Winter has arrived

I am always amazed at the ability to fly. To get from here to there in a few shorthours is just miraculous. Altho it is not calm, nor comfortable, nor relaxing, it is better than riding a horse.

We came north to see two cute kids play in the warm rain.
And on the first day in the cool refreshing air, I joined some long time friends and went to the NY Botanical Gardens. It is a majestic place. Aside from the flowers and plantings and gardens, the magnificent trees are humbling. Because I am neither a botanist nor a photographer, I have no words or pictures capable of describing this haven. You really need to go there.
In the Conservatory was a presentation of Emily Dickinson's poetry and a depiction of her garden. It was well done but not a focal point in my opinion.
It was good to return to the state where we lived for 34 years. It was cool and soothing and a wonderful respite. And watching Mason don his old shoes, his gardening hat and gardening gloves and taking up his shovel, sized for a 4 year old, was worth the trip. He enjoys everything about gardening and is very helpful. Andy..., well I think he got my gardening genes.

It was a very quick trip....just long enough to see a bad movie (Marmaduke, avoid it at ALL costs), watch them play soccer and remember it was just a few short years ago when their dad ran on those fields, and relish the weather.

But now we are home and I have named this miserable hot and humid weather.... WINTER. It is a time for staying inside and indulging in activities that don't get done when the outside is calling. Like drawing and painting and knitting and reading. There are heat advisories most days, the heat index is 105-110. The laborers are working with damp towels over their heads and the golf courses are mostly vacant in the heat of the day. Be happy you didn't plan a trip to Disney. I don't remember it being this hot last year. We are to play golf tomorrow and I'm not sure I'm up to it....... that's how bad it is !!

Speaking of reading. Recently, I read a popular blog and she asked her readers to name their favorite book. Hundreds, if not thousands of replies later (yes , she gets thousands of comments),the results were the usual; classics, Harry Potter, the Bible etc., but one of the most popular was called "Outlander". Now , I had never heard of this so went to amazon.com to read reviews. Well, it turns out that it is a series of 7 books, written over the last 15 years. It has been hard to label but is called a romance, a time travel, a mystery and a historical novel. Considering that I am somewhat of a book snob (yes, one of my few faults) I wasn't sure I wanted to associate myself with anything that smacked of a romance novel, I had P pick it up at the library to preview. The book arrived looking grungy . I washed the plastic cover and then gave it a thorough swipe with hand sanitizer. I began reading and was disgusted at the filth on the pages......NOT the words, but the goo and ick on the paper. I couldn't go on even tho by now I was interested. So I broke down and bought the book and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was escapism to be sure but a good story and yes, a bit of a bodice ripper too. I'm now beginning the 2nd book...... I look forward to the rest of WINTER.

Escape

We are in Connecticut for a few days.....it is gloriously cool and just delightful.   Unfortunately, blogger is misbehaving and the pictures aren't coming through.     I will try later.        Flannel pj's feel real good up here.  

What did you say?

Last night we were having dinner  with friends and one of us ordered a GLASS OF WINE.   

And this is what we received........

From the land of sweat

Can you imagine exploring Florida, or Mexico or anywhere south of Canada wearing this garb.    If they came in their flotilla today, they would die quickly of heat stroke....after they were laughed off the beach by     the welcoming ?? local natives in their loin cloths.      We are in the dog days of spring.    It is hot hot hot.     And humid (not sure what color humid is) and they say the heat index is 105 degrees.    It was 80 at 7am this morning.       Way too hot for anything more strenuous than a walk to the refrig for a cold one to take out to the pool.

I'm trying out a new blogger gadget and not really understanding what it does.    Supposedly, I should be able to rearrange pictures easier........well, so far it is just a confused jumble.    Whereever these pictures land is where they are staying.  

A couple friends and I made the trek down to the Millennia Mall in Orlando.   It is a very nice place with a fabulous restaurant called Brio......someone said it might be a chain but I've never heard of it .......if you do find one, order the risotto.    I could have eaten a pail full.

