Springtime in Central Florida

It is springtime. I love to wake up early and work on my garden. I can spend an hour watering and pruning, and wondering where all the fruit is. Technically, it is my second year as a gardener.

Central Florida weather has been super dry; we've only had a few actual rain days this whole year. The grass and many trees are dry or look dead. Granted, the air is moist at night, and in the morning the top layer of soil is wet, but we've yet to have real downpours, though I know they are coming. 

NATURE AROUND ME

Flowers on the blueberry bush

Each morning is wet with dew; hence, I love my rainboots!

I happen to love frogs, too, and they are everywhere!

And I love the moon, of course, no matter where I live.

This is "the forest" in my front yard. 

WE HAVE CHICKS

We bought eight one-week old chicks, but today they are five or six weeks old. The are so big and have most of their feathers. Since the weather is consistently over 55 degrees -- if we can finish the coop this weekend -- they will be ready to move from the brooder in the sunroom to their new home outside. Yay! They are going stir crazy! 

An Easter-egger

Watching Eva do algebra. Fun.

The coop is almost finished. It has a run, and we are going to add a larger second run. We also need to add hardware cloth around the perimeter to keep out predators.

Unfortunately, one of the Rhode Islanders was crippled. We tried some remedies, but they did not help. Then I looked around for an animal rescue, and I found a vet who worked with a local rescue that would take our little girl -- so long as I gave up my parental rights. I was so sad to let her go, but caring for her was time consuming and I was grateful to find someone who would at least try to care for her. 

MORE WILD ANIMAL KINGDOM EVENTS

My son with a gecko on his back.

This happened in my front yard. Yikes! 

WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING

Strawberry Festival (exactly one year later). We stood in this same spot for another picture.

Dragged my family to an antiquarian book fair in Tampa. Didn't buy any books. 😩

My girls and I went to see Shen Yun, finally, in Lakeland. At first I was apprehensive because I was not in favor of supporting anything from China. Then I learned that Shen Yun is about China BEFORE COMMUNISM. Even Shen Yun isn't permitted to perform in China. The show was unique and artistic, though it had an Eastern religious message, which felt almost like Jehovah's Witness meets Seventh Day Adventist. There was even a skit about the Communist government killing people and harvesting their organs. Very interesting, and certainly entertaining. 

One day we went strawberry picking.

First beach day of the year - Coquina Beach.

Apparently there were waves due to rain in the Gulf. 

And that has been our springtime, so far.