Laying the foundation for the Florida garden

It's January and in Florida

that means it's time to start the garden.

I'm working very hard to stay organized so this year I am using the little peat pellets to start my heirloom seeds and I'm going to clean and save the plastic trays for next year.  

I promise!

Even though it's "dead of winter" here in central Florida

my orchids are going nuts.

Old Reliable.

This one only blooms about every other year but I moved it this summer and I'm thinking it likes it's new position on the patio.

Brassavola nodosa (one of the few names I remember) usually blooms for me in warmer weather.  The scent only comes out at night and the cooler weather seems to have damped that down.  Still, pretty to look at.

Subtle encyclia doing its thing.

This orchid rhynchostylis doesn't bloom much for me and is SO SLOW to grow.  I would move it but the first thing it ever did was to entwine its roots in the fence, so there it remains.  

Happy to see a cluster of buds!

(I would like to mention that I am listening to YouTube "8 Hour Tibetan Meditation Music" on headphones and it is JUST. RIGHT.  Try it next time you're surrounded by screaming children.)

Very excited about this cataleya!

I bought it last February and the seller promised it would be easy to grow and 

though I've heard that before,

maybe, just maybe, he was telling the truth.

The bloom is supposed to be fragrant, which is always a selling point for me.

All this orchid activity has kind of hammered home the realization:

I want flashy orchids!!!

I've had it UP TO HERE with subtle beauty!

Things are gonna change...

Change continues in my backyard...

I'm done buying stepping stones, and I'm done searching Craig's list for chunks of cement.

I'm making my own stepping stones now,

and as you can see, many of them are embellished by the hens.  

It's still HEAVY work but I can feel the calcium being forced into my bones

 with every 50lb bag I unload.

The final step will be filling in the spaces with drain field gravel.

Gratuitous cute dog photo!!!

Yes, yes, thwarted motherhood and all that but who can argue with a dog that never grows larger than a puppy and loves to be cuddled?!

Can't cuddle this,

but it's adorable all the same.

Occasionally, as I dig in my yard, I uncover the brittle round eggs of geckos.  Since I've irreparably disturbed their nesting place, I bring the eggs inside...and wait.

Cute little house geckos emerge and hunt palmetto bugs at night.

My dad would turn in his grave if he saw this!

That's a DVD of "The Life Aquatic" playing while I drive!

Thankfully, my dad's not dead, and I don't actually watch the DVD but listen to the dialogue and cool soundtrack of Seu Jorge singing David Bowie songs in Portuguese.

Feeling expansive love for Wes Anderson films...

(did I mention this awesome "8 Hour Tibetan Meditation Music" I'm listening to?)

And here is a place I must never again visit

for to do so is to court rotten teeth and some sort of chronic adult onset illness,

but those who know me know how much I love marshmallows and these are heavenly.

I'm digging the graphics, too!

The Streets Are Paved In Orange(s)

Citrus is in season

and it's cheaper to pick your own.

Every Friday I drive through a major Florida citrus area and when the fruit ripens, all the intersection looks like the one above.  In fact, this intersection is on the light side; most of them have piles of oranges that fall off the open-top semis that are delivering them...somewhere.  I guess these are considered "juice" oranges because it's not always easy to find Florida oranges for eating...in Florida.

All I'm saying is, skip high Publix prices and pick (up) your own. ;-)

It's the new year

and I got all gussied up for a night on the town.

I don't need to blur my minor companion's face for his protection because 

he has blurred it himself with his crazy expression.

I went for comfort this year and maybe that will be part of my outlook for 2015.

Men's jeans from Goodwill and the shirt...

Gotta love Ross!

All the money I saved on high fashion items

went to my new deck! Love!

I bought the boards; Mike supplied the labor.

I stopped him short of adding the pickets.  I really enjoy the open view.

The hope is that some day I will have a beautiful garden to view.

The laborious process of bringing in dirt and amendments is in full swing and removing the rotted planter boxes greatly improved the visuals.

The chickens do all my tilling for me.

Lucy has developed a penchant for coming into the 

house and hanging out.

She doesn't even have the decency to look startled when I catch her in the act.

She's super cute and I appreciate her getting into the corners and eating spiders but the whole uncontrolled pooping thing makes me limit her visits to a couple of minutes.

I know, I know...they make chicken diapers.

I saw this sign.

I pass it every week on my way to the land of fossils and oranges.

It doesn't look like a swamp at this point but I read up on it and the headwaters of several Florida rivers are located here, including my beloved Peace River, and the Floridan aquifer is one of the most productive aquifers in the world. Good to know!

Not long after passing this sign

I began driving on that stretch of hell known as I-4.

Saturday afternoon, stop and go traffic for miles, I was following this car:

Lots of time to consider their inflatable passenger.

What I decided was these blow-up "sex" dolls must only be produced for use as party favors, frat jokes, etc. because I can't imagine any way that congress with such a thing could be satisfying.

I mean, look at the crazy pillar-esque boobs!

But no sooner did I get home and open my new National Geographic than I was confronted by one of the oldest representations of a human body:

Uh...wow.

Kinda sheds a different light on the physical form of the blow up doll but I'll leave the theories to the sociologists, et al.

And what would my pointless blog be

without a photo of a plant?

It's the little orchid that could.

This is a jewel orchid that has been dropped, sunburned, dehydrated, and forgotten, yet it perseveres. 

I bought it from a Bulgarian woman some years ago and when I asked her for info, she got out her big book of orchids and read up on it.  Insignificant flowers (as you can see) but if you shine a flashlight on it at night, its leaves glisten.  She pronounced it "gliss ten."  A great mnemonic!