And the Heat Goes On...

and the heat goes on....

And to think that we have at the very least, four more months of this! Although rain was predicted, none that mattered ever materialized.

The sun has been relentless. Our only hope is that, if the weather folks are to be believed, we will get some rain later this week. Fingers crossed, as our son Jonathan likes to say.

Around here, we are learning what it means to not be in control of our environment, as in the plantings that surround our place. Welcome to condo living as we were told recently. One of our dear neighbors was dying to have the beds in front cleaned out and she was right...the Cast Iron plants were most definitely the worse for wear. A clean sweep occurred,

and in its place we got this.

For us, new to this whole way of living, it was painful as we are fans of variety. The Crown of Thorns plant is gone, as is the Corn plant that bloomed. Now the drain and gutter stand out, whereas before they were covered. The lesson learned is you can't have it all...the convenience of condo living comes with a price which, as time goes on, we will adjust to.

The good news is that we can have about all the nature anyone could dream of. I had planned on writing this yesterday afternoon but I was distracted by all the lake activity outside my window! Although I did not see the otters yesterday afternoon, as they seem to emerge in either the early morning or very late evening,  I did see them on Friday. For the life of me, I can't figure out what this one is doing. At first I thought it had a duck, but now I've nixed that idea. Perhaps just coming up for air.

Speaking of ducks, although many more were born this season, it appears that two have survived, one is still with Mama,

whereas the other is large enough now to swim solo. So thrilling to witness!

The upfront garden, for lack of a better term, is thriving in spite of the heat. Chinese Pagodas are in full bloom and aren't they neat?

Bill has planted a wonderful variety of plants that attract butterflies, much to my happiness.

What what we need is rain and the more the merrier. I take that back...no floods please!

The bouquet Bill and Fallon gave me over a week ago is still looking good.

Perhaps you have been wondering what kind of projects Bruce has been working on at the church and here's an example:

He climbed through that window onto a ladder to repair the wooden window sill which is a far bigger job than it sounds like because he had to scrape out the rotten wood, making and installing a new piece before the painters arrived. The church is over 100 years old and there is more where that came from! He's getting bids on repairing the stately columns leading into the sanctuary, and just yesterday he built something in the church library. In other words, there is plenty to keep him busy.

What have I been doing in his absence? Reading and reading, oftentimes in the shade of the trees by the big pool where there has been a lovely breeze off of the lake.

My least favorite, much to my surprise was the Anne Tyler novel. My most favorite was Our Homesick Songs set in Newfoundland.   Saturday morning I braved the heat and picked up a new batch, hoping I'll have chosen some winners. Saturday afternoon I joined some friends for some pool time and Sandy made this lovely snack for all to share.

I was so hoping the appearance of clouds would bring rain,

alas, it was but a teaser. Sunday we stayed in watching movies, a first for me! All was not lost as far as productivity is concerned because I finally cleaned out the fridge so there was that. Why I put these small tasks off is inexplicable.

Because of the lazy Sunday, early Monday morning I went on a bike ride in search of some huge blooming trees I'd seen. What a delight to see their cheerful color amongst a sea of green.

And while I thought it was an Ear tree, I now think I am wrong as I can't seem to find anything to support that theory. In any case, it is a delight to see them in person. As I was riding down Michigan, I took a side street where I knew there are peacocks. I found way more than even I could have hoped for. While Peacocks have made many appearances in the past, there are new readers (!) of Camera Crazy who have not been privy to those photographs so here we go.

There was this that I've never seen before. BTW--I find the back of Peacocks nearly as interesting as the front.

Perhaps those broke in a skirmish with another male? Then there was this which seemed to have happened for no apparent reason as the chick was hanging with the others.

The light was so very good to show off the gorgeous color and intricacy of the feathers, not to mention the shadow.

As to that peachick, after being dropped by the male, it scurried off to join the others.

 Aren't they adorable? That grass was so deep and thick, it was a wonder they could walk through it!

While on the subject of light, well, this makes me very happy to be living a colorful life.

Our upstairs neighbor, Julie, is out back putting out birdseed that later on will be fought over by the Mottled ducks and the Wood ducks...something always entertaining going on around here.

