It's in the Bible, more or less

I want figs.

I'm a patient gardener but when it comes to figs and guavas

It's time!!!

I was enjoying morning coffee on the deck with Mike when I caught sight of my fig plant and suddenly, my coffee joy was gone.  I stomped down the deck stairs to examine the shrub more closely, all the time grumbling that it was about damn time I got some damn figs, grrr!

"Grouse and ye shall receive!"

(paraphrasing Matthew)

Tiny baby figs!!! (photobombed by one of the Bettys)

I check them every day now, trying to beat the rats and raccoons to the harvest.

Our morning coffee ritual

also prepares us for the rigors of a Florida summer day.

Mike spent a 3-day weekend taking down the old poultry run (which was basically a raccoon buffet that exclusively served chicken) and building a smaller, extremely secure run to protect my birds.  I had the important job of replenishing his beverages and cheering him on from inside the air conditioned house.  The new Chicken Ft. Knox is fabulous but left a moat of dirt that turns to muck in the rain so I needed to build a bridge.

It's ugly but it didn't cost a dime.

It took me a couple of hours to build, using scraps from the old chicken run and while I toiled I kept thinking,

"How can I sweat this much 

and still remain conscious?"

Back in the cool safety of my home, I continue the process of packing for a women's trip that has been in the planning stages for over a year.

Whenever I travel, I engage in several different activities and therefore need to pack completely different types of gear.  This trip will include a 3 day/2 night kayak adventure in a cool, maritime climate:  VERY specific gear for that.  Then there is the rockhounding portion of the trip: clothes to get muddy in, as well as a rock hammer and chisel.  Oh, and the wineries and the mountain hiking.  

Gonna have to check a bag.

I will have to make sure I get the dachshund out of there before I zip it up.

I wanted to take some homemade athletic snacks with me.

I have never bought a cookbook.

The only cookbook I own is a slim Betty Crocker volume that was given to me for my high school graduation by one of the ladies I worked with in the draperies and linens department at Sears .

Yet, when I saw this cookbook, I was compelled to own it.  It is geared toward elite cyclists and triathletes and therefore doesn't relate to my lifestyle in the least, and the dietary information seems to be written for readers with medical degrees, but I'm tired of eating chips and trail mix while I'm fossiling, and the recipes in the book are quick, easy, nutritious, and designed to travel well and go down fast.  I've made several of the recipes to try them out and they are tasty and easy but I will save them for Florida kayaking; they are designed to travel but not all the way to the Pacific Northwest in a suitcase.

Pennies from the past.

I found these in my change recently and was so excited to see them.  I've always liked coins and up until my 20's it was possible to find the occasional buffalo nickel and silver quarter in my coin purse, but by my 30's, those seemed to have been gleaned from the system and only the rare silver dime and wheat back penny remained.  Those pretty much disappeared from the fossil coin record by my 40's and it was around that time that my home was burglarized and one of the few items taken was the cigar box containing all those wheat back pennies and buffalo nickels.  It could have been worse but it was still a bummer so I'll use these to rebuild my collection.

Pennies from the ocean.

I was recently splashing around in the Gulf at Ft. Myer beach and discovered the ocean floor was COVERED with sand dollars but I think at this stage, they should be called "sand pennies."

Fun with fossils.

Here is one of my latest creations using fossilized coral that I found in the Alafia River.

Such a beautiful material and working on jewelry gives me an excuse to stay inside the air conditioned house.