Just in case you've been hearing in the news about Tropical Storm/Hurricane Debby down in  what used to be the Sunshine State (now relabeled the Soggy State) and were concerned in regard to our welfare, please be assured that we are all good.  The house is dry  (inside at least) and we are fine. 

And today, as Debby makes landfall north of us as a hurricane (upgraded from tropical storm) I am less and less enamored of it as the day goes by.  It begins to feel as if we will never again see the sun!  I know that's not true, but you know what I mean.  AND I feel so badly for those folks at hurricane ground zero and hope they are all safe and sound.

But meanwhile, where we are, dang it all folks, it's seriously wet outside. I mean wetwetwet.  The gullywasher/thunder/lightning/full orchestration kind of wet.  Geez.  It started raining about mid morning yesterday and really hasn't stopped yet.  Sometimes the rainbands are heavier than other times but still  rain is still rain and that means wet.

I have new appreciation for rainbands, by the way.  Whenever the storms calms the heck down for a little bit, the ground can absorb the water more, the storm drains can catch up and the run-off that goes out to the bay and the gulf can adjust to just a wee little bit more.

At the beginning, it just felt like a very normal summer rainstorm honestly.  No big deal.  We even went out to lunch yesterday to just a little local place that we like and watched the rain come down out the window while we noshed.  

We kept thinking,  Little Tropical Storm  Debby having a cute little tantrum and we spent the day  doing inside stuff.  We kept thinking it would all pass by and be over soon.  We considered going to the beach to take pictures (but didn't) or the jetty for pictures (closed).  Guess I was feeling a little rainy day lazy.  

You know that delicious rainy day sleepy feeling where all you want to do, as the rain pitterpatter (or sometimes tap dances) against the house and all you really want to do is drink tea, eat cookies, nap and read alternately.  It's cozy and lovely and kind of gives permission for not doing much at all.

And that's all fine and good for awhile, but when it goes on .....and on...AND ON!  Well let's just say it gets old, quickly.   Flood watches, Tornado Watches, High Surf Advisories and Rip Current Statements just kept coming.  Dang.  It was a long night of listening to the wind whistling through and the thunder rumbling and now and again crashing (sometimes it sounded like it was literally on our roof),  lightning crackling and rain relentlessly pounding down.  We had a few minor power flickers though no full on outtages, thank goodness. At least so far!

We've been getting notifications of things being closed today.  No garbage pick ups today for example. Normally Monday and Thursday are our days.  Not This week! But since I had already taken the bins to the curb (after checking on line and it saying..yes go ahead, pick up is today like usual) they have since changed their minds and that meant I had to schlepp through the downpour in rain jacket and wet sneakers to haul it all back in.  Oh well.

Starting to get a lot of other notifications now too.  Stay off the streets , the notifications say, Limit water usage, the notifications say.  Okay, we can do those things. So...no more laundry is being done today, can't turn on the dishwasher, limited cooking and cleaning will be happening. We have bottled water always (learned that the first year here!) so we won't die of thirst.

I know that there is some local flooding on the roads by the beach (which is the entire west side of the island) and we also read that the part of the road that goes to Caspersen Beach (the southest point of the island) has washed out!  Oh My Gracious!    Our neighbor's mailbox fell down, there is a lot of deadfall from trees and shrubs that will eventually need to be picked back up and binned.  The courtyard has become a pond and the backyard a lake.  But otherwise, it's all good.  Thoughts and prayers go north to the people being effected now by the storm (and on into Georgia and the Carolinas!)

Soon this will be over and things will go back to what passes for normal.  But in th e meantime, just wanted to reassure everyone that all is well.  Wet, but well.

I'll attach a few photos I took between rainbands on our property.  If it lets up later, I'll head to the beach and see what photos I can get there!  

​Hugs all 'round.

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And if you look to the left there is the potted garden, comfy adirondack double chairs and even a table which is covered with plants but still, a table! The old fashioned shuttered window, the sail shade, the party lights and wall decorations make it a cozy, comfy, cute little space that nobody would ever guess existed from the outside of the walls.

If you look the other way, however, it's an entirely different thing.  There is something that passes for a garden filled with decorative grasses, non blooming plants and quite honestly some weeds beside a gravel path to nowhere.  That's the way it looked when we moved in and has looked that way for eight years.  It's a sad looking roughly ten feet of........................this mess.  

It's always been on the list to do something about it but we've been distracted with other projects and real life.

When we bought the house we knew that the property as a whole needed work and we made the decision that every year, we would do one big project.  Sometimes the project ended up being things you cannot actually see, like replacing plumbing systems, updating the electrical,  relocating and buying a new HVAC system; all things that clearly needed to be done and we absolutely benefitted from the project's completion.

Other years, other projects were very visible  such as creating a whole new kitchen,  bathroom and family room!  Even just repainting walls created big changes. Everyone could see those things happen, you could not miss it.  And the differences are positive, amazing and worth the time, money and effort.  

This year however, we were still kind of reeling from the family room project which took far more time, money, effort and patience than we ever anticipated and it kind of burned us out a little bit.  Other than very small things (like Tim replacing old electrical outlets throughout the house for example) we originally opted to start nothing else new.

But then I got an itch to work on this courtyard garden situation. I talked to Tim about it and he was on board so I'm tickled to bits to say that our new project this year is, at long last, the courtyard garden. I am so excited!

So much so in fact, that as soon as Tim and I discussed it, I immediately went outside and started tearing out the old ......ok let's call it a garden.  The crappola that filled that space at any rate.  Some of it came out easily, other bits had roots that I swear went all the way to Middle Earth! ARGH!  I struggled through nearly half of it before calling it quits for the day.  Perhaps this was a bigger bite than I could really chew?  The next weekend, Tim jumped in to help and we knocked it out in no time at all.

we Once we cleaned up we headed out to a local nursery to read plant labels and see what's possible and what's not.  It is a Full Sun situation so only certain plants need apply.  I was happy to see that there are a lot of options that fill the bill.  I am hoping for lots of colour and fragrance, perennial plants that attract butterflies and bees!

Tim and I talked possibilities for awhile and eventually got carried away and have decided to expand the garden.  So my next step will be to take out the gravel/shell path (which can all be added to the driveway) and fill that entire area with  beautiful things!  There will be a stepping stone pathway through, but mostly it'll be colourful, green, growing, lovely stuff!

I worked for a few more hours on it this morning and came in looking like the Pigpen character from the Peanuts comic strip.  Another day or two like that and I think we will be ready for watering system which means I turn it over to Tim.

After he is finished I will be adding more good dirt, which we politely refer to as Amending the Soil.  What passes for "soil" here is really more sand than anything. And while sand is great for  drainage so we surely do need some, really good dirt is necessary too.

After the dirt situation is corrected to my satisfaction it'll be stepping stones and then, the best part, the plants!  I still do not know for absolute certain what plants will be going in, but I know that it will be colourful, a veritable rainbow of vegetation.

This is not a project that will be completed over night. It's gonna be awhile. But I am hopeful that it will be finished, completely done and gorgeous by fall.  And I cannot WAIT to show you pictures of the finished project.

For now consider this......Future Garden!​

There are so many wonderful things about living by the water.  Many of them I anticipated, at  least on some level, but other things were unexpected.  For example, this being our rainy season, it should not surprise anyone to learn that we usually experience at least a little bit of rain every single day.  Some days it's a LOT of rain.  And this year it's been a Lottalot of rain!

And that's all good stuff.  The green growing outside things are happyhappy which in turn makes the wildlife happy. And all of that makes the people happy.  The only thing not awesome about it really has a negative hiking impact as in it either causes us to cancel the hike entirely because we are literally rained out, or the hiking day itself is perfectly lovely but the trails are less than ideal.  Dang.

And that was our dilemma on this past Friday.  Every single day of that week we had experienced absolute deluges of water which left our usual preserves buggy, mucky and flooded.  The trifecta of crappy hiking.  So instead of hitting any of our usual trails we went to Caspersen Beach to walk the path there.  Bonus to living by the beach!

Now this isn't a stroll on the beach at the water's edge that I'm talking about here, although, there is a beach and we can (and did) access it now and again.  Nope, it's an actual hiking trail that is about two miles long (which means 4 miles total to the end and back).  And while you cannot see it most of the time, the beach is on one side of the trail and the intercoastal is on the other.  (you have to wander down other little paths to reach either most  of the time) No matter how much it rains, the sand only gets so wet. No muck, limited bugs and as long as we didn't decide to go for a swim, we didn't get wet.  Not bad!

We haven't done this trail in over a year at least, so it was nice to be back.  Obviously, this is a Photo Safari Report and also obviously I'm calling it the Caspersen Beach Hike.

I think we saw more tortoises than we ever have before, maybe a lifetime total.  Once they woke up (all of the tortoise alarms must be set for the same times because we saw none at all for quite some time and then suddenly we saw ALL of them!)  And while I'm sure they all look the same to you (frankly to me too) I'm sure they know the difference. 

Here are some of them:
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Definitely saw more birds than expected too.  Well wait a minute. I expected to see the sorts of birds that hang out at the beach  (and we did) but the other birds were a lovely surprise. Especially the number of Cardinals!:

Not too many flowers seem to grow that close to the beach, but there were a few successful botannical shots:
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Then, for the butterfly and dragonfly category, there are a few contenders :

Pretty trails and general scenery photos abounded. I will try to keep it to a minimum:
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And then there are the randos which, this time, are all of the same thing, the "shell tree" that we found on the beach.  Someone found a bit of driftwood that had a lot of branches and then took the time and effort to wander the beach seeking out shells that had holes in them and decorated with them.  It Was Awesome!

I sincerely wish I had ever been creative enough to think of doing such a thing!  Maybe another day, another walk. Who knows?

Anyway, that's it for the Caspersen Beach Hike. Hope you enjoy it.  For now, here's Sam and Joy, signing off on this Photo Safari Report.

Joy and I hit a local preserve last week so clearly it must be time for another Photo Safari Report!  I shall call this one the Mostly Insects Hikes because it seems that of all the pictures I took, most of them were of insects of one sort or another!  Weird.  Not my usual at all.

These dog days of summer, we try to get up and out as early as possible but not so early that the sun isn't up yet. It's dangerous to wander through the preserves before it's light out, for one thing and dang it, neither of us really wants to be up and out that early either!  So we were out the door before 7:30 and it was already hot.

Well of course it was hot. It's July in Florida. If you expect anything else you are delusional.  But early mornings are absolutely the coolest part of the day so it's as good a time to get going.  Fully swathed with sunscreen and wearing hats, we set out.

