Behold this magnificent beast! Howdy do to my new vacuum! Ain't he a handsome devil! Our old vacuum, may it rest in peace, was 10+ years old and apparently in vacuum years that's the same thing as being Methuselah. I did look it up (of course I did) and it seems that a decent vacuum that is properly cared for generally lasts around 8 years so our old one did it's time and did it well. Mostly. Well right up 'til the end anyway. I remember when we first got it, I was so impressed with what a great job it did. But as we all age, we slow down a bit. It happens. That's just real life I suppose. Even with appliances. It's not as if I over-used it. I dont' really like to vacuum so I usually only do it once a week. And I only do it the once a week because while I don't like vacuuming I do like a clean house. And mostly, we are clean and tidy people so it's not horrible. It's not as if our home is a Hazmat situation. Just well, in my mind there are two levels of clean. Day to Day clean and Company Clean. Our home is always day to day clean. I know people who vacuum every single day. Their homes look amazing all of the time. Our home looks............lived in. Not horrible. It's acceptable. But definitely lived in. Since the kittyboys came into our lives however, we have a new demon to battle. Fur. My hair is everywhere as it is. And now that my hair is longer, there is all that much more hair that I am forever finding and picking up to throw away and muttering to myself how I don't know how it is that I can lose that much hair every day and not be bald. Now we have two kitties worth of fur to add to it. Me oh my. The old vacuum, which used to do such a great job, objected. Strenulously. It had gotten to the point where before vacuum each and every time, I had to tinker a bit. If there was so much as one strand of hair wrapped around the roller it would refuse to pick up anything so I would have to stop and cut it away. A hole cropped up in the hose which I repaired with electrical tape and that would occasionally have to be replaced. Sometimes the vacuum just needed a break between rooms. Recently, after I finished just one room, the old vacuum just plain stopped. It said, nope. And I said, "I am so over this". Tim immediately began researching (of course he did) and then ordered a new vacuum for me. Gotta stay ahead of the dirt! Once it arrived I couldn't wait to hit those carpets! It's just area rugs not wall to wall carpetting but still, they are pretty big and that's where the dirt shows the most. I had to empty the cannister after tackling just one area rug. Mercy! I can only conclude that the old vacuum was not doing much of it's job for longer than I realized. I would be embarrassed except that you just don't know what you don't know. Y'know? Three cannister emptyings later, the place was looking pretty good! This new vacuum just about sucks the colours out of the rug. Dirt doesn't stand a chance. Those Bissell folks know what they are doing. I LOVE my new vacuum cleaner and so does the house! In all honesty, I still don't enjoy vacuuming, but I do love the results when it's done. This place is looking good :) And bonus points, the kitties are enjoying the box it came in. The old vacuum is dead. Long Live the New Vacuum! Woohoo!
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Happened to catch this shot of some random person in a bunny suit, standing on the side of the road waving to passersby this weekend!
Happy Easter to ya! Hope yours was lovely and either as traditional or as non-traditional as you prefer. Ours was of the Non variety. Tim cooked hot dogs on the grill, I made macaroni and potato salads and opened a tin of baked beans which made a perfectly fine picnicky sort of meal with a gingerbread cake (completely with real whipped cream) for dessert. Why do you suppose it is that holidays seem to center around food? Every single holiday I can think of has food as a centerpiece. Thanksgiving Turkey, Christmas Roast (or whatever you family traditionally does), Easter Ham just to start out! The various candies for the various holidays: The first candy I think of when Halloween rolls around is Candy Corn. I dont' care for it at all, but it's the one that pops into my head. Tradition! Christmas is Ribbon Candy, which, now that I think of it, I don't like either. Or Candy Canes ! I can deal with the occasional Candy Cane. Valentine's Day of course are the heart shaped boxes filled with chocolates. Easter is jelly beans. And we all already know that I only eat the yellow ones, but they are still jelly beans so they count! Independence Day is picnics (followed by fireworks) and Memorial Day is all about cookouts as is Labour Day and I think I'm running out of holidays here. Oh wait, New Year's Eve/Day. Hmmm I have no food association with New Years. Correction! Black -Eyed Peas! When I lived in Texas I was told to always eat Black Eyed Peas on New Years' Day for Good Luck. Whew! For a second there, I thought there was a non-food holiday and that will not do! Maybe the holidays are food-centric because Holidays are a time for family and/or friends to gather together and celebrate. All celebrations should involve food, don't you think? We eat together, we drink together, we talk and laugh and enjoy! I actually looked this up to make sure I wasn't making a leap that had no foundation to it. Turns out I was correct: "Food has always played a significant role in celebrations and holidays around the world. Beyond its basic function of nourishment, food holds a deeper meaning in many cultures, symbolizing traditions, beliefs, and rituals." according to momentslog/cuisine Celebrations are about happiness and food makes us happy! Meals should be a joy and a pleasure and when that pleasure is shared, it expands exponentially. The old "Love is food, food is love" adage seems to hold true. I know that when I cook and bake for my family and friends, it is an act of love. I am providing you with nourishment because "I care about you, I love you, I want you to be healthy and happy!" So while there were no easter baskets, no chocolate bunnies and no easter egg hunt at our house (mostly because there are no little ones in our lives), there was food, there were people that we love, and there was a lot of talk and laughter. It was traditionally non-traditional but it was good. Hope yours was too Thought I would talk about two different things today. First thing is this car. The one in the picture at the top of the page. (sigh) I love this car.
It's a 1956 Chevy Bel Air. (sigh again) I have no idea why it appeals to me so much but if I could choose ANY car, of all the cars ever in existence, this would be the one at the top of the list. I love the two tone, I love the white wall tires, I love the chrome trim, the hood ornament and the chevy emblem on the front. I love the roundy headlights, the snazzy grill, the big old steering wheel and the bench seats. And it's all absolutely ridiculous! Why? Because I would never in a zillion years be able to drive this car! And for three really good reasons. First, it's standard shift. I never learned to drive standard. I barely learned to drive at all, frankly. Several people have tried in vain to teach me, but I guess I'm just not coordinated enough to manage clutch and shift. Clutch OR Shift I may have eventually figured out but not both. This car is standard. I suppose it could be made automatic after the fact, but that would ruin the car. It's a classic. You should never mess around with a classic. The second reason I would never be able to drive this car is because I can hardly see over the dash and steering wheel. A very nice man, who was very amused as he observed me oooo-ing and aaahhh-ing over his BelAir, allowed me to sit in his. I was tickled to bits. I gingerly slide onto the seat, squared myself behind the wheel, sat up very straight and then burst out laughing because no matter what I did, I only just barely saw the hood of the car, no road at all. The seat would have to be raised somehow. Which brings us to the last reason. I not only cannot see over the dash and wheel, I also cannot fully reach the pedals! LOLOL The seats would have to be raised and blocked forward! Which means, since it's a bench seat, that the entire front seat of the car would be raised and blocked forward which in turn means that only very short people would be comfortable sitting in the front seat of my car LOLOL !! Good thing I wasn't planning on buying one. But I will ogle them whenever I have the opportunity to see them. Tim and I walked over to the annual Venice Car show this past Sunday and spent a few hours wandering around admiring the 200+ vehicles on display. It was awesome! It's odd how much I enjoy that particular car show because I'm not a car person per se. I don't care what I drive as long as it's reliable. And if you asked me to describe someone else's car I would only remember what colour it was and how many doors it had. Most cars today look very similar to me. I'm sure if I knew (or cared to know) more about cars, that I would notice the subtle variations but unless I see the model/brand of car written right there on the automobile, I have no idea what sort of car it is. It could be a Mercedes, it could be a Toyota. To me they all look pretty much the same. And heaven knows that engine talk goes right over my head. I'm not stupid, I understand how a combustion engine works. I also get the whole Electric car thing and the hybrid car concept. Beyond that, I do not know and I'm not especially interested. But I know what I like, and I like older cars. They had some style, some panache, some flair. They were interesting, they were wildly different and new ideas meant not just a new type of engine or safety feature but also a completely new look! I hear commercials touting new looks now, but it is rarely true. Very Disappointing. Don't get me wrong. I'm all about safety features. Yay safety! Fuel efficiency is important too naturally. But gosh I miss interesting looking cars! Fun looking cars! Unique ideas and features! Apparently, there is no way to mesh Fuel efficiency and safety with fun and interesting. And then make it affordable. LOLOL Oh I am hilarious today! There were six Chevy Bel Airs at the car show on Sunday, each one was a different colour and not all of them were '56s but close enough to wow me! I was satisfied for another year :) Now what was that other thing I wanted to mention? Oh yeah. You remember recall that this past Monday I posted on Facebook that I was blocked out of my blog construction site because somebody reported it as being dangerous and/or unsafe (insert eyeroll here)? Well, Tim fixed it for me the same day. He did it without complaining, with no, probably deserved, remarks about how untechie I am and he did it quickly. He is my hero. For a thousand different reason on a thousand different days, but still, he is, as always my hero. Charging up the hill to my rescue, once again. Thank you also to my son Corbin who sent suggestions on how to correct the problem. Another hero! Tim had already wrestled it to the ground by the time I read his excellent ideas, but I appreciate it anyway, and if Tim hadn't been available to take care of the problem, I would definitely have tried it! Thank you too, Corbin! I admit that when I saw that big red screen with the "Thou Shalt Not Pass" warnings all over it, I panicked! Oh no! I'm being forced to do something against my will! They are keeping me from my blog construction! The world is coming to an end! Much like Chicken Little , I leaped to an unsubstantiated conclusion that I would never be able to get back into the site or write on my blog again! Oh NO! One really good thing I learned (other than to not panic about such things) is how much I would miss writing the blog! Every once in awhile, it crosses my mind that I've been writing this thing for a number of years now - since October 2016 in fact! And perhaps I ought to think about working my way to an end point. But I guess it's still too important to me to quit. At least not yet. So anyway, those were the two topics for today. My favourite car! And, I'm sorry I made such a big dang deal about not being able to write my blog on