SALVAGING

The pear tree in the back yard went down 

Sunday evening during a wind/rain storm!  

What makes this extra sad is that it would've been a bumper crop  come September!  The tree was loaded with fruit!

Unfortunately, the fruit is too immature to ripen even, if we picked it now to try and save some.  We will leave the tree down for a while for the deer and other critters to eat on !

But all is not lost, though! I already have a few choice spots on the trunk picked out so my brother can bring some chunks home for me on his next drive up and back! lol

 

A HIKE

It's fun to explore what is close to home-this trail has several banks and gullies where the sand erodes from around tree roots and expose some of the beauty that was under the ground.  These trunks are all connected-it was fascinating to follow the ways the touch!

This are is about 15' across with all of these 'straws' hanging down-

...which belongs to this 40' cabbage palm tree!

The width of this trunk-under the ground' would never be noticed until it is exposed!

I loved the way this trunk has a 5' hollow area!  Wouldn't it be fun to fill it with fairies and their houses!

And back at my house, the ground orchid is just covered with flower clusters since we had 1" of rain twice this last week!  The sunshine and rain has greened up the whole lawn--it is beautiful again!
 

CLIMBING BACK

This was a 20' Scotch Pine when we moved into this house 50 years ago....it is now 70+' high!  I enjoyed the tour in the yard looking at how tall the trees have grown.  What a pleasure to take a walk outside in the 74* weather with no humidity last night! 

  Mom is doing better each day.  She is on oxygen and it is amazing what it is doing for her strengthing legs.  We will get to do some crocheting today-the Tunisian block for August.  I was concerned I was never going to do this again with my Mom!

(I hope to catch up on your blogs soon, friends, I'm missing what you are doing!)

 

PATCHWORK PUPS

One dog is completed sans eyes.  

I have the other two halves pieced for the second dog 

and I will hopefully finish them both today!

This is 8' tall--the Angel Trumpet Plant. 

 Yes, the 8" long blossoms smell sweet.

I just had to go and check on the ripening of the Clerodendrum  Trichotomum to see how blue the berries were. 

 The flowers are just as fresh as they were weeks ago.

And I found the info I needed to figure out the mystery wood for the bowl yesterday--it is a Wild Olive tree;  birds eat the berries but they are not for people!  It is an evergreen tree which is cool.  

 

KEEPING MY ATTENTION

the yard, shed, estate and tent sale is going well! 

 There was a steady stream of people from 9-5 or so.

  Then we did a bit of rearranging and finally dinner!!!!  

There is a lot of room now for more items to come out from the shed again!  This is going well and what we will be doing for the next two weekends, too!

During a lull, I found some Christmas Berry Bushes (crenata) that Bill hadn't pulled.  It is invasive but birds eat them and I like the evergreen plants so I will be potting these

 and then I can enjoy them!

The East Palatka Holly is fully ripened and just in time for the robins to come along with the other northern birds that visit us for the winter!  The birds chatter and chirp every morning as they eat and catch up on each other's news!

 

No Tears; Just Part of the Craft!

On the way to a special purchase today, I was knitting along and the numbers were saying to me,

"There are too many stitches for you!"  When I did a bit of math in my head, I thought that

couldn't be right!  I tried it on when I got home, placing all of the bottom stitches on waste yarn so it would be an accurate fitting and it was 10+ inches too much around--I know baggy is comfortable but you could look right through one sleeve out the other-a bit too baggy! lol

I sat down and ripped it back to the ribbing.  Don't think about it, just do it.

It's a good thing this was a good knit!  I get to do it again already!

We took a morning trip south of us by 45 mins to pick up this beauty!

No, we aren't going to take up sailing--on the contrary, this will be grounded but good.

I've wanted an old boat we could 'sink' into the ground to make it stable for an imagination voyage for the grands!  As soon as we can agree on a place to plant this girl, we will work on putting up a mast and a sail!  Wouldn't you have loved to play in it!?

While looking the boat over this morning, I noticed this set of twin trees that have grown together-not an uncommon sight here but what was unusual was the base-

It has a tunnel through it!

I would plant a row of little fairies in there!

(and pull the weeds!)

Wednesday's Weeds

 We have another baby pineapple!

This plant has given us one for several years in a row now.

The race is on to get it when it is mature before the squirrels!

 The cana lilies are happy with the daily afternoon rains!

Summer is officially here.

Hot and humid is here to stay.

 The pagoda plant loves the weather-these plants are as tall as I am;

the blooms are short now, 8" but will grow to be a full 12" in no time!

 The bougainvillea is growing and blooming and will soon be several feet up the arch we gave it!

 I love to stand at the base of our tallest 'weeds'!

This is a cabbage palm;  the least of all of the palm trees here but the ones that are the most common.

Beauty is its own standard.

Organizing 100 years ago

 This beautiful piece of ladies' furniture was my grandmother's.

 I lovingly polished it today to bring out the luster in the wood-

if you were this old, you would be thirsty, too!

 Look at the details on this top!  

 She kept her latest quilting projects inside;  she loved to sew them by hand.

I use plastic bins but this one sure does outclass them by a mile!

See the littlest bit of yellows and orange--this is in the poplar tree by my sister's home, 

right next door. 

 I think these are a relative of the aspens out west!

Come on our Golf Cart Ride!

Bill has cleared and maintains paths all through the different terrains of our yard.

One of the highlights for me is this tunnel of Live Oaks.

 If you look toward the back on the ground, a branch of the tree grows on the ground and then back up toward the light.  It makes a great bump for us to enjoy!

Next, we visit the blackberry patch and the Maple tree forest.

The blackberries are done but one of us continues to look for them,

just in case! 

Way back is the pine forest.  When you sit and hold still you hear all the birds busy in the trees.

The pine trees even sing when there is a breeze.

It's wonderful. 

We drive quietly and slowly by the Sandhill Cranes so we don't scare them.

They are back here to enjoy the shade and to hunt frogs in the pond. 

This is the pond where we count lily pads and throw dirt balls.

Heading back toward the house is the desert area;  this was all sand with no greenery until Bill worked his magic and spread wood chips and lime into the sand to help grasses grow so it wasn't a wasteland any more. 

We do leave several (5 right now) hillocks of wilderness for the gopher tortoises.

We check them every day to see if anyone is home!

We see fresh sand where the tortoise is kicking out the sand but rarely catch anyone home.

Today we saw this one in the act of digging afresh!

Quite exciting! 

Also in this middle ground, Bill hauls dead trees for cutting into burnable chunks and burn pile stock.

I love the way the stump looks on this tree!

I hope you enjoyed our little tour!

A Different Kind of Color

We are just starting to see the maple trees change color but in the meantime, we have spectacular color from the Rain Trees!

The color is not from the leaves but from these seed pods! 

They are large clusters on the ends of branches. 

No aroma, just beauty!

(I know a lot of people call them nuisance trees because they make a mess but so , too, do all the falling leaves up North;  it is all in the eye of the beholder.  This eye loves spotting these trees and I love their color.

Beauty In and Out

Marsel and I got her quilt loaded on the frame so that every spare moment could contribute to its completion!

 Marsel loves free motion and she made quick work of this!  It's having its ta-da moment already!

All the fussy-cut squares are rightly accented!

 Outside, the trees are responding to the near freezing night time temperatures.

 It is a brilliant display for us.

 It is easy to see where all the Maple trees are

The golf cart rides are a visual treat!