Local Adventures

Most mornings, if time allows with Bruce's busy schedule, we walk around Lake Davis two times for both some exercise, and some bird watching. Most days something is going on and early last week was no exception. Figuring it was about time to return to the here and now after so many vacation posts, however, I've not forgotten about London because there are still some things to share. For now though, let's catch up with what's been going on since we returned from our trip to the mountains. 

So we were walking around when we saw two ducklings in the water all by themselves. Not a good sign because they were quite small. The closer we got though, we saw their siblings coming in from behind, yet still no visible parents. Eventually they were reunited with their indifferent Mother while we stood watching, making their way back into the water once all were gathered.  As to the pictured swan, we learned one of the cygnets was hit by a car and now there are but three. :(

  Perhaps it was this fellow that is responsible for the fact that they have all disappeared?

 Just behind our place, new aquatic plants have emerged with one of them flowering! I've learned that this is a Water Hyacinth and isn't it so pretty?

There was a slight delay in the workers getting started on the church columns, so we took advantage of our free time, heading South to Lake Kissimmee State Park in the middle of nowhere! The closest small city is Lake Wales, 15 miles away. Driving down SR 17, it was both empty and beautiful. Holy Cow, a little hill action. Rare for Florida, indeed.

Most of you know that the once thriving Florida citrus industry is in steep decline due to citrus canker that decimated thousands of orange trees. While we did see some beautiful groves on this drive, not nearly what once was to be found in the middle of the state. Below is what, we've later learned, an attempt by grove owners to stop the spread amongst new trees. Apparently, these fine mesh bags, which cost $8.50 each (thanks Google!), are left in place for at least the first two years of a tree's life. The good news is that there is good news---it seems to be helping!

And finally we arrive! The photo below is taken through the windshield which is stained by love bugs, and if you are from Florida, you know just what I mean.

We were there to check out their camping sites which are plentiful; driving through making notes on the best sights for a future trip as it is hard to choose just from a map. The park is filled with stately old oak trees with their branches touching the ground in some instances. I can't recall ever seeing an oak such as the one in the back in the photo below with branches clumped together on the ground. Must be old age which, as I am learning, is full of surprises!

Close observers will see a staircase in the distance which is where I was headed, climbing a three story observation tower/platform to see Lake Kissimmee, Florida's third largest lake. Not to be confused with the city of Kissimmee, much closer to home, where the big lakes there are called Lake Tohopekaligia, and East Lake Tohopekaligia.                                      

Bruce did some dock fishing while I roamed around in the heat. Not August heat, but under sunny skies, still very warm.  Eventually it was time to find some lunch, easier said than done when you are in cattle country!

Made all the more difficult because, you guessed it, no internet connection!! Sandwiches from a roadside market was the best we could do. Most all of the area is either ranches, or connected to fishing in one way or another as Lake Kissimmee is one of the top rated lakes in the country for catching bass. 

On our way home, after managing to get back to SR 17, we passed what we are presuming is an old phosphate mine filled with this lovely shade of water.

A side note here....watching a Great Blue Heron flying by just now, as well as ducks swimming in the sparkling lake, shimmering in the early morning sunshine....quite the distraction for me!!  Secondly, David and Michelle are going on a little trip to Charleston tomorrow morning, prompting me to search the blog for our visit to that beautiful city. Oh how I love having a blog and being able to go back in time, even if that post contained the information that we had bed bugs in our hotel! :)

The next day we visited a nearby park off Hiawassee Road, formerly called Turkey Lake Park, a place I passed many times while working out that way. I say formerly because the name has been changed to Bill Frederick Park after a former long term mayor of Orlando. So what was it like? Amazing! For one thing it is HUGE! There are birds,

and of course, the lake which sits adjacent to the Florida Turnpike on one side, and is not very far from Universal Studios theme park. Apparently it is also home to the Boone Braves crew team too. Boone High is where both of us went, all of our children, and is just across Michigan Street. On occasion we hear their football games it is so close!

 How big is the park? 183 acres is how big! Again, a place we visited to check out their camping sites. I know, weird, right?

From what I read, those camping sites are a godsend for folks looking to vacation in Orlando, so near the theme parks, for the very reasonable rate of something like $25 a night! Quite the dock too!

Another day we lunched at Brio, maybe after our walk around Mead Gardens? See, if I don't get right to blogging I forget things! Anyway, seated at the bar, I happened to notice the mirror right in front of us, so why not? The soup and salad were just okay.