Monday. Sorry about the over-reaction. Have a Wonderful Easter Weekend! Hope the Bunny brings you goodies! Be forewarned, this is another kittyboy update! If you are not interested in yet another chapter in the lives of Brysco and Wyatt, feel free to go on about your business. I bear you no ill will. Those of you still interested, please read on (and on a peronal note, Yay! so happy you wanted to read more) The three remarkably similar items in the above photo are supposed to be toy butterflies attached to cords which are in turn attached to sticks. If you look closed you will notice that one has no feathers, one has two tiny remaining rather bedraggled feathers and the last one has larger, less molested looking feathers. These are the kittyboys most favourite toys in the world. We bought the first one on a whim. It was at the checkout register at the local pet supply place where we buy kittyfood. The stores had, rather cleverly, put a bouquet of butterfly toys right there at the checkout with a rather inexpensive price tag dangling enticingly. At the last second, we added one to our pile of cat food cans. When we took it home, the boys went wild for it! They displayed none of their usual cautious circling and sniffing of something new in the house. Instead they went straight for the attack. The Butterfly Must Die was their rallying cry and they proceeded to ravage it. It was completely featherless in less than 24 hours. We thought that once the feathers were gone, they would lose interest and well, that was $5 bucks poorly spent. Oh well, live and learn. But instead, to our surprise, they continued to beg to play with the butterfly. Which involves a human (usually Tim or myself) holding it tantalizingly above them, moving it back and forth quickly on the floor or making the butterfly appear to swoop and dance through the air. The crazier and wilder the butterfly moved, the better they liked it. They crouch on the ground "behind" something, eyes wide and dark, whiskers forward, nothing moving but the tip of their tails until suddenly they pounce on the poor unsuspecting butterfly. Other times they leap spectacularly into the air with flips and twists, totally unconcerned about where they might land. They will race through the house at top speed chasing us as we run, "flying" the butterfly behind us like a flag. And the kittyboys cannot get enough. They will play until they are exhausted and collapse to the floor, panting, sides heaving, and still, the instant the butterfly twitches, they are up and ready to play again. They get so overexcited by this butterfly game that I have had to teach them how to take turns. It took awhile for them to grasp the concept but they do pretty well most of the time now. I will play with Brysco for a few minutes and then say, "its your brother's turn now" and then I play with Wyatt while Brysco catches his breath and watches intently. Then I switch back to Brysco and Wyatt takes a break. Mom doesn't get a break until the game is over. Usually the game is over when either I need to get back to whatever I was supposed to have been doing in the first place or Brysco has done one of his truly amazing leaps into the air and grabs the butterfly with his mouth, lands and then refuses to give it back. When I drop the stick, off he marches, butterfly firmly in his teeth, stick and cord trailing him, as he takes it to Tim. Every single time. Yesterday when Brysco tried to deliver it to Tim, the office door was closed so Brysco left it as the door as an offering. Occasionally when Tim is too busy to do the usual pets and praise when he delivers his butterfly, Brysco will take the butterfly into the KittyBoy hideout (which now lives in Tim's office) and hides it there. I am convinced that Brysco is laughing while I search the house over for the toy later. Which is why we now have 3 butterflies. Well that and Tim is an old Softie when it comes to these guys. And that is also why, here and there throughout the day, Tim will take a little break from his workday, come out and play Butterfly with the boys. The boys love it, Tim loves it, he certainly deserves a break and it's good excercise. Win/Win I tried to get some photos of the kittyboys mid-air leaps and catches during the butterfly game but it turns out that I cannot play butterfly and take photos of it at the same time. But then, I am also the person who struggles to chew gum and walk at the same time. oh well. So I had to settle for more low key butterfly play for the photos. Maybe one day soon I will get my camera out while Tim plays with them and try (TRY) to get some action shots. And that's it for this kittyboy update!
What's new with you? When was the last time you visited a County Fair? It had been a LOT of years for Tim and I. I think that the last one was when we lived in Connecticut which means it was at least 18 years ago! Whoa! That's a long time! For all I know you are all County Fair aficionados and attend them on the regular. Maybe you are the sort of people who buy the multiday passes! Who knows, maybe you are the folks who work at the fairs! Awesome! We don't seem to be any of those people. So I wasn't quite sure what to expect when we went to the Sarasota County Fair this past Sunday. Surely, in nearly twenty years, County Fairs must be very different than what I remembered. I mean, everything in the world has changed dramatically in two decades! It's all so techie now. I have fond memories of fairs, the sounds, the scents, the ambience are all so very ripe with excitement and anticipation that nothing could possibly stand up to the nostalgia of it all, right? I was prepared to be disappointed. And that didn't happen at all. Most of it was exactly as I remembered! How is that possible? I do not know but I was delighted by it all. We arrived just before the doors opened and we made a bee-line to certain areas so that I could get photos that were relatively crowd-free. Here are a couple of black & whites just to keep the sentimental nostalgia going: The crowds surged in behind us and that level of electric excitement and noise is essential to the atmosphere so I couldn't begrudge it. The next thing we did was to just walk around checking the place out. There were plenty of rides, most of them the ones I remembered from years ago like the Tilt-a-Whirl! That still is going strong! Merry-Go-Round, Roller Coasters, Bumper Cars and Ferris wheels - check,check, check and check! I did have to laugh about the one Kiddy Ride that had cars shaped like cartoon alligators. Hah! Only in Florida: The Midway was huge! The memories were all there: of the barkers trying to get people to play the games, the sounds of the darts popping a ballon or a ball knocking over pins or the ring pinging against bottles, the big eyed kiddos trying to throw a pingpong ball in the goldfish bowl or net a plastic duck and their excitement when they "win" a prize, the fellows knocking themselves out to get a prize to give to their girl, the rows of stuffed animals of every shape size and colour dangling from the ceiling just waiting for their turn to be given away. And of course, the bright lights and even brighter colours were everywhere! Food? You betcha. The fragrances wafted throughout the fairgrounds and mingled in a way that shouldn't smell good but it so does! Mostly bad for you foods, naturally. I think that is key for a successful fair. But surprisingly there were some healthy choices as well. Loads of fried everything you can imagine too, naturally, including, gator on a stick. Can't miss that option! We debated quite awhile before finally making a selection or two. Snowcone or slushie? Soft Pretzel or Donut? Cheese Curds or Loaded Fries? Decisions Decisions Decision! We visited all of the buildings as well which means we got to see a few animals: I was a tiny bit disappointed to learn that most of the animals had already been judged, sold and moved on out. There were just a few left but I got as much mileage out of those few as I could, I promise you! There were also building housing crafts and hobbies that very fun to visit. Not only to admire other people's cleverness and creativity but to talk too the hobbyists and crafters and learn more about how they do what they do!~ There were so many things I did not take photos of and now regret it, like the shell art, the quilts, paintings and sketches, crocheted everything, and wood crafts. The only thing we didn't see much of, which I do recall from county fairs past were the baked goods, jams and pickles, Produce in general. Do you remember fairs having the Largest Pumpkins or best looking Eggplants? Yeah, I do too.
There were multiple fun houses which I genuinely considered attempting to find my way through (but ultimately decided against) but it was great to see the lines of people waiting to find their way through the mirror mazes! We didn't go on any of the rides either and that is mostly my fault. I get too dizzy and dizzy is not good. But I can enjoy watching other people ride the rides! Sometimes I opt to live vicariously :) There was a huge section of stuff to buy. Everything from cowboy hats and sparkly belts to old timey wooden tops, to massage chairs, hot tubs and freeze dried candy (!!) and everything in between! How does anyone resist? In New England they usually have things like Tractor Pulls and some guy with a chain saw making little statues of bears out of stumps and neither of those were present. I admit, I kind of missed that. But otherwise, it was so very nice to go back intime for a few hours and re-visit a genuine old County Fair. We came home a wee bit sunburned, with a bag of old time candy (yum!) and some new memories of a good old time! Guess who had a birthday last week? If you said, Joy, you would be correct! I asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday, because, if you've been reading me long enough, you are well aware of the birthday rules (hint: the birthday person gets to make all decisions) and she wanted to go for a hike. Well that's easy! We can do that! I had to work on her actual birthday so instead we hiked the next day. Which means this photo safari will be the called, "The Day After Her Birthday Hike". Once again, in keeping with the birthday rules, Joy chose where we hiked and her selection was a brand new place, Thaxton-Scherer Preserver. We knew very little about it and sometimes that is part of the fun. Foolishly we assumed (and we knew what happens when we assume) that it would be a relatively small place and that once we finished up there we would move along to a second hiking spot. HAH! Six miles later we dragged our weary butts to the car, giggling at our foolishness all the way. It was a terrific hike in a beautiful new place that had well marked trails, bathrooms (!!) and decent parking. Hard to ask for more than that. Here are some photos that show some of the highlights: First of all, thanks to the time change (and I wont' rant about how much I hate it) it was a little, oh, I hesitate to say dark so instead I will say, not very light, how's that? But it was a pretty place that started out with a trail that circumnavigated a pond. As the skies grew progressively lighter, we began to see birds: The worst part of this preserve was it's location which was kind of trapped between two highways. It was awhile before we stopped hearing the drone of traffic. On the other hand, there were plenty of distractions like beautiful botannicals: But the thing I was most impressed with were the trees. I am a big fan of trees, pretty much all trees, but there was something very special about this place with areas of pine trees that stretched back as far as we could see. It felt a little like something out of a child's Fairy Tale. I kept expecting to see Hansel and Gretel skipping through the forest. As always there are some rando's for you. My most favourite category: So there you have it, the Day After Her Birthday Hike wherein, we celebrated the birthday of the living person I've known the longest, my hiking partner, my sister and my friend. She is an avid baker of cupcakes, a brilliant sewer of quilts, the owner of giant cats and a master photographer. I was delighted to share another photo safari with her.
