First Meal - Compliments Of The Bachelor Cafe

Fast and easy. Fresh cabbage sliced thin to resemble pasta. Italian recipe
canned tomatoes. Meat substitute meat balls. Green olives, Falaffel mix
added for spice and some olive oil to dress. I'm sure I must of added
some ground black pepper to.

Wrapping up a book of short stories that was due back to the Library.

Bachelor Cafe Exclusive - Yum!

Inspiration with this dish was what to do with some Broccoli stems.
Precooked high protein and fiber pasta, chopped Broccoli stems slightly cooked
before adding the rest of the ingredients. Peppers from garden, green olives,
garbanzo beans and some favorite marina pasta sauce and a drizzle of both
grape seed oil and my favorite unfiltered olive oil. Dash of freshly ground black
pepper corns.

Speaking Of Lizards

This rarely seen Green Anole lizard is making it's appearance known along with
a missed (flower) florescence that bloomed too late for my winter flower survey.
Match Stick Bromeliad - Aechmea gamosepala

Final Paver Design

 View shown from carport approach.

Scaled back some from original design and always taken in consideration.
This final design has been marinating now for three days and it looks like
a keeper.

Plenty nook and crannies, along with some elevations for the lizards to
investigate and a place for safety should there be a need.

 View shown from standing on back porch.

Found another ninety year old bottle. This came along with the sand that was 

once under my back porch. This sand was transferred to the back of the yard and 

now brought back and must of fell from my shovel because it was just lying

there along with a marble on the ground. The opalescence shown on the glass

is an indication that it's been in the soil for a long time. 

A Paver Design Update

Adding the an elevated round according to plan, which also reflects the roundness
of the post caps. The elevated round is a reuse, from what was once a padmount
for an outdoor house air conditioning unit.

Lizards will be able to use the space underneath this round to use as a shelter,
should they need it for such.

I'm getting that itch to take a detour from the original design. We shall see what
transpires from my creative restlessness.

Something From The Kitchen AKA The Bachelor Cafe

Lightly grilled Broccoli florets, chopped in your favorite Marinara and some high
protien, extra fiber pasta. Dash of freshly ground black pepper and a drizzle
of your favorite olive oil.

What more can an appetite need for it's first meal. Perhaps an organic apple
sliced for dessert.

Early Winter Flower Survey Concluding With The Last Entry - I Promise This Is The Last Entry

It's funny sometimes how the more you look the less you see.

As I was backing my car out of the driveway yesterday. I noticed an
African Iris in it's bud stage and not realizing that it would be at least
another day before they open up.

Well this morning was that day that it started to open up. Still not
opened in it's entirety, still worth including it in my winter survey.

Celebrate those little blossoms of what it is that makes your life special.

Early Winter Flower Survey Concluding With The Last Entry

This had to not only survive our first cold snap but also our second one
that his us just yesterday. Even though I don't have an official low temperature
because, one I don't have my own thermometer and the fact we have a
tendency to be a few degrees warmer than what is either broadcasted or
what registers on a typical phone weather app.

So when I looked outside from my front door and notice this Queen Crinum
blooming it's head off. It's long strap like leafs looking a bit forlorn for our
wintry temperatures. Has got to make it into my winter survey. To celebrate
it's tenaciousness and beauty. 

With an unofficial count of thirty-four flowering plants this winter.

Early Winter Flower Survey cont'd With Last Two Entrys In The Order The Were Found

This potted white violet has still yet to open fully at the time of this post, but
worth the inclusion to this winter survey.

This naturally occurring phenom of what we call blooming once again took
me by surprise. As I was eating my lunch on this sunny porch, getting my
dose of vitamin D sunshine. As I turned my head and spied this nodding
white bloom and it's still not to late to enter it in my winter survey.  

Early Winter Flower Survey cont'd With Last Three Entrys In The Order The Were Found

This blossom being a Camelia and right after our first cold snap of the year.
Not only is it at least a month too early to bloom, but there was no way I wasn't
going to included it in my first unofficial unscientific Winter Flower Survey.
Not realizing who long it was going to take me to post and not realizing just
how many flowers would be blooming.

