Well...Out and About

How is that for a title? Double dipping, some might say.

We have, indeed been here and there in the last few days. Today I took Maureen to the orthopedic doctor and he said she is on the mend. What does that mean, you ask? Tincture of time baby....walk, walk, and more walking is the best medicine at this point.

While Bruce was having his hair cut by the lovely Monica last week, she told him that as to their spot at East End market, she wanted to make some changes in the layout. Knowing he knows his kitchen equipment, she was hoping for a little consultation during their lengthened Friday night hours. And so he agreed. Stopping for a light, this photo spoke to me as I was flooded with memories of Bruce's brother Cris, working on the road as an ironworker eons ago. Lots of blood, sweat and tears go into any construction project, large, or small. Road building presents it's own challenges. Remembering when the expressway was built, no one used it, or so it seemed as I travelled it to Mercy Hospital as a newlywed. Ten cent tolls that were to cease when the road was paid for. Well, that did not happen! Tolls are everywhere in Orlando! Tourists are generally shocked, or so I've heard from more than one visitor to our area. Locals are shocked as well.

Although they changed the name years ago, I still refer to it as the East-West Expressway. :)

East End is cute as a button. Monica and David are doing so well, they are nearly outgrowing their space.

Bruce and David did some commiserating on how better to use the area. Our food was yummy too.

Driving down North Orange Avenue, I was so excited we were passing this on our way home, after seeing it in the morning newspaper. Yes, we still get home delivery!

Should you want to more about this cool project, you can read about it here.

Saturday we went to the gathering honoring Tracy at Mark and Michelle's lovely home on Lake Hart, near Moss Park. Lovely, and very big, I might add. Nothing official happened, aside from a slide show, condolences to both his wife and two sons, both of whom are graduating from University of Florida in May, and visiting. Lots of former Darden folks, as well as a few that are still working there, including Bruce's old boss whom I'd not seen since he let B go. Hmmm....I smiled, and smiled.

The boy on the left in the above photo is one of Tracy's son, along with his fiancee. Kendall graduates with a degree in Engineering, while Dylan graduates from Law school. Smart kids.

So, a bunch of the young folks congregated at the end of the long dock. Of course, I wanted to get some lakeside photographs...

They were kind enough to point this out!!! Sand Hill Crane!!!

Oh my goodness!!! Speaking of birds on the nest, a Great Blue Heron flew over my car as I was driving down my street. What could this mean, I wondered? Another nest so soon? Indeed that is apparently what it means.

Although I saw no activity on the nest on the right, I did manage to see a tiny bit of what is happening on the older nest.

Seriously, these trees are so tall, it is a wonder I can even get this. You can imagine I'll be checking in on them a bunch in the next few weeks. I am still so sad my owls are nowhere to be found. :(

Walking home from the heron house, here's ours through the trees, looking dark against the astonishingly pink Tabebuia tree blooming in a neighbor's yard on the next street.

Now you understand how we go crazy for these blooming trees that sadly hold onto their blossoms for way to short a time. Of course, then you have a pink carpeted lawn...

which has a charm of its' own. I took this over in Southern Oaks the other morning after checking out Lake Pineloch. David spotted some white Pelicans which are pretty uncommon in these parts. They were there, with Dave and Michelle's complex behind them, but too far away for a good photo. Perhaps I will see them today if I'm lucky.

Quite a flock of them, right?

Sunday arrived with our usual activities, beginning with church. People ask me if I miss the market at all--in a word, no. For a few months now they have been talking about a new cupola for the church. Apparently the old one was either badly damaged, or maybe destroyed, years ago in the year of multiple hurricanes. A very, very rare occurrence I hasten to add. Anyway, I decided to take a shot of the church before the big installation day which is late next week.

The wood around the top is in preparation. We still don't know anyone to speak of, however, that is not stopping us. I only wish they would speed up the music.

Bright yellow in both manufacturing, and nature.

Yup, more bright yellow trees are showing their sunny disposition all over town, not just in my yard.

Yellow, orange, purples, pinks, red, whites....the color of spring are enough to, well, put a spring in your step, don't you agree?

