More than a feeling, and a bit of fun!

A little quirky questionnaire I picked up from my blogger pal, Vickie, at Two Humans, Three Dogs, and a Cat! Anyone else up for this fun little thing????? Come on...let me know if you are so a I can read your answers!

1. Do you like blue cheese? Every kind of blue cheese ever made, I LOVE!!!

2. Have you ever been drunk? Only tipsy.

3. Do you own a gun? No

4. What flavor of Kool Aid was your favorite? Grape.

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Yes. I have whitecoat syndrome! My blood pressure even goes up!

6. What do you think of hot dogs? Make mine a gigantic all beef one with a side of baked beans and potato salad...then lay me in a hammock for a 3 hour nap!!!

7. Favorite Christmas movie? All of them! They don't call me xmasgirl for nothing!

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Coffee with milk and Splenda!

9. Can you do push ups? NO

10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? Wedding band...the only thing I care about in jewelry...

11. Favorite hobby? Succulent gardening, and making cards.

12. Do you have A.D.D.? NO

13. What's your favorite shoe? Sandals

14. Middle Name? Dawn...after some singer named Julie Dawn from the 60's, I imagine!

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment? Wish I didn't have to work tomorrow, I hope it rains tonight, and I adore ice cream!
16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Fresca, coffee, Diet Coke

17. Current worry? The economy, and worrying that we will never get a universal healthcare plan in this country.

18. Current hate right now? Well, hate is kinda strong, but I have dislikes for sure. I dislike that I live in the city, and wish I was in the country.

19. pepsi or coke? COKE

20. How did you bring in the New Year? Holding my scared little Doozey doggy!!! (Fireworks, ya know).

21. Where would you like to go? Always to California! Then Arizona, New Mexico, Utah.

22. Which friends will complete this? I think many of my blogger buddies will do it, for a bit of fun! I am guessing maybe Cindy will!!!

23. Do you own slippers? No...I wear flip flops around this house.

24. What color shirt are you wearing right now? A cranberry, blue and beige striped one.
25. Do you like sleeping on Satin sheets? I'm sure I would if I owned any!

26. Can you whistle? Yes, but only when I suck in...not blowing out!

27. Favorite color? Yellow (new)...and Orange (lifetime).

28. Would you be a good pirate? I do not like drunken disorderliness, singing songs at sea, and I would hate to walk a plank! No, I think not.

29. What songs do you sing in the shower? any that I had just heard playing on TV.

30. Favorite Girl's Names? Emily, Georgia

31. Favorite boy's names? Donovan, Shelby

32. What's in your pocket right now? some change, keys and a camera.
33. Last thing that made you laugh? A comedian on TV on Comedy Central whos name I can't remember...he is kinda new and does a whole long repetoir about bacon. LOLOL.

34. Best bed sheets as a child? Just a memory of a favorite quilt. My grandma had made it and it was as heavy as a brick (I don't know what they used to put inside...) and it was hand-tied, which always intregued me. Anyway, my sister and I used to turn our little window unit air conditioner on as cold as it would go and then get under the quilt to sleep...we would be all warm under there, but our faces would freeze all night! It was a sort of tent/camp hangout for us in young years! Happy memories!

35. Worst injury you've ever had as a child? Never had a broken bone, but many scraped knees roller skating!
36. Do you love where you live? I like where I live, but wish I lived on more land in the country.

37. What did you want to be when you grew up? a teacher

38. Who is your loudest friend? I have no loud friends!

39. How many dogs do you have? Just Doozey.

40. Does someone have a crush on you? Oh yes...many people...just kidding! :)

41. What is your favorite book? Secret Life of Bees

42. What is your favorite candy? Dove squares with the little sayings on the package inside.

43. Favorite Sports Team? None...I used to have a favorite golfer...Curtis Strange!

44. What song do you want played at your funeral? More Than A Feeling, by BOSTON, and any of their other hits. My husband and daughter already know this!

Happy Cactus Monday!

This is an updated old photo I had taken about a year ago at a state park near my house, and I was so happy to come upon it in this mostly sandy environment! It was quite happy, and starting to burst into lovely blooms!

Have a wonderful Cactus Monday!!!

Cute containers and a peek a boo!

I was walking Doozey this morning and found a few interesting containers...each had only one plant, but I thought they were photo worthy! First, a pot of Bougainvillea!

The Bougainvillea
So crisp, and bright and pretty
Love is in the air!



And a froggy filled with Australian Fern...how sweet!

