Downtown Orlando

In spite of my sunny attitude, it rained yesterday. I'm not talking a little shower my friends, I'm talking hard rain for nearly an hour. What's more, it's a long story, but it took us longer than normal to set up, and less than four hours later, we were sadly, having to close down.

All the while Dana was guiding cars into their spaces for loading, which was making me a tad nervous due to the thunder and lightening. Fortunately, Mr. Bruce had the foresight to put a few rain walls up which kept everything relatively dry, mind you I said relatively! Actually we did fine, it just takes so darn long when it's raining. Before the deluge I took a few photos for the weekly album:

I'm not much of a mango fan, so I've no idea if they should have all this darkness on them, but it does add a little something to the photograph. The berries, who doesn't love berries and cherries?

And, of course, every week I'm loving the look of the peppers,

Mr. Bruce left way early this morning, like maybe 4:45? I woke briefly as he was saying goodbye, and then again soon thereafter. Looking at the clock it read, 5:15! Because I was awake anyway, I got up, briefly considered a day trip, and thought better of it. Instead, I did my now-normal morning routine, emptying the drainer while waiting on the kettle to boil for my morning tea. And, of course, my bike ride which I'm still thoroughly enjoying. I've just finished cleaning up all yesterday's mess after everything had a chance to dry out in the air conditioning.

Experience has taught me that selling something big and pricey at the market is pretty tough. Because I won't be doing any fall art shows, I decided to hang my big flower in the sun room which I'm thinking works pretty well.

Enough about the weekend. When last we met I wrote that this post would include a bit about downtown. Well, wait a minute, the market is downtown. Okay, that means we are on track!

Friday afternoon I dropped off my calendar submissions at City Hall. As I walked there from my parking spot on Rosalind Avenue, I got a closer look at a very exciting project, our new performing arts center, under construction. To make it all happen, the city bought a block of property which housed a fairly new building belonging to First United Methodist church. In turn, the FUM, built a new building across the street to make up for the one they lost.

Hard to tell it's even church-related. So, down goes the other building:

as shown from the Rosalind side, and here's a look from Magnolia:

You can see the new center going up on the right. It's the story of Orlando--something new torn down for something newer. While at City Hall, I had to go through the whole screening thing--making myself a badge, along with the x-ray screening, all of which took me way longer than my ride up the elevator to the sixth floor and my drop off! I'm not holding my breath over my entries.

Once on Orange Avenue, I saw the construction from this vantage point.

I know my friend Karen will loves those puffy clouds! Because I'm always practicing, I re-take many things I've done in the past. This one, a sculpture in front of the Orange County building, has always been one of Bruce's favorites:

And this one, the colorful sculptures of Dorothy Gillespie in the middle of a parking garage, has always been one of mine:

I hope I haven't overloaded you with pictures today. I'm well aware that blogs are no longer so cool, facebook is losing steam, while the brevity of Twitter is where it's at. That said, although I try my darnedest to keep it short, it's pretty much impossible on most days!

Finally, here is a super cool new tool from Sherwin Williams, called, Let's Chip It! Click on the link and you'll see an image I uploaded, which through some sort of computer magic, turned into a paint color palette! Recently I overheard some folks saying that choosing wall paint colors was the absolute hardest, so what seems like a nifty idea to me is, choose the art work, and then, just, Chip It!

Count Your Blessings

I'm thinking I might owe my readers an apology. Yep--I'm sorry if I've sounded like a whiner this week, which is not why you come to Camera Crazy--you want fun, you want photos, you want uplifting stories! And what did I write about? All my petty woes which couldn't have been any fun at all.

I remember a little Sunday School song we used to sing at Fort Gatlin which went something like this:

Count your blessings,

Count them one by one, 

Count your many blessings, 

See what God has done!

While working outside all morning today this song continued on repeat in my head. You see, I had another disappointment since my last post and I was all fired up to write about it, however,  once that song came into my head, I couldn't help but think of all my blessings. Briefly, I received a rejection letter from the Winter Park Autumn Art Festival, the only show I applied to for the fall. Can you believe they sent it at 5:00 on a Friday night?? Some of you may recall how successful the 2010 show was, followed by last year's monsoon the weekend of the show, so, naively I now know, I assumed my entry this year would be almost guaranteed, sort of a makeup for the ruined weekend. I guess not. 

