I'm so glad you could stop by. This is my personal blog of daily life and my journey through life. You will find a strong emphasis on family and friends as well as finding my ancestors through genealogy. Unlike my other blogs this blog is more of a catch-all so any topic is fair game.
I hope you are enjoying all the pictures from our vacation. There's lots more to come but I thought I would take a break to announce one of our kids' new websites, MysteryPile. This is not a blog but rather a website that is very much mind provoking website complete with a forum for active interaction. As part of the mission statement "We crave to know and crave to learn the ways of our ancestors and how their trials built the foundations we live upon today." So if you have a minute or two drop by and say hello. Say hi from the Garden Gnome :)
It's funny sometimes looking back to see how you got to this point. I can remember the excitement at spending hours and I do mean hours of watching code as the little one leaped for joy when a little white dot danced across the screen. This meant the code so carefully and painstakingly entered worked. Well Mom and Dad were well behind the little one but we finally splurged and bought our first computer in 1989. It came with Internet in a Box and oh my gosh I was hooked! It wasn't long before I set up my very first website, very much blog style. At that time is wasn't as easy as using a blog host though as every thing was done via html. One day, I was so frustrated I asked the little one how to do it. With a characteristic grin, the reply was "I could do it for you or you would learn more figuring it out yourself". Well there you go, a chip off the old block and definitely something I would have said myself. So I learned html and every once in awhile when the going is a bit tough with coding, those words come back and they serve me well. Kids have a wisdom that you can learn from if you are open minded enough to listen.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
This past week has been one of discovery mainly blog related. I have decided to make a few changes on all of my blogs. All of this will be behind the scenes spanning a month or so per blog. This is being done as a major improvement overall, one that will give me significantly more control over my blogs. For the most part I hope to keep the look and feel of my blogs so readers likely won't notice much of a change. They will notice one quite apparent change although that too shouldn't be too painful. In order to make these changes I have been doing a lot of research so that I can make the changes systematically and as pain free as possible. My gosh there is a lot of material out there to digest! Each day I have discovered something new, quite often one more way to improve my blogs. Through discovery I am learning a lot about the behind the scenes workings for blogging! It has been a very interesting week.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
Big Bird at Busch Gardens, Tampa, Florida
December 16, 2010
Sesame Street was such a big part of our daily routine when our kids were young. Now our grandkids are watching Sesame Street. During our visit to
Busch Gardens we spotted
Big Bird and
Elmo greeting visitors in the
Sesame Street Safari of Fun. Grandma just had to get a picture of Papa with Big Bird for the grandkids. Papa is quite tall but Big Bird towered over him by at least a head. Papa came up to Big Bird's neck! It was a great photo that I immediately emailed to the grandkids when we were home for the evening. I must say that Big Bird is one of the friendliest birds you will ever meet! What a great day!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
Caribbean Flamingos
December 16, 2010
Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida is home to about 300 Caribbean flamingos. Flamingos are very impressive magestic birds with their characteristic pink colour and habit of standing on one leg. Their pink colour comes from carotenoids, a pigment found in their food. They stand on one leg in both cool and warm environments because of a process called thermoregulation, an adaptation strategy. Curling one leg under the body keeps the foot warm and conserves body heat. These birds are protected under the US Migratory Bird Act of 1918.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
Albino Wallaby
December 16, 2010
The kangaroo and wallaby exhibit at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida is home to a rare
albino wallaby. Albino means lacking normal pigmentation so the coat appears white while the skin appears pinkish even though it is white. What gives the pinkish tone is the blood below the skin. This is the same reason why the eyes appear red. Albinism is a rare, autosomal recessive trait. In the wild, albino animals seldom survive because the lack the necessary colouration to avoid predation. As a result of their reduced fecundity, albinos seldom live long enough to produce offspring however the gene that causes albinism remains in the general population as a recessive only to be expressed on the very rare occasion. Thanks to Busch Gardens this little guy should have a relatively normal lifespan!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
White Sands of Clearwater Beach, Florida
December 27, 2010
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
Kangaroos Lazing in the Sun
December 16, 2010
Busch Gardens has a large number of wildlife exhibits. Our first stop was the kangaroo and wallaby exhibit. You can buy a cup of feed to feed them through the low wood fence. If you put the food in your palm or hold the container where the can see it, both the kangaroos and wallabies will come to eat the offerings. Kangaroos and wallabies are both marsupials but wallabies are considerably smaller than kangaroos. They were quite docile, lazing in the sun.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
Busch Gardens Tram
December 16, 2010