This time of year is prime bird watching primarily due to Fall migration patterns. I've heard before that Mead Gardens is a stopping ground, so let's go there, shall we? We walked waterside for a bit, then took the boardwalk through the wild part, although all I saw was but one Carolina Wren which isn't saying much. The thought of how much Florida has changed crossed my mind during this short walk through what our state must have once looked like. Filled with bugs too, which is not the most romantic thought.

 Heart shape alert!!

Another thing I'd heard from folks is there are resident owls that nest yearly, however, I'd yet to see them on my infrequent visits. Well, now I have seen the female.

True birders are very protective of their finds, or cagey at best. In the parking lot a fellow was loading his car and, spying his binoculars, I inquired if he'd seen anything. Turns out this is the fellow who leads a weekly bird walk on Saturdays during the month of October, sponsored by Audubon. I think this must have been Thursday because he said no, hadn't seen much, and was a wee bit worried about Saturday. Asking him about the owl, he gave out very vague directions. Heading that way, scanning trees like mad, luckily another fellow, lugging a large tripod with two cameras hanging around his neck, was more specific, going so far as to take us there. Nice, right?

Closer to home, I've resumed working on the quilt I'd abandoned, this time moving into the dining room to avoid the distraction of the lake, a good decision because I got a lot done yesterday afternoon. Gloomy weather helped!

Two reasons for the photo below--one, the little quilt, such as it is, for the end of our bed is completed. Secondly, note the pile of clothes ready for folding.

For several weeks now I've been wanting to share my new found love of Marie Kondo and her method of folding clothes. While late to the party, I am a convert! After reading an article about her in a magazine, I searched out her charming series on Netflix, watching most episodes in succession. For years our drawers have been filled, sometimes to the brim, with rolled clothing which is good; her way is better. Both of us hate to use up our clothing now because we don't want to disturb the look.

Like a little bookshelf in your drawer! For the curious, here's the link to her series.  Before I considered myself tidy, now I know that there is always room for improvement. But that's like most things, don't you think?

Finally, here's a look at the scaffolding that went up last week, with work underway now to repair the capitals and columns.

Mr. Peck is there as I type, scraping paint alongside the restoration crew. :)

Local adventures are fun, however, I still miss those majestic mountains!

your friend,

Gail

Under the Florida Sun

Between my cold and the relentless heat, my outings have been few and far between. Is there such a thing as too much sunshine? I'm beginning to think so. I remember last year, about this time, when the rain began falling in Vancouver, a few people told me they welcomed it. Seriously? Indeed, they claimed they were tired of the sunny summer days and welcomed a little less light. Perhaps a little of that has rubbed off on me.

Remind me of this when it gets cold or rainy, will you?

Seriously, it has been in the low 90's for seemingly forever, with no relief even when the sun goes down. Still hot. The humidity is some lower, so at least that is something I can celebrate. Bruce, meanwhile has been in Calgary since Tuesday and will be returning very late tonight. When I complain, he keeps saying that it isn't so bad, and I wish I could agree with him.

Enough of my whining. Several family members could use your prayers, including our sister-in-law Judy who is facing some major surgery, Maureen is home for now and her future is up in the air, and Carol has a scan on Sunday to look for improvement following her latest treatment. Faced with all of this news, I was thinking the other day, while working on a quilt to give away,

that when we were young, phone calls would carry news of weddings or pregnancies, whereas now, it is mostly bad health news. Angela used to often talk about the seasons of life, and I guess this is what she meant. I wonder if I appreciated being young? Did the days with four young sons in the house pass too quickly for me to really appreciate  how good life could be? I hope not.

On the getting old front, Tuesday afternoon,  a woman named Debi came over to explain our Medicare options. Of all things, I met her at a table in Walgreens and liked her right off. And now to explain it to Bruce while he is home for the weekend.

While he was home last weekend, we went to Ikea on Saturday afternoon. Daunting, I know. That is one busy store. At any rate, we didn't get much, but one thing I came home with is this nice plant that I placed in our bathroom shower. The shade has been closed since we returned, but it looks nice with it open, doesn't it? I figured the plant could benefit from the extra light.

For now the bathroom will remain as we found it. The kitchen, on the other hand, is another story. Pam was over and talked me out of the green lower cabinets. I'm sure she is right. I managed to brave the heat and return all of the backsplash samples to three different stores. Who knew picking a backsplash could be so difficult? Not me, for one. I've decided to wait until the top is in and then choose, but it doesn't mean I am not still looking. Here are two I recently considered,

although why I even looked at one with red is beyond me. Here it is in green.

