Anyone who knows us or reads this blog will not be surprised by this particular post.  One of my husband’s hobbies, is cooking.  No he’s not a chef – that’s real work.  He sees cooking as (1) research, (2) a process and just as important, (3) tasty results.  He has r.e.a.l.l.y stepped up his game!  While at home I’ve been working in the garden and doing crafts, Eric has been reading & watching videos about cooking.  For at least a week, it was pretty intense and these are the results.

……………Spoiler Alert – it only lasted a week…………..

There have been several purchases within the last 15 years in pursuit of this hobby.

Gas Stove:

Two Burner Camp Stove:

I was ambivilent about getting a gas stove – grew up with electric – but after a year of using it, I was sold.  Using the camp stove was nice since it keeps the heat (and mess!) outside.

Let’s start with breakfast.

After a number of days with eggs, bacon, grits…….eggs, bacon & bagel………eggs, sausage, grits………..pancakes…………I needed a change.  Love all of the aforementioned combos but eating them every day versus the weekend turns them into routine.  Florida blueberries were in season and we took a morning to go in search of U-pick bluberries.  I had planned on making a blog post just about that excursion, but, we were too late.  With the season being so warm AND everyone staying at home, U-pick farms had a fabulous spring.  Great for them, not so great if you planned on doing a blog post.  😦  We ended up finding some blueberries at a local farm and they were now incorporated into breakfast.

After a few suggestions (mine),  Eric went to the internet and found inspiration.  He made lemon ricotta blueberry pancakes with lemon curd sauce.

Another morning we had blueberry stuffed French toast with lemon curd.

I really thought we had a jar of lemon curd in the pantry – doesn’t everyone – but neither of us could find the jar.  Eric made his own.  OMG – this may now turn into a necessary staple in the Darden household – just saying.  It was absolutely delicious.  Leftover curd was put into these cute jars and kept in the fridge.

I also found some blueberry inspiration visiting the internet and made blueberry popovers.  Eric says he doesn’t like sweets.  I brought him one – he finished his before I did.  This recipe is a keeper.  Man – how great would it be with a drizzle of lemon curd?!?

Next up lunch & snacks:

Grouper fish sandwich was a hit one day.  We had picked up some certified grouper fillets (FYI – a lot of grouper fillets are not actually grouper), which was so big we had two separate meals.

When we caught a bluefish earlier in the week, he immediately thought of smoked fish dip.

Hour and a half on the charcoal grill ensured a nice smoky flavor throughout.  Add in some cream cheese, celery, shallots, jalapino pepper, crème fraiche, cayenne pepper & lemon juice and you end up with some of the BEST smoked fish dip he’s ever made.  Wow – didn’t realize it had so many ingredients until I asked Eric for a list.  Sometimes simple is better – this time not.  Smokey almonds pair nicely.

Florida sweet corn was in season.  Eric made a chowder base with the leftover cobbs.

Top the finished corn chowder with fried shrimp and you have a complete meal.

Shhhhhh.  Top Secret info coming.  Eric shared that for most every soup he makes this is his ‘secret’ ingredient, adding a depth of flavor enhancing what already exists.  Who knew?

Hummus – another thing most people pick up at the grocery store in a tub.  We never have.  Although we normally use canned chickpeas in the past, Eric found some dried chick peas at Winn Dixie.

After a day of soaking and stove-top cooking, they were ready for processing using all the ingredients seen above.

This is a great snack in the afternoon when the munchies hit.  Eric grilled some lamb, chopped it finely, added a few pine nuts and a mid-afternoon snack took us through dinner that night.

Finally, dinner, or some call it supper:

The remaining part of the fresh grouper we picked up turned into grouper with a seafood Veloute sauce.  Yep – never heard of it either.  This idea was a result of watching all of those videos.  While roasting the shallots, he poached the fish in a homemade court’boullon under parchment, with the plated meal as the last photo.  Roasted potatoes rounded out the meal.  Oh yeah, and a glass of white wine.

