I Did It!

One night, when I was 50 years old, excruciating abdominal pain woke me from a dead sleep. It is hard to describe serious pain isn't it? Everyone is different, and although my tolerance for pain is greater than some folks, that time I even surprised myself by not waking Bruce up for comfort. Eventually it subsided and I went back to sleep. I began my workday at 7AM, and that day began as most of them did, up at 5:30. It was then that I told Bruce about what happened. Insisting I stay home from work, I was just as insistent that I should go to work because my patients were counting on me. He'd already left the house when I called him back saying I'd seen blood in the toilet, never a good sign. Calling in for me, we went to the hospital where I worked, only instead of me going to Radiology, we went to the Emergency Room. It turns out I suffered an episode of Ischemic Colitis, which, in layman's terms, is often called, "a heart attack of the bowel." No wonder it hurt so bad, right?

After the CT scan diagnosed the problem, I was wheeled upstairs and a colonoscopy was ordered for the morning to access the damage. If you think prepping at home is bad, prepping in a hospital room while wheeling an IV pole with you is really bad. Not to mention, blood poured out of me. All in all, a horrible experience. Once the gastroenterologist was done with the procedure, he told me I had "an old lady bowel", calling it tortuous, it is treacherous for the doctor wielding the scope. Think puncturing the bowel. Never a good thing!

So, despite having problems of late, I was completely gun shy of having another colonoscopy. Dr. Glen Vander Zalm allayed my fears during my visit with him, saying he would use a children's scope. He gave me the confidence I needed, and he used the small scope and all went just fine.

Not that I liked the prep or anything, don't get me wrong, it is still pretty bad but I've had worse, haven't I? Opening the laxative package, this design kind of inspired me. Wouldn't it make a neat quilt?

I made it through the day with no food except for Jello. It's been a long time since I made Jello, but I must say, it was pretty tasty, especially the lime flavor. Once 5:00 rolled around and the liquid drinking began, food did not interest me anyway. What a thing to come home from a business trip to! Poor Bruce, I was a tad cranky, but he ignored that, and was just as sweet as ever.

After a night with trips to the bathroom, he drove me to the Citrus Surgery Center, which I'm mentioning by name because they were so darn wonderful, I want to give them a shout out. Holy Cow! They pretty nearly restored my faith in health care workers! Each and every person that had a thing to do with me was tremendous, chatty, caring, and efficient. I mean seriously, I've not had the experience in so long I'd begun to think that kind of care did not exist anymore. Plus, there were nurses! Real nurses, one of whom put in my IV the first time with only a tiny bit of discomfort.

Once I came to, one of those real nurses walked us out to the car. Bruce stayed there throughout just in case something went awry. Once a Boy Scout, always a Boy Scout. 😀

Ha ha! I had come to just enough to ask her for a photo. Once my peanut butter toast was consumed back at the house, I crawled into bed and slept for a few hours. Sluggish from the anesthesia for a good part of the day yesterday, today I am as good as new. As to the results, he did not find much that is too unusual for a woman of my age, however, the pathology report will not be available for a week or so. We were given a report of the procedure, with pictures no less, and one of the line items is....the colon is redundant.  I am sure Dr. Vander Zalm was glad I told him in advance. :)

When last we met, I was heading to the guild meeting which did not disappoint. Inspiring at every turn, the women there are so nice. Pam joined during the last meeting and is making friends fast. I did manage to do the Show and Tell, however, following some of the more experienced quilters, I was slightly nervous. It helped that I'd worn one of the new dresses I made...people were looking at those little cap sleeves! Here is someone else at Show and Tell...beautiful, isn't it?

Let us turn our attention to nature shall we? Speaking of Pam, my orchid output is put to shame by hers. Hanging from several trees, she has so many blooms I am completely envious, including this pretty one.

Almost like pink marble cake, isn't it? Hibiscus are blooming like mad at this time of the year and I saw this one during a bike ride that I could not resist.

Speaking of being unable to resist a subject....

I just love those eyes, sort of like Baxter's big brown eyes.

I wonder if other parts of the country, or is it only the South, where Sphagnum Moss is so prevalent? That and crows...my goodness, we have a bunch everywhere lately.

