Life on My Planet

20 Fun Florida Facts

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:36:00 +0000

Florida's State Wildflower, the Coreopsis

Florida covers 58,560 square miles of area, of which 4,298 square miles are water.
There are 30,000 lakes and over 1,300 golf courses.
Florida has over 1,300 miles of coastline with 800 miles of beaches.
Florida has a warm climate throughout the year with a rainy/stormy season in the summer.
Florida's capitol city, Tallahassee, was the only southern capitol east of the Mississippi River to remain in southern hands for the duration of the Civil War.
Amelia Island is the only location in the U.S. to have been ruled under eight different national flags.
The nation's oldest city St. Augustine, settled by Spanish explorers in 1565.
The Florida Everglades are the only place in the world where alligators and crocodile co-exist.
Santa Rosa County's Blackwater River State Forest area offers over a million acres of protected wilderness with miles of hiking trails and canoeing routes and has been dubbed the "Canoe Capitol of Florida."
More than 3,000 Seminole Indians live on six reservations throughout the state of Florida: Big Cypress, Brighton, Fort Pierce, Hollywood, Immokalee and Tampa.
Florida's State Wildflower, the Coreopsis, is planted on Florida roadsides for beautification.
St. Petersburg Clearwater claims to have 361 days of sunshine annually.
Pensacola's nickname is the "City of Five Flags" because it has been under the rule of the Spanish, French, English, Americans and Confederates.
In 1987 the Florida Legislature designated the American alligator the official state reptile.
Venice is known as the Shark Tooth Capital of the World.
Florida is home to the largest breeding population of bald eagles in the lower 48 states.
Plant City, known as theWinter Strawberry Capital of the World, holds the Guinness record for the world's largest Strawberry Shortcake. It was 827 square-feet and 6,000 pounds!
Crystal River is the only place in North America where it is legal to have a supervised swim with manatees.
The United States city with the highest rate of lightning strikes per capita is Clearwater, Florida.
The Saint John's River is one of the few rivers that flows north instead of south.

Happy Nature Watching!

Population Control Florida Style???

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:37:00 +0000

Happy Nature Watching!

SkyWatch Friday: Lightner Museum Tower

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:03:00 +0000

Tower of the Lightener Museum in St. Augustine, Florida, USA

This was my entry into SkyWatch Friday. Go check out the more fabulous entries.

Happy Nature Watching!

Air Potato Vine: A Threat to Florida's Native Plants

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:56:00 +0000

Photo by Forest and Kim Starr

Last week, we attended the Annual Potato Roundup at Gemini Springs. We first were given a lesson about non-native, invasive plants and specifically the Air Potato Vine.. The Air Potato (Dioscorea bulbifera) is a perennial vine. Bulbs are produced on the vine itself and tubers grow beneath the ground giving this plant two means for surviving and reproducing. A part of the yam family, this vine can grow as much as 8 inches per day reaching heights of 60-150 ft.

It is considered a noxious weed in Florida. It is a quick-growing, large-leafed vine that spreads and overtakes other native plants. The bulbs themselves fall to the ground sprouting more vines which wind and twist with each other forming a thick mat. Cutting the plant down does not help the problem as the tubers can survive for extended periods of time and send up more shoots later. This is a tenacious plant and the battle against it is difficult to win.

Pulling potatoes off the vine.

This plant is problematic all over Florida but Central Florida seems to have an extra-special battle with it. A drive down any wooded area will reveal the extent of the problem. Entire wooded areas which have been overtaken in some areas.

One effort is to hold annual potato roundups at parks which are having a problem with the plant. Another is to use these opportunities to teach the community about the plant so that they can rid their own yards of them. (I found two in the woods behind my house a few days after this trip. The children and I picked up every potato we could find and pulled all the vines down. We threw the vines into our fire pit and burned them immediately.)

Air Potato

So everyone get out into your yards and gardens. Look for these potatoes and if you see them, bag them up and throw them out! Better to catch them now than to have your Azaleas succumb to them later!

SkyWatch Friday: Blue Skies Smiling at Me

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 04:43:00 +0000

Yesterday, we attended an outdoor education class at Longleaf Pine Preserve in DeLand, Florida as part of a homeschool field trip to learn about using animal scat and tracks as tools of identification. Before everyone else arrived, my 8 year old daughter was taking photos to pass the time. Below is one of her photos. Such a beautiful blue sky!

