Weekend Gateway Art Show

Yesterday grabbed Adam and went to see Pirate Radio which had a nice vibe, good actors, great music, simple and fun, no thinking involved.  Then up to the Gateway for set up.
Had baby clothes, T-shirts, cups, cards, all kinds of things to sell besides framed art.  A cute dog named Lucky was running around trying to help too. He was adorable.  (don’t ask what setting I had on that last Lucky pic.)
We headed home and Adam took wonderful photo as we passed over the 17/92 bridge

Diane Miller, head of the Photography club at Gateway who was in charge of getting everyone their placement and making things run smoothly, could not have been kinder or more accommodating.  There were potters, quilters, jewelry makers, fine artists, even an artists who painted on leather. The excitement was building.

This morning I was up at 6:15, at the Gateway by 7:30am. The weather could not have been more perfect for those having tables outdoors.   They have a weekly farmers market each week. Outside they had very interesting booths.  A guy named Joe,  did woodcarving and had beautiful wooden mini houses.  There was one man who made solar light holders.  There was a quilter called Loving Stitches, a man selling things to benefit a border Collie Rescue, his dog Cali was a beaut!   And very well behaved dog too.
Of course there were jewelry vendors,  and my good friend Judy Segall and her beau Rob came with the coolest assortment of Asian/African instruments of which Rob was giving  free demos making people smile.
http://www.judithsegall.com

Inside was an impressive group of artists.  The inside quilter, Paula had gorgeous quilts, and hand dyed scarves and as is a weird 6 degrees of separation,
she knows my cousin,  Sue, who quilts under the name of Grannie Suzannie   http://www.granniesuzannie.com/
There was a man who made wooden bowls,   And gorgeous abstract art by Nestor Charneco.  Next to me was Bob who had hundreds upon hundreds of wildlife photos taken from his many African trips. 
The giraffe by the lady opposite me was very clever – do not have her name.
Also saw an architect named Don E. Grannon who was new to art, but really had interesting work.  Linda Bishop had well thought out paintings, as did the watercolor artist from St. Augustine beside her.  No more names, I’m sure The Gateway site will have much better in depth photos. Ed Cogle was on the job taking photos, his wife Nan was selling jewelry and both are always smiling. 
http://www.gatewaycenterforthearts.org/
The volunteers for the Gateway were so kind, they came to give us breaks by sitting at our booths so we could walk around, stretch out legs, eat some of the wonderful cooking, the tomato Bisque was so thick and full of flavor.  Diane had also organized a room where children could come and pick out donated items from the artists to buy very cheaply.  (My duck photo was rejected, is this the point you give up on trying to sell art when you can’t even give it away to kids????)
The drawback was the attendance was light!  There was no advertisement and this needs to be addressed for future events!  But I thank Sandra Wilson and Diane for their efforts and visions, and a million thanks to the ever ready volunteers!  Plus a big shout out to the bright lights that flash when you look in the room and see your neighbors and friends shining faces!  Thank you wonderful supporters for being there for me! I appreciate it more than you know! Sonja, Dee, Becky, Sandra, you all rock!
By 4pm, I was on the road home with all but two items. Swapped a lot of stories with many people about their sandhill crane sightings.  When I arrived home, I was ready to get everything out of the truck and put it away.  Adam came back from work after 5 and we decided to go grab some Outback food – the timing was perfect! We got right in and I heard about his great time at the midnight showing of Repo at the Enzian, he got home after 3am and was at work 5 hours later. I found out her had plans to return to the Enzian tonight featuring Jewish filmakers with the latest Coen brothers movie.  That kid is a walking movie fest!
I would say that as of tonight, I am not feeling like doing these venues anymore, they are actually depressing.  The one plus is certainly meeting new artists and people. I will try making an Etsy site when I get back from Tampa and see where that goes. At this point, the economy is not lending itself to art for sure. Most of the artists I talked with had sold next to nothing. The ones selling art were the jewelry makers.  One tries to look around and see what sells, how other booths are set up, but this hauling of stuff is really not something I am enjoying. Now it’s time to work on internet sales I suppose and if that goes nowhere, then what the Hell, I give away all this crap and only take photos for blogs, I mean what’s the difference? I am doing that now and it makes me happy, the money would just add a bit more happiness if ya know where I’m comin’ from!

Took a break from rodents for art

Today started the same as always which is always a smile getter,  
The sandhills came flying over the lake for breakfast.  I then checked the rat traps and nothing – no bodies, where do they hide? I even did what the Massey guy mentioned, he said to throw away all rotten fruit under the citrus trees because he said a pheromone is emitted from rotting fruit that draws rats from all over — perfect I thought and brought a rotting grapefruit in and put some of the pulp in the traps. It was obvious today that not all rats are drawn to rotting fruit!
The butterflies were busy and this one had gorgeous silver inlay on those delicate wings! It really glimmered metallic when the sun hit the underside. I didn’t capture it in the photo, but it was a fine Gulf Fritillary example.  Ran errands and saw this egret running through the parking lot near Marshall’s  He posed briefly but had places to go, so did I.
Back home the sky was gorgeous,   full of lines and swirls.  The planes were on their way to destinations unknown, but I am going to call the airlines and request the pilots that pass over the lake at night while I fish, wave.
They could drop off some peanuts on their way to Sanford.
I got dressed and ran over to the cutest little coffee spot in Debary, The White Cup coffeehouse at 17/92.  Two of the Gateway group members, Ed and his wife Nan were having a reception.   They were given excellent wall space by the owner who also serves a mean cup of different coffees, cold and hot, also tea and smoothies and she has a menu with many goodies.  
Ed and Nan  Cogle are world travelers and you could tell from both their art styles that they loved India.
What is also evident was their love of wildlife too.  Ed does photography, Nan had a mixed media approach.   They had a nice reception packing the innards of The White Cup.  I even met a guy who was just there to get a great cup of coffee and the art was a big bonus. Art IS a big bonus. I tried to get my family physician to have an art wall in his brand new doctors office he just moved into, but he didn’t. I think it would be welcomed by the patients to have photos and art by local artists to stare at as they sit and wait and wait and wait. I would have even changed it out every couple months, that’s how it would work in Abbesworld, art would be much more employed and enjoyed by the public and as a means to inspire others. So if you are reading this and own a business, please give local artists a shot at displaying their work.
As I was about to leave, Ed was taking some photos,   I took some also to show you that you need to SUPPORT THE ARTS!  Go out to a gallery, check out the Heathrow Arts Festival at Colonial Town Park this weekend, or pick up a brush, pen, camera and make something. Find the artist inside yourself and maybe even discover something you didn’t know you could do.  And if you happen to be on your way from Sanford to Debary, stop by the White Cup and enjoy the owner, the beverages and the art. Also — please remember that next weekend  The Gateway Center for The Arts in Debary is having a Holiday Boutique with lots and lots of artists selling their goods for the holidays. There will be table after table of artwork for all  to enjoy.  So through the week I will keep bugging you to go.  I will have a table too so stop and say hello!
Now put away part of that paycheck of yours to buy something out of the ordinary for someone this holiday season – Buy local art!    