Happy Birthday Jo! We celebrated spring here this weekend! Yeah, I know it's a little early according to the calendar and some places are still battling winter, but here's it's absolutely gorgeous. Cool mornings and evenings and lovely warm days of blue skies, sunshine and Flowers! Sunday Tim and I went North to Felt's Preserve. Well we actually just went for a drive - a no place in particular, absolutely no destination in mind, we went for a wander and somehow ended up at Felt's. We haven't visited it in a very long time and honestly I wasn't prepared for a real hike. I was wearing white pants (not good in a forest unless you want them to be dirty) and sandals (terrible hiking footwear). So we vowed to just walk a little bit and only on well tended, clean trails. Luckily I pretty much always have my camera on hand. And of course we ended up walking farther than we intended, got dirtier than expected and stayed longer than we probably should have. And I have zero regrets. Here is some of what we saw: This is going to be like a first reader, mostly photos with very few words. They do say that a picture is worth a thousand words so if that's true you can count the imaginary words that might have accompanied each photo. There wasn't a huge variety of birds but I got a variety of photos of the few birds that we saw. (does that make any sense?) Blue Jays: Cardinals: Indigo Bunting: Mourning Doves: So that was it for birds. There were loads of birds, but of a limited variety. And that's perfectly fine! There was more variety in the flowers and other botanicals: Lizards too. This is three different lizards and most of them were hanging around a sign about bees which was kind of funny. False advertising? The insect variety was impressive ! And these are just the ones I actually managed to get photos of! There were loads more: We were tickled to find some turtles basking in the sun by the pond and a few scampering squirrels that held still long enough to get a shot: So I guess that's it, at least for now. We will continue to enjoy our beautiful springy weather, which I confess is a tiny bit sneezy and a whole lot pollen-ish. Whatever you have going on, weather-wise, enjoy! This too shall pass.
Hugs all 'round Guest Hostess! Wow! That sounds fancy doesn't it? Well in truth, it kind of was :) Awhile back, my friend Debbie asked me if I would do a favour for her. Of course I would. The favour turned out to be helping out at the annual Venice Area Garden Club's annual garden tour. At first I hesitated...what exactly does "helping out' entail? Hostessing is all they wanted of me and I suppose I could do that. Probably. So of course I said Yes with the following caveat., "And I hope I don't embarrass myself or you" I was assured that I would be fine. As the date approached, I started to get nervous. I didn't want to do a poor job of it. I'm not a member of the club y'see and I don't know much about Florida gardening. What if someone asks me a question? Yikes! I am the sort of person who, especially if doing a favour for someone, always wants to do the Best Job Possible. My Dad always said to do every job as if you were signing your name to it, no matter if you are taking out the garbage or scrubbing the bathroom floor, do it in such a way that you are proud of the results. I have always tried to live by that rule. I seriously work hard at never (or at least rarely) half-assing anything. I really and truly make every attempt at being my best self and doing the best job possible at everything I do. And since I knew nothing about my role, very little about the garden club and absolutely nothing about the home to which I was assigned, I guess I can be excused if I say I was a little nervous. Debbie reassured me that I would be fine. And I am grateful for her faith in me. The woman in charge, Linda, reached out to me and the others working at the event via email and kept us apprised of the goings on . She was amazing with her level of informational detail and I was very grateful. But it's still not the same as actually being there and having done the job. The great unknown y'know? Since I am not a member and therefore do not own the official uniform which member are required to wear, I was told to wear black pants and a white top which to me always looks like waitstaff. But sure, I can cobble that together. Actually the memo said black pants, shorts or skirt and white top. So I perused my closet. I do own one pair of black shorts. They are old, have at least one bleach stain and the hem is getting a little raggedy so, nope, I wouldn't be wearing those! So I looked at my black skirts. I have two but they are both very "business" looking which makes sense because they are leftover from my working days. And quite honestly, one of them is now a wee big snug. I can get it on and zipped but I'm not positive that breathing would be an option. Soooo long pants it is! I knew I would be slathering myself with sunscreen of course, and wearing a hat so I fiddled around with hair-friendly hair styles for awhile. On an average day, when I am just doing housey and yard stuff or hiking with Joy I don't much care how I look. And that's exactly how I appear - as if I don't much care. On this occasion, I would be representing an organization - one I honestly don't know much about - so I absolutely wanted to represent myself and them well. Therefore, I made much more of an effort than usual. Next up was walking over to the address to which I had been assigned to find out how long it takes to get there. I knew that parking would be an issue so one less car is a good plan. So I timed myself there and back, averaged the two and then added a few extra minutes just in case. In case of what I don't know, but as we were instructed to be there no later than 9:30, I left at 9:00 exactly. 30 minutes is more than enough time. Finally the big day arrived. I was as ready as I would ever be. I showed up with a nervous smile exactly as planned, a tiny bit early and the place was already buzzing with activity. I attempted to jump in and "help" wherever I could. Eventually things were very nearly in place and the boss, Linda, took us on our own private tour of the garden before assigning us to our places. I was on ticket desk. The desk was actually a card table but ticket table doesn't sound quite right.
The instant we were officially "open' (actually before we opened - there was already a crowd by opening bell) an absolute torrent of people showed up. It was like Niagra Falls. They just kept coming! I kept wondering where do all of these people come from? There were no breaks, there was no pause, it was just a steady flow of humanity. Most of them quite pleasant. To my relief, and surprise, I picked up on what I was supposed to say and do rather quickly. I sold tickets, answered questions, directed people and kept track of the things I was supposed to keep track of. I smiled and greeted and tried to be as charming a hostess as possible. The time flew by. Later that evening, I got a lovely e-card from the boss thanking me (and everyone else of course) for our efforts. I was so impressed that, as tired as she must have been by the end of that day, she still took the time to send those ecards. Very sweet. I am also sure that everyone involved in this yearly event was glad it was over and absolutely exhausted! If I understand correctly and I think I do, the money raised by the Garden Club goes to a scholarship program. A Very Worthy Cause! So that is the tale of Sam the Hostess! Kudo's to the VAGC! Awesome job ladies! I look forward to finding out how much money was raised this year. (It'll be in our local newspaper soon - which is one of the things I love about a local paper) Hope all of you had a spectacular Weekend too! This will be a super quick post as I am about to run out the door in just a couple of minutes here. Today I am acting as Hostess at a Garden Tour, which is something I've never done before! I'm sure I will be writing about it next week. But in the meantime, the Kittyboys and I wish you all a wonderful weekend and hope you have some fun! The Brysco and Wyatt are Experts on fun and available for consulting. As long as your idea of fun is fighting over a toy mousie, playing with a ball with a bell in it, watching birds or other basic kitty shenanigans. I leave you with a few photos and my very best wishes! We are smack dab in the middle of our busiest time of year here in Florida. While we do have visitors, guests and tourists year 'round, March seems to be the most touristy of all months. And us locals know this. We adapt to it. We are prepared for it. And mostly, very honestly, for the most part we not only don't mind, we welcome it.
And in the way of gracious hosts (and that really is what we are) we are, mostly, patient and forgiving and helpful. We either avoid going to restaurants altogether or we go in off-hours. When stores are super crowded, we patiently wait in the long lines. We give endless recommendations and directions to bewildered strangers. We offer to take their photos. over and over again and again. And we do it without complaint. Most of the time. It's important for us to be considerate and empathetic to our tourists because, we've been tourists too! We have been the ones who clog up the smooth flow of traffic and create long wait times. We have been those camera wielding tourists who gaze around ourselves in wide eyed and sometimes open mouthed wonder at our surroundings. We get lost, we drag our suitcases behind us and we ask for restaurant ideas. We have been those folks who collapse into bed in exhaustion at our hotel at the end of an over-excursioned day and then bounce back full of energy and excitement the next morning. Yup, that was us. Tourist destination places like ours know how to cater to guests, it is the area's lifeblood. Visitors are partly what keep our shops and eateries open. Some of what continues to fund beautiful parks and beaches and flower bedecked sidewalks is the money that Tourism bring in. There are always a ton of events planned for tourist season too and we local residents enjoy those events just as much as the visitors. So you see, it really is a sort of symbiotic relationship. And we all know it. After all, part of the reason why so many tourists want to visit us is the same reason the rest of us moved here. Venice is Wonderful! But, and here's the big but, there are ways to be a welcome visitor and there are ways to be a miserable visitor who makes locals dread tourist season. We see both. We vastly prefer the former. Being a good tourist is largely about courtesy. Those of us who live here full time, greatly appreciate a courteous tourist. Occasionally we get a tourist who is rude, insulting and nasty tempered. While I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, (maybe they are having a really bad day?) I am far more likely to help out a tourist who is polite and appreciative than one who just yelled at me. Seriously, we have all had moments with visitors that are so bad my first thought is just "go home. you aren't happy here so just go home." Here are a few of the not so good tourist examples: Tourists, are you aware that the rules of the road are not suspended just because you are on vacation? Just in the past week we have witnessed far too many people turning right from the left lane (or left from the right lane), blowing through stop signs AND red lights without so much as a tap of the brakes and nearly mowing over pedestrians crossing the street, Another big one is when someone just stops their car in the middle of the road to take a photo, just to "run into the store quickly" or they are waiting for a parking spot. Literally stopping their car in the middle of the road thus backing up traffic for blocks!!!! Another "bad tourist, very bad" moment that we see far too often, is people dumping their garbage on the side of the road, or on the beach, or in our parks and preserves. Nature is not your garbage can! I cannot even count the number of times I've seen stuff just tossed out of car windows as the side of the road. Geez People! Of course we end up picking it up because we don't want to live in a place with garbage lining our roads and in our yards. We shouldn't have to. Speaking of yards, tourists, please recognize that a lot of folks live here. These are our homes, our actual real homes. This is not Disney Imagineering. Please stay out of our yards and if your doggie plants one on our property, please please clean it up. I know you are on vacation but there are some chores you still have to do. That's one of them. One of the most surprising exchanges that I ever had with a tourist was at the museum. He came in and was greeted as all of our guests are, with a smile and a sincere welcome and a bit of information. He grunted at me and walked away before I finished talking and that's fine. Rude, but fine. He cycled through the entire museum in record time. When he was in front of me again, I asked, as I do most guests, if he had any questions. He said, "Yeah, is there anything fun to do here?" I responded that there were a lot of things to do in the area and rattled off a few. He cut me off and said, "No I mean something fun" I asked what sort of things he had in mind and he couldn't really tell me what he thought might be fun, he just knew that none of my suggestions were correct. He then went on to tell me that I was an idiot, the museum was boring and he hated Venice and would never return. He slammed his way back out the door as I thought to myself, " Please be a man of your word. Dont' come back" Along that same line, some tourists seem to think that they should get preferential treatment over locals and the reason they always give is because, "We are bringing money into your town" Well guess what, the people who live here full time(or even part time) also bring money into this town so....not impressed. I have witnessed far too many blantantly rude, unkind, attitudey, superior and downright snotty moments from tourists and while I don't' suppose any of us are going to challenge you to a duel over it, it's really so unnecessary. We are all happy that you are here and hope you have a wonderful time, but don't expect us to kiss your butt! So you see, it's really mostly just a matter of courtesy and consideration. Be a Good Tourist, have great adventures, get out there and see the world! Have a GREAT time. But please remember while you are out there to be your best self. I promise to do the same when I visit you. That's Joy in profile on the left and me from the back on the right and, quite obviously, we were out tramping through the forest with our cameras again. Clearly, therefore, this is yet another Photo Safari Report. I'm calling this one the Really Short Hike, because, due to time constraints, it was indeed really short. I suppose other folks might have chosen to just not go at all but we really miss it when we have an off week so we made it work. Joy wore a watch and checked it often and gave ourselves a hard stop time then headed for the trails. This was very nearly called the bluejay hike because we saw nearly so many BlueJays! It was as if they had taken over the world! They are easy to spot because of their colour and size and they tend to be a little chatty. Hard to hide when you are that loud! Also saw quite a number of woodpeckers. I know they are one of the birds I frequently post here but this time it was two woodpeckers together! And that part was unusual so I happy snapped them over and over. Generally I just take one shot and or maybe two to be certain that the first one was good and then move along, but this time, they just kept looking cuter and cuter and well, I couldn't stop! So this is the same two woodpeckers, just multiple photos of them. I couldn't choose one favourite! Let's see, in our brief hike we also saw a hawk. In fact we saw him three or four different times but I only captured him once. He kept moving because he was being harassed by other small annoying birds. Poor thing : And there was a very cute little grey bird whose name I've forgotten so let's call her, Agnes. She looks like an Agnes to me. Flowers are just starting to bloom which is evident by the thick layers of pollen EVERYWHERE and of course the ACHOO! But that means I did get a couple of flowers. Some old ones, which I think are still beautiful even in their dried state, and some new. Those yellow trumpet looking ones were EVERYWHERE! And never fear, I do have Randos today! Huzzah! Even a short hike will provide a few uncategorizable shots: For such a Really Short Hike, I was shockingly filthy when I got home. But that's fixable. It was a great photo Safari, if brief and I think we got some decent photos. We definitely had a good time.