There is a Neiman Marcus there and we wandered in .......found a really cute sleeveless ( yes, at my age I DO wear things that expose the flabby appendages)     silk flowered top with ruffles....(.yes, at my age I DO wear ruffles).    It was a mere 350 Dollars......but it's always fun to browse.

Anyway, the store has a large atrium in the middle and there were these millions of feathery, filmy butterflies hanging by clear thread.    They ruffled in the breeze and were just wonderful.     There is no way I could capture the whimsy of it all.   

Every Friday, about 16-20 of the neighborhood ladies play golf at one of the Executive courses.    We range from bad to worse most of the time but it is fun and we get to know each other better and about once a month or so, we follow it up with lunch.      We've decided we need a name and color to be identifiable  on the course.      Lately, we've been known as Chix with Stix but I think that is a brand name for women's golf accessories .     Someone suggested Babes with boobs and balls..........I shortened it to Babes with Balls and contacted the World Famous Custom Design company, called PJ Creations in Highlands Ranch , Colorado for some suggestions and prices to outfit us.    I think they do all of their promoting on Facebook.      Go order a glitzy T shirt.  

  I  just know that followers of this blog are much more creative than I and can come up with some other suggestions (Rian, this means YOU)  for a unique name and logo.     

By the way , on Friday, we played one of the easiest courses in TV and several of us managed to shoot a 31....par is 27 so it was a good day.    I'm sure I would have had at least a 24 if I'd  had my new pitching wedge and the greens hadn't just been aerated and sanded.........or maybe not.

   

Hot summer news.............

If this couple can't make it, what hope is there for the rest of us??????

Meanwhile, it is hot down here. Golf continues but now there is one more thing to have to contend with on the courses.......SINKHOLES. A maintainance guy was swallowed up by one yesterday.....just opened up and grabbed him. ( He is fine) It was about 2 ft wide and 6-7 ft deep. Believe it or not, we have sinkhole insurance on the house.....but until now, didn't think we needed it for ourselves.

I broke down and bought the 3rd Stieg Larsson book. The author , or his reps since he died before any were published, decided to end the 2nd book in a real cliffhanger requiring the purchase of the expensive hard cover to continue the saga. I couldn't wait a year for the paperback, didn't want to read it on my phone or computer and I'm still not ready to get the Kindle, so I sprung for the cheapest copy I could find, at Sam's for $16. I know plenty of people who will gladly read it after me so it will get good mileage. I was reluctant to read the first , found the second to be a better read and now regret that there are only 3. Altho........his

girlfriend of many years reportedly has a 4 th book on his computer. There was no will (he died at 50 after walking up 7 flights of stairs) so his estate goes to his brother and father who are squabbling with the girlfriend. Moral of the story; exercise, don't smoke and leave a will......

On a sad note, even sadder than dying after walking up 7 flights of stairs......

The mandevilla has been overrun by WHITEFLIES. aggghhhhh . I am sad. It just happened all at once. We have sprayed, and sprayed and watched the leaves turn brown and fall off and the flowers wilt. But if it doesn't make it, we will chop it down and start over. We will try and be brave.
And this is what lurks in the shrubs. A razor snake. Paul has seen it (this is a wikipedia picture, not the actual creature) and agrees that it is large. It moves about the yard. We bought moth balls and sulfur as possible repellents but we are now in the rainy season and suspect they will just wash away.

Paul mentioned it to our neighbor , who is as bad as I when it comes to slithering things and he said he will kill it if he comes across it. I feel bad about that because it is a non poisonous variety but as long as it has taken up residence , I will not weed or walk in that area.

On a happier note, unless you are Andy.............. He came to his parents and said he had an eraser in his ear .... (at 7 he seems a bit old for this but .....) It had been there for about 2 weeks and now he was convinced it was going into his brain!! Mother, being an Obstetrician and used to (well, I won't go with that thought), attempted to retrieve the object while Dad held the flashlight. Andy was wailing and crying and finally said " I want a REAL doctor !!" The operation was not a success so he will get his wish. Well, yes, his mother is a REAL doctor but I suspect he will need to see a specialist in eraser removal. Jon said that Mason watched with curiosity and dread.

