My Backyard

At Least the Sun is Shining

Glug, glug, glug....

We are under water!

It has rained constantly for the past week. I'm not talking about a nice shower, I'm talking about a constant deluge of water. Two days ago the sun came out and we weren't in too bad of shape. Later that night the rains came again, non-stop, all night long.

Mike heard that we got almost 16 inches. Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day, so I dug out my boots and took a look around.

It's me Wellies!

So here is a picture of the new floating dock taken about a month ago when we first built it.

Here it is now. It's an uphill climb.

Let's see who's enjoying all this water.

Ibis hunting for tadpoles and frogs.

Lots and lots of dragonflies.

One of my hibiscus has really enjoyed the rains.

Oh, look at Dusty! She loves to get out and play.

She also loves to roll in the mud.

Time for a bath.

Poor girl! She looks so skinny and pitiful.

I call this mosquito heaven. You even get close to a bit of shade and you are eaten alive.

A nice pink bloom.

Lizards love to just hang out.

I think it's a zinnia.

Here's my sea grape plant.

Hard to tell but that is a snapping turtle chomping on some fresh grass.

And the bane of all existence, the fire ants are floating.

They just pile up on one another and ride it out.

Mike and Dusty playing in the water. Yes, this is before she got that dreaded bath.

That'll do for now.

Ramblin'

Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes.... OH NOOOOOOOOOO!

I had just sat down at my desk the other day, checking email and stuff when I heard a slight rustling under the desk. That's where I keep a small trash can and my recycled paper box. I just figured I had brushed up against one or the other with my leg. Out of the corner of my eye I see something moving... actually slithering. Yes, it was a snake, in my office, under my feet, just inches from my bare naked tootsies. I jumped up and squealed like a little girl!

It was just your average racer. He's a lot like a garden snake, very harmless, actually helpful when it comes to pests, and sometimes quite cute. So, after I had calmed down from the shock (a million years of human instinct cannot be erased so easily, even with the knowledge that the little guy is harmless) I got out the broom. I managed to "herd" him out of the office but I couldn't get him to go out the front door. No, he slithered into the spare bedroom.

No big deal, I'll just leave him be for now and wait for Mike to get home. He's really good at catching snakes and he enjoys it, too.

We searched everywhere for that snake later that night. We couldn't find him anywhere. We looked in every room, under the furniture, in the bathtubs, underneath the piles of stuff where (if I were more domesticated) I should have already cleaned up... and gave up. But the little fellar was still on my mind. We have a very nice lizard, pretty good sized, who lives in that spare bedroom, I see him all the time. I didn't want to have name him "Lunch" and besides, I was sure I'd go to pick something up and that snake would pop up out of nowhere and give me the scare of my life... again.

I decided to do something about it. Yes, I decided to clean the spare bedroom. (GASP)

For those very few of you who have seen my spare bedroom you know how much stuff I have crammed in there. This room is where I display all my mementos, all the keepsakes that I have hoarded all my life, things that my family or friends have made or gifted to Mike and me, and the walls are covered with family photos, not to mention about a thousand books. Mike and I both will wander into this room from time to time just to look around at all the pictures and stuff, and relive a moment or two, just because we miss our family. We don't get many visitors here to take advantage of this spare bedroom so... it tends to not get a lot of "domestic attention." With all the knickknacks in there, it is a cobweb, dusting nightmare. Time to go to work.

Now I'm not known for keeping house. I'm certainly not known for my cleaning skills. BUT, when I do clean, I do it right! I pulled everything from off the shelves, brought in the shop vac, sucked up about a million tiny spiders and whatever it is they leave behind. There was bug and lizard detritus galore in all those hidden tiny spots, cobwebs, and just general dust. I cleaned, I mopped, I vacuumed, I scrubbed, I dusted, I washed windows and sheets and pillows and I even caught up on my photo albums and scrapbooks to boot. Mission accomplished!

I never found the snake........

Sooo, the room is clean and ready for visitors. Any takers????

Pine Island Day Trip

We live here in sunny SW Florida and we just recently realized that with all this area has to offer, we spend way too much time here at home. It's time to get out there and see something new. I wanted to go to the beach. I have a brand new bathing suit and we haven't seen the Gulf in over a year now. BUT, Mike had heard about a really cool biker bar in St. James City. So we decided to head there for the day, do some exploring, have a nice lunch and so on.

It's about an hour's drive from here to Pine Island. We drove all the way to the end of the island, St. James City, to find that awesome bar. It's called the Ragged Ass Saloon, sounds like a lot of fun. Nope, turns out it was this tiny little snack bar... looked ragged alright. We decided we wanted something a little different so we headed a few doors down to the Low Key Tiki bar. Sidled up to the bar, ordered our drinks, and were informed that they only serve beer and wine. WTF? Is this a bar or the Winn-Dixie!

A few more doors down we settled on this place; Woody's Waterside Restaurant. When they say waterside what they mean is it's on a canal off the Gulf. Whatever... they have whiskey and food! Mike ordered a pulled pork sandwich and I had a Philly steak sandwich. We really were looking forward to some fresh seafood, being waterside and this is a huge fishing area, but our choices were either ground up on a taco or served on a stick.

They do have a nice deck overlooking the canal. Here's Mike enjoying his beer.

A nice view looking down the canal. Time to take some waterside pictures. I came here to see the Gulf but I will take what I can get.

Pelicans are fun to watch. Since this area is mostly about fishing you will see lots of pelicans hanging out at the docks waiting for some leftover fish.

There was a duck. She had a couple babies with her, too.

A pair of pelicans, not much more to see here. So we went for a drive about the island. Hopefully we could find a spot to get out, roam around, shop, do some sight seeing. We headed to the other end of the island to a little town called Bokeelia.
Really, you couldn't go anywhere there without running into no trespassing signs or a fee. They wanted $8 just to walk out on one of the piers... per person! We tried to drive into a place that does kayak rentals and were immediately stopped by a guy in golf cart. He was friendly enough I suppose, giving us his list of prices and so on, yet I got the distinct feeling that I wasn't welcome anywhere near his water until I paid up. Moving on.

It's a coconut tree.

Pine Island is known for their mangoes and they are for sale everywhere, ripened right on the vine.

This was cool. I believe it's an osprey high up in a tree. He wouldn't turn his head around for me to get a good shot. We were on a side street and with the greeting we got on Bokeelia, I was afraid we'd piss off the locals and they come at us with flaming torches.

Heading back off the island we went through Matlacha. This place seems a bit more touristy but there is nowhere to park. We finally found some sort of Community Park, and low and behold, shock of all shocks, there was no fee to park and walk around.

There is a very short walking path through the mangrove backwaters.

This is some sort of plant I see all over this area near the beaches. I have one growing here but I have no idea what it is called. Some of those seeds accidentally fell into Mike's pocket.

Ah, the mangroves. Ugh, the mosquitos. I'd surely like to grow a mangrove. I wonder how they propagate.

Wait! What is this? Could it be? My toes in the....

Yep, there's the Gulf. And here's Mike wishing I would put the camera away.

We found a pier to walk out on and look for signs of life.

These are still very shallow, very warm backwaters. Saw a few little fish, a crab and this jellyfish.

At last, open water! I believe that is Sanibel in the background.

I still want to go to the beach and get more than just my toes in the water. Maybe next week....

Overall, I wouldn't recommend Pine Island unless you were dead set on doing some fishing and had made reservations and paid in advance. Otherwise there really isn't much else to see and do.