The Night Before Delivery

(A nod to Clement C. Moore’s The Night Before Christmas.)

The Night Before Delivery

Twas the night before delivery
When all through our home
We were sweating, trying to sleep
but tossing and turning, dreaming of gnomes.

The area was cleared, laundry was done and removed
For we had received a phone call with news…oh, what news!

What had planned to be a Wednesday delivery
Had been moved up to Tuesday. Oh gee!

So Hubby in his boxers and I in my pj’s
Had finally settled down for a cozy night of sleep…NAY!

When out in the driveway there sounded a loud beep!
I rushed to the kitchen and made ready to greet.

Opening the garage door I threw up the switch
Turned on the light and I began to twitch!

***

The sun on the pavement and bright white truck & van
Made my heart flutter as my eyes tried to scan.

Hark! What to my tired and bleary eyes should appear?
But a van and two trucks with five workmen in gear.

With a tall young driver, so prompt and polite
I knew in a moment, everything would be alright.

More rapid than greyhounds, introductions were made.
And he pointed and shouted and called them by name.

“Here’s Todd. Now Dave! Now Michael and Dixon!
Now on to the plans we have for a fixin’.
To the inside of the garage and the side of the house!
We need to detach, remove, install and replace for her spouse!”

As bees set to work on cleaning the hive
When they carry the debris to the outside,
So on to the old units the workmen encroached
With a truck full of tools and the Supervisor’s approach.

And then in a flurry, I heard the men chatter
Then the clinking and clanking of wrenches and hammer.

As I withdrew to my home, and was closing the door
The Supervisor quickly said, “There is more!”

***

He was dressed in his uniform, so clean and so pressed
A striking comparison to me who was so rumpled and depressed.

A clipboard and pen were ready at hand,
He went over the details, waved over my land.

***

His eyes were so bright! His smile so happy!
His demeanor so nice! Whereas I was quite flappy!

His voice was too pleasant for me at this early time.
And I almost swore that he may have mimed!

But the clipboard he held with pen tight in his hand
Was bouncing and moving as if in a band.

He told me of supplies, measurements, time, and expectations.
With barely 5 hours of sleep, I’m not sure I heard all the information.

He was fairly thin and agile, a right pleasing good fellow.
And I laughed when he told me I would soon be able to mellow.

A flick of his head to his workers, the four
And he was off for supplies for an hour or more.

When he came back with supplies, the workers they pounced.
They were ready to finish. They grabbed, strolled and bounced.

And turning again, he drove off with a wave,
And I turned and walked wistfully back into my cave.

***

Then the team called me out, the new HVAC was installed!
And they all drove away. I was so glad I called.

 And I heard their comments so clear in my head,
“Happy Sleeping to you!” The four of them said.

Copyright 2012 – All rights reserved.

You Think You’re Hot?

This is what I’ve been using to cool off over the past several days as outdoor temperatures have been between 90 & 93 degrees putting our indoor temperatures in an un-air-conditioned house at 88 & 90 degrees.

See the ice cubes? No? That’s ’cause they melted already!

Sitting outside to get cool with a wet paper towel draped around my neck and my feet gleefully playing in this tub of cold water wasn’t too bad but in the evening, the heat was unbearable.

It’s difficult to sleep when it’s still 80 degrees inside with all the windows open! The outside temperature has been getting down to about 66, maybe 70 but the wind hasn’t been in our favor so our house never cooled down below 80 degrees. Hard to fall asleep when you’re breaking into a sweat.

Actually, I was doing pretty well for about 6 out of the 7 weeks. Right up until about a week ago and yesterday (or the day before?), I told my husband, “That’s it! I’ve reached my limit!” As record-breaking temperatures sky-rocketed to 93-94 degrees, it was just too much.

My office was 90 degrees. My hair a frizzy mess (ahh, humidity, my archenemy), and my impression of the Wicked Witch of the West was dead-on although instead of screaming, “I’m melting! I’m melting!” I was whimpering “I’m wilted! I’m wilted!” But the effect was pretty much the same as I sank into my office chair letting it de-pump into the lowest position so I could plunk my head on my desk.

And then…it happened. We got a phone call saying our delivery and installation would be a day earlier than planned. That may not sound like much to some but at this point, it was wonderful, miraculous news to us!

And so…I give you…in my next post…The Night Before Delivery. Enjoy!

Copyright 2012 – All rights reserved.

Continuing Signs of Spring

One of the most pleasurable experiences about walking is finding some beautiful plants and flowers to photograph! I can walk throughout my neighborhood or simply drive to a new one and come home with fresh ideas, a sense of appreciation and wonder, and some great photos like the ones below.

This full and trailing honeysuckle is not only gorgeous to look at but fragrant as well. I love catching a hint of the scent as I walk by.