I took this yesterday afternoon while downtown which I'll cover next week. At the time I was thinking of other folks facing a little bump in the road, but gosh darn it, it applies to me. 

So, I've decided to make lemonade with all this week's lemons:

I'm blessed to have a home that a frog might want to visit, after all, there are loads of folks who don't even have a home.

I'm blessed to have a husband who has a terrific job, despite the travel. After all, lots and lots of folks have no jobs. And then, there are women who have no husband at all. My bridge buddy, Bev, lost her husband to colon cancer several years ago. Now, that's pain.

I'm blessed to be able to apply to art shows! Good grief! What more can I say?

Travel, who needs travel when I have such a lovely space right here? Plus I am blessed that if I really, really wanted to go somewhere I have the necessary funds to make it happen. 

And just because the internet is out for most of a day (yesterday, or I would have written then), I'm blessed to even have it most of the time!


Commenters, who needs commenters? I know you are out there because my stats tell me so. I'm more than blessed to be able to write this blog. I realized just the other day, that when I was young, if you would have asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up, Lord knows, I would have never said, an x-ray tech. No siree, I would have said a writer. And here I am writing!

Just thought I'd throw in something pretty, pretty, pretty! There are so many great new varieties of hibiscus--my word I love those flowers. Are we all happy now? Good, because although last evening I was close to tears, I'm now over it. Well, sort of....

All the rain earlier in the week filled the pool to the brim, so yesterday afternoon, instead of draining it into the grass, Bruce and I took turns doing cannonballs, displacing as much water as we could. It was then I remembered a little something we did when we spent all summer long in the pool to stay cool without air conditioning.

For fun we would stand there,  swinging our arms around, skimming our hands on the water's surface, all the while splashing sisters. Lord knows, I've got plenty of them. For those unfamiliar with my family history, the number is four, which is what I somehow thought would turn into girls for us. NOT--four wonderful sons instead!

I actually took the above photo because I wanted to try out my new tripod which I did not buy, instead I found it in the parking lot of Colonial Photo and Hobby!

It's pretty heavy duty, unlike the one I already own and rarely use, mostly because I'm lazy. What happened is this: After discovering it, I took it inside the store, asking that if the rightful owner did not show up it would be mine. They promised to call. They did not. Stopping by on my way home from bridge, it was still unclaimed. I did have to buy a little connector for the top, which set me back $15, however, the tripod retails for $70 so, all in all, a pretty good find. 

A little picture of some of the many raindrops from this week, which is pretty normal for a Florida summer.

Getting into my car I noticed the drops, and decided to give that macro lens a go. The green is our grass on the other side of the window.

Guess what??? Our cardinals are at it again! According to this very interesting fact sheet about Northern Cardinals, they are right on schedule.

Instead of going to the market today Bruce and I worked like crazy cleaning up the outside, including, but not limited to, mowing, edging, power washing, trimming, and gutter cleaning. We are feeling both good, and tired, from our efforts. The weather cooperated nicely, as I'm sure it will tomorrow on market day. See that positive attitude? That's the spirit!

Jealousy

I'll admit it, I'm just a little, well maybe more than just a little, jealous of everyone going places while I'm still sitting here blogging. Bruce is in California for the week, Angela has gone to spend the month in Wickford Village, RI, and now Corrine comes over asking if I'll pick up their newspaper while they go to Las Vegas! As well, Matt and Tom just had their whirlwind tour of the East Coast, arriving home safely yesterday morning. I'm quite anxious to hear Tom's impressions of his first visit to New York City.

I could go somewhere, except for one tiny problem-our little Baxter. Normally I would have Angela watch him, but you can see that is not going to work. While driving yesterday afternoon, I heard this incredible story on All Things Considered about how many Europeans just leave their pets BEHIND for a month! Seriously, I could not believe my ears hearing how in France people think of pets as pretty much disposable--particularly when they get in the way of their vacations. As you know, I do not treat Baxter like a child, no clothes, no play dates, that sort of thing, but there is such a thing as common decency.

