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Hold on, have been gone since last Thursday and have had things happen! First people things, went to Tampa for a baby shower and my son, Aaron proposed to his girlfriend, Leila. 
That was a lot of fun. Lots of people and scenery and gifts and a great time. Thanks as always to Mark and Lynette for the use of their home for these wonderful parties and to all the hard workers who set it all up and took it down. Came home Sunday after spending two nights with three hours of sleep while listening to the poor cat in heat. Don’t worry she is an indoor cat, 
but what is really funny, there is a slab porch with no screen out the back door, and Sasha the cat will not go off the concrete, she hates hates hates the feel of the grass.
Before I got on I-4, I was cutting through a Home Depot to get gas and caught sight of two osprey in the trees, had to stop and take a couple pics. 
Then off it was toward O- town. Finally I was ready with my camera to take the upside down RV’s I always forget about – 
They were near Dover. At one point the artist was told to remove them, luckily, that has changed — http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/mar/14/owner-told-remove-vertical-rv-display-dover/ — I don’t know anyone who doesn’t enjoy seeing that display!
And then the monotonous ride to Orlando and the rejoicing when downtown appears ; 
.
At the house, the herons have left the nest, nothing is there anymore, though the neighbors still have their family in the trees. The wood ducks too, they have taken their family and gone – didn’t even say goodbye. The grasshoppers are horrible,
They want to dine on way too much. Most of my neighbors kill them, I have been told to fish with them, but can’t bring myself to bait them. 
So they eat. The birds are still busy even though the heat is overwhelming.
The moorhens have six babies. The jays and cardinals also have fledglings: 
The cranes were yawning in the heat.
The grackles and crows and mockingbirds continue fighting.
I was going to go to an meeting for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission about banning the penning of fox and coyotes for hunters to let their dogs loose upon- what an unfair advantage! Apparently it was well attended and they will pass the ban. I actually slept through it this am, I woke and it was 10am and the meeting began at 8:30am, whoops… Glad there are so many dedicated animal protectors via animal rights activists. Orlando has a large share.
At 1pm, I went to Debary 
to see the Gateway Center for the Arts exhibit. On my way I stopped at the White Cup on 17/92 in Debary to see if Jon D. Miller’s work was still up, and the artist was sitting there when I walked in! 
So here is a sampling of what is hanging: 
A Horoscope theme of mixed media on wood and canvas and even prints of the originals. Here’s a few close ups: 
Jon’s painted palm fronds are just as colorful and fun as he is: 
Jon’s so enthusiastic, and even though this show comes down this Friday, I am sure he will be somewhere else – if you are interested in his art, contact via email: Toyseum@aol.com. Jon does murals, interior painting besides portraits and even body painting.
Don’t forget that the White Cup has a selection of coffee and tea and is now making their own yummy desserts.
Then hit the Gateway because my friend, Judith Segall and another new friend, Mary Segal were both showing with Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson and Joanna White. Judith is an excellent paper maker and gives classes. She has worked on making mixed media art that can be touched for the enjoyment of sight impaired people. I remember her telling me she went to Gainesville and took a class years ago about applying art as therapy. Here she has applied her knowledge as a paper maker, painter and being that she is sensitive toward someone who might not have the visual ability to see the colors, but as in nature, they can touch and identify the shapes. Her pieces are always well thought out and very beautiful: 
Always love the depth of Elizabeth’s collages. 
Her colors are just stimulating and fun! I have seen her do collage and it’s magic! Mary Segal does striking, long panels of soothing colors with mixed media – she has quite an interesting approach to her art.
The hanging box art by Joanna White was of small boxes strung together to make long chains of color, that looks like a time consuming project!. There were other boxes too of varied descriptions,
and some long shots 
Just a few glimpses into the brains of artists. The show will be on for about 3 more weeks I think.
The front lobby had adorable individually made bird houses for auction: 
Here’s some info, click on photo for larger reading and contact the Gateway Center For the Arts for more info. emails for Mary Segal = marysegal@yahoo.com, Judy Segall = http://www.judithsegall.com/
Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson http://www.nelsoncreative.com/gallery/
On the way home I saw a anhinga relaxing at Mayfair 
I went home to relax and even tried my hand at fishing, not one thing is biting but the turtles and don’t want them biting my hook! I Took a walk instead. One day seems to mesh into the next, but at 3am, I guess that’s how it seems – good morning!
