A Full-time Life

Category: Florida exploring

MORE FROM MT DORA

Here are some non-Christmasy scenes from our December trip to Mt Dora in Central Florida. (Mt Dora Christmas post is here.)

We had a great Holiday brunch at Lakeside Inn. Built in 1883, it is the oldest continuously operating hotel in the State of Florida. The grounds extend to Lake Dora and it is easy to imagine yourself back in that year strolling under the live oak trees, dripping with moss.

There is documented history of a number of well-known people who stayed at the Hotel over the years, mostly coming for the fishing and also (I'm guessing) for the winter sunshine. Rumor also has it that Al Capone was staying here incognito on the day of the Valentine's Day Massacre. I wouldn't be too surprised to learn that there are other places who lay claim to this dubious honor.

Great Egret

In Florida there are always opportunities for casual birding. We found these birds at the dock while we waited to board either the boat or the tram for our Christmas lights tour.

Common Gallinule (Moor Hen)

We did a little downtown window shopping one morning on our way to find some breakfast. And all I brought back was the photo souvenir below.

I'm sure our "climb" will impress family and friends from the mountainous states of Colorado and Oregon. Sadly, I neglected to get a picture of the view from the top.

OK, you can stop laughing. The "Mount" referred to in the town's name actually came from the fact that the town is built on a plateau 184 feet about sea level. Florida is really a flat state.

Comical birds in Mt Dora. The black vultures on the rooftop were not at all intimidated by the fake owl placed there to deter them. And the Great Egret, who really doesn't belong downtown, was pretty funny as he seemed to look both ways before crossing this street as if he owned it.

Ending with another beautiful sunset on the Lake.

We had a good time visiting Mt Dora. We went because the travel planner (Bill) had read about the Christmas light display and it really was amazing. And in addition to glorious holiday displays, it really was a great little town with lots to do and see – I'm sure it would be charming in any season.

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities: Thank you to the hosts.

NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; MOSAIC MONDAY; GOOD RANDOM FUN; THROUGH MY LENS; TUESDAY TREASURES; WILD BIRD Wednesday; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY BLISS;   SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING

January 13, 2019
NEW YEARS AT THE BEACH

We've been retired for about a hundred years and I've almost forgotten that let-down feeling of "after the holidays" because every day is sort of a vacation, especially here in Florida. But this year we got back to a few little snags at the Canal Cottage — each one fixable, each one time-consuming — especially for the other person in this small household. I just kind of wait around to help on an as-needed basis. But it feels like back to work after a couple of lovely Holiday getaways. I'm grateful we had the time off together and with friends and I'm especially grateful that we don't have to call for repair-persons to fix said snags. I'm also glad to have taken lots of pictures on our outings because home repairs don't make for good blogging material.

Pink Shell Beach December 31

The last sunset of 2018. It would be a better post if I'd gotten up early enough the next morning to see the first sunrise of the New Year. But the gently rocking boat is conducive to sleeping late. That and we did actually stay up to welcome in the New Year. There were fireworks on Fort Myers Beach at midnight! I did not take pictures of those either.

Great Egret

The birds on the beach at nearby Bowdich Point were the usual suspects, but that doesn't make them less interesting to watch.

Snowy Egret

Is he investigating this beach-goers belongings? Or maybe he just wishes they weren't there in his way to wherever he's going. (The beach was surprisingly uncrowded and there were acres of empty sand. So I think he was just curious.)

Snowy Egrets are also known as 'Yellow Slippers' and this one is apparently shaking the sand off of his.

Little Blue Heron

This heron was actually sharing space with us at the Pink Shell Boat dock. We saw him every morning patrolling the shallows opposite from where we were tied up.

Sandy scenes from a walk along the beach and some more of that fabulous sunset. I always enjoy seeing the Florida version of a snowman (sand-man?). I thought the beach grass hair was a cute touch.

How we got to Pink Shell Resort for our New Year getaway.

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities. With thanks to the hosts.

NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; MOSAIC MONDAY; GOOD RANDOM FUN; THROUGH MY LENS;  WILD BIRD Wednesday; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY BLISS;   SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING

January 6, 2019
HAPPY NEW YEAR

Time for some Holiday sparkle!

Christmas Lights reflected on Lake Dora, Florida

Time to reflect on the past year ….

… and ring in the new one.

Mt. Dora City Park

Time to imagine lifting a lighted glass in a champagne toast to the New Year.

(and perhaps to enjoy a real glass or two!)

Sunset on Lake Dora

Time to appreciate nature's beautiful light — variations of which are available every day of the year,

even after all the Holiday sparkle is gone.

And (I can't resist) time to say a last goodbye to the Christmas Season

(Dancing Christmas Tree in Mt Dora town square.)

***

Thank you to these linky hosts:

ALL SEASONS; GOOD RANDOM FUN; MACRO MONDAY, OUR WORLD on Tuesday; TUESDAY TREASURES ; THROUGH MY LENS; SAY CHEESE; Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and FRIDAY BLISS

December 29, 2018
REVIEWING THE SEASON



Our Florida season is drawing toward the end. Although we still have over two weeks before we actually close things up here, we've been busy with all those end-of-the-year home projects that seem to add up … and besides that we've had thunder and lightning storms almost every day this past week (the rainy season has arrived early in SW Florida). So there are no new adventures to blog about. But I have pictures that somehow didn't get used in previous posts, especially from the super-busy first part of the season – and this seems like a good time to use them.

I took (and posted) a million pictures of our November cruise, but most of my posts were about our ports-of-call. We often saw these frigate birds from our room deck but their pictures didn't make it into any of those posts. (Here's a link to the cruise posts, just in case you missed them earlier.)

In December, on our first Florida exploration of the season, we traveled to Homosassa and Crystal River. This owl got overshadowed by all of the colorful flamingos and wood ducks and didn't make it into earlier posts about this trip. But he deserves to be remembered!

We saw the New Year in with boat club friends at Salty Sam's Marina on Fort Myers Beach. And later in January we caught up with other good friends and favorite places … and counted our blessings under beautiful skies.

We were happy to play hosts to our brother and sister-in-law from Spokane, who visited us in February – (I'm pretty sure you can tell from the pictures whose brother our visitor is as he poses with Bill.) We enjoyed seeing our area through the eyes of these first-time Florida visitors. These are some pictures that didn't get into the previous post on their trip — they were taken at Fort Myers Beach (pictures 1, 2, 3), Six Mile Cypress, and after an airboat ride in the Everglades.

We saw damaged boats like this every time we took our own boat out on the water — a reminder of the hurricane that visited our part of Florida during the summer (when we were in Oregon). We were fortunate not to have significant damage to our neighborhood (or any of our boats).

We enjoyed boat club activities every month of the season –boating, beach-combing, exploring, and eating. Being out on the water makes everybody hungry!

Lizards like this one were everywhere on our March car-trip to the Redlands area.    And I took the picture of the little sparrow below on that trip too — while we were stopped by the side of the road to look at maps. You would think that with all the pretty palm trees and other greenery, the poor thing could find somewhere to perch besides a barbed-wire fence.

Things slowed down a little in April and I don't think I omitted any pictures over the past couple of months (and this post is plenty long enough anyway) …..

It has been another great season in Florida and, as always, we are grateful to be able to enjoy nature and friends here in the winter sunshine.

Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting. And special thanks to the hosts of these sharing opportunities:

NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; THROUGH MY LENS; WILD BIRD Wednesday ; Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH Friday; Saturday CRITTERS;   RATHER B' BIRDING; and MOSAIC MONDAY



May 20, 2018
LIVE ACTION AT HARNS MARSH

  We stopped at Harns Marsh in Lehigh Acres on our way to the Everglades Canals last week.

We were watching a few Limpkins who were looking for — and finding — apple snails. These snails are pretty much the only thing these birds eat. The shallow water made for easy pickings. Then Bill pointed out a couple of white heads across the pond from where the Limpkins were feeding.