(pictured is a cup I will have for sale featuring my photograph, “lee’s alien dinner”)

HobbyTown USA – model trains

On Wednesday I had to run by a storefront I had seen before, but had not entered. That would be HobbyTown USA right next to BooksAMillion in the shopping center behind Seminole Towne Center Mall. What drew me in was the train model village in the window. I had to have a look after being with the ‘big guns’ over at Amtrak.
I wish these photos would do it justice, but the display is elaborate! The detail and time spent getting this set up must have been pretty tedious. There are details in this small scale set that include a fireman rescuing a cat in a tree.  The water fall, the landscape, just amazing. The whole display belongs to the owner of the store and the employee said it was very old.
The place itself has all types of hobby items from airplanes, to cars, to paint supplies. It is very orderly and well stocked. Kids must love it, especially the miniature car racing track. Have a look:

This is no flat display, it has hills and valleys, a big dip where the water falls, this took a lot of planning. There were train sets of different scales and all the accessories too.  Anyone with children might want to check it out, and that includes adult children who have hobbies, like the model airplanes with motors – it looked like a lot of fun was just waiting to be had!  Here’s their link:  http://hobbytown.com/flsan

So grab your spouse, child, grandchild, neice, nephew, neighbor and have a look. Gotta be something there of interest!

Friday, cranes take off

It’s Friday,  this morning there was a fog over the lake But that did not stop the cranes and Carbs the duck from looking for birdseed.  The other birds were busy too, lots and lots of cardinals today. I bet there were about 7 at one time!
When it was time to go fishing, the cranes were still here rooting around the yard. The sky was very dramatic.   across the lake there was this wonderful rainbow patch just above the treeline.  The sky was full of storms to the east.
Most of the day I had been working on my garden. I think I am going to let more than half of it go back to being grass. The weeding is Hell.
That overgrown patch beyond the crane in the first photo is the garden and I have not weeded in a few months. I am really losing interest in keeping it up. The weeds grow the best, so essentially I have a garden of weeds. and maybe I should just let the whole lawn go to weeds and just mow one three foot area going down to the lake?
Anyway, it was time to fish so I chose a lightning rod,  and ran to the lake because there was a great full moon last night. How can I ignore this magnetic call from the lake. I did catch two fish, bream,   they are really very pretty fish with rainbow colors on parts of them.  The sky continued to turn blues and I could see the rain coming down a few miles away.   The cranes finally gathered on the hill and I grabbed my camera. Excuse how messy the image is as I had messy sticky, gooky fish hands and was trying to touch the camera without holding my hands on it too much. But when I saw the cranes all standing straight in a row waiting to take the cue from the father to leave, I wanted to try and get
a video of them flying practically over my head.
I did give up fishing as the turtles were once again making it impossible to throw the bait out without having a turtle charge right for it.
As I looked up, I noticed how beautiful the sky was, it had melded into pinks and blues, and orange my favorite look.  It’s one of those moments you wish you had someone out there besides a duck and cat. The colors were spectacular. So, that’s about it. I came in and Frankie was hogging my desk and had knocked over all kinds of paperwork as she sprawled out.   And that’s it for today – where does a day go? Where does the month go? Where does a year go? Can it all just slow down for a while, life is just passing by way too fast…. Tomorrow I will report on the garden

The Downtown Orlando Monday Blues

Today I drove downtown,

I had artwork to drop off -
I had to find the right building.
Downtown Orlando is not huge,
not New York or Los Angeles,
it’s pretty easy to manuver EXCEPT for the sarcastic one way streets
who snicker when they know they have you trapped in a city force field
and the streets hold the parking spaces hostage.

I circumvented blocks two and three times,
right street, wrong way -
braking behind gawkers, and half filled city buses.
circling and waiting for that “red sea parting” moment
in which a building would bust its’ seams
exposing the place where I needed to be
and my gray Sierra chariot would stop and
a valet would open my door and carry my art
with white cotton gloves to the waiting public.

A wish unfulfilled
as I parked 4 blocks from my venue
lugging ziplocked art up the avenue
trying to find store front numbers
on the tiny mapquest sheet that only depicted a star
on a flatlined street -
I officially had the downtown Orlando Monday Blues.

Passing rough, bushy characters who looked like they protected
Mick Jagger at Altamont.
Passing executives in their noose suits,
foreigners with cameras and smiles,
gapped teeth children,
Buddhists and Viet Nam vets,
but no nuns, or not in a habit anyway.