Oom, pah pah – one night it was decidedly a German focus.  Jaeger schnitzel (fried pork)  & hunter sauce with braised cabbage (from our own garden!) and German fried potatoes.

This was another meal where the meat was fried on the camp stove, along with the potatoes.  Smell of oil cooking was kept outside, along with the mess. Yeah!!!

One of Eric’s hits was Steak au Poivre with pomme frittes (French fries!).  Let’s start with the pomme frittes.  After cutting the potatoes, he soaked them in water for at least 2 hours, pulling out starch which also keeps them crispy when fried – Secret #1.

Secret #2 – double frying.  Here’s the first fry on the left and the second fry on the right once the meat was done and resting.

Secret #3 – duck fat.  Enough said.

Now the steaks and au Poirve ingredients were readied (clockwise starting top left): butter, stock, steaks, shallots, cream and sea salt.

Steaks are seared in the iron skillet to get the base of the sauce.

 

Add in the butter and shallots to build flavor.

Next up the ‘fun’ part of the process, a douse of brandy then f.i.r.e.

Throw in a littlel cream for smoothness.

What a perfect combo – steak topped with au poirve sauce and pomme frittes.

More food is coming, but not quite this intense.

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Darden’s backyard…..its pretty much an afterthought.  We don’t spend any time there.  Heck, Eric rarely mows it.  It takes a bit of ‘nagging’ for it to get done.  When it gets so tall I don’t want to walk through it………..it gets mowed (finally). Well guess what?  We’ve now got the time to work on it.

A number of years ago, Eric created this ‘dry river bed’ as a feature in the back yard AND to help with the heavy runoff when it rained due to the addition of a Florida room – more on that later.

Obviously, it lacked attention………..but not any more.

A little bit of Round-Up (weed killer), a little bit of pulling dead weeds (me), a lot of chopping back the surrounding plants (Eric) and now we have this.  🙂

During its construction, we put barrels to catch rainfall and they looked great.   Not so much any more – but we’re holding out for that re-purchase.  They started out with some water plants and goldfish.  Only one plant had survived and the goldfish are gone.  😦  Two out of the three barrels are making it – kind of.  Yeah, that one in the middle has definitely seen better days.  Not a drop of water is in the bottom.

But we have a nice surprise surviving in one barrel – a blooming water iris.

We also have tadpoles in the bottom few inches of that same barrel!

I used to have a love affair with orchids – spending waaaaay too much money on them.  I purchased all kinds going to orchid nurseries and orchid plant shows.  Some lived, others did not.  My best orchid purchase has been a recent one.  A roadside van sells them 1 – $5 or 3 – $12.  I don’t ask any questions.   The leaves have some blemishes.   They are not a ‘perfect’  plant but always, always has flower spikes just beginning to show some color.  Bloom spikes can last up to 1 month -inside- if you keep the plant watered.

Where else can you get a flower for $5 that lasts a month?  Now, if I could just found out where he’s currently parking his van……….  By the way, these are called Phalenopsis or Moth Orchid.  We bring them in the house, enjoy the blooms and put them back outside until new spikes appear.  Truly, we don’t do anything else – no watering, no fertilizing, nothing.  They’re survivors.

The plants below are amarylis flowers.  Grandma had gotten these – probably for Christmas – and planted the bulbs outside after they finished blooming.  Every year, they keep coming up, slowly multiplying.  Something else we ignore and they just keep blooming and blooming. and blooming.

Bricks, bricks, bricks.  I talked about them a few posts ago when I cleaned up the front beds where they are used for defining edges.  For some reason, we never put them in the back to give this area some definition.  They have arrived.

While I’ve been working on the landscape, Eric has given some attention to the hardscape.  Well, actually the back of the house.  He cleaned the gutters (oopsie – forgot to get an action photo).

Now, if he could just dig up those (unwanted) volunteer sprouts from a nearby bush…………

Afterwards he gave the windows of the Florida room some attention.

