Our Nest, Sea Oat Planting and DUST!!!!

Nest #109 checks out

When turtle nesting season began 1st May mini me soon found a nest up the beach, and had hoped to have one within sight of our balcony.  Shortly thereafter she stopped wishing, thinking it might never happen ... BUT then - waking up last Thursday morning (the 26th) we discovered a mama sea turtle had crawled up our beach and made a nest just by our condo during the night. Clearwater Marine Aquarium was quickly on site to check for eggs and mark the nest - honestly you wouldn't know it was there if it wasn't marked - should hatch in about 6-8 weeks.  And yes, that is a man building a sandcastle in the background.

Next morning the excitement was an injured cormorant sitting on the beach.  It was stretching its wings (to dry off) but didn't seem able to fly.  A call was made and soon the bird rescued under the beady eyes of our local sheriff.

Saturday was an early start for mini me, she volunteered to support the city and beach conservation by planting sea oat plugs in the dunes.  This stops erosion and holds back high tides from washing over the nearby streets! 

Walking home along the beach we saw a man and egret sharing the same fishing spot.  The man is net fishing probably for bait, but the bird needs no net. And yes the egret caught a fish from the shoreline just darting into the surf.  Sadly I missed the shot.


Wall skimming - it's not dark, it's dust!

And those renovations - well the fine white dust from the wall skimming (finer than the sugar sand of our beach!!) has finally driven us out and into the condo of nearby friends who kindly have offered us a home for the next few weeks.  Drywall is up in the kitchen and we are now awaiting the 'screw inspection' (I kid you not) so they can skim, paint and install the kitchen cabinets and counter top.



Friend's local art find

Mini Me Escapes Confinement

Living on a building site, as life sized me decided to renovate the condo,  mini me has been confined to hubby's backpack to avoid getting dust in her lungs and on her (one and only) blue dress.

 

Yup it's dark; no electric in kitchen

Mini me is developing claustrophobia and finds it all a bit stuffy, along with life sized me and hubby, so the three of us decided to venture out on a Sunday afternoon. 

What to see - well a historic tourist relic - the Sunken Gardens of St Petersburg beckoned.  Built at the beginning of the last century, it has recently been restored and replanted, using an old Coca-Cola bottling plant as the entrance/gift shop (yes one exits through the gift shop just like a UK National Trust property).

Although hot outside (sweat did drip down our backs), the Gardens are largely shaded and retain some of their former glory.  Sadly few, if any, of the plants are labelled so a pleasant stroll, but not very educational.  Must say we were a bit puzzled why they put black metal benches into a park blazing in the Florida sun - something that would fry an egg isn't too pleasant to sit upon!
 

colourful macaws-S American Parrots

The Gardens has a number of lizards, an alligator snapping turtle (yes, apparently they do eat small alligators - hurrah!) and a number of exotic birds - a hangover from its former glory days.

Let me out for a shower!

Otherwise we seem to be spending much time in Home Depot (the American version of B&Q complete with orange logo) where dogs of all types are welcome -- some large ones on a lead (or not) and smaller ones that get wheeled round in the shopping trolley or - and I kid you not - a baby buggy!

Blue Heron with fish eyeing our pool!

Closer to home, a SHARK SWARM has been spotted up north closing the beaches; plus just last week a lady told me they caught a 4 foot shark whilst fishing from our beach - yikes -- almost as bad as my friend's bee hive double swarm!!!  Yesterday was an adult baptism ceremony on the beach.  This morning, a close, muggy day, began with a scrawny juvenile visitor struggling to swallow his fish just off our pool deck.  Now the clouds are rolling in ...

Hard to believe we are living in Paradise -- and that one can be grateful for grey clouds to shield the sun and a thunderstorm to cool one off!

Rainy Season: Living in the Tropics

There are a few things mini me and I didn't count on in the move to Florida.  Not bad things, but different.  It almost feels we are 'down under' as the seasons seem reversed -- delightful season is winter and the miserable one summer.  So far this year we have been lucky with some cooling breezes in the evenings ('fresh' as the British weather forecasters exclaim) to make things bearable after long sunny and close/ muggy (ie high humidity) days which leave one sticky, hot, clammy.  If the storm comes midday, well then it just gets "muggier" that is hotter and steamy.  It gets so hot in the direct Florida sun that car dashboards melt.  Must remember to buy one of those auto shades to place against the front windscreen.

