A Big Day For The Golf Guy

Golf is a big deal here in Retirement Land. We live in a Golf and Country Club Community. We have had a stray golf ball bounce off our roof and land in the grass across the street. Tee times scroll across our TV screen. James plays nearly every single day. So I guess it was only a matter of time - yesterday he called me from the sixth hole to excitedly announce that he'd just hit a hole-in-one. A pretty big deal for golfer-guys. James is also the new president of the men's league here, so he has a LOT of golf-friends and that meant a LOT of beers to buy at the clubhouse (a stupid tradition that the hole-in-one-getter has to buy for everyone else - shouldn't it be the other way around? 'Course, that would be bad for one's health, I guess, in more ways than one).

I've been searching through my photos and I don't have any pictures of the golf course here or any of Jim's golf friends, so I'm posting a couple pix of my very favorite golfers -- these were taken at the mini-golf course at Disney back in 2008 when Josh and Stephanie were visiting:

And the winners of My Favorite People in a Golf Cart category:



--cds

Winter On My Mind

I can't let go of the subject of ice skating. I hear that the South Jersey kids have been skating over their Christmas break and this has a huge nostalgic pull for me -- no wonder. I grew up in a house located 50 feet from a pond, so close that if my own kids lived that near to a body of water I'd be freaking out and telephoning daily to check on the whereabouts of the grandkids and imagining all sorts of horrendous scenarios (did my mother really not know we crunched around the edges of the ponds before they were completely frozen and checked for safety by an adult??).


These shots of our old pond are some of my Dad's from about 1954 or 1955. This below is a picture of my grandparents' house taken from one of the causeways. You can click on any of these photos to make them bigger.


This skating scene has to be about 1955 or so because I am the kid in the white boots on the sled.

Here I am on skates:

However, this is the skating attire I always visualized myself wearing:



Anyway, to a kid the world changed when the ponds froze and you had skates that fit. We played Crack-the-Whip, Freeze Tag and other chase games. Hockey, of course, but that was mostly the boys. I preferred to practice twirling about, pretending I was in the Ice Follies in a sparkling costume -- except I had to wear a wooly hat and mittens -- and baggy gray leggings. But if we could talk an adult into building us a bonfire, the day was perfect.

Since the temp here in Florida may shoot to 70 degrees today, I'd better leave my wintery memories right here for a while. Not, though, without posting this (very) rare shot of my Mom on skates (wearing the red gloves), along with two of my aunties, Ann on the left and Claudia in the middle. --cds

Skating - Day Two.

Some friends have joined Martin on the old skating pond! Okay, so I am a bit obsessed with the ice in the bucket and the picture-taking. But this has provided me with endless amusement today and I needed a break from the sewing anyway.

Also, have you ever taken a good look at the people who inhabit your Christmas village. Creepy! Seriously, don't look. --cds

In Which Martin St. Louis Plays Pond Hockey In Central Florida.

Okay, so yeah, this is fake Martin St. Louis; and yeah, this is a flower pot I was using to root some plant cuttings and it stayed out all night on my front porch.

But it is frozen solid right now thus allowing Marty to get in a little extra practice as well as reminisce fondly of his pee-wee hockey days growing up in Canada. Or wherever. I'm too lazy and cold right now to research where he grew up. May I repeat: Central freaking Florida! --cds

450 Gajillion Watts, But Pretty

We took a jaunt over to Disney the other night to see the holiday decorations and lights. Over the top, of course, but that's a given at Disney. Oh yes, there was real fake snow, too.

As you may know, I have opinions on residential outdoor holiday decoration. Snow-covered New England front porch strung with multi-colored lights, sparklely tree glimpsed through the window: good. Deflated blow-up Santa-in-a-snowglobe in the rain-sodden front yard of a Tampa homeowner: bad. Twinkle-lights glittering from a city street corner Christmas tree lot: good. Neon-flashing flamingo wearing a Santa hat: very very bad.


This bottom shot is a look at the lights without your glasses (I am SUCH a poor photographer - I need lessons from all my talented young cousins). --cds

Must.Stay.Busy

Had to spend some time sorting Christmas decorating supplies, some of it from old Christmas corsages and it looked so pretty I had to take photos. I remember seeing church ladies wearing Christmas corsages on their plaid woolen coats.
Anyway, these are the most interesting pictures I've taken lately because I've been crazy busy in the sewing room. Of course I missed the Thanksgiving deadline on the banners (still stitching) and now that I have all the fabric for my Mom's hydrangea quilt, I had to start making up a few blocks to see how it'll look.

