Caine's Arcade

Speaking of sprouting GOODNESS...

This is a beautiful story about one man's kindness to a little boy.  What a rippling effect his kindness has had on that boy, and all those who hear his story.  You can also go here for more on Caine's Arcade.

* sorry about the size of the player.  If you look to the bottom right corner of the player you can click on the youtube symbol to get the bigger picture. You can also go to the website listed above to see it.

Spring/Summer Garden

Here's our game plan for Spring and Summer.  In the front yard we have four large pots of sweet 100 tomatoes and I already see about three dozen baby tomatoes growing!  Florida's spring is short.  It seems that it jumps from cool to hot quickly, not much in between.  Because of this there are some things that are better planted in early March.  Tomatoes, zucchini, pumpkins... to name a few. 

We have blueberries!  Their spring green color is beginning to deepen to a pinkish-purple.  I haven't had to worry about birds yet.  I was told by an employee from the nursery we frequently visit that by having half a dozen blueberry bushes we should have enough to share with the birds.  We shall see.   Now-- if only I can keep little fingers away from them I might be able to see them mature to their deep, frosty blue.  It is hard for him to resist plucking off those little berries.

Not much success here with strawberries.  Something is eating them; most likely slugs.  I'm looking for

a natural slug repellant.  Any ideas?  I've read all kinds of things from a cup of beer [apparently slugs love it!], to sharp egg shells, sandpaper [another one too painful to cross], to sprinkling powdered ginger around the plants.

But the blueberries, sweet peas, tomatoes, zucchini, pumpkins, and herbs are thriving.

good ol' fashioned fun

We took the two oldest boys to the Clay County Fair last weekend.

I'm from the Seattle area and grew up going to the
Puyallup Fair --  a fair which continually ranks
in the top ten largest fairs in the U.S. 

It's a doozy of a fair.
If you ever get the chance you should --
"Do the Puyallup."

The sights, sounds, and smells of the Clay County Fair
made me nostalgic for my old home.  This one wasn't as large,
but definitely made for a fun evening with my family.

The riding lawn mower race was a hit with the boys.
They covered their ears the entire time,
but just couldn't walk away from the show. 

The birds were noisy, too.  ;-)

If I remember anything from that night,
please let it be the expressions the boys wore
while being whipped around the corner
in their tiny race car.
Priceless.

 They ran from ride to ride, sampling lemonade, corn dogs,
and the fair's ever popular -- funnel cake.

It was nice to leave the baby home with a babysitter.
Just the two of us and the two of them.  They loved it.
And, we loved that they loved it.

It ended with light sabers clashing in the back of the van.
I'd have to say the night was a success.