On Friday, Suzanne, Roberta and I went to Daffodil Hill.  Yahoo mapped directions to get there, and of course it routed us through the most rural roads.  Not complaining though, we could not have asked for a prettier drive... though the roads were twisted and narrow it was georgous!!!  Saw three wild turkeys in the middle of a rough section of  the road.  One, a male I think, was ruffed up and flaired out and so concentrated on his "dance" that it took him a while to notice us, so we just enjoyed the show for a bit.  When he finally noticed us all three silently scattered and dissapeared into the woods.  For such large, showey creatures they certainly are camifloged well.  Once they stepped into the woods they were "gone" we could not see them at all. 

Daffodil Hill was very pretty, not large, but certainly worth the drive.  Suzanne and I counted at least ten spieces of daffodils, although hundreds of varieties are planted.  I'm glad we went before the showey display was over, because the bloom period is short, and the rains damage the blossoms.  Here is another instance of "if I knew how to insert photos..."

The  weather has been beautiful, although storms are predicted.  There was a fine talk last night by a brother from Bethel, and afterwards he and his wife were interviewd...  They were very entertaining.  Memorial is tonight, and I'm still coughing, so I'm going to try and conserve my energy till then. 

Have seen a lot of Robins, and the Sacramento area's Yellow Billed Magpies.

Flew home to California, Monday, via Southwest Airlines. It was a long, happily, uneventful trip, and I have jet lag- again... When I flew to the east coast, which is three hours ahead, my internal clock set forward another two hours, so instead of waking up at at 6:00 a.m, Eastern time I was waking up around 4:00 a.m., which was actually 1:00 a.m. Pacific time.

Now that I'm home, my internal clock seems to be set to wake me at 4:00 a.m.... go figure.

It's good to be home. It's good to see friends and family, and especially good to be with my darling daughter.

Still have a miserable hack from that nasty virus I caught, aggravated by allergies it has settled into my chest. However, I am feeling better, but need to recover soon... plans are in the works to visit friends in Oregon in the middle of April, and I want to be well!!! :-)

Extending special love and thanks to Lori, who put me up, and put up with me for all those weeks.

And my love to Pam, whose company I always enjoy immensely. And Belinda, my love and gratitude to you too, for enriching my visit so.

xoxoxo to all. G.

xoxoxo

Had to leave Gainesville, and my darling Pam and Mama Jan, and am back in Jacksonville.

However, I would like to note that before I left Gainesville I saw two Pileated Woodpeckers. Absolutely huge, and rather primeval in appearance. Also saw house wrens, and several other small birds, but everything faded at the sight of the Pileated Woodpeckers. Strange and Beautiful....

Still have that hacking cough I picked up in Gainesville, but otherwise am well and happy. Took Mom shopping on Monday and she bought five new pairs of shoes :-D Seems everything she had hurt her feet, so now she can purge her closet and start anew.

Completed my first "Dell's Best All Easy Crossword Puzzles", thank you Suzanne, and made the mistake of purchasing "New York Times Light and Easy Puzzles"... HA! Should have known better as it was edited by Will Shortz, possibly the worlds smartest and cagiest puzzle master...
Ended up giving it to Mom (the 90 year old quiz whizz) and she got me another Dells "easy" puzzles.

Also, Lori shared a new site with me... Is anyone familiar with bing.com? They have great wallpaper, and it is a very interesting site.

Well, that's it for now, except I should be heading back to California this Tuesday.

xoxoxo for now... G.

Pam and I finally got to the bead store, and have completed some projects - Yeah!!!! I actually brought along some beads I had purchased at an outlet in San Diego, the last time I visited with Martha. Completed a beautiful robin's egg blue necklace and earrings with silver findings, and a turquoise crystal dangle on each earring..., a turquoise, stone chunks necklace, no earrings, and a double strand coral necklace with earrings. Can hardly wait till I'm able to insert photos, for sharing images. (A picture's worth a thousand words.)

At Pam's local bead store they were having a truckload sale, with some of the best prices I've seen in an age. Picked up white, coin pearls that are absolutely fabulous, can hardly wait to get started on them. Will do something very simple.

We were also able to check out next door, the yarn shop and the Artisan's Guild Gallery, where we met Kana Handel, (from Japan) who does whimsical Sumi ink, watercolor paintings. I enjoyed her work very much, last year, and was delighted to meet her. What a nice day we had!

Pam's husband, John, moved the bird feeder closer to the house, so we now have a much better view of our feathered friends, will update later if I see anything new.

Picked up a lousy virus the yesterday and have been a bit mopey ever since. Anyway, hope everyone out there is well, and happy... bye for now.

Hola, anyone who is out there. First my greetings to the Rileys, thank you for keeping in touch, and apologies for not responding back correctly... have not quite gotten a handle on how to operate some of the functions of blogging. At any rate, your messages on this blog brighten my day. :-)

I'm in Gainesville now, have been here since Monday, and Florida weather has been COLD. Sorry did not mean to "shout", but it has been c.o.l.d.... brrr.


Second, a clarification on my my latest movie recommendations. "First, Do No Harm", and "I am David" are excellent movies, but I do not recommend them for children. I personally think these two movies are too intense for younger ones... just a heads up.

Have add ons to my birder list: Carolina Wrens, a Hermit Thrush, a Hawk (Cooper's, I think), of course assorted sparrows, and can't remember if I mentioned Robins.

This afternoon Pam and I are hitting the local bead shop, yarn shop and art gallery. Should be fun... I have a number of beading projects to finish up.