Venus

On our way home from Lake Placid yesterday, we made a side trip through Venus. I was looking for a suitable house on a few acres for a good friend who is thinking about buying a place in Florida.

Not much for sale in Venus. Not even this rustic place!

Staples- without hitting the "Easy" button

Wednesday, my littlest one slipped and ran into the corner of the kitchen wall.
Ouch!

Waiting for the doctor at the Urgent Care Center (much better than going to an ER).

Doc says staples not stitches...so...

All done!

He looks worn out, but after 5 minutes he was running around, back to his old self!

If this is any indication of the way his 5th year is going to be, I'm in big trouble!

Homes of the Famous and Infamous

This is the home of author Dave Barry. A cute, unassuming, unpretentious place. No fences or guard shacks. Pretty much like anybody's house, just in a very nice neighborhood.



I'd write some more about Mr. Barry, but we just got back from taking my 5 year old to the ER for a nasty laceration of his scalp. 2 staples and he was good to go! But I am worn out... maybe I'll write something up about Dave tomorrow...or maybe not. Can you feel my enthusiasm?

Fruits of my labor...

Just two days ago, this squash was little. I mean about 3 inches long. Today after work I went out to check on it and man...did it grow...ALOT! This is the biggest squash I have ever grown!

Ok, so I know it's not ginormous, but for me, it's BIG! 9 inches!!! (no comments from the peanut gallery)

And thrown in for random weirdness...

Yes, if my deceased father-in-law hadn't made a poor choice in his youth and forsaken his family business, my husband would own, or at least part own, the Sexton Food Company. Folks down South won't have heard of it. It's a Northern thing. I found this tin in an antique store and had to buy it...it's the only thing we have from that company.

I am thinking of starting a short, but possibly somewhat interesting weekly "feature"...Homes of the Famous and Infamous! Miami is home to alot of folks that fit that title. I thought it may be kind of fun to let y'all see the homes of some of the people who fit that title. We'll see how it goes...I'll post the first one tomorrow. I can see you shivering with anticipation...

Interesting and informative site

A fellow geocacher, Jungle Pete, is going to start putting little video clips on his blog. The first one is about Lubbers and is pretty good...informative yet not long and boring. Check it out!

Jungle Pete's Earthbound: Squirt

Sights of North Florida

My blogs lately have been few and far between. My camera sucks, and when I can't take good pictures to share, it's hard for me to get inspired to write anything. But last weekend, my sister showed me some pictures she took up in North Florida and I really want to share them with you. So all the pictures in this post were taken by my sister, Melinda. Kinda cool...hope you enjoy!

Swallowtail Kites...

Alot of 'em!

Mr brother-in-law with their Labs, Holly and Dixie

The property where they camp and hunt has these beautiful Buffaloes on it. And no, they do NOT hunt the buffalo!

A Coachwhip snake. They are harmless, good snakes...very fast. They remind me of cobras when they hold their head up in the grass and look around.

This is the scene they wake up to from their campsite.

My sis asked me what kind of skink this is, and I believe it's a Broadhead. If I'm wrong, somebody please correct me!

Not sure on this one. A Lined Skink? or is it Blue Lined?

Celebrating my brother-in-law's birthday at their place in Okeechobee. My mom had Publix do the cake, but it didn't turn out quite the way she envisioned it. I think it's still kinda cool, though.

My sister and her husband. I think they're a cute couple!

They took Sam out in the airboat and even let him run it. My sis said he did a really good job. I'm proud of him because running those things isn't easy.

A trip to the Seaquarium

Despite the heavenly rain clouds that darkened the sky today, we headed over to Key Biscayne to visit the Miami Seaquarium. Today AAA members got in FREE and since tomorrow is Aidan's birthday, we decided to go for it. Sorry I don't have better pictures, but I have yet to win the lottery so I can purchase a really decent camera. Until then, y'all will just have to deal with it!

The Orca (Killer Whale) show was nice. We had the common sense to sit high up in the bleachers so we wouldn't get soaked with 55 degree salt water when the orca and Pacific White Sided Dolphins do their thing! They are incredible to watch!