In between trips to the bathroom Tuesday night, I noticed the night sky was looking, oh so lovely, with ta crescent Moon, and what I later learned, is Venus, nearby. This picture is pretty terrible, you can't even tell the Moon is only a crescent, but I still thought it had a tiny bit of merit. I see so many absolutely terrible photographs posted online everywhere, and you won't catch me getting on that train anytime soon, however, I'm making an exception with this one.

It is events such as above when I do wish I knew what I was doing with my camera!

I do so hope that wherever you are while reading this, that your weekend weather is tremendous as ours is slated to be. Cheryle is receiving an amazing gift for her first outdoor art show!

yours truly,

Gail

Some Old and Some New Photographs

Not to mention a few stories to go along with them!

As a follow up to my conversation with Joelle, I went in search of old photographs both here, and at Maureen's house, who is still not top notch, btw. At Maureen's I found nothing to speak of and at first I found not much to speak of here, that is until I remembered that Lisa brought over some photos.

Jackpot!!

The bottom right photograph, taken in August 1954, shows Joelle's Grandmother Ruth holding me. Please note the full head of hair on little miss eight month old! Anyway, what is so remarkable is that Joelle's birthday is only six days before mine, same year and everything, meaning not only did Ruth have a new step grandchild, she also had a granddaughter nearly the same age!

During our telephone conversation, Joelle talked about fishing with Grandpa Stahl in a pond on the farm...well, I guess so! With my sketchy memory, I have but a vague recollection of our trip to his farm in Missouri, way back in 1965. What I remember most is the fantastic tomatoes, which you could eat out of hand.

Above right, the Price girls during that trip with me wearing the dark blouse. Bottom left, the Price girls and their Mother in the middle of the middle row. Grandpa Stahl and Ruth are to my Mom's right, and his brother Ed and wife are on the left. I believe the young man in the foreground is named Eddie and you can guess who he belonged to. I wonder if he is still alive? We'll put Matt on that upon his return from Japan, where he and Tom are having a marvelous time, I might add.

I don't know about you but I LOVE old photographs. Just when you think your hair and clothes are the best, you go back, even ten years, and think to yourself...what was I thinking?? That said, I've been looking more and more like I am above, wearing headbands to keep the bangs back. I'm going to give it one more go over at Maureen's in the next few days, hopefully finding some more gold.

On with the new...make that a new project. that is anything but my best effort. and not because I did not want it to be. but sometimes the fabric has a mind of its' own. I wanted to try a new block called a half rectangle. finding an online tutorial that worked nicely. EXCEPT, and this is a big except, I could not for the life of me find anything about how to have the rectangles point the other direction. So, I cut up the lovely batiks given to me by Jane, Tom's Mum, along with some other fabric I already had, and here's what happened.

The two borders are now in place, the back is made (bottom left) and the binding (striped) waiting...next up, the quilting. We shall soon see how that goes.

Now here's something you don't see every day....

Yup, a dog on a Harley, dressed in leatherm which I suppose is fitting. The open zipper is for her head to pop through, and according to the driver, the goggles are to keep road debris from her eyes. I took this photo while having dinner with Sherri on Tuesday night at Johnny's Other Side while both Bruce and Jo were out of town. Before we got there, Sherri gave me either a late, or early, however you want to look at it, birthday gift, saying it looked just my style. What do you think?

Sadly, this morning, when I went out to ride, I discovered that I must have lost my flower yesterday. First I had a fake daisy, followed by a fake rose; I wonder what fakery I should get next? As well, this morning, no owls, no eagles. As always, it is hit or miss. Just when I thought I could not locate any of them on Tuesday, much to my surprise, one of the parents was out sunning, something I've rarely seen before.

Talk about sleeping with one eye open...

Mostly all I saw that day were pesky squirrels who are now having a hey-day with our brand, spanking new, recycling bins!!

Yup, they are chewing away on it, just as they did on Bruce's kayak, and our garden hose. Take a look at how they have gnawed away the green coating!

Some areas are much worse if you can imagine! I had the hose out because I was in the midst of planting more flowers in my "white" garden. I love the container which has some hints under the title, "what I need to succeed."

