drinking fresh aloe

A leaf of aloe from our local market. Cost: Q5

Drinking or eating fresh aloe may be hard to swallow for many but, with the awesome health benefits in mind, I've choked it down enough times to like and crave the stuff. I first heard of eating aloe when I was a kiddo; I knew a Mediterranean family that ate a nice slice of aloe flesh everyday and they swore by its longevity factors. I always thought of them eating aloe. Especially when I started having kidney stone issues and was turned on to aloe big time! Aloe is an anti-inflammatory and it'll fix you right up in so many ways if you're ailing from: digestive disorders, arthritis, kidney stone issues, burns, scraps, cuts, bug bites, joint and muscle pain, diabetes, high cholesterol, dry skin and any inflammation. Pretty incredible, eh?

Here is a fantastic link that'll tell you some of the truly amazing benefits you can reap from aloe vera!! It also has a great video showing you how to harvest the flesh from an aloe vera leaf.

We blend aloe flesh with water and coconut water. It might take some getting used to but, it's so pure & healthy!! You can also just blend it into a blended fruit drink. =)

My super power: I disappear when I read!

I remember very clearly in grade school being assigned my first book report. I can see it all in my mind like an old movie; standing next to my mom at the kitchen table going through Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary together with her telling me what was important about the story. Of course, that's not when I first starting reading and being thouroughly sucked into books like a vacuum. That happened when I was 14 and got Chicken Pox for a 2nd time, lucky right?! It was the middle of a stiffling hot Florida summer and all I wanted to do was escape. That is when I discoverd the ultimate escape for me is reading. I get lost, I go away, I don't exist here, I live in the story. I stayed buried in books* for those miserable two weeks and have since then used books as my true hiding place. It's amazing and am grateful beyond belief that I have reading!
                                                      

*books I read during my chicken pox summer o' hell: The Stand by Stephen King, The Dead Zone by Stephen King, Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, and finally The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher which I have re-read countless times and given as a gift time and time again. It just has to be one of my all time favourite books on earth. It's even my Nana's favourite book and I think my mom's too.

                                              

backgammon

Backgammon is a game I played as a kid and then didn't play for many many moons until this year. My mom gave me an adorable travel set earlier this year that she totally scored on at her local Flea Market, Howard's* for 2 bucks! I can't even begin to say how far that $2 has gone and is going. We play almost everyday and it's so much fun! We one day aspire to figure out and use the doubling cube. Haha!

This game lives on our kitchen table. We play almost everyday. It's so much fun because we are even-steven on skill level and that makes it all a matter of 'luck of the dice'!!

*Howard's Flea Market in Homosassa, Florida is where Mike is from. He was all by himself and that is one of the most precious days of my lives; finding that little guy. What a firey little blessing he is. Talk about a flea market find!

moon over miami

I just had the pleasure of spending a long weekend in Miami with a decade-long bestie. It was balm for the soul. We went to the Russian Bath House on Miami Beach; a wonderful, wonderful experience.
Miami is such a beautiful city. I am happy that I had the pleasure of living there for 4 years and would live there again for sure! Last weekend I admired the gorgeous Miami sunsets and even found myself staring in awe at the moon over the city every night I was there. It's one of those affairs one has with cities/places and this city has its tethers in me. I just love so very many of the houses and structures there...riding around the Gables is so easy on the eyes and just sends me into endless daydreams....I think Miami is just dreamy.

hydrangea :: life-long favourite

I grew up with a giant wonderous Hydrangea bush in my Grandmother's yard situated right at a quiet corner of her house. It was always a small place of refuge as a small child sitting under and behind that magnificent flowering goddess of a bush!

I feel so super lucky to have a gorgeous one in our little courtyard!!!

a walk around my block

Sometimes a very simple walk around the block you live on can be so inspiring (espcially with camera in hand) and pretty relaxing. On this day as we stepped outside there was a flock of birds fluttering by. Leisurely walks are one of the healthiest things you can do!!!

The block we live on is split by an alley, as are all of the blocks in the neighbourhood. Mike & I walk the alleys more than the streets. This is the alley right behind our casita and the start of all our walks. The red fence is ours.

Beautiful citrus! I hope our recent cold weather didn't hurt the fruits!

One very gorgeous set of mouldy coloured stairs.

a sweet & simple birthday

This year for my birthday my wishes were simple: to sleep in and to go for a nice walk through the woods with my Boo and dog, Mike. All wishes came true! AND....as we strolled along the boardwalk at one of my favourite Tampa parks (Lettuce Lake Park) we noticed lots of very large amazing empty snail shells laying around. My very sweet Boo took off his shoes and socks and jumped down in the muck to collect this basket of beauties now dubbed: my birthday snails!

I have big plans for these shells too! I'll keep it a surprise and post when they come to fruition. Can't wait!!

***UPDATE***

It's almost 2 years later and I've moved a few times and out of the country on top of that! I still have a few of those snail shells and I tresure them dearly! <3!

I can't believe it!

I can not believe that in 11 days it will be 3 years since John and I drove into Florida to take up residence! This is a picture of us driving through New Mexico (the only other place we really think about living in this country). So..yes, here we are 3 years later. ..we've been through a lot and gathered up quite the happy amazing little household! Yay, we're super happy in Florida!

hillsborough river state park

hillsborough river state park is one of florida's original state parks. it was one of 8 built by the civilian conservation corp around 1938. the park totals 3,383 acres, 1,040 of which are wetlands. most of the park is a live oak hammock. the area is very lush and teeming with life! we've had a lot of rain lately and the vegetation is wild! 

i find these mushrooms to be rather fantastic!

the park is divided by the hillsborough river. one of few rivers in florida to have

'rapids'. the rapids are created from outcroppings of limestone. trees line the river bank thickly creating great foot path steps with their many exposed roots. 

john had a great time checking all of this out....as you can see!

                                                                               

                                  

 here is the alligator we watched swim by. (i am tempted to write slither but, the gator was most definitely swimming...the water was clear enough for us to see its feet and tail being used 

as its paddle and rudder) this was pretty exciting as john has never seen anything like this being from the pacific northwest/west coast! welcome to florida, land of many critters.

a super cute little green lizard saying hi!

                                                          a banana spider hanging out.


i love the

turtles &

they love

the sun.

i was most enamoured with the mold, fungi, moss, ferns and other vegetation!! the colours of mold and stuff right now is beyond intriguing and inspiring. it was a lovely stroll through swampy woody florida land!!!!