Saturday, March 30, 2013

Happy Easter

source is FreeChristianClipart

He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. 

Come and see the place where he lay.



Matthew 28:6






Friday, March 29, 2013

Gumbo Limbo Tree (Bursera simaruba) RePOST 2009

Florida Trees are nothing if not exotic. These trees are Gumbo Limbo trees at Fort Desoto National Monument in Bradenton, Florida

SINCE SO MANY OF YOU LIKED THE TREE I FOUND THIS OLD 2009 Post that none of you have seen and reposted it.


Click on this one to see amazing details
Gumbo-limbo is a medium sized fast-growing tree, that can attain height of 20-50 ft . It has
pinnately compound (featherlike) leaves and attractive reddish bark that peels away in thin flakes to reveal a smooth and sinuous gray underbark. These were taken after the bark fell away and after a tropical storm blew all the leaves away.


The red peeling bark resembles sunburned skin thereby inspiring Floridians to give it another common name: the tourist tree.
This is an old photo I took before the storm. Several years ago. After looking at these, I need to go back and try again.
It may look like a tree that you would love to climb on and sit on these big sturdy looking limbs. But the Gumbo Limbo limbs are light-weight, light in color, soft and brittle. Signs are posted to keep off the trees.


The gumbo-limbo loses all its leaves in early spring just before the new leaves appear. The tree blooms in winter, producing small inconspicuous flowers composed of 3-5 greenish petals arranged in elongate racemes (spikelike clusters), I have yet to see the blooms, I will try harder.


I hope you enjoyed the story of the Gumbo Limbo. I love its majestic limbs.




Gumbo-limbo is used as a living fencepost wherever it occurs. Haitians make drums from the trunk of gumbo-limbo. A resin obtained from the trunk and bark is called chibou, cachibou or gomart in the West Indies, and is used to make glue, varnish, water repellent coatings and incense. The resin smells a little like turpentine. The fruits are eaten by several kinds of birds. The soft wood is easily carved.





CD Archives - Desoto Park


Remember the bench from a few days ago? Here is the view from that bench at Desoto National Memorial  on the Manatee River. This beautiful park is 7 miles from our front door.

[photos taken August 2003]


Sitting on the bench at the top of the hill, above and below you are looking to east.


Turn your head and look behind you and you will see a very large Gumbo Limbo Tree.


Below is the view looking to the West....


there are miles of hiking trails that follow the river and around the bay. below photo you can see part of the trail. there is a museum there and grass huts. If you missed the post on grass huts CLICK HERE and HERE


Thursday, March 28, 2013

Once Upon a Time there was a CHAIR



Once upon a cold spell in  Florida  winds gusting to 35 mph forced MadSnapper's hubby to stay home from the park. Three days in a row!

Alas! he was getting on MadSnapper's LAST NERVE with nothing to do but watch TV because he talked to me while I was BLOGGING!

MadSnapper New Desk Chair 

Aha! MadSnapper thought, I need a new desk chair and I  have been putting off the long trip to  Bucko's Used Office furniture store, I can take Bob along for the ride to keep me company.

Arriving at  Bucko's without the use of GPS SEVEN miles from home.
Alas! Alack! all the Bucko's chairs were 250.00 dollars and UP, way UP....new owner, no used chairs.

9 stores, and I felt like I had arrived in  Goldilocks and the three bears story book. I sat in at least 30 chairs... I would plop down and stand up NOPE! NOPE! NOPE! add 27 more NOPES.

Store 9, I sat in 3 chairs and the 3rd one shouted, this chair is Just Right..OOPS! forgot I am not Goldilocks.

The two of us looking in the window at a thrift store, Bob said I did not know this was here... OF COURSE not,  he had never been in a thrift store. now he has


2 mornings, 2 hours each, 3 used furniture stores and 6 thrift stores, total of 9 stores. [totaled for those of you with no calculator]

Benefits received from shopping trip.

1. we got lots of exercise getting in and out of the car 18 times
2. we spent QUALITY time together, who needs Date Night
3. chair for cost of 20.00 plus 4.00 worth of gas for the 20 miles we traveled.
4. Last but not leasst, we spent our money in a thrift store that is non profit and all funds go to
fund the safehouse for Domestic Violence.


Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Chrome - I love it!



