spot, I was so excited I left the car door open!  Anyway, I saw not just one, but two because the mate flew in while I was looking.

No eyas within view but a nice find nonetheless. Eyas??? Name for a baby hawk if you can believe it. Then it got super interesting as one of the parents decided having me thirty or forty feet below was too close for comfort. Hey you get out of here!!

And I mean business!

Oh yes indeed it was coming for me, and not just the one time!

I literally ducked,  finally getting the hint that I should leave ASAP.  And now you know why they are called red shouldered hawks.  Too bad it is a wee bit unfocused, but you get what you can when a raptor is coming for you.

I'm nearly done but not quite because I have two treats for you. One is a hummingbird's nest that we would have never found on our own except for the kindness of a stranger who took us to it. We were very blessed to have the hummingbird show up. It takes some searching to find it amongst the green.

So exciting, as was the privilege of seeing a Pileated Woodpecker family, thanks to Candy who posted her own terrific photos on facebook. After pickleball one morning, armed with cameras and a set of binoculars, we went to Mead Gardens hoping to see them ourselves. 

We found the site easily enough, but when we arrived there was no action at all. Several other birders were waiting patiently, regaling us with some of their own birding stories. Eventually most of them left, but our patience was rewarded if only for a quick moment. Mom arrived with food for her brood:

Hard to know if all three nestlings are getting the same amount of food as two of those seem to be making it hard for nestling #3 to get his share.

All that whining turned into something worth waiting for, right? So, if all that bird action wasn't enough to lift one's spirits, the sighting of this iris, that I might easily have missed, was a blessing for sure.

Thanks for sticking with my fussing which I will be trying very hard to curb. That said, the remodel is expected to last for at least six weeks, so I suspect I will have some ups and downs on that resolve. The sun has broken through the clouds so that's a start!

your friend,

Gail