It's About Time!

We've been getting a lot of rain of late, and with that comes explosive growth in the garden. These little salvias are finally coming to life! Our niece Laura, a purple lover, will appreciate these.

Aren't they sweet? The marigolds and little yellow daisy plants aren't looking too shabby either. One flower that Floridians like to plant is the periwinkle, or vinca, because it stands up to our oppressive summer heat and humidity. Except, once you plant them, in what can be a good thing, or a bad thing, depending on how much you like them, they will seed everywhere in your garden. And I mean everywhere! I can't even remember ever having them in the back yard, but a few months ago a plant sprouted up by the air compressor, and pool pump, and it is getting larger every day. In fact, I had to lop off a bunch as it was impeding the walkway! It does, however, add a little bit of prettiness to an otherwise dreary part of the yard. Planters beware! (humidity fogged camera lens)

Amazingly enough, and it could very well be because Bruce put all the sides up on the tent, which he considers a good luck charm, we had no rain on Sunday. Saturday--mega. Monday--all day, and Tuesday--most of the day. Go figure. Anyway, as I was typing about freshening my booth up, unbeknownst to me, Mr. Bruce was doing just that while hanging the canvases. Forever and ever, things have been lined up like soldiers on the walls, so imagine my surprise when I arrived and one wall looked like this.

I count myself very lucky indeed to have experienced another good day of sales. Plus, the visitors never stopped which makes the day fly by. Woo hoo!!

Last Friday, Sherry invited us over for dinner. We went and met some new folks, including Fred and Rene who were exuberant to the MAX.

Well, Rene doesn't looks so exuberant now does he? Perhaps I caught him at an importune time. Earlier in the day I'd gone over to help her with some preparations, and much to my surprise, as I was passing through her garage, I discovered she has the same shoes as I! Seriously? Years ago, when first I began taking photographs in earnest, I would venture anywhere, including forests and lakefronts, necessitating some sort of closed-toe shoes. Except I am not the athletic shoe type. I looked high and lo before finding these Clark shoes that served me well for years.

I loved, loved, loved, those shoes. Then they died. I was in mourning until one day, at the market, a woman walked into my booth wearing, what appeared to be, a new pair. Giddy, I asked her where she got them. Easy--the outlet mall. I made a beeline the next day, and wore that pair for years before recently relegating them to be my lawn mowing shoes. What are the chances that Sherry would have the same exact pair? Probably pretty small, don't you think?

Enough already Gail...what does all this have to do with the title? Nothing really.

The big reveal upcoming!!

So, for years and years, I've thought about painting the fireplace. Yup, big, big move. However, something clicked yesterday. Well, maybe that something was that Bruce was home and could remove the mantle, which is heavy indeed. He agreed, and I was off and running. I wish I'd taken a photo when it was decorated. Alas, in my rush to get going, I did not.

There you see 55 year old brick. While I know some people consider it sacrilege to paint brink, I am not one of those folks, thinking anything is fair game. Most of you know that for years I've done everything in my power to brighten up the room, with the fireplace the last man standing. No longer my friends...the primer went on.

And not very easily, I might add. Using a three inch brush I just kept going and going and well, by golly, it was done.

Because it took so long to prime, by the time I'd finished the bottom, the brick up top was all dried and ready for paint. I'd been vacillating on the color, finally deciding to use the kitchen cabinet color which is a warm white. Plus, I wanted to get done before B went out of town this morning so he could put the mantle back. A word on the mantle--he made it when we first moved in; apparently there was no mantle? Can't really remember as it was 20 years ago this October. Anyway, he has given me permission to paint it if I feel the need, but for now we're sticking with it as is. Same for the brackets which we found in an antique store.

The trouble with painting brick is that it is darn hard to get into all the cracks. I used both the three inch, and a one inch brush, to do so. By 5:00 my hand was super tired, and I decided to call it a day, but not before everything was restored.

You can see that I've yet to finish the bottom which is the first order of business when I finish writing. I wish the lighting were better in the photo, and I sure wish it had been better while I was painting! Taking the shades off some of the lamps, having all six of them on, as well as the chandelier, helped dispel some of the day's gloominess. Looks like today will be a repeat, which you well know, does not make me a happy girl.

But, at least I have a bright fireplace, for which I'm most thankful! B was ambivalent about my project, however, this morning before leaving he said, "honey, you were right, the fireplace was tired, and now it is not." Could not agree more!

