December in Florida

I find it hard to believe that December is almost 1/2 over.   As a matter of fact I can't figure out where the year has gone.   I guess as we get older time just seems to move faster. 

There are signs in my gardens that fall is here, but no real signs of winter....but then again,  the first day of winter is the 22nd.  And that brings me to Mom.  She will turn 98 on December 22nd. I do hope that I have inherited her genes.  She has gotten to see her children grow, marry and have their own children.  She has gotten to see those grandchildren marry.  She has gotten to see her great-grandchildren!  I want that.......time will only tell, and time that goes by sometimes much too quickly.  Goodness, I have 2 grandsons that will be driving! They are all growing fast.
 
On December 7th, we went to our 2nd Annual visit to Busch Gardens with our friends who live in Port Orange. While we have been to Busch Gardens many times before, we have t was very cold.  This year the weather was delightful until about 3:00 p.m. when we got a bit of rain.  It didn't spoil anything though because we only had one more Christmas show to see, and that was at 4:00.  We got to enjoy it and then headed home. 

Look closely among the stilt packaged elves and you will spot my friend, Linda, and I, as we walked into the park. 

Yesterday I baked my Candy Cane Coffee Cakes.   Two are in the freezer, and one small one went to mom to enjoy during Christmas.   The other will go to my neighbor next door.  I always like to bring him some goodies during the Christmas Holiday Season.

Talking about baking.....our local Publix has a magazine that comes out.  And it had a delicious no bake cookie recipe in it.   I think I'm going to try it.

Chocolate Cherry Nut Clusters
12 oz white baking pieces
1 c dried tart cherries, chopped
1 c salted mixed nuts, coarsely chopped
Extra dried cherries, and crumbled graham crackers (optional)

In a large saucepan melt white pieces until smooth.  Add in the 1 c cherries and nuts.  Stir to combine.  Drop mixture by heaping tablespoons on waxed paper lined baking sheet.  Sprinkle with dried cherries and graham crackers.   Chill for 30 minutes.  Looks nice in a little muffin cup.

And that brings me to the Season....... Christmas this year seems so much more relaxed for me.   I really don't know why.  I always seem to be rushing around so much, but not this year.  I seem to be more prepared.   I wish I could see all of my children and grandchildren during Christmas, but alas, that is not to be.   I even have a great-grandchild that I have only seen in pictures.  They are scattered in NJ, PA, LA, and TX.  I remember when we could all be together.  I treasure those memories. 

Well, I guess I have rambled along enough here.....  you all have a good day!

The Day Before Thanksgiving

A beautiful sunny day to enjoy more blooms in the garden.   The first is the Cassia Bicapsularis "Butter Creme".   This is a rare Cassia and is blooming for the first time this year.



Next along the driveway, the Hibiscus Acetosella is in full bloom.   This is an edible hibiscus and I grow it as an annual.



The Gerber Daisies are in full bloom again.  They enjoy the cooler evenings and mornings.



Then to my shear joy the Crepe Ginger is blooming.  I didn't think I was going to have any blooms this year due to our very cold winter last year.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

Yellow.... Fall in the Yard

In the fall the Cassia Bicapsularis aka Winter Senna begin to bloom...  it is a sea of yellow in my front yard.   Along with that the Bolivian Marigold begins to bloom on the side of the house. The picture below shows the front garden with the tall Marigold on the side... notice it grows as tall as the roof line.

The first of the photos below is Cassia Bicapsularis, then a close up of the Marigold, and stepping back to see how it grows.  

 

The vibrant yellow of these flowers contrast with the pale yellow of another fall bloomer.  The Forsythia Sage.... 



Happy Halloween

Angel hurried and dressed so she could go trick or treating....  she wishes you all a Happy Halloween!

Turning 70!

Yesterday was my birthday and I turned 70.   I really don't feel 70.   As a matter of fact I don't feel old at all.   I met a friend when I was walking Angel and she said, "oh wouldn't it be great to be a teen again?"  I thought about that, and really, I don't think so.   I'm content where I am.   Would I like some changes to my life, yes.  But the changes are just to lose some of this extra weight I'm carrying around.   Also I would love to be able to see all the children and grandchildren more often.   I guess being 70 isn't too bad.  Maybe I will have the longevity of my mom and Aunt Laura.  They are 98 and 97!  Amazing isn't it?

So then people ask, what did you do for this landmark birthday?  Richard and I went out to dinner at Ruby Tuesday's and then we went to the movies.   We saw Dolphin Tale.   Oh, I just loved it!  What a remarkable story and great film.   We did that on Sunday instead of on my birthday because Monday's I take my mom grocery shopping.  But I didn't mind that we did it the day before....  I just thoroughly enjoyed a delightful relaxing day.

An exciting thing about my birthday is that I have a super grandson who shares my day.   He turned 16 and I bet he is now at the license bureau getting his learner's permit!   Now that is an exciting thing to do on your birthday....

But then getting back to my day and the movie....   I really must go down to Clearwater and see Winter.   I've been to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium a number of years ago, but Winter wasn't there then.   I spoke with my daughter yesterday, she said when the girls come down here again they, too, want to visit Winter.   I love it!   See that is why I don't mind 70.  The grands keep me young.  Their excitement transfers to me.  