I left Sue out of the first paragraph, but she too is on her way to their second home in Montana. See, why I'm jealous? Sue lives nearby, although exactly where her house was I did not know until Sunday morning. Turns out, she was on the front porch reading the newspaper when I turned the corner onto her street, which as it happens, is behind the church we attended three times a week for years and years while the children were growing up. Sue is a collector AND a seller of vintage goods. That's why I saw her at Community Thrift--she combs the shelves for the whole, "one man's trash is another man's treasure" thing, finding items she knows her buyers will like. In fact, she goes there so often the cashiers know her by name. As we were checking out, after realizing we knew each other, my cashier picked up the pig, asking if Sue had seen it and wondered why she didn't buy it! I, on the other hand, was seriously jealous, there's that word again, of the garden cart Sue found before I did, with the astonishingly low price of $2.50! I did find, what I'm pretty sure are, some orange Carnival glass little dishes.

Two for $3.93. I told you they used weird prices. Who sells something with the price ending in three?
I need more little plates like a hole in my head, but, there's a little sentimental value going on with this purchase. In February of 2010 I wrote this post about the Carnival glass vase my mother-in-law willed to me. Now you understand.

While Sue was at the market visiting on Sunday she told me she was worried I'd put her house on my blog, because she too is on that slippery slope when it comes to outdoor decorations.

The early morning light had everything aglow! See, she does have a bunch, however, they all are useful!

There was a time when most of our life was lived on, or just off, of Lake Margaret Drive which Sue's street feeds off of. As I mentioned, we spent countless hours at what was then named, Fort Gatlin Alliance Church:

Situated on the corner of Lake Margaret and Bumby Avenue, much has changed since our days there, most notably it is now a Vietnamese Alliance Church! For about 25 years the brick planter housed a beautiful wooden sign Bruce made. It really was striking, and my goodness, it held up for such a long time.

The pastor's home was just on the other side of the church, across the parking lot, and a small pond, which used to have more water than this!

Surprising that it is so low, but the Great Blue Heron seemed to like it just fine. Surprising because we are getting some rain again. Matter of fact, yesterday morning I was all set to head to Nordstrom to begin my Christmas shopping when the rain came pouring down. So much so I couldn't leave the house for an hour! I'm talking three inches in that hour! From the look of the sky as I type, could be more coming today.

And then there was the Fort Gatlin Swim Club, also on Lake Margaret Drive. When the children were so very young, our finances were somewhat challenging. Never one to spend more than is prudent, we did not use our air conditioner for years. I know, sounds cruel, but you do what you have to do. Or, at least I do. Anyway, one day Bruce came home after seeing the club and thought perhaps we could keep cool in the summer there. And so we did. What a God send it was in more ways than one. These days it is now owned by Orange County and the pool area is hardly recognizable.

Back in those heady days there were three diving boards, including a high dive, and a huge slide which provided countless hours of fun for my boys.

Furthermore, the back of our house faced Lake Margaret. Then they built the Wal Mart at the corner of Lake Margaret and Semoran Blvd where we purchased the very new and exciting Nintendo with Mario Brothers. We were pretty much set for years, barely having to leave that road! And, because I took these photographs while on my bike ride, we still haven't gone very far.

As I typed that about the air conditioning it struck me that some would think I was mean back then. And, so too, my children might have agreed with that sentiment, however, with four boys to feed and clothe, spending money on being comfortable was not something I felt we could manage. My theory is that if children never experience any discomfort while young, as adults they will have a hard time adjusting to the harsh realities of life. In other words--You Can't Always Get What You Want!

Aha--a lesson for me. I may want to go on holiday somewhere, but hey, I've really got all that I need right here. Who could ask for more? Or should is probably more like it. :)

p.s. Only kidding about the comments on my toad misfortune!

You Asked For It!

Seriously, not one person felt my pain about the toad. Zero comments. My feelings are hurt. Let's give that story some perspective, shall we?

Okay, here we are in the kitchen/eating area. I am standing in the side doorway, which is the same wall that the fallen vase is on. Which means, awful toad was somehow on that shelf, and made its way to the foyer area, which is the blue wall you see with my black tote bag hanging on the door handle. Imagine if it had made its way into my bedroom!!!! Because no one was kind enough to console me, I'm showing you a roach. Yes, that's right, a cockroach, which I found, of all things, in the pool skimmer this morning.