I hope you enjoyed the first set of pictures from The Florida Aquarium. I now want to share a series of pictures from our first trip to
Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida during our recent vacation. The large parking lots are a distance from Busch Gardens. Trams run on a regular basis to take you to and from the amusement park. The friendly drivers give a little information on the park while telling a few jokes. They really are quite lovely ambassadors for greeting visitors to the park.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
We held our larger family Christmas celebrations yesterday as we were at our vacation home during the holiday season. The week was filled with preparations and excited anticipation! We kept our fingers crossed hoping for good traveling weather for the kids. The big day came with the first to arrive parents of oldest and youngest grandkids. The grandkids were so excited to see us so there were lots of hugs and kisses! Next to arrive were parents of our middle grandkid who was also quite excited to see us along with the cousins. We sat around chit chatting enjoying a wide array of our tradition family holiday treats like kibbeh, crab meat dip and crackers, crudites, cheese tray and hummus with pita bread. The little ones amused themselves playing, eyeing up the presents and helping themselves to the snacks. Finally our youngest kid with significant other arrived. The much awaited for moment of present opening was upon us much to the delight of the little ones! Oh my gosh we had so many chuckles to the point of tears in our eyes. The little ones are just a hoot! After the present opening we sat down to a sagging table (actually 2 large tables pulled together as there were 12 of us) loaded with our turkey feast. It was just an absolutely wonderful family get together!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
Sea Dragon
December 14, 2010
The seas are filled with so many wonderous inhabitants, some of which haven't even been identified yet. I can remember the first time I looked at diatomes in the microscope. They triggered my imagination with their tiny jewel-like shapes and colours. I had been hooked on microscopy but oh my gosh did that ever strengthen my love of what treasures a microscope could reveal. You don't need a microscope to see sea dragons but guaranteed they will trigger all the excitement and imagination of seeing a diatome for the first time. These creatures are simply amazing! They move rather gracefully through the water despite their cumbersome leaf-like appearance. Despite their similarity to sea horses, sea dragons are actually a member of the family
Syngnathidae, a bony fish. These are truly beautiful creatures!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
Sea Anemones
December 14, 2010
We had aquariums when our kids were growing up. There is something calming and relaxing about watching fish. I've always loved going to larger aquariums to see those fish and other aquatic life that is not available to the home aquarist. Sea anemones are actually predatory animals (phylum
Cnidaria, order
Actiniaria) that live in the water. They are closely related to corals, jellyfish and Hydra. Se anemones have a flower-like appearance and are brightly coloured. Watching them sway gently in the current that accentuates their natural movements is sheer magic!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
Spiny Lobster
December 14, 2010
I have to tell you, I am a huge seafood lover with lobster being my number one favourite. My next favourite is snow crab legs but I digress. The spiny lobster does not have the two enlarged claws as true lobsters do but they are quite edible. They are the biggest food export of the Bahamas! Pictured is one of several spiny lobsters at The Florida Aquarium. 'Tis a thing of beauty!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
At Port
December 14, 2010
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
Gator at The Florida Aquarium
December 14, 2010
One of the first things we noticed at the resort where our vacation home is located was the numberous gator warning signs. There are signs to stay out of the water and signs to not aggravate or feed the gators. I thought they were rather humorous until we spotted our first live gator sunning itself on the shore of one of the ponds. I have taken a lot of chances over my lifetime just to get a picture of something I'm interested in especially wild life like tracking a black bear but I have a rather healthy respect for gators. A gator can out run a human in a straight line and if I ever tried the zig-zag running method, I'd trip after the first stride if I could actually move! I've managed to get a lot of great pictures of the gators roaming our resort from the safety of the car or golf cart. It was interesting to get up a bit closer picture of this gator at The Florida Aquarium tucked safely behind an acrylic barrier. He was indeed a huge adult gator!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
Wetlands Gallery
December 14, 2010
Florida is home to a vast amount of wetlands and that is reflected in the Wetlands Gallery at The Florida Aquarium. The displays are mainly raised to about chest level and open allowing the 30 species of free flying birds to land where they wish along the water's edge, in the mangroves and in the larger trees. The displays also give a wonderful view of what is going on below the water's surface. Turtles and fish swim amongst the mangrove roots. It is really a very lovely and rather large exhibit to wander through.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