So I invite you visit Winter in Clearwater and if you can't see Winter in person, enjoy reading about her here:
http://www.seewinter.com/winter   There is even a webcam to enjoy.

Have a great day.

The October Garden

The gardens still are flourishing and enjoying the cooler mornings.   Today is just such a picture perfect day.   I looked out my window and noticed my Dr. Moy Ginger was blooming again.   A bit hard to capture the pail orange color...  but oh what a beautiful ginger.







The butterfly gingers continue to bloom as well.  They peek their flowers up above all of the other gingers in the garden.

While right along side of it another French Kiss ginger is showing up. 

The Maximillian sunflowers that I have featured before.  However, the way our bright sun is on them I have not been able to get a great picture until this morning.   I'm so very pleased with them.

It is hard to believe I almost pulled these out as weeds.  I do hope they reseed and come back next year.  They are so tall and elegant and put on quite a pretty show.

Another plant that always seems to surprise me by showing up late in my gardens is my Bleeding Heart Vine....   each year I think it is not coming back, and then all of a sudden it shows up.

In the front yard the white Phillipine Violet is really looking pretty.  This is fairly new to my garden as a friend had given me a small piece.   Once I moved it to the front yard it seemed quite happy.

All of the above pictures were taken with my Ipod Touch 4th Gen.   Not bad for just using that little camera on it.   I just upgraded to IOS 5 and am quite happy. 

Red or Orange in the Fall Garden

Took Angel for a walk around the yard this evening, and I really enjoyed a bit of fall colors!  Nope not the trees changing for me here in Florida, but the shades of red and orange flowers.  I thought I would feature two of them today.

The first:  Red Passion Vine (Passiflora Vitifolia).   This vine completely encompasses my front garden light and forms a skirt around it.   It is a very vigorous grower which means I must keep after it so it doesn't take over the entire front garden area.  But it is a beautiful site in bloom.

 

As I go around to the side of the house, the fence is adorned with Cape Honeysuckle (Tecomaria Capensis).  This is just loved by humming birds and butterflies as well.   It looks so glorious in the fall as that is when it provides me with the most blooms.

So I am really enjoying my fall colors!

One Spoiled Pup

My usual routine for the day is to take Angel for a one mile walk in the mornings.  When we get home I pull out my laptop, sit in a nice comfortable recliner and catch up on the day's news and e-mails.  However, Angel has other ideas.  She wants on my lap and the laptop is in the way.  So she paws at it and barks for me to make room for her.  Well, I do....however, that puts my laptop hanging half off the arm of the chair and presents difficulty as I try to answer e-mails!   What do I do? 


Hmmm.....  I'll solve it.  I'll move to the kitchen table and........


Yep, she is one Spoiled Happy Pup!

A nice cool day to work outside

Woke up to a nice 57 degrees this morning.  Quite a pleasant change in the weather.  Since it probably won't last very long, I decided to get my jeans on and get out in the back area to cut shrubs and trees.  I thinned out of the trees behind the silverthorn hedge in the back. 

In back of all that lushness are viburnum that turned into trees.   That was my work area for the day.   A couple of weeks ago I took the pond out and put that flag stone area in place of the pond.   I was having too much trouble with racoons getting my fish.  Of course, now we have a ton of cuttings and tree limbs that need to be taken to the local dump.  Too bad I don't have a chipper!

While working in the back yard this weekend, I discovered that I have some new volunteers in the garden, and I can only assume the storms or birds brought the seed.   After much research I finally found out through a member of my garden group, that what I have is Maximillian Sunflower.  Some of these are now about 7 feet tall.  These are not large flowers, only about the size of a silver dollar or perhaps a little larger.   But I was glad to ID them as I was ready to pull them out because I thought perhaps they were weeds...  of course, one person's weed is another's treasured flower.

This is also called Prairie Sunflower. 

Well, I'm tired and it is getting to be the time Amazing Race comes on.... so I'm off to watch it!  Love that show!

Good Morning First Day in October

Wow... I can't believe we are in the last quarter of the year.  Time sure flies by.   Let's keep the support up for the RAYS!  Go guys, you are doing great! 

 

It was 69 degrees this morning when Angel and I took our morning walk.  It felt so good with relatively no humidity.   They say tomorrow morning will be cooler.   It is a pleasant change from the heat.  My gardens are loving it.  All the plants look happy and perky. 

We have been enjoying so many butterflies in the gardens, but our state butterfly, the Zebra Longwing, has been noticeably absent.   None of us can understand why this has happened this year.   My gardens are filled with host and nectar plants for the butterflies.   I was quite pleased when I found a Monarch caterpillar on my milkweed, but I have not seen it since.   I'm wondering if he became supper for one of the birds.

 

I made it here.....

I had been blogging on Delphi, but decided to move my blogging to this new site.   I hope my friends and family will follow me here.  So for old friends and new friends, Welcome to my world...  please check back as I begin to fill these pages.

Angel welcomes you as well...