I took a lot of botanical shots and for some odd reason (I'm sure operator error) they didn't turn out well. It's a shame because this time of year there are colourful flowering things at every turn and in every direction.  Clearly I need to work on that and figure out what I'm doing wrong. In the meantime,  here's what  I got:

There were birds all around us.  We could hear them, heaven knows, as they are a rowdy bunch!  At times it was quite the cacophony.  Don't get me wrong, I love it, but it can be really loud.  This time we even Saw a lot of birds for a change, but alas, I only sometimes got a good shot.  Here are a few:

But by far and away, my best shots of the day, to my tremendous surprise, were some of the hardest ones to get.  Insects!  Butterflies and Dragonflies, the sorts of creatures that move fast and frequently.  I guess it was a bug centric photography sort of day!  The camera gods were smiling on me for sure:

We kept the hike short due to the heat. Our goal is always to be back at the car no later than 10 am during the summer and sometimes that's just not long enough. So I guess there's nothing left to do except to leave earlier.  Which is our plan for This week and we'll see where that gets us.  Could be better, or not.  One never knows.

But we will find out.  And then once I post, so will you ;)

Take Care, Have fun, Stay Safe!

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I think maybe it's time for a kittyboy update, eh?  It's been a little bit.  

Obviously, they've grown a lot since I last posted their pictures.  That's Brysco on the left and Wyatt on the right. I know, I know, they look a lot alike.  But much like people with human Twins in the family, eventually you see more and more differences between them and most (not all) of the time, we know which is which.

They are very playful which is so fun.  And while they play together and sometimes on their own, what they mostly prefer, is to play with us! That is, interactive play.  Whether it's dangling a beguiling feather on a string or something as ordinary as making the bed, or anything in between, that is their ideal playtime.  And most of the time, we are happy to oblige.

Once again, much like human children, they sometimes get a little bored with their toys and they long for a new challenge, something new to learn,  anything a little different.  Usually I accomplish that by not having all of their toys out at once.  I choose one to "hide" in the utility room for a few weeks and when I take it out again, they are delighted all over again.  Or sometimes, I come up with an idea of something I can make for them.  The "find it" box is a great example.

I had a good sized shoe box, put some of their favourite small toys inside, taped it shut and cut some holes in the top.  They were overjoyed with this toy and beat the crap out of it.  So much so that when we got a slightly bigger box, I recycled the first totally destroyed box, and created a new one.  This time with holes cut in the top AND the sides.  Oh my goodness, this was an instant hit!  Of course, I've had plenty of other ideas that were not so popular.  Oh well, Live and Learn.

With this in mind, a few weeks ago while we were grocery shopping, I happened to spy in one aisle, something totally unrelated to anything else in that aisle (which is why it caught my eye) It was a package of 5 or 6 spiderman themed superballs.  Not huge ones and not so small that they could accidentally be eaten, so in other words, a perfect size. Each one was a different colour with a different picture of Spidey on it.  I threw it in the cart. Why not, maybe they would enjoy it. If not, it was relatively inexpensive.

As soon as we got home and groceries were put away, we opened the package and tossed one of the superballs.  They went mad for it!  Chased it all over the house, watched it bounce and ricocchet all over the place!  Wow!  Who knew?  Superballs were the perfect kitty toy.

Within a few days, we managed to lose all but one superball.  What?  It's a small house.  There are a limited number of places these toys could be. And yet all that remained was one lone yellow superball.  The kitties were sad and I was concerned.  What happens when the final one gets lost?  I guarded it like it was gold.  When I threw the ball and the boys loped after it, I chased it too and snatched it up before they could get their paws on it and bat it into some blackhole that apparently exists here.  Not much fun for them!

I proposed that, the next time we grocery shop, we buy another package of superballs just to have a few more and that I would go on the search with flashlight and long handled grabby thing to at least attempt to find the other ones.

In the meantime, Tim went on line and bought two bags  (for less that the cost of the original first package) of superballs.   It arrived on Sunday!  With great excitement I opened the bags and just dumped them on the floor.  Kitty Excitement Pandemonium ensued!  Oh  My Gosh, we laughed so hard.  And we all played until we were all exhausted.

So obviously I needed to find a container to corral these babies so there would be no slipping and falling on them in the dark of night!  I rummaged around in the pantry and came up with a perfect container:  (sometimes I save things and I don't know why I save them but I always know that eventually the opportunity will present itself)

Taadaa!  And for those of you will really sharp eyes you will see that this originally was a very large M&M container.  And if you truly know me, you will not be surprised by that.  

I don't put the lid on of course, so if they want to play with the superballs on their own, they can fish them out (and they do) but at least when I get around to picking them up (a zillion or so times a day -which has become part of my new exercise program), they are all in the same place and I don't have to hunt them up at playtime.

Oh yes, I have already gone on the hunt for them armed with, once again, flashlight and long handled grabber thingie, but that was my own fault. When I enthusiastically, but not wisely, opened and dumped the bags when they arrived they went EveryWhere!  Everywhere!    The bonus of that was that I found two more of the original Spiderman superballs which is odd because I had already searched everywhere several times.  Back to the blackhole theroy.

Anyway, that the latest on the kittyboys.  They are a little older, a little bigger, but still sweet and fun and playful and they bring us so much joy.  And apparently Superballs.  Lots and Lots of Superballs ;)

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This past weekend Tim and I got to spend time with our best friends, the Minocks (yayayay!) AND got to visit MOSI up in Tampa.  Wow it was a two-fer!  MOSI, for those who are wondering, stands for Museum of Science and Industry.  Exceptionally cool.

I am a museum fan, always have been.  In fact, my earliest memory goes all the way back to Chicago, where I was born but specifically, the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago.  My sister wasn't born yet and I am three years older than her, so it was before then.  I don't know exactly how old I was, but somewhere between brand spankin' new and 3.  I don't' know if that memory is why, but let it be said clearly here, that I will go to pretty much any museum.  The museum of spark plugs, the museum of cat toys, the museum of matchbook covers.  Yup I would go to those AND enjoy them AND learn things!  I love learning things :)

That long ago visit to the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, made such a huge impression on me that I've never forgotten it.  At the time, I was most impressed with Colleen Moore's Dollhouse than anything else there, but I do know that I enjoyed it all.  Colleen Moore's Dollhouse, if you are unfamiliar with it, is an amazing work of art.   If a person were 6 inches high, they could live in this dollhouse as it has electricity and running water.  Seriously!  The teeny tiny books in the library have actual words in them, the kitchen has pots, pans and dishware, the dining room table is set for a meal fit for a King or Queen.  Oh, did I mention that the dollhouse is a castle?   Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle - Griffin Museum of Science and Industry (msichicago.org)  (by the way, I just checked and the dollhouse is still at MOSI, Chicago!  

MOSI in Tampa does not boast such a thing as livable miniature castles, but it did have a planetarium and we definitely couldn't pass that opportunity by.  It was a great show, we learned a lot and, speaking for myself, caught a teeny tiny catnap in as soon as the lights went down.  Oops. Don't tell. Shhhh.

It's a very hands-on type of museum which is always fun. We got to be kids once again and, even though there were a LOT of actual children there, the staff encouraged us to participate as well.  There was a ton of real time, actual participation scientific principles illustrated. For instance there was a bed of nails to lay on, we got to experience the wind level of a hurricane and sharpened our Alpha and Beta brain waves in a game (which I won - woohoo!).  And so so so Very Much More! We  tried them all.

Next there was  a huge exhibit on Flight through the years, up to and including NASA projects.  It wasn't just reading and observing (which is cool enough) but we also got to do a few things like actually go through some of the computer steps to launch a rocket. How cool is that?  Got to get Tim fitted for a space suit too:

The next part was about brain games and I think that was my favourite part.  We tried (I believe) every single illusion and brain game and brain trick they offered.  It took quite awhile but it was worth every single second.  Here's Tim playing his part in one of the illusions:

It's amazing to me how our brains are just naturally wired so differently and how little science fully understands about it yet.  Remember a few years back there was that viral dress that some people saw as yellow and gold and other people saw as blue and black?  Yeah, that dress was there.  And yup, different folks saw it differently this weekend too!

The last part of the museum was dedicated to dinosaurs and other ancient creatures. That is always fun. Shall we put a little twist on it?  Everything was made out of Lego's.  How cool is that?  Answer?  Very!   I gotta tell ya, Tyrannosaurus Rex doesn't look nearly as frightening made of Legos. Still impressive just not scary.  There was a lot of informational signage in that room. My favourite explained that, "A lot of people ask us if we follow some sort of  instructions when we make these kinds of things.  The answer is, Nope".  I love that!  Be Creative, Go off-script, Learn Stuff.  If it doesn't work, you learned something and can try again another way.

By the time we finished up there we were filled to the brim with new ideas and starving so we moved on to find food!  We ate and talked and laughed and caught up and had even more fun which doesn't seem remotely possible and yet, that's exactly what happened.    By the time we went our separate ways, the skies had filled with ominous grey clouds, there was thunder rumbling over head and clearly rain was on it's way.  And while it rained, it did not dampen our enthusiasm for another great Minock Day!

In the Mood to talk about Fashion again?   This will be the Part II to last week's fashion post.

Last week I did say that Fashion is fun.  And I stand by that. It's true.    But sometimes clothing purchases are more about a specific goal than having fashion fun.  Like, for instance, buying a dress to wear to a wedding or a new suit to make a presentation.  Perhaps you recently lost or gained a few ellbees and need to accommodate that.  Or maybe you are on vacation and the weather you packed for is in no way the weather you are experiencing.  Been There, Done That!

Or maybe your new clothing purchase is even more practical than that.  For instance, maybe you recently had a surgery that results in needing some different clothes.  Not the most fun reason, but hey, new clothes is new clothes!

Two years ago when I was about to undergo a bilateral mastectomy, a kind and wise person suggested that I might want to invest in some button front shirts because after surgery for awhile there would be No Way in Heck that I would be able to put on a pull over shirt.  (AND they were absolutely correct!)  At the time I owned only 2 button front shirts; one had long sleeves, the other one itched.  Yup new shirts were needed.  It was an unexpected expense but absolutely essential as it turned out.   We ended up buying six button front shirts ultimately.  And I am still wearing them.

My surgery this time was abdominal and nobody mentioned anything about certain clothing options being better than others so I just  didn't give it a seconds thought.  UNTIL the day prior to surgery when the hospital called to give me the time I needed to arrive (5: 30 am !!) and the usual no food or drink after midnight speech and at the very last she said, "You will probably want to bring a loose summer sundress for comfort".  I said" ok, I can do that."  And I did. And I am so glad I did.