Froggy, froggy, froggy-oh,
so cute and slimy green-oh
you can't hop away!

Here is a little collage, inspired by Soulbrush Collage...I am calling it "Peek a Boo, I see YOU"! In the shape of an Easter Egg...I may do more of these type collages for Easter cards!

Hope everyone has a wonderful upcoming week!

Updates on 2 things...

If you liked seeing that glass top table made out of a terracotta planter with succulents inside...I just found an article done by Sunset, with a photo, and directions on how to make one HERE!!!
This one you have to lift the glass off every few days for a few hours to let condensation evaporate, but I would rather have my top raised somehow all of the time so air could get in...I WILL think of something!!!

Did not get to the shuttle landing, but they did land safely and I have been watching the NASA Channel on satellite tv, and I saw the landing, and a news conference with the crew. The female astronaut, Mission Specialist Sandy Magnus, had to rest after landing, since she had been at the International Space Station for 129 days, but I cannot wait to hear her speak of her experiences! You can read all about it at www.nasa.gov
PHOTO CREDIT: www.nasa.gov

Blooming Ti plants???...what?????

Well, it's been a little too, possibly too too windy for the shuttle to land tomorrow...I will be praying for the winds to die down, so they can get on back on the ground!!! The ground here on Earth, anyway! :)

Here is another amazing discovery my Mom and I made while walking around the neighborhood the other day...these Ti Plants...which I believe are a type of Cordyline (I love than name, don't you...it just has the cutest ring to it...Cord-y-line)!!! Anyway...they had these really colorful berries/seeds hanging in clusters! Never had I seen anything like it. We have these plants all around here for many years already, but had not seen these before!!! I think I am going to take all of this wonderful Spring activity by our plants, as a good sign for a really fun summer, which will NOT include any hurricanes! Oh, ssshhhhh....I should not have said the word!!!

Hello beautiful berries! I wonder if the birds like these???

Thank goodness it is Friday night...a whole weekend of relaxation now! YES!!!

Succulent table idea for a project!!!

Check out this absolutely beautiful idea for making a little table with succulents underneath, at Dallas Art Gardens...it is about the 5th picture down. I think I may HAVE TO MAKE one of these for my front porch, to put between my chairs! It is crazy cool!!! You would have to be sure you could get air flow under the glass, oh, goodness, I am excited about this project!!!

For all you Florida bloggers:

Discovery Crew Undocks, Starts Journey Home
Wed, 25 Mar 2009 09:24:03 PM EDT

Taken from NASA.GOV website:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Space shuttle Discovery undocked from the International Space Station at 3:53 p.m. EDT Wednesday. At 5:09 p.m., the first of two separation burns was performed to move Discovery away from the station to start the journey home. The final separation burn occurred at 5:37 p.m.

The STS-119 crew is scheduled to go to sleep at 10:13 p.m. EDT. They will wake at 6:13 a.m. Thursday and perform a late inspection of Discovery’s thermal protection system using the shuttle robotic arm and the Orbital Boom Sensor System around 10:28 a.m.

Discovery's first landing opportunity at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., will be Saturday at 1:43 p.m.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
I may try and drive up for the landing! Perfect timing on a beautiful Saturday afternoon! I wish them best luck and a perfect landing safely back to home.

More White Bird of Paradise!

I finally got down to my neighbors house today to take a few more shots of these beautiful blooms! I ran into the owner of this B of P, who also happens to work at my workplace, and told him that his darn plant was featured on my blog! He was amazed!!! Enjoy!

Proper I.D.

I am so excited to receive the proper I.D. on this palm like plant I showed a picture of in my last post, that I incorrectly thought was a Traveller Palm....

My blogger friend, MATT, a Botanist, with a blog about weird botany and horticulture, called Burgers Onion told me it is a White Bird of Paradise!!! How cool is that? I guess I have never seen one before (at least not in bloom)...so this makes it extra special for me! I wanted to take more pics today, but it got dark too soon for me to get there, so I found this lovely pic online, to further share the gorgeousness of this bloom!

Photo credit: Florida Botanical Gardens

I feel like my heart can just about burst at this moment, the more surprises nature reveals to me...I feel full of love!

Thankyou, so much Matt!!!!!

It really is Spring!!!

Happy Cactus Monday to all of us cactus loving people, and for you and all others, I will show you a few things I found VERY interesting in my neighborhood today! These things are all evidence of Spring bursting forth, and many of them I was surprised to find all happening...some of which did not even make it into this particular post! Things are happening in the gardening world! My first pic is of my Mammillaria, which I had posted a few days ago, but it is now in such a better blooming stage, I just had to recapture it's beauty!

