Jan 10,2020
Who ever thought, I would make it to 76?
Fabulous trip to Florida. Got to visit with Frank Kavanaugh, the Cores, Elizabeth Corwin and a new friend JerI McKay.
Still love Corkscrew, Myakka and Circle B.
Am definitely slowing down but try to walk hours each day and climb lots of steps.
Off tomorrow to West Va to give quilts to Sue Moats.
Spend lots of time on Candy Crush.

Spring Market

Could it really be starting in January?  Super traffic at open house yesterday on Arden Road.  No ad ...all from the internet.  Hope something happens!

Sifaka Babe at Baltimore zoo

Open House

Tomorrow if you can dig yourself out of all this snow. 7507 Arden Road in Cabin John. Price has been reduced. New Deck. New Paint and renovated bathrooms. Come check it out 2-4 PM. or see the pictures at www.EleanorBalaban.com

Its snowing!

The weathermen said no snow and they were all wrong. It's snowing

Merry Christmas

No snow but lots of friends to visit today and lots of quilting and photography going on this week. The seven cubs at the zoo are too much fun and good thing I have those clothes from the trip to Antartica for this weather! Loved the cookie exchange and wish we could do that monthly. Karen is here to visit. Cool!

Summer

It is hot and I gave in and turned on the AC a couple of days ago but only at night. I hate that sound but is sure feels good. I have even had to water the plants which also hurts but my electric bill was down many kilowatts so that is a good feeling and several people who owed me money paid me back!

Cockadoodle Zoo

Every year, the FONZ members get special access to the zoo and it is closed to the public for a few hours on Saturday morning. We enjoy free parking, donuts, coffee and access to behind the scenes feeding and lectures by the keepers. It was beautiful yesterday and a lot of my photograher friends were there. The lion family was out and ambling around.

The elephant was bathing.

The new birds at the birdhouse were very busy...orapendulas!

The alligator was fed and we even got to walk on the new elephant trail which is not open yet. We now hear June for the elephant house to at least be open.

Wednesday I am off to Kentucky for the big Paducah Quilt show and am planning an August trip to the Canadian Rockies.

Houses are selling at a record pace and we are really happy to see these purchasers get such great rates!

Blizzard

This has been a real challenge.It has now gone on for 6 days many without power so I fried bacon and eggs on my charcoal grill on the front porch. Ran out of wood on day 3 so am now using the gas stove burners to heat the house when necessary. Have finished two good books and have cleaned out closets, worked on taxes and filing. The wind is up now but it is supposed to be over in about 9 hours. The birds have kept me busy trying to keep the feeders full but have provided lots of entertainment. Am now mostly worried about the roof since part of it is flat. Have learned a lot about survival techniques.

Rainbows

Have had two rainbows in 2009 that blew my mind. One in Patagonia in Chile at Torres del Peine when for some reason I looked out the window of our lodge at 6AM and there was a huge rainbow which centered over the moutaintop. I ran outside with barefeet, in sweats and no outerwear with my camera to try and capture it and three other guests were in the field trying to do the same thing. It was astounding and the biggest one I have ever seen. I was unable to capture the whole thing but one of my travel mates did get it and i will try to find that photo and post it.
Then Xmas morning in Miami, I woke up and out the window was a rainbow and the sidewalks were dry and it hadn't rained! It made my day and I didn't even need presents. It was so bright and I sat on my balcony and watched for about 20 minutes when it disappeared. What a great Xmas present that was.
I hope there are many more to come!

Continuing to post photos of Belize but looking forward now to a busy Real Estate season. The phones are ringing and I've gone on three listing appointments in the last two weeks. whooppee!

Traffic at 5311 Briley Place is very good and I think I will have an offer very soon. It is open this weekend so that will be fun. Also saying goodbye to our favorite Panda in the next two weeks and Saturday, I get to walk in the new Elephant enclosure before they open it.

Belize in December 2009

That's me in Belize. I still got bit. It was the rain forest but no one else got eaten alive except me. It was a great trip with a good group and great leaders! Loved Melissa, Erik, Ferman and especially Patrick. We identified 121 species of birds and lots of mammals but no big cats. My first Kinkajou and Tamandua though. Very exciting and excellent accomodations! Love Natural Habitat and will probably travel with them again.