Take that, non-commentors!!  You better believe that's the last time I leave the front door ajar in the evening, which is how I think the toad got in.

After my ride this morning I got to work on planting and trimming. The window boxes looked bedraggled and needed an infusion of happiness in the form of heat-withstanding pentas and lantanas. Or, so I hope.

You know when there is something that needs to be done for your own good, but you really don't want to do it? That's how I felt this morning. Thwack, thwack went the trimmers, lopping away every last one of my red blossoms on the spicy jatrophas.

It was painful in more ways than one. As I was chatting with Bill on the phone a few minutes ago, I noticed loads of scratches on my forearm. While trimming I saw a bit of blood, but it didn't hurt so I paid little attention to it. There's nothing to be done about it now, but still. I trimmed the plants back because they were covering up the windows, and that is not something I subscribe to. Whenever I see that at someone else's home, I always think to myself that those folks need to get to work!

When you do a remodel, obviously you spend a lot of time thinking about what will be the best for your space. Am I ever glad, despite the fact that my husband is a builder, that we've never built a house, because, believe you me, I'd have a hell of a time picking everything out. Furthermore, I'd spend the next, however many years, wishing I'd done things differently. I do love the ever-present red blossoms, however, perhaps those plants were not our best choice for poolside. They grow so big, so quickly, attract tons of bees, and shed blossoms which end up in the pool. Indeed, you live and learn don't you?

A better shot of how large they had become. No longer my friends. Plus, remember the first time I trimmed them and the sap stained the travertine? I was definitely freaking out. Now, what I do is, wet the patio first, then trim which keeps the sap from taking hold.  It's a good thing that the brown bud allamanda is finally blooming, so we'll still have some color, albeit yellow. I want you to notice the glider. Why, you ask? Well, that's the original color of the furniture which we are slowly changing. So, here's the new color:

I told you it was a weird shade of green. With the morning sun shining on it, it's even more shocking. This photo looks so Florida doesn't it?

Speaking of color, I am a big fan of Crate and Barrel, however, sometimes I think stores such as them are to blame for people going into debt. Why is that Gail? Well, here's some copy from the catalogue that arrived in today's post which makes me crazy.

This fall, we're warming up to a new color spectrum that's more saturated, toned down and easier to live with. We're taking inspiration for the softer geometry that occurs in nature--more relaxed, more organic---and bringing it inside.


What exactly are we to glean from this? Throw out everything we sold you in the Spring/Summer and let's start anew? Really? Plus, how much sense does it make to say more saturated, followed by toned down? Really? I can resist this sort of nonsense, but others without the means to do so, spend, spend, spend. Do I sound grumpy? So be it. I'm annoyed.

Just as I was when the Sentinel ran a huge headline reading, "Suicide by Sugar." I mean, come on, let's all relax a bit. Our forefathers would have been overjoyed with all of our food choices, and sugar has been a part of eating for God only knows how long. Food is not our enemy. Gluttony is.

Moving onto lighter topics, I played bridge with the pros again yesterday and, in spite of some poor playing on my part, I had fun. While I was stopped at Bumby and Corrine Drive I saw this in a front yard, taking the photograph through my windshield which was fairly clean due to recent rains.

How fun is this? Hopefully it brought a smile to your face, unlike my ranting AND the roach photograph!!

Let's see, what else can I find pretty to post? Nothing pretty, but oh so fun. After having the pool water tested I decided to stop at the Community Thrift store a block or so away. While there I ran into my friend Sue which I'll go into in more detail tomorrow. I will tell you she's a regular, and as such, helped me to understand their weird price tags. I was more than happy to pay the $1.24 for this crazy pig which I've put on top of the fridge, and DON"T ask me how there is some dirt up there. Okay?

What a find! I've no idea how old the actual pig is, but there is a date on the newspaper: July 4, 1986. Where were you 26 years ago? The comics are in a foreign language, although what that language is, I can't tell you because I've never seen it before. If I have a linguist in the group, let me know and I'll take another one of the language itself. As you have probably already guessed, I am a big fan of whimsy, sometimes, the kookier the better. So, if this had been a toad figure, covered in foreign comics I might have brought it home. Just don't give me the real thing!

