Dancing on the Water & Giant Sloth

It's like the sun is dancing on the water!

I just love to watch the interplay of the sunlight on the sea. Equally impressive, but harder to photograph with my point and shoot camera, is the moon on the water at night (see posts of October 11 and 25, 2014).)

February weather has ranged from freezing to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 C) with alternating bright sunshine and low hanging gray, gray cloud blankets (British grey I call this) and frequent bouts of fog; 2nd week of this weather pattern & a weird weather month here and I guess everywhere.

Nevertheless the osprey are preparing for spring.  This week we saw one fly past with nest material in it's talons -- selected from the wrack; there is a nest on the building next door. Friday morning near Gandy bridge an osprey was returning to the nest with a LARGE fish, as big as he was, to feed the young'ins.

Skeleton of Giant Ground Sloth

claw missing nail of giant sloth

Friday Mini Me attended a lecture on "12 Million Years of Florida's Natural History in an Hour" by Dr Bob Encinosa.  We learnt about fearsome Florida animals of the Pleistocene epoch (last ice age):  the Giant Ground Sloth (20 feet long, weighing 40,000 lbs), the sabre-toothed tiger (aka cat) and mammoths.  Glad not to be living 10 million years ago!!

Foreground is sabre-toothed tiger skull

Leaving downtown Tampa, we drove past a fun building - the local bank tower topped by what one can only say looks like a church.

100 North Tampa - 42 stories
1990s postmodern building

On her way home mini me popped into the local Quilt Show and was excited to see so many quilts, a lovely show. She met very friendly members of the local quilting group - Largo Crackers. Alas mini me did not find a new Spring outfit (LOL!!).

Grins or Grimace?

Quilts included marine scenes (mini me's favourite), autumn/Halloween scenes (just plan fun) and . . . . . . . . a very quirky one - taken just for my London Quirky Quilting friends!

Yes, you are seeing correctly
twinkling Christmas lights on a quilt!

I did notice the backs of these quilts are much more colourful and 'funky' than most UK quilts - something I love!


More quilt pictures at the end of this blog post.




Saturday was time for the annual Pass-A-Grille (PAG) Home Tour of the Historic District; historic in this case meaning mid 20th Century homes. It was chucking it down with rain, so Mini Me stayed well hidden only peaking out from life sized me's handbag once safe and dry inside.

This house, built in 1980, and recently renovated looked like the inside of Coastal Living magazine. Gorgeous, but didn't look lived in with no real personal effects.

Apparently one is not supposed to take inside pictures, so mini me and I resorted to external shots of the older, 1950's homes:

Bananas growing outside this 1940's home
Mini me would love an orange tree on her balcony!

Wetness invaded the point and shoot camera which became tetchy about taking more photos; it was already starting to wobble, so hope it can recover. Heavy rain took out many of the traffic lights (mild flooding on the roads) and soaked life sized me who jumped in the hot tub (despite the rain) as soon as she got home!

Here's more quilts to cheer us all up on a damp rainy day!

See if you can read the captions on each block!

For Helen - can you find the bee?

Out of the Mist

Update:  Heavy Sea Fog Monday-Wednesday closed the Port of Tampa. Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas unable to dock on time and was left anchored in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) along with numerous cargo ships; free drinks for all on board I hear.  GOM sea temperatures dropped almost 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Dolphin and Pelicans sightings scarce. Strangely fewer beach walkers out too (ha ha!).

Awoke to heavy sea fog this morning, such that everything feels damp and the ground is wet.  No better time for a beach walk. Fog a result of rapid weather change:  Friday was near freezing and by Sunday we were at 80 F (27C)! As resident British neighbours say, all their 'sweaters have had a good airing this winter.' One day it is summer clothes, the next pull out the jumpers! [Pictures of fog aren't that interesting trust me!  But see last picture in post of 24 November if you want to see fog.]

But first ... Saturday Mini Me volunteered to staff the 'Turtle Table' at the local Shell Show.  She recently attend a local Conchology Club meeting and signed up as a volunteer with Sea Turtle Trackers.

At the Shell Show, enthusiasts and vendors display their wares and compete for prizes. But it is the odd shell that has actually been collected by the enthusiast, such as this one Mini Me and Swimmy are admiring. Even rarer that they show local shells - however, the twin to this shell was found at John's Pass - just 1.5 miles down the beach from us!  Mini Me did her best to promote protection of loggerhead turtles nesting on our beaches after taking a peak around the show.

