This is not as scary as it looks.

     It's a nifty device (made in Germany) for hollowing out eggs.  You only need to make one tiny hole (kit includes a small hole-boring device) and you don't have to black out trying to create Easter keepsakes.  I ordered this from Surma, a store catering to crafters of Ukrainian-style decorated eggs. 

     I attempted the Ukrainian wax-resist decorating technique exactly one time which was enough to understand that it would not be my mode of artistic expression.  But the egg blower is a blast!

Kale: it's what's for dinner!

I couldn't be happier with my Ragged Jack heirloom kale.

     Looking at this beautiful handful of greens, I already feel sad for wishing it could go one like this all summer but even though the catalogue blurb says this kale can withstand higher temps, we all know they don't mean Florida-high temps.  Oh well...I'll enjoy it while I can.

     I'm almost done transplanting the cukes and cherry tomatoes and I set my pigeon pea seedlings out in my new "Pigeon Pea Bed" (ta da!) so now there's nothing to do but wait.

     With the hardest chores out of the way, I can enjoy a Florida spring:

Tabebuia blossoms carpeting my drive.

Stunning (albeit slightly alien) bromeliad blooms.

Wha-what?!

My first pineapple in a looong time!  

My mouth is watering for the treat that is only, like, 8 months away.

One sad camellia bloom (that brown edge was there even when it was just a bud).

Still trying to figure out camellias...

A Venezuelan orchid that smells like ass.

I post pics of this every so often. I bought it years ago at an orchid show and out of all the orchids I've killed, this one persists.  

And continues to smell like ass (fly pollinated).

This spring orchid does not smell like anything,

and that's ok.

Every year I get one of these desk calendars via a friend of my sister's.  It's exciting to sort through all the patterns.  I eliminate the ones I'm not interested in, then eliminate the ones I'm not advanced enough to figure out, and that leaves me with a solid handful of projects to knit throughout the year.  The eliminated patterns are passed on to other knitters.

     I'd like to take this time to say, I miss stamps.

     I know they still exist but asking a postal worker to decorate a letter or parcel with the beautiful building blocks of their very trade is akin to pulling out a checkbook in a long line at the grocery store: nobody's happy about it.

     My German pen pal (yes, since 1981) takes the time to cover every missive that's sent through the postal service with these amazing stamps.  Despite my mental promises to do the same, whenever I'm  at the head of a long line at the post office, the computer always spits out another bar-coded abomination (strong word for a postage sticker but I think it applies) before I can work up the courage to ask for actual stamps.

     Next time!

     It's late and I'm craving dessert but looking at this scary picture cures my craving.  Whenever I see ice cream at the store that is welded to the shelf in a Thing-like block of frost, I demure.  Summer is coming and I'll reconsider then.

Pool Safety

     

     I pass this store at least once a month but never take the time to really consider their product line.  Finally, a red light and a photo. 

Stand your ground in your pool?

     And another strange juxtaposition...

     Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine a combination of my favorite series of science fiction books and my favorite pastime yet here it is:  a Dune-inspired knit hat.  Intriguing but I don't want to wear a hat that reminds me of a sandworm.  Maybe it's just me...

     A spring break visit by my sister and her family was a wonderful opportunity to enjoy some local activities that I don't usually make time for.

A visit to an orchid grower.

Several of the growers in the central Florida area allow the public to visit (call for times/appts).

     There are some deals to be had and the sheer quantity and variety is amazing.  

     The end result is a trip to Goodwill for an old suitcase and some creative packing techniques to get sis back to the midwest with her swag.  And yet another pic where I wish I knew how to photoshop some makeup onto my face.

     I had heard tell of a West Indian restaurant in Orlando and when I mentioned it to my sister, she was excited to give it a try.  We spent some time in Trinidad and Tobago many years ago so the menu would be a trip down memory lane.

I didn't recognize a dang thing!

I remember roti, doubles, and goat so I ordered that and had them add "pepper" to one of my doubles. Spicy but yummy!  The flavors brought it all back.  And they had a TV that was playing a cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.  A very enjoyable lunch.

