Sunday pics

My son and I had a great time visiting my mom (his grandmother) in Florida, and the weather was about as perfect as it could be for December, which can be variable. Temps stated out at 69 degrees our first day, and got warmer from there. It was divine.

Our favorite place was Venetian Gardens in Leesburg which we went to twice for the birds and because they have nice paths suitable for a wheelchair for my mom who can no longer walk because she had polio as a young girl. My son took the following pics with his awesome camera.

Blue Grey Gnatcatcher

Purple Gallinule

I forget who the last two birds are but they were all very tame, allowing us to get quite close, unlike the birds here in Maine who fly away if you look at them wrong.

We also went to Leu Gardens in Orlando, which is much prettier in the spring and summer but I did manage to find a few things to take pics of...

I also read The Lying Game by Ruth Ware, and got half way through both The First Salute (history) by Barbara Tuchman and The Grace of Kings (scifi/fantasy) by Ken Liu. If I can finish them by the end of the year I'll have read one more book than last year.

We left Maine right after a snowstorm and some bitter cold so it was super nice to be warm for a week. Especially for me. I'm quite certain I was lizard in my last life.

Sunday pics

I haven't done one of these in a while but my mom in Florida sent me some photos a friend sent to her. All flowers that supposedly only grow in the Himalayas, some of which (maybe all...I wasn't entirely clear on that part) only bloom once in 400 years.

Some of these look like birds, or tiny dancers, or little people. Sadly, I have no idea what the names of any of these flowers are, but boy, they sure are pretty.

In other news, you may congratulate me. I have successfully completed draft #1 of The Train to Somewhere (working title), and after letting it rest for a bit, I'll come back and tackle revisions. I have LOTS of notes.

Have a lovely week :)

Sunday Pics - Leu Gardens and my new favorite artist

I recently went to Florida to visit my mom and while there we went to Leu Gardens (one of our favorite places), and the Museum of Art in Orlando where I discovered my new favorite artist. But first the gardens. Because, well, flowers.

If you haven't noticed it by now, let me make it clear. I adore flowers and gardens. I could take pictures of them forever, because even a bad picture of a flower can be beautiful. And the colors...oh my! Flowers stun me with their fabulous colors. If only I had a green thumb to go along with my love...

Anyway. Leu Gardens, which was exceedingly hot and humid, but still lovely...

This is a darling little cottage on the property where a black cat was being fed on the front step.

The roses had long since gone by for the most part, but I did manage to find a few that were blooming

Love this cool bird house, though I don't think it's actually a bird house. My boss said butterfly house which makes sense since this was in the 'butterfly garden' but I never knew butterflies needed houses.

No idea what this flower is but wow. Is it not fabulously gorgeous?!

My new favorite artist. Jon Muth. I love him.

Dust Devils.

This is not Jon Muth. I recognized it immediately as a Ralph Blakelock because we have one of his paintings at the pawn shop where I work. I love him, too.

There was more, as you can imagine, but the only other artist I'll tell you about is Nick Cave. Some of his 'sound suits' were on display, and there was a video of a person in one of his suits, moving. The image was then doubled, or mirrored, creating a 42 minute film. I couldn't find a link to what I saw, which was mesmerizing, but this short clip gives you an idea and there are a few brief bits showing parts of the video. It's the black and white one, a bit like a Rorschach image.



So. Wow, right? Lot's of cool stuff to digest. I also read FOUR books, which I will be telling you about in future posts, and saw a movie I can't review without giving anything away but must recommend: A Simple Favor. That's all I'll say.

Enjoy your Sunday!

What's Good

Even though I haven't sold my house yet, there's lots good about the fact, like I'm enjoying another summer on my awesome deck...

and my extra awesome Hydrangea...

a wicked fun new show...

I ripped through all 8 episodes in about a week

and last but not least, I found the motivation my character needed and revised all her chapters, which consequently caused more revisions, but finally got me past where I'd left off. So yay me!

Anything good in your life right now? Seen Stranger Things? Love summer as much as I do?

Monday Pics

And more from the Boothbay Botanical Garden I visited a week or so ago.

One of the things I especially love about the place is the stonework. It's very much what I would love to have in my own yard, assuming I had that much money to spend on my gardens (though wouldn't that be a treat).

Of course, creating all that would be quite an undertaking and probably fall under the category of extravagant, at least by my standards. The flowers on the other hand, those would be easier to duplicate...

Maybe some day my hydrangeas will look so fabulous. They're only two years old so they've got a ways to go to, but...ooh la la. Or maybe I could grow some of these pink beauties...

But I have to say, one of my favorites was this stunning Dahlia.

Oh, to have that gracing my gardens every August.

Orchids and Masks - The Marie Selby Botanical Garden

As promised, more about my wonderful vacation. Today I want to share some pics I took at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, a city we visited twice. It was almost two hours away, so a bit of a ride, but the gardens were lovely...

First there were orchids...

And then there were the masks, hand carved and painted...

And finally there was this astoundingly beautiful tree...