I ended up wearing nothing but dresses for two weeks.  The very idea of something pressing against - even gently - or rubbing against the incision was unimaginable.  And then too, there was the swelling.  Suddenly my abdomen instead of being almost flat (not completely I will admit) was all pooched out  thus limiting what I could even get on, even if I was willing to risk the pressing and rubbing. Dang!

I asked the surgeon about it at a follow up appointment, as in, how long is this going to last?  And When can I start working out again?  and the response was, first, "hell no you cannot work out yet you crazy person" and  The puffy tummy thing can go on for awhile. The area is inflamed and irritated from surgery and can take - get this - up to a Year to completely heal.  A YEAR???

I know how to dress in disguise.  I am well versed in how to hide anything I don't really want anyone else (or frankly me either) to notice.  But I cannot imagine wearing the same dresses over and over every day for even 3 months let alone a full year.  The impracticality alone makes it crazy.  So I went through my closet.  

Ultimately I found 3 pair of shorts with elastic waistbands.  They sort of worked.  Unlike the loosey goosey-ness of a dress, they definitely  press on my poor tortured belly, BUT luckily, all three pair are rather loose and as long as I wear the right top with it, not too bad.  I decided that I could alternate the dresses with the 3 pair of shorts at least through the warm (hot!) months and then I could reevaluate when the weather begins to cool off. 

 I mentioned these thoughts to Tim and added that if the budget could bear one more pair of shorts, I thought I would be pretty much all set. He thought that would be just fine and the very next day, off we went to our local Beall's.    We bought headed off to different parts of the ladies clothing section and met back up at the fitting rooms. Over and Over and Over.  Ultimately I found one more dress (couldn't resist)  and 4 pair of bottoms that fit nicely, were comfortable, not horribly expensive and, I felt, would go with tops I already owned.  I asked Tim to help me choose.  He bought them all for me because he is a Very Nice Man.

I had the best time walking each piece through my closet to see what would "go" with what.  The goal is always to have at least two tops (minimum) for each bottom and woohoo!  Success on that!    I even took photos for you guys to see my haul!

I ended up with the one dress of course, two skorts (skorts are awesome! Where have these been all my life?) one actual skirt - it's like cargo shorts only a skirt and one pair of actual shorts.  Tim chose 3 of the 5 items I bought. He has Great Taste!

Ready for the fashion slideshow?

Photos were taken on different days, which is why the different hair styles. The day of the green cargo skirt I hadn't even combed my hair yet when I took the photo for heaven's sakes. I have some nerve!  

Anyway, I lovelovelove my new clothes and I had fun sharing them with you!    Have a great day ya'll

 
As of today, I have been knocking around the planet for a whopping Seventy-One Years!  Holy Cats that's old.   Dang.     I find myself reflecting a bit on my life today.  After this many years of wandering around, mostly blundering my way through, what have I learned?  Well, one of the biggest take-aways for me is that Most people are truly lovely humans and that people from everywhere around the entire globe are more similar than they are different. 

I have learned to appreciate, to forgive, to laugh, to be kind and to be grateful first before I do anything else.   I have discovered what is and what is not worth arguing about, (most things are not) and that whatever is going on in my life, in my town, my state, my country or the entire earth, it will change and be something else soon. I know now that the end of everything is the beginning of something else.

I have accepted that nothing is forever but this moment, right now, is precious.  I know that respect is earned, hard work feels good and that there is nothing at all wrong with occasionally doing nothing at all.   Eventually I figured out that failure is nothing shameful but only a learning experience and that losing sometimes teaches us more than winning.

I know that Love really is one of the most powerful and important things anyone will ever know. And that I have been exceptionally fortunate in my friends, my family, my husband, my children (both my biological kids and their life mates who I consider my bonus kids).  

All of life is an adventure and if you approach it with the attitude that it's going to be mostly great, then mostly, it will be.  Everyone we meet has something to teach us, something of value to offer and is a unique individual.

AND,  finally, I still believe in the birthday rules!  You didn't think I would do a birthday post without them did you?  Silly...  Here we go:

BIRTHDAY RULES

1. Number one and most important on this hit parade:  It's all about the birthday person.  It really is.  No exceptions. If it's your birthday, everything that day is about you. Period.

2. Of course, to be absolutely fair, I am not a person who really likes being the center of a big crowd of people. But a small, comfortable, familiar crowd is fine. In fact it's awesome.  A small group of people that I really care about it absolutely perfect.  If that group consists of me and one other person, sometimes that is the best group of all.

3. And there should be at least one treat that a person rarely has, like cake. Or ice cream.  Or cake AND ice cream.  And for heaven's sakes, if a person is going to indulge, it should be the good stuff. The real deal. No fake, crappy substitutes.  And speaking as a person with Lactose Intolerance, if I'm going to suffer later, I want the suffering to be worthwhile, which means the ice cream must be primo.

4. There should be a few cards, some of them should have sparkles, some flowers, some funny, some touching or maybe thought provoking. I like cards.  I set them up on top of the big display cabinet in the living room and admire them for far too long afterwards.

5. There should be some sort of contact from people far away, whether it's phone calls or emails or texts or facebook posts or telepathic thoughts, heaps of good wishes from folks far away makes a birthday extra special.  To think that all of those people bothered to take the time to acknowledge your existence on your birthday shows that you matter in this life.  That's important.

6. There should be no chores on your birthday.  Not one single solitary gotta-do should be done by the birthday celebrant.  Those things can either wait a day to be done, or someone else needs to do them.  I'm immovable on this fact.

7. The birthday person gets to choose what or where to eat for dinner.  And no matter what they choose, that's what dinner is.  Doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.  It is the ONE day of the entire year where nobody else's likes/dislikes/or personal opinion should take precedence regarding food.

8. It should be a happy day.  Only positive comments and thoughts please.  It should be a day of smiles and laughter. If there is something negative or sad that needs to be said, keep it to yourself for one more day.  Not even boredom is allowed.
​Happy Birthday to me!  

Birthday Hugs all 'round!

There's Joy (on the left) and me (on the right) with cameras so you know what that means. Photo Safari Report! Yayayayayay!  It's been about a month since I've felt up to it but Myakka being a part driving/part hiking sort of place, it was an excellent choice for the first hike post surgery.  With that in mind, I'll call this the "It's Good To Be Back Hike"  coz it was, indeed, good to be back out there.

Let's see what we found:  

Deer!  I just adore them and was delighted to see so many of them.  No bucks, just does and fawns.  Look at those sweet faces!

Alligators!  This is Florida after all, and Myakka seems to harbour more than it's fair share of them. I wouldn't go swimming in the Myakka River but they make great photos from a safe distance.  Saw one woman cooing at them while taking pictures and she said to the alligator, "Do you want to be my friend?"  I said, kindly but firmly,  "No, he absolutely does Not want to be your friend. They are not friendly".  I don't know if she was serious or not, but just in case.......

Birds!  Not nearly the usual variety or number, but birds nonetheless.   I will try to keep it to a minimum;

As always, there are some botanicals, one of my favourite categories:

There was a plethora of Dragonflies!  I mean, clouds of them!  It was kind of awesome.  And they were remarkably cooperative about having their pictures taken.  Here are a few photos:

I'll finish up with a couple of randos, a little of this and a little of that:

I was so exhausted when we got back that I immediately just laid down, fell deeply asleep and that was pretty much it for the day.  Still, it was absolutely worth it!  Hope you enjoyed the "It's Good To Be Back Hike" even half as much as we did.

It'll probably be a couple of weeks before I get out there again, but once I do, expect more (and hopefully better) pictures then!

Just for fun, do you want to talk fashion today?  We haven't really talked about clothes in awhile and to me, fashion is fun.  I think it is for most people.  Well, perhaps unless you are in the industry where fashion is your livelihood, then maybe it's more stressful than fun, but since most of us are not a part of the fashion world, I think most of us would agree, that at least on some level, fashion is fun.

Not that I've ever been, in any way, fashionable, unless it was by accident.  Doesn't matter.  I still enjoy meandering through clothing stores, magazines, catalogues, youtube and other social media type videos and just seeing what there is to see.  I would love to be more stylish on a regular basis but gosh, who can afford that?  Honestly, the hardest part of always looking fashionable and "in style" is the cost.  Most  trends hit hard and then disappear so for folks who have the desire to always be au courant, there is a price to be paid.

When I was still working, I made a lot more of an effort for sure.  The the way I got around spending an absolue fortune on clothes was that I leaned hard toward the classics.  That way while I may not have been strictly In the Peak of Style, I also wasn't totally out of style either because the classics are eternal.  They can be perked up and made fresh with addition of one or two slightly trendier pieces, like truly classic trousers with a different, newer, more stylish top, or shoes, or jewelry.  It was fun to play with the things in my closet, combine them differently, come up with new fun ways to wear each piece.  I felt pretty confident that I presented myself well to the general public.

And then I retired.  And suddenly it didn't matter nearly as much how I looked every day and I guess I started slacking off in the fashion department.  At least part of the problem as my own unfamiliarity with the concept of casual clothes.  When I was working, I didn't change when I got home, I kicked off my heels, rolled up my sleeves, put on an apron and kept going.  Casual clothes were for weekends and most of the weekend was filled with errands, house chores and yard work.  High fashion not necessary!  Basically it was comfy  shorts or jeans and the least stained tee shirt in the closet.  Clearly once casual became my every day attire, changes needed to be made.   Even I could see that.  So over the past few years (since we moved to Florida) I have struggled to find my way. 

Now, multiple years down the line I have found that while of course I do own shorts and capri's, to my surprise I now own more dresses than I have at any other time in my entire life!   Childhood included!  When did this happen?

That rainbow of dresses spread out on my bed in the photo at the top of the page is every single dress I own.  And I am shocked that it turned out to be so many.  But I also love every single one of them and wear them often.    I'll start with the oldest piece:

The ubiquitous LBD or Little Black Dress.   This is the oldest garment currently in my closet. I bought it way back when we lived in Connecticut in some sort of thrift or 2nd hand or outlet type store (I don't recall which one).  It was two sizes too big at the time but I bought it anyway and then took the unprecedented (for me) step of actually taking it to a tailor to have it altered to fit me.  Why?  Well it's a great  dress.  Excellent Quality.  Evan Piccone as a matter of fact. And it cost me less than $10 bucks when I bought it.  And I have not regretted the purchase for even one second ever!  I've worn it as is, I've worn it with blouses underneath, sweaters or blazers over top.  With sandals, with flats and with heels.  It dresses up and down beautifully.  Obviously it has been worn and washed a zillion times as the colour is faded now. I suppose I could re-dye it black again to refresh it up. Or continue wearing it as is which is more likely what I will do.  I will own this and wear this probably for the rest of my life.  Quite the return on investment!

