What a Day!

OK, who can tell me why it is that the older I get, the faster the days seem to go??? This morning began just as peacefuly and serenely as could be, and then WHAM: the phone started ringing and everything began to go just a tad bit akimbo, until there was no salvaging it!!! ARGGGGH!!!!!

I was happily (and peacefully, mind you!) assembling my first-of-the-season Christmas coffee breads. Carol Duval was murmuring away contentedly on HGTV, and life was good! Here are the first fruits of my labor awaiting a quick blast in the convection oven:

And here they are a few moments later, cooling before their brief slumber in the freezer, before heading off to their new homes for Christmas breakfast:

I was still on track at this point, happily watering my orchids, humming away, and thinking that alas, life was indeed good! Look at this wonderful Phalenopsis! She is the first one I ever purchased, and she has sent out 4 big and beautiful bracts for me to enjoy this year!!! MMMMMMM!! My darling daughter Kristin told me how she had transplanted all of her orchids this past year and they were thriving. I witnessed this in person and decided to give it a try too. I am now a believer! See for yourself: said orchid , on the right, is a changed specimen.

Obviously I haven't taken the time to transplant the poor little orchid on the left, but when I do, expect to see wondrous results!

And here below you can see, a testament to sheer stubborness on the part of the plant kingdom! This little darling was given to me by my dear neighbor Deborah, who is a true Orchid Diva (and I say that in all reverence). Debbie can grow orchids....and most anything, truth be told ( we love her arugula, tomatoes, peppers, squash, okra, etc.). She had given up on the below specimen and asked me if I wanted it. I have watered and nurtured this dear one for about five years and was so thrilled when I was finally rewarded with this bract in late summer. Look at it!!! I can hardly believe my eyes!!! Isn't she wonderful?? I am convinced that a large part of my most recent orchid success is due to the fact that we are now home more often and I can devote a bit more time to the watering and feeding rituals that even an orchid seems to enjoy.

So after watering the aforementioned orchids, it was time to head out to my sewing room and tend to the fun in life! I had several projects calling my name, but when I paused and looked up and out, here is what I saw:

In the foreground is a wonderful bird feeder that my friend Jane gave me a few years back. But there on the lake is "Big Blue", our nickname for one of our resident Great Blue Herons. "Blue" is having a grand old time fishing for his midmorning snack on our lakefront. I can never quite get over seeing him/her and his/her other buddies: the local Wood Ducks (ohhh, be still my heart, they are so gorgeous!), the migrating grebes, the funny little Buffleheads, and the incredibly awesome Hooded Mergansers. There are more...but I will bore you with them another time.

After lunch we headed off to Atlanta, to meet up with a new friend, Carolyn. She saw my ad on Craig's List for my wonderful old Horn sewing cabinet and we had scheduled a rendezvous at the famous Varsity:

"What'll ya have, what'll ya have?" If you haven't been there, you've missed the best onion "rangs" in the world and probably the best ever frosted orange to pass your lips!!! I am proud to say that we were strong and were able to resist all temptation! Traffic being what it was, poor Carolyn had to wait on us, but we finally got there, and I said good-bye to my faithful old sewing cabinet. And then we drove through the Georgia Tech campus on our way back up to our condo:

As you can see, it was getting dark and Barker was in no mood to slow down for a photo op (nor was the traffic!), so we skedaddled on northward to 8th and Juniper.

After a walk through the hood with Barker, C and I headed off to dinner at our longtime favorite Agnes and Muriel's, the favorite of many locals and visitors to this fair city.

So, that's it for today! We're in the city for a bit of R&R....and oh, er, and maybe a bit of shopping???? I dunno!