The Past Ten Days

...time to catch-up. Last week Wednesday evening, we hosted a pot-luck for our men's and women's Bible study groups. We had about 20 over. It was a beautiful evening and we used the deck. GB made two pans of lasagna and the others brought side dishes and desserts. I cleaned the river of its spring debris, so we had water music from the waterfall as we ate and talked. No bugs yet and the humidity is still low. We have had several new people at church recently, and one couple was able to join us -- great way to get to know each other! I think the last people finally left around 9:30...we do enjoy each other's company!

This past Thursday GB and I participated in a 5K walk / run. It was a fund raiser for a Florida wellness program. More importantly, it was for businesses, companies, and organizations to promote physical activity and wellness among their employees. GB and I went with about 20 people associated with The Christ School. We were small potatoes -- there were about 7,300 people participating! We mostly walked (jogged a little bit) and finished in a little over 43 minutes. Again, it was a beautiful evening with low humidity and no breeze. We first gathered in the Citrus Bowl, heard a lot of rah-rah, and then walked to the start-finish line just north of the Bowl. The walk / run took place on the streets around the Citrus Bowl. There's something that's fiendishly fun about walking with thousands of others across busy intersections and seeing stopped traffic stretched for blocks! And we got a tee shirt! We also got new walking shoes last night...

A Maryland Week-end

Grandma's sweatshirt got a work-out --

it was cold! Luke with PlaDoh...making green.

When Erin concentrates, her mouth gets small & white!

Grandpa's favorite picture -- oh, if only we

could bottle that baby smell!

We finally got to see some cherry blossoms! Luke found some Emmy Em's on his Easter

egg hunt.

Erin, the Sleeping Beauty... ...a good looking Waterhouse family.

Saturday Adventure

We left at 7 AM Saturday morning with friends Steve and Nancy Mercier and drove an hour north to DeLeon Springs State Park.

Within the park there is a unique restaurant, the Old Spanish Sugar Mill, a do-it-yourself pancake place so popular that there is a sign at the ranger station at the park entrance telling how long the wait is! A griddle is in the middle of the table, there are two kinds of pancake batter, and the spring is just outside...where was Ponce!

After breakfast we went for a walk (waddle?) to see one of the oldest bald cypress trees in Florida -- Old Methuselah is 400 - 500 years old.

We also found a newly hatched luna moth on the path trying to warm up.

We hopped into the car and drove north to Barberville and Barberville Produce...as you can see, they sell more than produce. They produce a great deal of STUFF! Definitely a 10 on the unique-o-meter.

Gayle found another chicken for her collection; unfortunately, we couldn't fit it in the trunk. While I was gawking at the incredible collection of STUFF, I took a shot in the head from flailing zebra hooves, but I recovered quickly.

Steve thought this cannon would be great for working out neighbor problems, but again, fit-in-the-trunk issues.

Next stop -- a car ferry across the St. John's River. It took about 10 minutes to find the pilot, 10 minutes to cross the river, and a $10 fee. Also a 10 on the unique-o-meter.

We then continued on to Mt. Dora for a walk around town and lunch, consisting of a scoop of ice cream. Those pancakes were still riding solidly in our tummies!

Lawn bowling..."We're more refined than bocce ball." And a lot older. Median age was 73.5, they had to wear white, and were very friendly. I think they were looking for more (younger) converts to the game who would then sit on benches watching a large elliptical ball - the bowl - roll s l o w l y toward the jack, a tennis ball sized white ball which is the target. And you get to say snappy quips as the bowl rolls s l o w l y toward the jack. Like, "Too much lawn" for a wide shot, or "Not enough arm" when it's short, or "It's in the ditch" when it goes way too far. My favorite -- When a bowl looks like it will be really close to the jack, you start vocalizing an "Oh" sound quiet and low. As the bowl gets closer, your "Oh" crescendos and slides up the scale. Then they cap off a good shot by actually standing up and doing the wave. Once. Wow. When about 40 old people do this it's another 10 on the unique-o-meter.

