Thursday, January 30, 2014

When Life Gives You Lemons

Why not make lemon pound cake? That's what I did!
And it was good, both sweet and sour, kind of like life wouldn't you say?

Actually it is a lemon-lime pound cake made with Sprite, of all things. Corrine still gives me her Southern Living magazines when she's through with them, and this recipe came from there. According to the article, using soda was all the rage in the '50's so why not the new millennium? It acts as the leavening agent. Who knew?

Thank you to all for the kind words regarding Bruce's abrupt departure from Darden. Well, as I stated in my last post, not entirely abrupt as he's still working, but, shall we say, unexpected departure? He has been overwhelmed with good wishes, and he'd want me to thank each and every one of you. For the record, he's doing okay. Of course, he's been in Miami since Tuesday morning, so I will have to take his word for it. No slacking for him--he stayed at the job until 8PM Tuesday night!!

It's been dreary as all get out here which has not been good for me. I'm staying busy, but it's been a bit of a struggle. I finally cut up all my birthday envelopes Tuesday afternoon, making this piece I'm calling "Love Knows No Color."
Dreadful photo really, with such poor light, it's the best I could do! I think I'll cover the heart with Mod Podge and see what happens.

The poor birds are eating more than usual, maybe to stay warm? The highs have been in the mid 40's with rain to boot. Now, that doesn't seem so bad to some folks, but for a Floridian, it is torture! While watching the painted bunting in the pre-dawn this morning, I was reminded of this scripture, which is well known to me, but not one I've thought about for some time:

Matthew 6:26-34

New King James Version (NKJV)
26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

And yes, the painted bunting keeps coming back. 
He knows a good thing when he's found one! This bird sat on the fence singing his heart out:
I can't identify him, but he sure had a pretty voice.

As well, I'm still working on my coaster idea. These came out pretty good, 
until I realized all of the writing was backward. Obviously, I did not pay attention to the instructions that told me to reverse my image before copying. While I was at Office Depot having the laser copies made, the helpful young man told me he could do it for me, as well as size them. Searching Google, I learned how to reverse the image so at least I'm part of the way.  Today he re-sized some, and you'll see how they turned out soon, but before I was armed with that knowledge, I made this batch:
You can see that they are in various stages of completion. I'm getting better, or so I think. 
After rubbing and rubbing, I at least recognize when I don't have all the paper off. At the very least, if I don't attempt to sell these, they will make nice hostess gifts! Ironically, I got a call from Audrey at SunDance on Tuesday, with news that there is a manufacturer who wants to license one of my images to make coasters! I'm all for it. Furthermore, I got a nice little bit of "mailbox money" from them the other day. Bring it on!!!

One of the great things about having my darling around the house all the time will be that everything will not only look great, but work perfectly! As you know, he can make, or fix, just about anything. The lighted globe, given to me by Sue, was dark. No one could seem to pry the thing open to figure it out UNTIL Bruce did over the holidays. 
He warned me he might break it trying to get it open, but knowing Sue only paid $5 for it, made that decision a no-brainer. There is the tiniest light bulb on the end of that stick along with a little magnifying glass. A word of caution here: while doing a little Google search for this globe, I came across a listing in Etsy for one. The price? $245!! Really?? Watch those Etsy prices as many are super inflated! Ebay had one for $45. By golly he got it to work!
But that doesn't surprise you does it? It casts a lovely glow in the living room, very welcome on a day like this.

Well, it won't be long before you know who gets home from Miami. There is some pizza dough waiting in the fridge to come out and warm up before I roll it out for dinner. I'm going to have to get used to a new schedule, that's for sure!!

p.s. Please forgive the font changes, I've no idea what is going on!!

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Big Changes Equal Big Opportunity

......or so we hope.

For the last 21 years Bruce has traveled the country building restaurants for Darden. In the early years, it was mostly Red Lobster or Olive Garden, however, of late he's been working on Season's 52, Capital Grille, and most recently, YardHouse. But you knew that...

No longer will that be the case. Yesterday was dreary, dreary, dreary. Bruce was busy working on the details for new projects, however, he had an email from one of the big bosses to come in for a 4:30 meeting. As he left, I wished him good luck. He needed it. If you read the news you've heard that Darden is going through some changes, mostly because some hedge funds are buying their stock and insisting on it. Google it.

