David to the Rescue!

I'll admit, Bruce and I have our talents, but financial planning is not one of them. Aren't we so lucky to have sons who are? In this case it was David who came to our rescue Monday night.

Sunday, while reading at the market I came across a line in The Orchid Thief that was so good I had to write it down. At the time I thought it pertained to folks perception about me, however, once Dave spent about four hours talking to us, I knew he was the rightful heir to this line---"he has an excess of verbal energy." Those of you who know David know just how true this is!! And, I love it. There's no holding Dave back when he gets going on a topic he is passionate about! Of course, the same could be said of me, however, in reality, I do NOT hold a candle to David.  So, for the first time in our lives, we are going to try and get serious about our finances. Time will tell...

That same night, well more specifically, the wee hours of Tuesday morning, rain woke me up, and I do mean that literally. The good thing about living in a home, built pre-air conditioning, is that the builders included wide eaves in their designs to ward off both the sun, and the rain. Except, in this case, the eaves were no match for the ferocious wind and rain howling outside our OPEN window. I can't say as I can ever remember that happening before. The good news is, in spite of said winds, we only lost one large branch from the front yard oak tree. Could have been much worse!

Monday was a dreary day, so after checking out those cabinets for Bill, we filled the afternoon with meandering through two antique markets, reliving our past if you will. I swear I am always amazed at what people are selling in those places. The question is, "is anyone buying?" Before leaving the house, I was picking up the garbage cans from streetside, putting them back in their place. As I passed the open can filled with yard waste I noticed this little guy on top:

I haven't the foggiest notion how he got there, but once I showed him to Bruce, he, not I, as I am the squeamish type, carried him to the bushes. Briefly we considered putting him in a jar, however, briefly is the operative word here.

Tuesday was filled with activities both good, and bad. Because the weather has been so great, my thoughts have turned to camping, and in this case, specifically Moss Park off Narcoossee Road which is fairly close to us. Some of you may have read about our last camping adventure here, and if so, may just recall we had a little problem.  You see, we use the back of the Pilot for our sleeping quarters, and the car has a mind of it's own regarding the alarm. You'll just have to read the previous post. In any case, Bruce is having a look under the hood so we won't have a repeat of that fun!

As is quite evident, we had the place to ourselves. Except for the birds and some squirrels. You've not seen a squirrel picture in quite some time, have you?

When they are not in my yard stealing form the bird feeders they seem quite cute, don't they?

In my office I have a darling photograph of Bruce and three of our adorable little boys fishing off this pier.

That was a very long time ago. Can anyone believe Bill and Dave are turning 35 on April Fool's Day? I can't say it seems like only yesterday, but it sure doesn't seem like they've been part of this world for that long!

Along the shore of Lake Mary Jess there were quite a group of Ibises, along with several Wood Stork, whose name I could not remember for the life of me, that is, until I started walking to the signage with the shore birds names.

Wood Stork have the ugliest heads, almost pre-historic if you will, but when in flight, oh my!

The sun was so bright I was following this bird in flight, shooting over my head, thus, cutting the tip of his wing off; nonetheless, I thought you might enjoy it.

Our mission was both as a recognizance one, and a picnic, which we enjoyed seated at one of the many lakeside picnic tables. Just as we finished, a Sandhill Crane wandered up to our table, getting so close you can't imagine. Normally they travel in pairs, but this one seemed to be on his own.

I love these cranes--notice the almost heart shape to the red on his head. With his sand covered beak it is easy to see where they get their name!

Here's a nice peaceful picture for you:

Well, that was the last peace we had all day! Our next stop was to the phone store, and was it ever anything but peaceful. Hours and hours later, I have my phone set up, however, not so for Bruce. Let's just say it was both confusing, and frustrating. No more gory details as the whole affair is too darn confusing to relate.

That said, we are making progress on both the financial side, and the communication side of our new life together; next year at this time, it will be a distant memory. Except, of course, for this blog to remind us! (See car camping post!)

Buffet Style

I have probably got myself into something I'm not really comfortable doing, but nonetheless, today is the beginning of my "art biz" education. Better late than never, right? Years ago I bought what I called my "twirly thing" from an artist named Robin Pedrero. Said twirly thing is a display rack, which, as it turns out, people rarely twirled. Replacing it with a stand that requires no effort on the part of customers has been the ticket. Allegedly, the twirly thing is in my office to hold inventory, however, I'm bad at keeping it full. No surprise there right? It may be because I hate to order which requires list making, a topic I'll get to later.