Second oldest dress in my closet.  I bought t his one in Colorado. Not positive where I found it but most likely, Kohls.  I bought a lot of Colorado stuff at good old Kohls.  Initially what drew me to this dress was the unusual colour combination - turquoise and chocolate brown.  Not the usual thing.  At the time I had two different pair of heels, one chocolately brown, the other were bronze slingbacks, that worked equally well. At the time I had a dark brown fitted, one button blazer that worked perfectly with it.  It was great for an easy peasy work day outfit but now the heels and the blazer are all long gone and because of that I've nearly put it in the donation bag a dozen times.  What saves it each time is how comfortable it is and how indestructible!  It's literally wash and wear and packs like a dream. A keeper for sure!

I bought both of these oddballs here in Florida.  The striped one, rather circus inspired I'd say, is so voluminous that normally I wear it with a belt and often with a button down blouse underneath.  The polkadot/flora also looks especially nice with this cantelope colour filmy blouse underneath. I know it sounds like it doesn't go, but it absolutely does!  Wouldn't it be very cute with a pink or red jacket?  Both are fine with sandals, sneakers, flats or barefeet!  Very Comfy but nice enough to wear when I work at the museum.  I love clothes that are flexible about their use.

How Very Tropical! ​Obviously, Florida Purchases.  The pink one I bought on a whim one day shortly after we moved here. I was walking down the avenue and a store that was closing had a spectacular sale going on - last day of!  I don't remember what I paid for it but it was a teensy fraction of the original cost. Love it with a denim jacket and 5 lbs less than I currently weight. dang it.    Oh I can get it on right now, just it looks a whole lot better 5 lbs ago.  Sigh.  The other one I bought for a wedding which sounds unusual.  Not in Florida.  An old friend of Tim's was getting married and it was a Tropically Themed Wedding. Everyone was supposed to wear Tropically Inspired clothes.  The pink one would have been perfect if the stars and my scale and my wishes were in alignment. But alas, they were not. So off we went to a local store and this one fell right into the cart.  The back is longer than the front so it has a kind of salsa feel that makes it even more fun!

It's Sparkle Time!  Love these two.  The gold and black one Joy gave me.  Originally it was hers but I think it turned out to be uncomfortably itchy to her. Luckily it wasn't to me!  Normally I wear this with a black pullover sweater over top and it appears that I'm wearing a sparkly skirt rather than a dress.  The blue one I bought to wear to Youngest sons wedding. And I have worn it a surprising number of times since then. Mostly Christmas Parties but still it's refreshing to buy something for one specific occasion and then be able to wear it other times and places as well.  It is dressy so clearly it don't wear it to the grocery store or to do yard work or scrub toilets.  But every fancy dinner or theatre visit or special holiday one of these babies comes out without a second's hesitation.

Grocery Store Treasures.  Hard to believe but I found both of these (different years) at my local Publix Grocery Store.  I don't know if ALL Publix stores carry clothing but ours does.  Maybe because we are a beach/tourist town?  Whatever the reason,  they were such good buys.  Each was less than $20 bucks. The blue one in particular is great because while it's a terrific summery sundress on it's own,  during the cooler months I wear it as a tunic over white skinny jeans and it's still awesome.    The green one, I think I was drawn to the colour more than anything and those fun little tiers in the skirt.    I wear a white tank top under it and sometimes a lightweight summer sweater overtop. Comfy, cottony, easy to care for, love them both.

bLast but not least, the new kid in town.  I did a little shopping over the weekend and this one came home with me.  It's linen, so nice and cool it's very lightweight and comfortable, floaty but not too loose and the design is so fun!  

There you have it. I own eleven dresses!  What?  How on earth did that happen?  Never thought of myself as a dress-wearing person on an ordinary day but it turns out they are so loose and cool and comfortable and honestly, nice looking. Kicks up my style a wee bit and that never hurts!

I have been writing for awhile now, my fingers are getting tired.  Originally I intended to include my new purchases from this past weekend (in addition to the light blue dress) but now I'm thinking, it'll just be Part Two which I'll put together another day.  Which day?  I don't know for sure, but it'll happen.  Stay tuned.

Hey there ! How is everyone?  What's new and exciting?  It's been about three weeks now since I've posted and well, it's about doggone time that I started up again, right?

This was actually a longer break than I intended.  I tried to post last week but it seemed that my blog construction site was down.  I assumed it was just a bit of maintainence - it happens.  But then I tried again the next day and the next and hmmmm.  I mentioned it to Tim and he looked into it for me. He has his ways......

Turns out the construction site is now owned by another company and of course they have their own ways of doing things including the way that folks like me can actually get in and use the process.  Dang.  Tim was kind enough to figure it all out for me and as of this morning, I'm back!  yay!  A week later than anticipated but still I'm happy to be here :)

Let's catch up!  First of all, about the break.  As some of you guessed, yes, it was yet another medical leave of absence.  I'm ok, healing up from another surgery and very (VERY) slowly finding my way back to myself.  It's babysteps but I'm getting there and according to my doctors making great progress.    Yay me! 

Other than that, I suppose not really  much happening.  Obviously, I'm not hiking right now soooo no photo safari reports will be happening for a bit.  BUT it is now officially summer. We crossed over to the hot side!  In  Florida here that means we have also entered the rainy season.  And we have had a good bit of rain. That's fine. I dont' live outside afterall.  And all the green growing stuff is singing and dancing with joy!  I took a few photos in the gardens between rain bands:

Father's Day was last Sunday and it was very low key here in this house as I wasn't up to doing much yet. Poor Tim.  He deserves so much better. We decided to just postpone his celebration rather than ignore it.  Perhaps this weekend will be a belated Father's Day !!

I finally learned how to fix my hair into a bun using a chopstick.  I know, I know, not much of a goal but still there it is.  Now that my hair is longer I've been looking for ways to style it.  And since I dont' have much going on right now, I decided to use this time to explore that. To that end,  I've been watching how-to video's for  how to work with longer hair especially putting it, easily, into a messy bun, a tidy bun or any updo at all. Perfect for hot summer days.

I mean, of course I can ponytail it - and I do. Or braid it and I do that also.  But I was looking for variety. I love having options.  Lots and Lots of options!  So I watch the video's and I try. And I try. And I try. And I fail. And I fail. And I fail.  ARGH!  They make it look so easy!  Alas, I do not have the hair-do gene and I had about given up and then I stumbled across this chopstick bun thingie and voila! It worked!

At least it has now been successful twice.  And it stays up all day too!  Unlike with hair bands or clips which have to be redone over and over.  Kind of exciting.  On the other hand, the chopstick trick only works sometimes.  There are days when the first time I do it it's a big taadaa!  There are other days when I can do what I always think is the exact same thing, over and over with no good result.  Bah.  My hair is so annoying!    Except on the days when it turns out perfectly as I wish with no drama.  Then I like it.  I'm fickle.

Still a goal is a goal and I'm tickled to to have at least one more hair option :)

Otherwise, I've been reading a LOT which is a delight. Walking a lot and further each day - albeit very very slowly. Think sloth slow. Turtle Slow. Speed of Smell slow (thank you Ron White for that last description).  I'm thinking this isn't about speed though, it's about endurance and building it up and THAT I'm absolutely doing.

​So I guess that's that.  The kitties are still adorable and very entertaining.  They have been especially sweet to me too. Aren't pets amazing how they instinctively understand, ok Mom needs a little extra purring today and remember to be gentle with her!!  And they are.  I don't have to tell them, they just know!
​

So that's about it.  Joy has been very sweet and coming up every week to either visit with me in the house or take some of those incredibly slow walks with me.  Neighbors have brought by 
Banana Bread and good wishes.  I've gotten lovely cards and texts and emails and phone calls, all of which I hold near and dear to my heart.  Especially the funny ones ;) Even when it hurts to laugh!

Oh I nearly forgot, two days before surgery, as I was deep into cleaning and doing laundry, the washing machine quit!  Just up and quit!  How Rude!  So I figured, welp, I'll be spending the next day at the laundrymat.  Nobody's idea of a fun time.  Instead, on that same day of the washer demise, we went to Lowe's and bought a new washer which was delivered very early, the very next day so I was able to catch up on all of the laundry without leaving the house. Proof once again that we live in a wonderful world.  I do love the new washer.  It wasn't something we planned for but hey, stuff happens. And you gotta roll with it. 

So that's pretty much all that has been going on here.  What's new with you guys?  In case you didn't know, I missed you ;)

​Hugs all 'round

It's time for a Break!   I am going to be taking a few weeks off! 

Wishing everyone a terrific fortnight. Hope you all stay healthy and happy and most importantly, are having fun!

And until we meet here again, 

Hugs all 'round

It's time for another Photo Safari Report!  This one I'm calling the Magical Woodpeckers Hike. You will find out why.

We are right on the heels of summer which means the temperatures and the humidity are rising.  And that, in turn, means that our hikes start earlier and are shorter so that we can continue to enjoy them rather than just endure them.  We hit the trails ahead of the birds this time but once they finally showed up, it was worth the wait.

We wandered down one path and up another trail, enjoying the walk'n'talk that we do, but taking very few photos for what seemed like a long time.  Some hikes are just like that.  Lots of walking and very little snapping.  We assumed that would be the case once again.  Until we turned down one particular trail and Joy suddenly came to an abrupt stop. So naturally I stopped.  She pointed and I saw it, a cute little woodpecker right in front of us.  Awwwww.  We both stood unmoving while taking a couple of pictures.  

We were absolutely silent as we always are in those times and perhaps it was the combination of the quiet and our stillness that got things started, but suddenly we began to see more woodpeckers and then more and then still more until we realized that they were literally everywhere.  Some on the trunks of trees, some on branches, even more in the air, flying, swooping, zooming around us!  There were so many that there were multiple woodpeckers on each tree, sharing branches, flitting through the leaves, fronds and sprills and again, zipping past us as if we too were part of the forest.  There were so many woodpeckers that they filled the air. It was almost as if the sky were raining woodpeckers.  I have never experienced anything like it before and let me assure you, it was Magical!  Wow!  

Obviously, therefore, I have woodpecker photos.  I will try (try) to keep them to a minimum.  Here we go:

We did see and hear a few other birds including one that had a song neither of us recognized.  It is never a shock when it's something in nature that is new to me, but Joy (as a former Ranger) usually is familiar but this time even she had never heard it before.  We spent quite some time trying to find the source of the song. She eventually was able to get a photo of the adorable little dickens, I did not. Ratz!  I don't remember the name although it started with the letter V if that helps any birders out there.  It was a surprisingly small bird for such a Big song (I saw Joy's photo) so it was another really nice surprise!

