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