Back to the Routine

This morning, my bicycle ride got off on the right foot, so to speak. Of late, my pretty red bicycle has mostly been collecting dust, and more specifically in this case, sawdust, because Mr. Peck has been using his various saws to finish up the trim work himself, deciding he was the better carpenter. Well, duh!

Just as I was starting out, I quickly put the brakes on when I noticed a hawk on our neighbor's roofline. Oh my goodness!! Rarely, or maybe never, have I seen a hawk on someone's roof, so of course I had to stop!

Amazingly, this sweet faced, but really not so sweet, raptor, allowed me to get pretty darn close. To give you some perspective, it looked like this from the street.

Some folks say that I notice things others don't, however, how could anyone miss such a big bird is what I say.

This morning's temperature was a tad cool when I began, however, by the time I returned it was already warming up. Too warm? Maybe just a little, but we know the end MUST be in sight as November is, well, tomorrow, isn't it? During my ride I saw more Halloween decorations, including one with a live dog. Oh wait...not part of the decoration, but apparently just chilling amongst the fake headstones.

Another house had this very clever spider web display. Who isn't afraid of spiders?

Can you imagine if they really grew so large? Yikes!!

As well, near the house with the hawk, I discovered that the peach tree a few doors down, is blooming again. What is with that so late in the year?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch house, aka as our house, Baxter is learning to live with hard floors, in particular at night. There were many years that he slept in the upholstered chair in our bedroom, but these days, he just can't make the up and down required. He's growing old, just like we are. So, of late, he'd been getting himself about half way under the bed on Bruce's side. Or that's is what he had been doing when there was soft carpet in the room. Remember when I made that little blanket thing for him that he completely ignored? Not any longer! Bruce trained him from day one to sleep on it, and he seems comfortable enough.

Now his only problem is not stepping on him! The life of a dog...

So, remember last week when I said one of the days was torturous because I could not do a thing while the rooms were torn up and Scott was working? That was not entirely true. What I did was use Bruce's desktop, cutting pieces for another scrap quilt. Once I felt like I had enough, I sat down on the couch, pairing them, the uglier match, the better. I used a Restoration Hardware catologue that came in the mail, lining things up between the pages, until the next day, once Bruce cleared the kitchen table, I began sewing the pairs together.

Back in business in my own space, the process began of putting the pairs with other pairs.

There are some pretty scary "matches" in that pile! More mismatches, and pretty soon, well maybe that's an exaggeration, more like diligence if I'm honest, the pairs go with other pairs and it ends up looking like this:

I've now added six more rows to this with the total number of pieces being 512. I'm thinking this is where I'm going to stop.

Setting that project aside on Saturday,  there was need for another Baxter blanket. As in immediately. I don't know if all little dogs have sensitive ear,s but ours sure does. Baxter went scurrying back to the sewing room when Bruce began using either the jigsaw, or bandsaw, cuddling up in the bottom of the curtains for some comfort. Well, I had some fabric left over from another project, so I put this together using it. Notice how nicely it all lined up because it did not stay this way for long.

Adding borders enlarged it, followed by backing it with this crazy soft fabric called Minky. I mean seriously soft, almost silk-like, but fuzzy. Before putting the back on, however, I decided to quilt the top. Normally that would have been just fine, but for reasons still unknown to me, when I attached the special foot, the stitches were minuscule no matter what setting I used.  Ever the optimist, I kept thinking it would start sewing properly so I kept going. Yeesh...that was a mistake. It pulled it all out of square with the stitches so small I could never rip them out. Nonetheless, Baxter is happy with it just the same.

Amazing how fast he moves when he gets into his back rubbing routine. :)

In other news, our darling neighbor Regina, who I wrote about here, slipped in her kitchen and broke her femur three weeks ago. Stopping by yesterday following church, we were thrilled to see she is her same old feisty self, just with a walker for the time being. Talking on the phone to Corrine in Alabama, later in the day, she remarked that if anyone can get over this, it is Regina. I couldn't have agreed more! Corrine, btw, is doing really well, participating in all of the activities, and staying healthy for a 90 year old. That makes me happy.

So, things are back to normal around here, at least until the holidays. See what I mean?

He's working on his next project, beginning in a matter of weeks in Plano, TX, a suburb of Dallas.

Our friend Irene made a comment about one of my blog posts, thanking me for sharing, "the fabric of life." Wouldn't that make a great name for a blog? I wish I'd thought of that!!