This was my entry into SkyWatch Friday. Go check out the more fabulous entries.

Happy Nature Watching!

Skywatch Friday: In My Backyard

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:02:00 +0000

Last night..in my back yard...

This was my entry into SkyWatch Friday. Go check out the more fabulous entries.

Happy Nature Watching!

SkyWatch Friday: Green Springs to Blue Skies

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 21:54:00 +0000

Today we were visiting Green Springs in Enterprise, Florida. Standing next to the green waters, I decided to look up and snapped my shot.....

This was my entry into SkyWatch Friday. Go check out the more fabulous entries.

Happy Nature Watching!

A Saturday Walk: Gemini Springs Park

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 06:49:00 +0000

Rarin' to go!!

With the onset of fall-like weather, I've been wanting to get out hiking. Today turned out to be more of a "walk" than a hike. Although we did get off the path a bit, the pace was slower because my 8 year old daughter was with us. Of course she's always with us but we've not gotten out on a hike since I think everyone's lost their "hiking legs". Our pace was about 1.5mph on average today. But that's alright. It wasn't about the exertion but the fun and enjoyment of being outdoors.

We walked from Debary Hall to Gemini Springs via the Spring-to-Spring Trail. We then walked the outer loop at the springs. We got off the path a bit to hunt for a geocache we never found but the fun is in the hunt, isn't it? Here are a few photos from the day.

Some of these were taken with the EveryTrail app on my Android phone. Others were taken with my camera.


She looks so small on this long trail

Lorelai (right) was losing her thrill for the hike

Beautiful Spanish Moss

Alexis growing tired..

Sunset...time for the park to close.

What did you do this weekend?

Happy Nature Watching!

SkyWatch Friday: Colorful Night

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 04:15:00 +0000

This is by no means the greatest photo. I actually took this with my Android phone. I had just exited the grocery store and was struck by the beauty of the sky. I had no other camera available (shame on me!) and so I hoped for the best.

Click to Enlarge-- It's prettier that way

This was my humble entry into SkyWatch Friday. Go check out the more fabulous entries.

Happy Nature Watching!

Watery Wednesday: Birds at the Pond

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 07:25:00 +0000

Just a simple, unimportant shot showing the beautiful White Ibis at the pond.

Click to Enlarge-- It's prettier that way

Be sure to visit (and join) other Watery Wednesday photo participants!

Happy Nature Watching!

Around Volusia this Week: November 7-13, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 06:58:00 +0000

Here are the events scheduled around Volusia County this week. If you are aware of additional activities or events, please share them in the comments.

West Volusia
The Volusia County Fair: At the fairgrounds in DeLand, this continues through the 13th. Visit their site for more information on special rates, concerts and other activities.

East Volusia
Edgewater Permaculture Society's 4th Annual Plant Swap Party at the Park: This will be held on Sunday, November 13th, 2-4pm at Hawks Park in Edgewater. Bring anything garden related to trade at this free event. For more information, email epsplantswap AT gmail DOT com

Flamingo Follies Art Show: November 12 & 13 (9am - 5pm) at Flagler and Pine in New Smyrna Beach. Over 100 artists & food vendors For more information call: 386-424-2175

BBQ Festival: Nov 10, 2011 (05:00 PM - 09:00 PM) on Flagler in New Smyrna Beach. Live entertainment.

Barktoberfest and 7th Annual Chili Cookoff: November 12, (9am-3pm) at Daytona Cubs' Jackie Robinson Ballpark, 105 E. Orange Avenue, Daytona Beach, Tickets available at DaytonaCubs.com $12 advanced or $15 at the gate.

Of course, we ask that you support your local farmers markets.

Happy Nature Watching!

Local Artist: Rog Lee

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 21:34:00 +0000

Nachos and Music

Saturday night, we attended the Autumn Festival here in DeBary. Originally this was going to be a post about the festival but, as it turns out, our camera doesn't want to give up the photos. That's okay. I had something else I wanted to mention anyway.

Local artists, whether they are performers, painters, sculptors or any other display of artistic talent, are probably the biggest reason I attend so many festivals. When we arrived on the park grounds, Saturday evening, there was a singer on the stage who caught my attention. The lyrics to the song he was singing drew me in immediately:

We used to paddle up and down on the Little Econ
you could go and never see another soul all day.
But, now they're paving everything and those days are gone
and I wish things were still that way.