So, we knew there were changes in store, but we just didn't know what, or when. Now we do. Actually in the last few weeks there were rumors swirling that he would be moved to a job at the support center. Prior to that he told the above big boss that if someone had to go, he'd be willing because there are younger project managers with families who would be in big trouble without a job. It sounded good in theory, however, the reality is not so much.

As a matter of fact, it was downright painful being ushered into a room with someone from Human Resources. I'll spare you the details, however, the gist of it is this: he's agreed to finish the Miami project which will take another five weeks. And that's that.

If you're a regular reader, you already know that Bruce has an indomitable spirit, so if I know anything, I know that it won't be too, too long, before he is back on top of the mountain.
We'll settle for a hill....

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Combing Mayonnaise Through My Hair

By now you may have noticed that I have been skipping the Winter Garden market, or maybe you haven't? Either way, I have and it's been really nice seeing what people do on the weekends. It's not so much that I don't like the market, I think it's the greatest if you are a shopper, a seller, not so much. It's just that after carefully considering all factors, including the gas for the 48 mile round trip, the time to set up and take down, not to mention the time spent driving, I've decided it is not worth the effort. As they have a big waiting list for vendors, they'll have no problem filling my spot!

So then, what did we do on Saturday? Why, help Bill. It has been eight years since we filled this same role as helpers while Bill re-does a place, and both Bruce and I can feel those years in our bodies. Good grief! I was so tired last evening that after folding clothes, fixing some dinner, and of course, combing mayonnaise through my hair, I was fast asleep by 8:30! Bruce toughed it out until around 9:00.

Why was I so tired. Can't say as I'm no stranger to painting, however, he wanted the ceilings done so I not only cut in the wall but the ceiling as well. Wimping out on painting the whole ceiling, Bruce did it after completing his major project.
See that ladder in the closet--yup, the closet was painted as well, including the ceiling which I did with a brush. The walls are all a kind of super plaster so filled with ridges. You can imagine how much I did not want to paint a taupe color on the wall! While we were doing all the party planning Sue brought over her collection of bandannas which we used all over the place. Except, there were two orange ones which when it was all over, she insisted I keep. Well, I should have found them because, despite me putting my hair in a bun, I managed to get paint on the top of my head like you wouldn't believe. That darn ceiling!! Herbert, Bill's expert helper, knows a lot about building, and it was he who suggested I put mayonnaise in my hair when we got home. Okay, I can do that because it beats the alternative. I mean I had a whole crown of paint! I spent about thirty minutes combing, and combing, to get out the paint, followed by a thorough washing. My goodness, my hair is shinier than it's ever been! I must admit, it smelled pretty icky, however, it seems to have done the trick. The next time you get a scad of paint in your hair, you'll know just what to do. That said, the bandanna idea has it's advantages.

I mentioned the plaster earlier because although it is super strong, it is also somewhat delicate. Bruce's mission was to remove the baseboards which was no easy task without damaging the plaster. He used a crow bar and a block of wood and that's about all I know as I was in the closet painting. Afterwards he scraped the area down while Bill picked up and swept behind him.
That's Herbert on the patio having a sandwich from WaWa Bill went and got for all of us. Only my second one from there and both were very tasty.

If you've wondered what the floor of a shower looks like before tile, here's your chance to see it.
Herbert is doing all the bathroom work because he knows how. So does Bruce but he charges more! Just kidding. Anyway that turquoise stuff is some kind of water proofing. What they did was gut the previous bathroom along with incorporating a hallway closet into the new one to make a roomier shower. Needless to say it all takes time. Later in the day he got patched all the drywall and put it on the shower entry.
Every time we are there we think of something new. Last week or so, while considering the kitchen dillema, I thought perhaps since the kitchen is gutted, maybe they can flip the whole kitchen around, cutting a large opening in this wall facing the big window and living area.
You can see the wonderful light that comes in and that will improve the mood of whomever is in the kitchen. To the right of the picture is the entry to both the dining room, and the doorway to the kitchen.

