Wednesday, March 31, 2010

"Killin Time"

Yesterday instead of posting and reading posts, I walked into this building at 9 AM with my friend Diane.


I was her designated driver for her oral surgery where they would give her a happy pill that would make her unable to drive. I had several hours to kill time while i waited since my home was to far away to drop her off and go back.

NO PROBLEM. I took a ditty bag, with a good book, raisins and nuts, bottle of water, eye drops just in case my eyes were dry AND of course my Coopix point and shoot. I would read a while, then walk a while and Killin Time with my camera produced the building she was suffering in and much more.
while Killin Time I found moss on a tree trunk. I have always believed if I got lost in the woods, I could head North by looking at tree trunks because Moss grows on the north side of the trunk. NOT.... this was on the South side of the trunk
I found ferns growing out of palm tree trunks
close up of palm tree trunk came out very well, Anything will entertain me when I have a camera in my hand.
see what i mean?

this beautiful red brick wall had a gate
with this lovley hinge. I found this behind the doctors office. it is the wall and gate where they hide the garbage cans.
This is something I found while Killin Time, can you guess what it is? I KNOW you know it is a shadow, but what is the shadow cast from? answer tomorrow
Consider yourselves lucky I did not post ALL my killin time photos
I love country music and Clint Black is a favorite so this song is approriate and where I found my post title

Monday, March 29, 2010

Beautiful Beneficial Butterlies

I have not identified this little guy, but he sure is beautiful, he blended with the leaves so well, if I had not seen him light, I would have missed him completely

The following photos are of a male and female Spicebush Swallotail, to tell there are two in each picture, you must click on the photo to enlarge.

As we sat in the swing watching the dogs, admiring our jungle and pool, the female floated slowly over the pool. Out of the blue sky came the male. they danced and floated, dropping almost to touch the pool water, high up and almost to the trees, around and around they danced.

We watched as they lit together on the hisbicus bush and my camera invaded their privacy.

Googling found these interesting facts.
In order to find females, males patrol flyways on hilltops or host plant sites. When patrolling males meet, they generally fly in opposite directions. 

When a female appears, a male flies towards her and performs a brief courtship ritual, lasting less than a minute (they danced for 5 minutes as we watched). If the female is receptive to the courtship, copulation occurs, often lasting over an hour. That would be why I captured these photos, they were on the bush for at least an hour.

Spicebush swallowtails lay their eggs on the undersides of leaves. Larvae hatch and initially resemble bird droppings, but come to mimic a snake, complete with eyespots, in later instars. These larvae form pupae which are green (summer) or brown (fall) and metamorphose into butterflies

this is the female after the male flew away.Females search out host plants by visual and chemical cues, then land on a plant and drum the leaf with their forelegs to "taste" it, and confirm it as a host plant.

These lovely creatures only live 2 days to 2 weeks, but their lives are important to us.
Adults are generic pollinators for many flowers, inadvertently pollinating while feeding on nectar. Since spicebush swallowtails are generic pollinators, they are also beneficial to crops.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Palm Sunday......

Palm Sunday is the day we remember the "triumphal entry" of Jesus into Jerusalem, exactly one week before His resurrection
 This event took place on the Sunday before Jesus' crucifixion.
In remembrance of this event, we celebrate Palm Sunday

Matthew 21:
4All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
5"Tell ye the daughter of Zion, `Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek and sitting upon an ass, and a colt, the foal of an ass.'"
6And the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.
7And they brought the ass and the colt and put on them their clothes, and they set Him thereon.

8And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; and others cut down branches from the trees and strewed them in the way.
9And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried out, saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Post Script to BEEPS!

I can not tell you how relieved I am from all the comments on my post yesterday. I thought I was the only one that used Beeps reminders. Per the Post comments yesterday there are lots of us out there. Thanks for the Reminder! ha ha

I had intended to do a PS because I thought of seveal other things and then SquirrelQueen sent me an email with this song that she remembered while reading the beeping post. PERFECT and thanks.




my friend Shirley reminded me I forgot the hearing aid beeps. My husbands hearing aid not only BEEPS but it SQUEALS at times. He says it makes a beeping noise inside his head like a truck backing up, THAT one I can't hear. Yipee!
 