Chorus:
But you can still see Florida,
in a lifelike state
cause they have reproduced it for yaw.
Just eighty dollars at the gate.

At once, my 21-year old daughter and I exchanged a delighted, amused look. How perfect! A musician singing about the very things that concern us: Florida's natural environment being ruined for profit! Oh it was great!

I didn't catch his name because we moved on to games and rides for the children. However, as soon as I returned home, I did a little research and found out that his name is Rog Lee. He lives here in DeBary and performs regularly at local spots. He has a website which includes covers of older songs (love it!) and a link to his own original works, nearly all of which seem to focus on Florida. I even "liked" Rog's Facebook page. I just wanted to share this local find with you. If you're ever in the area, you may want to drop in wherever Mr. Lee is playing and enjoy his music.

For now, here is an older version of the song I quoted above. It says "50 dollars at the gate" which he's obviously updated to "80" as the prices keep increasing at our lovely amusement parks.

Happy Nature Watching!

Update and Nature Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 04:35:00 +0000

I haven't posted on this blog in a while. I've been busy. Life takes these long winding roads at a break-neck pace and my nature studies and hikes are usually the first thing to fall to the roadside. But I'm back in gear now.

We've got a few things planned for September which I'll be sharing. I am hoping to get back to the memes, Watery Wednesday and SkyWatch Friday. I miss trying to get those "perfect" shots of Florida's waters and skies. This month, we'll be attending a class on Volusia conservation lands, as well. We'll be Wetland Hiking! Fun right? So stay tuned for that.

I want to thank all of you who have recently started following me on Twitter. Don't lose faith in me just yet.. I'm on my way back to nature!

In fact, here are a few photos for you. My daughter was playing around with settings on a nature walk and came up with these shots.

Happy Nature Watching!

My Florida Garden: June 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 16:54:00 +0000

This is our "Emo" Sunflower. It won't follow the sun but faces the screened porch all day.

Florida is about to enter the rainy season. At least it should. I mean we should have had triple-digit heat indexes in April but we didn't. The weather does not seem to be following its predictable course this year. Still, if it does rain for 30 days, as it usually does, I'll be losing sunflowers to the deluge.

Beautiful Morning Glory!

This Zinnia refuses to photograph correctly. It's not pink..but purple LOL

Even the Caladiums are blooming!

This is ONE marigold plant. So many blooms!

I love the Plumbago!

Orchid

Marigold just opened..

Happy Nature Watching!

My Florida Garden: May 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sat, 21 May 2011 16:02:00 +0000

It has been quite a while since I've posted. Keeping up with life has been a challenge but one I think I am meeting. One of my challenges has been my new yard. There is something very different about the soil on the west coast of Florida. It sucks! I've noted that it isn't only my yard, but the majority of yards, which are bad. And by bad I mean sand, weeds, sand spurs, very little grass and large sandy areas. I've been fighting this yard for months now. It's looking better but I see a lot more work having to be put into it next February.

Our front yard (sorry--bad mobile picture!)

Back yard

Those pictures were taken upon moving into the house in February. Since then I've been working on gardens mostly and a little on the yard itself. Here are my current gardening photos!

Capris Oleander on each side of our driveway

I love the little blue flowers of the Plumbago!

Arabian Jasmine! Oh that I could transfer this scent through a photo and share it with you!

Arabian Jasmine flowers

Moonwalker Sunflower

Gladiolas are shooting up!

Our butterfly gardens are starting to bloom!

Zinnia


Magnolia Blossom

"Red Flash" caladium

"Mystery" Geranium

Happy Nature Watching!

Nature Comes a' Knockin' : The Sandhill Crane

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 15:20:00 +0000

Yesterday while studying the shadows in my yard for optimal spring planting layouts, my dog took a sudden interest in something outside of his fenced area. I looked, curious what held his curiosity, and oh! There were 5 Sandhill Cranes walking down the street! I quickly called the girls outside and grabbed my camera. We have seen these quite a bit since coming to Hernando County, Florida. On the sides of roads, flying over our house and, now, walking down our street!

According to WhatBird.com, "A group of cranes has many collective nouns, including a "construction", "dance", "sedge", "siege", and "swoop" of cranes."

