Butler House, Deerfield Beach, Florida, and Relay For Life Music Fundraiser, and Johnny Carson shows

Today there was a musical fundraiser for our local Relay For Life event and the weather was perfect which was great because this was an outdoor event. I used my new Canon PowerShot ELPH 170 IS camera and it seemed to work really well. It’s considerably smaller than my Canon PowerShot A 720 IS camera that I have been using since 2009, but the zoom feature on the new camera magnifies a little bit larger which will come in handy.

Photos taken at the event today can be seen in a new album. I have driven by the Butler House more times than I can count and I have been to a few outdoor events there, however, this is the first time I have been inside this historic house from 1923, and the Banyan Tree in the yard is about 100 years old. This tree is absolutely extraordinary, I bet it has amazing stories to tell. The Deerfield Beach Historical Society hosts events at Butler House.

The house as it currently sits on the property was built in 1923 and although it did receive some damage, for the most part it survived the hurricane that hit Deerfield Beach in 1928. In 1923 it cost $10,000 to build the house which was a lot of money at that time. All of the light fixtures and most of the furniture and items in the house are from when the Butler’s lived in the house. A nice gift shop was added recently. It was interesting to walk through the house and look at all of the items in the house such as the old clothes, hats, alligator purse, light fixtures, and much more. One of the bathrooms had an orchid/lavender tub and sink, but the toilet was mauve. The bear claw tubs are original. The rooms and doors were built so that if windows and doors were opened the house would be cool with cross drafts since the house did not have air conditioning.

As you can tell by the number of photos I took, I loved the house and especially the uniqueness of the Banyan tree and how the branches have grown over the past almost 100 years. Steve Minotti and his musician friends performed throughout the afternoon and a lot of money was raised for the local Relay For Life team that hosted the event.

Late at night and early morning when I cant sleep I put the TV on and often there are old shows like Johnny Carson, and many more. Looking at the clothes being worn reminds me of the styles back then. Especially with Johnny Carson show. The carpet on the stage his desk sits on is often green shag. The clothes everyone is wearing consists of bright colors and large collars. It makes me chuckle. No one today would consider wearing these outfits. I can imagine in years from now that people watching shows produced today will say the same thing. I took a few photos of one of the shows so you could see what I mean.

I saw a lovely wood bench on one of my outings and it has a planter on each side of it. I thought it was a great idea. I wouldn’t plant anything that bees liked in the planter, but other types of herbs or plants would look really nice.

I have been buying solar toys at the dollar store and putting them on the window sill in my apartment. When the sun comes in during the afternoon and these cute critters start dancing it makes me smile.

Wednesday morning I went with my friend Nona to the American Cancer Society office to put the t-shirts together for the teams for our Relay For Life event this coming weekend. It was fun for us to work together and Nona is a great lady and fun to be with. The walls throughout the office were covered with purple hearts. The purple and white t-shirt quilt that I designed, assembled, hand quilted, and dedicated to ACS in July 2013 is still hanging on the wall. I loved seeing all of the hearts on the wall, it made it feel like a peaceful environment.