A Crazy Few Days

It all began last Thursday when I received the new condo information from Steve. After researching the location, I thought to myself, I bet I have a photograph of that building, or at least the area, from my visit to Vancouver two years ago. Those photos are stored in Picasa, the Google place I used for the previous nine years.  I've been having problems with it for a while now, however, I tried once again to view my photo history with no success, even though I'd shut down everything else on my computer. Remember when I joked about how many photos I had a week or so ago? I lied. I've got more like 200,000!

So,  because Picasa was freezing on me,  I decided to call Apple Care which I paid for when I bought this new computer about 18 months ago. First I spoke with a young woman for about 45 minutes, and when she had no success, she transferred me to Will in Oregon. It is a long convoluted story, but the upshot is that it is still not working, in spite of hours upon hours of conversation, during which time I learned everything there is to know about Will, who is 25 years old, btw.

And you know what? I think I see the building in this blog post!!! Deep into the post, if you see a photograph of the Granville Street Bridge and some buildings across the water on the right hand side, I'm thinking it is in one of those. We will be on the 20th floor, so not quite as high as the other. When we get there, I will be sure to post photographs of our surroundings. But you knew that already, didn't you?

In between time spent with Will, I did a few things, but not much. Perhaps I'll go backwards in this post. Bruce was only home on Friday, and left again Saturday morning. Guess what?? We actually had rain Saturday afternoon, much to everyones relief. We are 9 inches behind normal rainfall this year. Hopefully a new trend has started, but no one is holding their breath.

Bill and Dave took me to lunch on Mother's Day at the newly renovated Julie's Waterfront.

We learned it was purchased by a restaurant group from downtown, and the new menu reflects that change. Our food was scrumptious!

I began Mother's Day with a Facetime call from Matt around 7:30AM. While I was chatting with him, and thanking him for the lovely bouquet that arrived on Saturday afternoon,

Bruce called from Dallas. No sooner had I'd hung up the phone with Bruce, telling him I'd call him back after my visit with Matt and Tom, then the phone rang and it was Will apologizing for not calling on Saturday. We spent most of the next five hours on the phone. Finally I told him I needed to get ready for my lunch date and we agreed to get back together when I got home. That did not happen because I was gone for so long, but maybe on Thursday when he is working again we can pick up where we left off. Yeesh! I will say, at least I learned a bunch about how my computer works during these marathon sessions.

Bruce came home because we were having blinds and shades installed on Friday afternoon. It was a crazy scene with four men here, including the sales rep of the remote control devices. He's the big guy...

With this heat wave we've been having, the sun room was SO hot in the afternoon, that I am absolutely thrilled with the new shades. Bruce and Mike making preparations..

Now, it looks like this:

The shades are tucked up into those little headers for most of the day. Woo hoo!

Irene had a friend, her former sewing teacher, Susanne, visiting from Portland. They both are wearing sundresses with patterns made by Susanne. Pam, Lynn, and I shared a lively dinner with them at K Restaurant in College Park.

It might have been that same morning that I went out early in search of my birds, and I was in luck, but before I rode over there, I rode down to the lake after seeing the beautiful morning full moon. Not to mention that it was shining on the lake as the sun rose.

That was just crazy good. Eventually I found the youngsters on the same branch, taking care of one another.

There's just something about this shot that I love.

Driving down Pershing recently I noticed a sign advertising an event that is either good, or bad, depending on how you look at it. Yes, another long-time elementary school is being torn down to make way for a new K-8 school.

If we had any kids on our street this is where they would attend. Personally I'm always a little sad seeing history wiped away. Then too, I thought this sign out front was utterly ridiculous.

Since when do we need to give parents a gold star for just doing what they should do anyway? Is it any wonder our schools are in trouble if the parents are like this? Never one to shy away from voicing an opinion, I believe that school success rests not on the teacher's shoulders, but the parents. If you are going to have children, you have a responsibility to do everything you can to help them succeed in life. At least that's what we did. Do I sound like a curmudgeon? Sometimes I guess I deserve that description!

I was so fortunate to quickly find some guys to cut the seed pods out of our palms, which are the bane of my existence because they drop into the pool, clogging up the cleaner. It is not good when I'm here, but disastrous when I won't be.

I finally got out on my bicycle today. This is by no means a great photo, but I finally saw the hawk babies. Use your imagination...

I suspect it won't be long before they leave the nest.

Finally, here are some super cool shots, or at least I think so, of that hive I showed you in a previous post.

