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March 24, 2009

Your Fun Guide to Controlling Aphids in the Garden, a quickie post.

All right, it's aphid season here in Florida. (Is it ever not aphid season?)

 Having said that, I'm going to bid you farewell.  Head on over to the Vegetable Gardener and read this post.  by Chris McLaughlin.  Because it's just that funny.  And oh so true.

A snippet, (editing is mine):

"Here’s the thing, aphids are all women. Every lady aphid is born pregnant. You just have to wonder what they did so wrong to deserve that. While they are born pregnant, they don’t actually give birth until they are a mature adult - which is about ten days after their own birth.

In the warm temperatures of spring, out of the over-wintering eggs emerge the female aphids called “stem mothers”. The stem mothers give birth to live daughters, who are also pregnant. No candlelight or jewelry necessary. In other words – they don’t need no stinking man. It’s really a superior race of women gone terribly wrong.
"

As for me, I have a few of em bugging my craw, and now I'm off to go and break their jaws. 
Go and find out how!


March 21, 2009

Tampa is about to *Shiver* like never before!

Folks, I can tell already, this is gonna be one gorgeous day!  Today I'm heading over to the Univ. of Tampa, where Britt's team will host a regional World Guard championships, with 48 teams coming in from Canada and around the US. This is a two day event.   Exciting times!  Here's the link, read all about it! 

Since we are hosting, that means yours truly is working.  If you come to see us, bring me an extra pair of feet!
The theme of their show is "SHIVER"  which is all about ICE, a theme designed to send shivers right up your spine! The choreography is amazing and the girls are phenomenal if I do say so myself.  And I say so. ;)

Here's a few pics from their last show.  I didn't take these.... swiped 'em off a page of a Facebook friend. Are we not photographically creative around here? ;)


Props

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See you on the flip side! ;)

March 19, 2009

A slightly watery post

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I put this one up today to remind myself what the rain used to look like...



All righty, let's head over to the beach. Out on Sand Key, there's a few terns that have been hanging around, camouflaging themselves within the rocks.

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Cute lil' guys, yes? I love the way they stick together, even when the going gets rough. ;)

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Now as an aside, I'd like to thank you all for your calls and letters and cards recently! I am ok and would like to start bloggin again on a more regular basis.  (Yes, I know you've heard that one before.. but there is always hope!)  I will add that coming home to a dog-free house is a very empty feeling, indeed.  The other day the giant egret returned to feast on the pond fish, and instinctively, I opened the door to sic Buddy on him. Oy!

Moving right along...Spring is here at last!  And in the Tampa Bay area and we're moving headlong into gardening season.  Lots on the agenda, as I am tackling both the front yard along the drive-way, and I also took a deep breath and have begun to tear up the back yard as well. 

I am a tad frustrated by the lack of water wise plants at the box nurseries such as Home Depot and Lowes.  Yes, there are some plants... but not enough!  While I usually  frequent the smaller nurseries for their excellent stock for Xeriscaping, I think Home Depot and Lowes should get off their collective arses and recognize that most of the country is in a drought situation, and it seems to me they should be urging their suppliers to provide more xeriscape plants.  That will probably never happen as the water loving annuals are big money makers for them. 

They also need better trained staff.  Earlier this week at Lowes, the sales guy told me that if the plants were displayed in the sun, then that meant they were water- wise plants.  Ahem. 95% of the plants on the display table in the full sun had the label: "semi-moist."  

 Stocking large quantities of water loving annuals seems about as irresponsible as AIG accepting gov't welfare checks to hand over to their CEO's...
Ohh! see what you got me started on.....

Anyway, I'll bring you that post on the driveway project that I never did write about, and photos of the garden bench that I wrote about, ahem, last fall! 
In the meantime, go see Dani's new pond... unless, you know, you're an Egret...

February 25, 2009

And one by one, the stars would all go out

This is a tough post to write, but it's got a bittersweet ending.  Lots of changes around here lately, as Samantha moved out and into a beautiful new apartment across town. She loves it and she's very happy there. At 20, she's jumped the nest and is moving along on the mainstreet of life.  She still works, full time, is going to school and is taking care of things on her own.  We're excited for her, although the house without her gets a little more quiet every day.  But she's happy; you can see it on her face and in her walk, and that is what we hoped for all along.  I told her she'll always have a home here, she can come back anytime, because I believe that where your family is, that's where your home is.  But I think she will be okay.