The above is, I think, some sedum, a ground cover with star-like flowers. If anyone knows differently, please comment below. It’s a wondrous mass of yellow color.

This bright red/orange amaryllis stood proud and tall next to several others that were not yet fully bloomed. How *does* it stay so straight with that much weight on top? Amazing.

Here’s a close-up of the fully bloomed amaryllis.

Here’s another amaryllis that was just showing off its magnificent bloom. The size of this flower is impressive!

Where do you take some of your best nature or flower photographs? In your neighborhood, in a park, or in your window? I’d love to know!

Copyright 2012 – All rights reserved.

Eerie Light Lit Up Our Yard Tonight!

Me: “Holy cow! The camera!”

I jumped up from my chair startling my husband who was watching the basketball game.

Him: “What?”

Me: “Look outside!!”

The sunset was radiating our grass and our trees with an eerie neon greenish-yellow, usually seen before a storm. This time, however, the storm had already passed.

I grabbed my camera realizing that a day or two before I had a low battery reading and forgotten to change the battery. I hoped it would still capture the eerie glowing light outside.

You can see a bit of the yellowish-greenness of the grass here.

Not sure what happened here. Sun may have gone down that quickly or the flash didn't work properly due to the low battery, but it has that nice eerie effect I saw.

This is my favorite shot. That pink/orange color was brilliant!

The last photo was shot several minutes later from inside through my office window. Click on any one of these photos for the full effect, especially this last one.

Not too bad, huh? What do you think?

Copyright 2012 – All rights reserved.

Hail in North Central Florida!

Holy cow! Check this out! We had hail raining down on our home in North Central Florida. It eased up then our house was pummeled again, and now…it is quiet. I did NOT expect this tonight! Wow!

March 14, 2012 Unexpected hail storm in North Central Florida! Nickel to quarter-sized hail.

March 14, 2012 Our sidewalk is covered with this hail!

Copyright 2012 – All rights reserved.

After the Storm Passes, This is What You’re Left With…

After several days of enduring dark, gray skies then a sleepless night of high winds, rains, and tornado watches (two nights ago), this was a welcome sight today.

Mother Nature in all her glory!

Copyright 2012 – All rights reserved.

Sticky Ball Hell Cleanup

Step 1: Rake up leaves, foot-long pine needles and sticky balls in running pile for lawn mower sweep-up or by hand.

Ring-around-the-tree!

See? I'm not kidding about the foot-long pine needles. I must say, though, these leaves are a beautiful golden brown.

5 hours and 24 full bags later….

Step 2: Bag 'em up!!

Continue bagging them up!!

Waiting for Step 3: Hand-picking the remaining sticky balls.

Persistent spikey little things. By the way, we didn't even touch the backyard yet!

I have a confession to make and, yes, I’m ducking. I did not do any of this other than take the photographs after the fact. My dear husband accomplished all of this on his own. I’m not exactly sure why I didn’t go out to help…Oh yeah, we only have one rake. That’s it.

I told him I’d do Step 3: handpicking these stubborn balls 15 minutes at a time and trust me, there are hundreds left to pick up in the front yard not to mention hundreds, if not thousands in the back yard. It’ll be my exercise regimen for the next week or two.

Anyone want to join me?

P.S. Since there is some confusion about the size of these yard/lawn paper bags, I decided to take some photos. I set a regular grocery store paper bag next to them for comparison. Hope these few pics clarify their size and the quantity of leaves, needles and sticky balls we’ve cleaned up so far just in our front yard.

Copyright 2012 – All rights reserved.

A Gerber Daisy, Just For You…

This little Gerber Daisy’s bright and cheery face popped out of nowhere while I was out walking yesterday. Can’t you see it waving hello?

Enjoy!

Copyright 2012 – All rights reserved.

Can You Identify This Tree?

I didn’t think I would find anything interesting on my walk today but I was wrong. I haven’t researched this yet so the identity of this tree is up for grabs. Do you know what type of tree this is? I’m all ears…well, errrr…eyes.

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Please let me know if you can name this unusual tree…or is it a bush gone wild? Thanks!

UPDATE: This is a Bottlebrush Tree, native to Australia. Now I’d like to know how the heck did it get to Florida?

I must admit, it’s the only one I’ve ever seen here so maybe the previous owners of the house brought it over??

Copyright 2012 – All rights reserved.

Sticky Ball Hell

My Saturday plans? Picking up these little sticky balls.

They’re from Sweet Gum Trees so officially they’re called Sweet Gum Balls. Yeah, not so sweet. They hurt!! Can’t see the spikes? Click on the photo to enlarge and you’ll see them.

This is just a small part of our front yard covered with them…from ONE tree! Multiply it by oh….at least 4 times. I’ve got 2 Sweet Gum Trees in the back yard. ~ sigh ~

Anyone want to help?

Copyright 2012 – All rights reserved.