Stay cool if you can.

your friend,

Gail

p.s. This was a real bummer, a great news story that has come to an end. I'm not in the least bit happy about it either.

p.p.s. Did a search in my blog for rain stories and here's a whole bunch of them, should you have time on your hands!

And the Heat Goes On and On and On....

Am I the only one who cannot wait for fall? Between the election coverage as well as the advertisements, not to mention the relentless heat we've been having, November cannot come soon enough!

I've been in the pool most days which is actually unusual in July, mostly because we are always soaked, however, this summer the rain is eluding us, allowing the temperature to soar. One of the days I saw this amazing sight in between two of the palm trees.

I've seen these tiny Spiny Orbweavers before, but never with a trapped bee! According to the link I've posted, those little globs are to help birds not fly into the webs. Nature is so darn amazing, isn't it?

Things are pretty quiet in the blooming flowers department around here, but heat notwithstanding, Pam has a few beauties in her yard. I adore the colors of this plant!

Aren't they just lovely? Speaking of color, while writing about the new paint color in the guest room, I neglected to assure you that the coral passed the "paint name test" with flying colors! Jovial!! How about that for a guest room?

Still in Pam's garden, a big fat bumblebee! Or so I think that is what the name is.

Another little fun fact I neglected to mention is the last name our new neighbors next door.

Are you ready for this? QUILTY! How crazy is that?

I have been doing some sewing this week because, frankly it is just too hot to do anything else. Plus, I like it! Every now and again I've ventured out, but who could blame me for staying in when it is this hot?

Actually, it has never been this hot; I really have no idea how the car thermometer works, but it has been mostly unbearable which is why I mow the lawn at 7AM! I read in the newspaper that our average rainfall for July is nearly seven inches with this month's reported amount hovering around 2.5 inches. I don't remember even that much rain, which leads me to believe that what the official record is, and what our own experience tells us, is oftentimes not one and the same. We did get the tiniest teaser last evening.

Later, the sunset does not give me the slightest hope for rain today.

Poor little Baxie has a soft tissue mass in his right groin. Before you get too upset by my description, it does not hurt him, nor does it appear to be anything terrible. Last week I took him to the vet for both his shots, and an examination of said mass. Following an x-ray and two veterinarians checking it out, she prescribed an anti-inflammatory treatment for a week. In the meantime, the groomer came and he looks much spiffier even with his strange little mass. This week I took him back for the shots they did not do during our previous visit; moments before the vet came into the room I took this photograph.

While putting my camera back in my purse, the door opened, and Baxter jumped right into my lap! He knew what was going to happen next was nothing he wanted any part in!

That same day, 10 days after I brought it home, I finally decided to donate the desk that was a part of the dresser set up. Carrying it around in the back of the Pilot because there was no room for it in the inn, it pained me to do so but I had to let it go.

The Goodwill girl, whom I am getting to know because I am there most every week, upon seeing the desk, said "someone is going to snatch it up quick". I bet they are. :(

One of the most important skills to have when making quilts is to have good color sense. Even if a quilt is technically perfect, without a good color scheme, it doesn't work. Because there are endless combinations,working out what looks good together is of the upmost importance. Isn't it really interesting how the same block can look entirely different? I made first one block, actually trying to see if I liked the size, then decided to work it up three different ways.

You may not like the colors themselves, but isn't it interesting how the different placements of light and dark fabric draw your eye in?

As you already know we've gotten into the Jeopardy routine. Yup, once you actually start watching it, you get hooked which explains why it has been on television so darn long! Anyway, one evening I thought we might shake things up a bit and eat outdoors, followed by some night swimming. I, of course, spent more time in the pool than Mr. Peck did, but he did admit it was so refreshing after a hard day at work.

You should have seen my hair the next morning after sleeping on it soaking wet. And that, my friends, is what a pony tail elastic is for!!

One advantage to this dry weather seems to be the lack of Cuban Tree Frogs, so there's that silver lining. Then too, with all of the weird winter rain we had, officially, we are still above our normal rainfall for the year. There's a contradiction here isn't there? We both like ,and dislike, predictability: finding comfort in the same, while at the same time complaining of boredom. Interesting, right?

