The Everglades

This week at work I'm helping with a teachers workshop about the ecosystem of South Florida- and am I tired! Today we went out to Picayune Strand State Forest and Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve and hiked around. I took a GPS and mapped out our trek and after 7.5 hours we'd traveled (mostly by car, but lots on foot) we'd traveled over 50 miles through the Everglades Restoration Project! Its a very comprehensive plan to restore the natural waterflow to the Everglades, which is being blocked by a system of paved roads and man-made canals that covered a huge area slated for development in the 1960s. Years ago the state bought all the land back and is now plugging up the canals so that the water can run over the land and soak in to the ground instead of being flushed out to sea via the expansive canal system. The picture to the left is what one of the canals looks like now and the other pic is what one just like it looks a few months after restoration. Today wasn't all construction business though- I saw about 20 different orchids in the swamp, too! Its such an amazing place.

Noodling Around Town

Ben's visit was grand- yesterday we hit up the beach and relaxed a bit (notice the pink noses!) Then last night we went out to dinner with friends and visited the English Pub aftewards. Its been a while since we've been there and it was great to be back. We celebrated by drinking Monty Python's Holy Grail Ale out of chalices!

Today was a fun day, too! I worked until lunchtime while Ben was at home reading Harry Potter and when Joe got home from work, the three of us took a spin over to the lazy river and rode around on some noodles. It was a great time- Ben and Joe tried to dunk me and spash around a lot (long lost brothers, I tell you!) We were wayyyy younger than all the little old women in their one-piece-swimsuits, and the old men that were so hairy they looked like they were wearing wool sweaters. It would have made for a great blog photo, but no one brought a camera. But we did pick up a few cold beverages to keep us cool while baking in the sun!

Roommate Revamping

Times are getting sad as Brittany is packing up for the big move! I'm so glad that she's only going to the other side of the neighborhood (she's moving in with her boyfriend) so we've made all kinds of plans to walk to each others houses and have dinner, etc. I'll miss little Elise as well. She's going into second grade in a few weeks! Brittany is moving and our new roommate, Susan, will be moving in at the same time, so it will be an eventful week next week (Marvin and Basil will be back in Colorado by then, not to worry!) Susan is bringing along Bailey, her cocker spaniel. Very cute and fluffy pup! Never a dull moment around here let me tell ya!

Mischievous Menagerie

Our household has been anything but quiet as of late- Marvin (greyhound) and Basil (australian sheppard), who used to live in this house, are back for a week and keeping me busy! First there was a scuffle between Marvin, who used to rule this house, and Peyton, the current reigning king of the throne. Peyton just wants to play with Marvin (he goes to work with Joe and plays with all the patients), but Marvs is ornery while missing Andrea and isn't any happier about sharing in the hierarchy of the household. Good thing we have a live-in veterinarian to keep an eye on things!

Over the course of the weekend, all three dogs have escaped at one time or another from the fenced-in backyard. Between the landscapers and overly-curious neighbor boy, the gate keeps getting left open, unbeknownst to us, and out go the dogs. Just when I thought I was doing a good thing by taking the doggies on a walk, and under my full control, the aforementioned neighbor boy tries to tag along behind, despite my insincere suggestion that he go home and threats that I had attack dogs that would bite him if he got too close. At the same time that I had had enough of Connor... Marvin decides to bite him! I was just trying to scare him into going away but I guess karma was not on his side. He's fine, it was just a nip, but I could only hope that it puts a damper on his enthusiasm to come over and bug us all the time.

So here I am, relaxing in the living room and watching the democratic debate on tv, and Marvin just hasn't had enough mischief for one day and is salivating with his jaw is quivering at the glass doors because he wants nothing more than to eat Otis who is cruising around on the lanai soaking up some sunshine and having some dinner. Now he's barking, good grief! Can I get some peace and quiet around here? I am looking forward to Ben arriving tomorrow to give the monsters a little attention so I have some R&R! Good thing they are all so darned cute :)

The New Mr. & Mrs. Bond!

Andrea and Justin's wedding-get-to-gether was lovely! Brittany and I attended the private sunset cruise on the Gulf. It was very nice to visit with Andrea's friends and family who I don't get the chance to see now that she's living in Colorado.







The newlyweds are on vacation now and I am watching the dogs- very exciting. I have two cuttle monsters to love on for a whole week!

Bachelorette Beach Day

I spent the day soaking up the sun with Andrea. She's getting married on Tuesday and this was her last hoorah before tying the knot. The beach was hot and gorgeous as always; the ocean was like bath water. Desperate times called for desperate measures- Strongbow at McCabe's! Nothing like an ice cold one after a day at the beach. Cheers to the future Mrs. Bond :)

Painting finally complete- one year later!

Last summer I took on the enormous task of normalizing my bedroom walls from beach ball colors to a cozy dark red. It turned out to be tons more work than I had ever imagined- two coats of primer, three coats of red paint, etc. So I spend the afternoon today FINALLY doing the finishing touches on the ceiling and molding (I was not as careful with all those coats of red as I had hoped) and voila, I'm actually done. I think I'm going to sleep like a baby since I can now quiet my obsessive compulsiveness about the paint on the ceiling, haha :)

No paraskavedekatriaphobia here!

That's the word to describe the fear of Friday the 13th. I happen to think that this superstitious day is lucky, in fact. The last time Friday fell on the 13th, I met Ben at a bird meeting at Rookery Bay. Talk about life changing event! After the first date in the swamp (what was I thinking going on a swamp walk through the Everglades with someone I'd just met?), I was hooked. And the rest is history!

Allegheny gets Wrecked

Crazy story out of little ol'Meadville- while demolishing the old library, a wrecking ball breaks loose and bounces 3/4 mile down North Main Street, smashing into cars. As if the tuition isn't expensive enough!

Bear in Kings Lake

I almost feel like I'm back in Waterford, PA! Apparently there is a 200 pound bear in my neighborhood! It's been seen swimming in the lake. I took Peyton out there yesterday to see if we could spot it (and post some sweet pictures on the blog!) but no luck. Check out the article in the Naples Daily News.

Otis is on a diet!

I've been reading up on red-foot tortoises and it seems as though Otis is an overeater! He eats anything that I give him so I keep feeding him, but it turns out that he's only supposed to be eating once a week! I've cut back to feeding about every 4-5 days because I feel like it must be a big adjustment to go from once/twice a day to once every seven. He's having a field day today out in the yard, taking in the sunshine.




Look how much he's grown since this picture of him posing back in our days in Charleston, three years ago!