Wetting them:

Soaping them:

And removing the suds and excess water:

LOVE the Florida room.  This would typically be where a pool would be built.  When we first moved here the trees didn’t provide enough shade in the summer and with this south-facing room, it got plenty hot.  We (and by that I mean me) could only use this space 8-ish months out of a year.  Yes, it’s not the spot to be in July, middle of the day – but that wasn’t a problem when we were working.  😦

Spending all this time in the back yard has been like a treasure hunt.  We’ve found unexpected blooms, wildlife (rabbits & squirrels), a pair of nesting red-shouldered hawks and then this:

Shingles!  During Hurricane Irma (2018) the roof shingles were flying off all throughout the night once hurricane force winds reached us.  I’ve picked them up again and again and again and still there are more.  Uugghh.

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Working at home 4 weeks went by fast………………a week of furlough, not so much.  Obviously the key was to keep busy – no surprise there, ha!

What better way to start your Monday, than with beignets – love these French donuts.  Eric, not quite as big of fan since they were common-place when he was growing up.  Naturally it starts with a recipe – no box mix in the Darden house!  You would think he would have the recipe memorized – not so much.   A number of years ago, my mother-in-law presented us with this blank recipe book.

It has been well used and definitely makes it easier to find recipes, such as beignets. Ha!  This was before the internet and the well-used phrase ‘google it’.  I know, I know – the dinosaur age.  I initially used rubber cement to place the recipe print-outs I typed into the book, but it has all dried up.  I definitely need to make this a project in the coming days.  Regardless, here you go.

Oopsie – apparently I missed an ingredient when I was typing up the info.  Definitely need the egg for the recipe.  For everything I typed, I tried to add a ‘story’ at the end of the page.

Cannot forget one of the most important key ingredients – powdered sugar.

After a general ‘dusting’…………….

…………..those little pillows of goodness end up on my plate.  🙂

We both had our own projects that we planned for the first furlough week.  Eric is doing some painting.

While I finally dusted off my sewing machine.  Luckily I found the correct manual booklet (I was more shocked that anyone!) for the machine I have and had to reread the correct way to thread the machine – its harder that it looks.  Many have a slight difference you have to figure out.  My first project was sewing these linen kitchen towels from linen we purchased in the Paris fabric market – oh, about 3+ years ago.

There are a few other projects in the pipeline that may show up in this blog – if they get done.

As you might imagine, cooking has figured big in the Darden household since Eric is no longer going into work.  I’m soooooooo lucky to have married a man that enjoys cooking as a hobby – just saying.

He’s been talking about the ‘Hotto Potto’ restaurant over in east Orlando, but that’s not really an option at the moment with the ‘shelter at home’ situation we’re in.  But that doesn’t stop Eric.  What’s the next best thing?  Having our own hot pot meal – but of course! Ha!  Eric did his research and we made a trip to Orlando to one of the biggest Asian markets we’ve frequented in the past.

A first step was the liquid to cook your meats.  Doesn’t look like much when you take it out of the packaging.  Those red things in the photo…………….peppers, lots and lots of peppers.

But those blocks turn into this:

Before cooking, there’s a bit of other prep that needs to happen with the ‘things’ you’re going to put into the hot pot.  I was able to get a ‘work in progress’ shot with Eric prepping the meat.

PLEASE be sure to look at the meat platter in the bottom right of the photo above. Apparently I forgot to take a finished photo and yes, I heard about it.  Isn’t it a beaut!  Great job Hon!  The next few photos are the fresh items we get to choose from.  One platter has seafood options (shrimp and mahi-mahi sliced thinly).  Another has two types of noodles and the bowl has various mushrooms.

Second tray had the fresh veggies – baby bok choy, chayote squash and daikon radish.  That bowl off to the side was quail eggs.

So, the quail eggs.  They’re cute, they’re tasty, they are a b.e.a.r. to peel once they are soft-cooked.  I believe we each had one, and the rest were left for a breakfast meal.

Next step – cooking!    Two things you need to know.  First, we did the cooking outside in our garage with a 2-burner camp stove purchased on one of Eric’s hunting trips that (surprisingly) has been one of his better purchases.   Second, I don’t have to do any of the cooking.  🙂

The bok choy you see simmering in the pot above – boy (!) it really soaked up the pepper in the hot pot.  First bite the pepper taste caught everyone off guard.