There's a Toad in My House!

I've got so darn much to talk about I don't know where to start. How about we start with, if you can believe it, a nice picture of me.

I know, you can't believe it can you? Surely this must be an imposter because this blogger is never, never, ever, a good photographic subject. Before we left for the play, I had Bruce give it a try with the new lens. Seeing it on the screen, I could not believe it myself! So, if you are new to my blog--this is who I am, although don't get accustomed to seeing many more photographs of me because I am decidedly better behind the camera than in front of it!!

*Get ready to jump all over the place in subjects because that's just how it's going to be today. *

Let's begin with this amazing little story about the history of the bikini, I heard on Friday afternoon while going to get the revamped outdoor chair. You will be missing some fascinating trivia if you elect to ignore the link!

The revamped outdoor chair--excellent workmanship, slightly odd green color, which Bruce loves and I hope to over time.

Driving downtown, we wondered where in the world we could get a good meal before the play. Eventually we decided to try a restaurant that opened a year ago on Church Street, unfortunately named, The Rusty Spoon.

Seriously, what kind of name is that? The food, unlike the name, was terrific, all locally sourced etc. You know the drill. I love to try something as simple as deviled eggs when I go out because one never knows when one might discover a new way to prepare an old favorite does one?

Plus, as it turns out, the plating was very cool. Filled with herbs, and topped with little sun-dried tomatoes as garnish. Quite nice indeed. To go with my eggs I had heirloom tomato soup, and what they termed a "haystack" of fries, which I only wish I wasn't too full to finish. Bruce ordered their fish and chips served with delicious coleslaw. All ordinary foods prepared in an extraordinary way. We'll be back.

The story of the coal miners turned artists presented in "The Pitmen Painters" is quite extraordinary as well. Once you grow accustomed to the accents, you begin to appreciate the remarkable transformation each man undergoes after attending an art appreciation class. There is much discussion, arguments really, about the meaning of art and its place in the world. That seems to be a question with no pat answer don't you agree? The instructor of the class tells the miners that art doesn't have to mean anything in a general sense, the meaning comes from each individual as they view a piece of art. Fair enough. Earlier in the week the house phone rang with a gentleman on the line asking me when I would be returning to Winter Garden because he'd purchased a piece from me and wanted a friend to see my work. So, that was pretty cool, but there was more. He reminded me of our market conversation, and somehow, I learned he has a PhD in something which escapes me right now. Aside from the query, he wanted to discuss how much his purchase meant to him in general, and eventually more specifically.  Hanging the phone up, I was more than humbled. So, it was through that lens that I watched the play. :)

The Mad Cow Theater is quite small, seating perhaps 70 people on either side of a stage which is actually more like a runway.

See what I mean? The actors were that close! We left with much to mull over.

Have I told you a great tip I learned from my friend Jean? Get this! You've heard the saying, rubbing salt into a wound, right? Well, who knew you could rub salt onto a bug bite and it would remove the itching and stinging? By golly, it works like magic! If only I'd had some salt with me at the market yesterday I could have prevented a huge swelling of my inner upper arm from an ant bite! My friend Sue came to visit, and as we were chatting, I felt a tiny little sting which inevitably turned into a big, fat welt. Damn those bugs!

As Bruce was leaving yesterday I said to him, "Honey, I wonder who will come to visit me today?" Well, you already know Sue came, as did one of the doctors I formally worked with, (he bought a print to frame for another one of the docs in the group), his new Russian girlfriend, some awesome folks who split their time between here and New York, and others I can't remember. Who did not come to see me this week was Max, a darling little nine year old boy who likes my stuff and likes to make art himself. After instructing me on how to make an art project a few weeks ago, he returned the following week to see how mine turned out. What a little cutie. Plus, he made this for me:

And you wonder why I keep going to the market, week after week, rain, heat or shine. Which I'm trying to duplicate with my bike riding, although, Lord knows, if I had to ride my bike for the nine hours we're at the market, I'd be a dead duck!!

Remember when I mentioned a lovely fragrance in the air as I ride in the early morning? Turns out it is the lovely white crepe myrtles which are blooming like mad all over town.