We've been having some dramatic thunder and lightening storms late afternoon/evening.  Hubby has purchased a weather alert radio that makes a tremendous and ugly sound if there is a severe storm warning -- only gone off once so far, thank goodness.  But already several houses in the area have gone up in flames after lightening strikes this year.

yes the black line is rain!

First the clouds roll in - sometimes directly overhead with thunder.  Usually a fresh breeze comes with the leading edge of the storm whipping up a mini sandstorm on the beach and tossing the beach umbrellas into the sea.  Then we have sheets of rain ...

See the rain coming off the roof!

which make wonderful ripples and 'dancing patterns' on the water, and some pretty dramatic lightening shows. 

At one point I thought a storm from the North was going to collide with a storm from the South right in front of us.  There was a brave helicopter pilot who navigated his bird through the middle - now up in a helicopter was the last place I would want to be. 

All I have is a point & shoot camera, but with a bit of luck (and a lot of snapping) I did manage to capture the lightening last night (16th).  Five minutes later and all is clear. 

Storms back the next day with severe weather warnings rolling across the bottom of the TV screen with a muted klaxon sound and the weather alert radio screaming.  Must mean more to come .

Look closely for the rainbow

Snort Snort - Pig Races & Baddest BBQ

yummy!
 

During renovation, mini me has been out and about exploring the local Gulf Beaches area.  First up, having just started volunteering for the Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce (TBBCoC), was a sunset cruise. 
We were blessed to see dolphins leaping fully out of the water just off the bow of our boat -- but they were too quick to capture on camera -- and have a wonderful sunset, complete with drinks and lovely canapés from the new French-run Café Soleil bakery.  Having mini me along always invites conversation.

Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce  is a mouthful to say when answering the phone, and life sized me has been asked to look at the volunteer programme there keeping her busy.

Next, the Baddest BBQ On The Bone | Old Salt Fishing Foundation marina event complete with fishing contests and lots and lots of BBQ.   'The Bone' being a local radio station.  This is serious BBQ and corn-on-the-cob, a favourite of life sized me, but not a British delicacy.

Deep Fried Moon Pie

One favourite was deep fried Moon Pie (think Scottish fried Mars Bar) and all I can say is share it and once is enough!









The other favourite was the pig races - yes pig races - with some 'swimming' thrown in.  No betting here, just good clean fun (ha ha)!!

Yup first a group of pigs run around a track chasing after bits of broken up black & white oreo cookies and then as the finale there are two pig races through water!  The piglets run up a ramp, hesitate and then leap (yes leap) as far across the rectangular water course as possible swimming to the other side and the oreos.  It is a hoot (or a snort I should say).

And if that isn't enough for you, mini me is soon to visit the Gulf Coast Iguana Sanctuary at the Sirat Hotel; let's hope mini me doesn't get too close to those Iguanas!  And to think it wasn't that long ago my UK neighbour lost hers and it was roaming loose around West London.

 Life is a beach!

Renovation, Waterspouts & Blog Tours

Site of Kitchen

Yes, we have finally started the renovation on our condo -- and this means the kitchen is ripped out and we are living in the bedroom & balcony behind a sheet of plastic.

Out for a beach stroll, mini me spotted a waterspout at John's Pass.  Just as we turned to walk back home, a strong cool breeze and a small sand storm hit us, indicating the thick dark clouds were chasing us up the beach.  The sea turned choppy and inky black on the horizon with a murky green closer to shore. 15 minutes later the sun is out as if nothing transpired. And only yesterday we were chased right off the beach by more dangerous thunder and lightening. 

Waterspouts combine the swirling power of a tornado in a funnel cloud formed from water droplets of condensation -- over a large body of often warm water. More unusual are snow spouts (yes really).   It is estimated there are circa 500 waterspouts off the Florida coast each year. 

These evening storms, which arise suddenly, are apparently first signs of summer coming to Florida, along with the turtle nests.  We have spotted 3 more within 1/2 mile of our home; fortunately all marked as the mama turtles bury their eggs in the middle of the beach - so the nests could easily be disturbed if not roped off with stakes and orange tape.

Yesterday mini me discovered her first fiddler crab digging into the sand just at water's edge.  They are numerous, so obviously she failed to look earlier - probably her line of sight being drawn to the numerous dolphins and pelicans.  A local delicacy, soft shell blue crab, is harvested off the Florida coast with peak season from March through June. They say the name comes from the light-blue tint of its claws and it has 10 legs.