Here's a small handful of the other birdies:
​

Only a few botanicals for you today, one in black and white:

This is a strange time of year.  The temperatures feel like summer, which is our usual rainy season, but it's drydrydry like winter which is always our dry season. Which means the rivers and creeks have very low water levels.  Therefore, water birds are struggling, and the green growing stuff is droopy and crispy and certainly not thriving which means non-water birds are struggling.   We didn't even see any butterflies or bees yesterday!  Which definitely tells you that something ain't right!

Rain is predicted for this afternoon (hope that's true!) and on and off for the next week so perhaps, finally, the rainy season is truly on its way.  I know, I know, according to the calendar summer doesn't begin until June 20th and this being the last day of May, we have weeks until summer. Right?  Nope, not here in Florida.  It's is hothothot like summer right now and has been for a few weeks.  It's a little ahead of schedule, true, but Mother Nature has her own calendar, and she doesn't consult us.   Nor is she required to.  This is her world, we just live in it.

Hope you enjoyed this Photo Safari Report of the Magical Woodpecker Hike because I'm not absolutely certain when the next one will be.  Meanwhile, hugs all 'round!  Have a great weekend!

Hey there!  Have you all recovered from the long weekend?    I know that not everyone actually gets to have 3-days off in a row because of the sorts of jobs that they have, but for everyone else,  it's a big woohoo!  Something that I think we all look very much forward to.

Three consecutive days off with no job-related responsibilities or stresses. No waking up to an alarm clock. No rushing through every single moment of the day, trying to, somehow magically shoehorn extra non-existent hours, into a 24 hour period of time.  Ahhhhh!  Wonderful!

And you can do whatever you like with those 3-days.  Some people travel, just  a short get-away. Other folks relax at home or catch up on projects.  Maybe you hosted friends and family. Or perhaps since the weather is nicer now, it was time to get your garden started!  Traditionally it's a day of remembering those who have passed, especially those who have served our country in our military.   And how best to remember and celebrate their lives than to live, laugh, love our lives.

And no matter if you chose to commemorate the Memorial Day Weekend with a cookout, a trip, a project or just a lot of relaxation (ahhhhh!)  it was still 72 hours away from your normal workaday life.  And change of pace itself is enough to recharge batteries for most of us.

Still there is always a balance on the other end.    Yes, because Monday was a holiday, there is now only a 4 day work week ahead (another yay!) but it also means cramming 5 days work into 4 and sometimes that feels more like punishment than reward, right?  I remember it well.  Coming into work extra early on the Tuesday following a long weekend just to try to catch up. There were always a Long list of messages on the phone and an almost endless pile up of emails on top of the normal weeks work!  Which meant coming in early, working through lunch and often staying late for a few days just to get back into a normal weekly rhythm.

Even for me, retired tho I be, I have a sort of pattern to my weeks.  Mondays is also a day of tidying of course after a weekend but mostly it is a day of laundry. Lots of laundry. Load after load of laundry. I change out all of the towels and sheets that day on top of the regular clothes sort of laundry.  Tuesdays, on the other hand, is mostly about grocery shopping and dusting and vacuuming, ironing and cleaning bathrooms, because come Wednesday my Museum Day is on tap and I accomplish little at home other than meals on a Museum Day.  

When a three day weekend comes along, on Tuesday, I find myself trying to do both Monday and Tuesdays chores all on Tuesday.  Even though it's not as if I'll get in "trouble" if everything doesn't get caught up by the end of Tuesday and I'm in no danger of being fired after all, I don't like to drag things out too far.  It just ends up cluttering up the rest  of the week.  I just  want to get back to a normal pattern of things as quickly as possible so that a Monday/Tuesday doesn't also become a Tuesday/Wednesday and then a Wednesday/Thursday.....you get the drift.   There is a comfort, for me,  that comes with an orderly, predictable pattern.  

I know without a doubt, without a whisper of a hint of a question, that by Tuesday afternoon, all of the clothes that we own that are not on our bodies, are clean, ironing, folded, put away and ready to be worn again.   There is no wondering if ones "lucky" socks are ready to be worn again because they are always washed, dried, rolled up and tucked into the sock drawer, right next to the, presumably unluck or, at least,  less lucky socks by Tuesday afternoon.  Just the way it works in this house.

When Thursday comes around, I am free to go hiking with my sister without feeling that heavy load of chores dangling over my head like the sword of Damocles.  It's all already done. I can relax, enjoy my hike, the photography, the company and the day.  Friday is my baking day and then the "work" week is complete and Tim and I can enjoy the weekend together.

It's Wednesday now and yes, I knocked out all of the Monday & Tuesday stuff and I am back on track.  It is a good thing.  I do love a three-day weekend, without question, getting to spend 3 whole days with my sweetie (woohoo) without jobs getting in the way.  But my favourite part about AFTER a long weekend, is Wednesday when I'm all caught up again.

And now I am. Huzzah!

They they are again, the two intrepid explorers of hiking trails!  That's Joy in black'n'white on the left and me on the right just in case you weren't certain.  It's tricky when you cannot see our faces.

Clearly this is going to be yet another Photo Safari Report. Exciting!    This will not be a usual one however.  So I'm going to call this the Different Sort of Hike because it was a little different.  Mostly, in the end, because we ended up with so few pictures!

I'm not absolutely positive why  we got so few photographs on this hike.  All of the proper elements were there.  It was a terrific huge preserve, we wandered the paths for several hours and managed to get in multiple miles doing so, it was a gorgeous bright and sunny day.  I guess I have no good excuses but facts are facts and the fact is, not a lot of photos.

I didn't get many bird photos and most of the ones I got are not worth sharing.  I seemed to have gotten a lot of pictures similar to this cardinal:

As you can see, it is unmistakably a cardinal, but my photo is more of a crystal clear branch and a rather blurry bird.  Not good.

​On the other hand, this hawk  photos was better:

The paths were beautiful, as they almost always are. And they are so pretty that they are photo worthy both in colour and black 'n' white.  Here, decide for yourself:

There were some very pretty wildflowers.  I probably got more botanicals than anything else but honestly, not too many of those either.  Still, here's what I got:

We suspect that, even though we are out there on the trails by a quarter to eight, we need to start earlier now that the temperatures are rising.  Any bird with a lick of sense has found a nice cool place to hang out during the hottest part of the day as the flowers begin to droop in the heat as do the photographers.  It's tough getting great angles for shots that aren't bleached out when the sun shines so brightly and let's see if I can think of any other excuses.....heh.

Doesn't matter.  Only a few photos for you on this Different Kind of Hike, but we still had a great time.  Though we will be leaving earlier in the morning for the rest of the summer. I know, I know, technically, it's not "summer" yet.  I don't care what the calendar says, when it's 85 degrees at 10 am and the "feels like" is 100, it's doggone summer.

And before I forget, have a GREAT Memorial Day Weekend!  Relax, eat good food, get outside for a bit if you can and have big fun!!

We'll get together again sometime next week after the long weekend.

​Hugs all 'round

Was in the Dollar Store recently and saw this 3-pack of bubble.  Always makes me feel so nostalgic.  I'm not sure exactly what it is about bubbles but I adore them and always have.  Makes me feel such a simple joy.  And I don't have to be the one who creates the bubbles, just watching bubbles brings a momentary delight.  Bubbles are carefree and sillyfun and serve absolutely no purpose other than to bring happiness!  Love that.

I enjoy them so much in fact that, seriously, if you know of some environmental reason why I should not do bubbles, please do not tell me. So many things that I love are now deemed bad for me, bad for others, bad for the planet, bad for the universe. Don't ruin this for me too.  I'm begging you.

Anyway, the 3-pack of bubbles.  Naturally I had to buy it.  I had no choice.    And of course, once I got home, I had to introduce the kittyboys to them.  I wasn't sure what their reaction would be, but hey, let's find out!

At first they were very wary.  Their natural curiousity made them check it out but in a slow and cautious sort of way.  Initially there was a lot of just watching.  Everytime a bubble vanished upon popping,  they grew more interested.  What is this sorcery?  Eventually they approached a bubble still in the air and did what kitties always do, they sniffed at it.  The bubble, of course popped.  

That was shocking enough to have them step back a bit butit did not keep them away for long.  Soon they  progressed from sniffing to touching.  And of course, once again, Pop!  I think they liked that because in very short order they were sitting up on their back legs to swat at bubbles and occasionally jump into the air to smack a bubble here and there.  If they couldn't kill an air bubble they settled for stepping on an intact bubble that landed on the floor.

In short it was Extremely Amusing!  You know what they say, "Simple Pleasures for Simple People".  I don't care one bit.  I think I am a person who is made happy by very simple things.  There's not one single thing wrong with that. 

The cats enjoy the bubbles so much that I asked Tim to be the bubble creator the next day so I could take some pictures.  And then the following day I tried doing it on my own, blowing the bubbles AND taking the pictures which was a little trickier but I got a few. Different light on different days, but still...pictures.

Ready for them?

Here we go, photos with captions:

Brysco and Wyatt love playing bubble so much that they will get my attention by meowing  and when I track them down, I find them sitting by the shelf where I keep the bubbles.  Come on mom, let's play!  And so we do.  Nearly every day now we take a few minutes out to play bubble just for a little bit.  

The down side is that since we are playing in the house, afterwards I have to wash the floor.  No worries, our floor is now cleaner than ever.  Bubble time is immediately followed by washing floor time.  Not a big deal, it is totally balanced out by how much we all are enjoying the bubbles.

And lest you think it is a weird thing for some one as old as me to still be enjoying bubbles, I have this to day,  #1  I dont' care if you call me childish or childlike but I like what I like, and I like bubbles.  You don't have to if you don't want to, but I do.  To thine own self be true and all that  #2  I'm not the only one.  There is a house up in Sarasota that we often drive past that has a bubble machine at the end of their driveway blowing a constant stream of bubbles out onto the sidewalk and beyond to the street. They probably wouldn't be doing that if other people weren't also enjoying it  (I'm pretty sure they don't it just for me) #3 I've been called, odd, weird, strange, unusual and unique my entire life. I'm not at all put off if you do it too and lastly, #4 the kitties are loving it and it makes me happy to see them so happy.

In the words of Don Ho, "Tiny Bubbles....make me happy"  Of course he was talking about the bubbles in a glass of wine, but bubbles is bubbles and happy is happy and I'm good with it.

And now I have that song in my head.  Oh well, maybe that just means it's time to do bubbles.  Come on Kitties!  It's Bubble Time!

