Sun set with a twist…
It is a bit cooler here today, the wind strong and cold…this reminds me the warmer days are on the way!
Date Palm…
This was an interesting trip, I learned new, interesting info while away…no I didn’t know these were Date Palms!
Don’t bother me…
This fellow was relaxing, without any concern for those who where observing him…Naples Zoo, Florida
Screen…
while this photo leaves much to be desired, I liked the way the screen from the lanai was visible…
barnacles…
These fellows are from the arthropod family, apparently there are 1,220 species of barnacles…this particular one is related to the lobster and crab…who knew?
Reticulated Python…
Kaa, is a 19ft. 191 lbs., Reticulated Python found at the Naples Zoo. The enclosure looks small for this lady, but it was new in June of 2015. While these snakes are large and strong enough to kill an adult human they are nonvenomous constrictors who are generally not considered dangerous to humans…attacks are rarely reported. The photo is cropped thin due to the reflection of the glass in the photo, which was distracting and taking away from this magnificent specimen.
Red bananas
Saw this plant at the Naples Zoo and I have to admit I didn’t know what it was at first…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_banana
Ginger flower…
I have to admit, I’ve seen these flowers for years and never knew what they were called…Ginger flower.
North & South
We didn’t stay on South Beach this year, but managed to visit…have to say I missed not staying along the coast.
North…
South…
White Ibis
If you been to Florida you will have seen these fellows, they are all over the place and are not too proud to beg for food. The White Ibis is one of 26 species around the world. In Florida you will find the White Ibis, which has black tipped wings you can only see this detail when they are flying, the Glossy Ibis, which has brown patches…there is also a Scarlet Ibis in southern Florida, this happens to be the national bird of Trinidad and Tobago and was introduced to Florida either deliberately or through migration. I’ve not see the Scarlet one but will watch for it…
Chinese Hibiscus
I’ve simply called this flower a hibiscus but apparently it has a grander name…”Chinese Hibiscus”…the leaf of this plant is lovely in it’s own right!
From an “Artist’s Garden”…in Key West
???
You can find this just off Duval Street in Key West…don’t think it would be deemed acceptable here in Canada?
all in a row…
If you know me at all you know I love trees, especially “naked trees”…without leaves of course! This was taken while driving on the way home from Florida…fyi…I wasn’t driving! A crisp cold morning, brrrr. There is a bit of dirty windshield showing up on the right hand side but I really liked this so excuse the dirt!
see you later Alligator…
These are such cool fellows…I’ve seen a couple outside the zoo one in particular up close and personal.
I’ve returned from Florida and have just gotten to my photos. They will be in random order depending on what I get to next. Here is a fellow we found at the Naples Zoo. I’ve been to the zoo a couple of times and enjoy the fact it is small and hasn’t been overly busy when we have been there making it relatively easy to observe the zoo residents…fyi…all my photos taken this trip were with my iPhone it was just easier to carry around.
Saw this fellow and his companion last year…you could tell they were used to people being around as they didn’t appear to be the least bit concerned.
how to paint a sail boat!
Certainly an interesting undertaking…with a crane involved I’m sure expensive as well!
Sunset off Key West…
washed up…
Saw many pieces of coral like this washed up on the shoreline. It was windy & wavey for the first few days, which meant the beach was covered in sea shells. A bit farther down the beach from our location it was soft sand, so our area is a bit of a catch all when windy…we knew this from last year.
tranquility…
I was looking through the hundreds of photos I took while away and realized 95% of them are of my granddaughter! The other 4% are of family with her and 1% is of sites while away! I didn’t realize I did this…was always taking a photo so thought there would be many to post but it turns out there isn’t…
Here is a simplistic one, but one that speaks to my heart!!! While I don’t/can’t sail, I love the water…
old is new again…
I’ve not taken any photos for a couple of weeks now, which is why I’ve been posting photos I’ve taken in the last year or so…here are three more.
Lake Nipissing facing south west…
Leesburg, Florida, taken a couple of years ago.
Lake Nipissing, facing north along Memorial Drive.
treasures of the sea???
It all depends on how you look at things, what you see…right? I’m sure many see these as nothing of importance or worthy of a second look. To me these are interesting finds…especially the beautiful empty intact shell! Just look at the Nacre, or Mother of Pearl as it is known in the jewelry world… it is smooth, an even color, without damage. For those who aren’t familiar, Nacre is the white inner lining of the shell, the outer layer of pearls is also Nacre. This would make a beautiful piece of jewelry if you were into making something from raw materials such as this…
look what was washed up on shore after a windy day…
.
gray scale sunset…
when I take a photo of the sunset, sometimes the colors look right to me and sometimes they don’t…when they don’t I try the grayscale…I rather like it!
would you give it a try?
This is something I would like to do but won’t…my body would rebel! I always thought it looked like fun though. We saw boat drawn para-gliders each day, but only this motorized para-glider …as in the second photo, during the two weeks there.
fascinating clouds…
Our condo in Marco Island faced west, so of course I saw my share of sunsets…I do have to say the most beautiful sunsets were when there was some interesting cloud formations! The Gulf of Mexico sky does seem to offer strikingly beautiful clouds!