Happy that the windows are wide open,

Gail

p.s. you can imagine how all those bits of thread show up on my floor now...

p.p.s. Cool video of the give away of the Quilts for Pulse tragedy.

So-So Sewing

Do I sew better than some folks? Definitely. However, there are far more folks that sew better than I, which is what is challenging me to improve. There was a time when I could make just about anything. It may surprise you to learn that in spite of having all boys, I made clothes for them as well. But that was a long, long time ago. The ensuing years brought less of a need to sew because you could buy clothes on sale, and then too, what boy wants to wear something homemade when they are 10 years old? Not mine! I think you've seen this photo before, but I came across it (long story) and thought it was worth a second look. Jonathan just turned 33 a few weeks ago.

The machine on the left is a serger, and the one you can't see, aside from the red dot, was the Elna Supermatic I got from my Mom.  My sewing table came from Bruce's Dad who got it while working on the VAB, at Cape Canaveral. It is in our bedroom when we lived on Whistler Drive. I so adore that sweet little face on Jonathan. Sorry for how choppy this sounds, just some background info!

But, long before I sewed for the Peck family, I sewed for the Price family. Here's a picture taken at our Grandpa Stahl's farm the summer we brought our brother Pat home from the Viet Nam War. He flew into San Fransisco and then on to St. Louis where our Dad met him and brought him to Grandpa's farm before we all drove back to Florida in a car without air conditioning. All seven of us!!!

Nancy tells me that not only did I make my little outfit, I made both hers, as well as Mom's dress. As to Carol's dress, I'm not so sure. Remember how I just became acquainted with Joelle? That's her Grandmother Ruth in the very middle. I can almost remember making all those scallops on the hem and neckline of Mom's dress with our Dad critiquing all the way.

So, it is with great frustration that I am not very good at sewing any longer. My ripper has seen more use in the last few months than it had in the previous twenty years. The last time I made a dress with set in sleeves I did a remarkably poor job. Furthermore, what once was second nature, now takes me forever to get right. The hours fly by when I am sewing, so I can't say how long it took, but I am finally happy with the end result of this sleeve installation.

I finally got to the point when the sleeves go in after spending a stupid amount of time getting the front placket right. For those who are lost with this lingo, it is the white bands on the front of the nearly finished top below.

I kept fiddling and fiddling with it to make it lay down better!

Hey, here's how basket looks like "on road."

I have been such the home body it is incredible...aside from my bike ride, I've hardly gone anywhere. If not for Bruce's birthday and such, well, who knows when I would have gone out? As it turned out, Abbe, from Vancouver, got into Orlando at 3AM, and was too pooped to go out on Wednesday night. Well, I'd canceled the family dinner before those facts became available, so just the two of us went to Santiago Bodega for a flavorful meal, ending with some croissant donuts and a candle.

On our way home I asked Bruce to pull over so I could take this shot of Lake Ivanhoe at sunset.

Thursday night, however, we went to Hillstones with Abbe who was tasked with seeing it while in Orlando. What a delightful young woman she is!

Of course I like anyone who praises my honey to the hilt. While B was in the restroom, she gushed over how much the girls in design love Bruce, as well they should is what I have to say about that! In very good news, the review of the plans for Plano went very, very well.

Actually I finally did leave the house on Thursday to return some library books. Who leaves the house in a driving rain? Me, that's who.

Actually, by the time I was at this intersection, the rain  had slowed down quite a bit, but what a storm before this! Blowing wind, and driving rain, are not ideal driving conditions, as you well know! I finally finished "The Girl on the Train" and what a thriller it was. I'm pretty sure my friend Bev told me to read this last year sometime; I should have listened to her then. Interestingly enough, the book, published in January 2015, is already a movie set to debut in October. Seems like that is a pretty fast turnaround to me.

Believe it or not, I'm still taking photographs like a madwoman, particularly while on my bicycle. Cheryle's garden is just spectacular this time of the year.

Everywhere you look there is a feast for your eyes. A few weeks ago I was made aware of something that just blew me away. During a Hill's Happy Hour, the talk turned to the tortoises on the same street. Say what? Well, I learned that the folks who bought a second lot behind their home, Dr. Yonfa's family, have for years and years housed a male and female tortoise in their lovely back garden. Immediately, upon hearing this news, I marched down the street to see it for myself. No dice that day, nor the ensuing days that I stopped to look. Well, finally I saw one of them on Friday afternoon.