While waiting for the items to cook, we wanted a snack.  I’ve been having a hankering for these, ever since I heard there was a shortage (after the run on toilet paper?).  I guess everybody cleared out all of the items in the frozen food cases and also bought these.  Really?   Eric prepped them prior to the hot pot cooking and a little sea salt, siracha sauce, sesame seeds and chili pepper flakes and we were set.

We ended our first week with some ‘fusion’ tacos.  Huh?  I’ve got to admit, when Eric pulled into this place, I had doubts – plenty of doubts.

I believe one of its former lives it was a gas station.  I eventually asked him ‘How would you describe this food?”  That’s when I heard ‘fusion tacos’.  After a quick google search:

• Korean tacos that originated in Los Angeles.
• Are a Korean-Mexican dish popular in a number of urban areas, often as street food.
• Consists of Korean-style fillings (bulgogi and Kimchi) placed on top of traditional Mexican corn tortillas.

I don’t care what you call them, they are mighty tasty!  In the top box you have a carnitas taco and Asian pork belly taco.  The bottom item is a Korean hot dog – can’t see the dog since there was so much topping!  I loved the Korean hot dog.

Done – first week of being furloughed.  Now, if I just knew how many weeks it was going to last………………………

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most people think yardwork is a chore.  I, however, find working in the yard relaxing, productive, calming, an outlet for creativity and a way to burn some energy.   Some people go to the gym, I work in the yard.

 

Now, let’s be truthful – heavy yardwork and digging is beyond me.  Mowing the lawn can be done but edging is a different matter.  These fall into Eric’s realm.  Besides, Eric needs some outside tasks.  🙂

My initial focus was on the front and side yard where I could see results pretty quickly.  We use bricks for surrounding some of the beds and throughout the year, they settle, weeds start to grow over & around the bricks, losing the sharpness of the bed.

A few hours here and there and they’re good until next year (or so).

We had this native bee house…………..

……….but it had seen better days.  Eric said he could make a better one……………since we now have plenty of time at home   😦    He had to build the entire structure since the wood had rotted in the one seen above.

A friend of ours gave me two mugs that his student used to create native bee habitats for a scouting project. Finding two more mugs, a little spray paint, additional paper straws and they were ready to make their appearance in the Darden yard.

Ultimately the habitats got put together.  Bees were seen buzzing around the habitats as soon as they got hung.

This has also been a time to work on our potted plants.  This gerbera daisy had outgrown its pot and needed to be divided.

I’ve also started some seeds in pots and had pretty good luck.  The sprouts seen below are french radishes – yum.  The flat of seeds (on the left) were planted within the last several days.  As of this post………………………I’m still waiting for some action to be seen!  Come on little guys – push up through the soil!

We’ve been harvesting cabbage  for several weeks from plants we started last Fall. We’ve harvested a total of 3 heads with 3 more remaining.  Also in the photo is some kale.  We had several pots, along with some collard greens and mustard greens and have been eating them the last month while also freezing the blanched greens for later.

This next task I’ve done several times since we lived here,  but it seemed like a waste to put the completed project back where it came from.  These chairs were brought from Indiana when my family moved here.  They are super, super comfortable.  A few cans of spray paint and voila!  We now have ‘presentable’ chairs for sitting.  Oh yeah, finally  had to buy some more nuts & bolts since the others had rusted.  Eric stopped by our local home improvement store to pick some up – ultimately this ended up being a joint project.

Once put back together, I asked “Isn’t there a better place to put these so we can truly enjoy them?”.  Man – love their new spot.  Moving the chairs to the front of the garage is probably one of the BEST things we have done.  Why didn’t we think of it before?????

Surrounded by some of our flowering pots, this is now our favorite spot to sit after supper.  Again, why didn’t we think of this before.  Now, if I just had a fire pit in the fall………..