I'm pretty clueless about hives, but I'm thinking this is full of honey? Absolutely an amazing transformation from the last time I took some shots.

I wish I could find a better way to shoot it though,  but it is high up in an Oak tree, with poor lighting. I suggest you click on the above photo to view it larger. Of course you may not have any interest in nature in action, but I'm pretty confidant that for my readers, that is simply not the case.

Another long week without my honey, but it isn't the first time. That said, it is getting closer every day to being the last time. :)

yours truly,

Gail

Test Drive

While it may be some folks idea of a good time, the thought of driving 3,500 miles across our vast country, with a dog in tow, is not mine. There, I've said it.

Generally, if we don't go out on Friday night, mostly when Bruce has been traveling all week, we watch Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives, one of his favorite shows. I am well aware that there are lots of folks that loathe that show, however, you can't deny that it is entertaining, can you? A few weeks ago we saw in the newspaper that Guy had come to town, eating at six different restaurants, none of which we'd ever tried. Wait, that's not true, we've been to Se7en bites before, most recently when Jon and Alissa were here for Christmas.  In any case, aside from that one, the only other one I'd seen was Saigon Noodle & Grill on Bumby. In fact, I've seen it more times than I can count. Before it became a restaurant, if memory serves me right, it was Medina's Grocery. Duh, I guess so. (see link)

I suggested to Bruce that we have lunch at SNG on Saturday. While I never went to Medina's, I imagine the inside now could not be any more different. Heavily decorated, putting it mildly, I was amused at this end of the restaurant, and can't wait to see it on television.

A disco ball!!! As you can imagine, they are playing this DDD card heavily.

I think I officially either don't like Vietnamese food, or I ordered improperly. The sweet server suggested I try Thai Tea. Being a tea lover and all, I figured, why not? The fact that she said it was orange in color did not hurt. Oh yes it did! One sip was all I needed to know it was not for me. Bruce actually tried it first, immediately asking if I wanted to order something else. Why, yes please! Ordering a noodle dish with pork was another mistake on my part. Nevertheless, the server, pictured here was very nice, and told us all about Guy's visit. He said he was super friendly to everyone. And BIG.  It took two days to film, though you can bet there will be only about 10 minutes shown. Sort of like when we did that Zombie House Flipper episode, which, by the way, apparently continues to be shown because both Bruce and I hear pretty regularly from folks who are wondering about our part in it. If you are new to this blog, and are curious, check out the provided link. Looking it up just now I was reminded how wet last winter was!

Should you be interested in watching the episode yourself, there are no shortage of signs like this one:

After lunch, I needed some quilt batting and Bruce needed some printing done, so we combined the two by going to Colonial Plaza. Actually, is it still called that? Anyway, I noticed a new store opened up called Bulk Nation which interested me more than it did Bruce. Should you be a baker who also likes some bling for your baked goods, this is the place for you!

All kinds of flours, oils, nuts, sugars, and CANDY! My goodness there is a lot of candy. My sole purchase was a tiny amount of BUTTER MINTS, a special treat served only on Thanksgiving in the Price household. I loved them, and either they don't sell them at the store anymore, or more likely, I haven't thought to look which is a mistake.  Bruce and I finished them before we even got home. Speaking of on the way home, we stopped at a very sad estate sale on Overlake. Nothing much at the sale, but, oh my, the door of this house just down the street!

Our next door neighbors recently painted their door orange, and  while it looks quite sharp, not nearly as sharp as this one. :)

Waking up from a dream on Sunday morning, it featured my Father and his trips to Sebring, Florida to see the races. Crazy, right? He died when our twins were two, so you know it was a long time ago. Although I was all dressed for church, I asked B about a road trip to Sebring. Even more crazy! But, he said yes;  I changed, got a water bowl for Baxter, his leash, and we were off. This time we remembered the water bowl. Baxter is not accustomed to car travel, and I know some dogs like it, however, it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks. This is our way of training him, hoping it works, although neither of us are enthused at the thought of our trip.

As all Central Floridians know, driving on I-4, during the construction is a nail biter.

Fortunately we got off on US27, taking that to Highway 17, the scenic route, with rolling hills and orange groves. Yep, you read that right, some rolling hills in Florida. At least that is what I am calling them. Plus they were winding!

Lakes everywhere you look, however, there is no doubt we are in a serious drought, that's for sure. Arriving in Sebring, it was just as I feared, closed for business on a Sunday. I'd read it was started by an Ohioan, thus the Buckeye building.