Crazy, right? I'm pretty sure I heard Catherine say their is a baby tortoise as well. Unreal!

And finally I saw the owlets again. Last year, almost any day of the week I could find them readily but they have been so elusive this year.

Aren't they getting big? This was kind of fun to watch...

Pretty much all those downy feathers are gone now. In other wildlife news from Southern Oaks, last evening I got a text from Lisa about bats at their home on the other end of the street from the owls. What next?? She wondered if I wanted to photograph them for my nature photo challenge over on fb. Hmmm....maybe not.

I never did get into the discussion of sewing pattern sizes..good grief, no relation whatsoever to sizes that we all have come to know and love. Vanity sizing has not hit the sewing industry!

Trying to improve with practice,

Gail

It's Been A While

It's been quite a while since last I saw the two eagles together. Try November 2012! I never ride into the neighborhood along the shores of Lake Conway without checking the "eagle house," and on occasion I am treated to the sight of one of our magnificent National birds. It must have been Monday morning that while riding up, I noticed one in the high pine tree and, you won't be surprised to learn that I pointed it out to a woman walking on the street. Stopping my bike I was gazing up at the tree when she, who had not stopped, called out that there were two..."come look here", she said. Well by golly....

Heading into the back yard, where the folks have given me permission to roam, I watched as they perched 75 feet above my head. Before long, the one on the right took off, followed shortly thereafter by the second one. Talk about good timing!!

It's also been awhile since Pam has sewn, however, after our visit to the quilt exhibit she left totally inspired to ferret out her long abandoned project. As in nearly twenty years of abandonment! During the time she and Glenn lived in New Zealand, she had every intention of making a quilt, going so far as to cut the pieces, however, that is as far as she got. Too, she thought her machine wasn't working properly, so I suggested she bring it over and we'd check it out together. Following a little tinkering Monday morning, she was off and running!

Because it had been so long since last she sewed, we agreed to start simple and small. Let me tell you, she took to it like a duck takes to water. Before leaving for the day she'd gotten this far.

Isn't it neat? The black adds so much drama! Wednesday she returned for session two, finishing the back and the machine quilting, leaving with not only satisfaction, but a thirst to make more. Sewing is so much fun to us, however, back when Isaac Singer patented the sewing machine it was used for more utilitarian purposes. You might be interested to know that one of his partners, according to the link I've provided, built the Dakota apartment building in Manhattan, in the 1880's, such was the wealth of the company. As well, the Singer building in NY was, in 1908, the tallest building in the world! In days gone by, every girl knew how to sew, whether she liked it or not. Today? Does any young girl know how to sew?

I remember when our pool remodel was completed in October 2010, there were tiny frogs on the beautiful new mosaic tile running along the top edge of the pool. Well, they were back in full force this October...

Actually, I can't be sure it isn't a toad, but anyway, the other day there must have been nearly twenty of them! Well, I don't know where they have gone, but we are once again frog-free. And did I tell you it has been sweltering? So much so that the pool temperature has been on the rise again. Warmer than our natural springs! Will it ever end?

Because my last post was so lengthy I called it quits before I showed you another neat place we stopped.

I'm not so sure I saw many artists, but there were lots of interesting things spread over two buildings. We visited only one on this trip as I was pretty well starving.

It may very well have been a while since last you saw only the front of a VW. Right? So, we went to Crate & Barrel last week to buy the wedding gift for this weekend's upcoming wedding. We saw a red cooler Bruce thought was pretty neat. Well, we saw the original at Trader Mae's.

Pretty much a replica at C&B, Bruce said the old guy was much better made despite the wear and tear. But you knew that, didn't you?

Perhaps I mentioned that the quilt show is spread over two venues? If not it is. We thought our friend Lisa was going to be in the area, so Pam picked me up, along with Jennifer, to start again at the show we saw last week. No need to worry--we loved it just as much the second go round. In fact, I wanted to show you a gorgeous quilt not pictured before. From what we could gather this is watercolor on silk, with quilting so wonderful it is hard to imagine.

Jennifer thinks she painted the flowers on the hand dyed silk, followed by quilting. Seriously so good.

Turns out Lisa was not able to join us, so after re-living our previous visit, we went the few miles over to the nearby Crealde School of Art, to see the remainder of the quilts in this really fine show.

Interestingly enough, or it was to me, the quilter of the above piece was formerly an x-ray tech like yours truly! Pam pointed out her use of our mediums color scheme. If you've no interest in quilts you may not be interested in the rest of this post, but perhaps you are interested, and want to go further?