Now that we are back at our primary residence after being on vacation with a home base of our vacation home for a month, I'm taking some time to go through all the pictures I took. There are a lot of them, 1,793 to be precise. It is such a blessing that we have so many pictures to remind us of our first extended stay at our vacation home! I have plans to share some with family and friends as well as readers of my blogs. Some will be used to create a digital scrapbook. I feel very blessed not only at having the opportunity to get out of the cold for a period of time but to also have brought back such great memories.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
Giant Stingray Tank
December 14, 2010
There are several hands-on opportunities at
The Florida Aquarium where they allow you to touch the inhabitants. One such exhibit is the
Giant Stingray petting tank. If you lean over the tank slightly, extending two fingers into the water the stingrays will come up to allow you to touch them. It is quite the experience!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
African Black-footed Penguin
December 14, 2010
During our recent vacation at our vacation home we had the great pleasure of visiting
The Florida Aquarium not once but twice! We could have easily visited for a third time. We were so impressed with this amazing attraction that we bought an annual membership. Pictured is one of the six
African Black-foot Penguins the aquarium is home to. Unfortunately we only caught the tail end of the Penguin Promenade so that is on our list to thing to do during our next visit to the aquarium. Isn't he just adorable?
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
I'm sure by now you have figured out we were recently on vacation. We left our primary residence on December 8 traveling south to our vacation home then northeast to visit a couple of kids before returning home on January 9, 2011. Essentially we were gone for a month so I have lots to blog about some of which has been peeking out at you even while we were away. I had internet during our stop-overs, amazing internet at our vacation home and the kids so am kind of noticing just how crappy my internet service is here but hopefully that will change soon with the house up for sale. Anyway, I thought I would give a brief synopsis of our vacation so you will have an idea of what to expect for posts in the coming days or weeks.
- Dec 8 to 9 - on the road, not much sightseeing but saw some great sights
- Dec 10 to 11 - a bit of unwinding, opening up the house, getting groceries, blew up the golf cart battery (not pleasant)
- Dec 12 to 18 - a friend with 8 yr old visited so lots of sightseeing including trips to The Florida Aquarium, Busch Gardens and the Gulf Coast, a lot of great eating too, natural wild life in our community, fixed golf cart (expensive)
- Dec 18 to 29 - took friend with 8 yr old to airport, picked up one of our kids with significant other, visited The Florida Aquarium and Busch Gardens again, made it to the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, hunted for seashells, ate a lot of great food, did a bit of golfing,
- Dec 29 to Jan 5 - crashed a bit, celebrated New Years by actually going out to a paid event for the first time since being married, had an amazing night out with celebrities, did a bit of shopping, closed down the vacation home
- Jan 5 to 7 - on the road, did a bit of sightseeing, ran into an icky and very heavy rainstorm, arrived at the kids, enjoyed great food
- Jan 7 to 9 - crashed at the kids, did a bit of sightseeing, stocked up on cheese to bring home
- Jan 9 - on the road, changed Lucy's voice to something that could pronounce the name of towns properly, ran into rather heavy lake effect snow but kept her on the road, arrived home safe and sound but tired, unloaded the car, called the kids and started putting things away
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
Wabasso Beach, Florida
December 24, 2010
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
The Rose
January 4, 2011
I wrote about our
amazing evening rubbing shoulders with a lot of famous folks a couple of days ago. Pictured is the rose Jack Calhoun, one of the Twin Brothers, gave me the night we were so very lucky to see him perform. I'm thinking I could become a serious groupie to these entertainers! Isn't it just gorgeous and oh it smelled just heavenly too :)
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
The Florida Aquarium
December 14, 2010
The Florida Aquarium is located at 701 Channelside Drive in Tampa, Florida. The building is architecturally quite impressive. We have an annual membership so can go as often as we want as well as save a little on extras while there. We took our friend and his 8 year old there the first week of our vacation then the kids there when they were down. This is seriously a wonderful place to spend the good part of an afternoon. The next few posts will be from our first visit there.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
The first week of 2011 was eventful yet quite pleasant. We spent the first part of the week soaking up the sun knowing we would be back in the cold and snow soon enough. Mid-week we said our good-byes to our vacation home friends once again until our next visit. Pointing Lucy in the direction of a couple of our kids where would spend a couple of days before making the final leg of our trip home. It had been a wonderful extended vacation filled with family, friends and great food. We had been very blessed to enjoy such a great time!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
Our vacation home neighbours asked if we would be interested in going a Tuesday night buffet they liked going to and we accepted. The buffet was roast beef and chicken with the extras. It was nothing fancy and at $10.95 each, definitely not expensive but the food was good. Aside of the food the only other cost for the night was for drinks. The buffet was held at a former Holiday Inn in two very small banquet rooms that had the divider open to form one larger room. There was a bar to one side on the front corner beside a tiny stage. There was a small dance floor in front of the stage and I do mean small. The crowd was small numbering about 50.