Now get out there and have an excellent Weekend! See ya'll next week Hey! Welcome to today's Blogpost! Tim and I did something really different over the weekend, and it was so awesome! It was a Minock Day first of all, which is always one of the very best days. We met up with our friends in a town none of us had ever visited, Safety Harbor. Strange name, yes I know. I looked up the name (of course I did) and it turns out that back in the 1800's when piracy was a serious problem on the high seas and even in the Florida Gulf, once ships managed to arrive in this particular harbor, they were "safe" from pirates - Safety Harbor! Interesting! I also learned that evidence of stone age have been found there! Whoa! But while Spanish Explorers such as Hernando de Soto, visted the area, it was first homesteaded in 1823 by a French gentleman by name of Odette Phillippe. It was Monsieur Phillippe who introduced grapefruit to Florida! Nowadays it is an absolutely charming small seaside town that we all fell in love with immediately. We went there specifically to visit the Art and Music Center and a place called Whimzeyland. How could anyone resist checking out a place called Whimzeyland? The Art and Music Center was incredible. It was decorated from floor to ceiling (no exaggeration) with unique art installations. There was so much going on in every direction that it was almost sensory overload. It took forever to walk through because with each step there was more and more AND MORE to look at, marvel over, wonder about and sometimes chuckle a bit. I was particularly taken with the ceilings. Here are a few: Every single room, including the bathrooms by the way, had us wide-eyed, craning our necks and twisting in contortions to get photographs. It was Wild and Wonderful. The gift shop alone could have kept us entertained for hours. The walls were as fascinating as the ceilings of course. Here is a very small sampling (you might catch an unintentional selfie in one of these photos) When we could finally tear ourselves away from the Art and Music Center, we walked over the Whimzeyland. It turns out that Whimzeyland is actually the homes of the people who created the Art and Music Center. The public is welcome to walk their property and admire how terribly clever and artistic they are. Most of the art is upcycled objects which impresses me to no end. It was easy to know when we had arrived. I suspect that even without the "Whimzey" sign, everyone would know which houses they are. There was a little bit of everything as we walked along: A mosaic tiled sidewalk and pathway: Chandeliers galore: (one just to get a taste): Statuary: Some things were relatively simple: Others were a wee bit more complicated: Wow! That was really something else!
Once our creativity itch was scratched and our sense of wonder satiated, we wandered off to find food! We found ourselves, arbitrarily, at a place called The Whistlestop which was, appropriately enough, right beside a traintrack and had a terrific meal. We ate outside in a covered area and enjoyed the gorgeous day. Afterwards we walked through the cutest dang little town to the waterfront, where, as it turns out, there was an art and seafood festival going on! Well of course we had to check that out as well. And by then, we had managed to spend the entire day out and about, discovering this new to us town and enjoying each other's company so it was time to head in our respective directions (them north and us south) What A Great Adventure! And while I may not need to ever visit Whimzeyland again (probably) I think Tim and I will return to Safety Harbor some day, probably soon. Bonus Post this week! Woohoo! And this time is actually IS a Photo Safari Report! I am calling this one the Twenty-one Bird Hike because (and you've probably already guessed this) I actually counted and I took photographs of 21 different kinds of birds! Wow! We actually saw a lot more but these are just the ones I got pictures of! Holy Cats! That's a lot of birds! It was only 40 degrees when we set out...brisk! So we were well bundled but as the morning rolling along, we began peeling those layers off. It's like a truly ridiculous strip tease :) When we arrived there weren't many other folks around but by the time we left, it was downright crowded. This is peak tourist season right now so it does make sense. And honestly I love to see so many people out taking proper advantage of our beautiful parks and preserves. BUT it's not my favourite kind of hiking. Oh well, it's not my own private preserve after all (dang it!) We chose our first trail arbitrarily and it turned out to be a GREAT decision because ....the Eagles Are Back! Woohoo! First Eagle photo of 2024: It was kind of one bird after another from there. Sometimes we just stood in one spot, snapping away at various birds surrounding us. Very Cool. I won't inundate you with 21 actual bird photos. That would just be too much. And honestly, just because I took a photo doesn't mean it was a good one. I always sort them through carefully and only share the ones that I'm not too embarrassed by. Here's a cross section of Birdie photos. I'll do it in two sets of seven: Although they are beautiful creatures, enough with the birds already! Yeah I can hear you thinking. How about we move along to botanicals? We aren't deep enough into spring yet to get a lot of flowers, but I'll show you what we did find: We did get a wee bit frustrated at times because the trails kept being blocked off. All for very good reason, mind you, but still, we did a lot of backtracking! Let's see, we also saw a very cute turtle: Bubble blowing fish - Really! And then there was the coolest thing we saw the entire hike: a baby 'gator lounging in the sun on Mama's snout! I'm not making that up. The pictures aren't perfect but I think you can make it out: There you have it, a bonus post this week, the Twenty-One Bird Hike!
Hope you have a fabulous weekend! Have fun and be safe :) The things I find myself doing for these two. Geez! Here is a most recent example. Our dehumidifier is clearly on it's last legs. It has worked mighty hard for us for nearly 8 years and it's obvious that it's on life support. So rather than wait until it gasps it's last, Tim went ahead and ordered a new one. It arrived and in the process of unpacking it, we were left with a good sized empty box. My plan was to do what I always do with empty boxes, which is to recycle it! The rules of recycling in our town require that not only do cardboxes need to be broken down but also cut to a certain size. It's no big deal and I've gotten pretty good at it. With that in mind, I walked toward the box, intending to pick it up and put it, temporarily, in the utility room to deal with later but before I reached the box, there was a cat in it. They do that. Like most cats, anything they can fit in they will get in. Things that they quite honestly cannot fit in, they will still at least attempt to get in. It's who they are, it's what they do. No big deal, I can move the box later, I thought to myself and life went on for the rest of the day with the box occasionally occupied by one or the other cat (sometimes both) and once in awhile one of their toys would turn up in the box as well. They were having fun, so why not. A few days later, while cleaning I decided that the room looked too junked up with all of the various and sundry toys and now this giant box in the middle of things so again, I went to pick up the box. The instant my hand touched the box, suddenly a cat appeared in the bottom of it. I took the cat out. The cat jumped back in. Clearly this is going to be an issue. I tried to discuss the situation with them calmly. I sat on the floor and told them how the box was junky looking and took up too much space. They sat and starred at me intently as I talked. when I stopped talking, one of them jumped back in the box. This time with toy mousie. sigh. Clearly they loved the box and as much as I wanted a room that didn't look like the town dump, I also want to be a good pet parent and keep our pets happy. The box made them happy. Dang. So I decided that if the box was going to stay for awhile, it should at least look better. I gathered a box cutter, packing tape, some coloured markers and got to work. Now, before you judge the quality of my work, please keep in mind that I have No artistic abilities whatsoever! NONE! When those were handed out, I must have been out of the room. What used to be just a cardboard box is now the Kittyboy Hideout, complete with two doors, several windows and a skylight. I was unsure if I had "ruined" the box for them or not. You never know. What I think of as an improvement they could perceive as a total disaster. But I kept on with fingers crossed. Finally it was done enough. As a finishing touch, I put an old towel inside so it would be nice and soft for them and then I sat back and waited to see what Brysco and Wyatt would think of it. I think maybe despite my questionable efforts that maybe it'll be okay? Turns out they love it even more than they did before! They nap in it, play in it and sometimes fight in it (and then you can see the entire box rattling around - earthquake!) The peek their heads out the window, zoom in and out through the two doors and occasionally through a window when they are racing. I find toys in the hideout, sometimes things that are specifically NOT toys (my chapstick and a crumpled up napkin come to mind) and definitely the cats. Sometimes I kind of "knock" on the side of the box...Anybody home? And they might peek out to see who is at their door! Or I'll lay on the floor, reach inside and give pets to whichever kitty it is. Occasionally we just see a paw come up through the skylight or an ear or a tail. Every once in a long while, especially on a chilly day, both boys snuggy up together in there. So cute! My long range plan is to do more "artwork" and I use the term loosely. Maybe some trees and shrubs around the sides of their house. If I was a better artist, I could draw birds or lizards or spiders or something on the "roof" but I am reluctant to attempt it as marker is not erasable dang it all. I had the intention to make one of the doors a drawbridge of sorts and even figured out how to do it with elastic. Problem is, I don't actually have any elastic so until I go to a store that sells it, that particular door appears to be a broken drawbridge. Oh well. If I get inspired and acquire more boxes, maybe I can add on more rooms? A second story? The possibilities abound! It still takes up far too much space in a room already cluttered up with various kitty toys but they love it and what the heck, why not. Our home is not a magazine cover home anyway. Now it's even more so. My eventually conclusion was, So Be It! Long live the Kittyboy Hideout! They concur. So they've taken over the room, the giant cardboard box AND my small laundry basket. I guess we know who is in charge in this house. Life is short. Enjoy it to the max. We do!