Do you remember the Crysler Cars that Talked? Instead of a Beep, it would say Your door is ajar! Fasten Seat Belt Please! I know this because YEARS
 ago, I worked in Sears Automotive as greeter/dispatcher and also as car jockey bringing in the cars that needed repairs. I loved to drive one in that Talked.
 
I drove a car in with a license plate from Canada. You can not imagine my joyful surprise when the car Spoke to me in a Sexy, Male voice in FRENCH! Oh Wow! I almost wore the voice out. I would turn the lights on and open the door and this heavenly french would pour forth. I buckled and unbuckled seat belts and left doors open and pulled the keys out, just to hear the voice. Of course I had to guess what it was saying, but who cared? not me!
 
 
Have any of you ever heard a car speak? Have you ever owned one?
are any of you old enought to remember this cartoon?

Friday, March 26, 2010

Whats Up With The BEEPS!


I wanted to share this photo that proves what happens when taking photos in the dark. today is On the lighter side and only one photo.

Have you noticed that our lives here in the dear old USA have become directed/urged/reminded by Beeps?

Automobiles: Are we so busy we can’t remember to turn off our head lights? Put on our seat belts? Close the door properly?


When I open the door to get out of my Vue and I hear BEEP BEEP BEEP I have to check to see if the lights are on or did I leave the keys in the ignition.

BeepBeep Beep“Beep Hook up your seat belt Beep Beep Beep take your keys out of the ignition Beep Beep Beep your lights are still on

In our GMC Pickup truck, it even says on the dash board in addition to the beep beep beep Door Is Open, it also says Seat Belt Not Fastened (Iook at hubby and say “its telling me your seat belt is not fastened)


Coffee Pot:

It emits one BEEP when I set it on Auto. BEEP BEEP BEEP to let me know it has turned itself on automatically, 12 minutes later I hear a Beep Beep Beep stating it is ready to drink ( I kid you not). 120 minutes later BEEP BEEP BEEP I am about to shut down (this means cold coffee if I don’t act NOW)

There is a button that is labeled TSB (who knows what that stands for) and when I push it One Beep says now you can read the minutes of how long since the coffee was ready to drink.

. One BEEP you turned me off One BEEP also means you turned me on.

Toaster Oven
BEEP toaster is ON
BEEP BEEP BEEP toast is ready
Forget to hit cancel when you remove the toast…eeee eeeeeeee eeeeeee which continues until I push cancel (did I mention the eeee eeee has a weird combo of letters blinking while it eees)
Guess when it does not beep! If I push Toast/2 and don’t push START it does not BEEP, it just waits patiently until I look at it to see why it has not beeped to say Toast is ready.

Microwave
Each button pushed emits a BEEP as I touch it to program
When allotted time is up it says BEEEEEP BEEEEEP
It will continue to BEEEEEP at intervals for five minutes (this is to remind me I put a cup of cold coffee in to heat it up)

My Husbands Watch

My husband has a watch that he says he has NEVER set the alarm on it. At 8 am and 8 pm and one other time I can’t remember which, it says beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep it is a tiny almost unhearable (is that a word) sound that my husband can not hear. He has tried to turn it off each time I whine, no dice, it still does it. has for years


We have become a nation directed and reminded by beeps, watch this short video

This video PROVES WE ARE IN TROUBLE…… The Beeps were warning him his Landing Gear was not down...I mean Really! Need I say MORE?
 Do you have any beeps in your life? Do you depend on them?

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Sandra's Flutterby's

Our yard has many purple and red flowers and is a natural draw for butterfly's. I love to sit in the swing and watch them dance and flutter. sometimes they entertain us by dancing together over the pool. No photo of that, they move to fast for my focus.  today's photo's are from last summer.

the two photos above are the same butterfly, it is a Red Admiral and is territorial. they come to the same spot every day, rest on the same bush at night. Sits on the lip of the pool every afternoon between 3 and 5 and has been known to sit on Baby's back, Bob's back and my shoulder. There are two of them now, but no photo yet.






