Doing All That We Can

Oftentimes, once I know the route we are taking, I will read aloud from the iPad. Sometimes, merely facts or trivia that interests us, and other times it is full articles. While searching for tent info, I came upon the Popular Mechanics website, read up on the tents and perused other articles. In particular one caught my eye, however, the actual reading of said article had to wait for the drive home. What, pray tell, was the article about? Cremation. Yup, a very long article that I'm including as a link in case you are interested in what happens during cremation. Maybe not the cheeriest subject, but definitely one that most everyone will have to face sooner or later. Most astonishingly to me were the statistics of how fast the industry has grown.

Which brings me to today's title....

Rarely do I mention it, but darn I'm still sad about Carol's death eight months ago. That event is the inspiration for my newest life motto.....do all that you can, while you can. Thus, hopping in the car for a day trip or longer is something I'm keen to do any day of the week. Of course it keeps me from my blogging, but that's okay too. I can always catch up using my photo library and that's what I'm doing in this post.

Since last we met, we've purchased a new bike rack, as well as a new kayak rack for Bruce's car, which is working beautifully following the major repair. The previous rack he had was just too difficult to load anymore, but the new one, well, it works like magic! Here's something crazy....the way Bruce became aware of it was while watching some YouTube videos on kayak loading. Well, if you've ever watched, you will understand, one video runs into the next. Thus, one came up for a product from a company called Malone and, well the rest is history.

It was only a shame he did not use it over the weekend when he went camping with some guys from church. Woo hoo! He did get to use the new quilt!

On the home front I cut out hundreds of pieces for a new scrappy quilt, mostly in blues. At the same time I listened to a radio broadcast of the FSU football game which resulted in a win. Not just a win, but better all around play making me very happy. It's been some time since I listened, rather than watched, and I'd forgotten how enjoyable it is.

I put them together in pairs to sew together, and then those are sewn together, and so on, until you have a quilt.

I'm ashamed to admit that although I gave my big scrappy quilt to the Hurricane Dorian relief, I've missed it, so am beginning anew. Speaking of the Bahamas, following the church service I joined others to fill bags of food to send there.

I was actually the rice person in front of the gray tub but asked my fellow workers if I could shoot a few photos quickly. There were three lines of folks all doing the same...rice, lentils, dehydrated vegetables, and salt went into the bags which were then vacuum sealed further down the table.

Even the younger children helped.

By the time we were done, we packed 12,000 meals. (only some boxes are pictured)

The columns and steps are done and look super good, just in time for a wedding this past Saturday.  I only wish Bruce had been at church instead of in the Seminole State Forest when he was publicly thanked for the project. Of course, had he been there he might just have blushed because he is so humble. I'm the one always bragging on him. :)

Moving onto to some cool things I've seen of late, this one tops the list. While the fellow was demonstrating how to use the new bicycle rack at Orange Cycle, it was hard not to notice this fantastic piece of street art across the street. Isn't it so neat?

The Wood Stork returned for a day,

as did the otter who ran along the shoreline right out back!

Another lovely sunrise, and the good news that we've had a little cold front come through!

Today is the first day that I've had on long pants since who knows when? Yesterday was not chilly in the slightest, but it was less humid and the temperature rose only to 84 degrees signalling progress.

Monday, after doing errands a good part of the day, we finished the day by deciding to visit Lake Griffin State Park just north of Leesburg in the morning. We'd planned to go there a few weeks ago, changing our plans at the last minute to head to Ocala instead. Driving north on 441, our first stop was a drive through at a former trailer/RV park that is becoming a space for tiny homes. Wow, there were some very cute ones there, quite a few more than the last time we explored the sight. That said, this set up was pretty darn cute and I suppose an original tiny home before the notion became so cool. These folks take their retro vibe seriously.

The park is a little more than 50 miles away, taking far longer to get there than we anticipated, mostly because nearly all of those 50 miles are through developed communities. Sitting right on 441, you make a right hand turn into the park and are almost immediately transported to another world.

Unlike some park where Pine trees are plentiful, here there are Live Oak trees, and plenty of them. As well, there is a river that flows out to Lake Griffin, one of the lakes on the Harris chain of lakes. Lake County bears that name because there are MASSIVE lakes seemingly everywhere. In a first for Bruce, there was a chute like space to launch your boat.

And off he goes!

I entertained myself with a walk in the woods,

where I saw the usual type vegetation, as well as a few interesting mushrooms.

Additionally, I finished a novel and chatted with the British family sharing the park with me. From Northern England, they had spent time in Orlando before heading to a more peaceful location of our region. One other thing I did was visit the "big tree", the parks claim to fame. How big is the tree? HUGE.

When Bruce returned we had a picnic lunch and before heading home I showed Bruce the "tree" that claims to be the second largest Live Oak in Florida. Where is #1 you ask?  Near Gainesville is where. I had him take my photo in front of the tree to give you a notion of how gigantic it is.

Although I looked and looked, I could not find the actual dimensions, but believe you me, there are eight connected trunks and a canopy that seems to go on forever!

