Annie Guthrie

OH CHRISTMAS TREE ....OH CHRISTMAS TREE......

I was adamant that I would never ever, ever have an artificial tree! And for years I stuck to that commitment. That is until beloved husband gave the ultimatum it was an artificial tree or nothing........At that point in our lives business consisted of well over 50 % road travel. To put a live tree up for a few days ENJOYMENT MADE no sense...... NOT EVEN to ME!

From the moment I started putting the lights on the artificial tree I knew I was on to something wonderful. What had always taken hourswas done in no time, the garland was gorgeous creating sweeps and Kris crosses simply meant bending a branch and in no time at all the perfectionist tendencies were satisfied !

Perhaps the greatest joy is to open the Christmas boxes packed with ornaments. It literally sends me into a wave of nostalgia as I unfold the tissues and rediscover all those old friends so carefully collected for years.. Memories of joy and sadness flood me as I remember where each one was obtained or who gifted me with this little trinket.

The first Christmas I started collecting birds for the tree......one year it was angels.... for several years it was vintage 40's ornament.....I had a fling with CHRISTOPHER RADKCO ORNAMENTS... then cone shapes.....and now it just has to be ssomething........

ABSOLUTELY EXTRAORDINARY !

To many it might seem that I have way more ornaments than any humanoid could wish for.....but I mourn for those that were lost in the GREAT CHRISTMAS TREE CRASH OF 1999....I was just finishing decorating the tree ( and yes it was a real one ), stepped back to admire it when almost in slow motion it started to fall. There was nothing to be done except watch it go. Oh the treasures lost. ...a wonderful old 19 the century hand blown glass one that I will never forget .....some of the adorable crystal ornaments a neighbor had bequeathed to me...the one black sheep that was partners with three white ones.....what was so weird was as the tree was falling a quote kept playing through my mind..."Pride comes before the fall ".....Rats ! Had it really become an obsession?

Still the tree is a source of real pleasure but the desire has been assuaged.....and now it is an adjunct to a time of the year when it adds to but does not distract from what the season is all about.....

And How Does My Garden Grow ?

These days it is pretty much on its own.........Thank goodness I reverted to what works in our area and have been operating under the assumption that if it grows well duplicate that over and over. Ginger is such a joy. Just get a rhizome from a friend and in no time your open spaces begin to fill in with the most heavenly " fragrenced " plant imaginable.

I have also fallen in love with Tibouchina ( Princess Flower ) it has a fuzzy leaf almost like lambs ears....and a darling little bloom that reminds me of Mexican Petunia...intensely purple. In New Orleans it over wintered and continued growing on its old stalk but in Pensacola it dies to the ground so far but comes back with a vengeance and in late fall can be six feet tall. Like most of the plants in my garden, it has wheels ......I have moved this plant at least once and it is thriving.

I am not a paper and pencil gardener .....I garden in my head and am apt to move anything a couple of times. Three times is my official limit. If by the third move it is not working it is not for me.

I continue to love garden ornaments but they must be subtle and not on the cutesy side. Although, I must admit to having one of those goofy faces on a pine tree that died after Ivan and is actually just a place holder in the garden .....My husband and I almost split up over that one but even now he too admits my ten foot pine pole is a hoot!

Garden are self expression and love of the out doors.........don't get to hung up on the rules.......learn the great source materials like Fine Gardening Magazine and the local extension office and you will find the most peaceful and rewarding past time imaginable......

GRANDMOTHER.....Actually Zane Jordan was my step grandmother. She married my grandfather when she was quite young.....my mother was only a few years younger than she was.....and there was always this tension that existed.....which if the truth be known was all about sharing this man they both loved.

But the past is the past and what I really remember about this amazing woman was her grit ....her humor and the capacity for life. At 95 she was on the tractor mowing the cow pasture. She still could bake the flakiest home made biscuits and her cream corn was to die for.

The last time I saw her she was in the hospital and I was so glad I made the effort to see her. She told me of her great faith in the Lord and how she had learned to forgive. And I think in her mind the forgiving part was as important to her salvation as was her genuine faith.

Part Cherokee Indian, she was a gorgeous young woman who made her way in the world when it was not easy for a woman. She carved her place in Capitola and became a respected and much loved pillar of that tiny village which is not so very far away from Tallahassee.

The day these pictures were taken by my nephew Andrew Rutherford was the annual Jordan Family Reunion that use to occur every July 4.....time marches on...but memories of this wonderful lady and all she represents are with us forever.......

MY HUSBAND WILL ARGUE ABOUT THIS ...

However I think some of the most fun years we spent together were in North Miami Beach..on a great little island called Bay Harbor not to be confused with it's more tony neighbor BAL HARBOUR. But all in all a great little town. When you think about it all Miami is a conglomeration of little towns.

Bay Harbor was a great location. Safe enough to walk the dog I was not supposed to have ( that is a story for another time !) late at night and close enough to shopping and great restaurants with out driving for miles.

What was hilarious about Bay Harbor were the numbers of Hair Salon's.Now the Movie Theater closed....Restaurants came and went but Salons they were there for life. At one point I think we had 7 viable Salons......The wig shop had been there forever boasting it's most famous client was the notorious Eva Perone.

But what was wonderful was the tropical scenery, constantly living where something is in bloom.... gorgeous blue water, the parrots that daily flew by on pilgrimages to and from the beach, the breezes .....and the dear friends we met and the old ones we reconnected with.......

Recently while doing MLS Photos I ran across this handsome fellow.

He was totally unimpressed with my attention and soon was no where to be seen.!