Monday 29 January 2018

Sea Fog & Bombogenesis

Sea fog day one - hovered midair over the Gulf
In early January we experienced the Bombogenesis bringing cold weather to Florida for over a week followed by three days of dense sea fog in the middle of the day.

The initial blast of cold weather brought dry skin/chapped hands, low humidity and a hit for the economy of Florida which is dependent on tourism.

gift of mittens made
for wear in UK not FL!!
How I forgot what winter is like; my blood has thinned!

Next the humidity rose bringing in sea fog; it felt very cold and damp - kinda like Britain in winter.

What is sea fog or sea smoke? It is created by cold air passing over warmer water or warmer air passing over cooler water thus forming dense clouds of moisture. Apparently Sea Fog is also a 2014 South Korean movie thriller about human smuggling.

sea fog heavier on day two - January 11th 2018
envelops the whole beach!




What I have learnt this year is that humidity accentuates the temperature in BOTH directions - makes it feel hotter or colder!





Winter winds have also moved the stone crap traps around . . . these are a bit close to shore, but we have seen dolphins in this area fishing.

these traps are a bit too close to shore - blame the winter winds!

yes that's me hiding behind the turtle carapace (ie shell)
Our work with Sea Turtle Trackers includes educational activities. We'd been asked to do a presentation on loggerheads to the USF course on 'How to Read a Beach' led by our friend Dr. Tonya Clayton.  It was great fun with an enthusiastic group.

Tonya is author of  the book "How to Read a Florida Gulf Coast Beach" which describes the shifting sands of barrier islands amongst other things.


With this cold weather, what's a person to do but get on with whittling down their UFO pile?  First on the list was to bind a sample quilt that turned into a tablecloth for our London home .  .  . then on to some companion 'hot weather' top/bottoms for the outfit I finished in late 2017(see 23 November post).

It feels like a weight lifted getting the dahlia hung (see previous post) and now this done!


There have been some die-hard snowbirds on the beach (wrapped up) and at the pool (in swimsuits!), but just when we thought it was warming up, came another cold front and a wind chill advisory and freeze watch for night of 16/17 January! 

This cold snap cleared out our beach and also brought freezing rain followed by snow and black ice to North Carolina, so my flight was cancelled and my trip [slightly] north delayed.  A chance to catch up on some reading and maybe . . .

finish another type of project ...



<----Do you think this



will become this?  Let's hope so!

cloverleaf basket

Monday 1 January 2018

2017 Unfinished Business in Weird & Wacky Florida

millions of cerith snails
We had appearances ...

there was the invasion of millions of live snails at Fort De Soto . . .

and disappearances.

One day the iconic Seminole water tower complete with seabird mural. was just gone. It was declared redundant and too costly to maintain..

Famous mural, but the tower is no more!

and finished off a few UFOs (UnFinished [craft] Objects for the uninitiated) - a form of appearance, disappearance and reappearance . . .  none perfect, but at least DONE!!!!

Started 7/2013 in London, finished 12/2017 in Florida


On the off chance you are wondering how I hung a round quilt, well I made a wider binding on the back and threaded some 1/4 inch plastic pipe (from Home Depot/B&Q) through it like so --

and my newest hobby - can you tell what it might be?


. . . drumroll -- Ta Da!!












As to the weather, the sun and warmth seems to have disappeared across the US, even here in Florida; I spotted this winter coat wearer on the beach today! It feels "raw"  and damp like a British winter day so those new mittens will come in handy even here in the sunshine state. Last year it was a record 84F/ 29C.

We are under a Wind Chill Advisory of 25 to 35 Degrees F (-4 to 2 C) this afternoon/overnight; the sky has gone a London winter's day grey with a temperature of 40F/4.4C this evening!! Time for some quilting to finish another UFO. :-)

Happy 2018 to all!