Florida Flora and Fauna

Hi Everyone -

[I start today's blog with two corrections from last week. 1. I incorrectly identified the fish I caught as Bluefish. My father enlightened me that these were, in fact, Ladyfish. 2. We showed two pictures of birds and identified them as Coots. In fact, the black and white bird was a Coot, but the black bird with the red beak was a Moorhen. You may now return to your regularly scheduled blog.]

Not a whole lot new and exciting this week, but I will start with some of my pics from my daily stroll around Lake Carillon.

TODAY ONLY! Buy one alligator, get one FREE!

Usually the gators are by themselves. I think love may be in the air, because these two were hanging out again today.

Look at this pretty, blue-eyed Anhinga.

Saturday, we mainly worked around the house. We repotted 9 plants, got some new flowers, swept the deck, etc. Our plants are very happy here. This orchid has about 50 buds on it.

I also got a small Gardenia plant that smells amazing.

We liked it so much, Glenn went out and bought a Gardenia bush and some other flowers and made a new flower bed in the yard.

Overall, the place is shaping up pretty nice.

Sunday, we went to Kapok Park for a pretty morning stroll.

We attempted to go fishing again Sunday night off the causeway, but it was filled with drunken hillbillies, it was windy and cold, and there was nowhere to stand. We ended up fishing at Phillipe Park, but were attacked by noseeums, who despite being incredibly tiny, still bite. (The fish did not bite. Hence, we have no photos of this event.)

Anyway, that's about it. Except that I asked Glenn to have a new housekey for me and this is what he got me.

Best key ever! (MON-KEY)

Also, in case you had any doubt, Deuce seems to think he is a person.

Anyway, a relatively quiet but beautiful weekend here in the south. Hope you all are doing well!

Sunrise over Safety Harbor

Hello Everyone, and welcome to the latest installment of the blog!

Today's blog is sponsored by my alligator friend and lunchtime companion.

Hello!

The gators took to the waters this week, as the weather has been warm and wonderful.

Also, Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Glenn in a wee hat.

On Saturday, Glenn and I went to our favorite local park for a walk.

The park is along the shores of Lake Tarpon. Here are some of the local inhabitants.

This pic, and the one before it, is of a coot.

I like this pic!

So anyway, let's head back towards the swamp.

It was along this path that we were attacked by a one-eyed squirrel. Terrifying! (He may have had a knife.)

On Sunday, we got up early to go put Dad's saltwater rods and reels to the test and go fishing from the Safety Harbor Pier. We got there in time to be treated to a lovely sunrise, so I am just going to inundate you for a few minutes here.

Yeah, that's me.

And now for some gulls.

And a dolphin...

And a manatee.

But hey, let's get to the fishing!

The exciting news is that I actually caught two fish. Dad will have to verify this, but I am pretty sure these are bluefish. The first was about 15 inches and the second was probably around 13. They were good fighters and I was glad Glenn purchased a net.

Sadly, Glenn didn't catch any, but he had some hits. We fished with live shrimp, which we were told that all the fishies down here like. We will definitely go out again.

So after fishing, we went to Safety Harbor for lunch, where they were once again holding their annual chalk fest. Here is some of the chalk art we saw.

Playing with perspectve

So wow, sorry, this ended up being a huge blog! I actually got tired and had Deuce write some of it.

Anyway, I hope you are all doing well and that you enjoyed this post. I'll leave you with my favorite sunrise pic.