The downtown was laid out in a circle with a park in the middle representing the sun. Or, at least that is what I read.  Adele was playing loudly in the park I might add.

Built on the shores of Lake Jackson, there is quite a nice pier and beach.

Nothing but blue skies too. It is actually so weird having this amazing run of sunshine, nearly five months of it, which is very uncharacteristic even though we are called The Sunshine State. Then too, we have had such low humidity when it finally comes back it is going to be a rude awakening.  We never did see the racetrack, however, we took a side road to Highlands Hammock State Park.

One of the first state parks in Florida, it was built by the CCC, and there is quite a nice little museum documenting their work. I don't think I ever realized before that the average age of the "enrollees" was 18, did you?

Now here is where "the having a dog with you" part comes in. While Bruce waited outside I went in to ask if we might bring our dog inside. The woman, a volunteer, told me that if I said he was a service dog the rangers were not allowed to ask us for proof. Last year I read this hilarious article about that very same thing, and never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be one of "those" people. The trouble with Baxter is when he is in unfamiliar territory he barks, not what you want when you are roaming around a small museum.

We did have time to read this poster, however, and it sure seems timely, what with the citrus canker that has now infested our state's most famous trees. Neither Bruce nor I could remember anything about this storm, and apparently other folks share that ignorance. This is a fascinating, albeit, harrowing article, about what was the worst storm ever to hit Florida.

I was so looking forward to the journey to Vancouver, seeing the sights along the way, however, now I can see my dreams going up in smoke. Then too, we tried eating in the car, and that was a huge pain as well. Oy vey!

Dogs were not allowed on the boardwalks either, so Bruce sat under some shady trees while I took a tiny little walk into the hammock.

The operative word there is "tiny."

It was heartening to see newly planted citrus trees on our way home; how about that sandy soil?

We even saw a Sand farm in Davenport on our drive. Who knew? Mostly the drive home was uneventful; Baxter slept most of they way, so maybe there is hope for us yet.

In the meantime, perhaps I should be looking on the sunny side of life.  😀

yours truly,

Gail

It is Never Enough

The other morning, while I was taking photographs on Sweetbriar, a woman I know said something like, "you must have hundreds of photographs." Laughing I replied, make that more like 50,000, give or take a few. And yet, it is never enough, according to Kim whom I saw this morning out with her camera! I could not agree more!

So, does this look like a doggie trying to tell me, "please take me to the vet?"

I'd lain the finished (!!!) quilt down on the kitchen floor trying to find an open space large enough to accommodate it for a photograph. Baxie thought he might give it a test drive instead! I opted to use a green that I thought was nice for the binding, and instead of spending five more hours hand sewing it, I used the machine instead, and I think it turned out just fine.

After washing and drying, I took it the guild meeting on Wednesday for donation. Oh my goodness, the meeting was filled with inspiration. One of last month's challenges was to make a new name tag, however, I never got around to that. Pam, on the other hand, had a great idea a few hours before the meeting, and look how cute it is, pinned to her waist!

 Picking her up for the drive there, she said she was working like mad to finish before I came! There were wonderful quilts shown as part of show and tell, my favorite part of the meetin as I think it is for most members. I am constantly amazed at the talent on display. Imagine this one...

I have not the slightest idea how she made those circles, but they sure look neat, don't they? Marge, our treasurer, made this super cute owl one.

A fabric sale of donated fabric!! The tables in the back room were laden with fabric! Groups were called and they had three minutes to shop before the next group. As part of the final group, I still was able to come home with some goodies. I am so dying over the orange little girl fabric!

The pictured can belonged to Bruce's Grandmother, and it is filled with buttons, all sizes and colors, many of them removed from worn out clothing. I never know when I might need some of them so I keep it handy!

Baxter may not have looked sick, but good grief! After peeing on the floor THREE times Tuesday, even when he'd been out an hour before, I decided it just could not be chalked up to old age as they told me the last time I went to the vet. I made an appointment for 3:00, and when the time came to leave, I discovered Bruce had Baxter's leash in his car. Fortunately they gave me one to use because it is mighty hard to do any paperwork while holding a dog. About 3:15, Lovey came to get us, and she took his temperature. So far, so good. Then she came back and said the vet wanted a urine specimen which she proceeded to get. And then we waited, and waited. Baxter, as you can see, was about ready to throw in the towel. It was both cold and boring in there.

