Making A Silk Purse Out Of A Pigs Ear

This house is in a very nice area of Coral Gables, but it was very plain. The front of the house is getting a remake. Most of the work that you see in this picture will be a large water feature, with fountains. I will keep an eye on the progress and take pictures is it changes.

Bc. Mt. Hood 'Mary' AM/AOS

'Mary' bloomed for Christmas this year. This orchid blooms in the fall and winter. It grows hanging from a mango tree, enjoying the weather of South Florida. Today it has 5 flowers and they are the largest flowers of this type that I have.

A Classic One

The fountain is a real beauty, unfortunately it's classic and the house is modern.

VJ Is The Best Present That DJ Received

He was born on the 12 26 08 and the picture was taken 20 hours after delivery. He is tall enough to walk to the car when they leave to go home in the Florida Keys. His brother and all of the rest of us are as pleased as we can be. Now the world has seen our new grandson.

Boxing Day

We don't celebrate Boxing Day. but our grandson thinks we should. He has more then enough toys, but the boxes are still very important to him. Of all of the pictures, this picture of D.J. in a basket was the best. There were no laughs, but there were gentle smiles all around the room.

The Most Important Birthday Cake Of All

Tomorrow I will have time to tell you why it is so important.
Dec. 26 08 - It was a beautiful birthday party. The birthday cake is a family thing. When I was youngster we could have any kind of cake that we wanted. I always ask for the hazel nut cake that my aunt made. And this was the only one that I ever asked for. No one else in the family knew how to make the cake. When my aunt was in her 80's we ask for a recipe. She had never used a recipe. But she worked on it and came up the perfect recipe. Before the recipe was written she would sometimes have failures, not any more. Now my wife, daughter and I can make this cake for all of our birthday celebrations. Thus it is the most import cake at Christmas.

A Last Minute Repair

The manager of the building knew that the water system on the Christmas tree was faulty. They decided to save money and hope for rain. Now they have to replace the top half of the poinsettia tree. There are 1200 plants on the tree when it is complete, but they ran out and are missing about 10 pots of poinsettias. Oh well, have a Merry Christmas.

I was just told that the last plants have been placed on the tree (last night). Now the Jr. Orange Bowl Parade can strut down the street knowing that everything is just right.

From Our House To Yours

The eve of Christmas Eve and we are working as fast as we can to get ready for the big day. The poinsettia has been on the front door step for the last 5 weeks and will stay till the last of March. We've been very lucky with the fantastic weather, 60's at night and 70's for the days.

Early In The Morning

This house looks as comfortable as a building can be. And the temperatures are also comfortable (two weeks of 60's at night and 70's in the day).

The Red Tailed Hawk Is Back

The yard was full of all kinds of birds in November and then the hawk came along. The little birds flew away or were eaten by the hawk. Now there is no food for the hawk and it's time for it to fly away. The cycle will begin again.

Santa Is Serious Business

The boy on the side is going to get it right. You don't mess up with Santa. Santa is busy writing in his little book, allll... of the children's names and allll... of the toys that they want. I know, I had to get it right.

Roundabout For Christmas

This five point roundabout was promised for Christmas. It started in September with the signs in our neighborhood. The road to the right is a one way street that goes by our church. If the roundabout clogs up that street will be totally blocked. It was promised for Dec. 25, but it was opened Sunday Dec 21. It works, I tried it, and I like it.

Sick Ficus

This Ficus tree should have dark green leaves that cover the entire canopy. These trees have lost 60% of its leaves and the leaves that still hang on are sickly yellow green color. A new (to Florida) white fly is killing large Ficus trees all over the city. I will be showing more pictures of these large trees. I will miss there every day beauty.

City Beautiful

'City Beautiful' was the slogan for the city from it's beginning. But now you don't hear that slogan very often. But the beautiful old homes still catch our eyes everywhere we look.

Busy Lizzy or Iimpatiens, Iimpatiens, Iimpatiens, Iimpatiens

This little flower covers Coral Gables from October to May. Iimpatiens can live through our warm summers, but they look best in cool weather.