The entertainment started after dinner so we settled in to enjoy what we thought was only going to be karaoke. After a few singers things started to liven up well beyond our expectations. McKinley & Beggs, a well known Florida country duo came on to play a set. They have been the opening act at Silver Springs for George Jones, Charlie Daniels and Merle Haggard as well as others. Jack and Jerry Calhoun (Twin Brothers) who frequently appear at the Grand Ole Opry played a set then Jack performed a few songs himself. When he came out to perform, we went around the room handing long stem roses to all the ladies. Ken Brady of The Original Casinos and now lead singer of The Casinos performed several number and gave me a signed CD! Eddie Snyder sat at the table next to ours with Dawn, station manager to 4 radio stations. Richie Merritt performed a couple of songs as well. There were other famous singers in the room as well.
I'll tell you, I was in seventh heaven and then some! I could not believe we actually were able to enjoy all this amazing talent and not only that chit chat with the entertainers as if we had known them forever. They were so down to earth and friendly! The entertainers get together to just do bit of performing and networking so don't charge for the entertainment on Tuesdays. No one knows who will show up to perform so it varies from Tuesday to Tuesday. In addition to the free Tuesday night performances special events are scheduled on select Friday and/or Saturday evenings with a seating cost of $10 per person and additional $10.95 for the optional dinner.
Talk about an amazing night!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
Garden Gnome Gathering Water
December 31, 2010
A walk-about is always a good activity to indulge in after a busy holiday season filled with lots of great foods. The nice thing about a walk-about is you never know what you are going to see or who you will meet. My camera is always with me just for those special times. I happened upon this very friendly gnome collecting water for his garden. He was up near a beautiful chunk or greenish glass. My Mom had several pieces of glass in her front garden bed so I've always been quite fond of it. After a brief chat and a photoshoot I let the gnome go about his business collecting water while I continued my walk-about.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
Christmas Lights Reflection
December 30, 2010
Christmas lights are always so pretty with their cheery colours and twinkles. I spotted this house all lit up but what made it even prettier was the house reflecting off the pond in front of it. Don't you think it is gorgeous?
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
The Silver Mask
December 31, 2010
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
I like to unwind a little before going to sleep for the night. Quite often I indulge in a little bedtime reading, something I've done since childhood. I'm currently reading Naomi Judd Love Can Build a Bridge (ISBN 0-679-4127-6). This is the story of single mom Naomi Judd and daughters Wynonna (born Christina) and Ashly Judd and their rise to fame and fortune. It is a rather interesting read!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
Many people declare their New Year's resolutions each year. They make a long list of resolutions that usually are broken by the end of the first week of the new year. The problem with making resolutions is they set you up for failure right off the hop, then you feel horrible for breaking them and not living up to those expectations that you get discouraged and give up trying. I don't make New Year's resolutions. Instead what I aim for is to make the new year a better year than the year before. With that comes the realization that I need to work on making myself a better person but nothing is ever cut into stone. I just work on it. What about you? Do you make New Year's resolutions?
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
Here we are celebrating the first Sunday of 2011. We had a blessings filled 2010 and survived those happenings that weren't so much of a blessing. We grew though our experiences, laughed a lot, traveled a lot, and enjoyed our family and friends. We are looking forward to seeing what blessings are in store for us for 2011. I'm sure like the many years that have gone before us, 2011 will have many blessings!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
All the best in 2011!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
