sunday, 29 march - we had a double birthday celebration last night over at the boat house and my contribution was to make the salad, so i prettied it up but noone actually got to see it!

while i was over at barnes & noble the other morning buying 'eclipse', i bought a pocket guide to the florida wild flowers and one for their birds and wouldn't you know it this is not in it! drats!!!

this one could be a birdsfoot violet, but i'm not 100% sure since the pics in this guide sometimes don't actually do the flower justice!

and these 2 photos are of something really strange, here are the 3 stages, the flower, the bud and the fruit! it looks kinda like something alien to me, doesn't it?

thursday, 26 march - here is another unknown tropical flower that is starting to bloom now!

even though we are getting lazier by the day down here, the other day i was up early enough to get this shot of the sunrise only because reg was going to play golf!

friday, 20 march - today is dear hubby's birthday, and as part of his gift, yesterday i brought him to 'butterfly world' and it was fantastic! we roamed around the aviaries for 3 hours and there were butterflies, moths, hummingbirds, flowers and parrots all flying around free! even though i had to practically drag him there, he really did enjoy himself and it's so magical and relaxing, that our shoulders actually just let go of all the stress that each day brings!

here are just a few of my favorite butterflies, moths, flowers and i will post the birds on my rocklady blog!

the top photo is a 'dryadula', the second is a passiflora 'inspiration', the third and fourth are a lily and an iris, but they are not in the guide, so i don't know which they are, the fifth not in the guide, six is a 'red cracker' and the last 2 are not in the guide either, sorry!

oh and btw, the header is a photo i took over there too. :)

sunday, 15 march - thought i'd show you some of the flowers that were blooming this morning when i did my walk. the top one is an unusual color or bougainvillia, the second one i cannot find the name of, the white one is a carissa and of course the best is always last, a bird of paradise!

friday, 13 march - here are some photos from the last couple of days, a plain old seagull, but they are so proud looking, aren't they. a collection of buoys on display just down the beach and the last one i'm not sure what he is, i'll have to look him up!

wednesday, 11 march - here are a few of my latest photos from this week. we were walking on the beach yesterday and this mastif was playing in the water, man he was big, plus there were 2 more of them up near the bushes! the crab was dead and on our way back, there was a seagull enjoying a crab lunch and finally, i don't know what kind of fish this is, but isn't he pretty!

wednesday, 4 march - yesterday we took the 'JUNGLE QUEEN CRUISE' which took us up the intercoastal up to the new river and onto an island with some beautiful and some scarey animals. the top photo is us ready to board the paddle boat, which a fisherman kindly offered to take of us all together (if you'll notice i still had a piece of a sandwich which i was trying to finish before we boarded and didn't realize that someone was going to take a photo of us, i was taking one of laura & justin and he offered)! unfortunately the birds and monkey are in cages and as you can see i haven't quite figured out yet how to make the cage disappear, only with the yellow bird did i manage it!

and the last photo of this humungous alligator was not farther than 2 arms lengths away from us, but very glad that there was a cement wall about chest high in between us!!!

monday, 2 march - laura and justin arrived on friday, so the weekend was very very busy sitting on the beach and swimming in the pool. after getting up at 4:45 am for a 7 am flight justin was bushed! he doesn't usually go to bed on a non-school night before 10 pm, but here it was 8:45 pm and he was fast asleep. on saturday morning we went for my usual walk and we saw this cormorant airing out his feathers and then we hit the beach where justin had a lot of fun riding the waves! see you in a few days!!!

tuesday - 24 february - here are a few of the photos i took this morning on my walk. i keep thinking that i have seen all the birds, etc... and then i take my camera just in case, and it has paid off big time! the top photo is one of a pod of manatees, the second is a beautiful orchid i saw along the road, the third i'm thinking is a baby, but a baby what i'm not sure, and the bottom is the best one i have gotten so far of the squacky parakeets!

saturday, 21 february - i loved this photo of this blue heron i saw the other day so much, that i just had to show it to you!

friday, 20 february - now here is a special treat for everyone, he is a 'black skimmer', he is not a resident, but a migratory bird which stops by every year and yesterday was the day, because there wasn't a one on the beach this morning! click on the photo to get a close up look at this guy's beak, the top part is shorter than the bottom, wonder what he eats!!! ;)

wednesday, 18 february - i wanted to get a photo of a pelican flying, because they are so graceful as they catch the wind current and just glide, and i did, but it just isn't as good as this one is! ;)

tuesday, 17 february - i was so happy this morning, because look what i got, not just one but two parakeets!

sunday, 15 february - a foggy morning over the ocean! i couldn't decide which photo i liked best, so here are my 2 favorites out of the 13 i took! ;)

saturday, 14 february - happy valentine's day!

we came back from a bar-b-q over at the boathouse last night at 11 pm and this snail was just outside our door. his shell was the size of a toonie!

i went the other direction this morning on my walk and went down to the inlet entrance where a lot of fishermen spend their day. this little guy which is a 'pin fish' was just caught by a gentleman as i walked by and as soon as i took the shot, he threw him back into the water.

by going that way i had to face walking across the inlet bridge that is grate in the middle b/c it opens every 10 mins. on the weekends for the boats to go through out to the ocean and you can see the water rushing way down there and it's very scarey! i didn't look down and i did try to take a shot, but you really can't tell what it is so unfortunately i can't show you how scarey it was!

friday, 13 february - i just never know what i will see when i go out for my walk in the morning, a fire truck the other day!

and look at the beautiful hibiscus i came across today, i just love the orange, especially with that red and pink center!

remember that unknown pink bloom that i posted last saturday, well it is a 'florida hydrangea'. a nice gardener, whom i asked when i took the photo, wrote it on a piece of paper and hung it on the branch with a clothes pin, wasn't that nice of him, i thought he would forget!

thursday, 12 february - thank you so much adam for identifying that little cutie down there as a northern mocking bird, can you guess what these guys are? i came across the white one yesterday and this morning i got the brown one which i've never seen that color before! ;) i love their blue eyes! :)

wednesday, 11 february - i have no idea what kind of bird this is, but he sure was a cutie and i was able to get quite close to him!