When 4:00 rolled around, I stuck my head out the door, asking if they had forgotten us. Nope, they hadn't, but still we waited. Finally she arrived and told me he has a bad bladder infection!!!! 14 days of an antibiotic, and maybe there will be an end to this! By the time we left it was 4:45. So glad I made that appointment, right?

When I got the new tube for my bicycle tire, the odometer wasn't working for a week or so, but now it is. I once heard on Growing Bolder about a woman who kept track of her treadmill "mileage" and by the time she was 94 she'd done 36,000 miles!! I've got a long way to go...

I don't think the half moon gets enough love, do you? I saw it up in the sky around 4:30 yesterday afternoon, and I was struck by how cool it looked.

Nothing but blue skies yesterday, however, it is clouding up now, so perhaps some rain will fall. After raving in my last post about finally having rain, while there was some, it was a very little some!

There are some good photographs upcoming, and then there are some not so good ones. Ready?

The above is one of the good ones, taken in perfect light. Mostly the bird just sits up there cleaning those feathers, at least until such time as a small bird comes around, bugging it to death until it flies off. I was talking to yet another woman about the birds, when the scenario described occurred. Knowing it would eventually circle back, I positioned myself underneath the branch, albeit 60 feet or more above my head, and indeed it did fly back, however, what I was hoping would be a fantastic shot, did not pan out. That said, I'll show it nevertheless.

Had that turned out, wouldn't it have been something?? Folks around those streets know me by now, and most are friendly enough to chat, especially when I point out what they have not even noticed. They, of course, have other things on their mind, that is until I get all enthusiastic about the subject!

This morning I rode over bright and early, finding most of the family together in one tree!

This tree, btw, is the very one where "Tree Hugger" happened. For those of you new to this blog, two years ago, I was fortunate enough to get a once-in-a-lifetime shot of an owlet, literally hugging the trunk of this tree. Maybe it is because I've found these owlets more as juveniles, but really, all they want to do is roost; none of the playfulness I saw last year. They are still cute though....look at the fluffy tummy!

Dad happened to be right out in the open yesterday.

Kim, who I mentioned in the first paragraph, is a bird nut too, so while we were chatting, the subject came up about another street where there were possibly some large birds, as both of us abide by the birders mantra...follow the poop. We'd both seen the evidence but not bird.  Anyway, she was on foot, so I took off on my bicycle to once again scan the area where I'd seen quite a lot of droppings. Lo and behold,  this time was the charm...a hawk's nest! Seeing movement only, I wasn't sure at first until the hawk flew in to drop off some food. The hawklets, really, I don't know what you call them, but that sounds good, are not visible in the slightest, however, after I saw the described action, I rode back over to present the news to Kim. She then got on her bike, and met me there. Well, that was fun. We attracted the attention of a woman with a stroller, and we all stared upwards, as the smaller birds harassed the hawk above our heads. There is not merely screeching, there is actual flying into the hawk, who was not easily perturbed. By now the sun was smack dab in our face, plus my neck hurt, plus, I was supposed to be exercising, so I took off, riding up one street after another, then doubling back, and I ended up back at the nest when I saw this happen.

Now, if only I could find the Swallowtail nest...

My garden is making me happy. The salvias I dug up along Pershing have returned, the purple flowers are from last year, only now just perking up, and those Snapdragons..oh my!

I was so hoping this one would have been better, because it is not often I see a bumblebee coated with pollen. Flying in and out of the blooms, it was neat to watch nature in action.

While on the subject of pollen, here's one, not from my garden, and actually I don't know the folks, but when I'm driving along Bumby, I generally stop, even when the light is horrible, as is the case here.

Imagine if I were good at macro...those tiny bits of pollen would be huge!

Woo hoo....Mr. Peck returns this evening, if only for three days. Be still my heart.

yours truly,

Gail

p.s. Kudos to Bev, who actually clicked on one of the links in my last post. She was aghast at the Julia Pastrana story, as you would have been too had you done the same. And maybe you did....

On the First Day of May, it Rained

Barely anything, but we'll take what we can get! It was so noteworthy, it deserved a photograph, after the entire month of April with barely a drop. Currently we are eight inches below normal rainfall!