I suppose I looked at the first one because, to my eye, the countertop looks best with it. Of course, I really have no idea how the sink will look, so again, I must be patient. That sink is going to be something, or so I'm imagining. Now for it to come in, and then we can get this show on the road.

Pam and Sally invited me to see "A Star is Born" with them on Wednesday, however, I declined, fearing I would have a coughing fit in the theater. It is slowly improving, but when a fit comes on, look out! I have finally managed to sleep most of the night, so that's a big improvement. Have you seen the movie? Did you like it?

During Bruce's absence, I've been reading like crazy. Night before last I finished A Double Life by Flynn Berry. Ordinarily I don't read thrillers, but I liked this one. Before that I read a fun/crazy novel, A Terrible Country, by Keith Gessen. That one is set in Moscow and was eye opening to say the least.
Last night I began Sunburn, by Laura Lippman. As you know when I go to the library I just pick books off of the shelves, first by their cover. Oh wait, isn't there some rule about not judging a book by its' cover? I don't buy into that notion at all. I can tell a lot about a book by the cover. The inside jacket confirms, or denies, what the cover says to me. Usually, when I read a book that I've either never heard of, or don't know the author's work, I read reviews after finishing it.  Sometimes I agree, and sometimes not. A Double Life, for example, has mixed reviews, mostly from readers, some of whom found the plot and pacing confusing. I, on the other hand, thought the pacing was terrific. Why do we believe strangers anyway? I'm guilty of it often, but sometimes I try and imagine asking a random person, say in a store, what they thought about a book/movie, television show, take your pick, and await their comments. Could those comments persuade me either way? I doubt it.

Have you ever seen sorrel? I had not, but now we both have. Such a vibrant color!

Except now that I've looked into it, yes, I like to get my facts straight, although the sign at Clemons said sorrel, I wonder if it is really roselle? The later makes more sense to me. At any rate, whatever it is, the color is quite striking.

Yesterday, on my way home from buying a bathroom faucet at Lowes, I drove down the peacock street. A few weeks ago, when I did the same, the males had very little color, however, now the tails are in growth mode.

The peacocks have the run of the neighborhood, and it behooves drivers to take it slow. The color right now is super intense.

I spent a bunch of yesterday afternoon listening to This American Life podcasts while doing the quilting. About half of it is done, and I am not doing a very good job of it.

Must be the heat.

your friend,

Gail

Using My Stash

When Irene came to town, a year ago October, she used so many quilting terms that I was unfamiliar with, including, having a stash. She talked about colorways, shot cotton, various brands, different designers, all things I'd never considered before. Well, these days, I know just what she means, including her criticism of one of our local quilt stores. Back then I was baffled by her thinking, however, now I know just what she means. I mean seriously, I went there for a washable marking pencil, and they had not a one. And that is not the first time that has happened while looking for something really basic for quilting. But you don't really care now, do you?

Before I get into the stash business, let's have a little nature shot for fun. Now that they stay away from my bird feeders, I can only sort of appreciate them.

And then too, when last we were together I was fixing to make a Blueberry cake which I did. Had I not been talking to Nancy while it was cooking, I would have taken it out of the oven about five minutes earlier.

While it is good, it could definitely be moister. You might note the Kitchen Aid stand mixer given to me by Matt and Tom one Christmas. It's the black you see on the right. That will be sorely missed during our Vancouver sojourn!

Although I'd yet to add the second border, I took the quilt outdoors to see how it would fit on my intended backing; a sheet I'd purchased at an estate sale. Granted there were a few patches, and some evidence of darning(!), but I thought it might add a little charm to my quilt.

According to Jacquie (quilting teacher), you should starch both the front and back before sandwiching with batting, so I dutifully attempted to starch a King sized sheet. It is such a deep yellow; you are seeing the inside of it, and while you are looking you might note those little white patches. I'd gotten about halfway done with the starching when I discovered some small holes. Hmmm....this doesn't look good. Now what?

Because I used only fabric I had on hand for the top, in other words, "my stash", I went digging in the drawers and pulled every large chunk of fabric I owned to create a backing. Unlike many quilters, I buy yardage rather than pre-cuts, so to build a stash, I would buy a yard here, and a yard there, of fabric I liked. By the time I'd attached the outside borders, the quilt measures around 90" square. Guess what? Fabric comes in a useable width of about 42". You can always tell a vintage fabric by the lack of selvage which these days renders about 3" as useless. Too technical probably for which I apologize.

