I got nothing but you get something anyway

 

I got nothing but you get something anyway! Left Overs from my drafts more than a month ago. Its been 9 weeks since Bob stopped walking. 

Because the big fern loves the front porch, and the begonia in the pot on the front porch bench, died, I replaced it with ferns, which I yanked out of the fern bed under the window. 

I picked this and sat on the kitchen sink and admired them all day and snapped photos just for you.

Well really, they were for me, the MAD Snapper. Next morning the flowers were closed.

I sat them on the kitchen table in the sunshine and watched them and when the sun moved, I sat them in the window and at lunch time they were all open again...

Above was from April 1st, below from April 16

this is how the fern looks now, 2 months later, I totally forgot they were on the porch and it all died, 3 pots of ferns and the one year old begonia, dead and gone.

The good news is, the staghorn that we thought was dying from Hurricane Milton knocking it about 7 months ago, shouted hallelujah when last week we got 2 inches of rain and is looking great

Also I stepped out on the porch last week and lo and behold the Columbian House, that is what we call it, has added green lights. I love it, Bob says it looks like a Motel 6. I still love it.

Last but not least, when there is nothing to post about I just grab things I see and post it

Below is my rice pasta salad and the new topping is delish.. 

Sumac! I love the tasted and its IBS friendly.. delish on fish, but don't bake it on the first, sprinkle after, because the ground up Sumac turned back into tiny pieces of 

TREE haha when baked

Good Fence - Ferns and drive by

My fascination with Ferns and the shadows they make, are only surpassed by my addiction to taking photos of them... I never tire of staring at them and I am thankful to show you our December ferns.

Joining Good Fence Thursday with TexWisGirl

Drive by fence on the way to Dollar General..

Elephant Ears, Ferns, Hibiscus Oh My

I can't seem to help myself when it comes to the sun pointing out the leaves and flowers and ferns in our yard. Each time I take a photo of it I come inside and put it on my desktop to keep that moment alive...

I took the week end off from comments/posting just so you know.

Same Flower, Same Day,  Different times,

Above at 7:43 AM with flash and below at 10:43 AM with sun.

it looks like two different flowers but it is not

the flowers start folded and each hour they change and open wider and wider.

Florida Flora Story

I can not find the name of this fern, it is the type they put in floral arrangements

In 1970 my husband and his family moved here from PA. His wife very carefully moved her potted ferns that grew out doors in summer and indoors in winter.

 One each of above and below photos

Kimberly Queen Fern or Nephrolepis obliterata

She was totally surprised to find they grow in the ground here, grow wild and take over, spreading like weeds

The queen fern came from Austraila and if left alone grows to 4 feet high. The unknown fern has long feelers, see below. they reach out and grow up and up and over and through and will rip your ankles to pieces. Bob battles this fern and there is no way to get rid of it.

You can see it grows even in our winter months, these are current photos.

I love both ferns.. Bob Battles On.

We think if we moved out of the house and left it sit for a few years it would be hidden from sight.

Good Fence Thursday49

On my 1.6 mile drive to Dollar General I passed this fence and shot it through the windshield.

 Below is the Re-max building next door to Dollar General. Photo taken from my side window. ..

Photos taken February 19, 2015......I love Florida. and living under 3 miles from every where I shop.

Joining TexWisGirl for Good Fence Thursday.. Pop on over ..

Pltycerium is down again........

100 pound Pltycerium AKA stag-horn fern photo from archives

STAGHORN IS DOWN AGAIN... the wind blew it right out of the chains, and left them dangling. He just hung it back up for the 2nd time. 1st the chain limb broke off, 2nd the chains broke.

Our weather is doing the roller coaster thing AGAIN ... Friday  was 79 F and HOT...

Saturday morning we woke up to a cool 69 degrees going to 64, down not up and after dark dropping to 45 on Sunday am...

We woke up at 4 am to the sound of howling wind, wind that we could hear it was so loud..  and 45 degrees.. I said to Bob, that wind is scaring me... I did not find out until today, Sunday AM at 5 when I read about the tornado that touched down at 4 AM Saturday morning in our State park that is about 20 miles from us.
No wonder the Staghorn fell...

