Meanwhile Back in the Jungle...

 An update:   after weeks of drought we've had days of torrential rain - yes, believe it or not this was yesterday ......

And the jungle is slowly creaking into bloom...

  Though, unfortunately, with the rain have come the slugs, munching on the tender lupin leaves and stripping half the buds before they even have a chance to open. I studied the excellent book, "Fifty Ways to Kill a Slug", by Sarah Ford, which gave the family a lot of laughs, the remedies including sawdust, cat hair, grapefruit and running over the slugs with your car. Sadly none of them have worked so far. Then I read somewhere else that melon rind can be a decoy. I tried it one evening - the next morning the melon rind had gone and not a slug in sight. Perhaps one of our furry friends had made off with both. But it only works with canteloupe. Watermelon is no good. Visiting family brought one the size of the Dam Busters bomb and assiduously pared off the peel but the brutes weren't interested, so now I have a bucket of watermelon peelings for the compost heap. Oh and the canteloupe has to be sweet and ripe, so now I'm waiting for another one to mature, as it were.

  Meanwhile the hardy hydrangea is starting to bloom, though a little less than in previous years. Perhaps it's getting tired. I know the feeling.

  After last year's tragedy, I've gone all out to keep the deer away from the lily buds - Bobbex spray, Irish spring soap suspended on sticks (but might the respective revolting aromas cancel each other out?) nets, the works and so far there have been some good results ...

..but I'm not holding my breath. On the other hand, the window boxes on the garden shed are, for some reason,  an optimum growth environment - even though a few slugs still manage to shin up there. (Sarah recommends copious application of Vaseline but you'd need a shipping container of it). 

And peeping from around the corner ....

Yes! Jack's just getting into gear.

So it could be worse. Not so much a losing battle against the predators but a sort of precarious stalemate.

A Hazing from Canada

 Dateline: Cattaraugus County, western New York State

...and apologies for the long absence, necessitated by the arduous business of packing, travelling and unpacking to come back up north, plus family visits.  We left hot and sunny Florida (small digression - here's the first turtle nest identified on Golden Beach....

 ....., not that you can see anything.) And now we're in foggy western New York. Herewith the view from the Baptist Church car park at the bottom of our lane:

  We were wondering over the last couple of days what was causing the haze and then suddenly last night the news media caught up with the story. It's all being caused by smoke from forest fires in Canada blowing southwards. Today you can certainly smell the smoke. In New York City, apparently, they are digging out their masks again and everyone is being urged to stay indoors. I certainly haven't seen anything like it in all the time I've been here. Plus it's made everything chilly and the temperatures are going down to the 30sF tonight, playing havoc with my gardening plans in the Jungle. We hope for some rain in the next couple of days.

  Strange that the Canadians export their Canadair firefighting planes all over the world but seem powerless to help themselves.

 I have nothing against Canadians but they do cause us a lot of trouble - the lake effect snow in winter being a prime example. Cold Canadian air travelling over the warm waters of Lake Erie causes huge dumps of snow. Thankfully we're not here to see it any more. And now they're hazing us!

Stunning Houses! Dream Homes!

 Dateline: Golden Beach, Venice, Florida

A major conversation topic when I set off on my early morning power walk with my neighbours is house sales and house prices. Which makes Golden Beach no different from London. Despite rising interest rates, house sales here show no sign yet of calming down. The pretty cottage up the road has just sold and I hope the new owners will be of the Small is Beautiful persuasion and not want to pull it down and build their own version of Mar a Lago - which is happening all too often around here. 

 There are some transatlantic differences in the way estate agents/realtors conduct their business. Here they don't sell "houses", they sell "homes". Once you've got that linguistic nuance out of the way, there are other, far more pronounced differences. Just read the blurb on the online house ads, which I'm far too fond of browsing. In Britain it'll tell you stuff like how many bedrooms and how close to the railway station. In short it's about the house. Here in the US it's all about how you will live your life once you're lucky enough to buy the house, sorry, home. Well, for a start you're going to be doing a lot of "cozying" [sic].  As in "Cozy up in front of the wonderful stone fireplace in the great room. Play a game of cards in the dining room while you’re cooking a crockpot of chili in the kitchen. "

   Like it or not, you're going to be the host/ess with the most/est, "Picture Sunday brunches with friends and family! You'll love the extra-large kitchen that opens to the spacious laundry room with ample shelving for your canned goods and supplies! The formal dining room is wonderful for those sit down, holiday dinners! And while the chefs are busy whipping up their gourmet dishes, your guests will have plenty of room to roam between the parlor and formal living room - each displaying a beautiful fireplace!"  Presumably keeping their sticky fingers away from the family silver.

   Next, you're going to be doing a lot of coffee sipping (it's always "sipping", which sounds more genteel, I suppose, than slurping or chugging). This may happen on the patio, or the  balcony or, if you've dished out enough dosh, by the (always) sparkling pool. When it's time to watch the sunset, you'll change to a "cool drink". Intellectual pursuits aren't forgotten,  "The spacious master suite features a beautiful fireplace and sitting area, great for an evening in with a book." 

   And in case you don't know what to do with that "office/bedroom/flex room with closet", worry not - it'll be "perfect for those guests who come to dinner and never want to leave." 