And there are cookies to bake. Staying busy is crucial this time of year when one is located way down here on the Florida peninsula. --cds

Is It Too Late For A New Career?

No, no, not acting - the closest I ever came to acting was in 5th grade when I mumbled my way through a play written by my best friend; a play that, in retrospect, seemed suspiciously similar to an episode of Father Knows Best. And it's not that I'm even all that fond of Keira Knightley - she's a mumbler, too, I think. No, look beyond her, behind her. See those shelves stacked with pewter and blue transferware?

I want to be the person who gathers all that stuff and arranges it. I'm sure all those dishes need to be washed and dried and shined up pretty. Is that set design? I want to do that. I'll bet Keira Knightley never even noticed the lovely dishware, what with being accosted by scarey pirates and all. Stupid girl. --cds

Abundance

Wine Club is overwhelming me. I need winter guests to help me wine-taste our way through a week's worth of dinners. Yes, there are Christmas decorations in the background of this photo. It's time, don't you think? It's never too early for sparkley lights and candles. --cds

One Banner Done

One banner done, nine more to go. These are turning out to be huge. My lovely assistant is holding this one up above his six foot frame. I'm thinking I'd better call Ms. Bonnie and give her a heads up. I sure hope the Foodshelf has wall space for all ten of these because each one is amazing, I think. Bonnie color-coordinated the veggies, so one banner is orange, one red, one purple, etc. Again, I've just stitched the applique, borders, quilting and finishing details - these designs are the artist's, but she is inspiring me to get busy on my own stuff. I've got a self-imposed Thanksgiving deadline on these - I might make it, but the weather has been so gorgeous, I've had to stitch out on the porch, audiobook in my ear (currently Bill Bryson's At Home-A Short History of Private Life), cup of tea by my side. Pure pleasure. --cds

A Good and Severe Discipline

An essay a day might keep dementia away. Every once in a while I find myself brooding about my life here in retirementville. Not about the decision to do so (retire) or about the move to Florida (come on, it's sunny, breezy and 75 degrees in November!). But keeping the mind sharp once out of the workplace is important, we're told, so I mean to force myself to write more, and more often.

The public debate over raising the age at which to receive Social Security throws my situation into relief because at its crux is the argument that people in general are living longer and employed people remain healthy longer (and then, of course, there is the whole deficit thing). I believe this health argument is true and now realize that, as an unemployed person, adding a disciplined thinking routine to my day is as important as the physical exercise. I really did think a lot at work no matter what my co-workers might believe to the contrary. My Mom plays computer Scrabble at an advanced level (she's very good). Since I lack the competition gene, writing will be my discipline of choice.

I once made a braggy remark that given a subject, access to a library and an hour, I could produce a decent essay and to prove it I scribbled off an essay about essay writing. All that shows me now is that writing takes practice since it has taken me two days to generate this teensy piece. Clearly, my brain pencil needs sharpening.

I will never be able to write daily - I know me; but I really do want to try. So in between pictures of quilts, birds and bottles of wine, I might write on things that I know about. Whoever loves Ernest Hemingway, raise your hand. --cds

New Quilt Project

This one is for my Mom. We found the flower panels in one shop and I've been scrounging online to pick up the rest of this Lakehouse Drygoods collection. Each individual flower will make about a 9-inch block and I'll just make up the rest - we have a design in mind.

I'm finally winding down on the vegetable banners I've been hand-stitching. I have stitched down a lot a lot of vegetables over the past month.

I always have new quilt projects in the works of course, but this one will be for Mother - who DOESN'T BELIEVE IN PROCRASTINATION!! (how odd...). --cds

I Am Not Kidding.

While dusting my bookshelves (I do that a lot), I came across my old Manual for the Legal Secretarial Profession, circa 1970-72. It is priceless. As I have mentioned, I went to Champlain College and its Legal Secretarial Program during those years. According to the Manual, here is a list of the proscribed attributes for the legal secretary:

--Save your glamour for evenings when you want to attract, not distract attention. Hair-bows may have their places, but not in the office.
--Hide your light. If you originate a good idea, give the credit to your boss, because you know when he advances, you advance with him.
--Look beautiful over the telephone. Hundreds of men with plain secretaries have been startled to hear an outsider say: "your secretary must be lovely... she certainly sounds beautiful over the phone."
--Be a good housekeeper. Keep your boss's desk and office neat, his calendar up-to-date, his desk supplied with sharp pencils, erasers and blotters, his pen filled [is that a euphemism??].

