Gopher Tortoise - Clothesline Quilts

1.19.15 - A beautiful day at Manasota Beach with a gopher tortoise welcoming committee and wild beach Black Eyed Susan's. 

1.21.15 - We went back to Manasota Beach today, however, there was no available parking so we drove down Manasota Key to Blind Pass Beach.  It was crowded near the parking lot but just up the beach a bit it was sparsely populated.  The air temperature was in the 70's and I went for my first swim of the new year.  The water was in the 60's.  I found it quite delightful.  Allan however was not interested at all in going in.

1.22.15 - Snook Haven Park on the Myakka River has a restaurant that hosts a Banjo Society each Thursday during lunch.  Miss Betty our backdoor neighbor joined us for lunch and this fun outing.

1.23.15 - We frequently walk or ride our bikes through our neighborhood Shamrock Park.  On this day I found this wild morning glory.  

1.23.15 - I am enjoying my experimental Florida raised bed garden. Thus far we have had parsley, thyme, rosemary, lettuce, cukes, radishes, beet greens and spinach.

1.25.15 - The Venetian Waterway Park begins/ends at Shamrock Park which is about 1/3 of a mile from our house.  It follows the intracoastal canal for about 4 miles.  You can then cross a bridge and it runs along several roads on Venice Island. Or you can ride it to the beginning/end of the Legacy Bike trail that is 10 or so miles long and goes up to Sarasota.
These trails are very popular for bike riders and walkers.  I often lead because I am a slower rider than Allan but on this day I got him to go first and am surprised that I was able to get this action shot.

1.26.15 - Miss Betty told us about the Lipizzaner Stallions of Austria Farm in Myakka City.  She explained that she and her husband always took company out to see them.  I checked it out on- line, we watched the Disney Movie, Miracle Of The White Stallions, (courtesy of the Jacaranda Library) about the Lipizzaners and then we went out.  Myakka City is about an hour from Venice.  The stables are open for visitors and three days a week they put on "training" shows that last about an hour.  
Miss Betty, our informant and Florida Tour Guide, came along for the ride.  It was great fun.

1.27.15 - Jelks Preserve is one of the many Sarasota County Parks where we walk and observe nature.  This is a view of the Myakka River.  Even in winter we have many shades of green and blue.

There are wild boars in most of the area parks.  I am pleased to report that we have yet to come face to face with one.  They are nocturnal feeders.  They create quite a mess rooting around.

This was quite the day for armadillo sitings.  We saw three in various locations throughout our walk.  This was the final one.  I had my camera ready and caught him "sitting" up.  Allan had to get his camera up and ready and he went back down onto all fours. However, ever so nicely Allan asked him to sit back up so that he too could get some shots and indeed he did.  A most odd but cooperative creature.

1.29.15 - Out for a bike ride and got to watch the Venice Ave. Bridge open up for a sailboat.  The two draw bridges along the canal here in Venice are manned during the day.  Most boats are able to pass without them having to open.

1.30.15 - The tomato plants have gone crazy.  These two plants have taken over much of the middle portion of the garden.  I pulled the peas and green bean plants.  Both flowered but must not have pollinated because no veggies grew on them.

Sometimes we go down to the beach to watch the sunsets. Sometimes we are home and notice the remnants in the eastern sky right from our own yard as was the case this time.  It seems that the eastern sky demonstrates the most color at or just after the actual sun sets in the west.

2.2.15 - Ah, Ground Hog Day!  Today we went the South Venice Lemon Bay Preserve which is just a couple miles from our house. Down by the bay we saw these tracks?  Groundhog? River Otter? Raccoon?  Bobcat???  

There are two bridges we cross when we walk in this preserve.  On this day we shared one with a bobcat.  Here he is just about to turn and saunter off the bridge.  I have only seen a bobcat one other time and that was coming across the blueberry barrens on our way home from camp in Beddington many, many years ago.

2.3.15 - Shamrock Park is having some field maintenance done. There is a tractor with a bush hog to the right of the tree.  The parks have such maintenance done since mother natures' cycle of wildfires which historically clipped things back is discouraged in residential areas.

2.7.15 - And if and when we want something to do other than walking around or riding our bikes, reading, working on the house or in the gardens there are any number of events scheduled throughout the area.  Many events are outdoors such as this display of magnificent creative non-traditional quilts.  I am inspired and need to get working on a quilting project.

The quilts were hung among the palms in this seaside park.  This was the view from the bench where Allan read while I drooled over the artistry.

