A Good View

There are nine houses in this block. This is the only house that doesn't have a hedge or a wall in front of there house. Forty years ago there were no walls or hedges. The lawns went right down the block and you didn't know were the property line was.

Miltonia spectabalis 'alba'

Just because it's beautiful.

Plants For The Caterpillars

Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden had a butterfly show and these Passion flowers were on sale. Some very beautiful butterflies lay their eggs on these vines. If you don't like caterpillars you might get plants that have the right type of nectar. Then you will have the butterflies in your yard without having chewed up plants.

Bali Red Lotus Seedling At It's Best

While the mature bud of the lotus is very beautiful, I like the first day of the open flower. But there is a problem. On the first day the flower opens around 8 to 9AM and closes at noon. On the second and third day the lotus opens fully. If the day is calm and dry the flower may last to the fourth day.

Modern Next To The Spanish

The zoning laws make it easier to build with a Spanish style. We have to be careful that we don't make it look like an amusement park.

Spanish Style

The building is new but the style is old. In the 20s and 30s the majority of our buildings were Spanish or Mediterranean. In the 60s until the 80s most new buildings were mainly square. Now we are going back to our roots.

Avocado And Mamey

The avocado and the mamey crop is shared with the squirrels. This year we have enough fruit for everyone.

Just Plain Beautiful

'The lotus is one of the most beautiful and best known of wetland plants, growing in still waters all over the world. The species seen in southeast Asia is Nelumbo nucifera. The lotus is a symbol for the Buddha and also represents purity. It blooms briefly and represents the power of the soul to rise from the muddy waters of the lower realms of consciousness into the sunlight of a better life. Seeds have been found that would still germinate after 1,300 years.'
But for me, it's just plain beautiful.

Gas Station

It was a gas station and now it was a Mexican restaurant. The restaurant had no parking and people just didn't want to walk a block for a meal. The property has been empty for many years.

North Ponce Entrance

This is the newest entrance to the city. They call it an entrance but it is 8 blocks south of the cities perimeter. The clock has a chime that strikes loudly every 15 minutes and really loud on the hour. The city hall has a similar loud clock that we can hear on quite days.

A New Drainage System

On Friday and Saturday the county was digging a drain for the street. They used 10 large trucks, trailers and machinery. There was only one lane of traffic for the two days. The drains looked good by the end of Saturday.


But they were back Monday with only three pieces of machinery to block up the street. At least the cars could get through the area. They had to repair the drain as they made it an inch and a half too high. That's our money working for use.

Golden Nugget Mango

We started eating mangoes at the end of April and now we are eating the last of our mangoes. The mango season has been early this year, at least in our yard.

Glass Balls

Chihuly brought his glass art to the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden for two winters. He sold a lot of his art. But the best part is that a few people bought some of the pieces and gave it to the garden. You might like to see my Chihuly movie clip.

He's Here!

'Caught In The Act' is the work of English sculpture David Goode (click here to see some of his work). The statue brightens up our neighborhood.

Summer Time

Summertime is the name of this orchid and it's up to the name. They grow in the trees and bloom for the entire summer.

At The Corner

At this intersection each corner has a little pond with a fountain. You might forget it when going by every day, but you souldn't.

'Southern Charm' The Water Lily

The water lilies bloom all year around in Florida while the lotus only bloom in the warm weather.

A New Comcast/Telephone/Electric Pole

The crane is on the street behind our house and it must reach 125+ feet to place the new pole. The electric company has put new poles all over the city, but none have been wired. I guess they are waiting for the hurricane season to pass.

Welcome To My Front Door

It's a happy welcome for people that come to our house. I have never seen a Lotus at the front door in Coral Gables.

The flower is a keeper. Be sure to enlarge the picture

Picture for Sat. July 12 08

Friday evening my computer lost it's connection and now Sunday I'm finally back on the internet. The worst thing is I lost my bookmarks. I think that all of the pictures are on CD's.
My poinciana tree is showing the second flush of flowers. The yellow is nice, isn't it?

The Main Intersection Of Coral Gables

The miracle is 4 blocks long (not a mile) other wise it's Coral Way. A Way is like a Street or Avenue it's a thoroughfare or passageway. Around our area, the streets go east to west and the avenues go north to south. Ways go any way, and most honor people. I can think of Lane, Place, Terrace, Court, Prado, Circle. Boulevard, Highway, and Road in Coral Gables. Can you think of others?

Musseanda Tries To Outshine Bougainvillea

Musseanda gives us a show from May to December and in warmer climates they don't stop blooming. We have 5 different color forms. The flowers are so heavy that the brake in heavy rain storms. So far this season I have trimmed off about 25% of the flower stems.

A Home on Granada Blvd,

ls New Always Better?

Fifty years ago a one story building was built here for a cafeteria. It was a very popular place but the street started to up grade. Something so reasonable as a cafeteria had to go. Many older couples had to learn how to cook all over again. The plain building was demolished and this new one story building was built. I will say it does look nice.

But do you think that the furniture in the shop will earn enough money to pay for such a building?

Sidewalk Cafe

Early Sunday and just starting up. But across the street Starbucks Coffee is busy as can be.

Lotus Momo Butan

Lan of Miami posted this lotus as it opened on the first day. This picture shows the flower fully open on the third day. If you Google 'lotus Momo Butan' and then go to images you will find a lot of my lotus pictures.

The 4th Of July

7, 3, 2 Run

OK, It's three pictures, but it tells the story. When the walk light shows the open hand you were supposed to stop and wait for the next light. Many pedestrians ran the light. Now they know exactly how many seconds that they have to run to the other side.

Protection For A Duck

This allows the ducks to leave the park and go across the street and fertilize the private homes garden, the driveway, and the front porch. We have a similar sign in Key Largo about 5 miles from our house. It warns the driver to slow down because that the area is a alligator crossing area. I have never seen one on the road, but sometimes they swim by the house. No, it's not a danger.

July Theme Day 'Not On Ponce'

This intersection is the crossing of the two main roads in Coral Gables. Note the new landscape in the middle of the street. The best part of the picture is that we can walk here form our house.

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