Late Fall

As I was lying under our comfy quilt this morning, I let my mind jump all over the place. Oh wait...that happens all of the time not just while I am lying in bed! Seriously, one minute I am singing in my head, "Emanuel", and the next I am pondering the worth of travel. Have you ever thought about how lots of people love traveling and then there are those who don't? Countless times at parties, or when you are just getting to know people, travel accomplishments quickly filter into the conversation, don't they? Or maybe it is just me that has had that experience. As for me,  I love seeing new places, but at the same time, I love staying put.  Perhaps that is why we are enjoying this adventure so much because we are enjoying something different like travel, but in our case, for an extended experience? 

In all seriousness, these thoughts were formed yesterday afternoon during my walk on what I would ordinarily call a very ugly day except despite the continued gloom I was so blessed to see all sorts of exciting things such as the little guy below!

To begin with, I imagine you are wondering how my body is feeling and the answer to that is that it is not feeling like it was before the fall, however, aside from a sore rib and a scraped knee, I am on my way to recovery. So I guess that was Monday, and while the weather was cold on that fateful day, it was no match for the ensuing two days when the temperature plunged to 18! Look at the ice on the bird feeder! Much to my surprise, that is a winter Goldfinch. Actually I took it in dim morning light and it was only after looking at the photograph on my computer that I was able to identify it.

But of course I had to go exploring.

Lots of pretty frost on the ground.

Excitement Gail? Carry on....

1. Two trips to Blairsville, one fruitful and the other a test run. It won't surprise you in the least to know that the possibility exists that I wrote down the wrong date for my doctor's appointment. Because it is not the first time I have pulled this stunt, I am willing to take the blame, but still I am left puzzling as to how both Bruce and I wrote it down incorrectly. At any rate, the weather was pleasant unlike the rainy days that followed making that was most certainly a plus. A golf course following days of freezing weather. Looks pretty doesn't it? The drive is about 22 miles with almost no traffic making for smooth sailing.

While we were in Blairsville, it looks like the courthouse is in the same quandary as the rest of us. When do we get rid of our pumpkins?

The museum housed inside the beautiful courthouse has many interesting things to ponder, including this super neat quilt tracing the history of the area that has become known as Blairsville, GA.

3. I neglected to mention two things, we have switched over to the Methodist church because while we really liked the little one, in the end, it was just plain too small. We missed seeing children running around and a real choir. If that sounds selfish, I am in agreement with you. Because we are new and the only way to meet folks is to put yourself out there, we gathered with others to decorate the church last Sunday afternoon.

Homemade chicken noodle soup was available following this, as well as Advent wreath making with all supplies provided. With a little help from the ladies, we now have one on the dining table and we lit the first candle for lunch today.

4. My prints arrived!!

As is always the case, the print quality on archival art paper is outstanding. They have been delivered to the shop in their wonderful crate and what happens next is out of our hands. Hopefully good things, but one never knows.

5. Christmas tree lighting!! Originally scheduled for Friday night, they moved it to Thursday because heavy rain was predicted. It was none other than the now-familiar Laura, along with the mayor of Murphy, who presided over the event. Now it is not the first time that I've been to something like this, but the difference here is that it is all so easy. Parking, the crowd, the safety. What is NOT to like?

It was Laura who led the singing of Christmas songs before she plugged in the tree which sits in one of the four, what they call pocket parks, on the corner of Tennessee and Valley River.

It took a while but I am finally getting the hang of the street naming here which more often than not uses geography for naming. Looking in the direction of the photograph, the road is called Tennessee. If I were to stand beside the tree, looking the other way, the street is called Peachtree because it goes to Peachtree. Just like how we talked about Talc Mine recently which, btw, if you weren't able to open the link to the NYT article about the mine collapse, as I was not, Matthew sent me the link to the article about the tragic accident.

As a refresher, we drive on Talc Mine Road most every day.

6. It was on Friday that the weather was so gloomy, as I mentioned above, but what an afternoon for photography with the gloom and the low fog along the river. 

Let's walk, shall we?

Continuing our way on the paved path,

Perhaps you are wondering what I was wearing and that is a good topic to tackle right about now. I am the first to admit that my clothing choices for this segment of our adventure were less than ideal. First off, I hate wearing pants, but obviously my preference goes out the window when confronted with the above. Trying to coordinate outfits with what I brought, between undershirts, overshirts, jackets or sweaters has proven to be challenging. But of course that is part of the adventure isn't it?

