THE GATOR

On a glorious afternoon, my friend and I were sitting by her pool, looking over the languid Florida lake when we noticed a small creature sunning on the lakeshore. It was a young gator! 

Still new to Florida, my friend had never seen one up close and was quite excited. We ran into the house to get our cameras
(of course!) and quietly headed to the beachfront to capture this little fellow on film. Being the foolish fearless Florida native who has lived near gators all my life, I slowly crept up behind the creature, snapping photos as I closed in. This little fellow seemed to be afraid to move...he just stayed still, posing for our shots.

We continued to close in on our gator, reveling in the thoughts that we could share our photos and story with our traveling husbands and imagining them telling us that we were stupid brave to try to capture our gator on film.

Closer and closer we crept with great trepidation, thinking that at any time, the gator would turn and snap at us...




that is until we noticed the sun glinting on his eye. 
It was a FAKE!!!




Did we ever feel foolish!!! But we did have a great story...








(This is a repeat from my early days of blogging. I saw a gator this morning, and thought of this tale. It was worth retelling again...)

Enjoy nature!
Jane

Posting with Outdoor Wednesday...

PLAYING TOURIST...

Living here in a major vacation destination for both domestic and international tourists, we often overlook some really interesting activities. We have busy lives and often get caught up in the "catch-up around the house and yard" mentality and we forget to appreciate the beauty of our city...

This day, MacDaddy and I had breakfast at one of our favorite joints...Lenny's (this place gets its own post!), then headed toward the beaches. They're just a short hop from here...We began driving in and out of the streets of an old neighborhood along the sound and discovered...
                                

This pier in Bellair...It juts out from the shore into the bay. It was a favorite spot for many fishermen this morning...

There's something special about these crusty ol' fishermen...they just LOVE to talk with you about their casting techniques and about the "one that got away". This man had some great shark stories!!!

This is the view across Clearwater Harbor to Sand Key (on the barrier island, just south of Clearwater Beach)...Sand Key is primarily condos and private homes. There are two major hotels there, but they really blend in...the Sheraton Sand Key, which faces the Gulf, and the Marriott, which is bayside. Both are wonderful properties. There is also a county park with lots of beach access, pavillions, dressing rooms, and parking. (Pinellas County has some of the most beautiful parks!!!) The buildings in the above photo are all condominiums. The one in the center is where my brother has a beautiful hideaway. Although he lives right across Tampa Bay, he and his sons spend as much time as possible in this apartment...It's a wonderful respite from the stresses of the work week...

And this is what he sees from his balcony... Ahhhh...... 

Looking from the pier to Clearwater Beach...hotels, condos and private homes. 

All along the sound are boats...huge and small.

From the pier, we spy a private island enclave...never noticed it before! The only way to get into this neighborhood seems to be through a guarded gate/bridge.

Here in Bellair and Clearwater, there are mansions which rival those found in Palm Beach. Many are behind huge walls...for privacy. And yes, there are many celebrities who live (or have lived) behind those walls...

We headed north, to Dunedin. It's the community just north of Clearwater...Lots of marinas, restaurants and shops.  Our destination is the fish market...for tonight's dinner.

 Right next to the fish market is a delightful open air restaurant. We thought we'd sit awhile, and enjoy a coffee., but.....

there was a tremendous clash of thunder. And we noticed the skies to the east were BLACK and rolling.  Imagine...BLACK clouds on one side, gorgeous blue skies with billowy white clouds on the other. Which ones do we pay attention to? BLACK!!! Head for the car...lightning strikes a short distance away, and the skies open up.

It was our typical summer storm...and time to head home.

Come down for a visit!
Jane 

I will be linking with Susan for Outdoor Wednesday.

Oh No! Mom's At It Again...

HIDE...Mom's got her camera out again!!! 
     DB and WG simultaneously hide their faces when Mom's camera appears...Gee thanks, guys!




















Pulled pork sandwiches...Ribeye Steak sandwiches...Grouper Sandwiches...Fish Tacos...and a very "healthy" (?) salad...It's a Sunday at Ozona Blue!