I watched an old woman feeding bits of bread to sparrows,
five little brown birds surrounded
her gnarled hands with arthritic fingers.
There was a man soliciting with a sign because he was “impeared” -
his impairment was spelling
I could have my own sign for that -

Police on bikes wrote tickets,
was that Brian Feldman trying to be a city bench?
One man (?) wore large spike heels and a flirty sun hat
with a flowered broach on his chartruse tank top,
(or maybe it was a woman in need of a shave?)

The laughing sun was held at bay in part
by the taller buildings – it was still early
so at least I was not under the complete solar microscope
while  heading up Church Street.
The funny thing was, home at my desk
if I had read my email thoroughly
I would have noticed yesterday they had changed the day
from Monday to Wednesday.

But this was Monday, Monday, a day for downtown blues.
Lugging and looking
lugging and looking.

The young ladies at the drop off point were sympathetic to
an old stressed out lady,
out of breath-
out of place-
out of patience with the city and herself-

But as I made my way back down the blocks
back toward my truck with the hour time limit on the meter
I was glad to briefly have been there,
among ‘city–fied worker bees’,
to absorb this bustling image of people and cars in a hurry,
of buildings humming with demands,
of hungry mouths being fed at the shelter,
of children giggling and wailing at a daycare playground,
of honking  and the wonderful aroma of garlic rolls
coming from that small Italian restaurant.
It’s good to be among culture and art,
expensive boutiques and lawyers and
banks and snobs and slobs and body odor.
I felt light, Ginsberg-esque as he took
his stroll through a Supermarket in California;
focused on images,
of “aisles of husbands”,
because I was shoulder to shoulder at times
with someone’s spouse or their secret lover.
I passed the abused wife, covering her bruise in long sleeves
on a summer morning,
the man in need of a root canal and
no means to pay for it.
I was holding Ginsberg’s hand,
as we both wanted to shout, “

"Who killed the
pork chops?  What price bananas?  Are you my Angel?"

The morning was still new,
all the jackhammers and drills of city music
had a nice Dharma beat .
I swear we saw Walt Whitman on Magnoilia and Church,
he was asking for a ride to the “Y” at Thornton and Mills
to ponder the road less traveled.

I waved goodbye to Allen
who was thumbing a ride to College Park,
And I drove home knowing I was not alone,
happy to be headed back to Abbesworld;
a place of quiet,
of birds and wildlife,
of creativity.
A place to shake off the downtown Orlando Monday Blues
by threading it through the hook on my fishing pole
and letting the line go slack when a catfish swallowed it whole -
I reeled it in and the catfish jumped off and spit the blues out on the ground,
“worse thing I ever tasted – stick with bread”, he spat three more times,
kicked me in the shins and went diving back to the lake,
I knew then this was where I belonged…

ABbe

The face of Art – we need to kidnap Carbs

The day began with the titmouse banging into my window again as I sat paying bills and looking for art opportunities around town as I write an art submission blog, http://art4submission.blogspot.com So feel free to take a look and see if there is an opportunity for you. 
I did finally grab Adam and head for the Drivers License Bureau to change a title which will double in price after September 1st. We know they have to make money somehow. That was a two and 1/2 hour wait! Actually we took our number, and then ran a few errands and came back.
It was slammed!
Finally we headed downtown to pic up my enlargement from Roger McNichols of RT Art. He lives in a wonderful older neighborhood downtown and has artists traipsing in and out all day and night picking up their work. He and his wife Trish have massive equipment, he dry mounts, stretches canvas, giclees,  uses textured paper or whatever you want, he can probably do.
http://www.rt-art.com
Right on his street was a beautiful fountain, and I mean on the street literally.  It looked very European down Washington Ave.
Adam and I drove toward home and I told him we would stop and look around Lake Lily for some wildlife, usually I see turtles and birds. We had passed several lakes earlier and saw nothing.
We passed all the new condo/shops near Lee Rd.  WOW, they really looked good, (and I improved them with color and filters as they would look in Abbesworld).
We parked near the lake and began to explore when suddenly Adam was surrounded by faces and beaks that were all works of art! (have a few larger views at   http://offshoot2.wordpress.com
Adam looked like he was in the middle of a new Sy-fi  movie- Zombie Bloodsucking Ducks. They are used to getting food from people, and what happens if they don’t get their way? …They just waddle away
We actually smiled all the way around the lake at face after painted face, each with such unique markings – I love the Muscovys. But, I don’t need to tell you, like a good writer I need to “show and don’t tell”…

When we got back in the car, all we could think of was how happy Carbs would be if he lived here! No band of brothers, (BOBs), the mean mallards who always chase him off. We wondered if we could kidnap Carbs and throw a box over him and take him to this park??? Carbs is not like these ducks, he is still very shy of people. I am not able to get too close to him, even when I feed him some birdseed and bread, he waits till I am about ten feet away before he will come to eat. If only he knew we were doing it so he could be so happy and never again have to worry about being chased off.  We plotted ways in the car. I think we need a big net and a box – ummm, it’s something to think about, kidnapping a duck for his well being.  Just tonight I saw the BOBs chase him and peck him as he hurried away through the neighbors yard. It breaks your heart because Carbs is so happy until the mean mallards come and dominate him. We did not witness one incident of a duck bossing another one at Lake Lily. The egrets were bossy, but not any of the muscovys we saw.  Carb’s wings just don’t work or I’d map quest a direction and tape it to his wing and send him off. And, it is way too far for his flappy, yellow feet to carry him.  What shall we do? Stay tuned and don’t quack about this too loudly until we deducked the situation. I have a feeling I will dream of things like strapping him with a remote set of wings, or hitching him to a kite, or even dreaming of him with wings that hold the power of the wind. I can’t wait to go to bed and dream in deep Rem of muscovy art and Carbs being in the land where he can conduck his life with no fear of the BOBs!   The BOBs with Elvis in March. Elvis flew away and have not seen him since…
Carbs

Getting ones feet wet…

Today I walked out to feed the birds and Carbs was gone. I wondered if the BOBs had chased him away. The yard was busy, especially down by the lake where many many dragonflies and bees flew all over the yellow blooms down by the stump of my fallen oak. In fact so many bees were there pollinating, the air was humming. 
The fungi growing in the wet grass even looked happily like a cute couple.

