Diabeticical

Well, I have a feeling that this is an ongoing story that, as the more farmland in Florida becomes populated, the more widespread it will become. You might remember the post I did on sinkholes? Back when I first moved to Florida I slowly became aware of a HUGE issue here in Florida, an issue that has succeeded in convincing myself and my husband that buying a house here in Florida is NOT the wisest of decisions and that is the problem of sinkholes. It is so bad in fact, that the county I happen to live in at the moment (the county that my husbands business is located - so unless we are happy with an hour commute for him everyday we also must live in) is virtually uninsurable when it comes to home owners insurance. Ok, let me rephrase that. You CAN get regular home owners insurance on a home for not much more then the national average, BUT you have to buy a sinkhole rider if you want to be protected against this little...nuisance. Most insurance companies won't even offer sinkhol...

Recently my youngest daughter came for a visit. She lives back in Arizona at the moment and one of the reasons for the visit was an appt. that she had with a cosmetology school she wants to attend. So we made time for that and the rest of the 5 or so days she spent here was getting to know the area and doing a bit of sight-seeing, something I have not really been able to do myself until she came. So one of our stops was the famed St. Petersburg pier, in of course, St Pete. This pier was originally opened somewhere in the late 1800's I believe with a rail way that was laid down here to help transport some of the goods that were shipped over from various parts of the world. The pier itself was torn down and rebuilt in 1973 in a more modern-istic style (at least what was considered modern in those days - personally I love the "retro" look of it with the quirkiness of a Salvador Dali painting) and became the inverted pyramid that it is today. You can see it over the should...

This being the last day of the year I thought that this day of all days deserves a post on the blog. New Years Eve is a time of reflecting and I have to be honest with you all, I am not all that jazzed about reflecting on the past year. Each year as take down the Christmas tree I place all the fragile ornaments in their holders/tubs/wrappings, usually the last thing to go is the angel at tree top. As I remove her I wonder to myself what will my life be like the next time I see her, lately I add to that wonderment the question, "will I even be around next Christmas?". I think that it is a legitimate question when you reach the half century mark and beyond, especially when I think to myself that my late husband was just 50 when he died. In a few short months I will be older then he ever was. He died just a week shy of his 51st birthday. That is a strange feeling since he was always older then me by 6 years. So my own sense of immortality is called to the forefront as I mar...

The wild life in this swampy part of the world is quite amazing and there is rarely a week that goes by that I don't see something that makes me go "wow" and run to find the camera. Currently, we have a little red headed woodpecker ( think Woody) making what seems to be a nest in an old dead palm tree that happens to be center stage in the back yard. It appears to be a home that over the years either many woodpeckers have used or the same one winters here, and then I am assuming, in spring brings his/her little brood into the world. Lately when we take the doggies out for potty time most of the time, this little woodpecker is sitting cozy in his hole/nest and all that is visible are his/her little head and eyes closely monitoring us and the dogs. We are trying not to get too close to the nest so as not to scare him away forever and I have yet to get a decent picture of him/her. All day he spends working on the opening and cleaning out debris from the interior and, I b...

I often wondered why a grouping of crows was called a murder, now I know. We seem to perhaps be the wintering ground for every North American Black Crow that exists within 10,000 sq miles and we all know what crows do best, they caw. and caw, and caw and caw and when they are not cawing randomly, they do it in unison to provide hours of listening pleasure. I am not kidding, I have to turn up the volume of the TV when they are soaring nearby. It might lead me to murdering a few crows if they don't move on in the near future. Oh and lets not forget they poop too. When I am outside and they blacken the skies I half expect one of two things to happen, either Tippi Hedren is going to jump out of the bushes and scream at me (re: The Birds), or a tripod is going to break through the trees and point its ray gun at me and disintegrate me ( War of the Worlds the most recent version with Dakota Fanning), of course Tom Cruise should be nearby if that happens, so maybe that is not such a bad t...

Whelp, it is raining.....all day.....again.... and thats all I am gonna say about that.

I have driven in various parts of the country in my life, being 50 years old, having acquired my first license when I was just a month or two past my 16th birthday, and someone (a woman no less) who is a pretty good driver and actually likes driving, has given me the opportunity to see a lot of things in my driving career, both good and bad. Of course it is the bad things that stand out and up until my relocation to Florida I thought I had seen it all. I had come to the conclusion that Phoenix and most of California, have the countries worst drivers. HAH! Not so fast. They ain't got nuttin' on Florida drivers!!! You people have no clue about safety or being a defensive driver. You are the worst lot of drivers I have ever had the misfortune of dealing with, and bare in mind I think I have driven a total of MAYBE 5 days since I have arrived, all fraught with moments of terror and disbelief at the ineptness of driving abilities here ( having driven just a handful of times here is...