Well, it looks like the whole house is all ish-kabibble once again!  Geez!    Everywhere you look right now are nice neat stacks of clean sheets, pillows (so many pillows), mattresses, bed frames, box springs and toss pillows.  What a mess!

This is what happens when you finally break down and buy a new bed!  Woohoo!  So exciting!  It ought to be delivered some time today and we are so ready!  

Getting a new bed meant, for us means that the guest room bed is on it's way outoutout.  Our old bed, which isn't very old really, we bought it here in Florida afterall, will become the new guest  bed.  It's a good quality very comfortable mattress and will be a comfortable nights sleep for any guest you ends up snoozing on it. 

The fellows who are bringing our new bed will take the old guest room bed away, huzzah, and that will automatically make the chaos in the living room much better.  Mattresses and box springs leaning up against  random walls looks so very, ummm, I don't know,  dormitory between semesters or something.  

So the guest bedroom will now be sporting not only a nice, much newer, mattresses and box spring, but it also inherited the headboard and footboard that used to be in our room.  Love that!  I know that a head board (and/or foot board) is not strictly necessary, but I really like the way it looks.  It seems more finished I suppose.  Like when you are all dressed and then you put your shoes on.  Now you are finished dressing :)

HOWEVER, the guest room is NOT inheriting the old comforter.  That thing is thirty years old and has holes in it.  It's ready for the garbage.  On the other hand, the original guest room comforter is in Fabulous shape and will continue to do it's job very nicely. So for those of you keeping score, Guest room has new bed, new headboard/footboard but the same comforter.  

Our new bed, (Squee! So Excited!) is not only a King instead of the Queen sized bed we've always had, but it's an adjustable King.  Wow!  Both the head and the foot go up and down.  So Fancy!   It's supposed to be terrific for aiding sleep for people with seasonal allergies, sleep apnea, indigestion, and snoring problems!  And as a bonus, it's easier to watch TV or read in bed.  Awesome!

Because the bottom of it is one king sized bed and the top is two extra long twins, the sheets are sized specifically for that situation which means no more buying sets but only separates.  That'll work.  We did have to buy a new comforter though and that took stops at Multiple stores to find.  It was so much more of an ordeal than I anticipated.

First of all, our bedroom is an odd grey/green/sagey sort of colour. I don't dislike it but I probably wouldn't have picked it.  On the other hand, we didn't really have the time (Or desire) to repaint the bedroom before the new bed came so we had to find a comforter that would go with grey/green/sagey.  As it turns out, there aren't many colours that do.  Another issue was finding a comforter that wasn't too heavy or dense so that Tim wouldn't be too hot.  He's one of those people who is almost always too hot, so something lightweight.  You would think a lightweight comforter or coverlet would be easy to find in Florida, a hot place.  As it turns out, not as easy as you might think. 

Another issue was dealing with what was available in stores.  The short time frame meant trying to not have to buy on line when you are at their mercy of when things are delivered.  And worse, is it exactly what you thought it was from what was shown or written on line.    So I  think we went to 3 different stores, or maybe it was 4. Five?  However many it was, it seems that the stores hereabouts believe that everyone should have a comforter with scenes/pictures/patterns that typify Florida.  There were fish and palm trees and hibiscus and ocean waves galore.  Sometimes the colours were just oceany - blues and greens.  Other times colours one might consider as tropical - bright bright yellows, greens and oranges.  And there is absolutely nothing wrong with ANY of those options except, they aren't us.  I don't really want to sleep under the sea or in a Jimmy Buffet song.  Obviously we finally found something that would do.  That's what we settled on, something that would do.  Neither of us hated it.  AND it goes with the oddly coloured walls of the room. A very high standard indeed.

So right now, there is nothing to do but wait.  Tim emptied the rooms. I have done the laundry and cleaned the rooms (swept, vacuumed, dusted AND washed the floors).  The kitties have done everything they could possibly do to help (read that as be in the way) and therefore, I think we are ready.

And while I really hate the clutter and chaos of an ish-kabibbled state, I also know that it's short term and once the new bed is in place in our room and the old bed is in the guest room and the really old bed is gone, then I can put everything to rights and by tonight all will be well.  We will sleep the sleep a people on new sheets, under a new comforter, in a new bed.  Yay!  Can't wait!

Happy Day After Mother's Day!!  

This is how my Mother's Day began.  Sweet cards and my favourite cinnamon roll. Yummmmy! So Wonderfully Bad for me!  I got emails and phone calls and texts and IM's and oh my goodness so many good wishes for a Happy Mama's Day!  

Tim took me (and my camera) to Spanish Point for my Mother's Day Outing.  I know that means little to nothing to you but Spanish point is a wonderful place, just two towns north of us (maybe a 15-20 minute drive).   About a hundred years ago, a phenomenally wealthy woman from Chicago named Bertha Palmer fell so in love with, what is now the Sarasota County area of Florida, that she bought some 14,000 acres of land!  (which is now roughly a quarter of Sarasota County).  She carved out 350 acres along Little Sarasota Bay to build her winter home which she referred to has her winter cottage. So naturally it was a freakin' mansion!  She preserved the existing homesteaders buildings, including a chapel, and repurposed some of them into things like a guest house and homes for her own servants and grounds caretakers.  She also had magnificent gardens created.

Interestingly, her winter home called, The Oaks, no longer exists.  But many of the other buildings do and they continue to be  lovingly cared for.  Bertha's beautiful gardens, including an aquaduct (!) are being slowly reclaimed.  In short it is a beautiful place to wander for a bit.  Currently the gardens and walkways are dotted with oversized samples offamous landscape Photographer Clyde Butchers work.  I am a fan :)

Soooo since I took a bunch of photos anyway, I hope you don't mind if I share a few .  I lumped them together by category so they are no representative of a linear timeline of the walk, just FYI.   Let's start with a few butterflies.  There are gardens galore so naturally there are butterflies.  And now they even have a small butterfly house!

Kind of naturally segues into gardens doesn't it?  Some of these gardens are formal, some are definitely less formal. All of them are beautiful :)

Part of the formal garden is watered via aquaduct!  It was so unexpected but absolutely wonderful.  Here are a few photos of it:

And of course, since this property is right there on Little Sarasota Bay, there are water pictures next.  Just a few, I swear!

  A little bit of one structure, a cute little rustic gazebo, appeared in one of the water photos in the previous category so lets call the next category "structures".  A rather loose category that includes buildings of all sorts, pergolas and more. Some quite grand, other's more humble:

We walked down paths, boardwalks and picked through barely distinguishable trails (new area not ready for prime time) and went up and down endless stairs and paths of all sorts.  Here area few:

And then there was the art.  Clyde Butcher was inspired by Ansel Adams and at one point in his career decided to focus solely on black & white landscapes.  His work is amazing!  You know how some music or writers or painters just seem to speak specifically to you?  Well that is how I feel about most of Clyde Butchers work.  I am endlessly wowed and inspired by him.  He actually lives in Florida by the way.  He and his artist wife live on acreage in the Big Cypress National Preserve where they are not just artists, but also reknowned conservationists.

Sadly, because I am not anywhere near as good a photograph as Mr Butcher, and didn't notice until it was too late, you will see My reflection and occasionally Tim's too in these photos.  Dang!  Oh well, here they are and I hope you enjoy Mr. Butcher's work!

Anyway, it was a wonderful Mother's Day!  I hope yours was even better though I'm not sure how that would be possible!

​

Ya'll in the mood for another Photo Safari Report?  Well ok then!  I am calling this one the Two Eagles Hike because, obviously, we saw two eagles.  But more on them later.  I think I'll begin with my one and only black and white photo this time 'round.  It looks so dramatic in black and white!  Just a tree and some clouds in colour, but remove the colour and pow!  Drama!

It wasn't a very long hike but we did see some very cool, far less dramatic things as we covered our miles.  I think I'll start with the birdies.  There was a very nice variety so instead of giving you multiple photos of one sort of bird (yawn, boring) instead it will be  multiple bird photos each of a different sort.  Except the eagles.  Maybe I ought to start with them. 

Ok the Eagles Story.  This particular preserve Joy and I have hiked a few times before.  The first time we also came across two eagles that were, surprisingly, perched high in a tree that we walked directly under. So these massive, totally silent birds were right above us. It was a wow!    We were hoping for a similar experience this time around.  But sadly when we walked under those trees there were no eagles.  Awwww :(    Then we walked a little further and in the distance spied the nest, but it had clearly been abandoned and was kind of beginning to fall apart.  Dang.  We thought maybe the eagles had moved on to another area.  Ratz.  So we continued to hike.  Further down the trail as we went merrily along, Joy suddenly came to an abrupt stop.  She peered into the distance and so I looked too but i saw nothing special.  She brought up her camera and said, "Yes!" with such glee that I did the same.  And there is was.  Well one of them was

Well, we figured, where there is one, there must be the other, so we kept looking and of course, once again, it was Joy who found it.  The other Eagle!

And a few minutes later, we found the new nest

Yay!  We were so very pleased to learn that they hadn't decamped to another, unknown, spot!  We can watch the progress now and perhaps eventually see baby eagles !!  And then watch them grow :)  Very fun!

The rest of the birds were absolutly wonderful but not nearly as exciting.  No insult to the birds intended of course:

Otherwise let's see, we saw some interesting trees:

We did see a lot of rabbits but I only got a picture of one so he will serve as the representative of them all which is a terrible responsibility!  Sorry Bunny

I spied some Spanish Moss hanging from a vine looking for all the world like laundry drying on a line:

A few pretty wildflowers and interesting silver greenery:

Then two shots of the same butterfly on a flower because I couldn't decide which picture I liked the best:

It was only a 3 miles hike so not a really long one but it was long enough to enjoy being outside and hanging out together and taking lots of photos.  It'll do.  

I will leave you with one of my accidental photos. I wonder what I was trying to take a picture of when this happened?

HAHAHA!  Oh well, stuff happens.

However you spend this weekend, be happy, be healthy and have fun!

Wow! That's a lot of stuff, eh?

For the past few days we have had the absolutely delightful pleasure of enjoying the company of  people we adore that live out of state.  We Had Such A Good Time!  

We did so many fun things, ate at least a zillion meals, talked and talked and walked, laughed a lot and just relished every single moment.  

What did we do?  It was more what didn't we do to quote Ferris Bueller!  Let's see, hmmmm.  We did so much cool stuff!   We went to a science museum, toured historic homes, went to an aquarium, perused a wonderful used book store, collected shells on the beach and played an awesome mini-golf course.  And that was just in two days!  Most of the rest of the space in each day was filled with laughter, food and conversation.  Really it was about perfect.