2.8.15 - Did I mention chores around the house.  We recently purchased this pressure washer.  I spent several hours using it to clean our vinyl sided storage shed.  I don't think it had been cleaned in the dozen or so years since it was installed.  I promised Miss Betty that as long as I live here it will never get that dirty again. 

Everyone needs perspective and Jake sent us this photo to give us a snowy dose.  Our little house in Hampden has been abandoned for the winter with no heat and no shoveling.  

Our little house here in Venice is serving us well.

Here in our little part of Southwest Florida we are considered to be "in season".  The beaches, roads and restaurants are crowded.  We will be doing our part to add to those situations.  We look forward to many of our northern friends and relatives spending various amounts of time with us here beginning next week and ending with Maine's April school vacation.  Come on down!

January 2015 Explorations

1.10.15 - Venice Area Audubon Rookery

Great visit with Joan and Lucille and a trip to the Venice Rookery. The resident alligator keeps the predators away from the rookery island.  It was a cool day and being a reptile the 'gator was enjoying the sunshine.

There were great blue herons, snowy egrets and anhingas.  Oops no pictures.

There is some debate about the identity of this bird.  We have decided that it is an immature green heron.

1.15.15 - South Venice Lemon Bay Preserve

This is one of the preserves that we visit often.  It is a couple of miles from the house.  If we are feeling particularly adventurous we can ride our bikes and then walk.  On this day we drove to the park. We like this because it is close and it has two small ponds as well as a path to Lemon Bay.

I thought I had the name for these flowers but didn't write it down and now can't find it in my book.  I will have to keep looking and update if I identify it again.

I think this is Scrub Lupine or McFarlin's Lupine - These are supposed to bloom in March and April.  I won't tell if you don't tell.

This "Little Blue Heron" was keeping his eyes on the pond and didn't seem to mind us stalking about and zooming in.

This is seagrape.  We see it often and it can be a shrub or small tree. It flowers from April-July.  Maybe we will see some in bloom later this spring.  It develops grape-like clusters of black fleshy fruit and the fruit can be used to make jellies and wine.  Time will tell if I get any of the fruit and make it into something.  Certainly it would be more likely for me to make jelly.

We heard this male cardinal before we saw him.  We also saw several hawks but I couldn't get any pictures.

Need to identify this as well.

1.16.15 - Shamrock Park - Venetian Waterway Park

Out for a stroll at our neighborhood Shamrock Park along the Venetian Waterway Park later in the afternoon and apparently it was dinner time for these two osprey.  They each had a fish that was at least 6 inches long.

1.17.15 - Venetian Waterway Park

Gopher Tortoise - This is the only tortoise that lives east of the Mississippi and they can live to be up to 100 years old.  We often see their burrows.  In the winter they come out to eat in the warmest part of the day.  In summer they come out in the coolest part of the day.

Loggerhead Shrike - This was only our second walk down this side of the waterway this winter and both times we have seen this type of bird on this fence by the airport.  They impale insects on the fence and then eat them.  Their feet are too weak to hold the insect while they dine.

After our walk we visited with Dianne and Cathy and later joined them for dinner at Sharkey's on the Pier.  We ate early and enjoyed the sunset from Brohard Beach.

1.18.15 Crowley Museum and Nature Center - Sarasota - 

In honor of Allan's birthday we found a new place to walk and visit.  This non profit museum and nature center is about 45 miles from our home in Venice.  It was designed for guests to view how early Florida settlers lived.  Additionally, there are many nature trails and a .5 mile boardwalk through a swamp and over a creek.

While on the boardwalk Allan spotted this adult green heron.

Once off the boardwalk and while walking along the creek we noticed these river otter prints in the path.

Back at the homestead area we enjoyed watching the rooster, hens and chicks.

Not sure just why but I didn't take pictures of the various buildings; school house used until 1941, a small two story home (you can see this in the back of the picture below), a homestead one room cabin, and blacksmith shop.  However, I did take a picture of this sugar cane mill.  

The Self-Guided Trail Booklet indicates that cane grindings were social events for the early Florida settlers.  The stalks were squeezed through the metal rollers which were powered by mules or oxen.  Then the cane was cooked down in a huge outdoor kettle for many hours to make syrup.

On our way home we noticed this sandhill crane strutting with its mate but they weren't close enough together to get them both in the picture.  Note the red crown and "bustle".  They are about 4 feet tall.  We have seen several pairs since coming to Florida we usually see them in fields near water as was the case today.

Out and About - Nov. 11 - Dec. 5, 2014

We have been able to keep ourselves busy since arriving here at our winter home in Venice, FL.  