The cranes flew over and the baby was quite intimidated by the step-father crane who kept bullying him. The baby would fluff all up and crouch with it’s head  down when it was near the male.  It knows to try and stay away from that dominant beak.

A titmouse was continually banging itself against my window. I will go into that in a day or two. The butterflies were all over the place, and the roses were young and tender.  
The brown thrasher was the bossy bird this morning. The bird was happily having fun splashing and cooling off.
and then a dove decided it was it’s turn to get wet .  The thrasher was wildly twisting and jumping and I suppose the dove thought it looked like such fun, it decided to join the thrasher.  Except the thrasher wanted no part of sharing the bird bath and screamed at the dove and sent the dove flying off. The thrasher fly up on top of the feeder.
Finally it ate enough seed and flew off.
I ran out to my Free lunch at Don Pablos. I won the free lunch for 4 by putting my business card in a bowl about two weeks ago. I took my good artist friends who have been so helpful and nice to me, Pam, Judy and Leslie. The service was great and the conversation too. Judy, Pam, and Leslie are always inspiring to listen too, always have irons in the fire. Leslie is a published writer who should have another book out sometime soon. She writes about film, (movies) and does a very detailed and thorough job of research, she also writes poetry and reads it at local venues. Pam has been juried into many shows, I think she said 8 or 9 this year alone, her infrared photography is a standout. Judy has a super group, she started the Womens Caucus for Art branch here in Orlando and really took pains in getting it to a non profit status. So I am the slacker of the group, well, actually I have one piece, a photo I did of Jimmy Hendrix, to be put on display for a month as part of an interior design show downtown. Tomorrow I have to go pick up the work at RT Art. Just one email and Roger said he’d have it for me so I could get it framed this weekend, that’s service!  sales@RT-Art.com
On the 8th of September, I will have 3 pieces at the Gateway in Debary for a month. So things are not that bad for s struggling artist getting her feet wet just like that brown thrasher, enjoying the exposure, lost in her abandon of the arts and the wonderful natural view in front of her window…
P/S, carbs came back and is still here…

Tuesday Ibis – Subway cookies and exercise

Ummum, today at ‘the desk’ — move over Jared – does it get better than Subway’s chocolate chip cookies? (Yes, it gets better if they are warmed ever so slightly.) While my friend Beda in her 70’s, and looks 49 goes to her first pilates class after being so disciplined on her diet, I salute her steadfast  efforts! Today I saw a T-shirt that said,  That’s a great motto – I agonized with her as she denied herself carbs in order to lose weight and stay healthy and now she goes the extra mile to exercise – Yikes the E word scares me! I will exercise later by getting up from the computer to put the cookies back in the kitchen fifteen feet away, maybe I will walk back and forth five times just to lose a couple calories. Right now I am on the ‘feed the fever’ trend, because I have a slight cold, (and boring enough I think it’s starve the cold – or is it reversed?)  Whatever, I admire these efforts by people to trim up  and fly right, “I reject your reality and substitute my own“. Here’s one, eat colorful foods, so how about if the food comes in a the colorful bag? Look at that colorful title on the Subway cookies – hows that for rationale?
I was invited to go to pilates class, but no thanks, I remember those years of being chosen last for every team in gym class. I remember taking a Jazzercize class with my then, ten year old daughter who after seeing that I could not figure how hands and feet moved at the same time, requested I sit down or not stand next to her, I remember those days and respect that I am not an exerciser  or anything near athletic except for wearing tennis shoes for comfort! The only thing that might make me behave is the sin tax, if they tax sugar, I will become a hoarder and blackmarket sugar runner…I ACCEPT MY LIMITATIONS – Don’t worry be happy, that’s the other credo…
Back to nature – I love ibis, they have those beady eyes and long beaks and make the whackiest noises.  I had some vistors, (requiring me to get up and walk outside) and watched as three lovely ibis came to play in my yard.
Another tidbit I found on Wikipedia, “The ibis is the last sign of wildlife to take shelter before a hurricane hits and the first to reappear once the storm has passed.” They are noted for their bravery. I guess they aren’t that brave, they didn’t let me get too close before flying off.  Here is the photos of a descendant of birds long ago. One of my favorite favorite, top two favorite short stories is The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst – go online and read it, and get a kleenex!

Here’s some photos for you to enjoy and see how regal they are.

Saturday in Sanford – the quest for honey

This is the desk in early afternoon after coming back from downtown Sanford.  Today I was wearing my Winnie the Pooh mantle and Winnie, (Abbe) was on a quest for honey. I remembered that Sanford was having a ribbon cutting for the “posts” the city built and the new brick road they made at 17/92 and First Street.
I take a lot of windshield pics while driving, it makes driving more interesting- ha ha -
The festivities were in full swing besides the regular Saturday Farmers Market. They had a band playing outside The Tuned Up Music Center and lots of booths set up along the way. I really came to get my honey since my last bottle is running low from last week. I knew Bill Frederickson of Frederickson Apiaries would be there in his booth with his samples and decided to go to Sanford instead of going to the Lake Mary booth. Sanford was having  a ‘party vibe’ going on.
I started out my quest at Fringe, Kim Johnston the owner was there, she loves vintage clothing and jewelry, hats, shoes, anything from “time removed”. I love her pink shop and looking at the pins and artwork. Next door to her is an antique shop with furniture, knock knacks and even old Beauty salon chairs and the old bones of a canoe hanging from the ceiling.

email Kim:  fringefx@gmail.com   phone 407-320-8016 for info on both shops.