NOT Mine but I wish it was 
Above is what my Google Chrome browser looks like when it opens. I chose this from the themes provided by Chrome Store.
In the photo below, I removed the two apps you see above and added the name of the creator of this fantastic fiery horse


I want to DO this, I love horses, love fire, and love photo shop.... so now I just have to figure HOW... I am thinking Fiery Dogs?
When my browser opens, I just sit and stare for awhile....
Do you have a theme on your browser? if not what is on your front page when your browser opens?


 Above is Internet explorer for hubby to use, it has MSN

Below is Firefox, a back up to use when Chrome hicups and it has Road Runner on it, which is our cable company, Brighthouse.


Tuesday, March 26, 2013

A Little Sunshine for YOU



Sunshine for YOU Cause I know you're Blue...

Just living is not enough, one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower palm tree... Hans Christian Anderson


OK, now you can give me a HAND for bringing you Sunshine... and just in case you don't have a hand to give me.... I am showing you how my self photo of my hand went awry....



 I have always wanted to use that word, so I challenge you to comment using the word, awry, I know it is a word because I got no red squiggly lines when I typed it.


See what I mean about AWRY? and remember that hand is only a few short months from 69


ULTIMATE example of photography/picmonkey/madsnapper gone awry. SORRY! 

Monday, March 25, 2013

Cards from the past - Part 1

Sharing my favorite note cards from 2004. 

Do you think in miles or minutes? If someone ask you how far it is to Wal-Mart do you say 6 minutes or 3 miles?

Kitchen Shelf

I almost always reply with how long it takes to get there.
But, I do know how many miles it is to 
CVS, Doctor, YMCA, Nursing home, Wal-Mart, library, Selby Gardens, Jungle Gardens...
I know in MILES and Minutes...



I seem to be obsessed with how many miles it is to every where I go... but my obsessive compulsive self is another post

Sunday, March 24, 2013

A Song for you

I found this video on Blind Pig And The Acorn today, her pap wrote the song and her family is singing with him. Perfect song for Palm Sunday. Pop over and read her story. Her whole family is multi-talented.

PicMonkey Addiction -PART 2

bad bad photo


THE OBJECT OF THE WHOLE THING: is to see how many ways I can enhance or change a bad photo of a favorite object...using my PicMonkey addiction.


ALERT! SquirrelQueen emailed me the link to the forum where dozens have reported LightBox slide show disabled... if you want to read it CLICK HERE



Below is a glass like mine being shown at J. Paul Getty Museum...it is called Joke Glass, so is mine... Do any of you know anyone at the Getty Place? I need a number to call....


So what is the difference in Joke Glass by MadSnapper and Joke Glass by unknown German or Dutch in the 1600's?
Careful how you answer this.... NOTE! they are the Same Color......

Saturday, March 23, 2013

PicMonkey Addiction -PART 1



 While playing with black and white and a drinking glass... YES! this is a TRUE statement. I snapped the above photo. Yes, I know it is not black and white, BUT I did use black and white and color.
Any hoooo.... below is Whimsical Fantasy of what can be done in PicMonkey with a NOTHING PHOTO






 Above as it looked from camera, below is 2 click to make it better, and YES, I know it is still not a good photo, but I did kinda sorta salvage it. I am poking and prodding in PM to see all the new things they are adding...


BREAKING NEWS
PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL INDICTED OVER SPRING FORECAST

Friday, March 22, 2013

CD Archives - John's Pass


Drive 42 miles north and you will find John's Pass and the Redneck Riviera 
Before we moved here, we lived 7 minutes from the pass and spent the first 4 years of our lives on Madeira Beach at John's pass.


Click to enlarge for more details.

If you have a set of salad bowls and they all say Cool Whip on the outside, you may be a redneck...
Jeff Foxworthy and a few more....


You might be a redneck:

If you believe you have a set of match luggage when you have two shopping bags from the same store.

If you think Sherlock Holmes is a housing project in Biloxi

If you think Taco Bell is the Mexican phone company.



BLOGGER STOLE OUR SLIDESHOW VIEWER... IT IS GONE GONE GONE... WAHHHH. YOU KNOW WHEN YOU CLICK TO ENLARGE AND THERE IS A SLIDE SHOW? GONE GONE GONE..WAHHHH