Here's what I had to do, using a bunch of my stash...make two sides for the back and sew them together. It is very colorful to say the least!

One thing I always do before I begin the actual quilting is make the binding because I want it to be ready when I am ready for it. You are looking at about 450" of binding.

Oh, wonder of wonders, it is the same color as the feet on my snazzy ironing board! You may also notice all the thread on my floor, which when the floors were new, gave me a heart attack, while these days, I'm like...whatever, I"ll clean it up!

You may recall my practice pieces from the last post, and after examining them, Bruce and I decided to go with a curved crosshatch, except I was thinking, "how the hell am I going to mark that?" Not to worry, I have a master carpenter in the house! One who never fails me either. Loads of quilters, when faced with such a gigantic project, lay it out on the ground, but Mr. Peck is vehemently opposed to working on the ground. He came up with a solution.

Our dining room table with the leaf, as well as two tables I used to use when doing shows. Holy Cow! He even helped me put the layers together, pulling a tape every chance he got. In reality, it took over two hours to get it all square, during which time he never lost patience, even when I did.

In a stroke of brilliance, he got all my lovely coffee table books, given to me by my wonderful sons, and used them to keep one side in place while we sorted out the other side.

Actually, I received the Kaffe Fassett book as a gift this past Christmas from Tom's Mum, Jane. She is very supportive of my efforts. In any case, I remembered something else Jacquie said from the class, and here's where they went next.

Yup, all around my little extension on the machine to help support all of the weight. Until you've done something like this you really can't understand how heavy it can be. Not that I suggest you do so anytime soon, but just saying! That is another thing Irene talked about when I first met her; sending her quilts out to be quilted by a professional. I'd never even heard of that practice, but now I know it is totally common place. That said, you already know that if anything is at all possible to be done at home, I will give it a go even if it is difficult. Perhaps some might call me stubborn like that. 

Surely you are thinking that about the refrigerator situation, as well you should, because it is still not working properly. I'm having to give in and call a repairman. :( I do, on the other hand, hire professionals when I think I am overmatched, and that is surely the case with our taxes, which are now completed, and I am thrilled to report that I owe the accounting firm more than I owe the government! I glanced through the download of our return they sent, some 40 pages, and my eyes glazed over in short order.

Above, in the photo with the books on the quilt, Bruce is measuring and eventually marking with painter's tape, the curve that I should follow to begin the quilting. To keep it consistent I use this bar inserted into the back of the walking foot.

While it fantastic helping me keep my lines straight, I am having a heck of a time with that bar that extends to the right. The heavy quilt keeps hanging up on that. Third world problems, right? Hours and hours later, I have a little more than half the first pass lines sewn.  I quit sewing in order to get ready to go to church to hear a speaker named John Dominic Crossan. He is pictured on the far right. The man at the microphone is Shawn Garvey, the pastor of our church. I took the photo because I thought it said so much about our modern life with him using his phone to introduce our speaker.

Interesting, to say the least.

Lest you think our weekends are always fun-filled, this morning we worked like crazy in the yard, cleaning out the area of our yard that we call the "jungle." Not quite so jungly after this!

By the time it was all said and done, there were six big garbage cans, and six huge bundles of palms for the guys to pick up on Monday morning. Whew!!

And when was the last time you saw a gigantic bee hive on the pages of Camera Crazy?

Never before, that's when! Riding my bike in Southern Oaks the other morning, a yard guy pointed it out to me. Pretty darn amazing, isn't it?

Off to the kitchen I go...dinner time.

yours truly,

Gail

Back to the Here and Now

I had some crazy good luck the other day. Finally getting the top together for the new quilt, it was time to turn my attention to the back. I'd purchased three yards of a lovely aqua stripe at Hobby Lobby on sale about two weeks ago for said back. Not even close to enough. I also needed batting and HL, using the 40% off coupon, is the place to buy it. It must have been Friday morning that I went there with the batting in mind, and the hope that, maybe, just maybe, I could find more of the stripe. At first I did not, and then I did!! Score! Three more yards that I then put together using a pieced strip down the middle. My friends, that is a lot of fabric to wrestle. And iron, for that matter.

