And So it Begins....

The other day I had a birthday.

I am now 61 years old, plus three days. The older I get, the harder it is to believe I'm getting older. Mostly I feel exactly as I did years and years ago for which I'm grateful. May that feeling continue.

Before Jonathan and Alissa went to Universal Studios for a rainy day excursion, they gave me a gigantic, and I mean gigantic, photography book, they bought during their New York holiday this year. God bless them for carting it back to Austin, and then to Orlando.

I spent about half of my birthday in my pajamas, the other half dressed, reading the very inspiring book. Let's just say that I can hardly wait to get back on the road again!

Going to my computer, I began looking at my photographs, and more specifically to January 2013, wondering what we did back then. An excellent resource I must say.

On that note, let's take a look back before we get too far into the new year. On January 2, the new windows were installed! The weather was very much the same this year.

Looking back at a previous years' photos I always find some that I wonder why I did not post before, and this would be one of them. The idea that one guy is inside, while the other is outside, and really just how windows are installed, is really fascinating to me. I remember how thrilled I was when I took the photo below showing the difference.

It is about time I cleaned those windows, and that time is today!

I won't be seeing this in the paper this year after the beat down our Seminoles took in the Rose Bowl.

We all went over to Bill's house to watch the game, which if you have eyes, or ears, you know we all left very disappointed. At least we were together! I will say that all Seminole fans are now in for a much needed break from the relentless media pummeling. In spite of JW being exonerated by three different sets of investigators, the perception, fueled by the media, remains. Enough said on the subject.

January began our marathon painting year....the sunroom got a fresh face.

And of course there were many beautiful winter sunsets.

We began working on the transformation of Bill's place....

that would be a gigantic dumpster in the driveway, one of two that were filled in the course of the project.

It was during January that I had my first sighting of the painted bunting! I'm keeping my eyes peeled for one any day now.

I tried and failed to launch a coaster line...

a project that turned out to be not only too much work, but unpredictable as well. And the folks on the internet made it look so easy!

Planning our late March visit to England for Matt's wedding started in January...

The guide book made no mention of a potential Queen sighting! It is still hard to believe we saw her twice isn't it?

The photos showed that apparently I couldn't stop making stuff, including this little piece using the cut up envelopes from my birthday cards.

This will not be happening again, or at least this year, when the envelopes were mostly white. I will say on my dreary birthday this year there was a bit of color added when the door bell rang--a flower delivery guy bringing a lovely bouquet from Matt and Tom. The roses are my favorite color--orange!

And that, my friends, was about as interesting as it got last January....wonder what this January will bring?

Before I go, I posted this one on Facebook, but to any who've not seen it, I took this on December 29, 2014. Watching the eagle from the backyard of the kind folks that own the house, I got lucky, or maybe my patience has increased? Anyway, one never knows when a bird will take off and I count myself very lucky to have gotten this shot.

May 2015 have you soaring into great new adventures! Me too, I hope.

Close To Home

I've heard it said that winter sunsets are the best, and who's to argue with this for a good one?

Unlike the sunset I posted the other day, this one I took after sunset, and was I ever rewarded with a breathtaking spectacle. Although Baxter was waiting by the side door, I knew I needed to rush down there before it was over. If you've ever witnessed Baxter taking a walk, you'll understand why I scooted out the back gate without his noticing!

Generally, this is where you will find Baxter, either sleeping, or watching the world go by.

Another winter happening around here is the migration of the robins. Tuesday morning, because some of the windows were open (yeah!!), I heard a lot of birds, except when I went outside to investigate, they were flying around so fast in a dingy sky, I could not make them out. That said, because I've witnessed this amazing happening for a few years now, I knew it had to be the robins. Miraculous really, that a hundred or more robins stop every year to gorge on camphor berries found on the neighborhood camphor tree. This is but a few of them:

Here's one going solo:

It seems to take them but one day to eat their full, never to be seen until next January. Astonishing that they even find the tree, isn't it?

We've had rain off and on this week, however today is cold, bright and sunny! Love.

This hibiscus is stingy with it's blooms; so happy to finally see one in the backyard!

Returning from a chilly bike ride, I got a clear shot of Mr. Cardinal having a mid-morning snack:

No sooner had he had his fill, then Mrs. Cardinal came along for hers! Isn't her little mohawk adorable? 
I was going to do a post entitled, "Brilliant Bread, Act Two", however, I suspect your interest in my bread baking efforts cannot be sustained for two posts. Just the same, I must say that I did indeed make the bread again. Having learned from my mistakes, I made sure the yeast was fully dissolved, and took his mantra--wetter is better--to heart. Here's the dough before shaping:

This time I cut the dough into two pieces. Why? Well, for one thing the previous loaf was too large to fit into the toaster and if there's one reason to bake your own bread, it is toast. Nothing like homemade bread toasted. So, all went very well and I'm pretty proud of my "crumb" from this effort.

For those who've kept their bread recipe reading to a minimum, the crumb is basically the texture and if there are holes in the finished product. There are holes aplenty! This time it is delicious. I told you it was probably my fault!

In spite of my earlier pronouncement that Matt and Tom were marrying in Chicago, plans change, as have theirs. Planning a wedding from across the ocean proved somewhat challenging, so here's the latest: they will marry at the Hackney Town Hall in late March, very close to their home. You know who is going. In fact, we'll be in the UK for fourteen days this trip. Mrs. Camera Crazy has spent time either with her guidebook,

or on the computer poring over sites like TripAdvisor, and airbnb. I was telling Matt that airbnb is quite the education on how people really decorate their homes, unlike what most "home" websites show. During hours of searching, I think one of the things that surprises me the most is how many people have bare walls. I can't understand how they do it! Because we've been to London four previous times, we are making plans to head North, following the wedding, to York, and Scotland. Maybe Dublin to the west? Still planning how to enjoy such a long holiday. Then there is the matter of Baxter's care in our absence. Bill is hard at work remodeling the home he purchased and will be living there by then...maybe that will be his home away from home.

After ten wonderful years, I've retired the fabric on the left, replacing it with the turquoisey fabric. I hadn't done a chair for a while, instead Bruce has been doing them, but this time I took on the project, and it was pretty darn easy. Highly recommended to give new life to old chairs!

I'd like to take photos a litter further afield, but interestingly enough, close to home provides new opportunities daily. We shall see what happens next, close to home.