Taking A Pause With Winter Flower Survey With A Paver Design Update

Coming along nicely. Added three more pavers and another concrete pad.
Those concrete pads can be back breaker if not careful. Still have to do
some leveling on the last install.

Here is the original design, where the scale might be off a bit but it gets

the idea across.

 
This paver design is not without sacrifice. There was a vine that I transferred
to a pot with hopes to save it for transplanting. A cypress knee was not that
lucky.

A couple of weeks ago on my way to Tampa I spied a Bonsai business that
had some of there work outside on display. Enough to make we want to stop
on the way back, which I did and was not disappointed. He had several
Bald Cypress trees that he had worked on among other specimens.Who better
to ask regarding Bald Cyress knees and whether they could be dug up, separated
from it's parent tree and survive on it's own. He didn't think so, then proceede
to show me one bonsai Bald Cyress tree where he had grafted a Cypress knee to it.

So after this past summer's Bald Cyress knee experiment, where once again I
found myself in a similar predicament. I was having a new porch installed and
I had a bush that needed moving, and it dosen't transplant well, and yet it was a
success. Then there was this Bald Cyress knee that was too close to the site were
the new porch was to be formed and poured. Too many unknowns and  no
guarantees. So, to expand my hopes and dreams of achieving the next to imposible.
I decided to experiment with this exhumed Bald Cyress knee and place it in a
container sunmerged in some rain water. Placing an air hose connected to an
aquarium pump to keep the water circulating, thus preventing mosquitoes
from breeding. Imagined a combination day spa and life support.

Fast forward five months and thirty-five Polywogs added to this Bald Cyress knee
sanctuary. At least there were these Polywogs that were thriving. It wasn't the last
Polywog had transformed to a frog and left it's watery world is when I had to
pull the plug on this futile experiment.

It's not to say I won't try again, who knows. I might get lucky and do
some digging on the internet.

Something From The Kitchen AKA The Bachelor Cafe - Wild Salmon Salad

The salmon may be from a can but it's no worst that what passes as wild sockeye
salmon now a days. Our local grocery chain that so happens to based here has
been selling some tasteless, you know what the pass five years now. The last time
I tasted a really wild salmon was last year up north and found a so called Chum
Pacific salmon. It was frozen but hey it had that distinct salmon taste that a lot
of fish eaters don't necessarily care for.

My recipe calls for some Avocado, Shallot, Celery, Yellow Mustard, Key Lime Juice,
Ground Black Pepper, Hungarian Pepper from the garden and Organic Pink Lady Apple,
peel and all. Oh and some whole Pecans. Yum!

Eating it outdoors to get some vitamin D. It was at this time that I spotted another winter
flowering plant to conclude my Winter Survey.

Taking A Pause With Winter Flower Survey With A Paver Design Update

Still following original design at a rather leisurely pace with
two pavers and two bricks later into the intended design.

Early Winter Flower Survey cont'd Tomato Blossom

These distinct blossoms belong to an unknown variety of Turkish tomato.
This has to be most favorite variety of tomato this past year in a half. I've had
a really good run with  a cherry tomato called Sweet One Hundred also. I
also prefer to grow my tomatoes in pots and my own compost.

I even rescued a tomato plant that I found along side the front curb of my yard.
Some pare shaped tomato that looks pretty cool but that's about it. Most yellow
colored tomatoes lack the acid that to me is what makes a tomato. While some
find that acid is what makes it something to be avoided.

Early Winter Flower Survey cont'd Solanum melongena 'Ichiban' - Japanese eggplant

This particular variety of eggplant has done really well here. Last year I was
able to pull it though all our seasons. There was a touch an go moment when
it got a bad infestation of mites. Nothing that a heavy pruning and a blast of 
soapy water can't tackle.

Early Winter Flower Survey cont'd Capsicum annuum - Baby Bell Pepper

I've already showcased what we normally think of flowers in this rather informal
survey. From the common weed to a more traditional cultivated specimens known
specifically for their flowers. To rather inconspicuous flowers and now we have a
flower that may not be all that familiar let alone recognizable because it will soon
turn into a vegetable.

Early Winter Flower Survey cont'd Malvaviscus penduliflorus - Turks Cap Hibiscus

This caught my eye for not only a splash of color in a sea of green but that the
bloom itself was open. Not your typical bloom where as they are a tightly wound
blossom who's insides rarely see the light of day. These blooms are also edible.
If you catch these blooms when they are newly formed, you might catch a
drop of their sweet nectar. They will also have a slime like texture not unlike okra.