Late last week, Joy and I took a walk. Just a simple little meander around town, a stroll, a perambulation, a saunter maybe. Well we didn't cover the entire town. Just a very small part of it. And we still managed to knock out 4+ miles. Awesome. Joy snapped the above photo of us reflected in one of those big mirrors they put in places that are difficult to drive out of and well, we just looked to tall and skinny in the photo that I HAD to use it! Sometime fun house mirrors work For you, not against you :) Just sayin' What was I talking about? Oh yeah, the wander that we did last week. We brought our cameras...just in case. I mean, one never ever truly knows, but we had no expectations. If we had returned with zero photos, it would have been just fine. This wasn't really a photo safari after all, it was just a walk. With cameras. Totally different thing. And yet! We saw lots of photo worthy stuff! Loads of birds of course. This is a very birdie sort of place after all. Some water related: And other birds that were more land oriented: Also snapped a few boat photos. This is an island - a body of land surrounded by water - there are bound to be boats here! It just logically follows. And sometimes, they even make for pretty photos: There were a few other things: And that's it! We didn't take hundreds of photos (thought we did probably take dozens) and we weren't gone for hours and we didn't come home with wet, dirty shoes filthy clothes and the smell of the forest upon us. It was just a little stroll around the perimeter of the north end of town, some laughs, good conversation and a few photos.
Hope you had an Awesome Weekend! Ours involved lots of rain, way more TV than usual and donuts! And non of those things is bad. It was Valentine's Day just a few days ago! Hope yours was wonderful! Ours was just about perfect, It involved flowers, baked goods, M&M's and Jersey Mike's subs for dinner! Woohoo to Sam having a night off from cooking dinner :)
Don't get me wrong please. I do love to cook and I especially enjoy cooking for the people I love. But everyone once in awhile it's a treat to Not have to cook. Or think up the idea of what to cook. Or wash up after the meal. Getting take out means, sitting relaxed in our own home in front of the TV with my shoes off, snuggled into the sofa (probably under the sofa blanket) Munching away in my own sweet time with Tim on one side of me and kitties on the other. Afterwards, we just throw away the bag and wrapper. Doesn't get much easier than that! Eating in a restaurant, especially a really nice restaurant is a treat for sure. But I have to be in the right frame of mind for it. Not the actual meal necessarily but the surroundings. In a nice restaurant, I have to be prepared to dress up a bit, maybe make the effort to look nicer than I normally do by the end of the day. Usually by dinnertime I look like the wreck of the Hesperus. By days' end I am tired. Too tired sometimes to appreciate a good meal. I just want a cookie and a nap. (I'm kind of like I giant 4 year old). In a restaurant I need to use my manners: No elbows on the table, sit up straight, try really hard to not drop your fork on the floor a half dozen times please and be a part of pleasant conversation. When I'm really tired sometimes the effort of participating in conversation, putting two related words together in a coherent way is a little beyond my ability. And then there is the whole hearing thing. There is so much ambient noise in a restaurant, even the really nice ones. Sound bounces around off walls and ceilings, there is the murmur of multi conversations going on all around us, footsteps, forks and knives on plates, the "ting" of glassware against other glassware, the background music..... All of that competes with the conversation I'm trying to follow at my own table. My hearing aids are really good ones, high quality stuff, but the effort involved in trying to make sense of the auditory information coming at me sometimes is exhausting. And at the end of the day I don't have a lot of oomph left. I know, I know, I sound like NO FUN AT ALL! How on earth does Tim put up with me? That I don't know. He is a good man. I have asked him that before, actually. Literally asked him. "How can you stand me? What is wrong with you?" He always laughs. I guess that's why he is my Valentine every single year forever and ever. Well, it's one of the reasons. Another reason is that he never gives me a hard time about my inexplicable love of M&M's. I always get some for Valentine's Day, my Birthday, Christmas and sometimes, for no reason at all except that he knows I adore them. He never points out to me that my desire to lose a couple of pounds is in direct conflict with my desire to eat my weight in Chocolate. He also understands, completely understands, that one absolutely MUST have treats while watching movies either at the theatre or at home. Snackies are Essential to movie watching. He is endlessly patient with me as he waits for me to get my act together so that we can leave the house. He stands by the door, key in hand, as I go to the bathroom one more time, change my shoes, put on sunscreen, check on the cats, find my camera/purse/empty egg containers/etc, decide which pair of sunglasses to wear, fix my hair AGAIN, grab my phone and decide at the last second that I don't like the shirt I'm wearing and need to put on a different one. He doesn't say a word and he doesn't get mad and life goes on. He supports my interests, even if it's not high on his hit parade. He takes me to art galleries and stands there waiting for me to be ready to the next room as I moon over my favourites. Same goes for hiking, photography and even me writing this Blog. He was the one who set up the site for me. I didn't even ask him. He just did it. And why? Because it was important to me. He doesn't complain. No matter what horrible, science experiment of a meal I put in front of him, he eats it (or at least attempts to). When I ask a question of any sort the answer is always yes. Can you fix my computer? Do you want to get together with these people? Do you want to go for a hike with me? Do you want to come grocery shopping? Would you drive me, basically anywhere? Can I get a new pair of sneakers? The answer to every one of those was yes. Yes with no hesitation, yes with no conditions, yes with no reservations, yes with no complaint. Just yes. He is so very thoughtful. If I'm sitting on the sofa and I look as if I might be chilly, he will bring me a blanket without me saying a word. If he goes out to the kitchen to refill his waterglass, he fills mine too, if we are planning to eat out he asks where I would like to eat first. It seems as if he is always thinking of me. By way of example, I never asked for a camera. He just thought I would like one and bought one for me, thus kickstarting a new passion. I rarely leave the house without my camera now. And in fact, the camera bag, the clip on glasses case for the camera bag, the monopod for the camera, the wonderful softysoft camera strap, all of those very wonderful and thoughtful things came from him - without me saying a word. He is interested in what I think and respects my opinion. If it turns out that we feel differently about a topic, it only creates a terrific conversation as we exchange thoughts, idea, opinions and beliefs, it doesn't become an argument. We talk about anything and everything. Best of all, he makes me laugh. I look to Tim as an example of how to be a perfect life partner. I'm not sure I"ll ever be as good at it as he is, but as long as I keep trying, I can't go wrong. Hope you and your Valentine had a Perfect Day! This was Joy and I out in the wild last Friday. We were just ahead of a controlled burn. Seriously! As we were leaving, we drove past the fire trucks and saw the actual burning going on. Kind of exciting. We had no photos of the fire or the equipment or the firefighters, sorry. You will have to settle for some other stuff instead. Joy came up with the name for this Photo Safari - The Doubleback Hike. That is because we did a whole lot of doubling back on the trails due to puddles. Not itty bitty no big deal fun to splash in puddles. Nope that would have been fine. These were ankle deep (at least) muddy, murky, goopy, I-don't-know-what's-in-there puddles that we couldn't jump across, walk around (without going too far off trail) or build a frond bridge over and we just weren't in the mood for slogging through muck that day. Sooooo instead we did a lot of doubling back. Here are some of the puddles: Poet e.e.cummings famously wrote "...the world is mud luscious and puddle wonderful..." and that is an adorable mental image but mucky wet feet for hours doens't thrill us at all. The day started out cool and warmed up a bit as we went along. But it was the sky that really struck me. It was at least a zillion different shades of cloudy and light through our hike. The colours kept changing which meant our photos kept changing too. We kept wondering if it was going to rain. It caught my eye and therefore my camera: But it was a great day for birds. A GREAT day for birds. Hope you like birdie pictures because here come a lot of them. There were times when all we had to do was stand in one spot snapping away because they were everywhere around us. The only birds we saw that were NOT in the above set were bluebirds. We saw so many bluebirds. More than we have EVER seen! It was crazy! AND, the most exciting part (to us anyway) is that for the very first time, we saw a bluebird nest! Holy Cats! I will show you othe nest photos first just because that's the part I am most jazzed about. The photos in this next set were kindly sent to me my Joy because my photos didn't turn out which really ticked me off. Can't blame anyone but myself. Operator error! Thanks Jo! How Cool Is That??? Her pictures are just so dang good. Hang on to your poptarts because the next set is Just Bluebirds and now we are back to my photos. If it's too tedious looking at a bunch of photos of the same kind of birds, feel free to skip ahead. I dont' mind. I probably wont' even notice Enough with the birds already! I agree. How about if I move on to flowers. Things are starting to bloom a little bit here and there so there were a few more flowers than lately. I'll just post a few: Lastly, my favourite category, the Randos. I haven't posted much in the way of random, uncategorizable pictures lately. I think I will make up for that here. It's a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Photograhic Flotsam: There you have it, the Doubleback Hike! Those bluebird nests really were amazing! Thanks for the photos once again Joy!