Rebekah and three friends came down for a long weekend shortly after we arrived.  I think they all had a fun time and as FL weather would have it the sun shone and the water was warm and wet.

Allan and I enjoy fiddling around the house. We are still doing a bit of "nesting".  We like the county library and their books and CD's, beaches, the parks and preserves.  Each day we walk for a about an hour which for us is about 3 +/- miles.  The timing can depend on how many photo stops either of us make.

We took a few days (Nov. 7-11) and traveled to Gatlinburg, TN with Bill and Chris to visit with Jeff and Lynn.  Jeff and Lynn were on their way through to TX.  While we were there Allan's sister Terry, who lives in Knoxville, drove over for a day.  It was a fun few days but...  there was snow in the Smokies and the road had been closed the day before we drove through and it snowed the morning that we left but the road was open.  We got a taste of snow and cold.

The weekend of Nov. 22 -23 we drove up to Tallahassee to attend the wedding of a delightful young woman who worked with me at the Beech Hill School some years ago.  It was planned as an outside wedding but the weather did not cooperate.  Torrential rain the day before and it was anticipated for the day of the wedding so they found an alternate inside location and a grand time was had by all.  Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. David and Emily Taylor.

We had a quiet but tasty Thanksgiving here in Venice.  We got the smallest turkey we could find and were still enjoying it when it was finally all eaten.

We walked here in Jelks Preserve many times last year.  

We never saw any feral hogs but we saw where they had rooted around in the trails making an uneven, watch your step, mess of things.  Until reading this notice, this fall, we did not know that they trap them or that we have DeSoto and his army to thank for their presence.

Once again we didn't see any wild hogs but we did see this fella, a somewhat friendly armadillo.

Sunday, Nov. 30 we went for a motorcycle ride to Ellenton, via Interstate 75.  There had been a fender bender and we sat in traffic for 25 minutes or so.

This is a photo of Woody's River Roo taken from the bridge over the Manatee River.  We had eaten here the day we picked up the new motorcycle last spring.

We stopped in again for lunch and had this great view from our seats.  While we were waiting to be served we returned a Face-time call to Jake and the girls that we had missed while traveling.  I think they were OK with the panoramic view that I shared...  Yes, that was yet again another cold day in Maine.  It is always a thrill for us to get to chat and visit with them.

After lunch we headed inland toward Arcadia.  We came upon this sight and were a bit perplexed and then we came upon...

acres and acres and more acres of tomato fields,

and acres and acres and more acres of orange groves,

and many acres of strawberry fields.  Long before this point we decided it was a migrant labor camp.

This is a truck filled with bins that they put the tomatoes into and then load onto the truck.  We saw a sign for Del Monte.

The soil here is questionable at best and I have been reading up on what to "add" to it.  Let's just say most of us would call this sand and not soil let alone top soil.  It seems to come in two flavors; very light tan or a darker tan.  There was no way for us to tell what they might be planning to plant here.

Did I mention oranges...

Keep in mind that your eyes aren't going bad when you look at these photos.  We were zipping along on the motorcycle at a pretty good clip and I was clicking away.  

These Sandhill Cranes were in a field and I have magnified them and that only enhances the bad case of the blurries.  We see them every so often and they are almost always in pairs.  On this trip I also came across an open marshland where there was an entire flock but by the time I figured out what I was looking at we were long gone down the road.

And of course most of us would want a good piece of beef to go with our fruits and veggies.

Every so often we head down to the beach to see a sunset.

Terry is visiting for several days and yesterday we walked in Sleeping Turtle Preserve North.  It runs along the Mayakka River. We came across several eastern mud turtles.  I suspect they were sunning and taking a nap.  Allan thinks that they were rehearsing Christmas carols and the choir conductor is the Anhinga on the far right of the log.

Last night we had neighbor Betty over to join Terry and us for dinner.  We had a raucous game of 500 Rummy.  I was not a very good hostess nor Allan a host.  I won and he came in next 25 behind me.  Oops, sorry Betty and Terry.

Various sights from our walk today (Dec. 5) on the Legacy Trail from Laurel to Venice and back.

We even saw a bridge angler catch a pretty fish that he proceeded to return to the bay.

I forgot to mention that we built and planted a raised bed.  So far we have parsley, rosemary and thyme, sweet peas and zinnias, lettuce, radish, tomatoes, spinach, peas, green beans, and cukes planted.

We have two critters watching over our garden.

And tonight we went to Sharkey's for the sunset and dinner.  Yes, we sat outside, again.