Right about now you might be wondering what the heck is there to photograph and I am here to tell you there was a LOT. Birds, and by birds I mean hundreds of migrating birds! 

Because of the lighting conditions it was not within my power to distinguish what birds they were, however, I have Merlin to help we with those types of situations. In this instance, they proved to be Starlings. And how about these Robins!!

Do you see them clustered on the baseball field? 

Someone was kind enough to leave this for visitors to discover.

The multitude of Nandina berries continues to amaze me.

Back to the clothing talk, I did put a black Gap windbreaker type jacket on over my sweater, one that I bought, get this... 20 years ago for our first visit to England where it proved helpful and by golly, after sitting in the closet for eons, still performs like a champ. Should I pull out the "they don't make them like they used" to card right about now? There may just be some truth to that!

While walking that same afternoon, I texted our friend Linda for confirmation that they were still performing at the Cherokee County Arts Council building. Yes ma'am, or something like that was her reply. It must be remembered that everything is very close to one another. In this instance the river walk and gym, where your favorite blogger and her husband were parked, is super, super close, so it wasn't long before we arrived and were enjoying the music.

I wondered why Linda was standing and the explanation is that she plays a different type of dulcimer than the other ladies. Because I know nothing about either type, I just listened to the Christmas music in a brand new sound. Linda was showing Bruce her beautiful instrument and isn't it something the marriage of modern (ipad) and ancient technology?

Linda is great at pickleball, and what's more she is a weaver, having sold creations for some time. Her scarf? Yup, she made it.

7. Imagine this....more downtown stuff the following day with two indoor markets.  Checking in on Anna Claire who has nearly completed her latest creation. 

In case you are wondering, I did make Santa's nice list! She is so crazy talented!

7b, We stayed up very late last night cheering on our Florida State football team who finished the season undefeated in spite of having to start their third string freshman quarterback due to injuries. While not an easy win, it was the first time they have won the Atlantic Coast conference in a decade. It was so thrilling for the team until around noon today when they were kept out of the College Football playoffs in lieu of not one but two one loss teams! To say that we are all angry is putting it mildly.

Pretty exciting week right? Adding to it was a Cardinal on the the feeder, a rare occurrence heretofore.

What happens next is yet to unfold, but if the past is any kind of guide, it will be interesting!!

your friend,

Gail

Late Fall in the Garden

Yesterday, in spite of the fact that I wrote I was getting right on my chores, I have to admit, I became distracted by my garden. Or what passes as a garden during late fall. First off, it was gray, gloomy, and wet from intermittent rain. Nothing like the rain while Matt and Tom were visiting, but enough to make for a miserable day.

Cheering myself up by taking photographs, the first thing that got my attention was a big crop of big mushrooms amongst my purple petunias.

Aren't they something? For the record, I did not place that fallen bloom atop them. But you knew that already.

Adjacent to this area is a big patch of purple plants that I started from a cutting gleaned from Angela's garden. They just spread, and spread! This time of the year they have these cute little white blooms, or that is what I'm calling them for lack of a better term.

The cool thing is that Cheryle has since taken cuttings, planting them in her garden, so the spreading business continues. Another shared plant is this coleus; again from Angela's garden, or make that her former garden! Still miss that girl living across the street.

The color is quite cheery don't you think? And guess what!!! I have a bloom on my paperwhites!!!

Although there are loads of green stalks, aside from this bloom, and one more I noticed yesterday, the remainder of the plants are just that---green stalks. That is infinitely better than last year when all I had to show were the bare green stalks. Have I mentioned how much I like white flowers? I read somewhere that they really stand out in the dark, and indeed they do. Presently, I have white pentas, and petunias, as well as my two paperwhite blooms.

Much to my surprise, the Christmas cactus is blooming like mad. Last year, nary a bloom. Perhaps there was some benefit to moving it onto the porch shelf?

And, while we are out front, how about these geraniums?

Technically, these are in a pot I purchased, so not really IN the garden, but still they are worth showing. I had no idea what color they were when I bought them, so it was quite a pleasant surprise when they began blooming. Although it looks as if the one on the left is two-tone, there are really two plants with the fuchsia being the odd ball of the bunch.

Then there are the Nandinas, sporting lots of bright red berries. Love.