Then on to Divine Mother Earth, a very cool, India inspired clothing and accessory store.   http://DivineMotherEarth.com The shop was so colorful and had some sexy clothes too, I need to learn belly dancing.

Passed by Big Fish Little Pond which was closed and then headed toward “The Clock” where the market is. That meant passing the local newspaper, The Sanford Herald who had all their photographers out among the crowd taking pictures for a story or two, (that might have been why everyone was so nice, they probably thought I was with the Herald, umm, they might be really disappointed that this is just another local blog, I’ll let you know if I get any complaints.)
Next I visited Hot Pots – the ‘paint your own pottery’ studio that was highly organized and full of inventory. (I need to ask her to come over and take a look at my desk,) http://wwwHotPotsSanford.com 407-688-POTS – Hey, give a call and have a paint your pottery party! 
Over at Jeanine Taylor Art Gallery, it is never a disappointment, The artwork is world class literally, she sells to people and collectors from all over the world.
http://www.jtfolkart.com – the working artists who have booths inside could not be friendlier, and the talent in that building is immense. I was able to get photos at the shared booth of Cindy Sturla who had her sweet camera shy dog Molly and Stewart Jones, if you like the feel of a good water color, if they don’t have it, they will paint it.

I found artist Aurore Brunet around the corner with her vivid paintings.
http://wwwaurorebrunet.com She was on the floor working on a large piece.

Her work was fun with wild color, it made me smile from the vivid intensity –    Please go visit over there and “Support the arts” – And say hello to Mary at the front desk – she runs a tight ship!
Back to the street and I came across too booths where people are trying to educate us to the environment. I don’t know what makes me take the angled shots, but this was the booth of Keep Seminole Beautiful,

http://KeepSeminoleBeautiful.org
according to their non-profit website:   KSB provides a variety of services to Seminole County including the coordination of a number of activities and events. These include Anti-Litter Projects, River, Retention Pond & Lake Clean-Ups, Educational Gardens, Water Conservation Programs, Community Block Grants and other projects… They would gladly address any questions regarding gardening problems, water projects, etc.
Next to their booth was Friends of The Weikva, a local group who are also a non-profit org who monitor anything that impacts the Wekva and Little Wekva river. http://www.friendsfowekiva.org Both groups are made up of wonderful, caring people who want to help keep our Florida environment as pristine as possible for the future protection of our beautiful nature. You are welcome to join them and volunteer for river clean ups and other projects.
Jim Robison, “Historian For Hire”, is a seasoned writer of books dealing with Florida history. His latest book is a joint exercise with the help of non-fiction writer and videographer, Bill Bellville of Equinox Documentaries is titled:  Image of America, Along The Wekiva River will be out in November. This book is all about the events that have shaped the waterway. Both have impressive credentials and a vast supply of knowledge for their subjects. Jim Robison is available to speak to groups, his number is 407-677-4004 – his email: jimrobison@cfl.rr.com. Bill Belleville’s Equinox Documentaries website :
http://equinoxdocumentaries.org
I went into Maya Books & Music 407-321-6504 where they have plenty of books for sale and Kenneth Dittman, a numismatist also has an area where he has jewelry  and coins and art for sale. http:wwwkenscoins.net

Finally I was at the heart of the Farmers Market. There was some wonderful singing going on and a flurry of activity that goes along with having booths full of spices, art, fresh fruit and veggies, candles and all the Farmers market stuff.  But I just wanted honey.

Bill and his wife Marion have the Happy Bee Honey Farm, also called Frederickson Apiaries., they have been beekeeping for 30 years.  This time I got Summer Wildflower, though my all time favorite is still Orange Blossom. They have all kinds of flavors, I’m loyal to what I like. I even got a bigger bottle – I swear I drink this stuff!
By then I was ready to go home, it was sooo hot! I made my way through the crowd, took a few more pics: 
On my way home I took a few more windshield pics:

and that was that, all that for a ‘fix’ of honey – well, I learned a lot along the way and now you did too.

Farmers Market Lake Mary

It’s always fun to go to the Farmers Market on Saturdays at the back of the City Hall of Lake Mary. I went early to go get some of my favorite honey.  Frederickson Apiaries will be opening their own store and bakery in a few months. Will have to go for that grand opening! Orange blossom and wildflower are my favorites.  After walking around the many booths, I walked across the street to where they had opened a new shopping area.
The first store was Morris’s Market, they are carrying fresh produce, honey, meats, cheeses and they also do the Farmers Market with their own booth.
There was a floral shop next door and I forgot to take the photo, but it had a beautiful courtyard in the rear packed with plants. Next to that was Coastal Gifts and Decor.
There was jewelry, note cards, knick knacks with a flair for Florida seaside decor.  Next to that was Kristin Shaw’s trendy clothing boutique called, ’sophie and trey’.   Inside were reasonably
priced men andwomens clothing.   Kristin organizes the once monthly, Paint The Towns. Now she is trying to organize artists for the Farmers Markets so they can display their wares on Saturday mornings. If interested, contact her, 407-324-5747.
The artists who were displaying were ‘Nine 2 Five’, Tina Pochedley who had beautiful handmade jewelry on her table, I apologize for having taken it from a distance.  She works with silver and precious and semi precious stones and does private parties. Her number is 407-467-8138.

