Sun-kissed Beauties Return to Unfavorable Weather

Stepping off the plane into 80's and brilliant Florida sunshine...easy.

Coming back to blustery snow and battleship-gray Michigan winter skies...well, I don't suppose we're going to get much sympathy somehow.

Nevertheless, I share with you a few select photos so you can join in the experience of a late winter escape to warmer climes.

We flew to Ft. Lauderdale and spent a couple days just north of Miami relaxing on the beach. From there we drove south to the Keys, spending a night at a State Park in the middle Keys. We drove into the everglades to spend a night camping on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico and had some magnificent (really!) bird sightings. We finished up back at Ft. Lauderdale (at the yellow hotel, Ella will say) relaxing by the pool and playing with our sticker books.

On the beach at Bahia Honda State Park in the Keys. Beautiful weather and no Jellyfish incidents.

Exploring on the beach in Ft. Lauderdale. Ella and Elisabeth both enjoyed finding shells, crabs, rocks, and assorted treasures though Elisabeth was much less discriminating (cigarette butts, seaweed, bits of trash...).

Sisters in the sunshine. What more can be said?

Enjoying the wildlife at the Flamingo gardens. The astute reader will recognize that the girls are posed next to a Peacock, not a flamingo.

Those are just a few photos and if we don't get sucked into 'normal' life too quickly we will post some more later.

It was a little harsh coming back to cold and snow, but comforting just the same. It's good to be home and know that at least we're not stuck in Minneapolis with 14 inches of snow.

Elisabeth, Coffee, and Matches

Here are a couple photo sequences that I found interesting.

Her fondness for coffee:

The joy of birthdays and matches:

Sowing the Seeds of 2009

Some of you may recall my attempt to garden last year. Don't be fooled by the photos. I think I got about four ripe cherry tomatoes off that plant, total. I started the plants from seed...in July. That was the problem.

Vowing not to make that mistake, I put down my first set of seeds about a month ago. Last summer, I found a cool tip for starting new seeds. Get an old egg carton, fill the cups with dirt and plant a seed in each. The problem is that the dirt dries out so quickly. It needs almost daily watering, and any mishap casts genocide de sécheresse upon the fragile little things.

This year, I enhanced the growing environment by picking up a cheap plastic container at the hardware store. By closing the lid, I can pretty much lock in the moisture and keep the plants from drying out. It's a balancing act, though, since you also don't want them to be perpetually soggy and rot.

So back to the story. About a month ago I was chopping up a red bell pepper and decided to keep the seeds, which I planted in two egg cartons:


About a week later, I could see the little heads coming up, and another week later, the seeds were looking pretty good:



Today I gently peeled each sprout out of its shell and put most of them down in a more permanent home in a planter tray. The dirt will give them more nutrients than the seed starter in the egg cartons.



So this year will be different. I expect to have the bell peppers in full swing just in time for a surprise May snowstorm to take them all out. Now that these seeds have left the egg carton phase, I've got the next round already underway.

Orange tree

Rosemary