In Memory of Conrad Schatte

I don't expect you knew Raddy. He was the husband of Mary, one of hubby's classmates. We often saw Mary and Raddy while on the road in one of our various camping conveyances. Raddy and Mary also traveled in a motorhome, but we actually never had the occasion to camp with them.

Displayed at the Guest Book table. 

We last saw Raddy and Mary in the fall of 2022. They had recently moved to Daytona, and were living in an oceanside condo. Raddy had grown up there, having parents who ran a beach-side hotel. 

Mary told us at that time that doctors had recently determined that Raddy was suffering from dementia. I'm not certain if they knew what nature of dementia he had. When he passed away we learned that he had FTD or frontotemporal degeneration. Recently, ABC ran a special with Diane Sawyer entitled the Unexpected Journey, which shares Bruce and Emma Willis' struggle with this disease.

The memorial was short and truly very sweet. Large screen TV's or projectors ran a slide show of many pictures showing Raddy at all ages, from infancy to shortly before he passed away. The pictures highlighted many of the memories his friends shared.

Mary always had a knack for tasteful decorating. She pulled a lot together in a beautiful display of memorabilia capturing Raddy's life: from racing and restoring cars, to awards and mementos from his long career at Disney World, to his life as a father of two sons, and as the founder of the Cool Grandfather's Club. 

I shared Raddy's memorial for two reasons, first to help raise awareness of frontotemporal degeneration, and secondly to remind us all to live our lives, and love fully. 

 

Hasenpfeffer Appetizer

 This morning, sweet Vickie went out for her daily constitutional. She is usually back, asking to be let in, within minutes. Breakfast comes next and that is a highlight of her day! Corgis are all about food!

Vickie (AKA Queen Victoria) was in the far corner of our yard .... eating.

Ick. Yeech. Yuck.

Now I get to worry about: 

Why the bunny was found, most likely previously deceased

Whether the bunny was poisoned.

If the bunny had parasites, or a bacterial infection did him in.

So far, Vickie seems just fine - no apparent reactions to her morning appetizer. 

The bunnies are cute. I hate to see that one has died. 

County Council

 Our new community had a golf course and club house/restaurant that was owned by a different entity. I'm not certain how that came about, but the land was designated as such in the original plats, so we found out.  From what I've heard the golf course has struggled since just before Covid. It has been sold a few times and purchased a few times, but it apparently has been too expensive for new owners to bring it back to rights. The current owner decided he couldn't bring it back, so it has remained unused with no maintenance, thus the greens have gone to weeds and the buildings on the property are in disrepair. The owner is a developer. Some folks question whether he ever intended to open the property as a golf course. He submitted plans to the County last year to convert the property into a development with 85 homes. Those who had bought homes so they could live on a golf course understandably were up in arms. Many of those not living on the golf course sided with them and it went before the County Commission a year ago. The application was denied. 

That is not the end of the story. The developer redrew his plans, prepared a glitzy presentation and has reduced the number of homes to 80. We attended the Board of County Commissioners meeting Tuesday night to find out more. I personally would have liked to see the course remain as I've heard the club house was a nice addition to our community for meals, get-togethers and such. I like the idea of homes viewing fairways and having that green space (although our community has plenty of green space since all lots are 1 to 20 acres in size, with plenty of drainage easements and retention ponds for storm water runoff). 

The Courtroom was full, as was the overflow jury selection room and an additional courtroom. Proceedings were viewed on large screen TVs. The two factions, those for and against the development showed up en masse. A handful of folks, wearing green shirts, were for the proposed change, the majority, probably over 80 folks, wore black. It was almost comical - I kept envisioning a board game, like Risk, where colored pawns were strategically placed to do battle. 

Proceedings began at 5:15 PM. The developers presentation was interesting, but the lawyer for the opposition pointed out several nit-picking holes in it. I was actually in awe of his attention to tiny details. We left the meeting at 7 PM, when the presentations and rebuttal and all that legal  procedural stuff was complete. We were hungry and knew our dogs were waiting for their dinners. The line for public comment, 3 minutes allowed per speaker, was long - from our vantage point we couldn't see the end of it. 

We grabbed dinner at my favorite junk food spot came home and watched the speakers on YouTube. 

We went to bed, listening to speakers. Finally around 10 PM the Board voted. The developer prevailed. The land will become housing with open space where many of the fairways are. Some golf view homes will have a 20' easement between their homes and those being built. Time will tell if the developer lives up to his promises. 

Winning Ways

I'm not much of a gambler. I don't find going to casinos fascinating. I don't like the idea of throwing money away on games of chance (but I will buy an occasional chance on something where the funds go to support a good cause.)

However, today I came out ahead with a slot machine! 

😂

I returned a cart at Aldi's after having found it, looking lost and forlorn, in the parking lot!

I was ahead  $.25 when I left the store. Not quite enough to pay for may groceries!

I do have a friend whose husband accompanies her to the store. He scours the parking lot looking for carts folks leave behind, so he can return them to the rack and get a quarter back. He delights in telling me how much money he makes on each trip! 

