A taste of the farm

A Florida day

We were staying a couple miles from this lake/River/swamp area it went out into diff things. We walked down there it was So beautiful. Lots of ducks, fish , manatees, alligators even some dolphins that come in. Boats & kayaks go in and out . 

Got to see a big manatee. Friendly gentle animals come right up to dock. Sometimes they come up and ppl can pet them too . It Had little barnacles all over its back. 

In a pond connecting to that lake we saw this baby alligator . Maybe 4 feet long. We think he was use to gettin fed Cz as we watched him he kept swimming closer to us. I thought I was safe Cz I asked the girl I was with if she was slower at running than me. She said she Cldnt run so I wasn't to worried 😜.

FL has so many little rain showers that don't last long and usually the sun is shinning at the same time. A beautiful double rainbow . It defiantly is the sunshine state!

Orange orchards. Most froze out in the area A few years ago so they use the old orchards for grazing cattle. This was south of Orlando. Some they had replanted . Soon they will be ripe!! 

My kid time this wk

Games, fun, giggles, smiles, sunshine food, and more

 S'mores

Park time 

From soccer, volleyball , frisbee , playground and all 

Afternoon treat to warm up ,  she was cold when we came back from our walk!! Hot coco, whip cream & top off w a brownie. 

Southern feast

I learned some tricks to cooking beans

No salt at first speeds up cooking 

No lid & add baking soda Cz takes away the gas ,bring to boil than rinse and boil again instead of soaking .

Throw in some bacon and pork bone and boil boil boil all afternoon .

Homemade corn bread, the best Iv ever had! Made w buttermilk and poured into a sizzling hot pan! Beans ,rice, ham, & stuffed mushrooms.

Yum yum yum and a colorful decorations.

Sheila did an amazing job, a taste of home for her and we all enjoyed it!! 

Letters

Some afternoons are just ment for wrighting letters. A good cup of cream w a little tea, fun cards, cute stamps,  a good pen and awesome ppl to wright to .... You should try it , you can practice on my I'll send you my address!! 😜

Being treated like royalty

I feel like royalty !! We get to be w the richest ppl , in sweetest fellowship, receive biggest hugs, get warmest welcomes, with happiest most generous ppl, and yet the simplest lifestyle , hundreds of homes and family . 

Plus....

 

Freshly chopped ginger tea before going to bed. 

Most peaceful cozyest places to read 

Good morning .... Our egg cup cover , fun way to start breakfast 

Lunch feast ... Pea soup , Salmon, oxtail & beans , chicken curry, shrimp n pasta, rice, salad, sparking cider and fresh fruit for dessert. 

 Provision for the road 

A bedtime snack left in my room . 

And so much love, care , laughs and fun and much more , the list could go on and on. !!😃

Alligator !!!

Yes I saw my first alligator in FL!!! I was pretty excited about that and intrigued! We saw him from the house, he usually comes out arpubdv9-10 am. Across the street from where we are staying is where he was. About 8' long, he comes up to soak up the sun. I guess they have 2 in there.  I didn't see him yesterday so I thought about buying him some chickens and throwing them in to see if he would come up. Might have been an expensive snack so I opted for patience and waited.Thy have a fence all the way around the pond. He goes between this pond and another lake. We are on the outer part se of Orlando .

Lots of turtles in the pond too out there in the middle. Big curved shells and about a foot long. He's on the left side in this picture. Plus 2 turtles swimming in the middle .... Alligators must not eat turtle I guess? 

amusements

 The cloud on my walk last night . Was thundering and only a few sprinkles came.  Beautiful clouds all around . 

This morning as I was reading by the pool and this snail was sitting there. I watched it as it creeped along. Cld see its little eyes. Yesterday I saw the shell and thought it was empty! Amazed me how little it was and that it was living . All the creatures God created and that he sees every single one of them and made them each perfect and unique .

Driving .... Miami driving

     I heard Miami driving was absolutely Crazy !  So Driving through Miami yesterday there were signs above the stop light " keep out of intersection on red" .(something like that) I thought what in the world isn't that what you usually do? Well I learned it wasn't so easy and it happens all the time!! Traffic is like rush hour traffic all the time. Bumper to bumper creeping along and and horns honking . The light might turn green and ppl are still in the intersection . Like the pic below was. So if a car needs to get through Cz the other light turns green everyone pulls up and makes 5 lanes instead of 3 or goes to the curb . And they cross over. Some are left in the middle and Cars go around. You might not even be able to move on a green light Cz cars are backed up. We were goin 47 miles and part was interstate . Said it would take 1 1/2 hrs... I thought for sure we would make up time . Nope it just takes that long. 

 

Why would you need this kind of a sign? Isn't the right the only one for turning right ? Nope!! The other day i was stopped at a red light. There was a car in the left turn lane that decided to go right . So he did ! He turned the steering wheel and crossed 3 lanes of traffic from the L turn lane to go right . You eaither go slow or really fast to make those turns. 

Lots of fast cars down here and cops too 😜. Tends to go well together. Only Saw 1 accident so far.  Aguy just bumped the other car in the L turn lane. 

      This is just the beginning and I'm sure I will see so much more. Never dull .  We have a good car to use so we are set! Also filling gas you ALWAYS prepay and we have a lock on our gas cap. Yes I am definitely in the Miami field!! 

Jamaican grandma

This morning I walk in the kitchen and grandma says to me you are my little pet. You are the youngest and I am the oldest here .  :) great way to start the day... Lots of love . 

She made pumpkin soup w lots of love added  and we had ox tail and beans . So flavorful !! Another great taste of Jamaican 

Afternoon tea