Guess who took over painting the walls?
Meanwhile Bill was on the front porch chipping away at the last of the tile.
He's been working on this for nearly a week as you can stand so much at one time. Because the home was built in the late '50's, the building materials are all crazy solid. Removing the brown tile was supposed to be pretty painless but it has turned into anything but. Last Saturday he had a huge jack hammer going on it. So nice to be young!

Finally, after nearly a week,
we can see the bottom of the pool. This angle isn't great for showing that, but trust me, you can. One of the things that I most like about the new/old house is the light. It is good. Very good.

There is a ton of work left, and in fact, Bill will probably be moving in without the kitchen, but he's game. He loves this stuff. David, on the other hand, does not. He came by to see the progress, hear all the ideas, and surveying the rest. As he was leaving,  I asked him if he wanted to help, but he said, "trust me, you don't want me to help!" He's remembering his painting attempts which did not turn out as well as he'd hoped. He's got a point. :)

The sun is peeking through the clouds, the clock is ticking, meaning you know who had better get dressed and down to Lake Eola for what I hope will be a good day. Then again, you never know. At least my hair will be shiny!

Friday, January 24, 2014

Helping the "Boys"

It is not like I don't have any practice at it---I will always be a helper to boys. In this case, they are really men, but that doesn't sound nearly as interesting does it?

Thursday morning, instead of getting there on my bike, I drove over to Eric's house. He lives around the corner, but Mrs. Camera Crazy is a wimp! It has been too cold for the likes of me to hardly go outside! This is the expansive view of the back yard from the house he shares with his parents, but not for much longer.
Earlier in the week, he'd sent me an email, hoping I would help him with his camera before he spends the next two months digging in the forest at Caracol, Belize. Not content with his role as an anesthesiologist, he's gone back to school to get a Masters degree in Anthropology. For reasons I can't fathom, he thinks I'm an expert with cameras, thus his request. Well, first off it is old, or at least in today's technology. Then too, the first thing I noticed is that it was set on Panoramic, which would not do at all. Eventually we had to turn to the internet for help, getting to the obscure menu where it could be changed. Well, the part about the internet is true, but actually we re-initialized it to the factory setting, which is how I knew that it was seven years old, a lifetime in digital camera technology! Anyway, we got him pretty well squared away for his trip leaving on Monday.

Helping Bill is ongoing. The other day I purchased a tub of chlorine tablets for the pool, in order to stop the whole green thing from ever happening again. Except, try as I might, I could not open it. Neither could Bill, or Herbert, his expert helper!! Taking it back to the store today, the fellow had to use a rubber mallet, along with another tool just to get the darn thing open. He now has chlorine in his floater...

Then there is Will from FAVO. I'm pretty sure I've neglected to mention I moved out of FAVO---or did I? Well, just because I moved out, doesn't mean that we aren't still friends. Celebrating his 10th anniversary at the church, he will be giving an organ recital. Sometime last year I took a photograph of him that people seemed to love, so he asked if I could do one for some promotional material. Of course I said yes. He's a great subject, that's for sure! I turned this one black and white, just because I wanted to, although he won't be using this one, or black and white, for that matter.
It was very nice to meet his Mom who is visiting for a few weeks from Kentucky. She's also the mother of four boys, or I guess I should say was, as Will's brother died two months ago. My heart breaks for her.

Oh my goodness, you won't believe it, or I guess maybe you will, but I hardly do, so there. Look who came back!
Sorry, but you're going to be bombarded with pictures of this little cutie!
Yes sirree Bob, the bunting was on the feeder, however Mrs. Cardinal thought otherwise. At least she did on the front feeder, the back one she was perfectly happy to share.
Then our little cutie flew into the hibiscus bush, or really, let's be honest, it's getting so huge it could be a fat tree with very few leaves!
Woo hoo!!! I take these through the windows--if only I could get closer without them flying away. The birds were feeding in full force this morning, including a tufted titmouse, doves, red-winged blackbirds, a blue jay, and of course Mr. & Mrs. Cardinal. Maybe it's the cold weather, don't know, but they were a busy bunch.