Yesterday was the members show at the Gateway Center for the Arts in Debary. The reception was very light, maybe the cold prevented more attendance. I am showing photos of some of the artwork on the walls. Lots of fine talent in that center, and don’t forget they teach all kinds of classes in all types of media. I enjoyed talking to people who actually came to look at the art and were so appreciative of having Sandra Wilson’s vision for art, right there in their back yard.
http://www.gatewaycenterforthearts.org/
over the bridge, 
a few dashboard cams 
That’s the huge electric plant.
Gorgeous silk screening and that gator is made out of a sawmill root. 
And those are just a few samples of what is on exhibit. Thanks to Bev for braving that cold! And thanks to the artists for supporting a marvelous art center.
Another place that is welcoming of artists is the Relax In Comfort shop at Seminole Towne Center. They are featuring the beautiful work of Robin Maria Pedrero, a very smart and prolific artist. Robin Maria teaches about websites and marketing, she is a terrific marketer! Her website is http://www.gallery523.com, here are a few photos. 
Robin Maria is a whiz at getting her work out and selling it! She is someone who knows how to market, if that interests you, please check out her websites. it will also list her classes and give an email to notify her if you would be interested in learning from her.
Pocketful of Colors my blog – http://www.pocketfullofcolors.blogspot.com/
Website – http://www.gallery523.com
Etsy ~ http://RobinMariaPedrero.etsy.com
1000 markets ~ http://www.1000markets.com/users/avisualjourney
Books ~ http://stores.lulu.com/robinmariapedrero
Video ~ http://www.youtube.com/rmpastel
Please join my Fan Club ~ http://artist.to/robinmariapedrero/
Twitter ~ http://twitter.com/robinpedrero
This was the most colorful thing for most of the day. The promised rain that slammed Alabama, didn’t even fill the bird bath! We hardly had a thing.
All day I finished up with pricing, bagging, and organizing to have my stuff ready for setting up on Friday. What a mess I made, finally about 1am I vacuumed and everything put on the dining room table. 
This was taken around 10pm. Whew, glad it is all put away.
Earlier I had fished. The sky was truly beautiful. The clouds came in waves,
then it settled into gray woolen puffs stacked in layers. 
Then patterns of sorts 
The heron came out to observe –
It is the female heron. She watched for about a half hour, but since I was spending most of my time avoiding 4 turtles, she flew toward the center of the lake and chased off an anhinga. I bet she was about 300 feet away when I hooked a bream and it broke through the water splashing which alerted her and she flew right over for a meal. She stayed on and suddenly the male heron appeared and he is a big one too. 
Much larger than the female. they still have not gone up to the nesting tree, but I bet it will happen soon. they bwill be lugging branches over my head. It’s fun to watch them fly off with all kinds of sticks for the huge nest they make. I wish they would use one of my trees like they did 3 years ago, but once my red maple fell over, they probably felt vulnerable as it shaded them so well.
It got dark again so early and the mosquitos are terrible. It is still quite warm, though, right now it is about 60 degress outside and is only going to be 71 – now that is cold.
Guess, I will drag my body off to bed, yikes how will I get up on Saturday to be there before 8am, I have to be nuts! Good night, or rather good morning, catch up with you later….
The day was dull, every photo I put in todays blog is colorized. I cheated! Hurricane Ida hit up at the panhandle and the weather is affecting us. We are supposed to finally get rain tomorrow – will it actually happen? All day it looked so dull. As I drove up to Sanford and stopped to take some pics, I kept thinking the sky would unload any minute, but not a drop. I took a few dashboard cams of things and places, and they all looked so boring I had to jazz them up a bit. 
The Gateway condos actually look like this 
and the corner of First Street near the Welcome Center looked much more festive like this – 
and even the bales of hay in the hay trucks looked more delicious with some color to the grain. 
An abandoned building looked a little more appealing by deepening the color
At the marina, there was nothing new, same old birds, had to emphasize the ibis. 
And when I got home, I had to blame what I thought was an eagle as an excuse for fishing in early afternoon. I could see it flying all over, but could not get a close photo. Finally it landed three houses over so I threw out the pixels on the telephoto to capture it way up in a tree. That’s an osprey.
I caught a shiner and threw it back, caught a couple bream and they went back. The cranes were there, Ringo was with me too.
Then the heron flew into the tree and watched me cast out over and over. 
