Water Colors

This morning I've been fooling around with water, color, and light in that order. I'm showing you a few of the experiments to see what you think.


I forgot to tell you that on Friday we were gone from the house from 8 till 3:30 in the afternoon. Normally, as soon as we pull up, little Baxter is waiting by the door. Not so on Friday. I'd dropped Bruce off at his office, a good thing because you know him, he would have freaked at what happened next. (Remember dogs are mans best friend) I came in thinking he was just getting lazy, but calling his name did not produce said little Yorkie. I started searching the house, went out back, and even into the garage thinking possibly we'd shut him out. I did not panic, but I must admit I was a tiny bit worried. Eventually (really like a few minutes later) I opened our bedroom closet door and out bounds Mr. Baxter jumping with joy to see me. Whew!

Here's a little something from the Times which a few of us can relate to: Sad,but True

I've never been much of a waiter, consequently I'm not much of a planner because then I have to wait. I don't know how Michelle and David (mostly Michelle) have waited all year for the wedding because if it were me I would have gone crazy by now. I digress, this blog is about me, not them! What I'm waiting for today is Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The first show of the season begins on Saturday, but we'll be setting up for it on Friday afternoon because we can put our car right in front of our area and not have to cart things in. Unfortunately there is some rain in the forecast, however let's believe that the weather folks will be wrong on that score. Who knows how I will do, but we'll find out won't we?

Yesterday after the museum I met with a lovely young woman who contacted me through Facebook. She is a long time friend of Matt whom I've not seen in more than ten years what with Matt globe trotting and all. The scoop is this: she owns a darling boutique in Winter Park and wondered if I would provide art for the space for at least a month. I brought in samples and sent her a web album to choose what she would feel good about hanging in her store. Here's a link to her store: Ginger Don't you just love the name? I can't wait to tell Maureen because she loves all things ginger.

Here's my dilemma--the opening for Ginger is the same night as the opening for the show I'm in at City Arts Factory, a happening gallery downtown. I'm thinking I'll go with the Ginger option at this point. I've not discussed this yet with anyone, but if you've got a vote let me know. I will tell you that they hang a large piece right in their window to the street amongst the clothing which is pretty exciting for me. Naturally you'll be kept up to date on what happens next....

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Listening to: Black Grape - In The Name Of The Father
via FoxyTunes

Black Monday

To combat the darkness of the financial news I'm posting a picture from The Villages, a planned community about an hour north of Orlando where Bruce is building not only a Red Lobster, but an Olive Garden as well. When Sarah Palin visited Florida it was right near hear that thousands gathered in the sweltering heat to hear her. Of course, that was before her interviews when people were still cheering....

On Friday I went with Bruce to Vero Beach to check on a parking lot problem. Because he'd driven around 700 miles last week I drove him so he could at least only singletask rather than his usual multi. His Blackberry never seems to quit. This way during the hour and a half drive he could handle his calls and e-mails with me doing the motoring. If you've never been exposed to MINI lingo, that is what they call driving. As well, when you drive a MINI it is understood that you automatically wave at your fellow MINI drivers. The non-compliance of some drivers used to exasperate Jonathan to no end. He thought, where is their sense of unity???

Happily the Seminoles won on Saturday and the Gators lost--a perfect day; it probably won't happen again anytime soon, so I'm reveling in it while I can. Ironically while we were driving to the Villages on Saturday loads of people heading to the Gator game were sharing the highway. I'm sure their drive home was not nearly as cheerful as the drive up to Gainesville.

Rain again just as we were getting home from the market yesterday with the tent getting wet. Fortunately it waited until after we were packed up. The lovely weather from earlier in the week vanished by Sunday with the humidity getting serious in the afternoon. I was delighted when two folks who said they would come by to purchase showed up.

While looking for David's birth certificate late this afternoon I came across lots of memorabilia including the receipt for my original wedding ring. The total cost--$468 which in 1973 felt like a lot of money. I found something I'd written about the birth of the twins describing the experience as thrilling. I wrote that I was so happy to go home from the hospital and see my darling Mattie. Another funny thing was a letter signed-- your loving son, Bill. Sounds sweet huh? Unfortunately there was no date, but in it he apologized for disappointing me academically (that went on for a while I can tell you that!), explaining he would try harder in the new nine weeks. The real reason for the letter was asking me to type his report! He knew I was easily seduced by words. Once he got over his teenage years he was once again a model student thank goodness.

Yet another find found in the twins baby book. Fashions, fads, and crises of the day--patterned hose and skinny jeans, disco dancing to the BeeGees, roller skating, and the unheard of price of gasoline--$1/gallon.