Now what? Because it is so large I could not use my table method for sandwiching the backing, batting, and front. After some searching, I discovered the only large bare spot to place said backing was the pool deck, and wouldn't you know it, the timing was terrible. Oh my gosh it was hot!

But, a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do.

At least half of it was in the shade! Next step was laying out the batting, followed by the top and then to pin it all together. So far, so good. Until it wasn't.

The batting was not wide enough!!! Fortunately I found some in the closet that I was able to butt up next to this, pin some of it together, and then get the hell back in the house before I died of a heat stroke.

A little later, once I'd recovered, I laid it on the dining table, and pinned all the white squares. I was nervous about machine quilting something this large, but the only way to know if you can do it is to start, and start I did. One of our sweet new neighbors, George, was recently getting rid of some stuff, having listed it on Craigslist as free. It must have been serendipity that I chose that moment to go over there for something because one of the things he was giving away was a wooden tv tray that is having it's day in the sun, helping me hold up all the weight of the quilt.

Because you must start in the middle, it is a lot of fabric to handle. Moving the sewing machine to one end really helps, but still it covers my table top.

Am I ever happy to have moved the table to the middle of the room! I'm happy to report that against all odds, (my lack of skill), the quilting is going well. Because Bruce worked all weekend, I have completed about 1/3. You know what I will be doing today, don't you?

Leaving Hobby Lobby, I finally discovered where the popular eatery, 7 Bites is moving their location. I knew it was still going to be located on Primrose, I just did not know where. Now we all know.

Every day I am discovering new murals and memorials. I'm very fond of this one, found at the end of the pictured wall above.

You might notice that brilliant blue sky and you are seeing that because rain has been so infrequent of late, meaning the temperature is several degrees above normal. As in 97 degrees! Yikes.

I felt that sun beating down on me when I dropped off the photos I'm entering into the annual City calendar contest at City Hall. It was with a plan that I parked on Rosalind. What plan might that be? I was interested in walking the length of the Dr. Phillips center to see what I could see. They have corralled most of the memorials here.

That said, there still are some on the great lawn,

which looks surprisingly green, having been trampled so in the last month. Someone went to a lot of effort to make this:

So, as you can see, people are still mourning the tragedy. Inside the City Hall rotunda it looks like this:

In the foreground there are books for people to write encouraging words. Just off the rotunda is the art gallery which I generally peruse while there. It was with delight that I came across my sister-in-law Ruth's winning photographs.

This is not the first time she has won in the annual employee art show, and I'm sure it won't be the last!

Who knew Alice Cooper was coming to Orlando?

Friday night we went out with Zarita and her very interesting husband Greg, who we were meeting for the first time.  We began the night at The Outpost in College Park where we mostly enjoyed our appetizers. Our first time there, I'm not sure we'd go back, but maybe in the winter. As Canadians, neither of our guests had ever eaten pimento cheese, fried okra, or fried green tomatoes before, so that was good.  I was disappointed that they fried the entire okra pod which seemed like a labor saving thing rather than this is the best way to serve fried okra thing. It is not. Because Greg is a big man, and because I am always hot, we left for cooler environs, landing just two doors down at Rusteak, which is where I took this photo.

Greg is from Manitoba and grew up on a huge farm, with the nearest town having a population of about 50. As well he is one of four brothers!! During the evening we learned some new things, and as you know well, I'm always up for a good story. The photos he showed us from a trip they took to Africa were astounding!! As to the restaurant, we were mostly full by the time we got there, but it does look like one we'd like to visit again.

On my way to church Sunday morning I stopped to see a new work by the artist who is beginning work on the mural he will be painting for Bruce, well actually Earl's, but at this point it is still Bruce's place!

Painted on the back side of the Hideaway, he also put up some new birds, which I am naturally partial to.

Reverend Garvey began his sermon by saying, "I don't know what to say." Neither, really, do any of us because what is there to say when senseless violence seems to be everywhere? Last week we had to miss because Nancy was here so I did not know the backstory he was referring to when he talked about the cranes being dedicated just last week. Now I do know, and so will you, should you take a few minutes to read this.

In the article it quotes someone as saying they hoped Orlando would become their permanent home. Not gonna happen now, I am so sad to report.

The work continues...

Today some of the executive chefs are inspecting the kitchen. Naturally I am so hoping it will go well; I imagine you're thinking the same thing!

Carol, you will be happy to learn, is regaining her strength, and resuming her normal diet. The tincture of time cannot be overstated!

Back to my sewing machine after some breakfast.

You know where to find me,

Gail