This is one of our favorite places to go...especially on a beautiful sunny day. Imagine the sound of the breeze in the rigging of the sailboats...the lap of the waves...the palm fronds swishing...the call of the seabirds.

Good food...beautiful atmosphere...and a wonderful time with the family (minus MG - sniff). It's a great way to spend the afternoon....

Sailboats quietly motored through the water as they headed into the Gulf of Mexico...


Oh how we wanted to hitch a ride... I miss sailing!!!

These little girls kept us entertained all afternoon as they splashed their toes in the water.  It was such a warm day...

This pool is available to all the patrons of this restaurant. Drinks are served poolside, with food being delivered to a covered area on the deck...

I hope to see you here one day...

Jane

Be sure to check my previous post...for a CSN giveaway. All you have to do is check out the swing sets and leave a comment. The drawing will be on Friday...

and BE SURE to check out Outdoor Wednesday at asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com. You'll find some beautiful photos here...

1905 Salad...Muy Delicioso!

The Columbia Restaurant has been a fixture in Ybor City, the Latin Quarter of Tampa, FL, since 1905. It is the oldest restaurant in Florida and the largest Spanish restaurant in the world. Not only will you experience wonderful foods like, Boliche Criollo, Paella "a la Valencia", and Pompano en Papillot, you can even see Flamico dancers perform. And of course, there is music...everywhere. It's truly an experience!
(Other locations are in St. Augustine, Clearwater Beach, Riverwalk in Tampa, Celebration, St. Petersburg, and Sarasota.)

With all the fabulous foods offered here, my favorite has always been...and still is...the 1905 Salad. This is a simple salad...but the combinations of flavors are superb!


Columbia's Original "1905" Salad^TM 
The Columbia's legendary salad tossed at your table. Crisp iceberg lettuce with julienne of baked ham, natural Swiss cheese, tomato, olives, grated Romano cheese and our famous garlic dressing (our 100 year old family recipe of fresh garlic, oregano, wine vinegar and Spanish extra virgin olive oil). (from the website)


Over the years, the Columbia has graciously allowed this recipe to be shared. It's found in many Florida regional cookbooks and online. And the fabulous dressing is available for purchase in many gift shops all over the state.

This past week, I made this salad, along with Chicken Salteado, Yellow Rice with Black Beans, and Plantains. for a group of friends. And they all LOVED it...

Here is a photo of "my" salad... and my "Girl's Night" version (in parentheses) of the recipe.


1/2 head of iceberg lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
  (I used mixed organic greens)
2 ripe tomatoes, each cut into 8 wedges
1/2 cup thin strips of Swiss cheese
1/2 cup thin strips of ham (2 ounces)
   (I used Boar's Head Black Forest Ham...it was on sale)
1/4 cup pitted green Spanish olives



Dressing: 
               
               4 garlic cloves, finely chopped                                                                                                                      
               1 teaspoon dried oregano
               1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
               1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, preferably Spanish
               2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
               2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
               Salt and freshly ground pepper
               2 teaspoons coarsely grated pecorino Romano cheese                                                                                    


In a large bowl, toss together the lettuce, tomatoes, Swiss cheese, ham and olives. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic, oregano and Worcestershire sauce. Gradually whisk in the olive oil, continually beating to form an emulsion. Stir in the vinegar and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad just before serving and toss well. Add the pecorino, toss and serve. 


You can find the recipes for Chicken/Steak Salteado and Black Beans (Frijoles Negros) by clicking on their names.
Enjoy!


Jane

*** I am linking with Foodie Friday at Designsbygollum... be sure to stop by for some fabulous recipes shared by our fellow bloggers. I have to tell you that some of my new favorites are recipes I have found here. Thanks to all my blogging friends. 

Mt. Dora Art Festival

This past weekend was the Mt. Dora Art Festival...one of the largest art shows in Central Florida...