Which leads me to the title..yes it is terrible right now. Will it stay this way forever? Of course not. How long it will last is anybodies guess, but here's hoping recovery starts sooner, rather than later. The bad news for my boys today--Wachovia was sold (Bill), what it means we don't know at this point. Then there is the 777 point plunge in the stock market. David tells me he is pretty well immune at this point. I'm doing my best not to worry about the twins although I have to admit it isn't easy.

The Windows Were Open

On Sunday Roger brought my huge order to the market and amongst the prints was one of this angel from a cemetery in Winter Park. Remember how our market managers soon to be daughter in law was killed in an automobile accident on Memorial Day? Well, the mother of the girl is naturally still in a lot of pain. Currently she's obsessed with angels and when Dana saw the print she freaked out saying how she'd love to have one to give to her. This is one of the only angel statues I'm familiar with around here; I hope it makes her a tiny bit happier.

Oh yes, we were talking about the order. I spent nearly seven hours today readying the prints; I finished around 6 this evening. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that anyone wants them, but truthfully it is a bit laborious between the stickers that go on the bags, sealing the bags, and signing them all. Customers often don't realize how much goes into just one of the prints. As you well know, I price them reasonably, maybe too reasonably for the effort. Thankfully I do not have to make a living off this venture!

While doing the mindless part of the process I called Lisa for an update on Danny. Half of the staples came out today after a harrowing experience last night. Suffice it to say that the doctor proclaimed the healing is going well. Continuing their run on problems, their refrigerator broke last night, a creature has died in their attic (Danny, of course, is in no shape to investigate), and fleas have sprung up in their bedroom. Things can always be worse, but seems to me they could use a break right about now.

Yes, the windows were open today. In fact, you could not have ordered a more perfect day if you wanted to. The humidity was low, a gentle breeze blew causing the curtains to flutter just a bit, and the temperature hovered in the early 80's. Not a cloud in the blue, blue sky. Normally Baxter is not much of a walker, but even his step was livelier today. Tomorrow's forecast is much the same. I've also noticed how the days are shortening at what seems to be a rapid pace. Because I am a lucky girl and don't have to use an alarm clock, I often sleep till around sunrise. This morning I heard Mr. Baxter yelping just a bit in the gray light of dawn which these days is after 7. Coming to, I thought, do I hear a lawnmower? Are the lawn guys here already? Indeed they were. Spending nearly two hours the three workers continue the beautification of our lawn. Before long we'll be the envy of the neighborhood.

Bruce nearly missed his flight but just as the doors were about to close they let him on continuing his streak of never missing a flight in 16 years of traveling. A traffic jam nearly caused the breaking of his unblemished record. He's in the air as I type. A problem with the parking lot, one that just won't go away, necessitates an unexpected trip to Vero Beach tomorrow. I'm going to tag along, maybe even driving him if he'll agree. He's had a hard week per usual.

Five years ago today, with Baxter just a puppy, I gave a birthday party for our mom. It hardly seems possible.

A smart piece from the NYTimes:
Anyone for Realism?

BOGO

Did I get your attention with that title? Our beloved Publix Supermarket used it in their ad today to sound modern I 'spose. Can you guess what it means? With all the smarties reading this I'm sure you can; just in case you need a little help...Buy One, Get One. Everyone is wanting to seem like they are helping the consumer and the truth of the matter is that Publix does a very good job with that. In my former life as a inveterate shopper I was grateful that often the items on sale were the ordinary groceries I used anyway; unlike other stores that use a sale to get you to buy stuff you don't need! Although Matt didn't use a lot of groceries he desperately missed shopping at Publix after moving to Chicago. I imagine Amanda feels about the same way right about now.

Before I go any further, today's picture is of the little umbrella, if you will, over the intriguing black bat flower. Doesn't it look kinda like corduroy?

Yesterday's lunch with Mary and Rachel was delicious. Rachel, as I may have mentioned, is in photography school-- I was getting all the scoop on what she is learning. If it is possible, she knows less than I do about the technicalities of taking photographs, her professors are trying to change all that. The toll house cookies were especially good with yours truly taking home a little plate of them. I'm not much of a dessert girl except for cookies which I adore. When Matt was a baby for some reason I lost a bunch of weight and was down to 97 pounds. We moved to California for a year due to the dreadful job market in Orlando. There were loads of things I didn't like about that time including the weather, loneliness, and raising a challenging one year old. To combat some of that misery I made cookies all the time managing to gain 17 pounds!!! Not only did I make the aforementioned chocolate chip cookies, but a divine coconut cookie, oatmeal, peanut butter, and snickerdoodles. One of our favorites to this day is a lovely little drop sugar cookie which I make nearly every Christmas, decorating them with green or red sugar. Little did I know that at the end of that year a twin pregnancy awaited me. I was so sick throughout those nine months that I was lucky to gain the 30 pounds I did. A little side trip down memory lane, forgive me.