Family outing…
On the beach, Marco Island…not sure but I think these are Willets? If anyone thinks differently let me know…
surfer dude…
the first couple of days it was windy…one of those days we saw a few fellows out catching a few waves…this fellow did well, I managed to capture one attempt.
I don’t know anything about surfing but I wouldn’t have thought the waves large enough for a descent ride?
He seemed to enjoy himself and make the best of it managing a few rides!
All be it short rides…
different…
this vacation was much different from what I’ve done for the past eight or so years…I’ve not stayed at the ocean for two weeks, nor in a anything higher than the first floor, for that long…we generally rent a condo in Key West in a complex which is only two stories, and always choose the ground floor. Last year in Marco we rented a house, so being on the 5th floor was different…it was so awesome to sit on the deck and look around, watch the people, the water and the sky. So much to see from one view point. I do have to say I’m not a fan of highrises…but that was the only option if we wanted to be on the beach…
this is looking right/north off the balcony, it looks like a short walk, but in reality it is much longer than it appears…
this was our first day, a bit cooler for some, around 18c I think, but for us it was fabulous
this is looking left/south of our balcony…the beach ends there as a rock formation which would make it difficult to walk on.
Photos weren’t taken on the same day as you can tell from the sky…
fishin buddies…
From my balcony I watched a man fishing, he stopped by a few times, never saw him catch anything but I’m sure he enjoyed himself…it really wasn’t the gentleman that caught my eye but these two fellows…his fishin buddies! These two weren’t concerned about people walking by, I’m sure they were just hoping the man would leave something…the man completely ignored them, I’m sure he was used to them hanging around.
sunset…
Boring name I know, but I don’t really have a way with words! I had a difficult time while away trying to capture the sunsets…our condo faced west so I saw one most evenings, but was rarely happy with the photos. Not sure why, someone said I should have used a tripod and a longer exposure and I’m sure he was correct, I honestly don’t know enough about my camera, at this point, I’m enjoying taking photos but not yet feeling like I want to jump head first into the workings of the camera. I couldn’t bring my tripod on the plane, too much to carry…I was with my daughter so I wasn’t about to take the time to begin reading to find out what to do!
These are the same photos of course…but the colors in the colored are not accurate! I’m showing one B & W along with its color counterpart simply because even though the color isn’t accurate I like the photo!!!
home…
As you may know I was away for a couple of weeks, we were most fortunate to have missed the two coldest weeks so far this winter!!! Didn’t take my laptop so I couldn’t keep up with posting and visiting. This year my daughter and I went to Marco Island. I stayed there for a week last year in a house and enjoyed it so thought I’d try it again. This time we decided to go for a condo on South Marco Beach, with a west exposure. As a result the majority of my photos will be from that area…of course we went out, but for the most part when we did I forgot my camera, as we were going shopping, to the Market or to eat! If you’ve never been, the beach itself is a beauty, fairly wide, with most of the surface compact broken shells with some fine sand mixed in, the waters edge is small shells, some live some not. I enjoyed myself watching theses fellows moving along across the shells. Shoes are required when walking along the beach unless you are right at the waters edge…
I may not be around…
I’m leaving today for Florida for two weeks…I’m not bringing my laptop so I may not have the opportunity to post or visit until I return. I intend to take as many photos as I can so should have lots to work with when I return…
brrrrrrr….
This fall, we have had very cold weather…generally this type of weather is in January or February, not November and December. I know…it is what it is! For the last week or so the wind chill has made it biting cold…today it is -32C or -25.6F…darn cold for December 14th!!! So another shot from the south for today…a Key West sunset taken last winter. Makes me feel warmer just looking at it!
sand and sun…
I decided it is time for a bit of sand and sun…since I can’t photograph the sand here I will rely on photos I took in the last few winters…when I go to Florida I generally don’t stay in a condo/house on the beach, for one far to expensive for my liking and Key west generally doesn’t have condos on the beach…across the street or close by but we like to be able to walk everywhere so find it better to stay close to Duval Street…as a result I don’t have a great many beach photos…should have many this winter as my daughter and I will be staying in Marco Islands in a condo on the beach in January…the first for me in many years.
Marco Island, Florida – 2012
Naples, Florida, 2012
Fort Zachary State Park Beach – 2012
a bit of B & W
I becoming a big fan of b & w…these are older shots I’ve converted as I’ve not been able to take many photos and the ones I’ve taken I’ve not done anything with yet. I’ll get to them soon I hope. The photo below is cropped as I liked the rather eery look of it this way…believe it or not there is a restaurant/bar behind me, I think I’ve shown photos of before…right on a canal that feeds into to Lake Harris, Leesburg Florida.
this is a shot I took from my vehicle window while driving through Kentucky on my way home last winter…if you are a visitor you will know I’m a huge fan of “naked” trees…
this is one side of Sunset Park point…before all the ice was gone…I thought the b & w made this shot look rather interesting…
one of each…
I must say, I”m liking the black & white more and more, maybe because I’m finding photos that work? This ship is at Key West…near Fort Zachary Park…for the last few years there was an older Naval vessel docked there, one that was used as a museum… this year the Coast Guard claimed the spot.
