Marching into spring... finally.

This year continues to fly by. I haven't been posting nearly as much this year, as you can see. The winter here in Florida has been unusually cold, which has really taken it's toll on the yard. But I think Spring is finally here. We've been spending a lot of time cleaning up, pruning, and planting spring color. Friends are coming to visit in a few weeks, so we want to be sure it looks as nice as it can. We would be doing these things anyway, but with company coming, it gives a little more motivation.

Well, I've completed my guitar lessons. Mostly. I missed the last couple sessions. The truck finally died, so we spent one weekend shopping around. I can't remember why I missed the previous lesson, but I felt like I was so far behind at that point that I blew off the last one. That's okay, I really just wanted some direction and good pointers. And I got that. So I'll continue to practice on my own and maybe in the fall sign up again.

I'm still taking pictures. I have a shoot this morning with a three year old. She's a friend of ours. A beautiful little girl, so this should be easy. Her mom wants Easter pictures. Hopefully I get a couple of good ones.

I'm off to Orlando in a couple weeks to attend Photoshop World. I've been to a couple of Scott Kelby's seminars, but never the BIG one. I'm really excited about it. I know I'll go feeling all inspired which will later turn into overwhelmed. But it doesn't matter. I know I'll have tons of notes and materials to review.

Speaking of photography and Photoshop, at our monthly neighborhood gathering I met some really interesting people. Kent and Jules Follett are photographers who specialize in the entertainment industry. Jules just published a giant photobook called Sticks n Skins - featuring drummers from famous bands. Some I'm familiar with, some not. But it's an incredible book. Check it out. Turns out they are just a block or so from my home. They invited me over to check out their studio any time. I sure I'm going to take them up on it. I love meeting interesting people, and I'm sure I could learn a thing or two from them too.

Surprise Gardening

One of the things I like the best about gardening is being surprised. We spend a lot of time in our yard, looking things over, making plans, moving and trimming and just enjoying everything.

Moving here from the Oregon, gardening took on a whole new meaning. Everything grows differently in Florida. It took a few years to really notice the seasons, as most people complain about, but once you’ve lived here, you definitely see them. Things do slow down in the winter months, and we have many things that pop up in the spring.

Our typical weekend usually starts with the coffee crawl. I call it this because we usually start out with a cup of coffee in one hand as we wander the yard, but usually end up on my hands and knees pulling weeds or digging something up… thus, “the coffee crawl.”

As I mentioned, I like the surprises the most. It can be amazing sometimes to see the changes that happen during the week while we are away at work. Yesterday I happened to notice a bloom that wasn’t there last weekend. I hadn’t even noticed the bloom spike. We have had this Vanda for maybe 4-5 years now, and it’s never bloomed. I know it hasn’t gotten the care that it would like, and it’s not a particularly attractive shape. But when it was given to us, I thought it was supposed to be one of the (fairly) common blue-ish purple blooms. Well, it’s not, but I still really like it. I’m not sure what it’s called, but it’s attractive in it’s own way. Not a real showy bloom, and the spike is a little contorted, but I love the petals and the way they look like they’re trying to take flight.

As spring moves to summer, I’m looking forward to many more surprises.