Bruce called from Maine last night reporting frost already. During our morning chat he described the changing leaves in Massachusetts on his way to Connecticut. The maples are blazing with color.

Exciting photography news! Listening to the answering machine upon my arrival yesterday afternoon, I was delighted to get one from a woman who saw me at the market last month and wanted to buy something. My call was too late to reach her then, however she called back today and the framed photo is already on the way to Boca Raton. Hurrah! I neglected to mention that a similar call was on the machine on Sunday, a repeat customer. Seriously, I give out my business card like nobodies business and rarely does it yield anything, so I'm super excited about this.

A trip to the produce market today yielded a glorious display of colorful vegetables, as well as the most beautiful raspberries. The wonderful food blog I mentioned a few weeks ago inspired me to buy the on sale leeks. I'm going to try out Terrie's recipe for leek and potato soup; her images are so mouth watering, I can't wait to try the real thing!

I don't know about you but I'm getting pollsters calling all the time of late. I mostly just let the phone ring. You should hear our little Baxter, he makes the funniest noise while the ringing continues. I've made the mistake of answering a few times--man is it hard to get rid of them.

The time has come for me to tackle the stacked prints on the dining table, a chore I'm not too excited about...
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Listening to: Nada Surf - Imaginary Friends
via FoxyTunes

It's That Time Again

To catch up on things.

A few days ago I tried a clock project around the house. We have a wide varitey of clocks, most of which have some variation of the current time. I thought it would be fun to make a mosaic with all the different clocks, and times, however I couldn't make it work with flickr toys. I'm showing you one of my favorites; a gift from Matt many years ago from an antique shop. The cord is very yellow with age and the plug is unlike those we see today with a cute little rectangle head. Not only does it keep perfect time, it has a sweeping second hand and a lovely patina.

So where were we....oh yes, we were going out for a date on Friday evening. We met Connie and Jeff at CityFish, or I should say they came downtown to meet us, albeit too late for me. I went into the restaurant from our sidewalk location only to hear the familiar refrain--"Hey Mom"; who should be sitting in a booth, but David and company. Orlando is a small world after all.

As the evening progressed yours truly had the familiar pain creep up on her and by the time we got home I was a miserable lady. Saturday was pretty much a wash out--I spent most of the day laying on the couch. The new television got some use with me switching between college football games. Two were especially painful to watch--Florida vs. Tennessee because Florida won so easily, and Florida State's dreadful performance vs. Wake Forest. Sad, sad, sad.

Several people have now seen the dress, and while all agree it is spectacular, they likewise agree that I need some sort of wrap or short jacket. That will be the deal breaker, whether or not I find something complimentary. The search will be on.

Danny's surgery was successful; discharge was on Friday with a painful week ahead to endure.

Roger delivered my largest order to date. I was a bit anxious that no one will have any money to buy them in this dreadful economic time period, but proving once again that you never know what will happen, I sold two canvases on Sunday. The good thing about the market Sunday was that the sales came early so I didn't have to wait anxiously for something to happen, the bad part is that a rainstorm swooped in unexpectedly with drenching rain. Fortunately Bruce arrived 15 minutes before it began, so between the two of us we kept things as dry as possible. Having several thousand dollars worth of merchandise in an open tent during a torrential downpour is not my idea of fun.

Although I still wasn't up to par I needed to do the market, if only to get out. Between the days activity and the rainstorm, I was worn out, climbing into bed, or I should say dragging into bed, and fast asleep by 8:30. I didn't wake until 6:30 Monday morning. I'm still not perfect, but I'm forcing myself to keep moving.

Which leads me to today. Duty at the museum followed by lunch at Mary's house. I'm delivering some notecards, as well as bringing Rachel my September issue of Vogue. Rachel is 20 years old with a gift and passion for fashion photography. The September issue is always filled with the latest trends in both fashion and photography. One thing I particularly noticed was how many ads were out of focus. Lots of blur action.

I suspect that should just about fill my day.


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Listening to: Coldplay - Clocks
via FoxyTunes

Let's Pretend it is Fall

That's what I did last night with the dinner I cooked for Mr. Bruce last night when he finally arrived home after a harrowing week. Several of the restaurants he has going are re-models with the contractor starting after the restaurant closes. As such he sometimes stays way late resulting in two twenty hour days this week if you can imagine. I told you he was working entirely too hard. Blame it on the economy; many employers are asking employees to do more than is realistic.