Hard to focus, but you can see
fixed wing unlike 8 Feb pic

Back to the beach, Sunday we walked North to the short pier. Up in the air we saw



and down on the ground we observed . . .

I missed out the snowman with palm frond hands!

We spied humans enjoying dolphins right outside our door (today in the fog we cannot see beyond where the dolphins are in this picture).

Look closely and you will see the dolphins 

Today, you can feel the dampness in the air  as you walk the beach. It is a virtual human highway, some are friendly with a 'good morning' whilst others put in the earbuds or are broadcasting into their mobile phones; what is the point of being on the beach with something in your ears mini me wonders?

We collected 2 full grocery bags of trash on the way down to John's Pass before picking up speed on our walk back. Life sized me has read that you can double your calorie expenditure picking up trash whilst beach walking, hence we are getting very good at spotting rubbish. What are we thinking polluting the oceans with tons of plastic?

It's now Monday afternoon and the fog has thickened after a brief respite mid-morning, about the longest we have seen it hang about. So doubtful we will see any sunset tonight. Time to enjoy those photos from last Wednesday & Thursday (19 Feb). What's a girl to do with a zillion sunset photos - thank goodness they are digital!

Love the cloud puffs on the horizon

Riding the Fin: New Acquisition

Thanks to Diane & John for finding him!

See our holiday blog below.

Mini Me meets an Iguana & Armadillo

Largest can of beer 1.25 UK pints!

Over the past three weeks mini me has had a succession of house guests from England, hubby's relatives to help him celebrate a big X0 birthday! An armadillo is one of the highlights, but more on that later.

First came hubby's brother and wife -- we went to the Dali Museum in St Petersburg, ate at The Hangar situated inside the regional airport (and yes the food makes it a destination!) and saw a few animals at Fort De Soto before it was time to pack up ...

Found a live starfish, and yes put him back (22 Jan Fort De Soto)

A raccoon family at Fort De Soto

Of course we saw pelicans (brown and the over-wintering white pelicans) - my brother-in-law's picture just too good not to share - and harder to spot/photograph some leaping dolphins who were playing 'toss the fish' bouncing it like a ball in the water - a great sight on 20 January!

Cheeky trying to steal a fish!

Crossing the Pirate's (rope) Bridge

Hubby's sister and partner arrive and we all board Vision of the Seas sailing from Tampa under the iconic (but ironic as you don't see sun in the picture) Sunshine Skyway Bridge.  Sadly Mini Me felt a little sea sick, but with a Scopoderm patch, she recovered the next morning and was fine by the time we reached Roatan Honduras. Roatan in the rain, but we had fun seeing the local wildlife.

Iridescent butterflies

Airboat on New River

Next stop Belize City, getting ashore by tender and then a wild air boat style ride up the New River past swimming Iguanas and on to a Mayan settlement, Lamanai.

Jagar Temple

Shaving Brush Flower

 Back on board, we had a bit of fun watching the crew in a lifeboat drill - which cleared the pool of guests in a hurry.  Mini Me was a bit concerned she wouldn't have the leverage to right the raft.

Aptly named Shopping Trolley

Next morning we docked in Costa Maya, Mexico; a town built for cruise ships, so no surprise we were 'parked' next to the ship our European captain referred to as 'the shopping trolley' (aka the Caribbean Princess).

Local Life Guard!

And then it is time to cruise overnight for more fun in Cozumel, Mexico.

And a last day at sea to relax and sail back to Tampa.  Then time to say goodbye to brother-in-law who is touring south Florida and welcome sister-in-law to our home.

With sister-in-law and brother 'not-in-law', we went to The Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium in Sarasota and enjoyed the animals.

Sea Cucumber

Sea Horses - Mini Me sized!

Later, we saw a Roseate swishing its spoonbill sifting the water for food.

Shelley the Loggerhead Turtle

And a different type of fish on the streets of Sarasota.

Pair of Osprey & Nest

Next day it was off North through Clearwater to Honeymoon Island State Park and more local critters.  It's nesting time for The Ospreys and the Bald Eagle.

Then just as we were returning to the car what should cross our path, but an Armadillo! He looks cute but keep your distance as he is a disease carrier.

All too soon our guests left for Britain and shortly thereafter our temperature dropped.  Out the window, we saw this couple, dressed in starboard green and port red, reminding us of our recent cruise!



Military aircraft that have rotating propellers to convert to helicopter-style take-off are flying past - almost a year in Mad Beach and still never a dull day!