We had a wedding on the beach (baptism to come, I hear) complete with a dip in the sea,

and boaters docking overnight perhaps to start early morning fishing which is a main activity in Madeira Beach with very large catches.  Other more unusual sights include a white haired and white trouser man with Hawaiian shirt and ukulele strolling down the beach singing to himself.  Never a dull moment at appropriately named 'Mad Beach!'  And early morning swimmers were training for the 29th annual Madeira Beach Triathlon running on the 31st - 1st June - a Gulf swim, followed by a bike ride and a beach run - all outside our windows. How fun is that? And it all happens just outside our balcony window.

Should mini me take up photography to capture all these unique sights?  Hum, perhaps a quilting friend will give a few pointers, but then a stash of quilting fabric, a stash of seashells, a stash of photos -- might be too many stashes for a small condo!

And for those that asked about Blog Tours, as far as I understand it --

A term for planned, consistent online promotion of written material (e.g. book, blog) utilizing other bloggers, websites ads, and/or holding online interviews and telecasts.  Some bloggers do a kind of round robin e-mail newsletter promoting others' blogs.

see also http://www.novelpublicity.com/blog-tour/and http://www.helenginger.com/blogging_advice.htm

The Simple Beach Life

Happy Belated World Turtle Day (23 May); we are now adoptive parents of a local turtle nest - mini me is a turtle adoptive mum!

On the same day the elephant appeared on the beach, mini me was invited to a British tea!  And given the organiser has never been to England, she did an outstanding job complete with cucumber sandwiches (no crusts) and pastries.

Mini me also made a recent outing to the Florida Botanical Gardens in the hopes of learning about Florida's flora and fauna. Whilst thinking she had left the snails behind in her London garden, she discovered the snails of Florida ... and boned up on the difference between alligators and crocodiles - seems we have both.


Crocodiles
-  have a longer, move V-shaped head and lighter appearance than alligators
-  fourth tooth sticks out when its mouth is closed
-  are better adapted to living in seawater and are more aggressive than alligators
- Crocodiles in the wild are found all over the world while alligators are only found in the US and China (what a thing to have in common!).

Hum, all this required a rest in a mini-me sized chair -- life sized me has seen many gators and crocs, but fortunately mini me has yet to meet one.  Here's one life sized me met in Shark Valley last year.


Mid May an easterly breeze blessed us bringing down the humidity and the temperatures into the mid 70's (or 25 C) and calmed down the ocean surf to a gentler roar.  Mini me realised there are some benefits to humidity (to which she is still adjusting) and living on the beach:

-  haven't yet seen an alligator or a croc on the beach!!
-  new found curly hair
-  no dry skin no matter what the season
-  sun cream is a wonderful moisturiser (if you need moisturiser)
-  no need for socks (and hence no holes in socks)
-  need for new lighter weight beach clothes - a shopping spree (of sorts)
-  automatic pedicure and ankle strengthening from beach walking
-  refreshing sea breezes (to counteract the heat & humidity)
-  beachcombing
-  relaxing sound of the sea 24/7
-  never a dull moment! [see previous post] and sounding of chattering gulls
-  heat and humidity make a siesta a necessity - no need to invent an excuse for an afternoon nap on a muggy day!

But there are a few downsides to year-round humidity and beach life:

-  mould ... haven't really experienced it yet, but have heard horror stories
-  hairdryer isn't too pleasant and takes much longer to dry the hair
-  beverage glasses all sweat and drip -- and if that wasn't enough ...
-  slick floors - yes, the humidity gets so high the tile floors are wet & slippery!
-  air conditioning - we now carry sweaters in the boot as a matter of course as never know when it will be freezing inside despite the heat outdoors
-  relentless sound of the sea (no volume control)
-  hurricanes - we have started making our evacuation plan  & supply box which is a must for living here

Can you believe I now get goosebumps and feel chilly when the temperature drops below 80 F/26 C?

Mini me is working on her tan and we are living fairly simply - with an airbed, table + 4 chairs, one pot and 3 plates - until we get our renovations complete.  Renovations involve removing a wall, new plumbing & electrics, new kitchen, upgrading parts of 2 bathrooms and new flooring throughout.  Must say after 2 months am wondering what is in my 48 boxes of sea shipment and wondering if I need it all!  The simple life is pretty good!

Yum!

Of course mini me still misses The BBC, ready made quiches (apparently too unmanly for the Americans, but fried chicken is ubiquitous), British cheeses (many foods taste different in America and funnily this was mentioned in a recent novel mini me was reading) and her London friends - not necessarily in that order.