Todays endangered species lesson

This morning I biked to the boardwalk again. There are lots of gopher tortoise living in the dunes there. First I came to a burrow so I took a picture of it wishing that I could get a picture of a tortoise. I went a little further and there was one sunning himself in front of his burrow. Gopher tortoise have recently been put on the threatened species list. There burrows can be up to 40 feet in length and up to 10 feet deep, and offer refuge to 360 animal species, including the indigo snake, pine snake, gopher frog, Florida mouse, burrowing owl, and so on. They are thought to live 40-60 years. You can find out more by googling gopher tortoise.

Second blog of the day

Just needed to show you how I kept myself busy this afternoon. The bougainvillea (yes I looked up the spelling) bush had gotten out of control even though I had cut it back the first week I was back. It also hangs over the neighbors half of the yard and was attacking my screens and leaning on my roof. I always end up with a lot of scratches but I won't bother to show you those.

Well, I seemed to be having an "emo" week (see Cindy's blog),as well as an Elmo week (which is rather fun). Anyway, I actually slept without the air on last night and it was so nice this morning I decided to get on my bike and ride the two and a half miles to the board walk. Then I walked the mile and a half around the park and rode my bike home. It was great. I don't like the picture of me, but I havne't tried that taking a picture of yourself thing because I didn't think my arms were long enough but I climbed the tower on the board walk and wanted a picture of myself with the lighthouse in the background, so even though I don't look good, I did what I had wanted to do so there it is

Books are our friends

This morning Luke Michael and I took a trip to Borders bookstore. All the books he pulled out were about Elmo, the first one was a book he already has at home. His initials are LMO and Alex's friends nicknamed him Elmo when he was still tiny. Of course what he enjoyed most was the spaciousness of the place and the fact that he could run. Luckily we were the only ones in the childrens section so he could run all he wanted to. He does love to sit down and have you read him a story when he has gotten rid of some of his energy.

Since I forgot my camera yesterday when Luke Michael and I went on adventures I've decided to copy Karl and use an "oldy but goody" picture. Just incase anyone was wondering what speedos looked like in the good old days. This is a picture of my grandfather Pratt back in the 1930's or 40's ready for a swim. The picture was taken in Royalston, Massachusetts.

For Kirsten and Carl

Yesterday as I drove across the north causeway I noticed this founders day sign. It made me think of Kirsten and Carl. In the neighborhood they live in they don't have house numbers, but each house has a name. When they bought their house they didn't really like the old name so after much thought and after a visit to New Smyrna where they ran into someone who was really into the history of our city they decided to give it the old name of "Smyrnea". You don't see that in print very often so this morning I got on my bike and rode over the bridge and down the causeway and took a picture of the sign. The other picture is the plaque that Kirsten and Carl had made for their house in England, which for awhile they kept beside the old name so that the postman could get used to the new name.

Lots of acorns in Florida

This picture shows just a small portion of the acorns that are available here in Florida for any squirrel who does not have his acorn butter made yet. The acorns on the live oak trees, which is what grows here, are smaller than the ones on the oak trees in New England, but this is obviously a really good year for acorns. They fall on my roof when the wind blows and crunch under my feet when I walk out the back door to go to my car. So far I haven't seen many squirrels, so, come on down.

Early morning truck ride

I know you have all seen Luke Michael and his pink swim cap on Tamara's blog, but this morning he was hardly out of bed when he found the pink cap. LD had gone out to let the dogs out and Luke Michael opened the sliding glass door and went out and hopped on his truck, Sponge Bob pajamas, pink swim cap and all. The dogs always move out of his way when they see him on the truck. They were already on the other side of the fence but even the cat got out of his chair and jumped over the fence. That tells you a lot about Luke Michaels truck driving.

Not a lot exciting, but since Luke Michael has rediscovered the little, singing, talking, noise making dog that Alina gave him for Christmas I thought I would put a picture of that on my blog. His favorite song is "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and he knows exactly where to push to make the dog sing it, which he did at least 50 times yesterday. Of course I'm not sure if it is the dogs singing or Oma's actting out of the song which entertains him. He also likes to "sing" along making little humming noises.

This morning I decided it was time to take a bike ride on the beach. Thus the picture of my bike, to prove that I was on the beach. I only rode about 2 miles, didn't go all the way to the inlet. It is just too hot. It definetly is starting to look like an autumn beach. I had actually stopped to take a picture of the sargasso seaweed, which we see a lot of in the fall, and the birds are starting to migrate so there were small flocks of them resting. The bird in the picture is a Willet. Willets are long-legged, long billed birds distantly related to sandpipers, plovers and terns.

Since I live at the beach and enjoy walking there I've decided to try and learn a bit about what is out there. So when I don't know what else to put on my blog I thought I would share some of this knowledge with those of you who might be interested.

Today it is about sea foam. Sea foam comes from small and drifting plants and animals (plankton). When the sea is rough it brings billions of these microscopic creatures to the surface, pulverizes their cells and whips their fat into foam.