Also, I finally gave in and took Rico to the SPCA.  His spraying was out of control, and he had begun to attack our oldest cat relentlessly.  Percy, our old boy, took to staying in the master bedroom almost non stop, and Rico kept sneaking in the doggy door and go into the bedroom to look for him. 

At the time, Samantha felt, and I'd have to agree, that Rico was trying to establish himself as the Alpha Cat, pushing Percy aside in the process.  In any event, taking him to the shelter was extremely hard for me and I ended up staying in the car in a wash of tears while Rick handled the paperwork and the transfer. It didn't help that Rico meowed non-stop the entire way there.

To say I miss that cat would be an understatement. A few days before we took him in,  I had a realization that maybe I was being the selfish one, thinking that we were the only possible good owners for him.  Rico had to battle his way every single day to be accepted by our other two cats, and I've since found that you can't fight animal instincts with love alone. 

In the weeks that have followed, the most amazing change has taken place:  Percy now wants to go outside during the day and can often be found lying in the sun underneath the ferns or sound asleep on my gardening bench.   He follows me around outside, something he hasn't done in... the more I think about it, a good 5 or 6 years.  I cringe when I remember that we used to think he preferred being an indoor cat, when maybe he was staying inside because of Rico all along.

  I made sure to put on the SPCA form the exact type of home that Rico needed. I may have been a little too specific, as I filled up the entire form with his habits, but he will make someone a wonderful pet -  as long as they don't have other cats.

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Following that, and the hardest to write about is that we lost our beloved Buddy last Friday. 
All these years he's had a bad habit of eating socks and dish cloths whenever we would leave the house.  Some of you know that he had diabetes that caused cataracts in his eyes which took his sight away.  I noticed the more he lost his sight, the higher his level of anxiety increased.

 He would walk into the living room looking in our general direction trying to see us, and you could see the worry on his face. It wasn't until I'd say something to him, that his entire body would sort of relax.  He'd climb up on the couch with us and settle in, sighing contentedly.  But when he couldn't find us, we'd end up seeing an assortment of dishtowels, socks, papers, bills, chewed up magazines, whatever he could find in the garbage can - all over the back yard.   And the backyard became a minefield of sorts to walk through. Whatever he ate, he pooped out.

There are those who say that blind dogs simply adjust to their predicament. I'm of the opinion now that if you can afford it, definitely consider cataract surgery if your dog is healthy enough.

In any event, the day came when all the socks and whatnot piled up into a ball inside his stomach, making it impossible for him to go to the bathroom or to eat.  He'd throw up his food and spent a long and painful week trying to poop.  His legs gave out from under him till he could no longer stand.  The vet said he needed surgery, something I didn't think we could afford to do.  I brought him home, unable to make the decision on my own. After a long night with him, I decided to take him to the vet in the morning and say goodbye for good. But I found I couldn't carry him to the car, it was amazingly difficult.

To my amazement Rick wanted to go ahead with exploratory surgery, at a cost of $600 plus expenses.  A lot of expenses.   If you knew how frugal and tight with money my husband can be, that might surprise you.  Surprised the hell out of me.  And sure enough the surgery revealed a nice collection of socks and dishcloths, all wadded up together. 

Buddy was fine after the surgery and the next day he walked around, wagging his tail, even peed. But he wouldn't eat.  Threw up his food over and over.  With diabetes, that's just not a good thing.
Fever set in the following day and when I went to see him early in the morning, I just knew it was time.

 The vet wanted to wait a bit.  Sometimes, he said, they actually pull out of their fever stage on their own.  But I felt differently and told the vet he was in pain, and I didn't want him to suffer.  I would give him till noon, but I knew.  And so we said our last goodbyes and he passed away on his own terms on one of those glorious Florida mornings that are so cold and chilly and sunny all at the same time, without a cloud in the sky, and I couldn't help thinking it was kind of fitting because that's the type of morning we would have gone out for one of his beloved walks.  If I didn't believe so strongly in my faith, I don't know what I'd do.  I know he's in a better place at this point and I hope as he crossed the rainbow bridge he could, at last... see.