Wednesday night I had some ladies for wine and snacks, and what a fun time we had. Baxter knew something was up, sitting by the door waiting for their arrival.
What's that on the table you ask? Boxed wine? Indeed. And not bad at all. Bruce was aghast that I'd serve it, however, I know my friends, who, at least to my face, claimed they liked it. Here's the only problem as I see it with the box---it holds four bottles of wine, which, if you're not careful, because you can't see it diminishing, you can get a little carried away! Of course, I'd never do that, but some folks might! :)

What else have I been up to? I've been obsessed with learning how to do a photo transfer for ages. Finally, I bought a tile from Lowes and gave it a go. I printed a photo at home (!), and used a gel medium to attach it to the tile.
Perhaps you can see that it is a palm tree. Imagine that? Anyway, once it was dry, I put water on it and started rubbing the paper off.
Once that was all gone, I let it dry, finishing it with a coat of Mod-Podge.
So, you see not only what the tile looks like, but as an added bonus, you see my dirty thumbnail!! Despite wearing gloves to clean Bill's gutter, my nails got filthy and I'm still scrubbing them to remove all the dirt!

In truth, although I'm okay with how this turned out, it isn't right at all. I think there is still paper attached that I didn't completely rub off. After extensive time wasting on the internet, I'm going to try again, armed with some of my new found knowledge.

In conclusion, the other night, my friend Bev, only half kidding, called me Martha Stewart. Can you believe that? I told her I was far from MS, only that I enjoyed making things. Furthermore, I told her MS would NEVER serve bread sticks formed like this:
Undoubtedly, hers would be the same shape and length. Don't you agree?

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

In Love with Love

Good morning friends,

Thank you ever so much for the kind remarks on my last post.

It seems to me that people are in love with love. How else to explain the brisk sales of most anything I have that contains hearts? Speaking of which, Sunday a woman walked up, instantly saying she wanted to buy the baby canvas with the heart cloud. I call it "Love is in the Air." The day that I took it, on my way back from a bathroom break at Lake Eola, I was lucky enough to have my old Panasonic FZ8 with me. That was one trusty point and shoot with a super long zoom range that I got to with basically the touch of a finger. The whole scene looked like this:
Pretty incredible, right? What was most remarkable about Sunday's encounter was that the woman told me she was always seeing hearts following the death of her son's fiance. She went on to tell me more details, including this devastating one: on the night before their wedding, he went to pick her up, only to find her murdered!!! As you can imagine, I hardly knew what to say other than I am sorry. This definitely fits in the truth is stranger than fiction category. You'll be happy to know that the murderer was apprehended, with the trial beginning this week in St. Petersburg. Perhaps our niece Laura has heard something about it as she lives there?

On that note, let's move onto something mundane like record keeping!! This year Bruce got a big notebook that we stored all the business records in, however, I then had to sort them out by category.
The pile for Mr. Roger was absolutely the biggest! Lots of this info is on the spreadsheet, however, I need paper documentation as well. Have I told you how much I love both my Square Up card reader, and their terrific support system. One of the papers in the mix above is my yearly report that I found on the site and printed with ease. That guy who developed it is a genius!!

You might be wondering about Bill's house, so here's a little look with the big dumpster in the driveway.
Yup, it is pink, or at least this week it is. Bill has great vision, which he will need. The first thing he did was lop off all of the overgrown bushes, thus the bare front. The kitchen is gutted, as is one of the three bathrooms. One of the nicest features of the home is the view of Lake Arnold from the driveway:
My sisters will all remember Lake Arnold well, as we swam in it during our youth.

Yesterday, after buying a new kitchen faucet at Lowes, I went to check on the pool, which, although nicely blue, was still cloudy. Because I needed something from the pool store for our home, after the the plumber left, I went to talk to the pool folks, getting tips on how best to get that pool in good shape.

Although the weather report claimed there was only a 20% rain chance, a big old downpour occurred just as I arrived. Coming out of the store, I was struck by how weary this area of town looks, wondering why it is so charming in Europe, whereas here, it is just plain ugly?
Those are some storm clouds, huh?

Saturday, while we were out doing errands, we stopped at Nordstrom to pick something up for Angela. Matt, by the way, is doing beautifully, at least for now. Anyway, in a fit of nostalgia, I bought two new lamps for my office that I really didn't need. Upon first seeing them though, I could not resist.
In one of the closets I know there is a photograph of me on the Schwinn racer Bruce bought with his, either lawn mowing money, or maybe it was bus boy money....he's gone to Miami so I can't ask him. Nevertheless, we were still teenagers when he bought me a Schwinn so we could mosey around Orlando. And we did.