I made sure we got to the beach so the kids could get up close and personal with nature,

and with NASA

Love a "stay-cation"

Dachshunds, 'possums, and other failures

     Here's all I have to say about mixing dachshunds and 'possums: oil and water!

There is now a sturdy little knee-high fence around the compost pile.

     We recently attended the Holi festival at the local Hindu temple.  I've been wanting to do this for a few years, ever since I saw the movie "Outsourced" (NOT the TV series).  I was relishing the abandon and beauty and potential photo op of being covered in brilliant powdered pigments.

Here's what we expected:

Here's what we got:

     To be fair, my nephew is probably a little young for his first rave and, judging by my fascination with the one little packet of powdered pigment I held in my hand, future Holi's can only get better!

     I used to joke with a coworker about the pose stars use to make their waist appear slimmer.

Sometimes it works:

And sometimes it fails:

     And on the home front, my continued failure to keep my house clean.  I try, a little, but apparently if I leave any given chair untended for a day, it's a green light for a spider slum to pop up.

     And why do the Carolina wrens keep flying in through my patio door?  The chickens don't even do that.  Sometimes I see the wrens do it, sometimes I just find a tiny bird poop on the living room floor.  Maybe it's time to lose the Martha-Stewart-inspired millet centerpiece on my dining room table.

     On a positive note, a shiny little success.

     Three weeks after my initial wine grab at the Wauchula WalMart, I made it back and ran right to the clearance rack.  Two last bottles of $5 wine, forlornly waiting for me on the bottom shelf, next to the melted Jolly Ranchers and fake sparkle UGGs for toddlers.  Sorry it took me so long but you are loved!

"Here comes the kale!" and lots more...

    Oh, wait, that's the "King" but the kale is coming along, too (the King makes for a better photo).  All the seeds I planted have sprouted with the exception of those dadgum papayas, so the garden is off to a good start.

     My attention was captured recently by this photo:

     Depending on who reads this blog, I might be busted for creeping on FaceBook but it was out of good-natured curiosity and it yielded this beauty.  I believe it is a Korean version of a Japanese kaiseki meal, a formal multi-course dinner that was priced out of my range when I visited Japan in 2005.  I have yet to visit Korea but when I get there, I want to eat everything on that table.

     A guest from my home country of Missouri visited for a fun long weekend.  We shopped at Ross where I, perhaps in error, passed on this t-shirt:

     It's mesmerizing, and not in a good way, but I think that can make for an entertaining t-shirt experience, like the woman I saw in the Winn Dixie parking lot wearing a shirt that read "Caliente!"   I assure you, it could only be taken in the most literal sense of the word.

     My guest enjoyed the benefits of the trolling motor I have on my kayak...

     ...a relaxing tour of the Haulover Canal area in the Indian River Lagoon with added benefit of...

     ...fresh spotted sea trout for dinner! Yes, I caught it and cleaned it myself.  What can I say besides "Multi-Faceted". 

     My guest is a pescatarian which is a vegetarian who abstains from eating meat with the exception of fish as long as it's not endangered and is caught "properly", ie hook and line for tuna as opposed to netting and decimating the entire school.  All this to say, we lunched in the cafeteria at the local Hindu temple and it was wonderful.

     It is a bare bones cafeteria experience...if you happen to be eating in a cafeteria in India.  Delicious with a side of "very interesting".  

     My guest also had time to coin the term "capreggings" for the pants I was wearing:

I hope it catches on.

     Alas, all good things must come to an end and, well, she went home.  

    So I got back to my projects.  I'm enjoying hand knotting fossil necklaces with silk or cotton bead cord.  Very satisfying and I love the finished product.

     Just in case you were wondering, it's a fossilized shark tooth strung with wood, black amber, and betel nut beads.  

     I also purchased some affordable art.

     No, it wasn't the liquor talking; I saw this posted on FaceBook and when I went to a bar and saw it in person, for $30, I shouted, "Sold!!!"  Thank you, Craig Beverly, for the "FUN".

     I'll end with this non sequitur (and I may be using that incorrectly but I don't care coz it sounds smart):  Mike is disappointed every time he glimpses this sign...

     No buffalo sauce...no blue cheese...no celery...