leder legends

  Tampa, Florida sounded like a great place for a vacation.  We discovered that we had an $1100 voucher with Allegiant Air that had to be used up completely by October 4 so instead of throwing away this money that we had already spent the year previous, we randomly pick a destination.  We got tickets and a rental car with the money and found an Airbnb and off we went.  The car rental agency surprisingly gave us a choice of 8 vehicles- we picked a Hyundai Tucson. We like it! Our Airbnb was also a surprise! First of all they had not sent us the info to access the unit but after a few unanswered phone calls, they replied to an email message and the situation was resolved.  It was a bit stressful!   The “cosy” 2 bedroom/2 bath was unexpectedly a two story townhouse!  14 steps up a rather steep staircase is not my idea of fun! The bedrooms and bathrooms are all upstairs! We keep telling ourselves it’s good exercise.  We did a grocery run th...

 

It does surprise me that there are still new flowers in the yard this late in the season. I walked around last night and took these pictures.  Alyssum A few petunias Liriope Hardy begonia Cosmos Rudbeckia  Phlox Turtlehead plant Sedum Japanese Anemone  Rose of Sharon  Dandelion (haha) Thistle Fountain Grass

The Matchbox Diner Random drinks ... just for fun! You order a beer or a seltzer for a lower price and you get what you get - in a brown paper bag!    Fortunately,  we both liked what we got. The "Matchbox burger": comes with an egg sunny side up!. The "Matchbox Rueben" comes with meat piled high but you could get one with double the meat!!   At Wednesday lunch today , Rose and I started a list of all the restaurants we have been to.  We don’t know when we started nor can we remember the order after the first 6 on the list (working backwards), but our list is quite impressive. I’m going to keep track from now on. An * means it would be worth repeating. From the most recent  Matchbox Diner * Cork Wine and Grill * Al-Bo’s Eurocafé & Bakery Whole Foods Market Olives Rose’s * Bobcat Bonnie’s* The Old Goat * Pochis Colombian Café * Railtown Brewing Company * Cherie Inn * Real Food * Electric Cheetah* Lucy’s * Asian Palace Carrabba’s Italian Gr...

 Rose and I take a trip out to  Countryside nursery every fall to buy pumpkins. It's 25 miles away so we have to be convinced that it's worth it! Previously, we stopped by a few local nurseries, but only because we were passing them, to check out some prices! These two nurseries could not be more different from each other. One is immaculate, roomy, and professional- more like a retail store with prices to match!! We admired but did not buy ! We headed across the road and found a typical nursery that offered many of the same things but in a more farm like style. Both had pumpkins, pansies and mums galore and surprisingly both were pricier than we expected. Rose did buy some pansies at a decent price in the second place. At the first place all pumpkins were marked with a hefty price and at the second they were sold by the pound.  A few days later, we headed to Countryside! It is always a pleasant drive but this year we missed the fall colors-all the trees are still green! W...

Early morning shot of the full moon! The sprinklers are working hard! If you have perennial garden like I do, you have to water everything even though it’s mid-September. I have to keep everything alive so that all will come back in the future. In the meantime, we made our annual trip out to countryside gardens to pick up pumpkins. I always make a stack in the backyard to celebrate fall!  Their prices are reasonable especially compared to the nurseries in town. The mums there are spectacular this year so I brought 2 home. They are not showing much color yet but if I keep them watered perhaps the heat won’t kill them!  …with a few pansies! My friend R loves pansies because they love the cooler fall weather and are the first to come back up in the spring!  I’m planning on making a window/ flower box!

A beautiful Wednesday for lunch at the Cork- the newly remodeled restaurant at the Watermark Country Club. We sat on the covered verandah overlooking the golf course. The Alaska amber beer served in ice-cold glasses was so satisfying.  R order a salad nicoise- one I had not heard of before but sounded delicious. Seared tuna, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs and potatoes over a lovely bed of greens. She thoroughly enjoyed it.  I ordered a ½ a salmon BLT with ½ a special salad with a raspberry vinegarette. Delicous! It was a leisurely lunch. We decided to split a dessert. A lemonade cheesecake with blueberry compote and whipped cream. Refreshing and not cloyingly sweet. A perfect ending to a summer Wednesday lunch!

It's September and we're having a bit of an Indian summer. High temperatures,  low dew point, and no rain in sight means that the usual vibrant fall colors may be considerably duller this year.  There are still plenty of colors in the yard- turtlehead plant, sedum and hibiscus are gorgeous!   My pictures are still posting sideways for some mysterious reason. Especially in the fall the Michigan skies are beautiful!