Let's do it!

The thing is, it was hard to pick a favorite, and the truth of the matter is, why would we even try? Human nature I guess. The above, a Y pattern, consists of thousands of cut pieces and an amazing color palette, not to mention that it looks as if you are looking down upon loads of buildings set closely together. There's that dramatic black again. White too, adds drama...

As in the above middle quilt. Such an interesting and colorful pattern. On the right you see a huge, and 28 pound (!) quilt, made entirely of folded triangles attached to a king size sheet backing!! The quilt on the left was also made my hand...so amazing it is hard to imagine the quilter sitting for hours on end hand quilting the piece.  Whereas I am often too lazy to get up and go, I am grateful Pam finally gave up her gig at the Polasek museum so she can plan outings!!

As well, she drives us in her Chevy Volt. It's a good thing she had a good charge going because it has also been a while since last I sat in a serious traffic jam. In fact, the last one I recall was coming home from the DeLand Art Festival with Matt and Tom on Sunday with a packed vehicle from the show. First it was raining, dark too, and we were going nowhere on I-4. One of those times when you have no idea why traffic is not moving. I recall we sang some Christmas carols as it was the weekend after Thanksgiving. Last November I guess. Anyway, Tom regaled us with witty stories of the Christmas pageants of his youth in Britain, seriously making the wait somewhat tolerable.

I hope some stories I told this afternoon made the wait on SR 436 more tolerable for Pam and Jennifer. I felt it was my duty as I'd suggested the route as fast; we were planning on a visit to Wandering Stitches now that Pam has the bug. NOT TO BE. Jennifer had her iPad and checked the traffic delay, which was considerable by the time she looked. We inched our way for miles. According to the map, the traffic eased up when we got to Curry Ford Road. Well, now we know why that would be. It was CLOSED to traffic. Once we finally got to the detour to CFR, we had scrapped our plans to ogle at fabrics, instead heading home to care for pets.

Turning on our local news when I got home,  it seems as if there was a hit and run accident involving a pedestrian. Hideous.

It's also been a while since I've eaten, and so that's what is up next. Bruce is making a quick trip to Houston to pick out the granite for his Orlando job, leaving me to dinner for one.

Leftovers, here I come.

Gail

Just Like That

And, just like that, the blooms are gone. Sarah, a friend on fb pointed out how when the trees are going crazy in Florida, it is sort of like fall in the North. I like that comparison. Ahh...if only their beauty stayed around longer. I can't seem to stop myself from taking this same photograph of our neighbor's yard, year after year, not only because I love the old chairs but, that yellow carpet!

Can you blame me? Early this morning I read this informative article in the Sentinel, and before I'd had time to write this, our niece Laura posted it on my fb wall! Click here to learn how they came to grace the Orlando landscape. I like how he used the term "supernova" in the article!

My yellow covered tree, just like that, is no more.

The bench looks pretty vibrant though. The salvia I plucked from the side of the road is showing signs of new life. Look who I found sunning on one of the blooms.

I really love my home, I do, but after staying home alone for two days, I begin to get a little crazy. It seems as if my ticking time bomb of a gut has given me a rest today, so off I went to pick up my order. While there, I popped into The Lovely Boutique, and sadly my stamp projects are not taking the world by a storm. The globe does look nice though, doesn't it?

Now, what I just wrote is not entirely true, our darling friend Mary bought one of the hearts after seeing it on this here blog. Having a friend buy one hardly counts now, does it? Time will tell.

If you, like me, love a good bird picture, spend a few minutes looking at these from an amazing photographer I came across on flickr. From England, the photographs are wonderful, each one more spectacular than the last!! Generally I don't think having great equipment means all that much, that is, unless you are a wildlife photographer, and in that case, you need the best you can afford. I imagine the lens he uses for these is at least $1,000, if not more. Don't expect to ever see this quality from the likes of me!!

While on the subject of cameras, you would think, after using my current Panasonic for well over a year now, I would know how to operate the darn thing. Except, out of the clear blue, it began shooting about ten photos with one push, commonly known as the burst mode. For the life of me, I could not figure out how to turn it off. I removed the battery, the card, changed the lens; following each procedure, I'd take a photo, and got ten, including this one of my desk with the adorable photo of Bruce, and his brother Cris when they were mere lads. Too cute not to share!