Wouldn't it be great if everything came with such handy suggestions? Looking at what I've planted, I've tried to mix flowers with both different textures, as well as greens. The New Guinea Impatiens have a glossy dark green leaf, the begonias, rather soft, and the new ones are what I guess I'd call, "regular green," if there is such a thing!!

New leaves grace the trees down the street in what I call, "spring green." So lovely.

Because my owls have gone AWOL for the last few days I've had to content myself looking elsewhere for amusement. Heading down the street to Lake Jennie Jewel, I discovered the bougainvillea are taking over everything, including the gate to our lake lot.

They, in the same vein as the yellow tabebuia, are somewhat gaudy in their show of color., don't you think? Blooming here, there, and everywhere!

As are these little guys which I think are really weeds; the bees sure like them, whatever they are.

Finally, in my last post I did not mention it because I was still in shock. Jordan collapsed. I read where, after the 12th hole, Jordan said to his caddy--"buddy, I think we are collapsing," which indeed describes what happened. So sad.

Dinner is nearly ready,

Gail

Re-Visiting Gatorland

There is a lot to like about Gatorland, beginning with the admission price for Florida residents. Admittedly, they are nothing like the "new kids on the block", Sea World, Disney and the like, so they can charge less, but $10? You can't go wrong. Plus they don't charge a thing for parking, a practice I am fully on board with; parking charges are highway robbery in my book.

Arriving at 9:40, I discovered they did not open until 10, so I stood in a very small line with mostly British tourists. Maybe ten minutes later, after finishing their preparations, two friendly women opened their windows, took our money, and welcomed us to Gatorland with a smile. Imagine that.

The first thing you see is a whole pile of gators, mostly who look like they may not really be alive. Perhaps it was the slightly cooler weather, but a few of them seemed downright lively:

Of course these are the youngsters, the big boys mostly hang out in the water. Because I was lucky enough to get an awesome gator shot on a previous visit, my mission was to see the new panthers, or at least new to me. I made a beeline to their freshly built area, previously home to some sandhill cranes.

Although the glare makes it a bit hard to read, what you really ought to know is that they are rescued cats, a brother and sister. Here's Neiko looking very serious:

In case you are wondering, there is a window that you have to shoot through to get shots of them. There was a mixture of sun and clouds, which at times made it easier to put my lens directly on the window to avoid the glare, but not entirely. This is Florida, after all...bright sunshine is the rule. So, Neiko followed Lucy over to the pond area, and I spent some time watching him groom her:

They are such beautiful big cats, so clean! Here's Lucy keeping it cool under a palm a little later:

Because the exhibit is new, the glass is not scratched, making it ideal for photographing. This was the highlight of my short trip, but I did see some other cool stuff because for the first time ever, I RODE THE TRAIN!

For the bargain price of two dollars you may ride it as many times as you'd like. Why haven't I done this before? The young man driving the train doubles as a gator wrestler, when he's not narrating the park's history. Every single visit I am impressed with how genuine the employees seem to be, and how much it appears that they like being there. He took me around the back side while telling me how the founder used to take a big alligator in a trailer up the Eastern Seaboard in the early 50's, charging a dime to see the gator. Seems like a brilliant marketing plan to me. Apparently it worked because here it is more than 60 years later and they are still growing. I had the train all to myself!

Mostly undeveloped, but there are some white tailed deer, whose pictures did not turn out, and two "cracker cows".

Following my ride, I walked on the boardwalk over the gator breeding marsh:

Along the way there are loads of snowy egrets protecting their nests. My driver mentioned that the birds have been laying more eggs than usual this summer.

I'm pretty confident it was my first time seeing this great horned owl, who pretty much stared at me  during my attempts to take the photograph.

A stop at the petting zoo area which is always entertaining:

I can't decide just what kind of animal this is, because it looks like a cross between a cow and a donkey.  Any ideas?

That is some tongue isn't it?

I always make a stop to see the flamingos who are getting an upgrade in their living quarters, or so I learned from another friendly employee.

Hanging around the flamingo area:

If Bruce were here, which he is not, he'd be able to identify the fish for me. Mostly I haven't seen him all week as he was in Houston for two days, home for the meeting on Wednesday, and back to Houston until later tonight. Fish in the water are mighty hard to photograph so I was pleased to get something on that shot.