This bad picture is here on purpose to show how far away we were from the birds. I'm grateful for binoculars and zoom lenses – you witness all kinds of wildlife adventures with them.

(This is not the same pair of eagles in the nest near where we live — we were in a different area.)

The Eagles were taking turns eating their prey and standing guard. And then suddenly they seemed to go into high alert. I scanned my camera in the direction they had turned…

… and saw this pair of rascals that looked as if they were planning something nefarious. And I was right. In another minute they sidled over toward the eagle's prey.

And then this happened.

The lower panel shows one of the Black Vultures flying away after snagging a small piece of the prey. The Eagles made a lot of noise and almost seemed to stomp their feet as they hopped and flew chasing away the intruders.

The two vultures flew back to a grassy area where there was a whole family gathering. Maybe to report that it was slim pickings out there.

And the two Eagles went back to their meal. It's kind of odd that we think of Bald Eagles as majestic and Vultures as vaguely creepy. They are both birds of prey. But the Eagle, besides eating 'road kill' will actually catch and kill live prey, while the Vulture eats only things that are already dead. (Benjamin Franklin wasn't happy that the Eagle was chosen as our national symbol — he thought they had a  “bad moral character”.) I think both the Eagle and the Vulture are just doing what they're supposed to be doing — and both are interesting to watch.

And meanwhile, not too far away from all the action, this guy was just basking in the sun. (Zoom lens, remember.) Unlike most of us, alligators don't need to eat every day. He had probably already had a meal earlier that week and wasn't hungry yet.

LINKING this week to: NATURE NOTES; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS; WILD BIRD Wednesday; Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD; THANKFUL Thursday; Saturday CRITTERS; and RATHER B'BIRDING.

Thank you to all of the hosts.

May 13, 2018
BIRDING IN THE CYPRESS FOREST

Yesterday (May 5) we drove out to a couple of our favorite places to see birds, along the Everglades canals. It was one of those Florida Spring days where the weather varies between tropical downpours and bright sunshine (sometimes within the same 20 minutes). Along Turner River Road, in the Big Cypress Preserve, we saw hundreds of Great White Egrets, Wood Storks, and Ibis. The birds were extremely active probably due to the stormy weather. The Egrets and Ibis in particular almost never settled down in one place for more than thirty seconds.

Below are some of the birds that did settle. We had good luck with the weather — and were able to get out and walk some in between 'showers'. And of course in between is when the birds sit for a while to catch their breath.

Black-crowned night heron

This loop drive through part of the preserve was the second part of our day-trip. I'll show the earlier part in another post. It was a fabulous day for seeing birds.

Great Egret

(The only one that was tired enough to land for awhile.)

Roseate Spoonbill

We kept seeing one spot of bright pink among the huge flocks of white flyers. And of course we knew it had to be a spoonbill. Finally we saw it land in a Cypress tree. We never saw any other spoonbills among the storks, egrets, and ibis. I guess this one just wanted to stand out in the crowd of white!

Wood Stork

Cypress are quite delicate-looking trees. It always surprises me when these decidedly indelicate-looking storks choose to balance on top of them.

We celebrated the end of our birding day by enjoying Mexican Food at a favorite restaurant — it was Cinco De Mayo after all. And we watched the preliminaries of the Kentucky Derby, because it was also the first Saturday in May. When we got home, I read that (without even knowing it) we had also celebrated Global Big Day for Birding. Even if we'd known about it first, we aren't into rushing from place to place counting the number of species we see — and indeed we didn't see any rare or unusual birds at all. But we loved every one of the usual suspect sightings …. and I don't think we've ever seen as many at one time as we did here.

It was a great day for birding — we're fortunate to live near so many good destinations — and we are always grateful for sunshine between storms.

LINKING this week to: NATURE NOTES; MOSAIC MONDAY; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS; WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY; Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B'BIRDING.



Thank you to each one of the hosts.

May 6, 2018
EARTH DAY 2018 – CORKSCREW SANCTUARY



All pictures in this week's post are from our visit to the Audubon Corkscrew Sanctuary earlier this month.