Happy Nature Watching!

Skywatch Friday: A Florida Winter Sky

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 06:33:00 +0000

We don't have a lot of "winter" to share but what a beautiful sky winter gives us here in Florida!

Photo taken in Spring Hill, Florida. Go join the feast of skies at Skywatch Friday.

Happy Nature Watching!

Skywatch Friday: Disney Style

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 17:16:00 +0000

I've been busy with life lately so I've not been doing a lot of writing on any of my sites! As soon as things settle, we'll be back to our nature hiking and nature studies. But I did come up with a Skywatch Friday post!

Last week, we made our annual visit to Walt Disney World where a beautiful shot was just handed to me, so to speak. We were entering into Fantasyland from Liberty Square. I happened to look up as we were passing Cinderella's Castle. That is where I found my shot.

Please go visit more pictures of the sky from around the world at Skywatch Friday

Happy Nature Watching!

Skywatch Friday: An October Sky

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 04:01:00 +0000

Even while riding down the highway, I'm in search of those "perfect shots"!

Taken from the interstate over the St.Johns River in Sanford, FL.

Please go visit more pictures of the sky from around the world at Skywatch Friday

Happy Sky Watching!

Watery Wednesday: The Halifax River

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 06:21:00 +0000

Halifax River in Daytona Beach, Florida

Please go visit more Watery Photos at Watery Wednesday

Happy Nature Watching!

My World Tuesday: A Cookoff in DeLand, Florida

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 01:00:00 +0000

Saturday we attended the annual Chili Cook-off in Deland, Florida. We have attended this event every year for about 5 years now. It's a wonderful event with live music, beer, a kids' activity section and, of course, lots of chili!

DeLand is one of my favorite places to hang out. I simply love spending a Saturday in the historic downtown district. Surrounded by 19th century buildings on a beautiful day, underneath a cloudless Florida sky with plenty of warm (but not hot) sunshine is simply perfection!

Here is our day in pictures:

Now that you've visited a little piece of my world, I invite you to travel around the world by visiting other blogs at My World Tuesday!

More Signs of Autumn in Florida

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000

On our most recent trip to St. Augustine, I thought we'd look for more signs of Autumn in Florida. As stated in my previous post on Autumn in Florida, we don't have your more traditional signs. But the girls and I have been "on the watch" and here are more signs of Autumn in Florida (also known as our second spring).

In the last week we've really been feeling breezes and cooler temps at night. I guess Fall made an early visit to us. Usually we don't see our season begin until the end of October and then it lasts through November. Then Winter arrives for a while.


Dressed for the warm weather that still exist in a Florida fall season

More popular colors in Autumn are purples and yellows

The sun preparing to set

The sun setting over the Atlantic brought some cool breezes over the river

Two very tired girls

Happy Nature Watching!

Florida History: Nation's Oldest House

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 05:19:00 +0000

Today we visited the nation's oldest city, St. Augustine, FL. I know we were just there in March but if I were to go there a million times, I would never see all there is to see or learn all there is to learn. I have loved that city since I first visited in 1994! We have finally been seeing a peek into Florida Fall and the breezes were beckoning me to St. Augustine.

Nation's Oldest House

Each time we go, we try to focus on something different than the last time we visited. Today we focused on the Oldest House in the United States which is called The González-Alvarez House. Archaeologists can show continuous occupancy of the Oldest House site from the early 1600s to the present day. Prior to 1702, the home would have been a simple board or log home with a palm thatch roof. This structure would have burned down in 1702 with the rest of the city as the result of the battle of 1702 which the British lost (Florida was under Spanish occupancy at the time) but before they left the city was set on fire. (Sore losers!!)

1702-1775

The first official record mentioning the house occurred in 1727 when a priest recorded the death of the infant son Tomas Gonzalez, Spanish artilleryman, and his wife Francisca de Guevara. The house had been a part of her dowry and so the structure as it existed at that time, would have been built sometime between 1702 and 1727. The new structure was made of Coquina which was cemented together with tapia (now called "tabby") which was made by mixing equal parts of sand, lime, water, and oyster shell. The floors of this structure are made of "tabby".

The Gonzalez family consisted of Tomasa nd Francisca and their 6 children who lived in these two rooms.


Living area. The rack above the table is called a Rat Rack. Food was stored there and if rats jumped onto it, the swinging motion scared them away.