May your weekend be cooler than mine,

Gail

Musical Chairs

Lately, around these parts it's like musical chairs, except instead of removing chairs I keep adding them. Well, that's not entirely true because I did put the club chair out to the curb with a free sign on it.  In what I thought was an interesting example of how connected we all are, the aforementioned chair may be finding it's way up to a new student's room at FSU.

Ever since I had that chair upholstered two years ago, I've been unhappy. The fabric, the feel, the look all disappointed me greatly. Once we moved it into my office, my dislike turned to hate. Is hate too strong an emotion to feel for a chair? I think not. Because the chair, along with reupholstering, cost about the same, or less, then some women pay for a trendy handbag, I felt no guilt as I set it by the curb around 4pm on Saturday. Bruce arrived home around 5:30 from his contractor's classes and not too much later he announced someone had stopped. He went outside to see if they needed assistance, as did I. Naturally, or at least for me, a conversation ensued. Come to find out, they were just returning from a trip to Tallahassee to find a place for the daughter to live as she begins her life as a Seminole. If she'd said they wanted to take it to Gainesville I might have reconsidered. Just kidding! Anyway, I ended up giving them a tour of the house per their request. Naturally I had no problem showing off our handiwork! Before you get all nervous, let me tell you that they live down the street on the newer end of Appleton. Criminal probability? Nil.

So what did I put in it's place? Don't laugh or cry, but here it is:

Baxter was kind enough to hop on to deflect some of the criticism! Saturday morning I'd gone back to where I got the thrones looking for one Danish modern chair. Although they had one, it was part of a whole living room set ,which they didn't want to break up. Seeing this I thought the green might work in my office; the only trouble was they only wanted to sell them as a pair. $195 for both. Hmmmm....what's a girl to do?

Here's what this girl did, and I use that term loosely you realize. After my haircut, I returned and figured that I'd make it work somehow. I've since learned from Mr. Richard, our fabulous upholsterer, that the chairs are most likely from the 30's, thus very well made from solid wood. Getting them into the house by myself was quite the chore. By the time I'd got them both in, and moved the unwieldy club chair out to the curb, I was seriously hot and bothered.  Plus, I knew Bruce was going to think I was crazy, which he did. My response? "Trust me on this!" Although the fabric is dated, it is in excellent shape and the lines of the chair are great. Recycle baby!

I'd placed the second chair in the sunroom, however, because that room is mostly Bruce's, he wanted no part of it. Trading places, we moved the "Zebra" chair out to the sunroom, which I quite like. In fact, it's terrific because I can see it so often, not to mention that the orange pop is so cheery.

As well, I had already requested that Roger make a canvas for our home, which replaced my severely faded poster art, a gift from Bill, maybe ten years ago. See above photo. As far as Bruce is concerned, the "Zebra" chair is there to stay!

Seeing  the chairs yesterday morning, Angela had the nerve to call them an eyesore. Can you imagine? She did, however, help me move the Groovy chair to the Zebra chair's former location, and now I think we've got it just right. After looking at four fabric stores, three of which had NOT ONE THING I liked, I've gotten approval to go with one of the four samples I brought home. That's for the living room chair. Stay tuned to this space for the upcoming transformation. Oh yeah, I'm calling these, the Granny chairs.

Enough about interior decorating already! Look at this adorable bag a girl was toting at the market Sunday:

Because Bruce had class on Sunday as well, we did a scaled back version of our normal set up. Arriving at his usual time, Bruce set up the tent and weights. Now, as I've probably explained in the past, our tent has steel legs and supports, making it very heavy, which is why your friend Gail is unable to put it up by herself. Please forgive me if I'm being redundant. No walls=no big pieces. Using two table top easels ,I was able to show two canvases, which although they sell slowly, we consider them window dressing. A customer draw if you will. I'm happy to report that my sales were about the same as the previous week. In other words, about average for this time of year.

Have I talked about the weather lately? No rain, no rain, no rain. Great for when you're doing an outdoor event, not so great for our yards. In fact, ours looks just terrible these days. All the improvement of the last few years seems to have vanished. Very depressing.