The dry season is just ending in Florida — it is a good thing that there is this much water in the swamps.

The words in the two mosaics below this are cropped portions of an informational sign near the start of the boardwalk trail through Corkscrew. The panel is titled 'History of the Swamp'. These words are always appropriate, but especially for Earth Day (which should of course be every day).

As shown below the next mosaic, things got better after a while, but unfortunately we have "leaders" at the national level right now that seem determined to send our country back to somewhere between 1783 and 1953.



Wild iris are one of the very few typical Spring flowers that we see here in Florida.

FINALLY CAME UNDERSTANDING

( I couldn't crop this picture to include the headline for this panel, but the typed line above is what it says.)

We are grateful for the Audubon Society, for Alt-National-Park, for the Sierra Club, and for all of the other groups and individuals who are working hard for our natural world — in the face of opposition. And we hope these efforts can keep our planet alive and well.





  Immature Little Blue Heron



“Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children's children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.”

Theodore Roosevelt

Night Heron, Immature

Roseate Spoonbill

"In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we are taught."

Baba Dioum

Grateful we are still able to enjoy these wonders. Grateful also for nature bloggers who are doing their part to conserve and love our world, to teach others, and to share …. you lift my spirits.

Linking this week to: NATURE NOTES; MOSAIC MONDAY; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; FLORAL BLISS; ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS; WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY; Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING.

Thank you to all of the hosts!

April 22, 2018
NATURAL and MAN-MADE WONDERS

Last week we took a picnic lunch to Corkscrew Audubon Nature Preserve and enjoyed a nice long (for us) nature hike around the preserve.

We used to see Roseate Spoonbills more often, but haven't had good sightings this season until this early April walk. Maybe we just haven't been in the right place at the right time. On that hike we saw several.

These birds were in the garden area just outside the Audubon Visitor Center. I know that Cardinals are frequent backyard visitors for many, but they don't live in the Pacific Northwest and so they've never become routine birds for us. (Actually I can't imagine ever being anything but excited to spot them.) The two feeder birds on either side of the female Cardinal (top row) are Painted Buntings. They are certainly the most colorful bird I've ever seen (in person) …. and they are another bird that we never saw until we traveled outside of the Pacific Northwest.

The next pictures are from our March overnight trip to Redland and Homestead.

We visited Coral Castle, a feat of engineering that has been placed in the National Register of Historical Places. The structures in the Park were built by one man, Ed Leedskalnin.

An immigrant from Latvia, Ed was a small man, weighing only about 100 pounds at 5 feet tall. Without any help at all and using only simple tools, many homemade, he excavated, carved, and moved tons and tons of coral rock (which weighs 120 pounds per cubic foot) to create his coral castle.

To us, it seemed more like he created a kind of strange dream of a magical garden than a castle, but I guess they had to call it something.

Mr Leedskalnin was born in Latvia in 1887 and in 1913 was engaged to a woman ten years younger. On the eve of their wedding, she told him she didn't want to marry him because he was too old.

He soon immigrated to the United States and eventually, still broken-hearted about his lost love, began to construct the coral castle to honor her. Maybe he hoped she would eventually join him, but nobody knows for sure.

He eventually opened his Castle to the public …. (and he obviously wasn't modest about what he had done).  When asked how he was able to move all of the heavy blocks he said it was because he understood the laws of weight and leverage.

He built all kinds of structures: thrones, beds, children's play structures, a bathtub, fountains, heart-shaped tables, rocking chairs that weighed 1000 pounds each but can be rocked by one person, a table in the shape of the State of Florida, a working sundial, and much more. These are just a very few of them. The picture on the right is me moving the 6,000 pound gate into the grounds. There aren't any gears or bearings — it is perfectly balanced so that it can be turned by one person.

