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Beautiful colors after the storms

On By dinajohnstonIn Uncategorized5 Comments

Lightning from the bathroom window in late July.

Beautiful summer skies from the front and back yard in late July. When it storms late in the day and the sun comes out right before dark bright colors appear for a short time.

The little frogs come out after a storm. They show up on the windows and the walls outside.

This is Fred. He has a specific hump on his neck and back and sleeps on the old white trellis during the day. If he sees me walking up to the window he jumps over to the window and acts like he wants to come in.

SkyWatch Friday

Seeing manatees on my walk

On By dinajohnstonIn Florida animals, Uncategorized10 Comments

The view from my morning walk at the Safety Harbor waterfront in early April.

It was a weekend morning and Main Street was mostly deserted except for the other early walkers that were stopping for coffee at the local favorite coffee spot.

Pretty black-eyed Susan flowers in front of the hotel next to the fishing pier.

On my way back to the car I looped around the sidewalk along the marina. I noticed two snouts coming up out of the water. I was so excited to see manatees right in front of the sea wall at the entrance to the marina. Manatees were regularly spotted at the end of the fishing pier all year but the pier got wiped out from Hurricane Helene in September and they hadn’t been seen since until recently in the marina. I was lucky to catch them this morning close by.

There were two and I’m thinking they may have been mating. You can see my shadow in the bottom picture and see how close I was to them. I took all of these with my phone.

Above is a quick video of them splashing the surface with their backsides.

One quick shot of the pier before heading home. The city is just starting to replace the pier and repair the damaged marina. The marina parking lot and boat ramp will be closed for at least a year to fix everything. The mangrove boardwalk on the other side of the waterfront should remain open so I’ll have to start my walk from there going forward.

generic link up partySkyWatch Friday

Charlie Brown Christmas trees in my past?

On By dinajohnstonIn Uncategorized4 Comments

I was recently looking at some old pictures and was trying to remember what Christmas trees we had when I was growing up. As I looked back I found some really old pictures. Above was my grandparents’ Christmas tree when my Dad was 4 years old. Taken in 1928 in Argentina where he was born and grew up until he was in high school when they moved to Clearwater for my grandfather’s job. The toys were pretty funny and this must have been taken after they opened presents.

My parents first Christmas tree together. Taken in 1952, the same year they were married. I can’t tell if it’s real or not. The first “tree like” trees were invented in the 30’s with brush bristles.

These were taken in 1958. It was several years before I was born but my sisters were in the top shot on the left. Again, look at those toys. I’m thinking that’s a record player on the floor on the far left.

1972 – I was nine. I think this was our first green tree. Before that we had those silver aluminum trees with the color wheel that changed colors that was so popular in the 60’s. I couldn’t find a picture of one that we had.

Apparently you can still buy them on Amazon. A mid-century modern reproduction aluminum

The above is also in 1972. We used to drive down from Birmingham to the Tampa bay area to visit my grandparents for the holidays. My grandparents always had a little table top tree. That’s me on the left and my sister, Debbie, on the right.

1974 – my grandparents had that same tree forever.

In 1978 we bought a new tree for the living room and put the old tree down in the den with older handmade ornaments.

1981 – Mom and me next to the tree. We had just come home from Christmas Eve mass.

My sister and I lived together for several years in Atlanta and this was the tree we had in our apartment. We had been collecting ornaments from our travels.

In 1989 this was our last tree in the house I grew up in. The next year my parents retired and moved back down to the Clearwater area.

The same tree next year in my parents new house in Florida.

My sisters and I always came down to Florida for Christmas and Brett came one year.

This was Brett and mine’s first tree together. It was a real tree, my first real tree. Every year we lived in Atlanta we would go out on the weekend after Thanksgiving and pick out a tree.

Our first tree in Tampa in 2002. We bought a fake one on sale.

2001 – After my Dad died and my Mom moved into a retirement apartment we downsized and got her a table top tree. Can you find the 2 cockatiels to the left on the tree table? Buddy and Smokey always made the trip down with me from Atlanta.

My Mom’s last Christmas in 2004.

It’s fun to see how the trees have changed over the years.  What about you? Are your trees real or fake? Do you have any tree “traditions”?

 

21 Of the Best Ideas for Quotes From Charlie Brown Christmas - Home Inspiration and Ideas | DIY Crafts | Quotes | Party Ideas

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Fun in the sun

On By dinajohnstonIn Uncategorized6 Comments

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Yes I took these right into the sun. I was standing on a sea wall looking for ducks and heard a splash down near the beach area at a park in Safety Harbor. The black dog ran in and was barking at the brown dog to come in. They splashed around and played for a while. They looked like they were having the best time in the cold water. The brown dog got tired and went back on the beach and the black dog seemed to stand there like “Come back, it’s not time to leave yet.” He finally shook off and headed back to the beach.

Sunshine in the house

On By dinajohnstonIn Uncategorized6 Comments

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All of the above were taken with my Nikon macro 85mm lens. I’ve been motivated by Deanna’s blog to bring home flowers to brighten up the house. Especially since it’s been raining and cloudy so much lately. Buddy and Spikey are always sunshine with their yellow and orange faces and their happy chirping. Although, Buddy can get really loud if someone else is talking. He wants to be the loudest one in the room. I’m surprised Spikey let me get this close. She’s very shy and a little of afraid of the camera. Not like Buddy, who will come running up when he sees it.  The last two are what’s left of the poinsettia plants from Christmas. I need to plant them outside to see if they bloom again next year. My dad did that. When my parents retired to Florida, my sisters and I would always come down for Christmas. We would bring a poinsettia plant every year. After the holidays, he would plant it on the sunny side of the house. Ten years later the entire side of the house was covered in red poinsettia leaves when we would come to visit.

Shine the Divine mom_badgeweb

Another lost birthday.

On By dinajohnstonIn Uncategorized8 Comments

Today would have been my Dad’s 89th birthday. He died in early 2001. This was the only picture I could find of him with a camera. It was late 1988 and I had gone with my parents to the Botanical Gardens so he could take pictures of the flowers. That’s me on the right with my 80’s hair and 80’s eyebrows. Dad was the one always taking the pictures but I think my Mom took this with her little ole 35mm film camera.

Dad always had 2 SLR cameras with him. One with color film and the other one either had black and white film or slide film. He always had a little notebook in his pocket and when he took a picture he would write down the settings. I always had my film point and shoot so I guess it runs in the family. I just wish I had taken more of an interest earlier so we could have talked about it more.  He also loved birds. He was always taking pictures of pelicans.

Happy birthday, Dad.

542 Botanical Gardens March 88