Do you have an Aldi near you? They are popping up all over the place. From what I've read, Aldi acquired SE Grocers, which owned Winn-Dixie. They are converting many Winn-Dixie stores into Aldi, and have sold the remaining shops to a new consortium, which will continue operating the Winn-Dixie stores.

I love Aldi's fresh fruits and vegetables. Key word there is "fresh". The veggies at our other local stores are often very sad. I will often pick up some cheese - I love their brand of Brie. I've heard their meats are of high quality, and they have some good bread, but again, there's not a lot of variety. 

 

The Long and Short of it

Moving day finally arrived....as in, time to put my sewing room together. The long arm sewing machine pieces have been residing in the corner of the tack room in the barn. We brought them over to the house, and unloaded them. 

Between the two of us we found another 8-10 cartons of craft supplies, and those came over to the new sewing room/studio, creation space, whatever I'm going to call it.  

Then I had the fun of unpacking, putting everything in its place, and assembling the long arm machine. 

We are finally getting there!

I'm an Idgit!*

I bought a Boule a few days ago, as in a round loaf of bread. 

It was marvelous.  Each slice had substance: a bit of chewiness and being moist and firm.

I am the only bread eater craver in the house, and, as much as I love a slice of good bread, spread liberally with fresh butter and jam, my body isn't quite as joyful about it.  I decided that I'd buy the loaf, use what I could and freeze the rest of the loaf so I could enjoy it later. 

In my experience removing as much air as possible from the bag of bread you intend to use for freezing increases its freezer life. I tend to forget things in the freezer, and only discover them collaterally when I am searching for some other lost item.  

I have one of those fancy-dancy vacuum freezer bag appliances. Ah ha, thought I, if I use that it will take the unwanted air out.

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It works!

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Too well!

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* Betcha didn't know, but Mr. A. I(n)-stein tells me:

"Idgit" is a nonstandard, dialectal spelling and pronunciation of the word idiot, derived from the Irish slang term "eejit" and popularized in American English, particularly in the Southern United States, as a somewhat comical or exasperated term for a foolish person.

It's Moving Day!

Finally!!

At the end of July our garage began a Cinderella transformation to become at sewing studio for me. Today was our moving day! The transformation took just over 3 weeks, but it seems so much longer than that, because I've wanted this from the day we moved into our home!

The contractor brought his daughter and his right hand man to paint the room.

I began hauling things from the packed guest room to their new home.

I put together this Kallax IKEA storage system that I bought from a gal who was moving and wouldn't have room for it. Her loss, my gain! It's been stacked in pieces in the guest room for months.

It's hard to believe that everything in this picture (except the desk) was in our small guest room!

But wait....there's more!

A Mansion in the Sky

I think we have a mansion in the sky,* a playboy mansion for dragonflies! Mr. Dreamy walked outside and beckoned me to come out and see. There were at least a dozen dragonflies flying willy-nilly above our lawn. At first we figured there must be a lot of little bugs they were feeding on. (Anyplace else but here we would have said mosquitoes, but we only have a few here - and it isn't due to active dragonflies eating all of them.) 

I count six....

I began to realize that some of the bodies looked larger than others,  

almost like one dragonfly was carrying another. 

The Internet tells me that dragonflies will mate in the air, however the pictures I found online look different than what we were observing in our back yard.

Here's what the Internet shows: 

Looks like a tanker fueling a jet mid air (hmmm, I wonder where they got the idea?!)

Most of the pictures showed the dragonflies mating in a stationary position, where they create a beautiful heart shape. Ah, love!

I have had a wonderful experience with nature in my backyard that not everyone has a chance to see, even though I'm not totally sure if our dragonflies were making babies!

*I was a riding director at a Girl Scout Camp in Rhode Island. In those days we would pile the girls into the "bird cage", the bed of a pickup truck enclosed in wire for "safety" and go for field trips. The girls delighted in singing a bawdy song at the top of their voices as we would go through small, neighboring towns. 

Here is the song:

I want a man,

I want a man,

I want a mansion in the sky.

I want a man,

I want a man,

I want a mansion in the sky,

And when that damn, damn, damn, damn damage is done

I'm going to have me a child, child, childish time,

Up in my mansion in the sky,

Hey, mister.

More sketchy stanzas followed.

It was all innocent fun. No one was injured. Everyone laughed. Life was so much simpler then.

 

The Yellow Ribbon

 Many years a lifetime ago, when I was teaching third grade, we had a bizarre story from folklore in the reading book that has stuck with me. The story is called The Yellow Ribbon. When the occasion arises to describe why something is in an unusual place, or being used in an unusual manner, I might be heard referring to it as a yellow ribbon! 

Here's an example:

When we moved onto our "Hacienda" my husband sought out a used utility vehicle and found this John Deere Gator. It is a rattle trap, but it goes like a bat out of....well, you know! The key is broken fork - just about any other narrow flat object, like a screwdriver, also works. It isn't picky! 

Do you see the vise-grip wrench on the gas pedal?

It seems to be an unusual place to find a wrench, so I asked my husband why it was there. He shrugged his shoulders and simply said that it came that way.

