LOVE THE VARIETY - ALL PHOTOS TAKEN BY DENNIS

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MORE BIRD PHOTOS FROM THE CIRCLE B BAR RESERVE ALL TAKEN BY DENNIS.

IT'S NOT JUST BIRDS AT THE RESERVE - PICTURES TAKEN BY DENNIS.

Sandhill Crane Family - ALL PICTURES TAKEN BY DENNIS.

I first saw this Sandhill Crane Family on 4-5-2012 and have watched them

on several occasions over the next few weeks.   It was really interesting watching

the little chicks (colts) grow.  Sadly, the last time I saw the family, one of the little

ones was missing.  It's not surprising but is still sad.  They would make a nice snack

for the Gators and Bobcats that share the Reserve Area.

Circle B Bar Reserve -ALL PICTURES TAKEN BY DENNIS.

10 miles from our apartment is one of the greatest birding spots in the state of Florida.

It's 12,000 plus acres located on the edge of Lake Hancock near Bartow, FL with many trails

to walk through wetland and one goes down along the edge of the lake that has literally 100's of

alligators in it.  Since finding this wonderful spot, Dennis goes several times a week to take 

pictures of the wildlife.  As it gets hotter here in Florida, the wetlands are drying up fast so we're

hoping for some rain real soon.

Update On Eagle Family

This is what the young Eagle looks like now!

It's hard to believe that it's black head is going to turn to

a beautiful white upon maturity.

EAGLE'S NEAR OUR HOME

About one mile from our apartment complex there are numerous nests of Osprey and this one nest with a young pair of Eagles and one Chick!  They are awesome!

Only ONE Chick is showing ...  we do enjoy the wildlife in this area!

KIOTIE

Our little KIOTIE puppy weighed in at 3.1 lbs. this morning on the USPS Postal Scale!!!!  Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 28 will be 3 weeks since we brought him home weighing in at 1.8 lbs. -- so he has REALLY grown in 3 weeks!  He is VERY active and has a lot of "attitude"!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDA!

My birthday was celebrated Friday with a gathering of cousins...some visiting from NY State and some who are now residents of Florida, as well as my sister who is a lone-time Florida resident.  It was lunch and a fun visit with stories and reliving memories from our younger years!

 

Friday evening was another birthday celebration with our sons and their families.  Randy and Maddie brought all the food and step granddaughters Desiree and Nichole along with Nichole's friend Bobby.  Russ and Dianna were able to join us and James was not present as he was out of town visiting a friend. 

My actual birthday was Sunday and we spent the day with Russ and Dianna.  They had invited us to take a winery tour with taste testing at Plant City...it was the Keel and Curley Winery...very interesting.  We all agreed that we like the DRY BLUEBERRY WINE (no sugar added) the best!  Keel and Curley raise their own blueberries right on the property and we got to see the high Blueberry bushes...some with blossoms and some with berries forming.  The guide shared that the Blueberry crop should be ready in March-April.  It was a fun tour and taste testing.  After the tour we had lunch together at the Plant City Family Buffet.  A super day!

2012 ADVENTURES CONTINUE!!!!

OKAY...you may be wondering..."what will the Rosa's be up to next"???  You will probably never guess!!!!  We have a new puppy!  As most of you already would know...in July, 2011, we lost our little Phoebe after 12 years of her loyal and loving companionship!  We both agreed that we did NOT want another dog right away, but there was a huge lonely spot within us and a we had been looking for just the right new companion for a couple of weeks now!  Because of living in the apartment...it definitely had to be small and, even tho we love the cuddly teddy bear type, we did not want the hair shedding or constant grooming!  Well, a couple of days ago, we found a CHORKIE (chihauhau and yorkie combination) puppy...12 weeks old and he is now part of our family!  It certainly did not take long to fall in love with him.  He weighs 1.9 lbs and should mature to about 4-5 lbs.  He is marked more like the yorkie, but the hair should not get as long as a yorkie.  He is VERY playful and loves to be held and cuddled!  It has been MANY years since we undertook the puppy training task as Phoebe had been one year old and fully trained when we got her.  We have not settled on his forever name yet...it is pretty much "puppy" right now, but he should have something "special"!!!  It took no time for him to find and continually return to his water and food dish...he has a huge size appetite for such a tiny thing!  He is doing well with potty training and goes readily when we take him outside; but, of course, has not completely learned that it is NOT OK to go inside...guess I can't expect TOO much in a couple of days!

