Eureka!!

Nothing says "Florida" like an ugly tacky brown Florida alligator ashtray. I have been searching for one everywhere since Doug came for his visit and could not find one. The sad ending to this hunt is that I had to buy one on eBay from someone in Connecticut!! It will soon be on its way to Australia as a reminder to Doug of his visit here.

A Truly Scarey Bird

Recently this Wood Stork has been dropping by and he is frightening, even to me. He is close to 4 feet tall and very aggressive, even walking directly up to me for food. All of the other birds give him wide berth. The Wood Stork is actually a dwindling species even though it isn't officially on the endangered list

Zorro Junior

A newcomer to the backyard is this "Juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night Heron." The adult version is the bird I have named Zorro, so at some point this bird will develop his own mask and long head plume. It will be interesting to see the transition.

Perfect Perch

Since we don't have a boat yet, the davit is a perfect place to come in for a landing.

The Feathered Community

The gathering of birds in my back yard always amazes me, because they do seem to tolerate each other, at least until there is food involved. On any given day you can see Cormorants and Snowy Egrets (pictured) as well as Great White Herons, Great Blue Herons, Yellow Crowned Night Herons (Zorro), Laughing Gulls, Crows, Mallard and Moscovey Ducks as well as a variety of small birds walking around in the yard or perched on the floating dock.

Bananas!

This is my first experience seeing how bananas are grown and the responsibility of caring for them is intense. There are about 20 bananas currently developing and according to my Google source, they should be ready to eat in about 9 weeks. I do worry with tropical storm Debby sitting directly off the coast of Florida. There has been no movement of the storm today, but even so, there is a strong wind bending the stalks.

Farming Hudson

Before moving to Hudson, my entire experience in farming consisted of harvesting 3 cherry tomatoes (at great expense I might add). With the purchase of the house in Hudson, I inherited an enormous fig tree, a lime tree, a banana bush and the tangerine tree pictured. At the side of one back wall I planted 3 different types of tomatoes and they all seem to be ripening at the same time. I have exhausted my selection of recipes using tomatoes and now give them away to everyone I meet.

Coming In For A Landing

The Great Blue Herons are 3-4 feet tall and they are quite impressive (and noisy) as they come in for a landing on my roof.

White Ibis

The word must be getting out that I am feeding hot dogs to the birds behind my house every day because new breeds seem to be showing up. Recently these white Ibis showed up on my dock and they are comical. They walk in single file, and as they walk along they dig deep into the soil for earthworms with those extra long beaks.

The Best Of Friends

Sometimes in life you stumble into people who turn out to be the best of friends that anyone could hope for. Sandy and Adrian are those people for me. The fact that I am sitting here in my house on the canal is due in large part to their tireless efforts and extensive knowledge about real estate and what it takes to buy a house. They looked throughout Florida for 5 years before buying their vacation house in Hudson, and when I decided to buy, I swooped in and they offered me all their support based on their years of searching. They spent weeks of their time going from house to house on the search as well as helping me through the pain of the purchase transaction.
If I ever need any kind of information about anything I only need to mention it and they are working on an answer. Most importantly, they are just dear friends and all that the term implies.
In the friendship department, I won the Lotto!