I will find another topic to write about later this week, I promise! In the meantime, have fun and be safe! Can you stand another story about these two scamps? As you can see they have now taken possession of one of my laundry baskets. Never know what a new day will bring :) Life is not dull with these two around! But today I speak of one of my new weekly tasks. Now that Tim and I are kitty owners, once a week, I retrieve missing kitty toys. It's not as if I have it marked on my calendar (kitty toy retrieval day) or anything. But roughly once a week, I will either come into the room and find both cats laying down looking under things leading me to believe that there is something Under There and I'm praying that it's nothing alive. Or Brysco and Wyatt come to me with their sweetie faces on and they keep gently patting me with their paws until I pay attention. Once they have my full attention they lead me to wherever their lost toy is which is clearly requesting I return the toy to them. They are very smart are they not? So at some point, every week, if you were standing outside looking in our windows (and why are you doing that by the way!!) you might see the following tableau: In this photo, Brysco is only sitting up because I am standing up. Normally at this point there are two kitties and me, lying belly down on the floor peering under things with a flashlight and I have something to pull the toys out with. In this particular case we are looking under the display cabinet and I'm using a telescoping back scratcher. If it were something bigger like the sofa, I would be using my monopod, which also telescopes. Very handy tools! The display cabinet is very large and heavy but not deep so the back scratcher work great! It is not unusual to find a half dozen (or more!) toys under this display case. But other favourite places to find lost kitty toys is under the console cabinet, beds, sofas and Tim's desk. When they give me the sad sweetiepie my-toy-is-lost face those are my first go to's. But I have found things under the vanity in the bathroom, trapped behind the kitchen garbage can, and once even in the pantry which is odd because we keep that door closed and latched so I'm not sure how that one happened. We have found toys in closets, cabinets, laundry baskets and our shoes. Is nothing sacred? Nope. Not with cats. It is not unusual to see them walking around with a toy in their mouths. It could be a toy mousie, or soft puff ball or, lately, one of their favourites are these plastic toy springs. They are wild for them! And that is what I found under the display cabinet that day. The boys and I are peering under both sides of the cabinet into the darkness. I cast the flashlight beam to the left and to the right and eventually, aha! There it is, back right corner. Now I have to juggle the flashlight AND the backscratcher AND two excited kitties. They know that I've nearly gotten their beloved toy and they are beside themselves! And since they are literally right beside me, they want to "help". Read that as "get in the way". So while I am attempting to fish out the spring, I am also trying to avoid impaling either of them with the back scratcher. Geez guys! Give me a minute. I'm sort of working blind, dark cabinet, dark shadowy under cabinet, two black cats whose fur is in my way once again. Usually it's just a tail but occasionally a paw and I'm peering underneath in a narrow about two inch high space and trying to manipulate everything AND see what I'm doing at the same time. Absolutely ideal conditions for toy retrieval. (not) Occasionally Wyatt mews encouragingly. I translate that as "Awesome job Mom, you've almost got it now!" Looks easy enough, right. I mean it's Right There! Despite all of my "help", eventually I coax the toy back out and return it to it's rightful owners and the boys frolic and frisk and play with it while I return to whatever I was doing before. But I can guarantee you that by the end of the day that spring will have disappeared once again.
Recently under the console cabinet I found six springs and a mousie. I threw them into the room for the boys to play with. They just about lost their furry little minds with joy. Less than two hours later, they were wanting me to play with them so I went to get some of their favourites - the springs- to throw for them. I toss them into various corners of the room and they chase after them happily, batting them around and having a ball. Wyatt prefers that I throw the springs to him, high n the air so he can jump up into the air after it. Not sure why, but he just loves it. And the crazier the jump required, the better he likes it. Earlier today he leapt off a table to get a toy that I tossed and he landed on one of their play tubes. He emerged triumphantly with the toy in his mouth as I rushed over asking....."are you ok?" Yeah, he was fine and proud as he could be. But on this day, I couldn't find a single toy spring. I turned to them and said, "Guy! Where are they? I just found six of them for you!' They shrugged their shoulders and basically said, " We don't know!" Anyway, on toy retrieval day, I do that same thing, over and again, flashlight, kittyhelpers and either the monopod or the backscratcher, looking under things until it's all been returned to them and they are just so happyhappy once more. I honestly don't mind doing it. It makes them happy, costs me nothing and honestly, it's a bit of exercise hauling my big old butt off the floor over and over again. I'm sure I'm not the only kitty owner who does this though the only people I've ever heard mention it are related to me. Tell me, do you do this too? Those kittyboys :) It's a grey, rainy, gloomy, chilly Monday morning today. Bah! So I'm going to cheer myself up by writing about my most recent hike with Joy! That's right, my friends, it's another Photo Safari Report. And I'm going to call this one the Bridge Hike. You will find out about the why of that very shortly. First of all, we decided to go to Deer Prairie Preserve because we hadn't been there in quite some time. It was closed for, well it seemed like forever! Then too, there were the wild hog incidents that seem to crop up in that particular preserve with more frequency than we are strictly comfortable with. But what the heck, what's life without risk eh? Deer Prairie is open again? All righty...that's where we are headed. Now one of the things about Deer Prairie Preserve is that right away, as soon as you park, you have to decide which way you are going to go, to the left or to the right. We generally go to the right because that trail is Always accessible. The trail to the left is on the other side of the water. The Myakka River flows through it and in some places it widens to appear to be more of a pond or a lake. And in this particular case it creates a stunningly beautiful, peaceful, reflective large pond: And then, out of nowhere, it narrows and drops creating, for all intents and purposes, a waterfall. Very cool: It's all very dramatic and cool looking, I promise! And until this visit the only way to get across that pond/waterfall/river thingie was to wait until the dry season and the water is a wee bit lower and then carefully walk across the top of the falls. Yeah, not the smartest thing we've ever done, but it's what we did. Hey, it's their fault for putting what was obviously an awesome trail head right onthe other side of the water, right? Who could possibly resist that allure? Not us for sure! This is where we walked across. See the marrow little stip of concrete here? Yeah, it goes all along the lip of the "falls". It's mostly under the water right now. The entire time we've been hiking this preserve, that's how it was. So imagine our surprise when we arrived and saw this instead: Holy Cats! How awesome is that? What a gorgeous bridge! Here are some other shots of it: Well of course we had to take that trail! How could we not? Off we went. Saw a lot of very cool trees. Ready for some tree shots? Some insect related things: A few flowers, not many this time 'round. That ought to be changing soon as we are heading toward spring: Got a nice variety of birds. My absolute favourite is the bird on the lily pad! I had never seen that before! There actually was one more bird, a hawk. There he sat, so regally at the tippy top of a tree looking down. Just very steadily, continually looking down. Never once took his eyes off whatever it was he was checking out. So naturally we had to check it out too. Here's the hawk: And here is what he was looking at: He was obviously the supervisor on this job! LOLOL I did take another photo that I particularly liked. It's another reflection shot but when I turn it sideways, it kind of looks like Day and Night represented. See what you think: So there you have it. The Bridge Hike! It was awesome!
Thanks for coming along :) See ya'll soon! All hail the carpet cleaner! Behold it's majesty! Be in awe of it's level of coolness. I know that I certainly am!!!
I've never owned one of these before despite the fact that we've lived in a number of places that actually had wall to wall carpet in at least some of the rooms. I guess I thought that it was not an essential piece of household equipment. I had a perfectly good vacuum cleaner - which IS essential if you have any sort of floors - and used a modicum of common sense regarding where it was wise to eat or not eat, removing ones shoes before coming into the house on muddy, snowy, rainy days and dictating firmly where messy projects were allowed to be done. Should there accidentally be some not-vacuum-up-able dirt on the carpet, I would use a spot cleaner. And then once in a Very Great While, we would rent a carpet cleaner from a local hardware store and go through that rigamarole. It all seemed to be enough. Sufficient to the cause so to speak. I suppose we are rather clean people in general because it's not as if anyone coming into our house ever cringed at the idea of walking on our carpets even barefoot and there was no disgusting mystery odor wafting through the indoor air. So I guess I just didn't give it much thought. When we first married, we lived in a teensy two bed/1 bath apartment that had linoleum floors in the miniscule bath and kitchen. Every other room had wall to wall crayon red carpeting. I did not choose it obviously. We vacuumed and spot cleaned and, I think maybe once a year, did the rental carpet cleaner thing......maybe. The first house Tim and I bought together on the other hand had beautiful wide board wood floors in most rooms and, once again linoleum kitchen and bath. We put an area rug in the living room but it wasn't very big and it was mostly covered with furniture. You had to literally move all of the furniture to properly clean the rugs and, I'm embarrassed to say, it didn't happen very often. We all took turns vacuuming and the degree of cleanliness depending largely on the person wielding the vacuum. Tim was more inclined to move furniture than me. When we moved to Colorado, for the first year we lived in a rental that had tile kitchen, bath, entryway and very pale beige wall to wall carpeting everywhere else. Because this was someone else's house, we were very mindful of taking good care of it. We lived in terror of getting those carpets dirty and tried our best to levitate across rooms rather than walk across them in an effort to keep them pristine at all times. We cleaned voraciously and frequently. There were rules! No eating anywhere but the kitchen table (tile being so much more forgiving than carpeting). Tim rented a carpet cleaner multiple times during that year after he found me in hysterical sobs the day the cat puked on the carpet as I scrubbed and scrubbed attempting (and finally succeeding) in getting the stain out. We still didn't get our deposit back when we left. Oh well. When we moved into our own house in Colorado, the floors were a mix of tile, wood and wall to wall carpet. The wood and the tile was soooo easy to take care of and that carpet was the bane of my existence. I hated it. But at least it was ours and the rules were relaxed a bit more. From time to time Tim rented a carpet cleaner and overall, the place looked good. When we moved to Florida I was so happy to have tile floors everywhere. If you spill on tile, you wipe it up and you are done. You don't have to be reminded every day by the ghost of a stain or have stiff or sticky carpeting. There is no lingering stink or deeply ingrained bacteria growing from errant cookie crumbs or coffee splash. The bonus is the lovely year 'round cool tiles underfoot when you live in a place notorious for warm weather. But, we discovered quickly, with only hard surfaces, sounds bounces around which makes hearing and understanding what you are hearing a challenge. There is a funny echoey sound with any noise at all. If you drop a book, they can hear it next door, if you drop a pot lid it's a cacophony! So we got some area rugs and sprinkled them around, here and there. There is one in the living room and two in the family room. It had helped tremendously with the sound bounce issue and, as a bonus, there is a nice visual division between the various spaces of such a big open area. And it's kind of a cozy look too which is just nice :) I vacuum every week, sometimes twice if needed. The floors get washed every week and any spills are cleaned up immediately. If there happens to be some unvacuumable dirt on the area rug, again, I just spot cleaned and went on about my day. We had been discussing renting a carpet cleaner once again recently and I left Tim to the details since generally he is the one who does that job. Those machines are HEAVY! And instead, to my surprise, the carpet cleaner at the top of the page showed up at our door. How Exciting! Tim decided that, considering the cost of the rental, within just a few uses the purchase would have balanced out. After that, any uses are basically free. I was excited to check it out. I read the instruction manual (unusual for me) before using it then, feeling marginally confident in my understanding, I got to work. It was actually fairly easy, lighter weight than the rental ones, and did a Great Job. The water in the extraction bin was DISGUSTING! I always believed myself to be a clean person. Perhaps I was just in denial because that was gross. Tim helped me and all three rugs are now practically pristine. The kitties watched the entire process with great fascination. I don't know yet if I will just automatically clean the carpets on some sort of regular schedule or will I wait until the spirit and the level of dirt compels me. But at least when carpet cleaning does happen again around here, we don't have to