Anyway I cooked some pork spare ribs with sauerkraut and potatoes with sauteed apples on the side. It was way delicious. Actually it only got into the 80's today which gives up hope it will cool off one of these days.

Because Bruce goes to New England in the fall every year he always brings back leaves--these are from last year but new ones should be arriving in the next few weeks. Driving through the Catskill Mountains in New York this week he said they haven't begun there yet, but they will...

I took the dress back to Macy's today and bought another one at Bloomingdales. I needed the sales girls help me zip it up (just the last little bit) and went outside the dressing room to find her. She did her thing, and two gay guys nearby started raving about the dress. Strangely enough a woman spoke up behind us saying she'd seen me from another department and wanted to come over to say how stunning the dress is. The only catch on this one is that it is a bandeau style which is problematic for several reasons--one, I've never worn one before and I imagine it might bug me keeping it up, secondly, I need some sort of wrap to cover myself which I'm unsure if I'll be able to find. Nevertheless when something fits me I snatch it up; whether I keep it is another story. I'm awaiting Bruce's comments.

So I see Apple has added a genius feature to iTunes. That word is thrown around a lot, but do you know the definition of a genius? I didn't at one time, but now I do. Years ago the elementary school suggested one of the boys take an IQ test. The results were relayed to me in a big conference with about seven people from the school attending--very intimidating I can tell you that much! Imagine being a youngish mother (am I keeping this mysterious enough so I won't embarrass my child?) hearing that your child is a genius, not really understanding what it meant and what we should do about it. Stunned, I went home to look up the definition in the dictionary--a person with an IQ over 140. To give you an idea what that means, schools usually teach to about an IQ around 100. Anyway we muddled our way through having a genius in the family, probably not doing enough, but the best we could.

Back to the genius feature--it appears it is sorta like when Amazon suggests that if I like a particular book then I'll probably like another. Using what I already have in my iTunes library it puts together play lists. We'll see what I think.

Speaking of books I told you the other day that sometimes I choose to ignore things if I don't want to know something--that's just what I did while finishing Middlesex. I knew it was crazy late but I just don't look at the clock; it was well worth it. Unlike The Virgin Suicides by the same author, this one gives you a bit of hope for a happy ending. I say that because although I did not read the latter book, I saw the movie and the ending is terribly bleak. I'm not usually into happy endings but the narrator in Middlesex deserved it. The title is genius--whoops, there goes that word again!
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Listening to: Belanova - Baila Mi Corazón
via FoxyTunes

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Listening to: LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum
via FoxyTunes

You Weren't Expecting a Donkey Were You?

I was up close and personal with this donkey today while visiting Lukas Garden Center's Butterfly Encounter this morning. Man was it hot in there; I'm not much of a sweater, but good grief it was sweltering. While driving somewhere with Bruce recently we heard the director of BE on the radio enthusiastically describing the wonders of their butterflies. Although it was good I'm thinking his enthusiasm was just a touch biased. Turns out there is a butterfly festival there this weekend and they were waiting on a shipment of two hundred new butterflies; they kindly gave me a free pass for another visit. I decided to drive out to Winter Springs this morning and scout out the location of the art festival that happens in two weeks and Lukas was nearby. Located in a tiny village named Slavia it is a huge nursery with thousands of plants, pots, and even a pasture with two cows and a donkey. I approached the fence and he/she came trotting right up to me. Kinda cute huh?

Prior to getting there I stumbled upon an area called Black Hammock; familiar only because our vendor neighbors (the orchid couple) are from there. I drove down a country road heading to Lake Jessup and saw this field with horses, cow birds, and in the distance a few wild turkeys.



Before leaving the house I checked Google Maps and the mileage listed was 32; I didn't follow their advice finding a route that clocked in at 21. With the MINI gas is not that huge a consideration, but in my head I always think of the adage "waste not, want not" when making decisions that involve money. Now we'll know the shortest route when the time comes to set up.

Speaking of money here's an article from the Times: Thomas Friedman Knows What To Do With the Economy

Bruce called telling me it was chilly in Pennsylvania and he better pack a jacket next week. Living with the Florida heat it is hard to imagine how chilly it becomes in September. From there he headed into New York staying at a casino hotel in Seneca, NY last night. He's not much of a gambler, but every now and then when the opportunity arises, he'll play the slot machines. Apparently he won $100, giving back $20. He left the house with cash, but needed the new infusion after giving a soldier in the Philadelphia airport money for the bus.

Danny's kidney surgery is scheduled for tomorrow; let's hope this is the last he'll have to face and the Spak household can get back to normal. It has been an extraordinarily bad year for them.

The dress I ordered for the wedding arrived today; I'm thinking it's not going to work.