Of course, the leprechauns were out in Mt. Dora. It was St. Patrick's Day! This one was playing oldies in front of a very empty "All Things Irish" store. All the Irish and wanna-be Irish were in the bars drinking green beer. And that's a final 10 on the meter! What a great day!

Trip to Michigan - part 2

One of our stops while in Michigan was to visit the Frederick Meijer Gardens. We saw orchids, sundews, feeding pitcher plants, arrays of spring flowers, and butterflies. What a display of butterflies!

Can you see the gnat stuck on the sundew?

How about that beautiful butterfly with all of the eye spots on Gayle's sock?

The one on the left is called The Clipper.


The butterfly on the branch at the right is a Tree Nymph.

Can you see the leaf through the wing of the butterfly on the left? It's called a Clear Wing.

The beauty on the right is a Common Rose.


A visit and lunch with Aunt Julie rounded out the day. And thanks to Roger and Maria VW for their wonderful hospitality!

Trip to Michigan - part 1

We went to Michigan to enjoy Bob's senior art show. We got a sneak preview before the reception on Friday night. Helps to know the artist!

We went out for supper before the reception; the kids got crazy...yet again! Here's a double tonsil shot --

We were blessed with many friends and family who came to celebrate Bob's artistry.

Here are a couple of Bob's many presentations -- the first is a layout of sisal in small pinch pots. The second is seven delightful cups on shelves.

A Weekend for Hobbies

So Beth and I got up Saturday -- much earlier than B wanted to -- and drove to Sarasota for the semi-annual sensory overload at Tropiflora. 40,000 square feet of bromeliads under net! That is the largest of about a dozen greenhouses for bromeliads and orchids. I think I had a smile on my face the whole time we were there. I bought a neoregelia named Hannibal Lector #3 'The Governor's Plea'. The man who developed this strain of bromeliad apparently likes a certain type of horror movie. Our fav for the day (and one I did not buy) was a neoregelia named Norman Bates which sold for a cool $50 / plant. Now that's a horror story!

The best part for me was to see Beth order a few bromeliads for shipment to Denver later in March...

On our way back, we stopped at a cigar company in Tampa. Tampa is known for expatriate Cubans who have developed a thriving industry in Tampa and Ybor City rolling cigars. It was interesting, but I didn't buy any. $7 for a single cigar (and some were as high as $20 EACH!) was too much.

Gayle finished her class quilt today. This is the quilt project that she will donate to The Christ School Mane Event auction & dinner on March 3. As you can see, she is happy and relieved to be done! The lion is the TCS mascot. Gayle put pictures of her 16 students and each student's handprint as a border around the quilt. Several moms have already let it be known that they have their eyes on the quilt. Gayle's quilts are a featured item of the live auction.

Another Game

Last week Friday we had our annual Grandparents Day at TCS. We had great fun -- it's always a good time when grandparents come to see what the kids are doing. We had a chapel and open house on Friday morning and then everyone went home...which was fine by us also! This is a picture of my room, with the kids' science projects on display. They did a really good job!

We had a fairly typical week with the usual school related meetings. Mid-quarter grades went home on Wednesday for 2nd - 8th graders, so there was the usual child/student hyperventilation and parental concern and surprise over the grades and behavior. In 5th grade we send a "Thursday folder" of work home each week. We note any missing assignments and the parents have to sign the folder and then send it back. How any parent can be surprised at the report card after that kind of communication is beyond me, but then I've only taught for 33 years...

GB and I worked at school until after 6 PM last night and then went to the Amway Arena to watch an Orlando Magic basketball game. Our church had a group night together; we had seats in the last row of the upper deck! It was the nose-bleed section, but we had a surprisingly good view of the action. We did get our cardio-exercise in -- worked off the hot dog, soda, & soft pretzel just going up and down the steps to the food vendors!