Heading back home, we discussed how grateful we are that we could have a leisurely day together, unlike most of our life when Bruce worked, and worked, and worked. And of course, I read aloud the cremation article.....

Doing all that we can, while we can.

your friend,

Gail

Orlando Wetlands and More

Me on top of a hill.

Yup, I am just a dot in the landscape of the Orlando Wetlands Park, a huge area where they clean the waste water for a large part of our area, before flowing downstream into the St. Johns River. We went about two weeks ago, however other stuff took precedent in this space. Not that it is not interesting, but other places and things were more so. This visit, a woman immediately saw us as we exited the car, asking if we would like to take a guided tour? Sure, why not? Our guide was a retired electrician, knowledgeable and congenial as well. We rode around in a golf cart as he explained the cleansing process and occasionally what type of bird we were seeing. Sometimes this is a bird mecca, however, on this day, my most exciting sighting was a small flock of Roseate Spoonbills that were almost too far away to capture with my zoom lens.

Pretty small aren't they? Nonetheless I was excited to see them. It was a gray and slightly chilly day for us, so perhaps I'm not showing it off in the best light, however you take the cards you are dealt.

The water is very shallow, as I recall, only about six inches deep, enough so that there are hundreds of alligators living there. As for us, we saw only a few, yet on another occasion when we were walking, we saw quite a few up close and personal. The remains of previous hurricanes are evident throughout.

Loads of vultures, a bird I'm not so fond of, and one measly hawk that flew off as I was shooting.

I was hoping to see more, but it was not meant to be. Nearby, the Cypress trees are beginning to turn, and there are a few Wood Ducks around. 

Although I saw about eight on our lake a week or so ago, at the moment they have sadly disappeared. Some days though, we are having killer sunrises, making up for the absence of my favorite ducks.

Spectacular, right? The above was taken last week when sunrise was nearly 7:30 in the morning and now here we are a week later and it is at 6:30 or so. I've read there are folks working to get rid of Daylight Savings time; do you suppose they will succeed?

One day last week Fallon came with me to see Maureen who, btw, is mostly unchanged. Following our visit, we had lunch at a new "plant curious" restaurant, oddly named Hungry Pants. Super cute decor, and to tie into the name thing, well, there are framed pants on the walls.

By far my favorite part of the restaurant is the blush pink floor. Brilliant look.

Sunday afternoon we went out to DeBary to visit with the other local Pecks, well, the older version, not to be confused with our boys. Michele came down for a quick visit from St. Paul, MN, enjoying the warmer weather before the extreme cold kicks in. 

Bob and Judy's kids:

Judy and Cris live on the St. Johns River amongst the moss covered cypress trees and have a lovely view from their dock.

Not to mention the incredible number of these birds--I counted fifteen of these beauties!

Twice daily she feeds the Sandhill Cranes, as well as, seasonally, turkeys.

I cannot believe I've seen wild turkeys twice in the last week. Crazy indeed.

It was super great to see both the older adults, as well as our nieces who are close in age to our boys. Part of our conversation was about the sad state of Florida State football following a crushing loss to Miami on Saturday afternoon. As we were getting on the interstate to go home, Judy sent me a text with the news that the coach was fired. I'll keep you posted regarding this saga in the coming months, not really because you care, but in the next few years when I look back on this time, well, I'll know.

Despite this man's sign, King Buddy as he calls him has just won his fifth term as Orlando's Mayor.

Lastly, Halloween was a bust around here with Bruce patiently waiting for kids that never came.

And of course that means we now have to eat the candy, as you do.

your friend,

Gail

Let's Catch Up

The days keep flying by, one day running into the next, and don't get me started on the months. How can I be writing my first November post already? Seems like only yesterday it was May....

Of course, the weather has felt as if it were the start of Greater Summer rather than the early days of Lesser Summer, terms I made up for our intense Florida weather. Yes, it has still reached the 90's, and frankly, we are just plain sick and tired of it. Yesterday morning, to the best of my knowledge, was the first day we began in the high 60's, but it is a welcome start. Right about now I wonder if I will ever open my windows again....

Rather than be outdoors this last week, aside from a field trip that I will tell you about shortly, I spent a lot of time working on the camping quilt.

Moving some furniture, the area was just large enough to lay it out for pinning, my least favorite part of the process as I have to get on my hands and knees to do so, something that is not all that fun at my age. Nevertheless, it has to be done before the quilting was ongoing at the dining table which proved to be a marvelous space for the task. Gives you an idea how large it is.

In order to get it in the throat of the machine, it has to be rolled up as you see in the foreground. I nearly gave up with the cross hatching, thinking it was probably good enough. Bruce convinced me otherwise.

That's the estate state fabric above which was great for hiding any errors. Plus, I bought no new fabric for this quilt, a huge positive. The binding, well, it had to be scrappy to match the quilt.

I am now nearing the finish line, having attached the binding, as well as ironed it this morning and now for the hand stitching. Won't be too long now!