A clearer head prevailed, and I returned them yesterday, after which I went into Florida Mall, which is always entertaining. These young ladies were having great fun dancing along to the XBox One:
I was so amused by it, I only just now noticed three of them wearing Crocs. Hmmm....

Well, the sun is nearly up so time for me to get to work. Since I began this post with a heart, and we know everyone loves hearts, let's end with one, shall we?
your persistent blogger,
Gail

Monday, January 20, 2014

Reliving the Past and then Some

How old do you think this smiling couple is when this photo was taken?
Maybe sixteen? I can't be sure because there is no date printed on the back, however, I'm pretty sure that's how old we were! I remember being so proud of my homemade dress. :) Furthermore, if my memory serves me well, (who's to know, or care for that matter, if it doesn't?), we are seated on the couch at the Aubuchon's home. Who were they, you ask? Well, for a few years, my sister was married to Bill Aubuchon, with one child to show for their time together. Her name would be Elisabeth, our niece who lives in Atlanta. They were nice folks, and a few years later, after I graduated x-ray school, Mr. Aubuchon sang at our wedding, a song that I still love, "More." Looking up the lyrics just now, I had no recollection that Andy Williams sang it. Upon further research, who knew that the Supremes sang it as well! In any case, Mr. Aubuchon's wonderful voice, singing the beautiful lyrics, caused this young bride to cry at her own wedding. As to the event we were attending in the above photograph, I think it was Bruce's senior prom at Boone. How about those gloves???

About now you may be wondering how in the world this all came up. Well, here's the thing--the bottom drawer in one of my kitchen cabinets would not shut properly because Mrs. you know, had it stuffed beyond capacity. Friday, taking advantage of Bruce working from home, I had him remove the drawer, and I went through the entire contents; boy, oh boy, did I do some past re-living! Here's a good one:
A rare photo of me with a perm! Aren't we just the smiliest group? That would be my Mom, for those who have never seen her, and our Jon boy, as a little tyke. I'm going to guess I am about 35 in this shot, taken at a Cub Scout banquet when Mr. Bruce was a den leader for the twins' troop. (I have no idea how to do that apostrophe--grammarians help!) How about that red purse my Mom is carrying? It looks patent leather no less--she loved her handbags, long before it was fashionable to do so. :)

Anyone remember Prodigy?
This Wikipedia entry is very informative--you may be surprised to discover that email was developed primarily to aid in shopping, not for communication between regular folks. I do know that for our household it was the beginning of the World Wide Web. As I recall we purchased the "membership" at Costco? This was just before Matt went to FSU in early August, having just turned 17 in July. This mom was a wreck, however he was happy as a clam. That same drawer held his very first letter home from college, four pages long detailing his finances, and his excitement with both his classes, and new friends. To tell you the truth, he hasn't changed much except for one thing--back then he was very, very excited about football, and who could blame him? Those were exciting times for FSU football, what with the dynamic Charlie Ward as the quarterback, and winning a national championship. Those were the days....

Recipes, party menus, mementoes--that drawer was full of our past. Then, the present prevailed. Here's Mr. Bruce, later on that day, digging a hole to find a leak I noticed outside. Who knows how long this has been going on. Looking back at last month's utility bill, it looks as though the water cost should have tipped me off earlier.
Couple that with a leak around my kitchen faucet, which Bruce cannot fix, and the plumbing problems are mounting! I will say that when I went into the house for a tool, I saw something very exciting out of the corner of my eye as I passed the sunroom. By golly, my first painted bunting!
Sadly, the little bugger has not returned. This article includes a much closer photograph, one the likes of you'll never see in this space!

I received some wonderful birthday cards this year, almost all in lovely colored envelopes, which have been sitting on my desk now for nearly three weeks, waiting for an art project. I used a little bit of them for this:
We shall see what else I can come up with as I'm not recycling them just yet!

