Loving Autumn

If you have any doubt that autumn colors come to Florida, take a look at the river birch tree in our backyard. Because of the very cold weather we have had earlier than normal this year, the colors are spectacular. I took these photographs Saturday morning around 7am while watching the birds investigate the garden. The wind was blowing and the leaves were raining gold.


I have learned to love the autumn and winter. It gives me time to rest and not be driven by garden tasks. As much as I love to work outside, the weeding of summer begins to feel like a chore after a while. And so I glory in the time of year when everything is dormant, the plants turn golden and all is quiet beneath the surface of the soil. The burrowing animals are in for the winter, having made their dens large and accommodating, and the migrating birds are dining from the feeders. It is a lovely time.

Bookshelf Surprises

Bookends are sometimes needed but usually boring. So...we decided to use some unexpected objects instead. Tucked into the woodworking section are two antique planes.


A pottery piece holds a collection of bookmarks in the dog section.


And a David Boone woodcarving stands guard over the gardening books. From time to time we'll add new things as we find them amidst our treasures.

Time To Read

At last the library is in place. Our reading chairs have been chosen, the table cleared, and all is ready for reading. We are enthralled by the wonder of our collection and the ease with which we can now access reading material on any topic we choose to study.


Shirley has already been reading with her wine glass close at hand and Janet has sat in her favorite rocker to look up a few things. We anticipate spending many pleasant hours using the books that have been packed away for so long. There's even room to add more.


This is the view as you enter the house. It seems very warm and welcoming. Even fixing dinner from the adjacent kitchen is a different experience with this new focal point.

Got Cheese?

Hi. Cocoa here. I get to write the blog today because I want to tell you about the morning cheese ritual. Here I am, looking at my Mom, waiting for her signal. After I wait for a while, she will put down some shredded cheese and give me a command.
When she releases me, I can get up and eat the cheese. Here she is sprinkling it on the mat and here I am, excited to eat it. This is a great house. I get all kinds of treats and all I have to do is to obey and do what I'm told. They say that I'm a great dog. They are right!!

Lunch With Friends

I thought it would be fun to photograph what a "mini-Greek" salad looks like at Pappas' Greek Restaurant in Tampa. I could only finish half of it but it was very yummy!!

We had a wonderful visit with our two best friends and shopped at a dozen or more yard sales before making our way back to Ocala.

This morning, the weather is very chilly with a promise of low 30's for the rest of the week. I will spend the day thinning my radishes and finishing an art piece that I started three weeks ago. Finally, I need to build some wire cages to keep the bunnies out of the spinach because I noticed little footprints in and around my newly sprouted plants. All in all, just another day on the farm.

Time to Rest

Excitement seems to have been the order of the day this momentous week. The election turned out well, and much has been accomplished on the bookcase project. Today the last coat of paint went on the shelves!  Cocoa helped with the painting, supervising from the big, big crate. She much prefers that to waiting in the house howling for me to come back in. Shelves will be dry enough to put into the cases next week, but will need to cure for at least another week before books can be put in place. During that time I can do final touch up, prepare shelf labels, and begin to restore order to the workshop.  I can hardly wait to clear out the paint, sandpaper, solvent, take down work tables, etc., etc., and have room to move out there.  All books except woodworking are now categorized & stacked and the stacks measured for needed shelf length and height. I made a chart roughing out where each category can go, just to be sure there would be enough room for the woodworking books. I did not want to break the seal on those boxes until I was sure. There is plenty of room, so those boxes are now in the house but not opened. Until the shelves are moved into the house I have no tables available to stack any more books on. I will have to contain myself until next week, resisting the temptation to open the last six boxes. 

New bluebird boxes are waiting to be built, and that is a top priority as they have babies by February.  Pairs are already claiming the existing boxes and chasing away interlopers.  It is a beautiful sunny day, after two days of gray gloom, cool, and perfect for kayaking. Itching to get on the water. We are looking forward to our quick trip to the panhandle. It will be a nice break from work and world madness of late. Nothing like the open road to brighten my outlook!

An Historical Night

I do not know when, in my lifetime, I have felt the thrill that I felt last night upon hearing that Barack Obama had been elected president. Seeing the tear-stained faces of the people in the crowd at Grant Park in Chicago, I was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the moment. I have not been stirred by the words of a political candidate since I voted for JFK in the sixties but I have been constantly moved by President-Elect Obama throughout this campaign.

My route home from work takes me through an old, black neighborhood here in Ocala. As I drove through this old, historical part of town, I began to see crowds of people standing on the sidewalk. There were at least a hundred...excited but well-ordered people, holding Obama signs and waving to the cars passing by. It was a very emotional moment. I have not seen this kind of involvement on election day for almost fifty years. Good job, America. We got it right, this time.

Let The Sorting Begin

Janet says we are about three weeks away from a completed library wall and so we have begun sorting all of our books. As you can see, Janet has made signs for all of the categories we own....at least we think we have identified all of the categories. After gathering all of the books currently in the house on various small shelves, we went into the garage to begin opening boxes of books that have been packed since we left Brandon....eight years. Needless to say, I was surprised time after time by what I had forgotten we owned.
There are several more boxes to open in the garage. I am still waiting to find my Agnes Whistling Elk series of books and Janet's May Sarton journals. This photo is only a sampling of our collection. Because there was not enough room on the dining room table for all of the categories, we have organized the small shelves with one to two categories each. And so, we have books and and signs all over the house, waiting for the day when our dream of a library becomes reality. Stay tuned.

Seventh Heaven

No trip to Tampa would be complete without a visit to my favorite Italian market, Castellano and Pizzo in South Tampa. It only takes a step inside the door for me to be transported to the smells and sights of my childhood. Even though I am Spanish and not Italian, many of the foods in this wonderful store are the same foods that my father would bring home from his trips to Ybor City.
I come to Castellano for specialty Balsamic Vinegar that I cannot find anywhere else. But once inside, I am tempted by many other fabulous foods that take me back to my youth. Today, I bought my vinegar, but also found some stone crabs, Cuban bread, Italian sausage, and guava shells.
Janet, LeeAnn, and Maria were with me and we had so much fun just looking at everything in the store and reminiscing. We looked at the Spanish Turon but passed it by; LeeAnn and I decided that we never really liked it but we ate it only because it was Papa's favorite and he enjoyed it so much. As we approach the cooler weather that leads us to the holidays, we always go back to those familiar things that anchor us to our past. Today was no different.