PT

This bougainvillea and Live Oak is across the street from the PT buiding.  What drew my eye was the vining plant up the middle of the tree!  It looks like Hawaiian Pothos but I have never seen it so large up a tree before!  Very cool.

Today I go to get my stitches removed at the hand dr's office.

I anticipate a good lunch date, if I'm good!

 

Not Pussy Willows But...

You can almost see the buds growing on the Fringe Tree!  This was on Sunday this week-just a very few swollen buds on a few branch tips.

On Monday, they were swelling to a very green color.

On Tuesday, there were many little bits of fringe--about 5"-6" in length.  This tree gets their very aromatic blooms that will eventually be 12"-15" long!

Only the very tips of the many branches will make the flowers.  Like dogwoods, they get their flowers before their leaves.

The tree  doesn't look like much now but just wait a few more days!

The tree is a Chionanthus Virginicus Shrub Tree, native to our area and this tree is a male which is showy in flowers but doesn't have the olive type fruit that birds love! 

 I might have to find this guy a mate! 

 

Pre-Headed

 I've started my stuffed cat....I assembled all 6 parts not counting the button eyes to make the head!

The rest of the body will be a snap after this!

(As for the title, it is a beheading when the head is removed from the body but

that isn't the case when you start with the head, right?!  lol

Laugh--it is Leap Year Day and you can't laugh on this day for another four years!)

I dug out the fine fingering yarn to make those replacement blocks

for my friend's antique granny squares afghan.

This was made with a B crochet hook yet it is still too large! (5")

I think that the rest of the blanket has been previously

washed and  shrunk a bit, perhaps?!

I might just make the replacement block with only 6 rounds instead of 7

and see if that puts it in the right size range.

And look!  I brought this African Violet leaf home from my Mom's plant 

back in October and only now has it put up two little leaves!

The dead stub next to the large leaf is the death of the hens and chicks plant I brought home on the same trip.  She died the end of December!

I am excited to have a successful regeneration.

Has anyone else started an African Violet this way?  From whom did you get the slip?

Beautiful Plants

 Beautiful and subtle-these leaves that turn pink are actually the 'bloom' for these plants!

 The poinsettia are just beginning to turn color for their seasonal flowers!

 The bromeliad  do their blooming centers throughout the year!

And the pencil cactus tips turn a coral color that is very pretty!

I hope you are blooming where you are today!

I'm off to quilt group!

And here is a pic of Bill and I with some of our grands !

TDF Day 10

I spun a new-to-me fiber tonight, a black Welsh Mountain roving.  It spun up so nicely like so many of the medium wools do.  (It was a bit more boring to spin the brown and not multi-colored roving but I imagined a roll of dark chocolate and did just fine!)

In the yard, our Angel Trumpet is blooming away. 

The bloom is very large and is pretty heavy;  waxy looking, too. 

There is no sweet aroma but the inners are fascinating! 

Even the buds are unusual!  (And large) 

A nearby bromeliad is happily blooming. 

I also found a bit of fabric for a romper for Eli.  I have a master sheet I trace off the patterns....I used this pattern to make rompers for his dad.  I'm feeling nostalgic!

Dutchman's Pipe ( Epiphyllum oxypetalum )

Twice this year, my Cereus Cactus or the Dutchman's Pipe it is commonly called has bloomed.  

It blooms at night when I am normally soundly sleeping.  I am unaware of this occasion until I  notice this large, deflated bloom laying at its feet and know I missed it again!

Well NOT this time!  This is night one-

It looks like a fairy pod!   I love the way the outer petals wrap around the bud.

During day two it was getting large and airier.

So it could do this!  Now you can see the resemblance to its name!

The bloom is about 5" across and it smells divine!  Full and rich and I wish I could share it with you!

 I took so many pictures because I stayed awake way past my bedtime to get the pictures!  I was a bit enchanted.   The nights are balmy, very warm and all the night noises made it seem like a place very different than my front yard!  The cats thought it was novel to have me sitting in the front yard in the middle of the night, too!

 From the place where the appendage comes from the leaf to the bloom is about 8".   This stem is holding a very large bloom.

 You can see why I was so excited to finally get to meet this magical blossom!

 Day three daytime.  The bloom is drooping but it was open for night three just not as perky.

Today it is but a sad rendition of itself.......I am so glad I didn't miss its blooming this time!

You can read about this here if you would like some more information!

Beach Bunnies

Friday morning the guys got to work putting up the 'ceiling so the deck above didn't leak through to the deck below.   The landlord asked that they not do anything permanent which called for some creative wood work!

 The girls did some creativity on our own!  Ella liked playing with 'mud'!

 After burying the pretty stones, we put her to work on her own so Cassandra could save the Ella prints on her stepping stone!

It turned out well!  The guys got the decks organized, the yard all cleaned up and the projects were done~  (Caleb called later to say that the fiberglass worked so he could grill in the rain and stay dry!)

We took another hike to the beach and saw Ella's bunny from the boardwalk.  She calls him and the turtle each time they walk over to the beach!   It is very cute!

 She knows the way-off she goes down the dunes to her water!

 Grandpa and Ella got slammed by a wave;  she took it in stride!

Bill and Caleb were able to do 50-60' body surf rides on the waves-the water was warm and no undertows to mess with your safety!  It was beautiful.  

I was determined to find a shark tooth!   Caleb finds one within seconds, and then Cassandra does.  I will say in my defense, trying to see a 3/8" little tooth in this kind of beach detritus is hard and complicated by my glasses! 

And against all odds, I found one!  What a thrill!  It is tiny but it is my first shark's tooth !  See me smile!

We packed it up to head for home-Ella had a snack-it is chocolate Nutella.

She does it proud. 

And she did not appreciate my picture interruption!  This is pure Ella here!

 On the way home, I saw this Agave plant in bloom and begged Bill to turn around so I could take its picture!  (on the opposite lane of a four lane highway.....he was mostly patient with my request)
This stalk is about 25' tall!  It is an incredible sight.  It only happens after the plant is 15-20 years old and it will then die.  It is commonly called a century plant people claiming it only bloomed after 100 years but that isn't quite right;  it should be called the suicide plant because after it blooms, the main plant dies!

 But, the plant has been busy reproducing itself at the base,

and it is growing new ones up here, too!  Read the cool article here about them.

Thank you for the sweet visit, dear family!

Colors of February-Florida Style

Florida plum tree is in full bloom and the bees are so happy!

We have recouperating citrus trees.

And very sad citrus trees. ( Tangerines all rotten.)

The Christmas berry bushes are in full berry.

The sago palms have taken a hit but after a good pruning, they will bounce back this year.

The azaleas are blooming right on schedule. 

The camellias are still in full bloom!  They began blooming in December and despite the many hard frosts they have perservered in their bloom season.

The koonti ferns are doing their Spring thing!

The bamboo are always a visual delight!

I don't know what these little wildflowers are but they sure are pretty.

The robins are prolonging their winter stay.  I think we should judge the length of winter by their stay instead of the woodchuck's shadow!  Since this is the coldest February in Florida history, I would say their presence is an excellent marker of the cold spell the Eastern United States is experiencing!

Thanks to Sue of LifeLoomsLarge for this across the globe posting !

Give her blog a look for the tour.