Indeed, it was time,

Gail

Gail's iPhone

Although I have a fancy new camera, I take plenty of photographs with my iPhone. While Jonathan was home for Christmas last year,  he turned me on to Instagram, which is very fun, and those photos can be seen on statigram/gailpeck most of which are silly stuff that I come across from day to day. At one time, as I mentioned in the last few months flickr was where I posted online photos, again, nothing that I intend to sell.

Earlier this morning Nancy sent me a message asking that I send her some phone photos so she could choose something for her wallpaper. Okay, I can do that. After watering the flowers I roamed around the yard looking for anything that might appeal to her. Once inside I started looking at them and discovered I had some photos already on the phone and was pretty surprised that some of them were pretty good. Or, at least they looked so on the phone screen!

Because today is a holiday for Americans, let's just get real simple and look at photos today, shall we? This one is the water feature outside the Seasons 52 entrance. According to Bruce, the ones he will have in California are even cooler.

While looking for flowers at Lowes,  I took this, which as I recall is an aster flower.

You know how crazy I am about those caladiums!

The colors and textures are super great!

Periwinkles, or vincas, are a summer stalwart in Florida, standing up to the incessant heat and rain. Some folks aren't crazy about them because they seed themselves but I say, the more the merrier! These white ones did just that.

I love white flowers because they really pop in the landscape. Then for something silly, there's this:

For those who've never had a swimming pool in their backyard, it is the drain hose rolled super tight. Which reminds me, recently a catalogue came from Grandin Road with lots of garden related products, one of which was simply unbelievable to me. Talk about taking design mania to the next level! I give you a dressed, as it were, garden hose. This one is for folks who have more money than they rightly know what to do with!

Purslane is another one of the summer bloomers, a member of the succulent family, it can take the heat and blooms prolifically.

Pretty, aren't they?

Picasa is my go-to editing and storage sight/program, well, actually I don't really know what to call it. At any rate, sometimes it will recognize my phone, other times no. I wish it worked all of the time. Thinking of Google, the other day I considered the history of the big techies businesses, such as AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft, and thought to myself, Self--what if Google succumbs to the same place in internet history???? Will my blog be gone? What about five years of work? Scary.

The Fourth of July is already special in our nation's history, and too, in our own family history. This morning we did a little Face-Time chat with Matthew as he opened his birthday package. No, he wasn't born on July 4, but pretty darn close. Although we arrived at the hospital around 10PM on the fourth, he did not make his entrance into our world until 1:30 in the morning, missing being a Bicentennial baby by 90 minutes. I was able to share the story with Tom as he had joined us waving a British flag. He stole a bit of my thunder as I'd sent Matthew eight small flags to wave as he cheers on the US team at the Olympics, one for each event he'll be attending. As you may know, Tom has been working for several years on the transportation plans for the Olympics, a pretty big endeavor as they are predicted to be very well attended. Americans may be surprised to learn that there are NO parking facilities at any of the venues; all spectators will have to rely on public transport. Because they have done every bit of pre-planning possible, his team is anxious to get the Games underway. As am I--cannot wait!

Matt and Tom were to be leaving for the airport directly after our chat, they are coming to America, arriving in Philadelphia an hour or so before nightfall with hopeful plans to share in their fireworks display. A wedding in Lancaster, PA is next on their agenda. I'm hoping they don't melt as the temperature in London has been anything but warm.

So, Happy Birthday America, and soon, a great big Happy Birthday to my first born son!

Getting it Done

For weeks now we've had several nuisances around these parts, one of which I've written about before, as in the sprinkler system. For those readers who've been experiencing unusually large amounts of rain, having a faulty sprinkler system does not seem so bad. Trust me on this, it is. Last month's utility bill reflected as much--$100 for water. Ouch! Today we are finally having some folks come out and get us back in shape.

Additionally, I've had an air leak in the pool filter lines which not only made for constant bubbling at the jets, but the pool vacuum crawled along at a turtle's pace. A turtle's pace you ask? Well, why not? Last evening Bruce called out, saying I had a visitor in the yard and here he is!

A pretty good sized one that apparently crawled away from one of the two lakes in either direction from our home. I took others, but I thought I'd show you this one because, not only do you see how big the turtle is, but you also get to see the declining supertinias. Painful is what I have to say about their state. I am trying to come to some conclusion on whether or not I should transplant them before they all die on me. What to do, what to do? While I was out surveying my garden I discovered yet another creature! More? Yes.