Next I found three fruits of a tropical nature really gearing up! First is one of the neighborhood banana trees...and this cute man came walking up and asked if I needed a monkey for the shot, so he joined in the fun! (My neighbor, Jeff).

Then one of my Mom's pineapples...they are about 5 inches long now, so they have a way to go still.

Check out this one particular coconut tree! I would call this CHOCK FULL!!! As I was walking I found several like this scattered about the neighborhood, but this one seemed to be the most tightly packed, with the most coconuts squeezed in and hanging on for dear life! If you look closely you can see them all up top behind some of the fronds sticking straight up too!

Our friends two dogs, Scooby and Ben! They were looking out at their Daddy who was outside doing some work, and they did not like being trapped inside for a minute without him!!! Aren't they cute??? Both are very sweet Golden Retrievers.

Another blooming Amaryllis my Mom owns and tends to! She is a master with them!!! I love this bright red!

Here is a Ravenala madagascariensis, or Travellers Palm, is a species of banana-like plant from Madagascar. It is not a true palm, but a member of the bird-of-paradise family, Strelitziaceae. It is called the travellers palm because the stems hold rainwater that can be used as an emergency drinking supply.

You can see in this photo that there is a bloom down on the left side of the trunk-like area, which I got a close-up of in the picture below this one! I have never seen one of these bloom before, so I was quite surprised and thrilled to see it. My Mom had not either, and she has lived in central to south Florida here WHOLE LIFE!!!

They look white from afar, but up close you can see there are purple parts to this inflorescence! It was outstanding to see something so beautiful...I will keep my eyes on it as long as it stays open for us to see!

And you know, last but certainly not least, I had to find a succulent for us! Senecio cineraria, or Dusty Miller, which I just adore for it's lacy appearance! This is in a neighbors yard, but I will add some in my yard plans as I am slowly replacing anything that dies during our continued drought, with succulent plants that can withstand the heat, sun and dryness! We are getting into a desert-like scenario here...I am almost prepared to replace my yard with rocks, if things don't turn around soon! Of course, you would never believe it could be this dry, with all of the gorgeous tropical photos I just showed you. Looks like we must still have enough moisture going on here to sustain it all. I'm glad...it sure is nice!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!
Julie

OMG! Look what met me at my mailbox today!!!!! Unbelieveable art work from Studio Lolo!!! How did I get so lucky??? OMG!!!!! Look, look, looky!!!!!

A notecard with one of her prints...a succulent...OMG, OMG...beautiful, and oh so amazingly special and dear to my heart!!! Thankyou, Lolo!!!!!!!!!

AND...check out this sweet and stunning bookmark!!! I needed this the last 3-4 days when I was intensely studying for a national re-certification exam for work!

Even the envelope was a showstopper of her artwork!!! I am so blessed to have such wonderful blogger friends and oh...how can I thank you enough, Lolo??? I just love them all so much...they are all going on my art wall in my bedroom, where I look at everything all of you in Bloggerville have ever sent me, every day!

Thanks LOLO!!!!!

A sweet and scary bedtime story!

One day this really nice lady, named Julie, was busily, and oh so happily transforming one of her succulent tire gardens...skipping and jumping in the bright spring air as she transported her plants out to play with! In a split second, her eyes gazed downward...noting how dry her lawn was...when she spied a whole lot of beautiful miniature flowers growing right out from her grass! She bent down a little closer to check them out (cause she is half blind)...and lo and behold...here is just what she saw:






She was so pleased (because she thrives on miniature anything she can find)...when all of a sudden this big scary monster popped out onto one of her tires! It scared her so badly, she had to go in for a Mike's Hard Lemonade, and then she passed out from exhaustion (since she is fairly old...not REAL old, but fairly old.....)

THE END!

A succulent tire redo for Cactus Monday!

You may remember me talking about my Stapeliad being dead...well...here it was in it's absolute worst state...not to mention the terrible condition of the garden itself...

AND...here it is after a redo today! I washed all my topstones, and added more soil, perlite and cactus soil, and blended it all together...(that was the fun part, LOL). Then I added some new plants I had bought in a group pot that were not doing so well under the glued together rocks they had on top. I pried all the rocks off, and sure enought found that the soil underneath was way too wet...the water had been trapped undeer there, and my plants were suffering! They are so happy now, in their new home...and I added a few cuttings from some of the other tires...to add some extra color, and got my pretty blue rocks on top...and voila....