By golly, I've run out of garden photographs to show, so let us enjoy a little Christmas cheer from inside. A few years ago my friend Sue had a little booth inside an antique shop where she sold old stuff. Imagine that. Anyway, I picked up Mr. and Mrs. Claus from there.

Aren't they fun? Last year when we were decorating for the party, everywhere we put stuff up. Not so this year, but I did want a little something in the kitchen so this is what I did.

May I just say again how much I am LOVING my "new" kitchen? Thank you for your indulgence.

Well, today, once again the sun is shining with temperatures in the mid 50's. Perhaps you wonder why I'm always writing about the weather? The reason is two-fold--one, because it affects me so much, and two, because this blog is a record of life here in Orlando. A lovely friend came by the market Sunday, and during our conversation, she mentioned she'd just begun reading "Camera Crazy." Nice. That said, because she is new to this space, she had no idea about the original impetus for blogging, or frankly, that there are nearly EIGHT years of posts! I can hardly believe it myself. I was just a young thing of 53 when this all began. My word, how time has flown. For the record, here is my first post on Valentine's Day, 2007. I certainly have become more verbose. :)

Two Movies in One Day

I wanted to like both films I watched yesterday more than I did.

For those of you afar who were worried about Tropical Storm Isaac and Central Florida, you need not have because it was a total "non-event" around here. Yes, there was some rain, yes, there was a little wind, but nothing really out of the ordinary for our region in the summer. 2 1/2 inches of rain fell in about 24 hours which is really not that much. Or, at least that's what fell at our house according to my handy-dandy rain gauge.

That's not to say that it wasn't dreary because it sure was. I don't like dreary days one bit. This morning, while riding my bike, I realized that perhaps the reason I felt so dreary yesterday is because instead of changing into my shorts soon after getting up, I stayed in my robe until maybe 11:00 in the morning. Now, for some this may be no big deal, but I'm kind of a doer in case you haven't noticed. When I can't be doing, I feel a bit out of sorts. And, of course, Mr. Bruce is in California fighting his own battles.

My sunflowers are slowly dying, and I'm thinking I like their aging look, which of course means, let's take some pictures!

Fooled you, didn't I? Although it looked pretty good in the original, I thought the black and white fit yesterday's mood. I put it in front of the front door, which not only had rain drops, but was fogged up from the humidity. During a little break in the rain action I took the macro lens outside to see what I could see. Rain drops hanging onto the Nandina berries is what I saw.

About a month ago I took the screen off my kitchen window figuring I wasn't going to be opening it any time soon. Why bother? Well, lots of the bird pictures you see I've taken through the window glass; having no screen helps improve my chances of getting anything. A darling little Carolina Wren perched for a moment on my little bird house in the yard.

This is one tiny bird who moves very quickly indeed. Out back I saw yet another bird feeder casualty, and of course one of these guys is to blame.

Our very own backyard Nik Wallenda! Except ours needs no stabilizing bar! Really, I can hardly believe they can crawl on this wire suspended over the yard, but here's the proof that they can!

All of which led me to watch a movie; one I think I bought cheap when our neighborhood Blockbuster, now the new Applebee's, went out of business. Which means, I've had it for quite some time and never watched it. "A Single Man" starring Colin Firth had to be good, right? It was, and it wasn't. Stylistically it was incomparable; the scene when he and Julianne Moore do the twist was fantastic. The problem for me was it was almost too styled. I felt George's pain, who couldn't? Yet, somehow, the idea that he should have a heart attack after he fails to carry out his suicide plan seemed just a bit too contrived. I'm sorry if you loved it and I'm way off base. Perhaps it was my dreary mood.

Which, although I enjoyed meeting up with Bev and Linda at the Enzian, the film we saw did nothing to lift my spirits. In fact, it was depressing. I'm actually one who loves depressing movies, but "The Queen of Versailles" left me with more questions than answers. I questioned the film makers motives, the Segals for allowing the film to be made, and really, what were we supposed to glean from the excess the movie shows? Of course it is set in Orlando. Actually, their house is in a tiny town called Windermere which is about 25 miles from Orlando, but still. I've driven by their current home when I was going to my Biology professor's home in Windermere, however I've no idea where "Versailles" is. When asked why he was building such a large home, David Segal answered, "because I can" which pretty much sums it up. But, the real problem is, that although he did it on a humongous scale, other folks without means did it too. How else to explain someone making $40,000 a year thinking they could afford a $300,000 house? Everyone lays the blame at the banker's feet which to me seems a bit of a stretch. See it if you like, but don't say I didn't warn you.

