Mundane Monday: Idling Iguanas amongst Wildflowers

In my backyard, prehistoric-looking monsters seem to be the mundane order of the day. Looking out of my bathroom window, as I am often wont to do, I would be most surprised if there wasn’t at least one scaly creature creeping up on me.

The more energetic members of the Iggy family like to climb up the tree next to the house and sunbathe on the roof. Can you see that beady eye peering at you through the palm fronds, just right of centre?

The more lethargic ones just dream their day away amongst the wildflowers. (Jude is still looking for wildflowers for her ‘May Garden Photography Challenge’).

I think young Ignatius is dreaming of asking Ignatia for her scaly foot in marriage.

Ignatia, looking very serene,  is probably dreaming of a good-looking prince who after only one kiss will turn into a handsome Iguana.

Poor Basil the Basilisk is a loner and I don’t think he’ll ever find true love, even though he has the look of a bank manager and could be quite a good catch for some young Lizzie.

How’s your Monday going? If you have any ‘Mundane’ photos which show some kind of beauty, you can pop them over to Jithin at Trablogger for his ‘Mundane Monday Challenge’.

Wishing you all a splendid week, and a very happy and mindful Memorial Day to all my American friends.

 

My Sunday Photo: What a view!

Last Monday we went into New York to the One World Trade Center and also went to the top of the Observation Tower. What a great view from 102 floors up! Here looking down at the Hudson River, you can see Ellis Island which houses the historic Immigration Museum, and to the left, Liberty Island on which stands the iconic Statue of Liberty.

Have a great Sunday everyone.

Six Word Saturday: Orchid’s last gasp, one flower left.

My beautiful orchid is now down to its last flower. Time to go out an find another one to grace my bathroom. I’ll tie this to one of the palm trees and hope for the best.

Happy Memorial Day weekend to all my American friends.

Floral Friday Fotos: Flamboyant Flame Tree

A few weeks ago I noticed something bright orange clinging to the top of a neighbour’s tree across the lake. From a distance, it looked like the wind might have blown a brightly coloured plastic bag up there. Eventually, my curiosity got the better of me and I zoomed my camera in on it. A single spray of beautiful flame colored flowers.

When we returned from our trip to NJ, I was delighted to see that the tree had been very busy producing many more of these lovely bright blooms. How beautiful they look against the blue Florida sky. This is a Royal Poinciana also known as the Flame Tree, for obvious reasons.

Our immediate family has seven May birthdays, all within two weeks, and today is my sister’s turn. I’ve sent her flowers of course,

and have just called her to wish her many happy returns of the day.

Hope you all have a relaxing and happy weekend.

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Memories

Today would have been my darling Mom’s 91st. I remember how excited I was last year to be travelling to South Africa to be at her 90th birthday party.

Family and friends surrounded her with love, and although her dementia meant she wasn’t really too aware of what was happening, we all rallied round and made it a really happy day. Little did we know that she would leave us only three months later.

Our sweet granddaughter Taylor was born on her great-grandma’s birthday, so in a way, they are forever bound together. I remember only three years ago when mom came to stay with us in our beach house for her 88th birthday, and we all chatted on Skype for Taylor’s 4th birthday. It’s so good to remember the happy times we had together

Mom loved nature and when we took her out, she would always remark on the beauty which she saw around her. She especially loved birds and butterflies, and when I woke up this morning, I received a WhatsApp message from my sister who lives very close to where mom lived and died; “Big butterfly in garden this morning. I think Mom’s come by to say hello!”

Happy Birthday to two very special people.

Wishing you all a lovely Thursday.

 

 

 

 

Home again, jiggety jig.

How could I abandon you all for so long!!?? I felt somewhat bereft without my laptop, but  our visit up north was so packed full of activities that we barely had a spare moment to  catch our breath.

There was of course the birthday party for little Taylor which spilled over two days. First at home, with a pool party for friends and parents.

The cake was HUGE and tasted really delicious. I ate quite a big piece, and still had room for salmon, steak, shrimp, salads and ‘Keenwah’ which is apparently the latest health fad up in NJ.

The following day there was another party at the local Gymnastika just for the kids. The foam pit was very popular,

as were the pizza, macaroons and cupcakes afterwards.