THANKSGIVING FAMILY DINNER, 2011

We are really enjoying life in our new apartment home...it is very carefree and relaxing!  Thanksgiving dinner was celebrated on the Sunday after Thanksgiving due to colds and coughs.  Needless to say we had LOTS of FOOD and everyone was stuffed!  Best of all it was really good for us to be together...it has been awhile...even though we all live within 20 miles of each other!  HUNTING has been of high priority for Randy, Russ and Dianna and will continue through the end of December.  They all came home with colds and coughs after the last trip to Georgia but only one deer...very unusual for them!  We had TURKEY and all the fixings for dinner.

MOVED AGAIN...AND THE ADVENTURES CONTINUE!!!!!

Well we have “done it again”…WE HAVE MOVED!!!! During the past few weeks we have made a life changing decision that will probably seem like 100 percent opposite from what we said we wanted our lifestyle to be like six months ago! Six months ago we put our doublewide up for sale and moved into our travel trailer out on Russ’ five acres with the intention of traveling with the truck and travel trailer after our doublewide sold. Well…the doublewide has not sold yet and we have had lots of time to reflect on our situation and the reality of just being out there “traveling”…and as much as we would like to do just that, it does not seem very realistic considering the expense and the fact that we do not intend to work anymore. So…our doublewide remains for sale and we really believe it will sell when winter folks start coming back. We moved to an apartment in Bartow, FL and will sell our travel trailer and do our traveling like other folks by selecting a special spot and just going on a “vacation” when we feel we can afford one!!!!


This apartment complex is lovely and all residents are ages 55+…Bartow is centrally located about 20 miles from where we were at Russ’ farm and about 30 miles from our doublewide at Frostproof. All the facilities we use regularly are within a mile radius…such as Wal-Mart, Publix, Save-A-Lot, Walgreens, our bank and doctor as well as all kinds of eating places. We will only be a few more miles from Randy and Russ’ homes and Randy works in Bartow. The apartment complex is kept immaculate and our apartment has a screened balcony, 2 bedrooms & 2 baths, carpeted with central air and heat, refrigerator, stove, dishwasher and garbage disposal. There are organized activities, an exercise room, computer room with books & videos as well as a beautiful pool and community room.

The downside is that we had to make this move without our faithful and loved friend of over 12 years, Phoebe. We have had to have her put to sleep as she no longer had any quality of life. Over the last couple of months she had become blind as well as her internal organs were shutting down…her food and drink would go straight thru her within a few minutes after consuming them and she had lost over 4 lbs. in just a few short weeks. She was in at least her 13th year as we were told she was at least one year old when we got her from the humane society. Phoebe traveled thousands of miles with us and never met anyone she didn’t love.  In memory of our sweet little Phoebe -- 1998-2011 

You can check out our new residence at http://www.meetinghouseatbartow.com/

CANNING TOMATOES

Last week we drove near Bradenton to pick tomatoes...this huge tomato business is having trouble finding folks to pick their crop of tomatoes so they opened their fields up to U-Pick, letting folks pick up to 25 lbs. of tomatoes for only $1!!!!  We picked $6.00 worth...although we felt like we got way more than that for our money!  Our daughter-in-law, Dianna helped us pick as well as spent the next two mornings helping us can them all up, yielding 54 quarts plus 4 pints!!!!  There were still plenty to eat fresh and share with family/friends.

Our own little container garden is doing VERY well and we have tomatoes, broccoli, cucumbers, chives, basil and parsley.  The days are starting to feel very much like SUMMER, although we are getting a 3-day respite this week before it heads back toward the 90's!

WAITING FOR THE HUMMINGBIRDS!!!!

There was a beautiful hummingbird one day when we had the hose on so we got the feeder filled and hanging under the tree...but haven't spotted him yet!!!!  The hummingbird juice is going down, but it might just be evaporating!

Here is a photo that Dennis took last spring while we were in Virginia...up close and personal...he was busy preening himself!!!!