Spicebush Swallowtail above and below. Notice how it blends in with the plants and is very hard to see if I don't see it light there.


One night bob was in the yard with the dogs and he called me out and said watch this. The butterfly below would circle and land on the same bush. Circle and land on the same bush. I goolged and found they like to sleep in the same area, they roost at night. Who Knew?
SOOOO.....

I sneaked out in the dark and this is what i got. Wondrous to me!

Isn't he just beautiful in the dark and he did not mind the flashes as I clicked away.
If you look at the first 3 purple flowers on the side bar, it is different views of our purple passion vine. The passion flower is a butterfly magnet. They do the same things a bee does, move the pollen from plant to plant according to God's plan.


I saved my favorite for last, it is a White Peacock Buterfly. How Cool Is This?
He sat on my pink plastic chair by the pool and let me click away.
I think he might be an escapee from the Flutterby Gardens a few blocks away. I was glad he came to visit and I only saw him once and that was July of 2007. the other butterflies are common and can always be found in the hot summer time.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Flutterby Gardens

If you missed the Elephant Ear Post last October and you want to know more about the plant, click here Elephant Ear archive

Florida's unseasonably cold weather persists, and is forcing me to find spring photos in my archives. The fence belongs to a lady that has a butterfly farm, she actually sells butterflies and her garden is only a few blocks from my house.
Here is the link to Flutterby Gardens, so flutter on by and check out buying butterflies.
I remembered these  photos when I took these photos yesterday in my back yard. I saw movement in the only blooming plant in the yard (normally the yard would be full of blooms and butterflies by this time of year) and spotted this yellow moth.


enlarge photo to find the moth

I tracked it with my camera as it flitted from bloom to bloom and found it very difficult to get the lens to focus on it.

Butterflies are self propelled flowers. ~R.H. Heinlein

May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun
And find your shoulder to light on,To bring you luck, happiness and riches
Today, tomorrow and beyond.~Irish Blessing

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Spring Green is Springing!

We were in the back yard playing ball with our dog Jake, when I noticed a lot of new green, that special Springtime Green, brighter than the old green.
This is the view from my back door of what should be all green at this time of the year. For the past few weeks it has been all brown and ugly due to the cold winter (it is still 52 and 20 degrees below normal) .  I noticed new leaves on the banana trees and decided to look around the yard for new green.

this is new green elephant ear plants, only about 12 inches tall. I sat the camera on the ground and when i turned around was staring at yesterdays Mystery Photo.

and here is your answer.


it is the flower turning into a seed pod. Isn't it odd how taking a small portion of an object completely changes our perspecitve on what it is. Your guesses made me smile. 2 dried leaves from Snapper and Barbara (close, very close) 1 rain puddling on?Addicted to the Click (very close and true) and 3 something over the head to keep rain off Ginny, Betsy, and DawnTreader.

I fooled everyone because it was NOT from my trip to the plantation. Gotcha!

This is our powder puff bush, with the rain from last week, it is covered in bright pink powder puffs. the redish leaves in the middle of this photo (click on photo to see the leaves) is all new growth. On this bush new growth comes in red, then turns dark green overnight.
Thanks for all the guesses! Aint Bloggin Fun?

Monday, March 22, 2010

Patten House

The second house on the Gamble Plantation was built by Dudley A Patten in 1872.

In 1872, Major George Patten bought the property for delinquent taxes of $3,000 and since the mansion was in disrepair from the war, he built this house for his family. Unable to maintain the mansion, the land was subdivided and sold.


In 1925, the United Daughters of the Confederacy purchased the property and deeded it to the State of Florida. Gamble Mansion and Patten House have been restored to the appearance of their respective years.

this completes my series of post on Gamble Plantation

                                  mystery photo for today is below.
Who can guess what this is?