I wanted one last look at the cats before leaving; Neiko was resting inside, while Lucy remained under the palms. Adjacent to their area is the housing for several Python Reticulatus,  better known as big huge snakes!

That mouth looks seriously scary to me!

Just the opposite in temperament, nearby there are three giant tortoises, one of which was on the move, albeit slowly, while I was there.

For less than the price of a movie I was able to see life in action, thanks to our good neighbors at Gatorland.

Did you enjoy your virtual visit? I hope so. Because the price is so low, and it is so close, spending two hours there is very convenient, and guess what? They gave me a pass for a return visit for free! Crazy, huh?

Speaking of neighbors, the movers just left with the packed truck. 909 Appleton is officially now a shell waiting for the next folks to make it a home once again. I sure hope I like them. :)

If Only Today Were Yesterday

 Do you ever feel that way? Wouldn't you know it--today the sky is baby blue, the wind is nil, and the temperature as I type is 70 degrees. Drop the temp about 15 degrees, add 15 mph wind gusts, and intermittent clouds, and you can imagine why fully half of the vendors decided they would rather stay at home.

Yikes! All morning long I huddled by my heater with layers of clothing. Poor Bruce, the wind whipping off the lake presented quite the challenge when he put my sides up--they were hard to control. Plus it was 39 degrees! Isn't he just the greatest? Why, yes he is. :)

At 1:20 I sent Bruce a message--$10. Coincidentally, last Sunday the monsoon came around that time stopping any further sales for the day. But, guess what? In the next two hours I sold 15 things, including three small canvases! Obviously we are glad we went. People weren't the only ones huddled up; on a walk back from the park bathroom I saw more birds gathered in one place than I can remember.

 The ibises seemed to be flying around just to stay warm. Obviously, I slept well last night!

This morning was still quite chilly, however, around lunch time it finally warmed up enough to get outside. It's been quite some time since I took advantage of the free Monday at Leu Gardens, and Lord knows, I don't need any more photographs, but...........I went anyway, after dropping off my order at Roger's house, and am I ever glad I did. Had I not, I would never have met Anna and Eric who were on one of the paths peering up into a tree. And what were they peering at you ask? An owl---my first ever sighting out in the wild!!!

I'm not sure if I, or perhaps Eric took this, because at one point, I handed him my camera since he is taller. I had a heck of a time getting a good shot, partly because he was in so much shade! Eventually, after taking a gazillion shots on different settings, I took my leave while they continued watching. Apparently they must have told yet another woman about their find.

The giant magnolia tree was quite near the rose garden which is pruned way back, however, there are quite a large number of those ever-blooming roses in a lovely shade of pink.

Pink was the color of the day, or so it seems. Hollyhocks in pink:

And then too, a butterfly on pink lantana,

Aside from the above butterfly, I saw only one Monarch who aptly enough hung around the sign, perhaps to warm up in the abundant sunshine:

So, maybe, after all, I am glad that my day off was a lovely one. I'm going to take Baxter for a little walk before the sun gets too low; Bruce worked over the weekend on the weeds down at the lake lot. I think we'll go take a look-see.

Finally, here's a fun little trivia for you: The History of the Lava Lamp.

Now you know....

What Kind of Bird Are You?

I may be the only person who has never heard of DOPE, or maybe not. Every single Sunday someone tells me about something new, and in this instance, a woman told me about DOPE, a personality test that claims everyone is one of four bird types: dove, owl, peacock, or eagle. I'd forgotten all about it until I was handing my sales book over to Bruce to record, and noticed I'd written the acronym down.

Because we all know how fond I am of birds, I checked it out, linking it to my blog. Except at first I did not take it myself, then thought better of it. How could I convince you to take it if I hadn't done so myself?? While in the midst of answering the 40 questions, which really amounts to clicking your mouse 40 times, Angela called and I told her what I was up to. She knew all about it, claiming that I was a peacock. Really?

Well, guess what? She was correct, apparently I am a peacock, or at least 37.5% so. Following, it claims that I am 27.5% dove, 25% eagle, and a lowly 10% owl. Telling Bruce about it during dinner time, I suggested he take it as well. Well, can you guess what bird Mr. Bruce turned out to be? It was no surprise to me that his major bird, if you will, is an owl.