There are a few folks that find their way to this little spot on the World Wide Web who are not having quite the beautiful weather conditions we've been experiencing.....let us pray it will catch up with you soon.

The boss comes to town tomorrow and lo and behold, he's invited me to join them for dinner. Nice.

With a spring in my step,

Gail

Back to the Here and Now

All righty then, let's get on with 2013,  shall we? I'm bursting at the seams with both photos and happenings to share....

Have a look at this bug will you? I feel like a real dumby because I can't for the life of me figure out what to call it--a cricket perhaps? Anyway, I was fooling around a bit in the gloomy weather, looking around the yard for things to photograph with the macro lens attached to my Nikon. Taking photographs of the red berrie clusters on our Nandina plants, what should I see but this!

That little business hanging from his body kept moving back and forth--very interesting. As you can see, I've not yet mastered the lens but it's fun to use it every now and again. Angela's yard got the treatment as well.

What a great neighbor she is too. Have you seen those commercials for Gazelle? I'd paid no attention until she told me that my old computer was commanding a whopping $106 from them and they would send the box and pay postage as well. The check came in yesterday's mail and although I insisted we split it, she gave me the full sum. How nice is that?

I don't do this often enough but it is a good idea nonetheless. I had to run out to Costco for a few things and while there I had them make 85, yes you read that right, 4x6 prints which set me back all of $11.00. What for you ask? Instead of seeing the image only on my computer it's really helpful to have a bunch of things, scatter them on a table and see what seems striking. Instead of buying a big canvas to sell without actually holding the image in my hand I need to commit to doing this every time I'm wanting something new. As I have a big show in just a couple of weeks, I need to get cracking on my order. Both Angela and Bruce picked their favorites from the lot. Actually, once I had the prints I quickly eliminated a good half of them for being junk.

They both chose a few of the same ones--me, I like them all for one reason or another, but Lord knows I don't need this many!

I bet Matt about fainted when I wrote about my huge tea buy a few weeks ago--440 bags to be exact. Which reminds me, I kept forgetting to pay Jonathan. Bad girl. Anyway, one of my gifts from Matt and Tom was this neat tea tin from London. There is always room for more tea in this house!

Apparently, Rosy Lee is a Cockney slang for a cup of tea. Closer to home I've been using my new mixer every chance I get.

I've made the pie crust, a banana cake, some pizza dough and now I've made some bread and rolls.

Starting with the white bread recipe that came with the mixer, I'll get more adventurous with time. Because I have only one loaf pan you see what I did with the rest of the dough! My large loaf looked pretty good after coming out of the oven except for a slight dip in the top. Practice, practice, practice.

Pretty soon I'll quit writing about the Matt gifts, but expect to see this again when it really gets going:

Yup, it's a little egg with seeds inside, which has just begun to hatch, if you will. It came fully an egg which I didn't have the nerve to break, but Matt did. Isn't it adorable. Plus, it's a daisy....

It's already the First Friday of the month which means it is FAVO night in about an hour. Last evening Bruce helped me hang the walls. On our way home we drove through downtown and I was delighted to see the star was still hanging as I'd not seen it this year.

Earlier today I returned to FAVO (good thing it is close by), to finish things off. Here's one side:

And, here's part of the other one:

The weather is gloomy and drizzly which probably means very few folks will come out. Who can blame them? Not I. Truthfully, I'd rather get into my favorite polka dot pajamas and cuddle up with Bruce on the couch to watch some of the many DVDs from Jonathan and Alissa. I've now got Mad Men and Homeland to watch. Plus, we've never even finished Friday Night Lights what with our DVD player problems. But, as we discussed yesterday I'll dress for success when I finish this and hope for the best.

Apparently this icky weather is meant to hang around all weekend which means I don't know what just yet. I hope wherever you live the sun shines both Saturday and Sunday! It's that time of the year again. What time Gail? Tabebuia tree blooming time, that's what! Before this afternoon I'd only seen a handful of trees just beginning to show their pretty little yellow blooms, however, maybe the pink trees bloom sooner?

Now, there's a little something pretty to leave you with...

p.s. no editing today as I'm meant to leave within a half hour! Yikes!