We've had some birds. Surprised? I was super delighted when this Wood Stork joined the Great Egret and Little Blue Heron for some fishing.

Rarely have I seen a Wood Stork on our lake, and although it has a pretty darn ugly head, it looks graceful while flying with their pretty black fringed wings.

I can't remember what I was texting Matt about, but as we were communicating a large flock of Ibis arrived, some brown ones in the mix. I wonder why they are brown.

In some very exciting news, I bought a new bird feeder. So what? And why did I do so? Our former feeder had some cracks near the bottom allowing moisture to spoil the seed, and although I could replace the tube portion for about $30, I decided to get a smaller one and see what happened. This new one from Droll Yankee has been hanging for some days without activity. Yesterday evening I thought I saw a few seeds on the porch--an excellent sign. WELL, this afternoon as we were eating lunch in the kitchen, one bird came, and then another, and then another!!! One bird, pictured below, is cute and fast. The picture is mediocre, taken through the bedroom window screen.

Ages ago Matt told me about a bird app called Merlin, free for the downloading. Not as tech savvy as I should be, procrastination was the name of my game, that is until Bill was over the other day and did it for me. Looks like a Black Capped Chickadee to me, however, upon checking the app I learned it is a Carolina Chickadee, undistinguishable from the former except for range and call. A cute Carolina Wren and some Titmouse joined the party. We love it!

And now for the field trip...

The baby car got some highway mileage! Because Bruce's car was still in the shop getting the new transmission (!), I drove, a big step for me. Seems as if my year long absence from behind the wheel has made me timid, something that has really surprised me as I used to travel to all sorts of places around the state alone. Anyway, the worst that could happen is that we would change seats if I got weird, but I did not, and it was fun, traveling again to Ocala in search of the perfect place to camp. Not so sure that we found it, however we did see some lovely sights. Plus, I drove at least ten miles through the heart of the forest on a mildly hilly road which was super fun in the MINI Cooper. There is a reason people say it drives like a go cart!

Our first stop was Alexander Springs where the campground was nice with reservations.

The large spring was mostly deserted when we arrived although others soon came as I mentioned it was nearly 90 degrees already. The springs lead out to the river on one end.

Unfortunately the trail into the forest around the spring was closed for repairs, the date of completion, according to one of the workers, is undetermined. What we've learned is that the management of these forest lands has been outsourced by the government, for better or worse.

Back on the road, our next stop was Silver Glen, by far the prettiest springs of our tour. Instead of paying the $12 to tour around this time, the nice worker allowed us a twenty minute pass to see what we could see.

With a huge swimming area, if you are brave enough to get in the year round constant 72 degree water, this place is wonderful. So beautiful that as it dumps into Lake George, large houseboats gather, as do Vultures.

Sadly there is no campground at this beautiful place. Back on SR 19 we drove north to Salt Springs, the only campground in the forest that has what is called, full hookups, meant mostly for RVs, if it is hot, as is so often the case, having electricity for running a fan makes the camping experience much better. But you knew that already, didn't you? We checked out both the full hook up, and primitive campsites, deeming the latter to our liking because there was such great tree cover. We will just have to go when it is cooler. From the campground we walked down to the spring.

Another huge swimming area with a handful of hearty souls enjoying the crystal clear water where you can plainly watch the swimming fish.

Not the turquoise color of Silver Glen, it lovely just the same.

For those unfamiliar with Florida landscapes, the moss hanging from the trees is ubiquitous, and fortunately harmless. So crazy to think that it was once used to stuff car seats and mattresses. And how fun was it to see a flock of wild turkeys roaming around?

Leaving Salt Springs, we took the previously mentioned awesome road straight down through the forest, seeing maybe two cars on the road for ten miles, a real feat anywhere in Florida now that we have more than 21 million people living in the state. Our destination was Juniper Springs, and another look-see at the campground. One loop we liked, one we didn't, and one we sort of did except for highway noise which is not ideal. See what I mean? The real reason we are doing these day trips is to find out this sort of thing before we actually set up our tent. We've visited before because I clearly remember the  mill,

but had no recollection of the collection of floats meant to be used on the Juniper Springs run, a seven mile float.

Yet another campground built by the CCC, there is limestone around the major spring head which I tried to photograph, clearly not that well. Super cool in person watching the water bubble up out of the ground.

Off and on for the last several weeks we've been watching the fantastic Ken Burn's documentary, The Roosevelts, which I cannot recommend enough. Clearly my knowledge was sorely lacking on the impact that both Roosevelt presidents made on America, not to mention the good work done by Eleanor Roosevelt, Teddy's niece. Thinking back to our visit to Mt. Rushmore on our way home from Canada, I am not surprised that TR was immortalized in stone.

We have him to thank for beginning the National Parks among many, many more accomplishments. They left such a legacy around our country it is hard to imagine that ever happening again. Then again, I'm an optimist so I'll choose to think positive instead! (I can hear your groans already!)

your friend,

Gail

p.s. the car was fixed Friday afternoon.

p.p.s. the trip was 175 miles round trip