I discovered my Mammillaria was blooming as well...how sweet! It was nice to look at as I worked! How I love looking out my kitchen window now......YEAHHH!!!

Happy Cactus Monday to you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana bed!

Well I got busy today and planted something in the little front garden by the door (the one I had cleaned out prior to going on my trip)! I did a second clean out of a few larger bushes that I could not get out without dragging out the shovel...so this morning I pulled out a lantana with fairly large roots, and a Porterweed about the same size. I relocated a green Lariope, and then I had room for the colorful blooming kalenchoes! It was the only thing that I felt could stay alive here this summer, with barely zero rainfall, and the extreme temperatures of summer. We have a 2 day per week watering schedule also, so even that does not help much! I know these things will lose their blooms, but they way I figure it, by that time, I can pick up a few annuals to fill in...we shall see. These Kalenchoe are the ones that have 26 petals on each flower...and the middle ones are a light pink color. The blooms make you think of little rose buds!!!

They will spread like hotcakes, and I hope I never have to do much with this bed ever again. Tomorrow I need to spread the mulch. Sorry about the dirt on the sidewalk...and bunny looks like he has been burrowing with all the dirt he has on him...I had just watered and wanted to wait to sweep off the sidewalk till it dried a bit.

You can see how far over the edge the large lantana and porterweeds hung...blocking sun to the grass...so now I have to get my grass re-filled in! What a pain!!! I hope I will still see a few Monarchs coming around with all my Porterweed gone! I'm keeping my fingers clossed!

Happy weekend everybody!!!

Home today at noon!

Well, we left Key West at 7am this morning, and got home driving solidly except to stop for coffee once, and we arrived home at 12:10pm! Not bad! 5 hours!!! As we passed through Key Largo, I saw a sign for the African Queen! I did a U-turn and lo and behold it was the boat the movie was filmed using. It was out on display for anyone to see, and you can actually schedule a cruise on it, if you wish! That was pretty neat to see. I love this movie! I got this top photo of the movie from Amazon.com, and the other two pics are what I took! I think I will definately have to re-watch it again now that I have seen the actual boat!




I came home to find my Gasteria with 3 long strands of these very difficult to photograph blooms! I tried holding a dark background behind, but they seemed to do best with white behind them. They are cute little things...I imagine they will still open up to a bell shape...I will have to keep watching! Sweet color!

It was a fun trip, but it is so nice to be back to my own little house, and my own little bed. Doozey and I wish you goodnight for today! Have a happy Friday...and remember, as Jimmy Buffett says...it's always 5 o'clock somewhere! Tomorrow night may have to be a margarita night!!!

Key West Day 2

Today we found the Kino Sandal factory, and that was really neat. They are handmade there in a small shop, and of course, you are limited to whatever sizes and colors they have at the moment! I bought my friend 2 pair, and in the second pic you can see which ones I got for myself!!!

The winner was celery green Lili's!!! I love them...I decided I will wear them all summer regardless of what color clothes I am wearing...they are fairly calm in color and they shouldn't be too glaring!!! LOL. Now...if I can find some nail polish....

We were sitting waiting for our trolley and some of the roosters and chickens that freely roam the island came walking over so we had gotten a few pics!!! When I looked up from that, my eye hit the house in the next pic...

A cute little shotgun house...painted so nicely...I couldn't help but think of my blogger friend, Claude and his little previously painted magenta house that he discovered in Dallas area...so this pic is for you Claude!!!

Here is a pic of Hemingways writing room...he had such a relaxed and comfortable home...and we saw so many of his 6 toed cats lounging around in the yard and on beds and couches inside too!!! It was like a cat sanctuary really. Beautiful gardens around the home also! Very lush.

The next 3 pictures were taken in Margaritaville on Duval Street. We both had Cheeseburgers in Paradise...





AND...last but not least...check out this absolutely stunning Hoya that I found inside the Butterfly and Nature Conservatory!!! WOW!!!!! Sure wish I could bring this baby back home with me!!!!!

We just got home from a great little Japanese place were we ate some outstanding sushi. Now we are leaving to walk a bit...not far...just around the hotel where it is safe...

Will post more tomorrow night, and also I will be showing pics of my front garden space that I cleaned up and out prior to leaving for Key West....on Friday I will be planting some vegetable plants and a few annuals...it is strange because this area is right at the front door to my house, and to have vegetables there is odd...but I am looking forward to remembering to water them and also to see them several times daily and REALLY enjoy growing them!