In 1763, when Florida was ceded by Spain to Great Britain, the town’s 3,000 Spanish residents, had to leave. And so the Gonzalez family departed.

1775-1790
The next occupant was during the British occupancy of Florida. Sergeant-Major Joseph Peavett, a very well-to-do British soldier purchased the house and made alterations to it. He added a second floor. This gives us the entire structure as it stands today.

Two years after the British gained control of Florida, Peavett died. His widow remarried soon after to an Irishman named John Hudson who had a gambling problem. To pay off his debts, the house was sold at auction, in 1790, to Spaniard, Gerónimo Alvarez. He and his descendants lived in the house for almost a hundred years. In 1882, the house passed into other hands and over the next 40 years was owned by various people including those who first opened it up as “The Oldest House in the United States.”

In 1918, The St. Augustine Historical Society acquired the house. It has been the site of archeological studies, renovation and restoration to what we have now. In 1970, the U.S. Department of the Interior designated the González-Alvarez House a National Historic Landmark.

The Kitchen was a separate building so as to prevent loss of home in case of fire.

Autumn in Florida: A Subtle Season

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 06:33:00 +0000

For the last few days, I've been giving serious though to Autumn in Florida. Barb, over at Handbook of Nature Study, has issued an Autumn Challenge. I really wanted my children to participate in this one. I downloaded the notebooking pages and, as I said, have been really thinking about it.

I know what Autumn here feels like as I've been here for 28 years and counting. I have to admit, however, that when we have fall, I give more notice to what we do not have than what we do. Each year, I consider the lack of cool weather; the lack of changing leaf colors.. the lack. And so now I am in a position of needing to notice what we do have and I've been left wondering "What signs am I looking for anyway? Do we have any?". Our seasons are actually a bit backwards: Oaks drop their leaves and Maples are at their most colorful in the Spring.

This is what little I can tell you about Autumn in Florida:

Basically, our fall season lasts about 6 weeks and offers purples, yellows and , if you count poison ivy, red. Fall in Florida usually appears late October or early November and lasts through the beginning of December. The days become noticeably shorter and the nighttime temperatures are cooler but only slightly. There simply is no drastic change in temperatures, weather or even color during our Autumn season.

We do have fall colors but not the brilliant colors you'd find in.. oh I don't know.. Connecticut. We do have some deciduous trees which offer yellows and browns such as the Sweet Gum, Red Maple and Bald Cypress but this only appears in a brilliant fashion in areas where these trees are dense which isn't common. We have paintbrush, deer tongue and blazing star which are all purple. We may even see migrating warblers and ducks. Sometimes they stay a while; sometimes they just visit and fly further south.

The scrub lands actually turn a golden color due to the lopsided Indiangrass and Goldenrod. In the scrub lands, there is also an abundance of rabbits, squirrels, mice and other rodents in the fall. Of course, the migrations bring hawks and that curtails that feature of the season!

That's the little I can tell you at this time. The girls and I are going to go out on nature walks and fill out our notebooking pages to post up at another time. I just thought I'd share a mini-lesson on Autumn in a Subtropical land.

This is what Autumn looks like in Central Florida. These were taken around the yard:

See??? We have fall colors too! *grin*

Happy Homeschooling!

What's That Lurking Beneath the Water??

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 01:10:00 +0000

A few days ago, I mentioned on the White Ibis study that something else had caught our attention that day. We had gone out for a bird study but been distracted by another creature.

While we were attracting the ducks (and Ibis) to us that day, many turtles came up to shore. I saw this odd looking creature but when about my business for the moment. Alexis then noticed it and we tried and tried to get a good shot of it so that we could figure out what it was. In the end, we determined it was some sort of turtle that we had never seen.

We had the most difficult time getting a good shot of it because my camera wasn't working correctly. Each time that creature popped his head up, the camera screen went dead. Eventually it worked. I got the shots and returned home. I described the creature to my son (he knows EVERYTHING about nature!) who immediately said, "It's a soft-shelled turtle. Be careful, they'll bite."

Hmmmm. A soft-shelled turtle. How could I have lived in Florida all these years and never seen this creature? Well, I suppose it doesn't matter because the fact is.. I did live here all these years and never see it! So, for those who may never have seen one, here are some shots of that odd critter.

Happy Homeschooling!