drive to the hardware store, pay to rent, drag the dang thing out to the car, load it up, schlepp it into the house and then once used, do it in reverse. Nope, now I just go to the closet, use it, clean it, return it. Nice. Why did we wait so long??? Have a GREAT weekend! You know who these two people are so you know what this is. Yup, Another Photo Safari Report! I'm calling this one the Combo Platter Hike(s) for several reasons. First of all, Joy and I are a combo! And then, the photos are of a combination of things. Thirdly, we go out on these photo safaris for a combination of different reasons (exercise, photography, being in nature and just spending time together) and lastly, it is a combination of two different hikes. One with Joy of course, the other one I did with Tim! The hike with Tim was much shorter. I will still easily fatigued and getting over being sick but I desperately wanted (Needed!!!) to be out of the house for a bit. So to be on the safe and courteous side, Tim took me for a Very Short hike where there was NOBODY else. Not another living human soul. Just Tim and I and nature. Nice! One of the first things I took a picture of was a bird I couldn't identify. That's always fun. He was just sitting there in the tippity top of a tree and he patiently waited until I took a couple of photos before taking off again. I had to send Joy the photo later for identification. Turns out this guy is called a Shrike. I was thinking more....Zorro. The only other bird picture I got on that hike (again it was a Very Short Hike) was this one which turned out to be one of my all time favourites: That was a bit of good luck eh? Can never go wrong with Mama's and Babies :) All of the rest of the pictures I took on that day were perfectly fine, mostly botanicals, but not as special: Oh and three other birds. Perfectly nice birds, but just ordinary: And then, about a week later, the hike with Joy. We went to Curry Creek which is a small local preserve that we've been to a zillion other times and we've never been disappointed there. As small as it is, and even smaller than usual that day because the water was too high to cross the creek to the other side, we always get at least a few really decent shots. The highlight of this hike was another new to me bird: The Carolina Wren who, since she was in Florida, must have been on vacation. She had the most beautiful and unusual song too. I wish there was a way to attach an audio file because I would love for you to hear her sing. We stood on the trail for the longest time trying to figure out who was making that unusual music. Most local bird song is so familiar too us that we know who the artist is, but not this time. Finally, after a lot of very quiet lurking and searching we found the source: That was exciting. We always feel a little bit like detectives when we hear a bird but cannot immediately see it and then we go on the hunt until we find it! We saw other more familiar birds too: It was a pretty day, the air was a little crisp which is fine, we know how to dress in layers and, for a change it was a sunny day. Nice! I snapped a few botanicals. Not as many as usual but a few here and there: So I guess that's that. The Combo Platter Hike(s). They were both a lot of fun and it was a wonderful surprise to see something brand new to me on both hikes! Now that I'm back to my old self I'm ready to hit the real longer trails and get out there in the thick of things, probably getting lost (or at least temporarily misplaced) and have some more photos for you next time!
Hope everyone is doing GREAT! Hugs all ' round. ..Let's see a show of hands. How many of you hate being sick? Looks like all of you. Yeah. Me too. I'm just, very slowly, getting over being sick myself and I'm telling you, it just doesn't suit me.
Last Tuesday I woke up after a very restless night of not much sleep to find that I had a terrible headache, which I suppose could be attributed to the lack of sleep, and an awful sore throat which was unusual. Every time I swallowed, I winced. Who knew that saliva had such sharp edges? I lay there in bed taking personal inventory for a moment and trying to justify anything that was not quite right. Finally I hauled my carcass out of bed and shuffled into the shower. I'm not a shuffler. I don't shuffle. But I did that morning. It seemed to be all that I could manage. The shower revived me a bit, I felt more awake at least, but the sore throat wasn't improved, nor was the headache and then the cough began. Oh man. I already had a sore throat. The coughing didn't help at all, so I tried to suppress it as much as possible. While the effort wasn't entirely successful, at least I was trying. I decided that what I needed was some nice hot tea. It was while I was reaching up into the cabinet to get a mug that I realized how much my back hurt too. And I was so dang tired I just wanted to lay down on the kitchen floor and sleep. I gave up then because when I added it all up, I knew that I was genuinely sick. Dang. Because I knew I was scheduled to work that day, ironically covering for someone else who was out sick, I had to make a decision very quickly about whether or not I should go to work. I know, I know, it ought to be an easy decision. But I came from a generation where how you felt didn't matter. If something needed to be done, you did it anyway. Work Ethic was Everything! Unless you were in the hospital or deceased, there was no excuse for not showing up and doing your job whether it was a job outside the home or inside of it. You took an aspirin, grabbed some tissues and a few cough drops and you went in anyway. It was what we did. The obvious fact that all of us who were showing up to work sick were probably infecting everyone else in the workplace apparently never dawned on management. It was what it was, and we did what we did. Eventually, the light dawned on Most people during a particularly hideous flu season that we were infecting each other. The response to that where I worked at the time, and other places too I'm sure, was that flu shots became mandatory. Nobody was missing work!! But I believe that that's where it began be start being a little more "normal" to not be at work or school if you were contagious in anyway. This was a huge step forward but not every work place adhered to this policy AND all of us oldsters who were used to working sick were taking a little longer to get on board with it. And then Covid happened. February 2020 was when everything changed. Anything less that perfect healthy was suddenly terrifying. If you had seasonal allergies, people avoided you. If you swallowed 'wrong' and coughed as a result people would give you dirty looks. And the rule of thumb was, if you are sick stay home, stay away. Everyone was terrified by germs. With good reason, no question. But it was a big pendulum swing in a different direction than most of us had ever experienced. When I was a kid, if another child in the neighborhood had chicken pox or measles, parents would deliberately send their kids to play with the sick kid! The prevailing thought was that the non sick child would contract the "childhood disease" and be done with it. Oh my! Childhood diseases were like a rite of passage I suppose. What a bizarre thought process! Now of course, there are vaccines for all of those things and they are (mostly) a thing of the past. And good riddance to it! Things are different now and it's for the better. Still, I kept thinking of my responsibilities at work. If I call out sick, and I'm covering for someone else who is sick, who is going to cover for me? How inconvenient! How inconsiderate! I felt guilty. And then Tim reminded me that most of the people I covered for through November and December called out sick with Covid (because that doggone beast is still out there). I Hmmmm'd to myself and got on my trusty computer to research the symptoms for the current strain of Covid. Sore Thoat, Cough, Congestion, Body aches, headache, fatigue.......check check check check check check check....... damnit. Tim remembered that we had a Covid home test in the linen closet so I got that out, read the directions a dozen times because I was having trouble focusing and tracking, did the test and the dang thing popped positive. Geez! After managing to avoid Covid for just shy of 4 years, it finally caught me. Ratz! So now I absolutely could not go to work. I emailed the boss who made it Very Clear that I should stay home. And I KNOW it was the right thing to do, but now I felt guilty for being sick. Man, I guilt so well. Too bad it's not a paying gig. But I couldn't think about it, or anything else too much, I felt too crummy and I felt worse as they day went by. For the next four days mostly I napped. Tim would wake me to see if what I wanted to eat. By then my voice was almost completely gone, I croaked out, "anything with no edges". He brought me mac'n'cheese and ice cream. I lived on that for 4 days. Gradually I began to not be quite as tired, though I wore out quickly. Still. it felt good to be vertical. Eventually the headache faded and over time the sore throat diminished, the congestion is beginning to clear a little bit but the cough of course lingers. It always does. I retested and now I am negative. Huzzah! Thankfully, Tim is still healthy, no symptoms at all and for that I am truly grateful. I had to cancel working two days, hiking one day, a party, a get together with old friends and attending a City Council Meeting in the meantime. I feel truly awful about all of that. But I remind myself the advice my old College Philosphy Professor once gave me, "A hundred years from now, who'll know the difference?" And I also have to tell myself, on a regular basis, that just because something is the way we used to do it, doesn't mean it was the only way. And it certainly doesn't mean it was the right way. See, I am still capable of learning. I'll never stop feeling guilty about Every freakin' thing, but I am learning how to see things differently. Change can be good. Hey, it's the Kittyboys, Brysco and Wyatt! I think it's time for an update. On Saturday we will have had them for 3 months! Which means they are almost 9 months old. Time flies. Boy oh boy have they changed our lives in that time. And all for the better :) The first thing you may notice here, other than how much they've grown, is that neither of them is wearing a collar. (sigh) Wyatt always hated his collar with a passion and a good portion of his day, every day, was dedicated to finding out how to remove it. Once that puzzle was solved, his collar was off more than it was on. Initially it was a once in a while thing. Then maybe a once a week happening. And suddenly it was about every 30 minutes. Dang. Eventually we gave up. The sole reason we put collars on them to begin with was to tell them apart! We decided that as long as Brysco still had his collar on, we would know which cat was which. Cat with collar - Brysco! Cat without collar - Wyatt! Easy peasy. I did feel a little guilty that Brysco was stuck still wearing his - simply for our convenience of telling them apart . Never fear. In short order, Wyatt taught Brysco how to take his off and then...bam. Neither cat was wearing a collar. DoubleDang. Then Tim and I realized how lazy we were being. I mean parents of identical human twins always figure it out, right? So we have made a concentrated effort to find the subtle differences between them and now I believe that 90% of the time we are correct. In any case, they answer to their names and we can rely on that if necessary. This post is kind of a day in the life thing. How do the kittyboys spend their days? (just in case you wondered) Being cats of course, much of their days is dedicated to sleep. Usually brief little aptly named catnaps. They snooze in their actual cute little beds of course, sometimes together, sometimes separately, but they also nap in the kitty trees, on the sofa, our bed and in any sunny spot they find on the floor: But when they are awake, it's all about playplayplay! They play with each other naturally and that often looks more like a wrestling match and it's impossible to get a good picture! But another favourite game of theirs is the jumpscare where one of them hides behind something and they wait for either their brother, or some unsuspecting human to come along and then they pounce! They favour a butterfly toy, mousies, anything with catnip in it, one particular wool ball that they are slowly shredding, anything with feathers which very soon has no feathers at all and little toy springs which get batted all over the house and under things. Once every week the kittyboys and I, armed with a flashlight and my monopod fully extended, go around the house, fishing errant toys out from under things. They also have a toy we call the CrazyBall. It's a computerized (I suppose) ball that get's charged like a phone. Once it's turned on and put on the floor, it takes off in crazy directions all over the house with both cats in hot pursuit. It occupies them for a Very Long Time. The bad part is that they do not put their toys away when they are done and then we have to find Crazyball. Sometimes we don't discover it's whereabouts until the next day whereupon it gets recharged and ready for the next go 'round. But their absolute favourite game now is what Tim has dubbed the GooberUber. Tim was innocently moving one of their playtubes one day and Brysco jumped in! So, very gently, Tim dragged the tube across the room. Brysco Loved it! Wyatt follows behind and it's like a little parade through the house now. When they see Tim coming, Brysco jumps into the tube in the hopes for a ride! Silly kitty! Most cats are curious by nature and these boys are no different in that respect. Brysco in particular wants to help and check out whatever we are doing. He recently has become fascinated by running water. I find him in the bathtub, the kitchen sink or watching the rain out a window. Wyatt is currently captivated by the ceiling fans and at least part of his day is dedicated to starring at the rotating blades and meowing at them. It's a conversational sort of series of various mews and meows and chirps. I would love to know what he is saying. They insist upon laying on the ironing piles which is why I have it covered with a towel until I get around to actually doing the ironing And anything new remains suspicious whether it is a package that has arrived, a new toy or me wearing a new pair of socks. Their policy is Approach with Caution! So I guess that is pretty much how they spend their days. Ah, the life of a cat! That may be the plan for my next life should reincarnation turn out to be a real thing.