Folks are seeing it in droves if our local theater is any indication. Thinking a stormy Monday night might be just fine, the line was long when Bev arrived. Amazingly some folks asked her if she wanted a free ticket which she accepted in a heartbeat! I was the last to arrive but Bev was kind enough to have purchased my ticket and in we went. The place was packed, the service was slow, and to cap things off, our checks came moments after the film ended. As we were settling things up, a server asked us to leave because another big crowd was waiting to get in. Go figure. Did I mention she shared her good fortune only charging me for half the ticket price. She's like that.

I went to be shortly after I returned home and woke up this morning to a new day and no rain. Into my shorts, camera in my basket, and off I rode through the neighborhood. It is a touch cooler right now but boy howdy, this humidity is something else. While I was out I took this which makes me wonder.

The scarecrows I got because there is an overgrown garden, but the chairs on the shed roof left me shaking my head.

"The Art of Fielding" is on my nightstand so I know what I'll be doing tonight. Do you?

Links and More Links

Another post so soon Gail? Why yes another post indeed. Did you really think I would run out of things to say?

Links today my friends. Plenty of links because there are so many interesting and wonderful things going on every daily!

Sadly, I was at the market during the Jubilee event on Sunday, and I missed the concert because I'm a dummy when it comes to television and really did not know where to look. I did, however, check out photographs online and seeing this photograph of Kylie Minogue dressed as a Pearly Queen brought to mind the real thing. Remember when we saw the Pearly Kings on Columbia Road last summer?

Quintessentially British, the Pearly Kings and Queens are a charitable organization with roots dating back to the early 1900's. Had I not seen them with my own eyes I would have never got the reference. Now you know as well.

The New York Times did this little story on Bangs! I swear the writer must have read my blog from last year when I wrote that Monica called bangs the new Botox. Try as I might, I've never gone without bangs, in or out of style, because my hair is just so darn thick it is hard to style it any other way. For the moment, apparently I'm at the height of fashion, particularly with my penchant for having her cut the bangs much shorter than she would like.

And then there is this: A Room for London. Our man in London along with his adorable boyfriend are staying there as I type!! The provided link has a six minute video which is quite touching in a way. I particularly liked when one of the boat builders talks about his craft and respecting the materials. As is always the case, when Matthew does interesting things, I'm anxiously awaiting the photographs. Did you know he taught me quite a bit of what I know about photography? I didn't think you did, but I suspect you are not surprised.

Now here's a crazy picture for you:

What pray tell was I thinking? I WAS NOT THINKING--I was outside photographing the raindrops on the nandina berries:

Rain began to fall which saved me from an indoor flood! Came inside just in the nick of time.

Here is a before picture of Baxter taken while the sink was filling:

Some kind of shaggy right? The groomer was running late so she was here when I returned from playing bridge. I prepared my tuna sandwich and then thought, I'm going to see if the squirrels are staying off the townhouse bird feeder now that I've slathered the top with Vaseline. Opening the door, I saw one hanging upside down. Usually I kinda make a loud growl to make them jump off, but this time there would be no jumping. For once, I'm sparing you photographic evidence of what I thought was a dead squirrel; only injured as it turns out. When Vicky finished grooming Baxter she came inside and I told her about it. She's a very young woman with a very soft heart. Immediately she is saying things like "you must take said squirrel to the vet," and I know someone who does squirrel rescue, let me get my pet crate from the truck." I, on the other hand, was not very sympathetic, insisting we let nature take it's course. Insisting, she lifted the feeder and lo and behold the squirrel with nine lives scrambled off and up into the giant oak! He won't try that again, or so I hope.

Now look at our little doggie:

He always looks about five pounds lighter after grooming don't you think? After his annual veteranarian visit for shot tomorrow, he'll be get to go!

Riding my bike this morning I kept smelling something so fragrant in the air. Looking around I assumed it was from magnolia trees which are in high blossom right now.

In reality there were no magnolia trees around, so I still have no idea where the unexpected treat came from. Not only was the air fragrant but there were booms of thunder, rumblings from the sky, signaling imminent rain, which began falling not five minutes after my return. After months and months of sunny skies, three days of gloom are a bit hard to take. Enough already! I have no problem with daily rain, but please God, can we have it interspersed with some blue skies?