12 Oakdale

 We bought 2 bananas (. ) and two Red Lady papayas which have “perfect” flowers so we don’t need a male and a female tree in order to have fruit. Since one of the loquat trees, known here in central Florida as Chinese plums, was tipping over more and more, I had Grant cut it down to make way for the papayas. Of course, the sprinkler just barely kisses the easternmost one, so I’ll have Cooper adjust the sprinkler head the next time he comes. In the meantime, we are watering it every day with the hose. Please let the rains start soon. The banana was planted over near the boathouse to replace the one I’d gotten from Spaulding which never grew. This is another place the sprinkler is iffy since I’ve grown tall rosinweed in its path. Another plant we are watering with a hose until Cooper comes to raise the sprinkler head. We planted the last banana just at the edge on the southwest corner, next to the canal. That one, at least, doesn’t need to be watered with a hose, but what the heck, w...

We slept in until 7:00 this morning, and it was a glorious feeling. Nine days of birding with Alex and Chris from Wildside Nature Tours is exhausting. However, we were successful in seeing all we had hoped for and more. First up, Magee Marsh in Ohio for the migrating warblers. Before the trip, I’d lallygagged and got through only half of the online warbler identification course I’d bought from Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, but it didn’t matter. Everyone along the boardwalk pointed out and named the birds we were seeing: prothonotary, Blackburnian, yellow, Tennessee, magnolia, etc. Having flown up from their winter homes in the southern hemisphere, the birds stop along the marsh to refuel before crossing Lake Erie and continuing their flights to Canada and the arctic. For us it was just a matter of standing and watching them, mostly at eye level. (Side note: Amish and Mennonite are big birders, hiring vans to drive them to Magee. Besides the large families, everyone over about 5 ye...

Starting our 5th year here in Windermere. The pandemic has receded from our collective minds, with a few people still wearing masks, the rest of us either fully up to date with Covid boosters or denying the need for either. The political chaos continues, the economy is either booming or a disaster, depending on one’s party affiliation. Grant and I muddle along.  I can see big changes arriving to our lives this year. We are both slowing down which means we have to hurry up and do whatever we hope to do. Any desired trips or events need to be put in the “now or never” file. At the same time, we are facing the reality that some things are starting to move from our lives. Will we ride bike again? If not, they need to find new homes. Same for much of our camping gear. I am sad about this. On the other hand, we are hale and hearty, with the now constant caveat, for our age. As my father said, we can still feed ourselves, and if  when we get to the point we can’t, someone will step u...

I am in a dither getting our house and yard in order before we go to Michigan and Ohio for a 10-day birding trip. The weather here is between spring and summer. The mid- day temperatures are getting to low-mid 90s with promises of  30% precipitation that doesn’t happen. Everything is dry and crispy. I’m running the front yard sprinklers everyday, using 2 programs on the timer so I can easily turn one off when the rains finally start. We are supposed to be on twice a week watering, however I have a few new plants who need help getting started, especially my fairy hibiscus (Hibiscus poeppigii) I planted under the oak and tiny gaillardias (Gaillardia grandiflora )  over in the bright sun. Were I to be home, I’d just throw a bucket of water on them each morning. We’ve started turning the AC during late afternoon and night. It’s still cool enough to open the house until about noon, but that’s about over. Until then, Gracie enjoys looking out the living room window, unfazed when th...

April seemed to be all garden club, all the time. I started with the zone leader’ walkthrough for Spring Fever on Friday, the 5th, then 2 whole days of that event. Whew. April 11th was the Windermere Garden Club’s monthly meeting, a field trip to Southern Hill Farm, a you-pick and wholesale blueberry farm. We were inspire to add blueberries to our garden. Friday, April 12th, I was the speaker at Bloom and Grow’s monthly luncheon, touting the value of becoming a citizen scientist, specifically, downloading the iNaturalist app and participating in the City Nature Challenge 2024: Orange County. I was pleased with my talk, the first one I’ve given in person in 5 years. I still attend EarlyBird Toastmasters, but we’ve been on Zoom since early 2020. Before that, we’d moved to Key Biscayne for a year, and I didn’t drive up to Fort Lauderdale often. On the 21st, we toured Jeanne’s almost-all native, completely grassless yard, a B&G social with the mandatory wine and lovely appetizers and d...