Most years, 300,000 plus visitors hit the small town of Mt. Dora to view art by "juried" artists from all over the U.S. This year, however, it rained...
and RAINED...
and RAINED on Saturday... traditionally the largest attendance day...and the crowds were smaller than planned.  All the streets of downtown Mt. Dora were lined with tents with artists, vendors of all kinds, and food! And along the sides of the tents...on the other sides of the sidewalks, wonderful shops and shopkeepers were offering shelter from the rain...while they hoped for sales. (Julianne's Coastal Cottage had a RECORD day!!! Of course, with tastings of their tropical wine smoothies, how could they not draw a crowd. I LOVED the pina colada and mango smoothies!!!)

This was my first time attending the art festival. I went with the idea of scouting out the scene to determine if there was a place for my art. I am happy to say, YES....if I want to go to the trouble of transporting everything 2 hours away from my home, finding lodging for 3 days, etc.  I spoke with many artists...and learned so much...Not just about the show, but I learned new techniques to try.

Honestly, though, I was a bit disappointed in much of the art...There was little in the way of painted canvas. Those I found were quite interesting. But most of what I saw were photographs which were transferred to canvas and called "PAINTINGS". (I am not talking about giclees of original artwork, but digital  photographs.) I love this medium and all that can be done with photoshop, but I would not claim them as paintings... What truly upset me, though, were the prints I have seen on allposters.com and art.com which were framed and called "original" by the displaying artists. There were even photos taken from the National Geographic and Flickr websites which were framed...and claimed as "originals" by the artist. (This I know because I had just been searching these sites for photos to determine the colors and patterns of some tropical creatures...and I recognized them!) Bad form!

Now that I have ranted and gotten that out of my system....here are some of the interesting art forms I found...some of which I am now coveting for my home...

These dogs were so amusing! There was even one that reminded me of Hurley...my Boggle Granddog.

This glass is created by a father and son from Jacksonville, FL. Inside each piece of glass are thin strands of silver...BEAUTIFUL!

Notice the thin lines running throughout the glass... That's silver!

All of the glass on display were in soft, coastal colors...

BILL SLADE and JON SLADE

Silver-veiled Glass

www.billsladeglass.com

These artists have work in several permanent museum collections, including:

   Ringling Museum of Art; Sarasota, FL

   Corning Glass Museum; Corning, NY

   Wheaton Museum of American Glass; Millville;

                                                                                                                                                           

As expected, many artists would not allow photographs to be taken, but there were a few who whole-heartedly agreed, and indeed, encouraged me to do so, when I told them it was for my blog.
(Always ask before you take photos!!!)

Don't you just love the diversity of these paintings...and the bold colors!!!

My favorite painter, Dawn Kinney Martin, from Atlanta,  had some of the most incredible paintings on display...They were all painted with  a palette knife and thick acrylic paints. There was so much dimension to her work! I did not dare ask to photograph her work. (You can visit her gallery at www.dawnart.com . It's worth the visit!) She did, however, explain her technique of photographing her subject in black and white and shared some of the photos which inspired her paintings. Dawn explained that the black and white photos gave her a value sketch from which to work and allowed her to capture the energy of her subject with color and a palette knife. I was fascinated! (I would LOVE to attend one of her workshops/classes.)

Here are a couple of photos of my absolute favorite artwork on display...if only I had a few thousand to spare...

This is a metal quilt... copper roofing materials are cut, painted and fired with enamel powdered paints.
Then they are reassembled to create a gorgeous "quilt"...

I met Will Armstrong, one of the artists who creates these beautiful pieces. He explained the process used. It's fascinating... You can see a short slide show of the process on their website...and other examples of their work...by visiting them at:
www.metalquilt.com

This metal quilt was my favorite...simple...it had ALL the colors I love to use in my home. It would be perfect in my dining room....

Oh drool....and dream...Maybe I'll win the lottery...

Maybe I should learn how to do this.......
  
Nah! I'll just have to sell a LOT of my own art to raise money to purchase one of these...



Speaking of selling my art...our next Art at Home is scheduled for MARCH 19...Mark your calendars. More info will be posted soon...
Jane

***I am linking with Susan at asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com and Outdoor Wednesday. Be sure to stop by for a visit!