Also on display was Shelia Golden who does wonderful animal paintings and collage and note cards, there are some on display at Coastal.  contact:  http://www.sheliagolden.com
The last artist on the street was Randall Smith who does very cool robot paintings and robot figures. 
To check out his work:  To contact Randall:
RandallsRobots@aol.com. 407-923-2075
The artists are always good to talk to and as I always say, support the arts!
On my way back to the truck, I stopped at the SPCA booth and got a t-shirt for making a donation.  Remember, not only our artists need support so do the local animal service groups!
Walked past the Orchid Nanny,  Though those orchids are gorgeous, I have a very deadly thumb with plants that need attention.  But I find inspiration everywhere and always have a fun time making abstracts out of the picture I took.

Night things to do…

Poor Michael Jackson, I can totally sympathize with his insomnia, last night I slept two hours, actually it was this morning from 8am to 10am. If I had to go onstage like he did, or held a regular job, I’d be screwed.
I was going to go with Dee-dee and listen to a bird lecture, but I had no attention span for sitting and listening, in fact I had invited her to go with me last week and she ended up going alone, some friend I am…
I could use some liquid coma too a few nights.

I have no idea what 8 hours is, I guess for me it is 4 or 5. Don’t get me wrong, I do like sleeping because I like dreaming, dreaming is so damn cool, you can do anything.  But here I am after 2 hours sleep in a 24 hour cycle and I am still up and fooling around on the computer.  I did see a raccoon on the porch,

I brought Ringo in as I was not sure if he would jump that coon or not, or maybe the raccoon would think it was another raccoon because they share the same tail.
I took a few pictures with me and Frankie: 
Frankie was outside too, so I brought her in also. It was hot and very damp outside. Then I took a self portrait and worked it a bit,
Hey, at least I’m smiling! And I took a few pics of furniture,  and even cheated and took Andrea’s cat painting she did and worked that too. It should look like this:  Isn’t Andrea talented? She makes the cutest paintings.
Maybe I will go into my bedroom and veg for a while, turn on the news and relax, maybe read. I do want to say a special shout out to Tabbie my blog buddy, get well ASAP!
Maybe tomorrow I will find more wildlife, these hot days the only things I see are birds quickly in the early morning, turtles when I fish, and cats on hot tin roofs and porches. Even the raccoons know better than to be outside in the afternoon. Good night, it’s almost one, cross your fingers for at least 5 hours of deep alphas and dream patterns…

Missing in Action

This is how the day began around 6am. The sky was beautifully lit with red clouds. It’s in the low 70’s, feels almost cool. I saw both moorhen parents swimming about, but not one baby sighting.   Yesterday my friends Christine and Richard came over to hang a duck box in hopes that the Black bellied whistling ducks might come back.  I showed Christine the moorhen nest and only an hour earlier there had been 3 eggs. As we stood there, all eggs were completely gone, not one broken shell in sight. Then we saw the culprit, a big black crow flew down and began pecking at the nest. Immediately we knew where the eggs had gone. I have not seen the baby in days, I hope it is hiding.   This is a picture on the day it hatched.
Now I am trying to figure why the baby and mama crane are coming without the father? For 5 days now they have come to eat birdseed and Papa crane is not with them which is very unusual. He has been a good daddy for the years I have lived here and NEVER left the baby and mother. This is highly suspect. Do you think maybe he flew to Argentina to find a soul-mate??? I am thinking the worst, that something has happened to him. The baby is taller than the mother. Last night he came and did his goofy dance before they fly across the lake for a good nights sleep.
I am hoping the father will find his way back soon. As for me, I am going back to bed, only slept 3 hours so far, time to get some shut eye. I am living in a vampire time zone, the sun comes up, I go back to get a couple hours of sleep…

Comma Gallery Visit on Tuesday

This was the view  from the back parking lot of Comma Gallery. Loved it!  Pam and I had to go check out what is new at Karen Carasik’s amazing place at 813 Virginia Ave, Orlando Florida.

Pam has only been in town about 18 months and had never been to Comma, so I told her let’s check out the wood cut block exhibit from Charles Turzak and the very allegorical paintings by Patrick McGrath Muniz.
When we walked in through the back we were met by this painting– I apologize for not knowing the artists name, but it was a terrific piece of work. Below that skirt are very strong calves and everything except the skirt & heels screams masculine.
Further into the gallery were oils, acrylics and other media from the perspective of art crafted by world class artists past and present. One of my favorites is Grady Kimsey, he constructs very interesting figures and collages.

Also something new is all the wonderful jewelry by local artisans. The gem stones and variation of color and metals made the case sparkle.  Other works look like this to give you a feel for the place:

(that’s me in the mirror taking a photo of a Harolde Garde painting, the framed face above me. )        The colorfully blended abstract was painted by Karen Carasik.
The woodcuts by deceased artist, Charles Turzak were so well crafted, they each had historical significance.  There are a limited number of prints of them at Comma, so better hurry to buy that special one ASAP!   My favorite was Lincoln with the axe. Pam liked Carl Sandburg the poet. Loved Turzak’s art deco wood cuts also. Below are the tools used to make the amazing cuts. I can’t imagine the patience it must take, what detailing!

The other featured artist was Patrick McGrath Muniz, I will leave you with some of his fantasic irony and suggest to any of you artists in need of a space, there is one for rent at Comma — how can you lose elbowing with these heavy weight artists! Hurry before it’s taken. Call Karen (407) 894-4505

Go to Comma and see the fine details of McGrath Muniz paintings to appreciate the satire associated with them;

Now go pay Karen a visit. She has volumes of knowledge about all her artists. Go learn a thing or two and buy something; a beautifully hand crafted bracelet, a book on Turzak’s wood cuts or any of the fine art for sale inside the gallery and support the arts.   http://www.commagallery.com

Enjoy the works of:

john Wilton -  Lynn Polley
Stephen Bach -  Bernie Martin
Karen Carasik – Grady Kimsey
Tom Sadler – Barbara Perrotti
Sally Evans – Glen Hovis
Robin Maria Pedreo – Jim Casey
Elizabeth St. HilaireNelson
Camille Pissaroand,  and
Grayson Conroy

			Grady Kimsey	Camille Pissarro
			Bernard Martin	William Platt
			Sandro Natullo	Georges Rouault
			Elizabeth Nelson	Tom Sadler
			Barbara Perrotti	Maria Saraceno
			Barbara Phelps	Kathy Steckler
			Pablo Picasso	Terri West

Casselberry Art House – Exhibit from the Sanford Seminole Art Assn.