We attended Taylor’s school talent show, where she got stage fright at the last minute. She was all set to sing ‘Castle on a Cloud’ from Les Mis, but couldn’t go through with it when she saw all the people in the audience, even with dad there to hold her hand.

Sienna proudly showed us her ‘Potato Clock’ exhibit at the school Science Fair.

She also had a part in a kid’s musical ‘Milan’, which was excellent. She’s the one in the middle. The only problem was that we were seated directly behind the grandparents of the girl who had the lead role, the girl in the white dress, and the whole family were busy videoing the entire show, so I had to peer around their cameras the whole time.

We all went to ‘Build a Bear’ and Max got a dog,

whilst Taylor chose a rainbow bear named ‘Sweetie Pie’.

On Thursday night we went to see Chris Isaak in concert at the Wellmont Theatre. He was amazing and was on stage for the whole show which lasted for almost three hours. My favourite song of his is ‘Wicked Game’. How many of you remember that big hit from 1989?

On Friday, Hubby and I visited the One World Trade Center and Observatory Tower, which I’ll show you pictures of in a later post. Then it was sadly time to come home again.

Before we knew it, we were back in Florida.

Hubby of course is back to work on the house renovations, and after I’ve done the laundry and food shopping, I’ll do my best to catch up with you all over the next couple of days. Hope you’re having a great week.

 

 

 

Mundane Monday: Florida Wildflowers

Jithin of PhoTrablogger, invites us to find beauty in almost everything, and Jude of smallbluegreenflowers is on the lookout for beautiful wildflowers this month.

At Green Cay we saw quite a few wildflowers and I think I can safely say that this is a wild Hibiscus.

I think this could be Dogwood, also known here as ‘Appalachian Spring’. I’m sure Jude will know.

This one looks to me a bit like Honeysuckle.

Pretty in pink is all I can say about this one; maybe pink Statice?

Here we have lots of pretty snowflake flowers.

I really shouldn’t be sitting here guessing at wildflower names. I should be packing my case with slightly warmer clothes than I’m used to wearing her in Florida, for tomorrow we fly up to New Jersey to see our son and family. Little Taylor is going to be seven and is having a party at the weekend. We’ll be up there for a week, so as there are so many activities planned for whilst we’re there,  I will of necessity be absent from the blogs during that time. I’ll tell you all about it next week. Take care and have a great week.

 

My Sunday Photo: Got the blues in my backyard

Here is the bird I really bought the bird-feeder for. This was taken from my bathroom window yesterday, but today I saw two of them hopping around with four squirrels. I don’t think they’ve been able to use the bird-feeder yet, but we’re making a plan.

In the meanwhile, here’s my  Birthday Boy in blue.

It’s a beautiful day here in Florida and we’re off to meet friends for brunch at the Old Key Lime House restaurant on the Intracoastal. Have a wonderful Sunday.

 

 

Six Word Saturday: Why is it called a birdfeeder?

I’ve recently seen a couple of beautiful smaller birds in our backyard, but they never stay long enough for me to get a photo or to identify them, so I had the brilliant idea of buying a birdfeeder and a bag of seeds. Yay me!

Of course not much escapes Sammy’s attention,

and the birds watching from a distance, don’t even get a look in.

Sammy also brought some of his mates along to share in the feast, and generously allowed them to have the ones which fell on the ground.

and whilst one stood guard,

another one, wearing the fiercest look he could muster, was all set to chase off the enemy.

The Iggy family sunning themselves on the rocks, just looked on in amazement wondering what all the fuss was about. “Seeds? Who on earth wants to eat bird seed?”

Happy weekend to you all. You can join in Cate’s’ Six Word Saturday’ by clicking the  badge below.

 

Feathers on Friday: On Golden Pond

Here is one of the beauties we saw at the Green Cay Wetlands reserve last Sunday. This Tri-colored Heron in all his glory, was looking for a hapless fish to spear with his long pointy beak.

It didn’t take long before he was targeting his prey.

Probably just a small minnow went down the hatch, but he strutted off looking very well pleased with himself.

If you have any bird photos for Charlotte’s ‘Feather’s on Friday’ challenge, you’ll find her here.

Wishing you all a splendid weekend. It’s hubby’s birthday on Sunday, so as a special treat, he’ll be getting to take the day off from his renovation work.