Finally I caught a nice sized bream and threw it on the ground, the heron flew down and nabbed it. He swallowed and happily flew off. Ringo and I came in as it was almost completely dark by 5:30pm!
My HP “refurbished” printer came in today so I can resume getting photos ready for this weekend art show. HP tells you to send the defective printer back within three days or get charged a chunk of change on your credit card, but the return address label I needed to do that was not included, they forgot to send it! I had to call them and stay on the line forever getting a case number from someone in Bangladesh so they could send me a label. I suggested they email it and they refused. I could have flown to India in the same time it took to stay on hold for their techs.
Rat update: G & H Pest Control in Sanford came out Monday to give me my last estimate for how they would address my rodent issue. Gene, who owns the company came out and walked around and looked in the attic and did a thorough search of the house just like Massey. Gene looked at me and told me “he would be taking my money if I hired him” because he would be doing the same exact things I have been doing. They would set the traps as I have and that is all they can do. He suggested I keep fresh peanut butter in the trap every week and keep doing it. He said he could find no fresh droppings and I had no roach or bug problem. He didn’t even give me a price for a yearly spray, so if you live around this area and want a really honest pest control company, call G & H Pest Control Inc. 407-323-6681 website http://ghpestcontrol.com/ Actually, it has been rather quiet, but I will keep listening for signs of life above my head…
As I finish this I can hear a light rain outside,that is good news, hope we are in for a night of the wetstuff! In fact, I walked outside and immediately smelled the earthy scent of wet grass. The drops were light, but anything is better than nothing! 
After the art show, I can get back to looking for photo ops. Be patient, and come to the Gateway this weekend to see what 40 artists have for you…(nothing like more self promotion)
Went to a luncheon put on by the Gateway Center For the Arts, and The National Museum of Women in the Arts. They wanted to thank Victor Thomas, the manager of Stacey’s for his generous support of food during the art receptions. I had never been to Staceys which is about a mile north of Saxon Blvd on 17/92. It’s been there many years under different names: Homers and Duffs. Stacey is Homer the owners daughter. They also have them in Ohio and other Florida locations.
There was a good line waiting to get in at 1pm when Pam and I went to the meeting. They charge $5.99 for all you can eat and WHAT A DEAL! The food was DELISH!!!! I ate and ate and looked at the dozens of different desserts and my eyeballs almost went into a diabetic shock! They do have the option of sugar-free pies). 
They had it all, food food food in all descriptions. I ate fried fish and hush puppies, steamed carrots and mac and cheese, broccoli and soup. They had turkey, tacos, meatloaf, fried chicken and much more. Everything was great. I had a lot of fun and so wanted to really take close ups of the food which was beautifully displayed, but knew that was rather tacky. So just got a few to show. 
Victor’s wife, Veronica works there also and could not have been more attentive to our needs. The NMWA & Gateway gave Victor and Veronica a beautiful signed and numbered print from one of the members.
So here’s the thumbs up for a fun afternoon with very nice artists and art supporters and of course, great home cooking, (I never cook anything like this at home,) thanks to Pam for hauling me up there and paying for my lunch, I ate my fill and then some! My turn to get lunch next time!
Back at home, Carbs is still here. 
Look at duck’s teeth, how uniform, see if you can enlarge to see them. As long as the Band Of Brother mallards stay away, I guess Carbs will stick around. I fished a little while, no bites, but a wonderful breeze blew over the lake. I decided to mow the back instead. Carbs just moved from one side of the yard to the other as I mowed, it didn’t really bother him.
The hurricane is supposed to stay to the east of us, lets hope so. The state of Florida seems to love to gouge us with spiking gas prices as a hurricane approaches, they know we will be gassing our cars and gas cans and any thing that has a gas cap to have the extra gas for generators. It will be reaching about $3.00 a gallon in a week I bet, and maybe sooner if that hurricane comes closer to home. I did fill up a couple gas cans and they are out in the garage, and I can even smell faint fumes in the house – how I hate hate hate everything gasoline. One day they will find an alternative like electric instead! I hate having to gas the lawn mower and blower and having that awful smell on your hands or a few drops on your shoes – YUK!!! But I hate having extra long cords and fooling with electric by the lake!!! One day we should be able to harness the sun with a sensor chip on our lawn equipment! If I don’t write tomorrow. I have been overcome with gas…
Abbe's world of wildlife 