I’m ending with a little bit of whimsey that was not my doing – initially.  A few years ago, a pink painted ladybug was discovered in my birdbath near the sidewalk.  I did not have anything to do with it.  I assumed whoever placed it in the birdbath would eventually come back to claim it.  They never did.  It faded and I repainted it – using the wrong paint and the color didn’t stay.

Back to the store for a different type of paint.  However, the pink ladybug looked lonely.  I painted one of my Iceland rocks and now the ladybug has a friend.  They make me smile.  Those other ‘rocks’ in the birdbath………….oyster shells from Apalachicola Bay.

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’re all busy finding, creating, discovering and rediscovering  – you get it – a new ‘norm’.  Are we keeping active?  Yes, for the most part.   One way or another, we’re adjusting to our current environment – and keeping busy.

By this time, I’ve been working from home almost a month.  That’s a lot of alone time.  Thus we’ve found a few activities to stay engaged with friends.  Of course, I’d rather go fishing, but if we have to stay closer to home, this calls for a different agenda.

New plan!

Back in the past………….on occasion, we would use our Sunday to discover new and interesting places to eat, followed by stops at nearby breweries.  That past plan has had to be modified since all restaurants in Florida are closed except for take-out.  We adjust and adapt, while also supporting local businesses.  Eric has been focused on cooking so that part is covered, but the brewery visits are not.

This gives us one way to support local businesses.  Checking ahead for hours of operation, stops can be made at several breweries to pick up craft beer in cans or crowlers.  Wait – was that a typo?  No.  There are crowlers and growlers.

• Crowler – defined as metal container for beer, when filled properly and treated right, the beer is stable for a couple of weeks and used only once.
• Growler – typically is glass (can also be ceramic or stainless steel) container for beer, used as a means to sell take-out beer and can be used repeatedly when cleaned properly with the beer best consumer within 3-5 days.

Our closest stop is Sun Creek Brewing – loved the a-frame sign.

Another local stop was at Crooked Can Brewing Company – wow, it was so empty (as it should be).

Toll Road Brewing Company was a close stop on the circuit and we’ve stopped several times – really enjoyed their ‘sour’ beer.  This sign explains it all.  😦

On a different weekend, we visited one near downtown Orlando – Ivanhoe Park Brewing – and picked up several types to cater to all of our tastes.

We’ve also found creative ways to virtually connect with our friends.  One weekend, we arranged a virtual happy hour with our friends in NYC.  Eric created a chacuterie plate composed of  4 cheeses, 3 meats, dried cherries and a (fabulous) fig & chocolate spread (OMG – just saying!).

I’m afraid I missed the kids in the above photo, but the kids made periodic ‘walk-bys’ and shared what was happening in their lives.

One weekend, we connected with our friends in St. Augustine.  We took it easy this time and Eric picked up a pizza – a nice change of pace.  🙂

The Wrays took it up a notch and were eating a pasta meal cooked at home.  I got the kids (and Rich) in this photo, but missed Karen – was that planned…………..

We’ve found a few other things to help spend the time.  One was a recent purchase for the TV (best $35 spent e.v.e.r.).  Yes, the Dardens are moving into the latest decade of technology.  Even more amazing was no problem setting everything up, finding all the passwords needed and being able to watch a program within an hour of purchase.  Of course I did have Adrienne help me…………………….

There’s been one more way to pass the time:

Yes, a few purple streaks in the hair makes staying at home a little bit more fun.

Good thing it washes out, since it doesn’t fit grooming guidelines when we have (get) to go back to work.

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the first Festival of the calendar year, there was a ‘tease’ (far right photo) concerning the new home of the Butterfly garden for the 2020 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival.  They had these photo spots for guests.  Through the years, there have been a number of locations (and sizes) of the butterfly house but with all of the construction going on, they once again had to find another location this year.

Guess I should mention the location since it’s not obvious……………in front of The Land, to the left as you face the pavilion.

 

BTW – did some research before writing this, so I’m going to intersperse a few factoids here and there.  Hope you learn and enjoy the info. 🙂 Let’s start.