Going back a few years

Well, Alex and Samantha are off to school and I'm still waiting for Luke Michael to wake up so I can put on my catchers mask and start my day. Samantha seems to think one needs to wear a helmet to protect you from flying objects, but I worry more about my glasses.

I was looking at my pictures, but most of my pictures are on my desk top computer in New Smyrna, so, I decided to post this picture from the past. I was seven years old and had just skipped second grade and gone into third. Bad move. I never caught up socially, but who knows, maybe I never would have caught up socially. It is one of the few picture of myself as a child that I can look at without cringing. Usually my hair had been tied up in rags the night before and I had all this curly out of control hair that I didn't think looked nice at all. The jumper was either blue or green. I had one of each and mostly that is what I wore to school with a different blouse under it. I hated third grade because all of my friends were in second grade and even played on a different play ground. I remember going to school all excited to be in second grade and when I got there they put me into the third grade room. It seems my mother didn't want me in the same class room with Billy, who was entering first grade and since I could already read well it was decided to move me, however I was not consulted nor prepared for the move. I just found out when I got to school and picked out my second grade desk. Mrs. Parsons was the third grade teacher and she was old and ready to retire and was not nice. Mrs. Eddy was the first and second grade teacher and was nice. I didn't enjoy school again until 5th grade when I had a new teacher called Michael Halpin. He was let go after his first year in that school. I was never told why even though my mother was on the board of education that helped make the decision. From there he taught in an American school in England and he still lives in England and I still correspond with him at Christmas. I really enjoyed that year in school, but I haven't found any pictures of it. That will be for another day.

Luke Michael and Oma start their day.

This is my first day back at Tamara's with Luke Michael. Samantha is off to school and Alex is in bed with a really bad cold. Just thought I would show you how Luke Michael and I started our day by having breakfast together and then a walk to the post office so I could mail some turtle stuff. He actually walked part of the way home, but I could not get a picture of that as I was too busy trying to keep up with him.

A Little Nostalgia

While hoeing out cupboards, closets and drawers at The Old Lilacs this summer I came across this book on Mah Jong, and it started bringing up a bunch of memories that had been hidden somewhere in the recesses of my mind. It began with Aunt Chloe. I must have been about 4 or 5 years old. Grammie and Grampa Schlosser took Billy (3 0r 4 years) and me up to Granville with them to visit Aunt Chloe. We were probably visiting Gramma Tripp as well, but because of what happened I only rmemeber Aunt Chloe. When we got out of the car Billy shut his fingers in the car door. This resulted in many tears and much loud crying. Aunt Chloe took us into the back room downstairs and bandaged his hand and as he was still upset she took out this little wooden box and let him open the drawers and take out the colorful little tiles that were in there. That was my first acquaintance with Mah Jong. I don't remember exactly when I became the owner of that little box. Obviously when Aunt Chloe died Grammie Schlosser inherited it. I think it was after I was married I saw the box in Grammie's house and mentioned how I remembered that incident at Aunt Chloes and she asked if I would like it. Luke and I used to play different games (Scrabble, Battleships, Mastermind) to wile away the evenings before we had kids, so I said yes. It went with us to Belgium and in typical Luke fashion, he eventually researched Mah Jong and found the rules in Dutch as well as in English. We played it at home, trying to teach the kids on rare occasions, but after we built our house in Deinze we had these Dutch neighbors, Otto and An Kuitenbrouwer, and in the mid 1970's we started playing weekly with them. They even bought their own game and we played one week at their house and the next week at ours. When I got out the little box this morning to take the pictures for this blog, the first thing I saw when I pulled open the top drawer was the score sheet that Luke so carefully kept updated and saved. Maybe it's time to re-read the Mah Jong rules and teach my grandchildren to play.

I'm still learning

Sorry about the previous blog. I've tried to delete it and start over but can't figure out how. I didn't realize it was saving what I wrote every time I wrote it. I was trying to get the writing to go around the picture. Now it says it may take up to 24 hours to delete, so who knows, it may disappear one of these days. I'll learn yet

First Days of School

Today is the first day of school this year for Alex and Samantha. I think it is the first 1st day that I have missed since Alex started kindergarten. So, here are a few "First Day" memories.

Today is the first day of school

this year for Alex and Samantha.

I think it is the first 1st day of

school I've missed since Alex

started kindergarten. So, here

are a few "First Day" memories.

Today is the first day of school this year for Alex and Samantha. I think it is the first 1st day of school I've missed since Alex started kindergarten. So, here are a few "First Day" memories.

Hurray for water pressure

I've been thinking about this blog ever since I got back here and took my first shower. After having stood under the shower in Granville waiting for half an hour to get the shampoo rinsed out of my hair, I was nearly knocked over when the water first hit me here. My bathroom is the one room that I have done over since this house became mine. I designed it and ordered the tub, sink and faucets online, so I was very proud of myself. Of course LD did all the heavy work and was not so happy with the way some of the things had to go together, but it got done and I love it. It is also my turtle room with turtles on the curtains and the art work done by a local artist on the walls. So, today some pictures of my bathroom.