We saw one of the best games we have ever seen, TV included! The Magic played the San Antonio Spurs. Magic did their usual give-away game the first half; at one point they were down by 18 points, but they worked their way back with some great shooting and passing. The game was tied at 104 with 5.9 seconds left and center Dwight Howard blocked a shot. The Magic called time with .8 seconds left on the clock and the in-bounds pass was a lob to the basket. Howard did a one hand grab & dunk to win the game. The Orlando Sentinel had a great headline this morning: Dunk & Go Nuts. Howard is in his third year as a pro. The Magic signed him directly out of a Christian high school in Atlanta. He's 6'11" and has a vertical leap of 39 inches. He can almost touch the top of the backboard, and one of his teammates said that he's seen Dwight jump and kiss the rim! What a great win!

Beth had her orientation and first shift at Fish Memorial, Orange City last night. It must have gone well; she worked 14 hours and got home after 5:30 AM!

Time to mow the grass. We are back into our normal February weather -- low 70's during the day, partly cloudy, and about 50 at night. We feel you Northerners' pain with the nasty cold temps you've been enduring lately...I think I'll put my shorts on.

Beautiful Week

An eclectic post...Here are two of the four Gertrude Hausermann cattleya orchid -- they're corsage size!










Steve Mercier, a friend from church, and I went riding today. Steve has an Electra Glide Classic Harley, and I rented (used my gift from last year's 5th grade class) a Heritage Softail Classic Harley. We started at 8 AM - a cool 50 degrees - and rode north on 436 to US 17 92 and Sanford. We went along the south side of Lake Monroe and then up to Orange City. We spent some time at Blue Spring State Park. There were 172 manatees this morning (so the park ranger said). We caught a beautiful morning, cool enough that the manatees were just swarming in the spring!





The scenery was exquisite at Blue Spring. We were in shirt sleeves by noon, and heading toward Eustis and Mount Dora. We came back toward Orlando on 441. I should have used my sun block!









The best part - Gayle went for a ride with me after we got back to Orlando. GB had been testing prospective kindergarteners at TCS this morning. GB is a good sport; she said that I go to quilt shows, so she can do this...and it was a great day to be outside.

Long Weekend

Last Saturday we went to a local sports pub (sounds better than bar) and watched the satellite feed of the Calvin - Hope basketball game. We had about 50 people - alumni from both schools there. Good game, good time with new and old friends. Too bad Calvin lost, but at least it was closer than last year!
We had MLK Day off from school so we used it well. Gayle had two doctor appointments and I cleaned the carpets and the cars. I hadn't cleaned the cars or the carpets in a while. Looks much better now!
We're looking forward to this week-end. Uncle Paul & Aunt Shirley are staying here for two nights. GB has to work at the quilt show in the afternoon and I think the rest of us will go to Leu Gardens. The camellias and roses should be pretty good yet.

Garden Additions

I made some changes to the yard over vacation. Gayle gave me a staghorn fern (upper right) which I hung on a hanger on the laurel oak in the back yard. I have a fern hanging from the same tree -- had it in Ft. Myers and it even survived Hurricane Charley! It is very large and was still in its plastic container. I was afraid that it would crack the plastic hanger that was attached to the pot so I got a new, sturdier pot and hanger. I was amazed at the weight and the root system. I had to smash the plastic pot to remove most of it; I was able to split the plastic rim but the woody root system of the fern kept me from getting it all. I'm guessing that it weighs about 20 pounds.

We took Bob and Emily to Lukas Nursery last Friday and Gayle and I saw a beautiful pink camellia there. It was a japonica camellia called Pink Perfection. I went back and bought it on Saturday! It's on the lower left -- what do you think? Is it not perfection itself? I planted it in the front next to our pink hibiscus, under one of our front yard laurel oaks. It's a little hard to see in the picture above; it's right in line with the tree trunk. Camellias like shade, so I think the location will work well. Our back yard camellia is a double flower and is in full flower right now (bottom).