   

 You'd better lock your guests up and get some rest because you'll be leading an adventurous life, "This active and social community hosts many events and gatherings, one is sure to peak [sic] your interest". But if you, "Take a spin on your golf cart and enjoy the beauty around you and your friendly neighbors", just don't run them over. They could turn nasty.

   And if you're risking buying  that partly-demolished beach house in a town devastated by Hurricane Ian, you can still enjoy "priceless pleasures only such an island location can provide; and be blown away (oops) by its renowned sunsets."

    A neighbourhood in Britain is merely "sought after" (or in some cases "sort after" - a weak grasp of grammar uniting estate agents on both sides of the pond); here you won't have to let your imagination run riot - they'll do it for you,  "No loading up the car, no walking across streets with your beach gear, no waiting in traffic looking for a parking spot. Just bring your friends and family and walk out to the beach to enjoy the blue waters and beautiful Sunsets of West Coast Florida! Enjoy live music while dining or (of course) having coffee. 

 The agents also offer dubious sartorial advice, "Pack your flip-flops, your Paradise is waiting!", or, scarily,  "No shirt! No shoes! No problem!"

  Unless they're actually falling down, houses for sale in Britain are invariably "stunning". Here, though, they're  always "your dream home", offering the "life you deserve". Amazing how they know.

The Dry

 Dateline: Golden Beach, Venice, Florida...

aka the Florida Sahara....

We came back from Britain to find ourselves in a desert. I've never seen it so dry here. My neighbours tell me it did rain once in the last few weeks but it seems to have made precious little difference. The soil, meagre at the best of times, is now just a fine powder. The poor orchid tree at the back which is usually a festival of white blooms at this time of year, is virtually bare. Though the one at the front, the Tree that Came Back from the Hurricane, is still hanging in there. Still more bush than tree but maybe that will change.

Sadly the passion flower vine - an indirect hurricane victim, having been butchered of necessity to make way for our restored garden fence - is just one plant that seems to have died completely. We expected rain today but nothing happened and the percentage chance went down, down, down.

There is, however always a bright spot. The frangipani branch I broke off from the parent tree and stuck in the ground appears none the worse - in fact you'd think it was actively relishing its environment.

The parent isn't doing too badly either.

And there's still water in the Gulf

Or there was at dawn on Saturday. Though, ominously, these patches of seaweed could be precursors of the gigantic blob of sargassum - all 13 million tons of it - that's allegedly heading purposefully for Florida.

We may be back up north when it hits, so won't need to hold our noses, but we'd better not get too smug.  It may still be there to welcome us when we get back.

A Happy Easter from Across the Pond!

 Greetings from a London that's letting us have some sun for a few days (all change on Monday though). There are spring primroses ...

....and other flowers springing outside our building

and though the trees on Wimbledon Common are still bare, 

there's plenty of new life out there...

It seems that every time I come back, there's something new. Now we can't go more than twenty miles an hour on our road and we'll soon have to pay 12.50 just to drive my venerable car out of the gate, thanks to the Mayor of London's new Ultra Low Emission Zone, aka the Dreaded Ulez. 

But in the little park around the corner life goes on. You can just about see the moorhen sitting on her nest - the upside down buildings are a reflection. Spring sun on the water makes even the back end of the medical centre look sharp!

So, wherever you might be, enjoy the blessed message of Easter!

A Brave Bloom

You may remember our casualty from Hurricane Ian - the poor orchid tree in the front of the house that had graced us with its pretty scented blooms for several years.   And then how it started sprouting again from the stump.....

.....well it's a bit bigger now and what's more, it's actually flowering!

It's more of an orchid bush than a tree but the flowers are still lovely.

We were finally able to rebuild our garden fence but some people are still waiting for their repairs and, south of us, in Fort Myers Beach, which was badly hit, there are forlorn patches of land for sale where a house used to stand. Mind you they still want an arm and a leg for the land - on which you can build your mega mansion, supposedly fortified against whatever nature can throw at it. No more small, modest houses, sadly. It will be a very different neighbourhood. 

Meanwhile, here in Golden Beach, the orchid tree/bush is doing its best to cheer everyone up.

A Little Comfort in a Crazy World

 The Marie Selby Gardens in Sarasota are always a good bet for a relaxing, inspiring visit. Well we needed to relax after battling the horrendous traffic on US41, the Tamiami Trail, at its worst in the current tourist season. The Gardens' big exhibition at the moment is gloriously imaginative - linking Louis Comfort Tiffany's  stained glass designs with the Marie Selby flowers and plants. It's good to choose a time to go when the afternoon sun plays its coloured patterns on the ground.

This pavilion, in the shape of a Tiffany lamp, is a prime photo opportunity. The  peaceful serenity is deceptive - you have to wait till all the people taking selfies get out of the way.

There are glass installations round every corner.

Cleverly set among the succulents and Florida flowers.

Here's an impressive fig tree - the flowers in between the roots planted for a Tiffany effect - though you might not want those roots too close to your house.

 

Tiffany got a lot of his ideas from nature.

And it's all a magnificent backdrop for the  Gardens' famous orchid display.

Though nothing can match the wonder of a real, live bloom,

Shocking pink glass

Teams nicely with a shocking pink orchid.

Not to mention the pink trumpet tree. (You will gather that it's nice and warm here in Florida... apologies to you people from chillier climes.)

Tiffany's middle name is appropriate.  Beauty is indeed a Comfort in our crazy world.