I should have made that a plural in the previous paragraph because there were gobs of these Oleander Caterpillars. According to the link, they will defoliate the plant in no time, thus, if we didn't want some bare stalks, something had to be done pronto. Fortunately, Mr. Bruce arrived, picking them off with some tweezers and placing them in a drink bottle in the freezer. The freezer? That's what they said to do! Matthew is experiencing some of his own garden invasion from unknown sources. His exact words--"gardening is stressful." I couldn't agree more. See above regarding baby petunias!

But so worthwhile when things are going well, which for the most part they do. I am in love with the color of this new shade of vincas.

While still on the topic of gardening, last week I made a visit to Appenbury's which I believe I mentioned. There were some gigantic, and I mean gigantic, sunflowers in the ground, waving their faces in the breeze.

Stupendous, right? The sky is a never ending source of interest, going from this gorgeous shade of blue, to this:

Enthralled might be a good word for when I see the sunbeams through the clouds. Although the sky looks menacing in this photograph, the rainfall produced was minimal. One of these days we will have some rain, and on the flip side, one of these days sunshine will once again visit London. Faith is what that kind of thinking is called...

While picking up Bill from the car place, I asked him if he'd like to head out to Lukas Nursery since we were half-way there? He agreed readily because he's a plant guy himself, going crazy planting Asiatic jasmine all around his new palm. Anyway, we roamed around, marveling at all of the beautiful specimens. As we turned a corner we heard a noise, wondering what the heck it was. Chickens my friends. Four were in a large coop with two of them being so crazy looking I couldn't get over it.

The head was covered with feathers somewhat like an afro. I was darn lucky to finally get this shot
through the bars.

Perhaps a reader knows the type? Talk about top heavy! As I recall, the black bodied chicken of this type also had a white topper. Love this kind of random sighting...

So, where was I before I got off topic? Oh yes, the air leak. The pool guy came yesterday morning and it was not anything that had occurred to me. The filter needed a thorough cleaning, as did the salt generator. Both required taking apart, a task I'm ill suited for. $125 and we are on our way.

While he was cleaning, I was signing, a task I'm also ill suited for. Frequently when folks ask how things went and I give them a number of prints sold, I'm not sure that it's so easy to visualize. Well, let's enlighten right now.

This stack of new prints totals 95, two shy of my Melbourne sales. It would be half again as tall if not for the fact that 45 of them are currently without mats, although, if things go right, they will have them later today. They are all signed, two stickers each and a thank you on the back. On my way to bridge, in just a bit, I'll drop them back off for the mats. You're probably thinking to yourself, why can't she put the mats in? Answer: different ratios. So there. A good many of these are slated for filling up the twirly thing in my office which currently stands empty. Then again, maybe it will be a good weekend which at this point is anyone's guess. Typically it's hot as the dickens during Mayfaire; the forecast is only for the high 80's with a 20% chance of rain. Not bad at all. I am assigned booth #33 which if memory serves me right, and that's always taking a chance, it is close to where I was last year.

Yesterday brought some good news. My sister Nancy, who lives in Memphis, had been looking online for jobs earlier this year. Lots of looking. One day she decided it might be a good idea to check with her local Marshalls, walk in and ask if they were hiring. And they were. Now it is several months later and she has been chosen to be a "Manager in Training" starting today! We couldn't be more proud or happy for her. While talking I mentioned to her that although working in retail is hard, that's probably where she always should have been working because if anyone knows how to shop it is Nancy. You may recall that she also loves to organize and it was this skill that caught management's eye. I guess this means she won't be coming here this year for my annual clean up. Woohoo!

Chickens, it seems, are all the rage now which is probably why they had them at Lukas. Our city council just passed an ordinance allowing 25 homeowners to have chickens in their back yard. Just this morning, after reading the linked article, Bruce came into the bedroom while I was still lolly-gagging in bed, saying, perhaps we might want to have chickens. Perhaps we might. This installment of Camera Crazy describes my friends the Whiteds adventures in chicken farming. Rachel has a chicken initiative going in Winter Park hoping their city council will get with the program.  A local television clip with Rachel found it's way onto CNN!

The hour is late, as in, if I want to have time to get ready for bridge, so that's it for today.

Have a good one!
Gail