This Sunday I thought I would share the garden scene outside my window. Florida neighborhoods are built with retention ponds for stormwater runoff and evaporation. Some are unmanaged and quite unsightly. Our neighborhood association has created a park-like atmosphere with plantings around the two ponds and benches under the oak trees. I love the stillness of it in early morning, especially after a rain that has refilled the pond. (As always, click for larger views)
Here's the big Crape Myrtle. Isn't it lovely? It's branches were a little weighted down this morning from last night's rain. In fact, when I was taking photos it was as if it was still raining because of the rain falling from trees and shrubs.
The photo above compares the size of the big Crape Myrtle with the young one next to it. Sorta of a Mutt & Jeff photo. The photo below is a closer up of the younger plant.
One of the benches shaded by an oak tree. There are two benches under oak trees - one on each corner that faces the cross street. My neighborhood is shaped like an H.
This is the view across the pond. I am captivated by the mirror effect. Soon there will be ducks, herons, ibis, or spoonbills to stir the water.
Now to my yard. I have to admit I have been neglectful of my front yard this year. Perhaps in the fall....when it cools down..... This pink alamanda(?) is a sad vine on my mail box; however, it continues to bloom no mater how sad the vine looks.
My front walkway - no way you are getting a close up of this :) I've cut the areca palm out several times but it comes back because I would need an excavator to remove it all. I give up. It's the plant under which yellow jackets nested last year and I was stung several times while weeding. I love the african iris and it does well in that sunny, hot spot.
Inside that window is my office. I am inside that window right now typing! Houses in our neighborhood are very focused toward the backyard (typical suburb) so this is the ONLY window in my house that faces the street. Naturally the dogs love it.
I took this photo of the pond from my side of the street so you could get a perspective of the previous photos and see my vantage point.
This is a photo of my MIL at Applebee's last night. We had planned on cooking out yesterday and I bought hamburgers and polish dogs, my mom made pasta salad, and mom & I bought a watermelon off a truck (which turned out to be fabulous) but about a half hour before we were to pick up Marge my mom became suddenly ill and went home. Instead of cooking out for 3, we took Marge to a restaurant near her grocery store and then went food shopping for her.
Crossing the Mississippi at Memphis. Couldn't take my eyes off the road to snap a photo of the muddy water.
Bypass near Hardy Arkansas. The town road is so narrow that large trucks were knocking the side mirrors off cars so they blasted through the moutains to make this road to bypass the little town. The town is a shopping Mecca - full of antiques and quaint stores.
The school where my mom and her siblings went to school in Paul's Switch near Bono Arkansas. I couldn't get close enough to get a photo where you can read the name etched in the arch above the door opening - it was just too muddy. My Aunt Joyce said there are three different rooms in the school. (Paul's Switch is not to be confused with Ponder Switch which the area where my Dad grew up. LOL)
This used to be Knight's grocery store at the end of the road where my mom's family lived in Paul's Switch. My dad's parent's owned a similar store up the road a piece near Ponder Switch.
I saw this bumper sticker more than once. There were many more photo opportunities that I missed that would have spoken to the local culture.
Cool old house in Imboden that my mom and I want to restore after we win the lottery, LOL.
I couldn't believe how many abandoned, run down houses I saw on my trip. This one was in Mountain Home. I just want to go in there with a crew from HGTV and fix em up!
Love old barnes. I used to see more near the road but on this trip I would have had to get out in the mud and snow to get photos and I just didn't have the right footware for that.
Old water wheel somewhere in the Ozarks. One of the few photo ops with a safe place to pull over. Remember, these are mountain roads curving up and down through the hills all the while snowing. Wasn't willing to pull over in an unsafe spot for a good photo.