This sign was in the small upstairs apartment where Ed lived among bits and pieces of tools and ongoing experiments and very little in the way of creature comforts. It's probably not a coincidence that he spent his life alone …. but looking back at what he did (from a safe distance of many years), you've just got to love an eccentric genius! I think the last sentence of the sign means that it has been open to the public under the current ownership since 1953. We learned on our tour that during his lifetime Ed opened the area to the public on his own schedule (when he felt like it).

Although man-made marvels are fun and we always learn something, most of them (Ed's castle included) are a one-time-only affair.

But we never tire of nature here in Florida — all of our favorite parks and sloughs are worth visiting time and time again. (And there are so many where we haven't been at all.) Finishing up this week's post with one more natural wonder from Corkscrew: I'll have more from there in another week.

Roseate Spoonbill and Little Blue Heron



Grateful that we have time and energy to explore the wonders — and for digital cameras that allow me to take hundreds of pictures in order to get a few that are worth sharing!

LINKING TO:  OUR WORLD on Tuesday; ALL SEASONS; NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; MOSAIC MONDAY; TUESDAY TREASURES; WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY; WEDNESDAY AROUND THE WORLD;  SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B'BIRDING. Thank you to all of the hosts!!!

April 8, 2018
HAPPY EASTER (NO FOOLING)



Happy Easter to all who celebrate.

And this year, the Holiday falls on a date that is perfect to remember the English tradition/superstition which says (no fooling):

"a person should say or repeat the word 'rabbit' or 'white rabbit' three times upon waking on the first day of every month, because doing so will ensure good luck for the duration of the month." (from Wikipedia)



In the interest of honesty (and not fooling anyone even on April 1) the rabbit pictures and tradition appeared in slightly different form on the first of a different month in a different and earlier year. But this month's timing is too perfect not to repeat them. The pictures in the rest of the post are more current.

In March we spent a couple of days exploring Florida's Tropical Trail (around the towns of Redland, Homestead, and Florida City). This trip was also when we visited the orchid nursery/farm shown in last week's post.

We learned about and sampled all kinds of tropical fruits at a park called The Herb and Spice Farm and at a locally famous farm store called Robert is Here. Both places were interesting and the fruits we sampled were delicious. But the couple of kinds we bought to take home didn't quite taste the same. I don't think we have the knack of choosing these unfamiliar fruits. I'm sure we'd get better with more practice (but it's a bit too far to travel for that. Mangoes are the only ones we see in the stores here).

It wasn't a birding trip this time, but I couldn't resist making portraits of the sweet purple martins at Robert is Here. They seemed to love their southern home!



Grateful that there are new things to see and learn and that we are able to get out and find them. Thankful too for the hosts of the following sharing opportunities and for all of you who visit — and especially for those who take the time to comment.

Linking this week to: SATURDAY CRITTERS;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday; ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES; WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY; Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY and RATHER B' BIRDING

March 31, 2018
SPRINGTIME IN FLORIDA



Spring flowers are different here in the subtropics. Sometimes I miss daffodils and violets which don't bloom here, but oh the bright and beautiful flowers that do thrive in this climate! We visited R F Orchids in Homestead last week and what a wonderful flower fix it was.

The sign works for me!

The photos in the first and last mosaics were all taken in the outdoor gardens.

The close-up shots are of orchids that were blooming in the shade house.

It is not necessary in this climate to have a glassed-in greenhouse for these plants. The shade-house roof was open when we were there, but there were slats for plastic or shade cloth as needed.

They had very color and type of orchid imaginable.

The center of this one almost looks as if a butterfly landed there.

R F Orchids was more like a park than a store.

Especially for people like us who no longer garden.

We are lucky that they didn't charge us for taking pictures.

There was even a wedding gazebo and outdoor events center.

It really was a happy place!

Thank you to the hosts of these sharing opportunities. OUR WORLD on Tuesday; ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES;  FLORAL BLISS; MACRO MONDAY; Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD; IMAGE-IN-ING; THROUGH MY LENS; SIGNS SIGNS, THANKFUL THURSDAY; FLORAL FRIDAY FOTOS, and SKYWATCH FRIDAY.

March 25, 2018