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.