Brysco was happy to  meet our guests. Wyatt not so much.  He hid for the duration.  I'm pleased to say that he has recovered fully from the experience and is back to being his goofy old self.  

And today we are back to our normal usual ordinary lives which is a little hard after so much fun and excitement.  And honestly, the minute our guests drove away, we already missed them so much.   But we have great memories now to add to the memory file that I can pull out and enjoy all over again when I start missing them too much.

I wish the weather had been nicer. It was a little warmer and more humid than was truly ideal but at least it didn't rain I suppose.  I wish they could have stayed longer.  I wish we saw them more often.  I wish I had carved out more time to spend with each of them individually just to catch up one on one.  But I'm overjoyed with the time together that we did get to have.

It was a great weekend.  One of the Best.  I don't know what you did this weekend, but I know mine was better ;)

Hugs all 'round.

"The Shadow Knows" that Joy and I were back out hiking this week so that means this must be another Photo Safari Report!~  I struggled with what to call this one because there doesn't seem to be one predominant theme of photos so I think this one is just the Mostly Randos Hike. Lotsa Rando photos this time 'round.  Which is just fine.  We skipped last week so we get what we get.  (Thank you to Joy for the above photo by the way)

It's getting warmer and just a smidge humid now that we've enterred the merry merry month of May, so we decided to hike Sleeping Turtle Preserve quickly before the rainy season starts.  Two reasons:  It tends to flood when it rains and, really because of that, once the rain begins the mosquitos are rampant and they think that Joy is a tasty treat!   Got to get in there before the rain falls every year just so we can say it's been done.

It's a preserve of much greenery, trees upon trees upon trees!  There could be giant scary predatory carnivorous and hungry wildlife within an arms reach of us and we would never know because the foliage is so thick!  Which is the exact same reason it's hard to photograph birds.  They were all around us, we could hear them, but they were very VERY hard to find.  Little buggers were hiding in the foliage laughing.   I didn't get much but here you go:  

The trails were beautiful, of course, and for a change we didn't have to wade through any streams or jump across any large puddles or creeks, or even build any frond bridges!  For a change we just moseyed down the paths.  Actually we did climb into (and therefore out of) a few ravines that would normally be full of water and had to duck under a couple of gravity defying leaning trees and the step over (sometimes climb over) large trees that had already fallen.  But comparatively, that's nothin'.  We did notice that while some of the trails were still nicely cleared others were so overgrown that occasionally we wondered if we had taken a bad turn and lost the trail. No worries, we figured it out. We always do.

Probably because it was such a lovely sunny dry day, there were scads of non-mosquitos insects:  spiders, bees, butterflies, dragonflies, bugs I don't know what were AND a dung beetle!  Didn't manage to capture them all, still saw them and that counts.

I probably got more botanical shots than anything. Partly because botanicals hold still which makes them much easier to capture but also because they are so beautiful, in every stage of life.  Some of these have gone by, some are in full bloom and some have no actual blooms. All of them are beautiful.  (Same goes for people!!)  I will break it up into two slideshows just for convenience sake:

I don't want to forget my black'n'white shots. Only a small handful today:

And of course by now you know you are nearing the end of the Photo Safari Report when I get to the Rando Category.   I probably have too many of them here so I will try to whittle it down to a more manageable slideshow.  Here we go:

We had a great time on the Mostly Randos Hike.  Hope you liked the pictures!

Fears and phobias and dreads, oh my!  We all have them.  Everybody has something that is, to them, if not downright scary, at least makes them uncomfortable.

Maybe it's a fear of heights, that is a very common one.  Perhaps crowds make you feel a little unsettled.  Or Spiders?  Snakes?  The darkness?  Water?  Whatever you particular fear is, I get it.  I sympathize with how it makes you feel and I understand.  I would never dismiss how you feel, I would never just tell you to "get over it" or whine about how inconvenient your phobia is for me.    All things, by the way, that at one time or another have been done to me.    Even if I don't completely understand why you are afraid, I would accept it as true. 

I said that with such confidence didn't I?   And I absolutely, truly, sincerely mean every word of it.  Or at least I did until recently.

Strange things come into my feed online and a short time ago a little video popped up with a youngish person (I'd say mid 20's) with an engaging smile.  He gazed very comfortably into the camera and then said, with no hesitation that he didn't understand why "old people" had an obsession with punctuation.   "Old People" use it all the time, even in texts!  He was clearly baffled by this phenomenon.   He finished up by saying that he didn't understand punctuastion and that he was, frankly, terrified by it.

Terrified.  By Punctuation.  Really?  


Well at first I just assumed (though one should never) that perhaps he wasn't properly introduced to the concept of punctuation in school and that he was describing it as being terrifying as an exaggeration just for the sake of impact in his video.  But out of curiousity I googled it and did a YouTube search and sonuvagun!  He is not the only young person who is afraid of punctuation and Confused by our (our being us old folk) insistence on using it.  It  seems as if this  fear, or at least discomfort, is a thing now.

My initial answer to the Why of it all (why do you use punctuation?) is.....for clarity!  It's all about communication!  Communication, the clear and unmistakable exchange of thoughts, ideas, requests, comments etc. is key to every single relationship you will ever have.  To break it down further,  there is a huge difference between:

1) Let's eat, Grandma

and

2) Let's eat Grandma.

And just in case you didn't understand that difference (which breaks my heart)  Number 1 is an invitation to Grandma requesting that she join them for a meal.  Number 2 suggests strongly that Grandma is the meal, or at least the entree.    

Big Difference.  That's why we use punctuation.

But it seems, according to these articles which primarily are in the form  of videos, punctuation comes off as being "hostile".  Which is the opposite of proper communication.    When I write and use punctuation and yes even in my emails and texts, I absolutely use punctuation.  A properly placed comma can mean the difference between   a dinner guest or a guest as dinner.  Wow.  Wow.  Wow.  Wow.

Hostile and Frightening.  Well, I know that often we are frightened of things we don't understand and that fear can cause people to be defensive which can present itself as hostility.  Could it be that these young people were never taught how to use punctuation?  I know that nobody teaches Sentence Diagramming anymore which is a dang shame.  It's the difference between understanding how a combustion engine works and knowing how to rebuild a combustion engine.  And further, it explains a LOT of the writing I see nowadays.

Oh I cannot just blame the current batch of younger people.  Understanding how to properly communicate via the written word began falling apart even when I was in school.  Even when I was in college I noticed it.  One of the things I did in my college years, to earn a few bucks here and there, was to help people with their term papers.  One very nice and honestly very smart young fellow, for instance, asked me to look over a paper for him.  The very first sentence stopped me in my tracks.  I said, "Oh dear, this first line here, which ought to be your topic sentence, isn't even an actual sentence and is, instead, more of a phrase. "  His response was, "Of course it's a sentence...see? There is a period at the end."  And in his mind, that was the definition of a sentence.  When I explained that a sentence requires both a noun and a verb, (or subject and predicate)  he looked at me blankly.  Another wow.  He could tell me a million or so things about his subject and he knew his topic inside and out.  He just had no idea how to write it down in a way that everyone who read it also understood his topic.  Wow again.

So I suppose it started a long time ago and it's only continued it's long downhill slide until here we sit, punctuation-less, attempting to desperately communicate.

I'm not a good texter anyway.  I have no idea how other people fly though texting. It takes me forever, I hit the wrong dang buttons, have to go back and correct my spelling and still, thanks largely to an over-eager and often incorrect, auto correct, have to then send a follow up apologetic text to explain what I actually meant.

I do not use acronyms often and the only sorts of emoji's I utilize are smiley faces, sad faces, confused faces...anything face related.  I know that some people send texts that are soley comprised of emojis.  I do not even pretend to understand that.  Although if you are punctuation averse, I suppose it would be a draw.  I am guessing that a hieroglyphic text does not require punctuation.   Ancient Egyptians did not use punctuation in their written words.  But of course their civilization is now lost  to time.  Just sayin'  There is probably no connection there.

Anyway, I'm trying, really trying to understand this fear of punctuation.  By the way, I checked and there is currently no actual term for a punctuation phobia.  At least not yet.  Perhaps soon as it becomes more common.

I understand fear of bears, or flying, or even public speaking.  I can wrap my brain around fears of needles, fears of clowns and even the fear of fears.  But I'm not there yet with the fear of punctuation. I'm working on it.

Meanwhile, please note my liberal use of all sorts of punctuation in this post.  The way I see it, communication is difficult enough. Anything I can do to make myself clearer, my message more easily understood, I will do. Up to and including a period at the end of the sentence.  If that comes across as hostile, then obviously I am not communicating very well at all.  My apologies.

Credit to Joy for the above photo :)

Yesterday I promised to write up the Photo Safari Report for last week's hike.   It was such a great hike or actually a series of hikes, all of them in the same place, Mayakka State Park.  Joy and I drove (well technically she drove, I passengered) to a good place to hike, then of course we hiked around and took photos and then drove to the next great place and so forth.  So it's not one long hike, it's more a lot of small ones.  Still counts tho!  I guess therefore, I will call this one the Lotsa Hikes Hike.  That'll do.

It was, once again, an absolutely gorgeous day and perhaps because of that (?) we saw so much more variety than usual, meaning this time, it's not just birds :)  Oh there were birds, no question, but a really nice variety of them instead of mostly one sort.  What is it they used to say?  Oh yeah, Variety is the Spice of Life.  It's also the spice of photography!  

I may as well post the birds since I was just talking about them.  There were birds throughout the park, from the very first moment we passed the Ranger Station until we went back out. We were surrounded by all sorts of songs. Sometimes it's hard to find them even though you can hear them very clearly!  But if we are very patient and just stand in one spot, keeping our eyes peeled, eventually they usually reveal themselves.  So many different colours and sizes and personalities!  Love it.  Here is a sampling:

But we saw so many other wonderful creatures. After awhile you stop being surprised and just  accept the possibility that a dragon around the next corner would feel logical and reasonable ;)

You know that some trees really catch the attention of my eye and my camera.  Sometimes it's just one spectacular tree on it's own, other times it's a grouping:

Even thought there were flowers and interest foliage all around us, I took surprisingly few photos of them, so today, just a small handful:

I don't want to leave out my newest category, the black'n'white captures.  The smoke, by the way, we saw from quite a distance away and we assume (though one should never) that it was a controlled burn in another part of the park.  At least that's what we hope it was!

No rando's today!

I guess that's a wrap for the Lotsa Hikes Hike!  Hope you enjoyed it.  There is another hike planned for later this week and who knows what I'll have to share with you afterwards!

Hope everyone is happy and healthy and having fun!  
​
Hugs all 'round.