Alissa and Jon gave me two very awesome birthday gifts that I've yet to show. Peanut brittle to die for, and my very first Moleskine datebook.
Sadly, the peanut brittle is all gone, but the notebook will last the entire year. In the front there are all kinds of useful tables, and info, not to mention, the book, and paper feel fantastic. As well, just this afternoon I finished a terrific novel they gave me, "The Sisters Brothers."Although the reviewer  from  the New York Times  gave it a mixed review, this one is more typical of what I found online. I thought it was excellent.

Most days you won't find me reading in the afternoon, mostly because I like to stay busy, however, earlier today I had all the busy I could take for one day. Beginning at 7:30 this morning, Bruce and I helped Bill with all manner of things at his new house, seriously under renovation. By 2 in the afternoon, we were pooped! That said, we are so proud of him for taking on this project, and are more than happy to help when we can. I'll say this much, his pool is no longer green and some of his gutters are clear.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Close To Home

I've heard it said that winter sunsets are the best, and who's to argue with this for a good one?
Unlike the sunset I posted the other day, this one I took after sunset, and was I ever rewarded with a breathtaking spectacle. Although Baxter was waiting by the side door, I knew I needed to rush down there before it was over. If you've ever witnessed Baxter taking a walk, you'll understand why I scooted out the back gate without his noticing!

Generally, this is where you will find Baxter, either sleeping, or watching the world go by.
Another winter happening around here is the migration of the robins. Tuesday morning, because some of the windows were open (yeah!!), I heard a lot of birds, except when I went outside to investigate, they were flying around so fast in a dingy sky, I could not make them out. That said, because I've witnessed this amazing happening for a few years now, I knew it had to be the robins. Miraculous really, that a hundred or more robins stop every year to gorge on camphor berries found on the neighborhood camphor tree. This is but a few of them:
Here's one going solo:
It seems to take them but one day to eat their full, never to be seen until next January. Astonishing that they even find the tree, isn't it?

We've had rain off and on this week, however today is cold, bright and sunny! Love.

This hibiscus is stingy with it's blooms; so happy to finally see one in the backyard!
Returning from a chilly bike ride, I got a clear shot of Mr. Cardinal having a mid-morning snack:
No sooner had he had his fill, then Mrs. Cardinal came along for hers! Isn't her little mohawk adorable? 
I was going to do a post entitled, "Brilliant Bread, Act Two", however, I suspect your interest in my bread baking efforts cannot be sustained for two posts. Just the same, I must say that I did indeed make the bread again. Having learned from my mistakes, I made sure the yeast was fully dissolved, and took his mantra--wetter is better--to heart. Here's the dough before shaping:
This time I cut the dough into two pieces. Why? Well, for one thing the previous loaf was too large to fit into the toaster and if there's one reason to bake your own bread, it is toast. Nothing like homemade bread toasted. So, all went very well and I'm pretty proud of my "crumb" from this effort.
For those who've kept their bread recipe reading to a minimum, the crumb is basically the texture and if there are holes in the finished product. There are holes aplenty! This time it is delicious. I told you it was probably my fault!

In spite of my earlier pronouncement that Matt and Tom were marrying in Chicago, plans change, as have theirs. Planning a wedding from across the ocean proved somewhat challenging, so here's the latest: they will marry at the Hackney Town Hall in late March, very close to their home. You know who is going. In fact, we'll be in the UK for fourteen days this trip. Mrs. Camera Crazy has spent time either with her guidebook,
or on the computer poring over sites like TripAdvisor, and airbnb. I was telling Matt that airbnb is quite the education on how people really decorate their homes, unlike what most "home" websites show. During hours of searching, I think one of the things that surprises me the most is how many people have bare walls. I can't understand how they do it! Because we've been to London four previous times, we are making plans to head North, following the wedding, to York, and Scotland. Maybe Dublin to the west? Still planning how to enjoy such a long holiday. Then there is the matter of Baxter's care in our absence. Bill is hard at work remodeling the home he purchased and will be living there by then...maybe that will be his home away from home.

After ten wonderful years, I've retired the fabric on the left, replacing it with the turquoisey fabric. I hadn't done a chair for a while, instead Bruce has been doing them, but this time I took on the project, and it was pretty darn easy. Highly recommended to give new life to old chairs!
I'd like to take photos a litter further afield, but interestingly enough, close to home provides new opportunities daily. We shall see what happens next, close to home.

A Week Ago Tuesday