I'm not a huge fan of this tree up close, but from a distance? Wonderful!

I finished A Lady's Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar which I'm giving a mixed review. For the most part I think it was very well done, however, it may just be that it was a tad ambitious for a first time author. Now, don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of first novels, however, by the time I came to the end of this book, I just felt something had gone a bit awry. I will say the descriptions of people and places are outstanding. The bicycle plays a very, very small part unlike the title would have you believe. So, read it if you wish, but consider yourself warned.

Alright, I was planning on wrapping this up because I am pretty sure you've had about enough of me for one day. HOWEVER, I went into the kitchen for a moment, and something happened which was so gross you must share in my pain!

That's right, a nasty toad or frog, I can never remember which is which. Oh my gosh!!!! Very early this morning, while still dark, I heard a loud sound coming from the kitchen which I went to investigate. Didn't notice anything at that moment, but when I went to set Bruce's breakfast on the table I noticed a vase from a high shelf on the ground by his chair. We were both puzzled then, but I'm not so puzzled now! First I grabbed the camera, next a broom. You may think I'm a pretty tough lady, and in some ways I am, but NOT with a toad in my house!!! He leaped across the foyer onto the bookcase:

Good grief!! By now my hands were shaking wondering how the heck I was going to get it out of the house. Somehow, he next went behind the case, which I then moved, all the while wielding my broom trying to shew him out the open front door!

Look at those feet will you??? Baxter took the open door as an invitation to saunter out into the front yard, so not only was I worrying about getting the frog out, but worrying that Baxter would venture into the street. Oh why, oh why, couldn't Bruce be home??? Eventually, not a minute too soon for me, I was able to push him out onto the front porch from whence he came. Now how about that for a way to end a blog post??

Peach Pie for Breakfast! Oh My!

Because I had both lovely peaches and blueberries, I made a pie yesterday afternoon combining the two, using a store bought crust. Rarely do I not make my own crust, and after this pie, I suspect I won't be going this route again any time soon. There's really nothing like home-made is there? Instead of a top crust, I made a crumble using crushed vanilla wafers and old-fashioned oatmeal, butter and cinnamon.

Now before you go getting all high and mighty about having pie for breakfast, I told Bruce that with the addition of ICE CREAM, it was almost like having cereal for breakfast, only in a different form!

Both of us thoroughly enjoyed pie for breakfast, in fact, I imagine it won't be the last time this summer that we do so!

Before I ate my decadent breakfast I went for my ride, which if you're counting, I'm up to 170 miles since beginning this experiment. For once I was up early, early, as in like 5:30, so, waiting until daylight I took off, riding down Summerlin, around the curves, parking my bike alongside Lake Pineloch at sunrise.

Dave and Michelle live directly across the lake, as does Bill. This morning, perhaps because we finally had a nice rain last night, the air was fairly pleasant. I started to say cool, but you knew that was an exaggeration didn't you? Speaking of the oppressive heat, normally inside our back gate, the temperatures are a wee bit cooler than the rest of the yard. I can't imagine what the thermometer would have read had it been on the outside of the fence!

Of late, my cardinals have been somewhat elusive. Where could they be? Remember when I wrote the post entitled  Our Garden Birds, using Matt Sewell's title? Well, I sent that post along to Mr. Sewell and he replied in clever fashion, sending me the link to his charming post, Cardinal By Matt Sewell. Needless to say, I was delighted.

The red-winged blackbirds have not been as scarce, but now that I say that, it's mostly the males that screech their way around the yard.

Oh, I forgot to tell you, the townhouse has lost it's ground floor! Despite all of our efforts, going so far as to add a squirrel baffler above the feeder,

the wily squirrels somehow, which neither of us have actually seen in person, jump between the baffler on top of the feeder. Every now and again one of us will look out there and there is one of them, happy as a clam, eating away. So, now it's a two story affair, after being knocked to the ground!

Damn those pesky squirrels!! I lied, here's a cardinal. Just not so many. :-)

The garden is looking sadder by the day. Despite multiple blooms, my beautiful ivy geranium is going by the wayside any day now, with brown leaves like mad.

