River Lakes Conservation Area

An early morning hike in Viera at River Lakes Conservation Area. Now that it's May, early morning is about the only decent time of the day in Florida. We took Kitsune for the first time, and found out he is a terrible - but comical - little hiker. Encountered some newly freed cows and were serenaded by Eastern Meadowlarks along the way.

Inside/Outside

Lazy day today. Spent most of it cleaning the house and taking photos outside. I am so happy things worked out in regards to us staying in this home. Every time that I walk down our little road to the river makes me appreciate where I live. There isn't a more beautiful area of this town.








Love my crazy, unkempt backyard with the flowers growing wildly in every which way. Also, I realize I have a vintage bottle/jar obsession. And lastly, our sweet, sweet oranges are growing back. I can't wait for homemade orange juice again. There is no going back to Tropicana, or Minute Maid, or even Florida's Own. It all ends up tasting like sour water compared to our creamiscle-sweet Valencias.

Crossed Wires

James successfully converted me to a HUGE Superchunk fan when he took me to see them live at Czar Nation in Tampa. This video is further proof as to why they are so awesome. Now I know what my kitty does when she's outside.

Superchunk - Crossed Wires from POPFRENZY HQ on Vimeo.

The Blues

I can't seem to get away from things that are blue this week. In honor of the color and our upcoming camping trip, here's a few blue snapshots.






Most of these are in Titusville, taken on my lunch breaks.

Blue Spring State Park

We will be camping at Blue Spring State Park the weekend after next, and I cannot wait. A little oasis that makes you feel worlds away, even though it lies within the suburbs of Central Florida. And a much needed mini-vacation. I will be bringing every camera I own and taking photos of everything. Especially the Thursby House.

via Katy Warner via Flickr

The Thursby House, built in 1872 by Louis Thursby, is just up hill from the spring. If there is ever a zombie apocalypse, James and I already have first dibs on this place. This is my dream house. It is a three-story wooden behemoth, amidst 1960s cement-block pastel ranchers. With two lovely wrap around porches, a giant live oak, and its own water tower. But it's the inside that I fell in love with when we visited last year. White slatted wood walls, pale wooden floorboards and lace curtains. Old maps on the wall and a vintage stove in the kitchen.

Unfortunately I can't move in until the zombie apocalypse, so in the mean time I am taking this inspiration to our dining room. It is in serious need of a makeover. We are renters, so the changes won't be drastic, but a good coat of paint, new curtains and a light fixture, and oh yeah, FURNITURE would be nice.

The paint and curtains will be easy to fix, the light fixture is no prob, but the table and sideboard are going to be a challenge. We have teak mid-century modern dreams on an Ikea on Craigslist budget.

Crowd Control To Major Tom

I hear there is something big happening across the pond. While getting lost in details of the royal wedding is a good form of escape for most, there is something much more exciting and distinctly American happening right in my backyard.

David Burnett, via Time Magazine

The second to last shuttle launch is happening tomorrow. Titusville is expecting crowds in upwards of 750,000 people...a lot for a town where rush hour means getting stuck behind an old lady driving to Wal-Mart. Okay, so it's a little busier than that. Three old ladies and a minivan, maybe.

I can't help but imagine what it was like in this area's heyday, when astronauts were viewed as rock stars. With a little assistance from the Northern Brevard Historical Society's Flickr page and the NASA Commons, I'm back 42 years in a pair of cat eye sunglasses, it's hot as hell in my weather-innapropriate clothing, and the hairspray keeping my hair set has allowed the Apollo 11 crew to have easier access out of the Earth's atmosphere.

Doesn't Lady Bird look so hip? I could easily see her model in an Etsy listing.

Here's to the Endeavour launch tomorrow, and to sneaking out of Titusville early so I can avoid the post-launch traffic nightmare and watch it take off from a distance with my husband.

a bushel and a peck.

The namesake for this blog comes from my Grandma - who was not Doris Day, but she did sing this all the time to me when I was a little girl. To be completely honest, I had no idea it was a real song until I heard it in the movie "Julie & Julia". For a solid twenty years, I thought it was one of those songs that all grandmas had stashed in their Grandma Inventory, filed beside nursery rhymes and Christmas cookie recipes.

Listening to it now brings back all of those happy memories, of summers and holidays spent with my grandparents.