A Full-time Life

Category: Florida

  • TOO DARN HOT

     THAT'S MY WORLD (you know what to do) 

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    Yesterday, on the Canal, 6:30 a.m.

    Seems like only a few days ago when we were telling everybody that the temperature wasn't too bad here in the Summer.   All of a sudden though, daytime temps are rising to the 100s and you better be outside by at least this early if you want to get anything much done outside.   

    But indoors, our remodeling project is proceeding according to plan.  It's hard to imagine how people managed before having the blessing of Air Conditioning.

    For your listening pleasure, here's Mel Torme' making Hot sound … well … Hot!

  • WATER WATER EVERYWHERE HERE

    WATERY WEDNESDAY the perfect place to share a love of water-filled places. 

    EVERYDAY LIFE is a meme with a different theme each week.  Today, the hosts said "This week we would love to see water from your town/village. With water we mean a lake, a river, a little stream, a pond or something like that."

    There's a LOT of water where we are now.  I didn't know how to choose!  Click on the link to see scenes from other watery lives.

    Water collage

    Upriver Resort Swimming Pool — pretty much our private pool right now; a couple of pictures of our boat on the Caloosahatchie River; Swamps at Six-Mile Cypress and the Babcock Ranch; Naples beach onthe nearby Gulf of Mexico; a puddle reflection after an afternoon rain; and the kayak path at Ding Darling Wildlife refuge on nearby Sanibel Island.

    We love our Florida water!

  • LOOK DOWN! SEE THE SKY

    LOOK DOWN, LOOK UP, LOOK EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD TO SEE THE SKY HERE:  SKYWATCH FRIDAY

    AND MORE BEAUTIFUL REFLECTIVE POSTS HERE:  WEEKEND REFLECTIONS  hosted by James at Newton Daily Photo.  

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    The world is kind of topsy-turvy right now.    Sometimes its hard to tell what's up and what's down. 

    You can't even count on consistency from certain politicians who are now crying out for government intervention.   Oh wait — although that's mind-boggling inconsistency, it's not suprising news at all. 

    Beach014-2 Yes, the politicans are suddenly crying out for more government help to solve the oil spill disaster. 

    Just a few weeks ago, weren't they saying that private industry and de-regulation could be counted on to solve all our problems?

     Uh….ooooops!   Now they need government intervention.  Industry is hurting. 

    And yes, the oil spill sheen has reached Florida (North of us, in the panhandle). 

    The news is depressing.

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    020-1 But it does no good to walk around with your head hanging down.

    Even if you do, the blue sky is reflected back in all its beauty.

    Reminding us that even in a topsy-turvey world, there is hope.027

       

  • BREAK OF DAY

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      WORDLESS WEDNESDAY   (first post to this meme)    WATERY WEDNESDAY  (for water posts from everywhere)

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  • LATE SPRING IN FLORIDA

      RUBY TUESDAY – YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO!   

    We are usually on our way back to the Pacific Northwest by this time of the year and so certainly would have missed these lovely red blossoms.  One of these days I'm going to make time to learn what all these strange and wonderful Florida flowers actually are.   The yellow flowering trees of a couple of months ago have shed their blossoms.  Instead, all over town now  we see this beautiful tree:   

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    This tree was so colorful against the clear blue sky.  We stopped to take its picture on a day otherwise devoted to boring shopping.  A bright and cheerful break in a routine day.

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  • THE STILLNESS OF NATURE

     SCENIC SUNDAY - my first post to this meme.  Click on the blue and then on the listed links to vist other blogger's favorite  scenes of the week.   AND FOR EVERYDAY LIFE which has a theme this week of "Places to Relax."  Click to see where to relax in other places around the world.   

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    "My heart is tuned to the quietness that the stillness of nature inspires."  Hahrat Inayat Khan.

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    Pictures are from a morning Walk at Six Mile Cypress Slough. May 2010

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    Just a little quiet morning magic right in the middle of the City of Fort Myers. 

  • CLOSE TO HOME ADVENTURES

    (A few pretty bad pictures, but they'll explain what's been keeping us close to home lately.  And why THIS IS OUR WORLD right now.  (Click on the blue link for "That's My World."  Most of the entries are more scenic!) 

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    Yesterday morning Bill looked out our (screened)  window and wondered what that blue and white thing tied up out there was. (Awww.)  It HAS been a while since we've been out on the River.   Instead, here's what's keeping us occupied right here at our little Canal Cottage: 

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    Hooray.   No more QUARTERED TO DEATH. 

    There is finish-work to complete, but the part of the house where a corner cupboard and catch-all closet were taken out to make room for the laundry room is already looking much better than it did.

    It's definitely worth hanging around home for a while.   

  • YESTERDAY IT RAINED

    Click here for more  WEEKEND REFLECTIONS  hosted by James.    WATERY WEDNESDAY  meme posts are here.

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    It's supposed to be the rainy season here in Southwest Florida, but it hasn't been terribly wet so far.  It rains in the early evening sometimes, but there's not much evidence of it by morning.   

  • OUR KIND OF PET SHOP

     RUBY TUESDAY has lots of lovely red images.  Scroll down to see red in this post. 

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    How much are those puppies in the (toy-shop) window?

     027-1It sure made us look twice! (Along with everybody else strolling Fisherman's Village at Puenta Gorda last Sunday.)

    I'm pretty sure they didn't used to make stuffed animals this realistic a century or so ago  — or even almost half-a-century, when we were buying them for our kids.

     

  • WAKE-UP CALL, FLORIDA

    MORE MELLOW YELLOW MONDAY POSTS HERE  and also EVERY DAY LIFE which asks for a picture of a tree this week! 
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    In Oregon  LAST FALL and winter, we were wakened by the geese.  Here at Upriver, it is the mockingbirds.   A cheerful alarm clock and one that varies from day to day.

    N004o matter what they're copying, their song seems to say "All's right with the world!"