This little guy is from my Ponce Inlet trip, taken through the wire cage. Bruce's percentages were as follows: 40% owl, 35% eagle, 20% dove, and an even lowlier 5% peacock! Well now. I've always said opposites make the very best partners!

I had to click on "full of trivial conversation" if I wanted to answer truthfully!

Speaking of birds, I realized that some folks may have never seen an osprey before, so in the spirit of education, here is last weeks osprey and mockingbird.

Did you know the mockingbird is Florida's official bird? Well, now you do.

I bought some lettuce last week which was almost too perfect to be true. I'm thinking they put these heads into some machine to make them look so symmetrical.

It was such a cute little head! I got to thinking about the time I learned that baby carrots are not babies at all, rather, they are shaved down from life-sized carrots! Some of us are so easily fooled. :)

As well, while at the market on Saturday, I purchased some baby cucumbers with the intention of trying my hand at pickle-making. Around these parts, we love pickles, although, heaven only knows how these will turn out.

It will be about a week and a half before I know how they taste. Looking up some recipes online, I really wanted some mustard and dill seed, however, Bruce called me from Publix saying he could find neither, so we're giving pickling spices a go. Because I like garlic pickles, there are about four cloves in the bottom. Am I crazy or what?

Don't you just love cherry season?

Raniers are tasty all right, but expensive, so generally I buy the Bing cherries which are pricey enough! This photo was taken at the market on Sunday, which was not too bad, both heat and sales-wise. Plus, I  had early visitors--the beautiful Condon family. My great nephew Spencer has been walking for about a month now and he was pretty much loving testing out his new found freedom:

He's the cutest darn thing you've ever seen, and such a sweet spirit! I hope their luck holds out when baby boy #two comes along this fall!

Let's take a little stroll around the garden shall we? Our poor little gnome is showing the effects of our hot Florida sun, fading more each day.

He's still awfully cute though. I told you I re-planted the window boxes with red pentas and white lantana. The pentas are blooming just fine, the lantana is only days away:

And then there are my crown jewels, the dahlias! My word they are a gorgeous flower, and pretty soon I'm going to have more than you can count, as there are about 20, yes I said 20 buds on my three plants!!

Some are variegated, some are just plain deep red, or not really red--maybe pinkish red? Somehow this bloom has a little extra row of petals on the bottom. To be honest, I never dreamed they would even come back, let alone thrive like nobodies business!

Because Bruce has been home for a few days, I'm making meals of a little more substance then when I'm alone, thus, groceries needed to be purchased yesterday afternoon. Plus, I could not, for the life of me, find my box of "London Cuppa", which is my everyday tea; the whereabouts of my latest purchase is a mystery to me. Except most of the time they have it at Marshalls, so off I went, in spite of the threat of rain. Paying for my purchase I glanced towards the glass doors, and talk about a rainstorm! Good grief, the thunder and lightening were amazing, even setting off car alarms. Standing under the portico, I was convinced it would not last long.

Convinced and reality are two entirely different things when it comes to rain in Florida! Eventually I went back into the store to wait it out. Now, I love a good shopping trip to Marshalls, but not for nearly an hour! Finally, asking for a bag for my handbag, I took off my shoes, and made a run for it! Arriving home I found Mr. Bill visiting with his Dad, showing off some new boots purchased from eBay. Nice. The bank has him studying at home for yet another license. Have I told you he's moved over to SunTrust, joining his brother at the same bank? Well, he has, beginning last week. After Bruce took the bird test I asked him what he thought our boys would be. The twins--definitely eagles. Jonathan I'm thinking would be a dove, but it is Matthew who has me completely stymied. No clue.

In true peacock fashion, which means I'm willing to take risks unlike my owl husband, I tried parking my bike along a bit of an incline this morning. Not a good move Gail. I took a sideways tumble, landing in gravel on my left hip and ankle. The good news is that my camera, which I'd been holding in my right hand, suffered no damage. The bad news is that, in an effort to break the severity of my fall, I'm thinking I might have twisted my back. Then again, perhaps it's only temporary discomfort and it will be as good as new later today. That, my friends, is a bit of that peacock optimism at work!