Normally today I would be writing the Photo Safari report from last week, and at some point, it will be written.  It was a great hike and I look forward to telling you about it.  But today I wanted  to write about quilts. Mix things up a bit.

Historically quilting of some sort has been going on for a long time.  A really long time.  Historians suspect that it goes back to dates like 3400 BCE.  Wow!  They don't know specific dates of course but that's the estimate.  Close enough for me.

They do know that quilting was brought to Europe by the Crusaders in the 12th century.  One of the oldest examples of quilting exists in the museum in Russia that has been dated, by the experts who do such things, to somewhere between 100 BCE and and  200 CE.  The quilted scrap was found in a Mongolian Cave!

In America, quilting was a very common practice in the 17th Century and forward. Interestingly (to me anyway) Colonial Quilts were not made of scraps or used clothing. Nor were they used as bed coverings.  Instead they were art pieces, used to decorate their homes!  It wasn't until the 19th century that scrap quilts used as bedcovers became commonplace.  That was a surprise to me!

Why am I talking about quilts?  Well certainly not because I make them.  Lord knows that my sewing skills are rudimentary at best and scandalously horrible at worst.  As many of you are aware, I struggle to replace a missing button.  Quilting is Way out of my wheelhouse.  

I do love them though and I always have.  They look cozy and homey and comfy. They are colourful and soft and beautiful, functional pieces of art!  Which is why Tim and I chose a (very thin) comforter that appears to be a quilt for our bed.  We've had it for a long time, nearly 30 years in fact.  And it still works.  Occasionally I think about replacing it but I haven't found anything I liked quite as much and so it remains.

Joy, on the other hand, makes beautiful quilts.   And she makes the process look as simple as breathing. It's not of course, she just makes it appears that way.   Our grandmother (our Nana) also made quilts.  Why I did not inherit that gene I do not know but our mother didn't either.  My genetic pre-disposition goes more toward cookies than quilts.

Luckily for me, my sister  loves me and I know this (well I already knew this) because she has now made three  (Three!) quilts for me.  Wow!

The first one is a patchwork quilt which I am a huge fan of.  I am familiar with the provenance  of almost every scrap of fabric used.  Either I was told where it came from or I was actually with Joy when she bought it.  I cannot make a quilt to save my life, but I love helping to choose the fabric so Joy often brings me along as a second set of eyes.   I love the randomness, the variety of colours and patterns and the occasional surprises along the way.  When I first received it I spent quite some time just getting to know it, marveling over each fabric, rejoicing in the sparkly bits and loving the stitched in surprises.  

Also luckily for me, Joy believes in using quilts, not just packing them away for safe keeping.  This first quilt was pressed into service as a chair cover once the kittyboys came to live with us.  They are particularly fond of one of our barrel chairs and rather than constantly chase them out of the chair we decided to cover it instead.  It works ;)

Here is the quilt as a chair cover:

And here it is, in all it's glory, tossed over the kitchen table so you can really see how beautiful and intricate it is:

The one day out of the blue, Joy surprised me with another quilt.  The pattern for this one is a jigsaw puzzle. I have no doubt that she just about went crossed-eyed putting this one together but it was worth every single eyedrop needed. I adore it!   The jigsaw quilt was used a lot two years ago when I spent a lot of time in and out of various surgeries and recovering and pretty much lived on the sofa for awhile. 

This quilt cuddled me and kept me safe and warm while I healed.  Now that the weather is getting warmer, it spend most  of it's it's time on a shelf in the Console Table below the Television.  No worries, there are glass doors so it can still be seen and admired.

But this is how it looks spread out on the kitchen table. Fabulous!   You can really see the jigsaw pattern.  And I especially love the backing on this one.  Who, besides Joy, would have thought to use this fabric?  It's perfect!!!

The third quilt is quite new to me.  Joy brought it over last week.  I actually knew this one was coming.  Joy wanted to make a Christmas Quilt for me but not a traditional Christmas Quilt.  She struggled to find a pattern. Not that she generally sticks to patterns, but often uses them as inspirations or jumping off points for her own designs.  Sometimes one pattern can be adapted into something else entirely.    But this time 'round, nothing came even close, so she had to design this one entirely on her own. And oh my gosh, the results are stunning!  

Sadly, I couldn't figure out how to get a photo of the entire quilt. It was Massive!  And  Magnificent!  What you don't see in this photo is that the white background has tiny white snowflakes and sparkles. All of the white fabric is sparkley! I adore sparkle :)   Each tree is completely different from any of the other trees.  The trunks are different fabrics as well.  Sometimes the trees over lap each other a bit, exactly as happens in nature.  They even overlap the border a little here and there which I especially love!    It's a forest of fabric trees!

The quilting is done in swirls that represent the wind and the rain and the snow that falls in the forest.  When you think of all the hikes that Joy and I have done in forests I think this perfectly represents not just our love of nature but also the time we spend together.  And Christmas, it could be Christmas too, why not?  Christmas Trees grow in the forest...!!  AND  at least one fabric is Christmassy.

There is one delightful whimsical surprise on this quilt too.  Way down above the border on one end is this:

How cute is that???  

I am well aware that quilts, much like aprons and punctuation are considered old fashioned and very out of current style.  Do you want to guess how much that matters to me?  If you guessed Not At All, you would be 100% correct!  

I wear an apron every time I cook, I use punctuation constantly, always and correctly and I adore Quilts!  

How many times have you heard that old saying, "With Age Comes Wisdom"?  I cannot begin to count how many times I have read it or heard it throughout my life.  I think I mostly, it was when I was much younger.

It became something to aspire to, something to look forward to. " When I'm older I will be wise".  Mental images of owls that looked a lot like Albert Einstein came to mind.  I pictured myself sagely nodding and answering questions and the crowd hanging on to my every word.   Or at least entering my golden years with an uncanny ability to select the best, fastest moving line in the grocery store.  Practical Wisdom.

And then I do something abysmally stupid and then I wonder when exactly this aged wisdom will begin to kick in.  

By way of example: About a month ago now,  I was cleaning baseboards (my first mistake obviously) when I had a little oopsy.  So picture this:  there I was squatched down carefully wiping down the baseboards under the part of the kitchen island that overhangs so that a person can sit at the counter.  Got it?  Good.  Then when I finished, I - still squatched over - backed up and in one quick movement stood up. All fine and good except that I hadn't yet cleared the overhanging countertop.  ouch.  I whammed my head full tilt into the granite and I tell ya, I saw stars, moons, suns. and all of the constellations I think.  

Tim heard the bang and came running in and found me sitting on the floor under the counter, with my hands on the ouchie part of my head and he brought me an ice pack immediately, got me to a chair to just sit then asked what happened.  When I told him, he just shook his head.  It's not the first time he has rescued me after having done something less than brilliant.

I was fine, thank you very much, but I felt very stupid.  And I said, to myself, "either I'm not yet old enough to be wise or the wisdom gene skipped a generation" and I went on about my life. 

But then yesterday I had a conversation with a friend about food.  Varieties of foods.  What foods we do and do not care for. And  she suggested that perhaps I ought to try a particular food again rather than just say that I had it once (long ago) and didn't like it and therefore have no desire to eat it again.  And I responded that I know myself quite well by now and I know, without a seconds hesitation that if I didn't like it then  I will not like it any better now thank you very much.   

There was no heat to my words, just a strong, firm, unshakeable conviction.  I delivered my words with a smile and a small laugh.  Neither of us was angry with the other.  We continued our conversation about other things.  But afterwards, it dawned on me that rarely in my life have I been so very confident about anything.  There was not one single doubt in my mind that what I was saying was true.  Hmmm. Interesting.

Now let's add to that.

This blog that I write is out there in the blogiverse.  Anyone of several billion people who are online can access it.  Which means that they can also comment on it.  And they do.  Most of the comments are kind, supportive and interesting and I greatly appreciate every single one.  But every once in awhile I get pushback from someone who takes issue with what I say, or how I say it.  It used to bother me.  It bothered me a lot more than it should have.  I wrote long letters of explanation and apology to these total strangers which sometimes caused them to write again, meaner, worse things.  And I fretted about it far too much.  I questioned if I had any business writing a blog in the first place.

Fast foward to today and I don't do that anymore. If someone doesn't like what I write, it's such a pity and what a shame.  But hey, life is fraught with disappointment is my attitude.  And then (a surprising new thing)  I never think about it again.

This goes for other internet sites that I am on.  I'm not on many but there is a photo site that oddly gets some people riled up and a few q & a sites that engender far more lashings that are strictly necessary.  

I no longer worry about whatever they have to say. Sometimes I don't even read anything mean or negative.  But when I do, I shrug and move along in my day and never give them a second thought.  In an unusual move,  recently I did respond to someone who disagreed with me.   And it wasn't even what I said, it was how I said it that he objected to.  And I responded that, basically, I cannot please everyone so I have decided to please myself.  That what I wrote pleased me and if it did not please him that perhaps he shouldn't read my responses.    And I wrote those words with no malice or ill intent, but with great confidence in myself.  

Wow, I have come a long way baby.  This is the same person who has spent 70 (almost 71) years basically apologizing for existing.  I apologized for everything all of the time whether I had any control over the situation or not, somehow, everything seemed to be my fault and therefore, I apologized.  And when people said to stop apologizing, I apologized for apologizing. 

It was ridiculous.  And it was sincere. I felt terrible for whatever awkwardness or discomfort or distress that other person was expressing. Even when I had nothing whatsoever to do with it.

If anyone challenged anything I said (or wrote) I was certain that they were correct and I was wrong and I would withdraw my statement and apologize once again.  

I am not sure why things have begun to change for me but they absolutely have.   Suddenly for no reason that I can figure out,  I am beginning to see things more clearly.  Including that old saying about age and wisdom.

I think perhaps the wisdom we gain in older age isn't just life experience type wisdom (although there certainly is that).  I think, maybe, the wisdom we achieve is in truly knowing ourselves.  Finally after all these years, I know what I like and what I don't, I know who I am and who I'm not.  I know what my dreams are, what my skills are, what my failings are  and I have no difficulty sharing that information (when pertinent) regardless of how anyone else feels about it.  They can question me, doubt me, chastise me, scold me, turn their backs on me, but it does not change who I am or how I feel. 

And I make no excuses or apologies for it. There is not one doubt in my mind that what I said was exactly what I intended to say.  Awesome.  And about dang time.

I will continue to do stupid or foolish things now and again because that too is part of who I am, but I am no longer embarrassed by it.  Much like Popeye, I yam who I yam and I'm okay with it.  I am old now and in one of the ways that is most important, I am wiser.

I think I got this.