The Mercy of the Weather Forecasters!

That's how my business goes. If the weather prediction is dire, we are usually in a jam. That was the case yesterday morning as we woke up to high winds and cloudy skies. Of course, ever the optimist, I said it would never last and it did not. Bruce and I went back and forth--should we, or shouldn't we? We packed the vehicle. Bruce drove down to the park to find only two other vendors there. Calling Dana he learned that a decision had been made--no load in until 10AM, with extended hours until 5PM. The call was made at 7:30AM. Now what?

Coming home I made a leisurely breakfast and we actually opened our Sunday newspaper. All the while the wind blew enough to blow those rainy clouds away. We could have used the enormous rain the weather forecasters predicted, however, it never materialized. After cleaning up the yard and patio, we once again went back and forth, should we or should we? Despite the promising weather change we decided to take the day off because the lengthened opening hours might have compromised our ability to get to the memorial service for Kate in a timely manner.  Sales be damned!!

Instead we drove over to Cocoa Village, a darling little tiny downtown that I've visited just once before. Because Bruce had never been he agreed to the short journey. Arriving there it turns out they were having a little art and craft show. Nice. Trouble was that the high winds had driven some of the vendors home. No problem for us; instead of earning money we spent it, wandering around the quaint shops and having a delightful lunch at Lea's Bistro. One of the many cute little shops to be found in Cocoa Village:

Our meanderings over, we drove home, or make that I drove home because my little honey was a sleepy head. No worries--it was easy. We were anxious to see if our purchases looked as good in our home as we'd hoped and they do! I've yet to photograph them but you'll see them soon enough no doubt.

Because Kate was young I expected a large gathering for her memorial service and indeed it was. Arriving early, we watched as the other mourners took their seats. Promptly at 7PM, the service started, concluding nearly two hours later. I can't imagine the pain Regina and Kate's family are going through. The service was held at the same church where she married her current husband only 3 1/2 years earlier. Although the pastor did not show it, he must have been heart sick as well having performed the marriage ceremony so recently.

On a happier note I wanted to show you something that has made the last two weeks of sitting at my computer that much better. Every time I look up from the monitor I'm greeted by the sight of a beautiful pink tabebuia tree out my window. Walking Baxter last week we made our way to the house and even though Mike was not there we walked into the backyard for a closer look. Not only are the trees beautiful but as the blooms drop they carpet the ground below them.

The grass was so thick Baxter's little legs are partially hidden!

I had to keep backing up to include the entire tree. Won't be long before the pink is replaced by green but for these few weeks it is a glorious sight repeated all over the city. Speaking of pink, oh my, I went by Dickson Azalea Gardens the other day on my way home from somewhere.

Every path is bursting with azalea blossoms. Oh my! The park seems to have been a WPA project back in the thirties with little enhancement since.

Well, that's not entirely true because there are some newish handrails on the little bridges over the barely rippling Fern Creek.

The business about Fern Creek is news to me. You would think that after all these years of living in Orlando I would have known that indeed there is a creek named Fern, not just a street! Which reminds me of when we were at Fort Christmas I saw a reference to Curry's Ford from the 1800's which was so interesting. Driving on Curry Ford Road several times a week, I now know that it means more than just a street name.

Have you been missing the cardinals???

Isn't she pretty???

Not so pretty, but I did want to show my cute new blouse up close:

I must learn to be more photogenic!!! Perhaps that's not in the cards for me at this late date.

That said, last night they ran a slideshow of photographs of Kate. Bruce looked at me and said I've got to start taking more pictures of you. As not one, not two, but three people spoke about Kate, I couldn't help wondering what people will say about me at my funeral. I know it sounds all maudlin but it is something to think about every now and again. I remember sitting at my friend Bina's untimely funeral and thinking if all the people who are saying nice things now had said them while she was living how lovely that would have been.

On that note, while they are alive, surprise someone by telling them how much you like them, or how much they mean to you--that sort of thing. Both the giver and the receiver will be that much better for it! I can tell you that each and every reader, wherever you are mean very much to me.

with gratitude for life,
Gail