Annoying attributes:
--gum chewing
--argumentative
--smoking at your desk
--BO
--untidy hair
--too emotional
--swearing; this should be the boss's privilege [I am not kidding, it says that].
--not ladylike enough

Oh, and clean clothing and clean hose should be worn every day.

Well, first off, the lawyer I worked for in those early days was the former Director of Vermont Legal Aid - he had long hair and wire-rimmed glasses and I wore jeans and tee-shirts to the office. We swore a lot, especially at insurance lawyers and our own disgusting criminal clients who threw up in the stairwell. We laughed loudly every single day, usually at the expense of some of our more stupid criminal clients or at stories in the NYTimes about other stupid criminals. We had disgusting, stupid and from time to time very very scarey clients. I loved that job.

In the next installment, I will describe the Champlain College class for The Professional Secretary when a real live New York City model (she modeled for Sears Catalogs) spoke to us about posture, grace, fashion, and what sort of cocktail to order when dining out in the big city -- I'm thinking it was Sloe Gin Fizz -- what the hell is that anyway???) --cds

A Good Day

It's always a good day when a Grandma hears that the littlest granddaughter is accomplishing baby-firsts, like rolling over and also attempting to make forward motion across the floor (albeit face-planting the first time).

And then ending the day with a phone call from the Utah granddaughters in order to discuss their Halloween costumes.

--cds

Yet Another Car Show

This car show was held at one of Lakeland's downtown lakes (the city is well named), so it was a good opportunity to bring your Aqua Car. There is a lovely promonade circling the lake and cars were lined up there as well as on many of the blocked off downtown streets. As car shows go, I must admit it was a pleasant outing, especially since the weather is beyond fabulous lately. In a side note to our dear friends who used to own a car like this (in blue tho): Dear Friends - pack up a convertible, tie on a headscarf, grab your sunglasses and cruise on down for a visit. We'll drive over to the ocean and look for Cat Stevens. --cds

A Beach Visit

This is the closest you will ever see to a photo of me and my mother in our bathing suits. We buzzed over to the Gulf yesterday to put our tootsies in the sea and sand. It was very beautiful. It seems I am compelled to take pictures of birds. This guy was fishing in the shallows.

Not many pelicans around though - wonder where they all are? --cds

Sew. Clean. Read.

Though I have a massive amount of stitching to do on those banners, I have to clean up the sewing room a bit first thing this morning. Hate a messy sewing room. Hate a messy bookshelf, too, so after cleaning up the shelves, I decided I needed to reread my collection of Dorothy Sayers mysteries (in between the cleaning and the sewing).

I'm starting with The Unpleasantness at The Bellona Club - 1920's-style English forensics are pretty funny. --cds

Autumn Arrives in Florida

Last April I had a conversation with a Tampa-area native who told me that every single day of the summer would be very hot and humid and probably rainy. She was oh so correct. She also said that one morning in late September, early October, I would open up the front door and say, Oh, Fall is here. Right again, Miss Florida. This week has been fabulous - sunny, breezy, blue skies, fluffy clouds, humidity at 35%, temp at 75 - 80 degrees. We've been able to do loads of yard work without sweating buckets. New hibiscus-es have been planted.


And the front porch is all ready for official porch-sittin' season. Soup is being made (the mirepoix base for veggie/ham soup waiting for a shot of white wine).
This sauvignon blanc was last month's Wine Club pick - it's really really good. --cds

Yet Another Project

First, my favorite thread for applique: Mettler Silk-Finish 100% Cotton. So smooth - slides through cotton fabric like air. Aren't autumn colors lovely? And the new project: I am just the stitcher on this one. This piece is one of what I believe will be 10 banners that have been designed by Vermont artist Bonnie Acker - she is one of the most inspiring people I have met in years and is so generous with her time and talents. I think these banners will hang in the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf in the old North End. Bonnie had groups of kids and others cut out the vegetables and helping hands. I'm stitching them on by raw-edge applique, maybe adding some stems and tendrils, along with borders, backing and quilting. The black letters spell out Welcome! in what will be a total of 50 different languages. Did you know that there are over 80 different languages and dialects spoken in the Burlington School system??? That number just blows me away. Isn't this precious baby hand so cute?
--cds