So, between heat, lightening, sinkholes, bad golf, grandchildren with items in orifices, white flies and snakes, I think it is time to consider a trip somewhere.....any suggestions. ?

Update: The operation was a success.

Golf and more golf

Once I thought I could play golf. Paul didn't play as much as I did because he worked so that I had the financial support to spend my afternoons on the lovely course. Of course, I worked also but not enough to support my various habits. Then we moved away from my golf and then life got in the way and then I played no golf.

Then, we moved to the golf capital of the WORLD. Populated by old people who were good golfers, those who used to be golfers, those who had never been a golfer and those who could care less about being a golfer. We started playing again, we took a few lessons, we bought some clubs, we spent time at the driving range (not enough), one of us bought some cute golf clothes and we played a lot of golf. We improved and we had fun. But of course, if you are a golfer, you never, ever feel like your game is good enough. So what to do...................??

We are back to square one and have started over with new lessons. A new golf school has opened up, one not on Village property. The owner has a long and impressive resume in the golf world. AND, he grew up just down the road from us in Ct. He has worked with Tom Kite and was Nancy Lopez's swing coach. He has another PGA instructor with him, also well credentialed. We attended a free seminar for 90 min the other day and came away quite impressed and did what they wanted us to do after giving us something for free.....we signed up for a lesson. We had the lesson yesterday.
It was simple and basic and understandable and doable. He didn't make us feel stupid or hopeless. He doesn't want us to come back until we've mastered the the first step .......I think we can do this. I have hope.

And then on the course, we saw this........do you think its a sign ????

Florida naturally

What would you do if your brother was running around on the field and your were bored with the whole thing ?????

When tourists first set eyes on Florida, one of their early comments is about the screening around outdoor living spaces. I remember when I first saw them and just couldn't believe that people put pools and such under enclosures. After all, what was the point if you couldn't sit around in the sun and enjoy the pool.

Maybe this poor picture will give you some indication of what life around a pool might be like, au naturale. Normally, we have very few bugs.....I am rarely bitten by a mosquito unless playing at one of the marshy courses. I never use insect repellent. We have nothing inside the house. (We do have a pest control service that sprays regularly.) In May and September, we have love bugs but even this month, they have been scarce around here. But we have been invaded by these tiny white pesky things.....by the gazillions. It is hard to open a door and keep them out. They are covering the birdcage. Someone called them blind mosquitos and I think I have been bitten when I walked into a cloud of them. I'm hoping this too shall pass.....but in the meantime, I'm very happy to be outside under my birdcage.

The flowers are in full bloom around TV. I especially like the masses of these in the town square.
Yesterday, we opted for a late day 9 holes on the Hibiscus course with the Scotts. It is a beautiful place with gorgeous million dollar homes. But most of it is just a
wonderful natural area and makes the golf even better. I was pleased with my 3 pars but really need to do some serious practicing.

We ended the day with a couple of these and a light meal outside at Cane Garden CC and then headed to the square for some good toe tapping music. There is LIVE entertainment 365 evenings a year on both of the Town Squares and much of it is very good.
I was going to end this with a picture of Mr Snake who surprised me this morning while pulling weeds but I didn't stick around long enough. All I know is that he was large, all coiled up and creepy. I assume it was a garden variety and probably the same one I saw a couple weeks ago in the bushes in the front of the house. I can tolerate most of nature's creatures but not snakes. Not sure what I'll do now about grubbing around in the yard. Volunteers welcome...........

Procrastination..............

My ability to procrastinate extends to all areas of my life. It has been a life long issue and I suspect that at my age, it is incurable. That being said, one of the results is my continual failure to contribute to this blog. Granted, I do it mostly for me. It is my way of remembering and capturing life. If it were truly personal, obviously I wouldn't publish it, so it is mostly just the trivia of our daily lives. And for all of you that follow along, I apologize for living such a mediocre existence. It is regretful that I am not writing of climbing mountains, transforming the lost and woe-be-gone souls of the world, sharing haunting poetry or delighting you with stunning photography and pithy observations. Instead......................
.........you get an unedited pic of some guy's bald head taken at a lovely Symphony Under the Stars last week. The concert was in Ocala and was quite lovely and capped off with the 1812 Overture and glorious fireworks.