Duh, after calling Panasonic, and giving my serial number, she told me my camera is a 2012 model. Hmmm..is that how Costco sells things so cheap? I bought it in January 2014. Anyway, unless I sent in the receipt, she was going to have to charge me for advice. But, then she let it slip, telling me where I could find the button. Well, duh, again because it was right under my nose! Thankfully I am now back to one shot at a time.

Dahlias, aren't they gorgeous?

Yesterday, in my forced stay at home mode, I decided to sew. Using a pattern I'd purchased some months ago, I made another "easy" dress from some fabric that I never should have purchased in the first place, because #1, it looks like it is for a child, and #2, pajamas come to mind. Alas, I could not resist the little birdies, and so after cutting out weird shaped pieces, I went to work putting it together. The fit is horrible. Never in all my years of sewing have I done this, but in my orange trash bin, is the pattern. Rubbish!

It looks like a sack on me, and not just because I've lost weight! Sadly I wasted my birdy fabric, along with some black and white polka dot fabric I used for the pockets. Looking online, I see I am not the only one who finds "easy" patterns harder to use than regular. Trying to use unconventional tailoring techniques, they have you doing all sorts of weird construction. Give me some darts, and a zipper please.

Finally, it has been quite some time since I last posted a squirrel photo so why not today?

Obviously not the best quality but I thought it was sort of fun.

To answer your implied question on the state of my belly, I've yet to hear from the doctor. Taking it one day at a time,  hoping, that, just like that, this nightmare will be over!

feeling good,
Gail

It Was a Good Day for Cleaning Gutters

Saturday. A lovely day! What began as a chilly morning evolved into a warm one as the day wore on. Both Bruce and I started our outdoor chores wearing sweatshirts, however, by the time we finished, we were down to short sleeves and shorts. And I complain about our weather? Shame on me.

It is a well established fact that winter sunsets are the best. Why this is so, I don't know, but unless the day is gray and gloomy, most nights we get a very nice show. Looking down our street toward the lake.

Last week when we were sorting through Bruce's stamp collection we came across two newspaper clippings which are very entertaining...cascading male manes! When was the last you heard that phrase?

Here's another one:

You can just barely see the date on the second one--1972, a year in which Mr. Peck still was sporting some pretty long locks. Because one of these is from, what I think is a Tampa newspaper, we are presuming that his Mom must have sent these from when they lived in Clearwater, no doubt, hoping to get her son to cut his hair!! With the ongoing beard craze, I suspect there are some Moms out there so wishing their sons would trim those crazy long beards. As to how long the current craze will continue, is anyone's guess, however, one thing we do know is that it will eventually be a thing of the past. (please note the reference to Afros in clipping #2!)

Eventually Bruce cut his hair, but not without some grumbling. :)

What would a post on Camera Crazy be without a bird photo?

I'm pretty confidant this is a mockingbird who stayed in the tree for quite some time. Notice the little buds? Well, here's what that tree looks like today:

Gray sky? Blue sky? You know which one is my favorite!

The market was nice on Sunday, albeit a little chilly. So many folks came to see, and be seen.

It was super nice to be busy, rather than sitting reading a book. When my tent was empty, which, thankfully, was not too often, I worked on the Sunday newspaper crossword puzzle, a good way to pass the time. Talk about busy--all of our food vendors ran out of food! Nice for them. 

People of all ages were out enjoying a lovely weekend day. 

Oops, here comes more birds!! This time the little finches have returned.

As have the blooming Tabebuia trees!

This is not my tree, but any day now, I'll have this to enjoy in our yard. 

When I've not been cleaning gutters, scrubbing the fascia boards with bleach, or selling photography, I've been doing a little sewing. 

I laid out the pattern pieces on some of my sweet estate sale fabric, however,  it took me several days before I could actually cut it. Once cut, it would be a done deal. Making sure the fabric works with a pattern is part of the process. Eventually I went for it...

It is nearly done, aside from the armholes. The sunny yellow band on the bottom makes me happy. I have very few yellow clothes, and I don't really know why. Perhaps they don't make them?

Speaking of bright colors, Maureen called the other day to tell me the name of that spectacular orange vine I showed in this post. Mexican flame vine is what she said, and I've no reason to doubt her as she knows her plants!

We've had a very nice hiatus from Bruce traveling so much, however, that is all changing this week as he'll be gone for three days. Super cold there too, or at least it is to this wimp. He never complains, saying the travel part is the easiest part of his job. That tells you something doesn't it?