Early Winter Flower Survey cont'd Billbergia nutans - Bromeliad

Another late bloomer. Sometimes a heavy rainy season is all it takes to push
out another round of flowers, or in this case, fluorescence.

Early Winter Flower Survey cont'd Brugmansia hybrid 'Peach' - Angels Trumpet

The blooms on this specimen are setting rather late in their blooming season.
That's the blessing and curse of growing plants in our Florida climate. These
two blooms did manage to just open before getting zapped by a cold snap
last week.

This specimen is quite old and needs a rejuvenating prune. My a new specimen that
 I acquired last year which, bloomed for the first time about a month ago. Not only is
the flower's color more pink but also has a very distinct fragrance than the one pictured.
These plants are known for their fragrance, that at times can be quite over powering that
will fill the night air.
To describe my newly acquired Angel Trumpet fragrance is that it smelled like something
that is man made, familiar and not what one would think as of being organic.

Early Winter Flower Survey cont'd Russelia equisetiformis lutea - White Firecracker

This specimen generally has red flowers and like most plants there will always
be an albino version. I believe this to be a case. Every once in a while you will
find this bloom where half the trumpet will sport it's original red origins and
the other half, this creamy ivory. This happens as often as I see my once prolific
green anole lizard.

Taking A Pause With Winter Survey With A Cautionary Winter Hazard

While most of the East coast and I suppose most of the North America
brace for a deep freeze. Here in central Florida has it concerns.

Where I live managed to have avoided those predicted temperatures that
could have been cruel but some times a reality of living in the sub-tropics.
We here know what needs to happen to intervene those subfreezing damaging
conditions.

I have to take a pause to get past what passes as acceptable practice here in
Florida to waste our natural resource that is so precious and running into
a preventable disaster. That is also known as our source of fresh water.

It's my choice to determine what plants will get an invite into my home
and shelter. This routine can only take a couple of hours in practice, but
sometimes more in taking not only a walk around but a mental survey
of what plants get to be rescued.

The upside is this sight of a welcoming committee that puts a smile on
my face when I walk through my back door.

 

Early Winter Flower Survey cont'd Tradescantia spathacea - Oyster Plant

This specimen has seen better days. Must of captured it at it's end cycle of blooming.
Just in time for my inaugural winter survey.

Early Winter Flower Survey cont'd Lantana montevidensis “Alba” - Trailing White Lantana

This and the Lavender Lantana are subjected to the similar harsh conditions
that keep it in a constant state of near existence.

Early Winter Flower Survey cont'd Lantana montevidensis - Lavender trailing lantana

This trailing specimen has been hanging on for years now. It still pops up it's

flower head here and there.

Early Winter Flower Survey cont'd Clerodendrum speciosissimum - Giant Salvia

Just discovered another common name for this specimen that seems more
appropriate than what I've been calling it.

This truly looks like a Giant Salvia. From now on, this plant, formerly known
as Pagoda Flower. Shall be called by it newly discovered name.

Early Winter Flower Survey cont'd Tibouchina urvilleana - Tibouchina

Another gaudy flower not uncommon in the Florida landscape. What drew me
to this specimen is what happens to the blooms once spent.

Anyone who has seen the movie, What Dreams May Come, may know what I mean.

Early Winter Flower Survey cont'd Setcreasea pallida - Purple Queen

This specimen will take over the garden if you let it. Meaning, if you provide
it with anything above and beyond what nature provides. It's your fault.

I even took an extra measure by placing it in harsher conditions to keep it
in control. Hotter and dryer west afternoon sun, life giving sun can also
take that life away.

It's not like this specimen relies on pollination to stay in the game.

Early Winter Flower Survey cont'd Cuphea hyssopifolia - Mexican Heather

This specimen has been in the yard quite a few years now. This location
is new and has settled in quite readily. Second new location is out front
close to where it has resided all it's time. Just needed to change it up
and give myself and this specimen a new lease on it's own landscape.

It's easy to stop seeing some of these old standbys. A new location can
breath new appreciation for these little wonders of life.