I am, on the other hand having some excitement indoors. Only about a week ago, while at the market, I told Kathy that the African violets I purchased from them didn't seem as if they would ever bloom again. But, then this happened:

Mind you, only one of the three is doing this, but I'm calling it a small victory! Jim tells me that sometimes they are just using their plant energy to grow leaves rather than flowers. I'm wondering if the mottled leaves below should be removed? Knowing nothing whatsoever about the plants, I need to do some research. I've heard that some folks become obsessed with African violets, adding more and more to their collections. Somewhat like orchids. Which brings me to another exciting development!!!

I was pleased as punch when I bought this orchid from Jim, even more so now that another stem is forming with blooms! This was ten well-spent dollars!

Finally, my birdie mobile has a new home:

Cute, huh?

We've discussed ad nauseum my horrible memory; let's add one more item to the list of things nearly forgotten. Thank goodness, while eating my pie, I was reading the newspaper, more specifically, The Calendar section which lists the around-town happenings. Before falling asleep last night Bruce asked me if I wanted to go on a date tonight? I answered, "we'll see." Good grief, I'd already planned a date, buying tickets last Friday for The Pitmen Painters at the Mad Cow Theater!! What happened was that I tried to purchase them for last weekend, only to be told that all the shows were sold out. The helpful young woman on the phone asked if I'd like them for tonight which seemed like a good idea at the time. You can well imagine how disappointed I would have been once I remembered after the fact. Not to mention the wasted cash outlay.

The lawn is mowed, finished soon after eating that big, fat, slice of yummy pie, and the clothes are soon to be on the line. Life is good.

Sunny Brain or a Rainy Brain?

While reading this article from the Times, which is terrific I might add, I couldn't help wonder how it is that some of us mostly operate with either a sunny brain (optimist) or a rainy brain (pessimist). Just yesterday, during our all day party at Dave and Michelle's condo pool, the subject came up because although Bill and Dave, as identical twins, are very, very much alike, one has the sunny brain and the other has the rainy brain. Weird isn't it?

Arriving a little before one in the afternoon, the skies turned gray which truthfully was a great thing because not only did the temperature drop , but most of the folks went inside, fearing a big thunderstorm which never materialized. While waiting on Grill Master Dave, we saw this funny sight:

You can see the lake behind the folks on loungers which is eventually where this duck decided he needed to be. Bruce and I played "War" with some great old cards of his mothers which stay in my little tote bag. Because it had been such a long time since we'd played, much discussion ensued concerning the rules. One thing we knew for sure, the highest card wins each hand. The wins went back and forth fairly evenly until this hand,

with Gail's pile on the left and Bruce's on the right. How can this be you ask? Bruce cheated. It is as simple as that. Apparently, while I was checking on Dave, he dealt the cards face up, dealing himself all of the high cards. As we were playing, I was astounded. Duh! The stinker!

Most warm weekends, Dave, Michelle and Bill spend a good deal of time with their friends at the pool. Bill, surprise, surprise, brought along a new friend, who proved to be very sweet indeed. We had fun playing "War", with no cheating of course, swimming, eating, and just hanging out.

Typically, Bill and Dave make a Publix run, sharing the cost of huge amounts of food for sharing. Dave is the griller, Bill chats folks up. Corn on the cob is always on the menu.

Last Thanksgiving Bill and Dave asked if they could invite a lonely friend for Thanksgiving, which of course I said yes. He's no longer lonely, having met a lovely woman named Lisa who is pictured between Bruce and Michelle.

As you can see, by now the sun was back out and the cool pool felt great. Bill's friend, Fallon is in the red and white stripes to Michelle's right.

Earlier in the day, when Bruce met the boys at the gym, Bill insisted that I take no photos of him which Bruce warned me about while we were driving there. Eventually, he conceded.

I guess it looks kind of weird with their bare shoulders, but both were in bathing suits! I was thrilled to try out my new lens for portraits. One thing is that it is a fixed lens so you have to back up or forward to get what you want in the viewfinder.

As night fell, fireworks went off over the lake in every direction, making which way to look very exciting. It was a super fun day--so happy we went.

Well, Mr. Bruce just got home from getting his hair cut--time for dinner!