Excerpt from Bradenton Herald
Iit touched down in the Myakka State Forest as an EF-0. Winds were estimated at 85 miles per hour. IThe twister stayed on the ground for about one mile, snapping trees and tossing a ranger station trailer 40 yards away. The trailer was destroyed. No one was injured.

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2015/01/25/5600312_tornado-touches-down-in-myakka.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

Bradenton Herald Tornado Touches Down

The Ferns Saw There Shadow......

The ferns saw there shadows and there is Six more weeks of  "Florida"

Ferns were not my intended subject click on Fourpawsetc.... to find the true focus.

Found on Facebook

Ferns Etc Etc...

Some people, in order to discover God, read books.  But there is a great book:

 the very appearance of created things.

Look above you!   Look below you! Read it...

 God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink.

'
instead, He set before your eyes the things that He had made.

Can you ask for a louder voice than that?   

 St Augustine quote

Check out the Blow Fly Angel on top of the dwarf poinciana, can you see his red eyes? Or maybe he is a toe dancer fly.........

I wish my mother could have seen these ferns... on the 22nd of Sept she would have been 88 years old, she died at 63... I found the song If I could hear my mother pray again and here it is in my kind of music.

Platycerium Hissie

Our 100 pound Pltycerium AKA stag-horn fern (some call it elk-horn) fell to the ground with the limb it was hanging on. The plant was fine, but it caused me to stage a major hissy fit. See below definition of Hissy

In the interest of keeping this post to a minimm, I will state the Major Happenings... you fill in the rest of the story.

Think.... 77 year old husband.....extension ladder, (yes, the one with the passion plant on it) forget that part..

Now Think....ladder on limb....fat old me holding it.... hubbies feet on the rung HIGHER than my head...

Next think.... 25 pound come-along

 ...Hubby yells hand it UP to me, (HOW if I am holding the ladder). I let go the ladder....mightily lift it up while waiting for the ladder to crash.

He comes down the ladder, and says "I will lift the plant chain to you and you hook it in the com-a-long. Be ready, I can only hold it for a second....Well, of course he can't, it weighs 100 pounds and is as big as VW bug and by now I am in a hissy of a fear fit and hyperventilating.

the plant is hooked, the man goes back up the ladder to ratchet the thing up where it goes, it feels  like 4 hours until it is there since my hands and arms are throbbing from clutching the ladder so tight.

Guess what happened next.... The Come-along was Stuck, it would not UN ratchet, it would not let go of the chain, it would not come down and THE MAN was now on the rung 2 feet above my head stabbing the wires with  a LONG SHARP SCREW DRIVER... another 4 hours passed, stag-horn was HUNG and I was nearly passed out from adrenaline from the hissy fit.


LET ME MENTION HERE.... the neighbors KITTEN decides to come and wind around my feet, leap up and tap the plant fronds, try to climb the ladder, chase a lizard and now i have to worry if it will run 3 feet into traffic...OR the 100 pound plant will crush it and it will not be all the way dead... see where my mind was going?  Did I mention the scenario where the ladder falls with the plant and the man on me, we are both laying on the side of the street waiting for a passing car to call 911?

IF YOU ARE NOT WORN OUT from reading and want to see other post on STAGHORN click here

Textures by God

God's textures in our backyard

 Conversation at lunch...

Bob: "Tony Stewart broke his leg"

Sandra: "Who's Tony Stewart?"

 Bob: "Sprint car"

Sandra: "in the car?"

Bob: "what?"

Sandra: "did he break his leg in the car?"

Bob: "yes."

Sandra: "For Pete's sake, what are you talking about?"

Bob: "he flipped his car."

I kid you not this is exactly what was said... in my head I was saying DO I CARE? I don't even know who he IS....

Above is photo without fill flash and below is with fill flash, Fill flash makes a big difference in macro photography...

Ferns in the Sunlight

This is National Police Week, there have been 21,465 deaths of officers in the line of duty, since 1791.

Above is the front page of the Virtual Officer Down Memorial Page with all officers listed by name and by state.

Under The Officers Tab you will find this page and can search by state and city.
God bless our officers and keep them safe.....