• Butterflies are distributed world-wide, except for Antartica, totaling over 18,500 species.
• Butterfly fossils date to 56 million years ago.
• Oldest American butterfly fossil dates to 34 million years ago.
• Monarch butterfly is native to Americas and is well known for their annual migration to Mexico.

Once the Flower & Garden Festival starts, you run into these topiaries.

Not too far away, is one more butterfly topiary, right outside of the butterfly house.

• Scales on the butterfly’s wings give them the various colors.
• They fly when temps are above 81 F.
• Butterflies hold their wings vertically above their bodies when at rest, moths tend to lay their wings flat when at rest.

One of the first things noticed upon entering the Butterfly enclosure was these brown ‘houses’.  Throughout the Festival, more butterflies are added to the exhbit through ‘pupae’ versus adult butterflies.

Look closely and you can see how some look different?  Each type of butterfly has its own style of chrysalis before metamorphosis and the adult butterfly emerges.

Signs are throughout the enclosure.  This one identifies the butterflies being released – sorry for the quality.  Didn’t notice how bad it looked until I got home and right now…………….I’m unable to get another shot.  😦

• Butterflies have a typical 4-stage life cycle:  egg, larve (catepillar), pupa (chrsylsis) and adult.
• Butterfly courtship is often aerial and often involves phermones.
• Females can produce 100-200 eggs, which is typically afixed to a leaf (food source) with a special glue, hardening rapidly. 
• Adults can live a week to 3 months in the wild.

More informational signs abound in the exhibit – can you spot the live butterflies versus the ones on the sign?

It’s hard to get any good photos of these guys, but I have a few to share.

I singled this butterfly out on purpose – it’s the State Butterfly of Florida, the Zebra Longwing.

• Designated by the state legislature in 1996 as our state butterfly.
• Found throughout Florida in hardwood hammocks, thickets, gardens and commonly in the Everglades National Park in south Florida.
• Lays their eggs on Passion vine plants.
• One of the few that sips nectar and eats pollen (!) which is assumed contributes to their longevity in the wild, 3 months +.

 

I’m ending with this photo.  There are at least 8 butterflies in the photo – can you find them all?  Seemed like every time I glanced at it, I found another – 8 was my top count.

Did you find them all?  🙂

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Probably a phrase that we all will get REALLY tired of hearing.  On a nice warm sunny Sunday, we distanced ourselves on the water, Crystal River to be exact.

Temps in the morning were a bit chilly, but beautiful on the water as we motored to the Gulf in between the channel markers.

Being a Sunday, Pete’s Pier had more trucks & trailers in the parking lot than normal, but there was still enough empty lanes for me to park.

First stop was shrimp for fishing.  Eric had called Pete’s Pier several times this week to ensure they were open and had bait available.  They were practicing ‘social distancing’ by having their customers come to their side door (roped off), state their needs while keeping a safe distance. This guy was getting a free meal from the holding tanks in between customers.

The tides should have been great for our regular spot.  Others thought so too.  There were four boats already there when we arrived.  Eventually we could squeeze into a decent spot for casting.

Species caught were:  puffer fish, sea robin and sea perch (L to R).

The puffer fish was probably the biggest at 8-9″ long.  Look at those spines!

We went south near the scallop racks and after a bit of time caught species that were edible – and a size that kept us above the law.  I caught a few short trout, eventually ending up with a keeper mackerel.

Adrienne caught a keeper seatrout – her first!

As she reminded us………………this was her second keeper fish that day.  The first one was a pinfish used for bait.  🙂

Swimming today, dinner that night.  We had poke bowls for dinner.  Eric pulled together  sushi-grade tuna, Krab, mackeral (from today!), boiled shrimp, avocado, pickled ginger atop sushi rice with siracha mayo to provide a kick – delicious!

Eric created a few sides dishes (pickled carrots & radish, cukes) and our meal was complete.

Dessert were chocolate-chip cookies – raw.  Adrienne and Eric had been sneaking them out of the freezer for months……….until they got caught.  I tried one.  I’ve been brought over to the dark (their) side.  I almost like them better raw than baked.

How did we promote ‘social distancing’ on the boat………………..everyone had a section of the boat to fish.