We have always enjoyed going to see art exhibits at the Casselberry Art House. Though I have not been there in over a year since I exhibited with Womens Caucus for Art. So we were surprised to pull up and see massive construction all around.  The land around the house was completely torn up.

We walked past the Police dept. and saw the old building with the Administrative offices was demolished. But there beyond the dirt and mess was the cute house with the red door and tiles by the lake.
I don’t know the history of the Art House, it was a private residence at one time and now is home to a wonderful gallery where there are not only exhibits, but they have all kinds of art classes as well. Call (407) 262-7774)  they will give you the information.
The work on display was from The Sanford Seminole Art Association, an art group turning fifty years old this year and I understand they still have some original members among the seventy or so of them. This exhibit highlights 19 of the members.
Inside there is a variety of media from paper sculpture to small Mexican boxes with adorable figures inside called nicchos. The watercolors, oils, mixed media and photography mingled well on the textured walls within the gallery. The art was well highlighted by the diminishing sun filtering through the windows making it feel cozy. The room and artwork melded together in a wonderfully symbiotic vanilla feel.  All the colors and textures placed on the walls complimented the space. 

As we left, 3 Pekin ducks came waddling up the path toward the front door as if they were ready to tour the room and give opinions on the works of art. When we trudged back through the construction on our way back to the truck, we noticed what a great area it will be when all is done. there will be a very long and winding pier  and it also looked like they would have a playground.  The trees and fountain give it such a picturesque setting.   They will hold their jazz festival out there in October. It will be a wonderful place for their venues. We are lucky that Casselberry and Seminole County keep up their interest in Art despite the economy.  The Sanford/Seminole exhibit will be there till June 26th.
I will be anxious to come back this Fall when all the work is finished.
On the way home, Adam pointed out a used book store in the Albertsons shopping center on 17/92 and 434.  We thought we would go have a look. It is called Best Used Books.  The light was on, but we saw on the door it was to close at 7pm and it was about ten after. The owner waved us in and told us to look around. We recognized him from many years ago, he has had 3 separate locations.  It had so many books and places to look we knew we just had to come back, though Adam quickly found a couple things to take home. I have bought many books from his shops before, he has a wonderful selection. I asked if he was selling through the internet and he said no. I would guess that would be quite an inventory you’d have to update and quite a consumption of time having to constantly list and pack books for selling. If you like used book stores, he has a quality shop, I could spend hours at these kinds of stores. My dream always was to have a wonderful huge library room at home with a ladder to the second story stacks, with shelves and shelves of wonderful books to get lost inside of. Unfortunately, the dream has not quite materialized yet and my library room is only a couple book shelves that doubles as the dining room. When I get that winning lottery ticket, I will get a house on a big lake with a big library and have poetry readings and meetings of some type, even if the cats are the only ones in attendence…

Tuesday — watching the crows gather

It’s hot out there, really hot, but felt like running up to the used bookstore in Sanford.  Wanted to rumage around the shelves and see what was new. I stopped by the marina to see if anything was floating around, water was flat and nothing visible, not even ducks swimming. So I went toward the businesses up on the “island”.  I can’t figure out how this concrete slab is considered an island, I have been to Sanibel, that’s an island, but then again in Florida, we call drainage ditches “ponds”. Anyway, the familiar ducks were out and about and do seem to stay all together. I saw the one with the hair standing up, and I saw the baby ducks which have grown. I also saw a duck walking around with a broken wing.   It looked kind of pathetic. When I walked up to where the ducks live, suddenly it looked like a mass march toward the human.  When they realized I had a camera and no food, they ignored me. I still did not see one muscovy anywhere, even at the pond that is across the street.
The City of Sanford has built quite an elaborate exercise track and have lots of new playground equipment.
The osprey in the nest are flying now. I took a few minutes to watch
them fly from post to post.
Upon returning home, I checked the little mother moorhen on her nest. She has at least 5 eggs now,

I got a bit worried as the crows began to gather, and they were digging away on the property.  About five crows bossing each other around. One was digging and digging and I watched  to see what it would extract.

Turtle eggs! They had found a hole, 

and I shooed them away and took the shovel and got the only two remaining eggs and buried them in the garden so the birds would not bother them. Those birds were rather snippy about that, and finally left. Now I am going fishing. I hope something is biting, last night didn’t catch anything, if fact, I put down my rod and my son and I went for a walk. Now ask my son how annoying it is to seriously walk with someone who wears a camera around her neck, he will gladly tell you…(wait, when I look at that hole, it looks more like snake eggs, might have to let the crows have their raw omelets)

