The Christmas Pony Ride

After Christmas we took a walk and found ponies down the block.
D.J. enjoyed the neighbors tradition and told all about his horse ride.

In Key Largo You Teach Them Young

Our grandson has a lifetime fishing license and he needs it to fish even when fishing off the family property.

Usually he uses a net for little fish and shrimp to put in the family aquariums. He will not eat shrimp because they are his friends. Now I wounder if he will eat this fish.

Guess Were WE Went

Last night a friend took us to the movies. That's amazing, in that I go to the movies at least one movie every ten years. It was fantastic. The art of animation was at it's best, don't miss Avatar. Check out this trailer.

No Snow Here

It's in the 60's this morning and the television said that this is a cold spell and we will have another in 3 or 4 days. I guess that the reporter wanted to be sure that we dress up for the cold weather. And in the summer he will tell us that the rain is going to be a hurricane and be sure that you keep connected to their program.

Coral Gables Museum

The city invited us to see the progress of our new museum. This room is part of the old police station.
Here is a picture of the out side of the old building.
And here is one of the new part of the building.

It's Still Looking Good

This poinsettia tree is a Coral Gables icon. When it was put up after Thanksgiving the tree was green with red rings of flowers. Now the flowers are mature and the leaves are hard to see. If the winter is too cool the flowers will not be this pretty after Christmas.

Our Midnight Candle Service

We had 30 minutes of music before the service.


At the end of the service the lights went dim and we waited as one by one we had our candles lite.

Ours Is 2D

Every one has it in 3D but ours is flat and big. Twenty years ago I was not sure that I liked this. Every year we put this up in front of our church and it means more and more to me each year. I hope to get a picture of the candle light service this evening.

It Looks Like A Saw Palmetto

But it's not.

Episcia cupreata

This relative of the Africa violet has already had damage from cold weather (notice the edge of the leaf in the middle). That was from and evening in the 50's. If we get nights in the low 40's the growth will all die but ground stems will grow back in spring.

It's Cold But The Orchids Still Bloom

It was 58f yesterday and 54f this morning. If the temperate stays above 40 there will be no damage. At 50 the tropical plants slow there growth.

Acting Like It's Spring

Tecomanthe hilli grows up into our Oak tree. Every spring it will turn the oak into a flowering tree. Then in the rest of the year it has a few flowers here and there. This is the first time that the vine has bloomed like this in December.

Palms That Are Easy To Grow, But Hard To Find

These are growing at the Montgomery garden. Fairchild also has them. Next time I go to one of those gardens I will get the name. I tried to google for the name, but it was fruitless. I did find a great palm site - take a look.

Ae Ae Bananas

These are the small ones, the tall ones are on the other side of the garden. I have more Ae Ae bananas this year then ever. The summer was very hot and we had a lot of rain. I like it that way and the bananas seem to like it too. Here are some more pictures of my Ae Ae bananas.

Birthdays In December

The four year old was born two weeks before Christmas and the little one was born on the 26th. It could be worse, you could be born on Leap Year and get presents once every 4 years.

A New Building On Miracle Mile

This building is at least 40 years old. For the last year and a half it was rebuilt, adding a second floor and a totally new front. It was a rectangular group of doors an windows. Now we have something to look at as we walk down the street.

Jaboticaba Flowers Cover The Trunk

The jaboticaba flowers bloom on the trunk, starting near the ground and up to the smaller branches. Now for 3 or 4 days the garden will be filled with the fragrance of the flowers. The fruit will ripen in January. The two 70 year old trees are mature and they fruit off and on all year. The trees don't ripen their fruit at the same time. But the big crops are in the winter.

One House Left

The Old Spanish Village group bought many commercial buildings and and even more blocks of homes. The owner of this house refused the money. Many cities would have taken this property for the good of the Village. The little guy had his way.

Coccothrinax crinita

The Old Man Palm or the Old Mans Beard Palm has a beard, that is until it's really old. I'm old and have lost my hair and so has my Palm (here is a younger palm). My palm had a beard for 30 years and then it just fell off. This year I put some orchids on the trunk that will have a fountain of pink flowers every spring. All I can do is put on a hat.

A New Water Feature In Coral Gables

This pool is in keeping with the other water features of our city. This one was built by the Old Spanish Village group.

I Looks Like Summer In Our Yard

It got up to 89 yesterday afternoon.

The Shrubs In Our Yard Are Orchids

The orchid is a Sobralia decora and it grows in the ground just like a regular shrub. The flowers last only for one day. Every few days 5 or 6 flowers will open up and a show like this one will happen maybe every two weeks in the fall and winter. This happened last Sunday and we had a number of friends come over the enjoy the orchid. Click here to see a closeup.

Another Advertisement On The Fence

I don't think this will be built. When Merrick was putting together Coral Gables in the 20's, he put aside land for churches. The city also gave the land for the University of Miami. Religions and schools would have a hard time to fine free land today. About 10 years ago a neighbor gave the city virgin land for a park. Now our city is mature and new space for parks, schools or churches come at a heavy price.

An Advertisement On The Fence

This is one of the buildings that will be built in the Old Spanish Village.

One Empty Block In Downtown

The Old Spanish Village bought many blocks like this to produce the village. Some of the blocks were filled with homes, but this one was all commercial buildings. Every day there is something new in Coral Gables. The fence around the block has pictures of the buildings that will be built in the village.

Sidewalk Or Restaurant

The Back Of New Entrance

Check out one of the old entrances. The feeling is the same, but you know which is the new one.

A New Entrance To Coral Gables And The Old Spanish Village

This entrance has the style of the old entrances, like the Alhambra entrance. New constructions can us the style of the 20's and 30's but they can't make it so perfect as to pretend it is old.

Leaves Are Dropping And That's Not A Good Thing

These Ficus trees don't normally drop there leaves in the fall. Hurricanes could not kill them, but a little white fly will kill them. Fortunately Coral Gables has a large variety of trees in the public areas. Most of the Ficus trees are on public property because they are too large for your average back yard

Every Corner Of Our Downtown

The little tree and the flowers are plastic, thus no watering needed. Also there are no electric lights. The city is trying to be 'green'.

The Old YMCA, But Now We Wait For The New Village

In the 40's the Coral Gables YMCA used one of the floors in this building.

Now the building has a new life, the headquarters of Old Spanish Village. This company is remaking five blocks (maybe 10) in our city. Special villages dot the city, such as Chinese village, Dutch village, French village. This village is taking us to the future. We are all waiting to see what the economy will let us do.
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