Winter in Clearwater
No, it’s not winter in Clearwater yet … just the Labor Day weekend. But there’s always a Winter at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and she’s going to be a star in her own movie which is being filmed now.
I was there earlier this year with Crystal and her family. That little dolphin who should have died has made an amazing impact on many people’s lives. So much so that a major movie is being made about her.
Here’s a couple of snaps I got the day we went.
Winter is saying, "Hi!"
Winter can jump even without her tail!
If you want Winter on a webcam or just see her daily routine, visit Winter’s Web Cam page. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. 
This Is a Smart Bird
I’m not sure who’s trained in this video. It’s a young ibis tapping on Crystal’s window. She throws bread out of it several times a day to feed the flock of ibises that show up daily.
She has named this one “Knocky-pants“. Turn up your speakers and you can hear it.
So is the ibis trained to tap on the window for food… or is Crystal trained to throw bread when her window is tapped?
Yoo-hoo.. people in the house.. you got any food?
Oh Great – It’s a Brown Widow
Lucky me…. not only do I keep finding black widow spiders, but now I found a brown widow. And writing about spiders really, really isn’t that interesting to me.
But in the spirit of being sure everyone knows what these things look like, here’s the brown dude(ette) munching in a wasp.
This guy looked so related to black widows that I killed it just in case.
It took me quite a bit of internet searching before I figured this out. It’s quite an attractive spider but it looked so much like the black widows except for the color that I killed it right after taking the picture. I didn’t want to have to go looking for it later.
Info on the brown widows came from a (drum roll please) UF website – yay Gators: http://sarasota.extension.ufl.edu/ipm/brownwidow.htm
Now, just for my (and your) info, here’s a link with good pictures of brown recluse spiders: http://www.medicinenet.com/black_widow_brown_recluse_pictures_slideshow/article.htm
Pesky Black Widows Yet Again
I went outside yesterday to throw some stuff in my garbage can and noticed a sparkly spider web attached to it. All my mental alarms went off because I know that web when I see it. Another dang-blasted black widow wanted to take over the area.
Black widow egg sacs
If I hadn’t seen it, I easily could have grabbed the handle of the can and had myself a close encounter of the third kind with mommy spider. I never did see the spider but then, I didn’t go looking too closely for it – ugh. Soaked the whole area down with bug spray!
Lizard’s New Clothes
The little anole lizards you can see everywhere around here are cute. They also are good at eating bugs – roaches included.
This guy is shedding off his old skin and getting a new outfit… he must have heard about the big sale at Dillards this weekend!
Time for a new summer outfit!
I’m a Jedi
I always wanted to see what it was like to be really strong… ya know.. like the guys on TV.. huh huh.. more power!
So while I was at the Star Wars convention, I signed up to become a Jedi. I don’t know what was in that drink they gave me, but boy did it ever work!
May the Force be with you!
That’s my ‘mean’ look that’s designed to scare away all enemies of the rebellion forces… I sure hope no one actually messes with me. I probably should have worked on that ‘look’ a little harder, Qui-Gon Jinn.
But… if I have to, I’ll take on these guys.
Who ARE these guys anyway?!
The lady seems to be kidnapping Yoda and Jedi Mickey Mouse in the pack on her back.
I hope there’s a magic potion to get me back to my pre-Jedi look since I’m not in a galaxy far, far away anymore…………
Zoey Meets Cloey
Cloey is a jumbo sized cat… like over 20 pounds of jumbo. Even living with me for almost 3 years didn’t put much dent into her weight. After re-homing her earlier this year, she found herself living with a hamster named Zoey.
Normally, I think Zoey runs around the house in her little hamster ball to stay safe, but Patricia let her run free this time (and she’s there in the picture, I just cropped her out. Makes it look scarier!).
The two critters have a nice truce going. I hear that Cloey has even licked Zoey on the face. Not sure if that was friendship or testing out to see if Zoey is a ‘tasty treat’.
Edit: 11/29/10
RIP Zoey. Unfortunately she did become that treat but for the new cat, ‘Frosty’. She sure was a cute, fat little hamster.
Bathroom Project All Finished
The past month has been hectic around here. The bathroom off my bedroom was a mess and needed to be redone badly. I finally decided the day had come and I should bite the bullet and put up with the mess and intrusion.
Here’s a picture taken just as the guys started tearing things up. The lower third of the shower had been patched sometime before I moved here and was totally gross.
Aqua tile - not so bad. Cream tile patch - UGH!
After a couple of days of banging out that old tile which was set in thick concrete, Twiggy decided to check out the progress.
Twiggy is looking for bugs for me.
Three weeks later, I have a new bathroom and am almost finished dusting the entire house. My a/c filters looked like they hadn’t been changed in years and the whole house was coated. I know that some years ago I told Mom, “Dust is our friend,” but this was waaaay beyond that.
All Done!
I love the drawers in this new vanity.
Now I need to get a bit of decorating going. Nancy, where are you when I need you??
May the Force Be With You
The Star Wars convention in Orlando over the weekend was certainly an ‘experience’! There were people dressed as just about any character you could imagine…. and these were just people attending, they weren’t working there.
I left with some great memories, lots of pictures and a cool Storm Trooper tattoo!
Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.
What? No slave Leia?
I'm busted!
I've gone over to the dark side....Wah-ha-ha-ha
… about that tattoo: it came off after I mowed my yard….
Just Because She’s So Cute!
Twiggy was posing for me the other day on the bench in my bedroom. It was like she wanted her portrait made because she was still there after I went back into the family room to get my camera.
No reason to put this here other than she’s just so darn cute!
Twiggy requested a little photoshopping on her portrait.