You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘gardens’ tag.
Today the news said it would be 94 and feel like 104 degrees, that was no lie. It is hot and the sun seems like a deep fryer and it’s only June! The flowers are beautiful after a great thunderstorm last night. They were closed yesterday,
but today they were full bloomed and smelled so wonderfully rosey! The roses had small bits of purple on them. All around the yard, flowers looked happy. I do water them a bit in the morning and in the evening if there is no rain, otherwise they would fry under that hard light and heat. 
The sandhill cranes sat under the camphor tree for a long time taking in the shade. The father was really panting a lot as was my old cat Frankie. I actually think she might have been experiencing heat prostration as she looked way too lethargic on the porch and I could see her heart beating rather wildly. I brought her in and put her on the cool counter and she drank a lot of water. I was kind of worried her heart might give out, but after a while, she did perk up. So remember to keep lots of fresh water out there. I keep it, but poor Frankie looked like she was almost too tired to drink so watch your older animals. 
The cranes stayed a long time down by the lake. The baby was first to buckle and sit down. then when the parents finally sat down, he got up and went over to give his father a hard time. He would jab his father in the rear and then touch beaks. 
Finally they all relaxed and then finally flew off. The Moorhen is also a pretty smart, she built her nest up high on the side so as to shade her from the sun as she nested.
Tonight I tried fishing, but only got greedy turtles trying to find bread. One is so bold as to come up and take it out of my tackle box, so I keep it up on a plastic chair now as not only the turtles, but the ants swarm inside the plastic bags once they sense food. 
Ringo looks at the turtle with amusement, but does not bother them. Fishing sucked, maybe it’s too hot. If there was no breeze off the lake tonight, I would not have thrown out a line. No use standing down there sweating profusely and ending up like Frankie prostrate on the ground, no one would notice me!
Finally Ringo and I gave up and walked back to the house. I picked some small rose buds to put in a shot glass.
Ringo and I were glad to come inside and absorb that nice cool air. No thunderstorms tonight. All is quiet around here. I came in to blog, Ringo passed out and then was treated to a massage from my son. We all have our ways of dealing with the heat, that’s for sure! 
I eat too many of these 
– anyone that knows me, know I have a huge sweet tooth, I am a sugar addict for sure. You come to my house and I have serious candy and cookies! I am a carb freak. So this morning I went to Lake Mary Farmers Market and tried to get things to make me healthy.
First I stopped by the honey booth, 
and bought honey with a honey comb in it. Bill Frederickson owns Frederickson Apiaries, he’s a bee keeper and will even suit you up and show you what it takes to be a bee keeper. I buy their local honey, it is wonderful! You can call him at 407-765-1048 to see his operation in Geneva Florida.
Then I looked around to see what was available. 
I bought fresh tomatoes, broccoli, snap peas, and a few other veggies. There were booths with natural pet food, fresh coffee beans, homemade pies, hot sauces, barbeque, nuts. Lots of vendors under a canopy of trees with a singer belting out pop tunes from a gazebo. Saw a face painter and also a wildlife painter named Judy Troy who had beautiful note cards made from her paintings which were very reasonably priced. We chatted for a few minutes and I bought a couple cards to support the arts. Then I went back home again and opened the canvas bag to withdraw my treasures.
I tried the honey comb which the honey was excellent, and the bees comb is very waxy, but still seems interesting to look at in the jar. I sliced a tomato
and washed some snap peas and fresh broccoli and indulged in eating good
veggies for my health. I am now dying for a turkey bacon, tomato and lettuce sandwich and will run to the store for turkey bacon in a few. After
I ate what was on my plate, I felt like I had been so good until I saw my bag and dipped in for a few 
cookies, you know you
have to balance the yin with the yang, the good with the evil, pink and green. That’s just the way it is in Abbesworld…
That’s what my fence used to look like for three years. Loaded with red and purple pasion flowers. They made everyone happy. My neighbors on the other side of the fence loved looking at the blooms and would tell me that often. Today I had to go out there and perform a Paul Bunyon with my trusty shears. all the vines were dead and full of debris. I hacked and hacked and pruned and pruned and this is now what it looks like 
My grass, (what grass?) is just weeds and everything froze back. I need one of those natural no grass kind of lawns, (xeroscape) oh wait, that’s what I have, weeds have taken over and the backyard looks like crap. To make it worse, my son ran into the realtor whom I bought the place from and she gave me the old photos from the listing. The grass was so lush and green. Thank God the old couple moved 3000 miles away. He would be mad, he took a lot of pride in in yard. It’s not that I don’t, I just don’t feel like wasting water for asthetics. I need cactus and stone or something instead of grass, and a pot of gold to finance a total undertaking of what to do. I might have to consult some my ‘yardless’ friends who have let natural nature take over and have yards requiring little care. I am totally tired of weeding and pruning, I need a gardner who likes to work for free, oooo, that’s me, and you can see what a lousy job I am doing!
Lucas Nursery on Slavia Rd. in Oviedo is a place full of too many choices. There are plants and trees, grass, more plants, bushes, pottery and even chairs and tables. 
They
even have live lady bugs for sale! But I was not going for plants at this time of the year. I was going for the butterfly encounter which costs $7.50, a bit pricey I thought.
I arrived at the encounter just before 60 small children were coming through, and though I was able to take many photos. I didn’t feel like I got my moneys worth as I felt the need to get out of the way as the butterfly rooms are actually not very large and have small pathways, so I spent maybe about a half an hour experiencing the nature. The kids seemed so sweet and eager to learn. And I listened in to their butterfly talk and the children were getting wonderful information by the employees which was an important talk about nature so kids could appreciate the surroundings. There was also a local photographer inside with his equipment and he was busy focusing on a newly
hatched tiger swallowtail. 
He said he sells a lot of butterfly photos. And there were plenty all flitting around. Zebra longwings, monarchs, swallowtails and they had the most adorable petite quails called button quail. 
they were way too fast and secretive and did not want to be photographed! I so adored them! The plants were all over showcasing what could be used to appeal to the different butterflies for food and attaching their chrysalis to. 
The Butterfly encounter had a fantastic gift shop with all sorts of fun gifts and knick knacks. 
They had large net types of houses to buy and have butterfly encounters of your own.
The nursery itself was busy with people buying. The orchids at the front counters were so enticing, but I am a notorious house plant killer. 
It was good to finally see this business that has quite the reputation for having a multitude of plant and tree specimans. I can see why people are excited and can only imagine what it looks like when more things are in bloom. Within the Butterfly encounter, it is a slightly heated building so the plants looked vibrant, or maybe it was so alive because of all the colorful pairs of wings darting about.
I was drawn to the luna months which are big and fat and fuzzy and live off their stored fat, therefore, they don’t live long. (sorry, they were enclosed in mesh, so no pics.) 
Here’s one of a luna caterpiller.
It was certainly a colorful morning and I took a number of what I thought were good shots. AND fishing was excellent and I caught a bass, but that’s tomorrow’s blog, one day at a time…or was that a soap opera?
Abbe's world of wildlife 