Friday, March 6, 2009

Southern skies through trees!

Doozey and I walked today after work, and I decided to take pictures of the skies behind trees in the neighborhood! It is interesting visually, and so beautiful! The temperature started to drop after just a few minutes out, so we couldn't stay out as long as we would have liked to, but had a good time and just snapped photos all around everywhere! We ran into other dog owners and chatted, and it was just a gorgeous time in every way! Hope you enjoy our photos!

BTW, check out the last photo...it is a Calamondin tree in my Mom's backyard! Wikipedia has this to say about it:

The fruit of the calamondin resembles a small, round lime, usually 25-35mm in diameter, but sometimes up to 45mm. It has the odor of a tangerine with a very thin green or orange colored peel. Despite its appearance and aroma, the taste of the fruit itself is quite sour, though the peel is sweet. Putting the whole fruit into the mouth often leads to surprise from first-time tasters at the combination of sweet and sour. The fruit can be frozen whole and used as ice cubes in beverages like tea or ginger ale. The juice extracted by crushing the whole fruit makes a flavorful drink similar to lemonade, and a liqueur can also be made from the whole fruits, in combination with vodka and sugar. In Asia the juice is used to season fish, fowl, and pork. Kalamansî is commonly used as a condiment for dishes such as pancit bihon. Calamondin marmalade can be made in the same way as orange marmalade. Like other citrus fruits, the calamansi is high in vitamin C.

It has been in her backyard since I was a little girl, and we always squeezed the juice into iced tea, to take the place of lemon or lime... and recently my Mom throws a few whole ones (thin skin, seeds, and all)... into her Vitamix blender, which has the power to grind seeds and skins.....with other ingrediants to make her smoothies...and wow, it really adds a huge punch of fiber, Vitamin C, and wonderful antioxidants!

Click on the last picture to see the Calamondins a bit closer!

















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15 comments:

  1. My Little Family:Friday, March 06, 2009

    I love Doozy's harness vest. So cute! Wasn't it just a perfect night to walk dogs? We did too. Took a very long walk. Dogs are snoring now!

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  2. UnknownFriday, March 06, 2009

    wow these pics are great. my baby loves the contrast of trees with the sky as background. and that calamondin tree sounds amazing. I like the idea of the whole thing going into the blender. very cool!

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  3. ClaudeSaturday, March 07, 2009

    I love the pics of the trees... I couldn't even begin to try to ID all of them, although I did pick out a few I recognised... Now that calamondin sounds way cool. I've certainly tried kumquats and bitter orange, the bitter orange being the only one that can grow here, but these are a new one.

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  4. Lisa at GreenbowSaturday, March 07, 2009

    I can see why you were enamoured of the skies this evening. Beautiful pictures Julie. That sweet Doozy wa happy to be out and about no doubt.

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  5. Cathy S.Saturday, March 07, 2009

    Great photos of the trees, I like
    your background of clovers, are
    you Irish too?

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  6. Bobbie LynnSaturday, March 07, 2009

    Very beautiful skies there Julie.

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  7. JudiSaturday, March 07, 2009

    Julie
    your puppy is so cute with her jacket on. The pictures are lovely. Oh how I wish I were walking there too...its beautiful. I love your trees...you have a nice place to walk.
    thank you for sharing.
    enjoy this weekend..
    Judi

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  8. JulieSaturday, March 07, 2009

    Claude- I knew you would love the trees too! Most of them are palm trees, a few shots of the same Royal Poinsiana, and a couple I don't know either, actually! Ha! The Calamondin really needs to be trimmed up...I need to get my brother on that job right away! LOL

    Cathy- I am one fourth Irish and three quarters German!!!

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  9. Ashraf sharifSaturday, March 07, 2009

    Hello Julie.
    wow for palm trees ,i think you can take some seeds for Cultivation in your garden.
    I like see seedling palms.

    Good luck my friend .

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  10. AnonymousSaturday, March 07, 2009

    Great pictures Julie. I know I keep going on about Doozey's cute factor. I have a kumquat tree, and it has a sweet rind with a salty sour pulp. I think that calamondin oranges are the little gift orange trees that you see up north around Christmas. Amazing how they can grow so big under the right conditions.

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  11. AiyanaSaturday, March 07, 2009

    Lots of varieties of palms in your neighborhood. Several we have here, some not. I've never heard of Calamondin tree. I've always liked sour orange 'lemonaide', so I imagine the fruit would work well as a substitute.
    Doozey is very fashionable!
    Aiyana

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  12. TeriSaturday, March 07, 2009

    Beautiful photos of skies and trees and oh Doozey looks so adorable in her vest.

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  13. Serena LewisSaturday, March 07, 2009

    Ah, what a lovely walk....great pics and really cute dog! :)

    The calamondin fruit sound yummy....I don't think we get that variety here.

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  14. marianneSaturday, March 07, 2009

    Never heard of that tree and those fruits! Thanks for showing me.
    Love Doozey in her daisy outfit!
    Beautiful pictures Julie!

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  15. yoon seeMonday, March 09, 2009

    Wow! Nice outing walking your dog!
    I love the second last image the best, just give me the happy mood:)

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