My squirt and SIL. I can't imagine being eaten by this guy!

The hub in front of an old recompression chamber that was used by the University of Miami in the 70's.

A Green Sea turtle. They say the Seaquarium has a high rate of rehabilitation for sea turtles. In their round habitat, there were several Loggerheads, a couple Greens and a Kemp's Ridley swimming around. Such beautiful creatures to be able to see up close!

Crocodile!

One of Aidan's favorite things today...a really cool playground that had big waterguns that you could shoot at people. He left there soak and wet!

For some unknown reasons, he HAD to have a picture of himself and this dolphin.

There is also a bird section at the Seaquarium that had lots of Macaws and 2 of these Flamingos.

Before we left, we had to check out the Reef Aquarium. Yellowtails, Grunts, various Snappers, Wrasses, Triggers, Hog Snapper, and so much more were swimming around so peacefully in the huge tank. The two biggest fish in that tank were these guys. I think they are Jewfish (or Goliaths, as they were recently renamed to be more politically correct).

If they ARE Jewfish, then let me tall ya....these guys are just babies. Jewfish can get to be HUUUUUGE! I mean suck-you-in-and-swallow-you-whole HUGE.

I realized today just how much I miss the ocean. Yes, I'm only 5 miles away from it, but I rarely go out in it anymore. Growing up, my parents had a house in the Keys and I guess I really took it all for granted....being able to jump in my little boat and go fishing for the day, snorkelling wherever and whenever I pleased, fishing off our dock, the gorgeous sunsets, the constant breeze and the smell of salt air. I need to get back down to the Keys again soon!

Anyway, that's all folks! Tomorrow is Aidan's 5th Birthday. Can't believe he's already that old...where does the time go? I'm glad we took him to the Seaquarium today. It was hot as hell,. but we all had a good time.

Some people are very against places like the Seaquarium, but I think that like zoos, they serve an important role...they help to make a connection between the animals and people who would otherwise never get to see them. That connection is so very important when it comes to concern and wanting to conserve and protect the animals. Sure, I'd rather see the creatures swimming freely in the ocean, but the few that are here help to open the eyes and hearts of people each and every day. It's a good thing. If you're ever in Miami, try to make a trip to the Seaquarium. It ain't SeaWorld, but it's a piece of Miami history that I think you'd enjoy.

It's never MS!

Do you watch "House"? My family and I always get a good laugh from it because damn near every single episode, when House and all his minions are pondering what mysterious disease their poor patient has, MS is always thrown out there.

"Could be Lupus...Could be MS!"

And yet, as far as I know, the problem has never ended up being diagnosed as MS. Why not? MS is perfect for that show with it's numerous, mysterious symptoms...

You'll see... you heard it here first, folks. One of these nights you'll be watching that show and the disease in question will end up being MS. Then we'll see if Dr. House can find the cure for it!

And THAT will be damn good TV.

Why I hate tryng to plant trees in my yard!

Yesterday I wanted to get out of the house, but wasn't sure where I wanted to go. I thought about it for a while, then decided on a trip out to the Chekika area of the Everglades.

We made the drive out there only to find it's gates closed. I read later that they closed for the "wet season" which I find extremely funny since we have had no rain!

Anyway, we drove around the area for a while, just checking things out. The picture below shows what our ground is really like here in South Florida.

The gray lumps are rocks...oolitic limestone, I believe. That's why it is SO damn hard to dig holes down here...so very, very hard.

Looking across the sawgrass, you don't see the rocks. It seems like it would be easy to trek across the prairie, but it's not.

Things are so dry out there right now. Gator holes have been reduced to little mud pits, and eventhough there is a small canal that runs along the road in front of Chekika, we only saw one small gator. I expected to see many more since that is the only water around. Maybe they were just hanging out on the bottom where it's cooler?

We did spot this guy and two Racers, but that was it. Nothing spectacular.

I had to throw in this picture. I've seen this truck a few times on my way to work and it always makes me laugh...

Hope your weekend was more exciting than mine!