We had another great day on the water.

 

Ginny

 

 

 

 

Topiary is the horticulture practice of training plants by clipping foliage to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes. 

Why is that the chosen topic for this post………….

Yes, that’s right.  It is that time of the year when the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival is a major part of the Epcot park.  Opening March 4, 2020 through June 1, 2020 there are topiaries and vignettes all around the park.

Coming into the park, you are greeted with these ‘larger than life’ flower topiarities.

Bambi & friends is one of the first grouped topiaries that can be found.

These topiaries of our most famous mice are part of a selected group that are ‘larger than the norm’.  At 14+feet tall, Goofy joins them.  Notice their props?  That’s right, lots of construction is going on and Mickey & the gang are helping out.

What is the orange flower tower seen in the background……………….

Yep, that’s right, it is a construction cone.  🙂

Close by Pluto is seen with a measuring tape, making sure everything has the right measurement.

He shares a garden with the chipmunks and they’re gathering nails.  BTW – do you know how to tell the difference between Chip and Dale?  (answer at the bottom)

Not too far away Donald & Daisy are getting their gardens ready.

Along with Donald’s nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie.

Huey – usually wears a red shirt, which is the brightest hue of the three.

Dewey – wears blue, the color of water, dew.

Louie – wears green, the color of leaves.

Figment is an original character from the opening of Epcot.  He’s featured in the pavilion for ‘Journey into Imagination’ and has a prime spot right in front.

While this is not all-inclusive, here are some of my favorites that surround the lake.  Lady & the Tramp live in the Italian gardens.

This is a newer version of a mythical dragon, landing in Japan.  Previous renditions have been in China.

Jesse and Woody are featured in one of the kid’s gardens.

I saw this ‘plastic’ thing in a tree near the Toy Story topiaries.

Oh yeah, got it.  The game ‘barrel of monkeys’ was in the Toy Story movie and made an appearance in the garden – cute detail.

I’ll close with this year’s newest topirary……………….Remy from  Ratatouille, a Disney-Pixar animated film released 2007.  The new ride opens sometime this year.  Seems like every year there’s (at least) one new topiary.  Remy stars this year with his debut.

More to come – highlighting one of my favorite parts  of the Flower & Garden Festival!

Ginny

 

Answer:
Chip or Dale……………………Chip is the one with the brown nose, a ‘chocolate’ chip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FINALLY!  I guess I needed a break from writing and truthfully, my Iceland trip was such a success in my book, nothing at the moment compares and seems blog-worthy.

 

Unless I’m fishing…………………………..

Boat taken in for yearly maintenance – √

Boat cleaned and polished – √

Good weather here and along the Gulf coast – √

 

Time to go fish!

Pete’s Pier in Crystal River was this day’s destination.

Sights seen are fairly typical of a marina on the water.

Two important things are needed when fishing:  bait and ice.

Today’s bait of choice was live shrimp.

One last check of the weather and radar…………

………………we’re ready to head down the river and explore the Gulf.  Let’s get the boat into the water!

While the weather looks good, it is chilly when the sun goes behind clouds.  It has been a looooong time since we had to get this wrapped up to fish.  Eric was awful glad he brought along this jacket – he never has in the recent past.

First catch was not a desired species – puffer fish, its obvious where the name comes from.  Not a keeper and after deflating, he was thrown back in the water.

His next two catches drug up the bottom.  Again, nothing to keep.

Our usual ‘honey hole’ was not productive.  We motored to another spot, near the bird racks.  Eric got two mackerel fairly quickly and I was starting to feel shut out.  Not a good feeling (for me or for Eric – just saying).  But then I got a bite.

Picture it:  the line was zinging off the reel, sometimes coming straight at me, with too much slack in the line.  I followed the fish as it circled the boat, keeping the rod tip up (barely).  My ‘coach’ giving me direction and tips as he got the net ready.  We were anticipating another run from the fish, but, the net dipped into the water, the fish (practically) swam into it and eureka(!) the fish was on the boat.  Photo wasn’t taken until we got home.  Man – it was a beauty!