Snow

We had our first snow on Saturday an I was at Tysons doing my Saturday walk. I had to head home fast in the SMART Car because it didn't seem too safe to be out there on the Beltway in the smallest car with flakes as big as a dime! It was gorgeous so I built a fire, made hot chocolate and played all day with getting packed for Belize, getting out winter clothes and catching up on the pile of magazines I haven't looked at. What a beautiful weekend and two craft shows on Sunday. Also checked out my new listing coming up soon and it is almost ready.
It might snow again tonight! Whoopeee

Thanksgiving

Great day. Errands in the morning. Off to Baltimore to join my friend Joan and her parents for a great meal topped off with Pumpkin Chiffon Pie! Truly a treat and the drive home was not even bad. More people on the road than I expected but I guess they were all going locally for turkey too.
Lots to give thanks for. Income was not hit as bad as it could have been and the market is getting better month by month.
Very into cleaning out and throwing away for the eventual move to a condo if it works out. It is really too much fun getting rid of a lot of this clutter and I am sure it is treasures to other people.....especially the wardrobe, I can no longer fit into.
Today got notified from the Electric company that I am using less and less and so my bill is going down $30 a month! Now that made my day. All this unplugging is paying off!
I am doing a good job of thanking the planet!

Breathing

Boy is it great o breathe without pain. My cold is much better and I am not going thru a box of Kleenex a day. Really enjoyed working with the Bare family on their rental. Some people are just too good to be true! Thank goodness. Only one listing left but a couplein the works so it should be a good month. Off to Belize Dec 12 and then to Miami to play with relatives for a few days. When will it snow?

This is one of my shots from the invetebrate house last Saturday when I was well and hoping around like a crazy photograher.

The internet

I spent almost all of yesterday on this computer. Updating listings and database. Playing games. Looking at websites, i have been wanting to see for months. Updating database and playing games. It is unbelievable to me that we used to live without this thing. What did we do on rainy days when housekeeping seemed like a bore....reading????updating folders????paperwork??? It now seems like that was 100 years ago and yet I still know people who don't own a computer or a blackberry....I was one of those till 6 months ago and now I need an iphone so I can have all those apps! I want to remember to read this in 10 years and see what I am doing on a rainy Sunday afternoon....the computer? or will it be replaced by something I can't even imagine.

It's Fall

The sun is out, the temperature was in the 60's today and i got to wear a sweater. My favorite time of year! Made it to two zoos today. Now that is a good day! Persimmon Tree Rd settles on Friday and that will be a good day too! Next week is Stephen's Birthday so will go celebrate with him and on Saturday, i have a ticket to the Michael Jackson movie.

Not bad for a Fall week.

Now I want snow!

Flu Shot

It hurts and I am such a baby. Went to the Green Festival yesterday with Kay and we had a ball. Learned lots, mostly about bamboo, hemp(I have my hemp socks on), solar heating, solar cooking and sugar free sweeteners. We got lots of free samples and jewelry made by very talented artists. I even found a mirror for my collection made with a frame of a world map! Very appropriate.
Today was the Sugarloaf Show and it was fantastic. Those people are so talented! I love talking to the artists on how they got started and how they do stuff. Great afternoon.

State Fair 2009

I had never been to the State Fair so had a couple of hours today so wandered over to Timonium to see what all the fuss was about.

It was super!

Lots of quilts! Only one familar name. I will definitely have to enter next year.

Lots of junk food....peach sundae for me!

I saw a calf born!

I have only seen that on TV before!

It worked out just fine but a lot of work on her part.

Also saw 14 baby pigs delivered and two baby chicks hatch!

Feathers and scales was there so got some good shots of the owls and hawks and had a great conversation with one of the alpaca breeders!

That is my kind of fun not to mention the people watching and all the free information I picked up about Maryland for people moving here! Just go ahead and ask me a question!

$35

Found a great bargain at Chicos and left the store with a smile. A few minutes later, ran into a friend who has a birthday coming up and she wanted to see my bargain. I made her try it on and she loved my silver purchase too. I ran back to the store and bought her one and gave it to her as an early gift. As I drove away, I realized that it used to take a lot more than $35 to make me feel that good. I remember shopping sprees spending hundreds of dollars at Potomac Mills where Kay and I would fill the car and be as excited as two young ladies could be. Now, many years later, I had the same feeling for $35(spent twice) and I guess this is an addiction when I look at my closets but boy does it feel good!