I will try very hard to restrain myself and not write about them again - at least for a little while Have a great weekend. You know that the kittyboys will! Welcome to Florida, the Sunshine State!!! I imagine the conversation went a little something like this: Cold Place Person (CPP): "I've had it with the snow and cold already this winter! Let's go somewhere warm and thaw out" Friend/Partner (F/P): "That sounds wonderful. Let's go somewhere with a beach. Sun and sand and margaritas!!" CPP: "Excellent! What beach tho?" F/P: "Let's go to Florida. Winter there is supposed to be paradise" Later: CPP: "I did a little research and I found this little town called Venice. It's an island! Beautiful beaches, an adorable downtown, a lot of history and, according to what I read, there always seems to be some sort of outside entertainment, music, festivals, outside dining" F/P "Wonderful! Book it" And then they arrive and find: Disappointment R Us!
I somehow feel as if I must apologize to all of our tourists right now. I see them huddled under umbrellas, shivering in their beachware as they wander our downtown (which is indeed adorable). We see them at the jetty sitting in their cars looking at the ocean and the beach wistfully from inside their cars. A few diehards go ahead and walk the beach regardless of the rainfall and the temperature. I suppose if you were planning to swim you would be getting wet anyway, right? At the museum this year, we are seeing record numbers of visitors from all over the world. All of them remarking/complaining about the rain and the chill. Sometimes it is in a jovial sort of way, "Hey where are you hiding the sunshine?" . Other times in a grumpier sort of fashion, "I spent a lot of money for a beach vacation and now here I am in a boring, dusty old museum" (By the way, our museum is neither dusty nor boring) A lot of guests ask us on the way out what else there is to do in the area that in Inside since all of the outside is wet which means some of our usual events have been cancelled. I had to put my thinking cap on the first few times that question came my way but I managed to cobble together a small list. A few of us docents and the boss have since come up with a couple of other thoughts which we happily share. I would just like to take this opportunity to remind Florida Visitors that us Floridians have no control over the weather. We aren't making it rainy and chilly just to spite you or keep you away. And frankly we are as surprised and disappointed right now as you are. The best part of Florida Living has always been October through June. Those of us who are full-timers here manage to survive July- September by staying in the Air Conditioning as much as possible, drinking gallons of water and remembering how beautiful our state is the rest of the year. This year, not so much. I suppose I should just be grateful that we have no snow, the temperature has only once ever dipped below zero (it was Tallahassee in 1899 and the temp was minus 2), and the only ice is in a glass. It probably has happened to everyone at one time or another that a vacation didn't turn out to be exactly what you anticipated. And now it has happened to you here. I am officially apologizing, even though it's not my fault. I'm sorry that you are disappointed. I'm sorry that you ended up doing a Walmart run for warmer clothes. I'm sorry that instead of dining al fresco, you are inside the restaurant looking through rain swept windows at the grey and drizzly outside. I'm sorry that instead of playing volley ball on the beach, you are in your hotel room playing Crazy Eights with a complimentary deck of cards. I'm seeing a lot of cranky folks who do not seem to know how to pivot. If you cannot be outside, get out your magical mini pocket computers that we all have on our person at all times anymore, and find inside things to do. They exist, I promise. It's not the beach, but it's not bad. Because Honestly, we have NO control over the weather. Sure, sure, this time of year, some full-timers grouse about the increased traffic and longer lines and occasionally questionable behaviour of our visitors. Here abouts if you listen closely, you might hear the word 'snowbird' or 'tourist' occasionally spat out as if it were a swear word. (gasp!) But honestly, most of us love our visitors, guests, tourists and seasonal folks! We do! And none of us are happy about the miserable weather. And we are Sorry that you are unhappy, disappointed, bored, frustrated or angry. We are sorry. But it's not our fault. Seriously, if we could do anything to control the weather, would there EVER be another hurricane? Think about it. That's Joy pointing out something to me that I either didn't notice or just cannot seem to see! But to be fair, when you are out in the forest, it's hard to give verbal directions. "It's on that branch? " Which branch? "The one on the tree" Which tree? "The tall one?" LOLOL She is so patient with me for which I am truly grateful. Yesterday, for the first time in a bit, Joy and I were able to hit the trails once more which means this is a Photo Safari Report! I had several choices about what to call this one but I'm landing on the "Lotsa Birds Hike" because, wow, there were a LOT of Birds! So hunker down and be prepared for Birdie Photos' Galore! We waited until the night before to decide if we were going to hike or not because the weather has been so, un-Florida-Winter-like lately. Which is to say, wet. We always get at least a few days that register with us as being chilly (Not to anyone else on the planet understand, just us Floridians), but it's this uncharacteristic winter rainfall that is unsettling our tourists and occasionally our own plans. But Wednesdays nights weather report said cloudy, cool and NO rain until afternoon. Thursday mornings report echoed the same so we headed over to Carlton. We were the ONLY car in the parking lot when we arrived, which is absolutely fine with us. We set out, loaded for photos, and discovered several things straight away. First, that the trails were a bit mucky so we would be picking and choosing our trails carefully. Second, that the sky looking alarming (but beautiful). And Thirdly, there were birds EVERYWHERE! Holy Cats! We didn't have to go far to get loads of shots and that's a good thing because within the first hour, the sky opened up and the rain arrived ahead of schedule. Dang. We tucked our cameras under our jackets, pulled up our hoodies and booked it back to the parking lot. Still, we were pleased with what we managed to get in that brief period of time. Here's the trail and sky. Ominous for sure: But honestly, we were there for the birds. Ready? Here's a sampling: So there we were, sitting in the car in an empty parking lot at the preserve listening to the rainfall debating if we should just call it a day and go out to breakfast? Or try again elsewhere and hope that the rain stops. You guessed correctly, we weren't ready to stop yet. So we moved on to Myakka State Park which has a road going all the way through it. In most parks and preserves you arrive, park and either hike it or bike it the rest of the way. But Myakka, while it has hiking trails a plenty, also has a road to drive all the way through. It's a wonderful meandering road where the forest comes right up to the edge of civilization which also means, wildlife is often, right there out the window. Our thought was that if it was Still raining when we arrived we could, literally shoot out the car windows. Or, if the rain held off, perhaps we could risk a few short hikes. It's a beautiful drive down a canopied road, surrounded by various land and water - scapes: We had no idea what, if anything, we would see along the way, As we chatted about what we hoped we might find, almost every thing we listed, showed up! It's like they were listening to our wish list. Including a bird that someone recently told me cannot be found locally anymore. HAH! We found it. And lest you think that there is no four-legged wildlife at Myakka, we also saw this: And this: I know I'm pushing the definition of "wildlife" with the squirrel but I think when they live in the forest and not in a neighborhood park or somebody's back yard, they still qualify.
We timed our visit perfectly because shortly after Joy dropped me back off at home, suddenly out of nowhere, the rain was pouring down once more. Awesome!~ We were both very chilly and very wet by the time we were done but I regret none of it! Hope you also enjoyed the Lotsa Birds Hike! I wonder what we will see the next time? Have a great weekend everybody~ |
AuthorYup, this is me. Some people said, "Sam, you should write a Blog". "Well, there's a thought", I thought to myself. And so here it is. Archives
July 2024
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