There you have it, black & white, sepia, and the original…I’m actually liking the sepia that has been desaturated slightly.
things I like…
emerald green moss…it looks and feels like velvet at this stage…
gnarly wood used as a top layer for a railing on the deck on a wharf…
and of course ocean, beach, water…
bud n mary’s…cocoa beach
today was dreary, it drizzled, rained and darn well poured…hard…all day long, so that means today is another beach/water day on the blog…always makes me happy. the photo directly below was taken on the way back from Key West…in the Keys, but not sure which one…I don’t know Bud n Mary, but I liked that they named their Marina that way…this was taken from my moving vehicle so not the greatest shot…I played around with this one a bit…was interesting to see what I could achieve with the colour…
the two photos below are in Cocoa Beach…the sky was very strange this day, ranging from white fluffy clouds to wispy nothings and the colour of the sky was unusual as well…pretty but different… this is a long shot of the beach facing the Pier…it is a great place…people fish of it near the end but the main attraction are the 4 restaurants there, ranging bars type establishments to a classy type place…
the photo below was the day before the one above…confusing I know…I was surprised at the number of people who tried their hand as surfing on this shore line…I watched them on and off most of the day…looked like fun!
a vision…
today we are having what amounts to a mini snow storm…I know it won’t last long and the snow won’t stay, but it is one of those beach photo days folks…here is a long shot of Cocoa Beach…stopped there on the way back from Key West before going to my Mother’s place in Leesburge…I liked it, there, it reminded me of a mini Daytona Beach when it was thriving…I didn’t realize that Cocoa Beach was a surfing destination, in fact there was some kind of tournament happening during my stay…didn’t venture there but managed to get a few photos from the beach…
US Navy…
at the end of Southard St., Key West, is a docking area, used by both the US Coast Guard and the US Navy…
the building below has been in disrepair for the last three years I’ve been in that area…
I have no idea of what it was used for or why it was abandoned like this…but it is a very large piece of
property that could be put to good use on on the waters edge like this…below shows the front of the build,
along with what looks like some kind of old artillery, past its prime? The only protection is the blue/grey
tarps and the yellow caution tape…both of which have seen better days…
beauty & gnarly…
here is one of my favourite bushes…Bougainvillea……so vibrantly colourful
because it snowed!
When I looked out the window this morning it was snowing…I wasn’t happy as most of our snow was gone…I know it won’t last long, in fact a great deal of it is gone already…to counter act the snow affect, I thought I’d post things that make me happy…pretty flowers and part of the side garden path to condos in Truman Annex, Key West…
7 mile bridge…
some of you will know Key West is a place where I like to spend some time in the winter. to get there you have to travel the Overseas Highway U.S.1 from Homestead, Florida, through the individual Keys…an amazing drive. I love being so close to the water on the highway…of course I’ve been fortunate to travel during good weather…I don’t know if I would enjoy it as much in rainy/windy weather. the old Seven Mile Bridge was considered one of the 7 wonders of the world back in 1912…
this bridge links Marathon, Florida, Middle Keys to Little Duck Key, Lower Keys…beginning at mile marker 47 on U.S. 1. the original bridge was closed to traffic in 1982… locals & travellers us it now to fish from, bike ride, or simply walk along it, which I’ve done.
the old and the new…
it was originally used as a rail road…after the hurricane in 1935 it was widened and the tracks were cemented over…it became part of the Overseas Highway U.S. 1 in 1938
the old bridge is in need of repairs…in order to continue to allow it to be used in the same manner work will have to done on it in the coming years…
it truly was an amazing display of architecture for the time!
oranges & grapefruit…
my mother has a huge grapefruit tree and a much smaller orange tree on her property in Florida, she has enjoyed an abundance of grapefruit in the last 7 years. the orange tree is only a couple of years old so not much fruit from it, 9 oranges I think she said…
I don’t eat grapefruit, but apparently these are delicious! she gives them away by the bag full every year…
below is the lovely flower on the tree along with the tiny green grapefruit…
below are the tiny new oranges…it is interesting when they are this tiny they look exactly like the grapefruit…even the flowers do!
land & ocean…
this fellow is in a bush (approx. 5.5feet high) on my Mother’s property were she lives in Florida for 6 months of the year…we spotted him scurrying along the ground to get under the tree where he obviously felt safe to observe us on the patio, from the top of the tree…it has rather funny as it appeared he was watching us…he stayed there for about 15 min…
the fellow below we saw from a dock on Lake Dora, he didn’t move…just enjoyed sunning himself…as u can see he was considerably larger than the fellow above…
I’ve never seen a Manatee before so this was rather cool for me…he was at the Marina in Key West…he/she seemed very docile until someone attempted to get its attention then he swam away…
Heather Cote... 