And all the tedium of covering and uncovering the mandevilla during Florida's coldest winter ever, paid off with this glorious display. I think it is the only mandevilla to survive the winter around here. Many are coming back but none are this showy and large. Paul is training it to trail along wires over the entry. Stay tuned...it may just take over.

Our morning was recently "shattered" when after we heard a strange noise, we investigated and found this mess out on the lanai. Luckily the pile of glass missed the pool and we were happy the cover prevented a few stray pieces from falling in.
The table was aging but it was a good size and served us well. We found a replacement without glass.

Forty four years ago today, the cutest little guy arrived. Happy Day Jeff.

Just finished reading Anna Quinlan's latest "Every Last One" . I have read most of her books , this not one of my favorites but quite compelling and haunting.

Enough chatter......it's time to go climb some mountains and help the masses so I have something to write about.

Best Laid Plans

Instead of writing this blog, we should be in sunny California with my Mother and my siblings. It was to be a short trip, leaving this morning and returning tomorrow evening. But, flying standby is always a toss of the dice and today we didn't win. I am disappointed but know that if I really have to get there, we need to buy a ticket like the rest of the flying public. Note the mixed logos on the plane. Not sure how the merger will affect Jon , if at all.

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Our neighbors and friends, John and Frieda, spent the week on the southwestern coast of Florida. They found this wonderful, "let me take over the world" bougainvillea. Remind me not to plant one of those.

Here's Alex in his new shoes for the next 8 weeks. At least the pain is gone.

Of Food and Fractures

Happiness is...............................

The guest room is getting a good work out this year. Michael came from Colorado to do some work in Miami and then came up to see TV first hand. We joined friends for an evening at one of the clubs. Weather is HOT, HOT, HOT ! But it rained most of the day so a brief cool down allowed us to be outside.
My side of the family is English, from Cornwall to be exact. My grandmother made Cornish pasties that were similar in size and appearance to this. She used potatoes, onion and cubes of beef and probably some other veggies in them. I didn't like them because of all the onions and the chewy meat. But these were traditional and used by the miners in their lunch pails. She used to tell me how they put their initials in the crust to identify them.
There is a place in Michigan, called Pasty Central , that makes pasties for sale and I have sent them to Mother and also to Michael. But they are different than mine.

Also, I knew that Jon and Marybeth would be a match because HER grandmother made pasties too.
My mother adapted the old English style and changed it to hamburger and few onions and made them larger. And of course , she made her own pie crust. I loved them. They were outstanding, hot or cold.

Michael and I were the only ones in this family that would eat them. When he left home, he bastardized the recipe even more and made his own quite unorthodox looking version and called it "dough stuff'. My grandmother would be torn between being thrilled that we continue the tradition but horrified at our versions. Here is my version, just out of the oven and already sampled. I use pie crust, 80% hamburger (anything more lean makes it too dry), lots of sweet onions , potatoes, salt and pepper and an egg wash. I know they aren't pretty but they taste really good. I made them early in the morning and Mike said that he smelled them when he woke and knew right away what I had made. He took two of them home with him.
Remember this picture ???
Yesterday, the MRI results for Alex came back and he has severe stress fractures
in BOTH tibias. He will wear these boots on his legs for 8 weeks. This too is a result of lacrosse. The coaches had them run 2 miles after practice in their cleats. He complained of pain but it was attributed to shin splints and there was no let up in their brutality. Alex, being Alex, was determined to keep up and do the best he could do. His goal and future plans include playing lacrosse for a big name school.

Well, being his grandmother, I've been thinking that maybe he needs a new goal. He has been playing golf for a number of years and with a little coaching, I think he has the drive and determination and the ability to turn into a first class golfer. He has been asked to join the school golf team next year. And because he needs to keep busy, he can spend his days chipping and putting until the boots come off .
He started young and impressed us with his swing from the very beginning.

And besides, how many RICH lacrosse players can you name ??????