Back home again

Ran around getting ready for art ventures today. Outside it has gone from feeling comfortable to feeling like the Sahara desert in a matter of 6 days, It was 96 degrees two days ago and today was 94. No rain in over a month and the lake continues to evaporate. My second meter is now rearing it’s ugly wooden head.  Everyday I am filling the bird bath only to have the thirsty sun drain it by nightfall!  There was not much wildlife around here today, it’s like the heat had made all the birds and critters stay somewhere else in the shade.  I did see one vulture standing around by the side of the road looking perplexed.  Everything around looks parched and confused as we all breathe in the smokey, hazy air hanging over us from all the wildfires burning around the state.  Even tonight before I was going to fish, I saw a funny sight.. Church and a raccoon stood a couple feet apart and Church was giving it the “Pet Cemetery” stare down. The raccoon left. It has to be the weather. We are left once again ‘rainless’ with burnt lawns. You can tell the people around here who violate the ‘watering restrictions’, they are the ones with the green lawns, while the rest of us who adhere to the restrictions have no grass.
Tampa was much the same as Orlando. They have not had rain on over a month either.  The pond behind my son’s townhouse was a couple feet down since the last I had been there.
When I was visiting, we stopped at the Tampa Hard Rock Cafe.  The place was packed last Saturday and everyone around looked to be about my age. So you ask, what was everyone doing? Was it a concert? A speaker? Lecture? No! It was gambling! All the baby boomers and seniors are sitting around gambling away their social security. What can they lose when they hardly have anything in their stock portfolios? I was amazed at all the people sitting at the slot machines putting in quarters and dollar bills one right after the other losing losing losing. 

Aaron and I walked around looking at the walls covered in rock icon photos, paintings and rock guitars. The place was room after room of slot machines, black jack, poker tables, expensive poker tables, and more and more. People were smoking and concentrating.  The smoke inside was as bad as it was outside!  And it is quite dark and cold. But the beauty was the guitars and artwork all over the walls.
We had a nice stroll around, looking at the indian themed gift shop with faux coon skin caps, and real alligator stuffed heads with their mouths gapping.
We didn’t stay too long, didn’t even try a slot machine. I have never been to Vegas so I suppose it is more of the same only on a much grander scale out west.  In Orlando at the Hard Rock they have music venues all the time.  I can see the Tampa Hard Rock doesn’t need the music except for the “ca-ching” that the coins make hitting the slots and the noise of the screen as it tumbles with different fruit that does not seem to match up often.
Later we went home and watched big time wrestling, 

And went through fishing gear while  Aaron cooked us lobster tails for dinner. I was still perplexed that all those people my age and older would sit for hours upon hours and throw away money into those machines. “All the lonely people, where do they all come from…” Paul McCartney was way ahead of his time. It seems all the lonely people come from the casinos, (then go home and return the next day to try and win their money back again.)  Not me, give me the camera and a branch with a bird, a cool sunset, or a lizard, and the wonders of things to take a photo of and one can never be lonely, I guess everyone has their own cure….

Sunday and the folks brought the baby, baby crane

Here it is at 7 weeks and it is going to be the biggest crane I can think of – it is growing like a corn stalk in July!
So I will let the photos speak for themselves

The baby herons have taken to the sky and other flying things

That’s him! The missing baby heron has grown a bit and now he   and his sibling have taken to regular flights back and forth to the nest. I am convinced that is the same one who was rejected. What’s fun is to watch the two babies fly awkwardly around the lake, they stop and eat at different spots then fly back to the nest to compare. They are always competing up there, YAK YAK YAK, their necks go up and down, their wings extend and it’s always competiton.

I enjoy looking out and seeing their activity from my desk. Yesterday the one baby was here twice and that’s the one I think finally found his way back home.
It’s also quite evident the dragonflies are busy. At the lake they are all over. I also get them on the porch and have to take them outside. They do pinch too! And of course, the band of brothers and Pekins are here off and on as usual and even Carbs will show up during early evening then take off before the BOB’s pick on him.  

Then last night I was flipping through the channels and came across the American network and another winged specimen  the  old Batman series with Adam West and he looked like a little kid! 

The bat mobile looked so cheap, but it was fun watching the action scenes with POP, POW and cartoon effects when our imaginations were so much simpler. We had no bloodshed, only lame storylines and stupid acting that made it work in the 60’s.      I stuck around and saw The Hornet was next and watched about ten minutes and my son pointed out that Bruce Lee was the Hornets butler. How weird! The Hornet was really a great looking guy!

So it was a full day of wings and even Ringo the cat was exhausted and dreaming as his tail seemed to take flight. Was he dreaming of flying, or growing up to become a lion and catching all kinds of things?

Catwatching cats watching…

I just finished listing an art submission on my other blog, ( http://florida4art.blogspot.com )  and decided to read my emails. Of course Andrea sends an email about cats talking. She is always sending email attachments featuring ‘You Tube’ animals, especially cats. But I have 4 cats so I get talked to plenty and really don’t find many of these videos that funny.  I mean really, either people are torturing their cat by rubbing them hard on the hotspot next to their tail and their cat heads spin like the exorcist or someone is egging them on over and over and it’s usually boring. So I left the You tube playing with the white cat on the screen meowing and went to the kitchen for some lunch.  When I came back, there was Frankie, staring lovingly at the screen mesmerized by the beautiful white cat. I played the video for her a couple times and she watched him go through his meowing routine, I played a few more videos listening to cats saying things like “hi” or Mama, or “bigdongjohnson’, whatever the human ear perceives it as. Frank then looked at me and I told her if she was wanting her fifteen minutes of fame, I could tape her too as she is a big talker, but instead she hopped across the key board and plopped herself right in front of the screen, placing her body as close to that white cat on the monitor as she could get. I suppose that cat had said something very intriguing and enticing in ‘feline-ese’ that made Frankie want to snuggle against the cool, flat screen, one dimensional cat. Then we struggled as she was blocking the monitor and I finally moved her around enough so she was happy and I could continue blogging, about a cat watching cats, having cat-fatuations’ and then dreaming about sailing off with some white cat as they cuddle in a gondola in Venice as the oarsman croons “oh sole-a MEOW”.
In the meantime, I have no hope of the keyboard lasting long with all the cat hair that gets inside, but now Frankie has her fifteen minutes…or more…