He was a damn good dog and we will miss him tremendously.

BuddyBeach2

 


January 10, 2009

Beauty on the Beach

 

Last night I was digging around in old photos and came across this beautiful lil' tern from my files. I have a batch of favorites, and I've always loved this one. She looks so sad, in a poignant sort of way.
Or maybe she was just itchy. ;)


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January 09, 2009

It's a Great Day to be a Gator!!

What a Game.  Not a high scoring game, but it could have been.  The Gators held the Sooners back at the goal line how many times?  This Sooner's offense, ranked #1 in the nation, led by a Heisman trophy winning quarterback, was stalled, right at the goal in two separate drives downfield!  Our Defense RRRROCKED!!!

And with all the trash talking against Tebow, he never shot back a nasty retort.  Not Once. This man has Class, ladies and gentlemen.   They said he wasn't good enough to win against a Big 12 Team.  They wanted to know why he doesn't swear, why he's such a goody-goody off the field. 

Well let me tell y'all something Buckos:  Actions really do speak louder than words.  Tebow took it to the field where the game was being played.  And the result is that Superman is now wishing he was TIM TEBOW."

G2
"No. 1 quarterback in the Big 12!"
Fl wide receiver Louis Murphy.
Quoted on Espn

And how about that Percy Harvin?????

There was dead silence at our football party when Harvin fell in the 4th and grabbed his leg. Cheers when he rebounded. Oh yeah!

G1
A great game for Florida, THREE-RIFIC!!!!




Tebow photo: Donald Miralle Getty Images / January 8, 2009
Players photo Gary W. Green, Orlando Sentinel / January 9, 2009

January 07, 2009

~I never should have promised you a manatee~

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Behold! The Big Bend Power Plant, pride of Tampa Electric.

It sits on the shores of Tampa Bay, southeast of the city, way out in the remote area of the county.  Y'all come....

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Is this not a thing of beauty?  ahem.  (that is water vapor, btw).
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Why were all the happy people there?  Primarily because of this giant blob, his friends and family:
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ain't he cute?

Here's some better pics.  I know I promised you a manatee, but after uploading my pics, I realize you're going to get very few manatee photos today. 

I am a tad frustrated, having come to the conclusion that my camera is going to have to the shop for repair. And I don't know WHERE to take it!  
 I can't use the zoom lens on my Canon any longer. Each time I zoom in, I'll hear a grinding noise, the camera will freeze up, and then a flashing screen will pop up that says  "Error 99!"  Half the time, the camera shuts down after that.
   Maddening!
I took over 60 pics that day, only a handful came out.  BUMMER..

So what do manatees have to do with power plants?  Warmth! They like to flock to power plants in the winter when the water becomes too cold for their taste.  There must have been approximately 50 or so on this day, hovering around and doing their thing. Mostly eating, you understand.

There's an excellent Manatee observation center at the power plant, as well as boardwalks and an education center.  A gift shop and a snack bar as well.

At the overlook, just below these pilings, we saw a lot of Tarpon, which got Rick all riled up.  "Check out the size of those Tarpon!" he said."  I could almost see his hands working the imaginary reel. 

Also saw a 4ft bull shark chasing a school of fish, right underneath the deck pilings.  When my camera shut down for that... you can imagine my level of frustration.

Here's a couple cobia, circling this one manatee over and over again.  Cobia go after the smaller fish that hover underneath the body.
 How would you like to float around, and have a cobia circle you endlessly?


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Here's the education center, with a cluster of buttonwood in the foreground.
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Walkway to the Tampa Estuary:
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Note the difference in water temperature on the power plant side of the walkway:

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Manatees like it warm!

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It is 72 degrees in the pic below on the other side of the walkway.  We have had a relatively warm winter so far!

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They've got a nice little gift shop, too.  Of course, I just had to pick up one of these for our pond out front:
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Long time readers who remember all the birds that come in off the Gulf to eat the fish in my pond will understand why...  ;)


If you go:  Directions are here.
Locals coming in from St. Pete probably would do better to take the Gandy over to 41 south.

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