Friday night we visited Robin's Open House at her new studio in the old Davis Park Motel on the corner of Park Lake Street and Colonial Drive.

My goodness it is raining which is no surprise is it? Sadly it kept most folks away, however, I'm glad we went because I wanted Bruce to meet Robin.

I will be spending the next few months, along with nine other artists, in her studio learning the "business of art." Volunteering to be our facilitator, she will lead us through nine sessions, starting today! Our homework was to come up with a succinct, exciting, intriguing introduction of ourself. Brief? What's that all about? In our 25 word introduction we are supposed to describe our work. Yikes? What to say? That is where today's blog title comes into play as I've decided to describe my photography like a buffet--a little bit of this, a little bit of that.

It won't surprise you for a minute that while there we ran into someone we knew. As it turns out, Park Lake Presbyterian Church purchased the old motel with the intention of using it for classrooms and what they are calling, FAVO, which stands for Faith Arts Village Orlando. A husband and wife team are the pastors and get this--the father of the man married us!!! Furthermore, they lived down the street from Bruce while growing up, so, not only was it an art showing but a little reunion as well.

A few more words on Robin--she is the queen of marketing, her art is on all sorts of stuff, including the label on that bottle of wine to her right! Apparently, we too will learn how to get our stuff out there! I'll let you know how it goes.

I uploaded a whole bunch of pictures to share, oh wait, I always do that...

Here goes!

I rode back by to see what happened with the stuff. Apparently the allure of the dominoes was too great for someone; they are gone, replaced by three shoes. Doesn't that sound weird, three shoes. Not a pair, but three.

Remember the cats roaming everywhere across the street from this mess? Well, it seems as if one of them met his maker.

Indeed, that is a picture of a cat's face. Sorry you cat lovers out there!!

Random, how about this find?

From the looks of it, the seat seems like it is worth saving....

Bruce brought me a little, and I mean little present from the yard.

Not the dice silly! I put that alongside to give you an idea of just how tiny the feather is. I LOVE small things!

And, of course you already know that I'm so very interested in birds. Because I was home on Sunday, I accompanied Bruce to his office. Although he does his expense reports online, he also has to turn in the receipts. I brought along the Nikon because I knew that a pair of Sandhill Cranes live on the property. What I've also learned is that their baby, born in the spring died. :-(

Seeing only one crane made me wonder if one of the pair died as well.

Although I have a shot of the face, this one intrigued me, not only because of the rain soaked feathers, but you have to wonder about the sheer volume of them. So beautiful! I wonder if anyone knows how many feathers a bird like this has.

This ibis is not quite as beautiful, but I think the picture is interesting nonetheless. The length of that beak, and the color contrast, is something else!

Okay, back to the list making. I'm not big on lists, never have been. Most of what happens in my life is pretty routine so what's the sense in making a list? When I first got my iPhone I utilized the list feature a few times, but discovered soon enough that writing things on paper was far easier for me. Typing on my computer--no problem. Typing on the phone--not so much. Yesterday, on the other hand, I had some real stuff I had to get done--here's my idea of a list.

Woohoo! I crossed everything off which is saying a lot for me. You might be surprised to know that I can get distracted...not surprised? I didn't think so.

Because I sent in hard copies of the calendar photos some time ago I could hardly remember what I sent in, so that took a little more time than one would think. I attached a digital file that wasn't even one of them, but eventually I got it right.

You may be wondering what the white vinegar is for. You're not? Well, I'm going to tell you anyway! Perusing the Droll Yankee site (bird feeder company), I learned that I should be cleaning the bird feeders with a solution of vinegar and water to prevent the spread of disease. There is, as I'm finding out, a lot more to this outdoor pet business than I originally thought!

Although I spelled it incorrectly, the diatomaceous earth is for the pool. After, once again, having the pool repair guy out, I finally learned that after backwashing each month I should have been adding the above to the skimmer. That's the first I knew of the procedure, but a $10 bag is infinitely preferable to a $125 visit.

A big shout out to my dear friend Karen Howard who valiantly tried to comment on this blog. Instead she did so on facebook which I so much appreciate. According to an article I read the surest way to get people to comment on your blog is by ending the post with a question. This does not seem to be working as described because still I get no comments! Well, that's not entirely true, but they are rare. Ever since I've linked to fb, my readership seems to be increasing, however, that still has not increased the feedback. Am I doing something wrong? Although I am an old dog, I think I can still learn new tricks.