All in all, we got 4 keeper macks.  Yep, the one on top was the biggest one and was mine.  🙂

Swimming in the morning and sushi at night!  You can’t get much fresher than that.

Sliced avocado, poached shrimp and pickled carrots topped the sushi rice for our poke’ bowl dinner.

Great (first) 2020 day on the water.

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve come to the realization that I hate to write (type) my last post for any trip.  It’s so final – the trip is done and that’s the last chapter in the book (yes, hence my blog post titles this time).  Maybe part of it is that coming back I’ve had to get back into the ‘work mind-set’, which seems to be harder these last several years.  😦

Regardless, I’m pushing through this and pulling together the final chapter of Iceland 2019.  Let’s start with Reykjavik.  We stayed here at the very beginning of our week before heading to Vik and spent our last several nights here before catching our flight.  Nothing is more fitting for a visit to this island than their (well-known) icon – Hallgrimskirkja.

A few notable facts:

• Stands guard over the city and is the largest church in Iceland.
• Concrete façade is an ode to modernism and a reminder of the Icelandic landscape and took 41 years to build.
• Named after Iceland’s most celebrated religious poet.

This time I got to the very top since the elevator rehab was complete, unlike in May.

After driving along the Southern coast, we spent our last several nights in Reykjavik.  Teams were putting this together earlier in the week, but we had no idea what it was.  Upon our return, it had been completed.   It is supposed to be huge, scary with blazing red eyes.   We learned the legend of the ‘Christmas Cat’.

It is among the best-known Icelandic Christmas creatures.  Legend has it, the Cat eats those who don’t get new clothes for Christmas (Oh, don’t forget the cat is humongous).  To avoid this, everyone needs to do their chores to receive a gift at Christmas, no matter how small or simple.

Since we’re on the topic of cats………..we did find this guy as we were walking through town.  He was definitely getting his share of attention, especially since someone had placed a wool blanket on the ledge.  He was almost as popular as the Christmas cat.  He does not look terrifying, just perturbed.

 

From cats to bras……………….Uh?

Yeah, I didn’t know how to make that transition flow smoothly.  We drove past this earlier in the week and when returning to Reykjavik we stopped for a quick photo.

HAD to google it (bra fence Iceland) and found this info.

• Said to have started in 2012 as some locals were having a party and stole some bras from a local lady nearby.
• 10 to 20 people contribute undergarments daily.
• Local farmers and the landowners chuckle at the colorful site and remove items once the fence gets weighted down.

Let’s talk ice- glacial ice.  Adrienne had some great photos she let me include.  I’m giving a shout-out to her sister.  Adrienne picked up photography tips from her through the years.

And was able to catch the ice water drip as they slowly dissolved.

From ice to snow….…………

My favorite ‘secret lagoon’.

Adrienne has the new I-phone 11 which captured interesting photos at the black sand beach – sunset and moon rise.

There’s a subject I’ve been holding until the last post – The Northern Lights.  There’s never a guarantee, some make multiple trips without every seeing them and I had no expectations that we would see them.  Our last night in Vik, walking back to our place, the sky had faint coloration that was not moonlight.  Yes, we were seeing The Northern Lights.

A number of years ago, I went parasailing and the company was called YELO – You Only Live Once.  Who would have guessed that I would find this along a deserted stretch of the ring road in Iceland.  I definitely believe that phrase – I’m not trying to be a ‘daredevil’ but experience interesting things along life’s journey..

Okay, there you have it – the final Iceland post for my November 2019 trip.

The last photo I’m included is a smaller version spotted during my first trip.  We unknowingly walked past it our last night in Reykjavik.  I love to travel and squeeze in trips whenever possible – even if only a long weekend.  I don’t need more ‘stuff’ to remind me of my travels, but experience-gathering is my focus.  Don’t get me wrong, I still pick up an occasional souvenir, but I go more for something edible or wearable to remind me of moments I’ve experienced, thousands of miles away or nearby.

Goodbye Iceland for now, I will be back.

Ginny