It's our "yellow ribbon"! 

Who knows why might happen if it is removed! 

Hippity-Hop

 Hubby and I were near a quilt fabric store that I had heard great things about. A friend of his also mentioned the shop, saying it was a "must see". We decided to swing by and check it out. We discovered that the shop is HUGE! 

It is here:

And it is there:

The shop, called Quilted Twins, is a warehouse type store, catering to online shoppers from around the world. It has over 13,000 bolts of cotton quilting fabric at great prices. The fabric sells for $6.99/yard for most manufacturers (you now pay upwards of $15/yard at other shops), $9.99/yard for Batiks and $5.99 for off brands. Most designers and their collections seem to be available.

One could get lost in the shop - there are nooks and crannies, and different rooms to explore. Unlike some warehouse type shops I've visited, the fabrics are all numbered, cataloged and in specific places - almost like using their own Dewey decimal system! The second section of the shop is their warehouse, shipping center and classroom space. 

Following our adventure we turned toward home (with some acquired fabric in the back seat! Would you expect any less from me?!)

As we drove I thought, hmmm, there are two quilt shops I've never visited between our car and our home. So, says I, "Hubby dear, would you like to visit some other quilting shops?" Being the good man that he is, he acquiesced and away we went. 

The next shop we visited, Bold Notion Quilting, was not what I expected! The shop is located next to the owner's home, in a residential area. The focus of this shop is on long arm sewing. They have limited fabrics, most in 108" width for quilt backings, just about every quilt thread color and they sell, service and teach long arm quilting. Quilters can rent their machines, or pay to have their quilts quilted. But, what's the fun of that?!

The final shop we stopped at, Nana's Quilt Shop, is more the typical quilt and sewing machine shop. There were limited fabrics and collections and Brother sewing machines for sale. It's fun to explore in this shop as it has several rooms with different sorts of goodies, including a classroom area, with tables and space for customers to visit, sew and enjoy workshops. 

All in all, we had a pleasant day seeing the shops, finding an out-of-the-way nursery that was having a sale, and exploring the area around our home. 

Black Bats

 Last fall I picked up an interesting plant at the local community yard sale. I managed to keep it alive...and it is now blooming! The plant is called the Black Bat Plant (sometimes orchid, a misnomer as Mr. A-(I)n-stein tells me it is in the yam family!) It naturally lives in the understory of rainforests in SE Asia. 

The black bat flower resembles a bat, from some angles, and has whiskers like a cat. It often blooms around Halloween, adding credence to its common name. 

This plant appears to like its location - in partial shade and in an area with high humidity - certainly not a problem in this area of Florida!

What's It?

Are you addicted to Amazon/Online shopping? I think my hubby and I are both hooked. I do like to support local shops, but so many times the item I want/need (do I really need it?) can't always be found at nearby shops.

When I go online shopping, so many images are flashed before me... things that I didn't know I needed/wanted. I think the following purchase may have been the case for my hubby!

At some point, a few years ago, I was organizing/cleaning some of our kitchen cabinets. Tucked away in one of them was this item:

My first thought was that the Mr. had purchased a taco holder. But, we don't particularly care for tacos. I asked him about it. He looked at it and with a puzzled expression, declared he had no clue. Oh well, when we moved I packed it up with the other kitchen items in case his memory returned. I certainly didn't want him asking, "What did you do with such and such?" and then with an accusatory tone ask, "Did you throw it out?"

Not long ago I received one of "those" emails/notifications from Amazon (or some other Internet sales source) offering something almost like this for sale. OMG - I finally knew what its original purpose was. However, I had already repurposed this piece. It makes a great ruler caddy for all most of my quilting rulers! 

Do you know what this item was originally designed to do?

Scroll down to learn its intended use:

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It's a charging station! 

It makes more sense to me as a ruler holder!

You Are Not Welcome Here

I noticed a disturbance in my garden.

Upon closer inspection, it appears that we have an armadillo seeking refuge. 

You can see the "tail drag" in the dirt - it was more defined before we had a good rain.

The hole only extends about 6 inches under the rock. 

The armadillo hit a brick wall! 

Well, it ran into the sturdy weed cloth that blankets the ground. 

Go find another place for your home, 

you are not welcome here!

I WILL Survive

 One of the things I truly love about our home is the clusters of trees found throughout our yard. They provide dappled shade, and in the heat of the Florida sun, it just looks cooler.

The trees on the left side of the house were growing toward the open sky. In a storm, their branches could impact (literally) our roof/house.

They removed only 5 trees, in a stand of a dozen or so. It opened up the space directly next to, and above that side of our house 

I recently noticed that the trees, in a last ditch effort to survive, have sent up suckers form the remaining trunks.....

... and evidently from the root network as well!

These trees certainly have the survival instinct!

For the Birds

 Several years ago our neighbor had a moving sale. I had always loved her wall of bird prints, and despite not having a place to put them, I bought them.

Now I have a wall. 

But how should I hang them?

Random placement?

Nope. None of those appealed to me. 

This was my final choice:

Next step: Determine what to do with all of these!