Gators on to the College World Series

Just returned from watching the Gator Softball team win and qualify to go to the College World Series with a victory over the Arizona State Sun Devils. Go Gators! Sharon was at work, but claims I was all over ESPN. In fact she sent me a text that said who is that lady sitting next to you that you are talking to? My goodness.
Couple pictures with my camera phone.

It is hard to move a dwarf – Crape Myrtle that is.

Yesterday (5/20) I spent the entire day digging-out, and then moving a Crape Myrtle to a mound I created over an old oak stump. I believe the tree is a Hopi variety which is a semi-dwarf and has beautiful fuchsia red blossoms with tiny yellow centers. We had to move it or loose it as we get ready to construct a front porch. Hopefully my meticulous work of digging out the roots, followed by brute strength to move the several hundred pounds to its new home will work. We shall see. Here is a picture of the roots being exposed and then its new home.

Sharon in ALBUQUERQUE, NM 5/4-5/11/10

This was my first trip to see Dan, Ali, Dexter, Ophelia, and Bossley at the new assignment at Kirtland AFB. Their home is terrific. The rock yards in the development are really very nicely done and I really like the look. They all seem to have settled in nicely and the weather was terrific except for the wind storm that lasted about 14 hours of 50mph nonstop wind!

We celebrated Dexter’s birthday on 5/5 and some friends stopped by to add to the fun. He got a wonderful water table toy from his Gram and played with it daily! I got to see where Ali works and where Dexter goes to school. Ali worked for 2 shifts while I was in town so it gave me a chance to do some exploring on my own. I checked out Old Town top to bottom and found a couple of small souvenirs to bring home. I went to the Albuquerque Museum of Art where they feature a lot of outdoor sculptures and at the Museum of Natural History and Science I saw a great movie about the ocean off Africa. They have a lot of dinosaur fossils that I’m sure Cole would enjoy.

On Sunday Ali, Dexter, and I took the Sandia Peak Tram 2.5 miles up the mountain side for some amazing views and a bit of hiking. Albuquerque sits down in a plain that is surrounded on 3 sides by the Sandia part of the Rocky Mts. The mountains and mesas were beautiful! Dexter enjoyed the tram and getting to be in the snow!

I look forward to returning to NM—there’s a lot to see outside of the city (Santa Fe, Taos, Roswell, etc). So, I hope Dan and Ali get to stay there for awhile so we can continue to explore the Land of Enchantment!

The April 30 Storm

The month of April saw almost no rain and with 2 hours to go at 10pm the heavens let loose a month’s supply that came down. 3” in about 90 minutes of wild winds including hail! It stopped almost as it started, but power lines were down; trees were uprooted and roofs of our neighbors were punctured. Some had broken windows. Many fences came down as tree limbs fell on them. We are so pleased that we had taken out our infected oak tree about a month before, as it would have brought down our fences and maybe hit the neighbors house. Here are some pictures from our street.

Mapping of Prairie Creek Cemetery

Today board members of CBI (Conservation Burial, Inc.) went out to the Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery. We mapped out the road ways and picked a spot near some live oak trees to construct a pavilion. The site is 75 acres of which we plan to mark out 25 acres for grave sites and restore the land. There will be trails for hikers that link up to Prairie Creek Preserve which in turn links to the Gainesville-Hawthorne trail.
For all the pictures of todays outing go to:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=168782&l=0401cd5a39&id=617928368

Fernandina Beach Shrimp Feast 2010

For the last six or seven years in a row, Sharon and I have attended at least one day of the Fernandina Beach Shrimp Feast. This is one of the largest art and craft shows in Florida. The setting is great in old downtown Fernandina and is spiced up with pirates taking over the shrimp boats. Anyway fun ensues and many vendors make money for local charities selling shrimp dishes, boiled, steamed, fried – you name it – you will find it served up for a price.

I use to take pictures of the art, but many artists do not like this practice. So this year I tried to focus on the art on people’s shirts and some pictures of the crowds. This year’s crowd seemed larger to me, that maybe a good sign for the local economy.

Here are some pictures of Sharon, Dottie and me and links to all the T-shirt art and some of the crowd. Link to Facebook pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=165344&id=617928368&l=5cefd35cbe

Early Spring

Walking around the backyard here is a few shots of early flowers.