We will take what we can get at this point. Then again, what choice do we have? Allegedly, we are meant to have rain overnight, so if that happens, I will be sure to let you know. All over town entire lawns have turned a nasty shade of brown, something you would never expect to see in Florida at most any time of the year, let alone Spring. Maybe if we have a hard freeze, rare, but it happens. Our yard is still green, but there were areas that were turning brown, so Mrs. Camera Crazy checked her sprinkler system during the daytime. Yup, the areas that were showing the stress of this dry spell were not getting enough water because the heads were leaking. Probably not to be unexpected due to age, but it was a revelation to the both of us. Thus we spent many hours on Saturday replacing quite a few of the heads. Perhaps I should clarify that...Bruce dug the holes and replaced the heads, while I kept walking back and forth, back and forth, to turn the system on and off, in order to check for leaks and the arc of the spray. Wouldn't it be wonderful if all of that were unnecessary, and it would begin to rain regularly?

Friday night we went on a date to Earls, because I both love it, and too wanted to spend some one on one time with Bruce before he left again today. It is so exciting to see the business pick up,

and win awards, as in Best Overall Restaurant from the Foodie Awards in the Sentinel and now this.  If only people knew the blood, sweat, and tears that it took to get it looking like this! I am SO proud of my husband for steering this ship to shore. Oh my! The kitchen is so big and beautiful too. And the people who work there are awesome!

One of the wonderful thing about Earl's is the ability for people to move up in the company. Kevin, one of the managers, well the lowest on the rung actually, interviewed for a higher position at the Legacy West property Bruce is in the midst of building, and he got it! Amazingly, the president of Earls, Mo, began working for the company as a prep cook! That's really something, isn't it?

Just as we were getting up to leave, a man walked over to greet Bruce. Roy, one of Bruce's carpenter apprentices all those years ago is now the head building official for the City of Orlando. They chatted for a few moments while I met his date. While walking to the car I suggested to Bruce that I wanted to get a photo of he and Roy, so we turned around and walked back to their table. He was just so thrilled because as his date revealed to me during our chat, he really hoped we'd have a seat and chat. Introducing Bruce as his mentor, I, of course, was beaming with pride.

I am also, somewhat, beaming with pride over my flowers....good grief these bargain ones from WalMart are growing like gangbusters, in spite of the HEAT and lack of rain.

I love to rescue the 1/2 price flowers and see what happens.

Sunday evening Irene had a dinner party and there are no words to describe how delicious everything was, beginning with these mini quiches. Well, if MINI is in the name, it has to be good, right?

Having moved here from Portland last summer, it has been a pretty big adjustment for her, probably because she is used to big cities, having lived for many years in New York city, and also she was accustomed to very little sunshine which we've had in spades this year.  Metro Orlando may have a big population, but it is still a small city at heart. Everywhere you look in her new home there are amazing things to see from her extensive travels around the world.

Her baking skills are legendary, and this cake proved it once and for all. Well, pretty much everything she does is exceptional.

Please note the circle cut in the middle of the cake...apparently an Eastern European tradition. :)

Mr. Peck left early for Dallas, and Mrs. Peck decided to get up as well, and then she began quilting, and quilting, and quilting. 140 lines X 90 inches takes a long time to sew. I have no idea what prompted me to do this, but when I began the quilting last Friday, I started listening to episodes of This American Life, a radio program I love, but rarely take time to listen to. I listened to an episode about a car dealership in Levitt Town, NY trying to meet their monthly goals, a story about patents, and another truly amazing one called Dr. Gilmer and Mr. Hyde, all of which were astonishing but that last one...yikes! From there I went on to listen to one about a New York state rest stop, and then today I listened to this one, which led me to listen to about three episodes of Beautiful Anonymous.  I'd never heard of BA before, but wow, what a concept.

Finally, near the end of the episode where Chris Gethard talks to a couple about their "swingers" lifestyle, I finished. It was 5:30 in the afternoon. So, yes, it takes a very long time to do this kind of quilting. Should you have time on your hands, I highly recommend listening to both programs.

And now, my friends, I am heading to bed with what seems to be a terrific novel, Setting Free The Kites, described here as genial, and so far I cannot disagree. Having just finished, Orphans of the Carnival, a fictionalized description of Julia Pastrana's life, I needed this. If ever there were a link I insist you click on, the Julia one is it. Absolutely mind blowing!  Writing this reminded me that I also listened to an TAL episode about amusement parks that was so good.

yours truly,

Gail

p.s. How did I neglect to post a bird photo? The Swallow Tail Kite was nowhere in sight this morning, however, I did see Mama Owl and her babies, who were once again, hard to photograph. There was a bit of a breeze at 7 this morning, and I did love how Mama's feathers were a bit ruffled.

I must admit I am approaching them with a wee bit more caution after that attack described in my last post.