Monday, August 31, 2009

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Harvesting The Mamey


Yesterday a friend climbed up to the tops of our tree to get these ripe mameys. When this tree started to produce fruit, one fruit would sell for $15 to $19. That was 25 years ago. Now a good one might cost $5.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Friday, August 28, 2009

Eight Months Old And Ready To Walk

I know were the food is.


And I'm going to get some.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

It's All About The Grass

The putting green at the Granada golf course is a miracle. The grass is cut every morning and there are no weeds.



The grass is no more then on inch tall, or less. It's so perfect, one would think that it was plastic.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Milt. moreliana 'Lizzie' AM/AOS

Lizzie brightens our garden every August.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Built In The 20's

When this house was built there was no air condition. Then the window was the only form of air condition. The windows on the second floor bedroom tells the story.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Orange Ginger

This ginger is not the one you eat, it's just for looks.

Botanical name: Hedychium aurantiacum Family: Zingiberaceae (ginger family)

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Now It's Trimmed

For 20 years this house was hidden by a jungle of plants. The new owners have taken out the jungle. What they have left looks very nice to me. I had forgotten how beautiful the house was with out the excess.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

It Looks Like South Beach

The art deco buildings are common in Miami Beach, but few are seen in Coral Gables.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Allamanda Cathartica

The yellow allamanda is a common vine. This allamanda catches your eye because it's not yellow.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

That's One Big Gate

The house is big, but the large gate is what you see.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Coral Gables Takes Care Of Our Ponds

Our ponds and fountains are now filled with recycled water. A city crew make sure that they are in good condition.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Royal Poinciana

In June the tree was covered in flowers. Now the tree still has a few more flowers.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Rain, Rain Go Away I Want To Play

Yesterday two friends came over to help me trim some trees. Regular trimming gives the tree a better chance to survive a hurricane. We didn't need this Saturday rain. The three of us worked between rains.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Friday, August 14, 2009

Metal Birds


Plastic pink flamingos are not allowed in the front yard of homes in our city, but art is allowed. These metal birds caught my eye.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Golden Nugget Mango

We started eating the early Glenn mango on the first of May. Now we are finishing up the mango season with Golden Nugget.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

A Time To Rest, A Time To Work

With all the rain and hot weather, he cuts the grass every few days, and some parts get cut every day.
Now he can play tag with the golfer.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Policehen

We have regular policemen and then we have this policehen. Early yesterday we saw this hen guarding the Merrick house. This morning the hen was out there on guard. By tomorrow we should be friends.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Nora Grant Ixora

The Nora Grant Ixora is often used in hedges around Coral Gables. If it's allowed to grow, and not trimmed to often, it well produce a lot of flowers.

The lower part of this hedge has very few flowers. That's the area that gets the most trimming. Even with all that trimming the hedge covers one third of the sidewalk.
Jacob in Ocala Florida has a beautiful picture of an ixora in bud.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Swimming Lessons

In the 40s I learned to swim there. The Red Cross gave fee lessons and I just paid five cents to get into the pool.

Friday, August 7, 2009

A Fountain Not A Well


The city built ponds and fountains around Coral Gables in the 20's. They beautify our intersections.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

White Poinciana Tree / Delonix elata

This is not a form of the red Royal Poinciana, it's a different species. I finally saw a white Poinciana and it doesn't move me. The flower is pretty enough, but there are very few flowers.

Monday, August 3, 2009

The Drainage Wells Lasted 3 Weeks

This drainage well failed after a heavy rain. It seems that the sand near the well disappeared along with the water.

Two drains across the street were installed in July. They now will be rebuilt and the house behind the drains will have no way to drive in to there property for the next week or two.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Dimocarpus longan

Our longan is finally ripe. We are a month later then Lan and a few weeks ahead of the Kampong. For 3 years our tree didn't even bloom, but this year every one in the area has produced a big crop. The most strange thing about this year is that the squirrels didn't eat the crop.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

A Dark Theme

The other day (about 11 am) I was cutting the front lawn and it was very bright, but I did hear some noise from the sky. When I finished the lawn the clouds rolled in.

This is what it looked like after I put the lawnmower in the shed. Then in one hour we had one and a half inches of rain.

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