400th Post and Farewell...

Big Hickory Island Beach

"The sun... has gone... to bed and so must I...

So long...farewell...auf weidersehen... goodbye...

Goodbye...Goodbye....Goodbye...."

(from The Sound of Music)

Dear blogger friends,

After year and a half and 400 posts, I will be taking an extended leave of absence from this forum. Hopefully it is not a true "goodbye", but rather "until we meet again one day".

If you find yourself missing the brilliant Florida light (and you know you will ;-)), please drop in on my many fellow CDP bloggers around the Sunshine State.

Thank you for your visits, kind comments and friendship. I will miss you and the images of your hometowns and promise to visit, whenever possible. In the meantime -

LIVE. LOVE. LAUGH.

Isabella

Remember me

off Key West, Florida

"Ships that pass in the night,

and speak each other in passing,

Only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness.

So on the ocean of life we pass and speak one another.

Only a look and a voice;

then darkness again and a silence."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Tales of a Wayside Inn

*

Tomorrow, Sunday, I will celebrate my 400th post and more. Today's post is a sign of things to come...

Grumpy Bird

"Bird wakes up feeling grumpy. Too grumpy to eat or play - too grumpy even to fly."

I wonder if Jeremy Tankard had this bird in mind when he wrote his book;-)

No regrets

"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,

Old Times is still a-flying:

And this same flower that smiles today,

Tomorrow will be dying."

Robert Herrick To the Virgins to Make Much of Time

Reflections

Reflections fascinate me. It's like a big puzzle - can you find all the pieces that make up 2 completely diverse pictures? Like this one, taken of an art gallery in Key West.


Or this one, of a funky art gallery in downtown Naples.


And my favorite, yet another art gallery in...can you guess where?

Monochromatic

To celebrate Earth Day 2008, I am going green...

How will you mark the day?

Passages

Small alley behind a garden shop, downtown Naples.

I spy Sunday

I spied an Anhiga, surveying his territory, but if you enlarge the photo, you will spy something else in the water...

Little helper

The rabbit on the right (please click to enlarge) is on our payroll - he trims the arbor so we don't have to.

(Sorry, can't visit, I am travelling).

Standoff

"You wanna piece of me?" challenged the Hawk.
The pair of Blue Jays, chasing him away from their nest, took notice.

Needs grooming

Who is more hairy - Truffles or his keeper?

Stop the World - I Want to Get Off

Rest stop along Florida Turnpike (taken from a speeding car).

"This big old world is spinning like a top
Come and help me now and make it stop
All you have to do is live for now
Come along with me I'll show you how..."

It's one of those days...You know what I mean?

Quiz Tuesday part 42

Another strange appendage I came upon near the beach. What the heck is it?

TOG? ANYBODY?

My destiny

"Just beyond the sunset

Someone waits for me

Just beyond the sunset

Lies my destiny

Where the purple mountains

Lie in deep tranquillity

There I’ll find the treasure

Of love eternally

Just beyond the sunset

Waits someone so fair

Just beyond the sunset

All alone they wait there

Their hair is golden

The colour of the sand

Their eyes sparkle in the night

Like diamonds in your hand

Just beyond the sunset

Lies a home for me

Where the world is peaceful

Like a paradise should be

Just beyond the sunset

Someday is where you’ll find me"

David Harris

Tipsy

This should serve as a reminder: Please don't drink and drive fly!

(I caught this Cardinal just as he was about to spread his wings and fly off)

At first glance

Another participant in the Third in Bloom competition

When I first came upon C.W. Smith (seen in the background), I mistook it for W.H Smith, the English Bookstore on the Rue de Rivoli in Paris (that's the place to get English newspapers and The New York Times, best sellers and a wide range of English paperbacks).

This Smith, however, is "a direct importer of 17th, 18th and 19th century antiques from China and the former British, Dutch and Portuguese colonies in Asia".

That's a whole different kettle of fish, isn't it...

Quirky

This fellow would not give up his seat for me...What happened to chivalry?

And this place opted out of the "Third in Bloom" competition. I don't blame them - exactly what kind of gardening would go with ''Bad Ass Coffee"?

Flowery welcome

Man, it's a jungle out there!

My favorite gift boutique, A Mano, was one of the entrants in the "Third in Bloom" competition, where storefronts are decorated with container gardens.

You like?

Canine oasis

John Craig Clothier, downtown Naples, consistently wins top honors for their "timeless menswear for the sophisticated man".


I would like to bestow on them one more - my own Animal Lover award.
See that doggie water dish in front of the entrance?
From what I could see, it was very much appreciated on a hot, sunny day.
A lot of happy tail wagging...And I don't mean me ;-)

The town is jumpin'

There's been a lot going on downtown Naples lately. Like the "Third in Bloom" festival, where the Garden Club judges the best decorated merchant' windows on Third Street South. I will show you some of them this week.

Also, the ever popular Naples Art Festival on Fifth Ave South.

All you need is some comfortable walking shoes and a bottle of water. Baby, it's hot out there!

Just another day...

Big Hickory Island beach

Sunday, 6 April

Naples air temperature 89°F/31°C

Gulf of Mexico water temperature 81°F/27°C

Nuff said.

Fiery end

Photo taken through the screen of my lanai

"After a day of cloud and wind and rain

Sometimes the setting sun breaks out again,

and touching all the darksome woods with light,

Smiles on the fields until they laugh and sing,

Then like a ruby from the horizon's ring,

Drops down into the night."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

More blooms

This post is dedicated to Tog of Coral Gables for 2 reasons:

1. He keeps me on my toes. Every so often he emails me privately and basically points out "YOU IGNORANT GIRL, YOU GOT THE WRONG PLANT NAME AGAIN", but in a very nice way ;-)

I've lived in SW Florida for only a few years and am still learning about its fauna and flora, so his guidance is very appreciated.

2. He saved the life of the orchid above. Last year, after it bloomed and reverted to its dead stick stage, Tog advised me to tie it up to a tree and forget it. Well, guess what - six months later the orchid is on my patio, happy and thankful for a second chance...

And this showy Spider Lily is blooming in my garden...at least I think it's a Spider Lily. Tog?

Neapolitan Spring

If you take a look at the CDPB portal you will notice it right away: Spring has sprung! We are regailed with splendid photos of apple blossoms, cherry trees, redbuds and tulips.

Since South Florida enjoys summerlike weather all year long, it is a bit of a challenge to find some legitimate signs of Spring. But I did! This African Tulip tree is in bloom right now...

and the Tabebuia chrysantha (not a Yellow Poinciana!) beckons under its shady canopy.

more tomorrow...

Lost and Found

You can always tell whenever small children have paid a visit to the Canoe Park. There are (not so subtle) reminders scattered all around. Like these rose colored sunglasses left behind on top of a canoe...

or this highly fashionable picture book, forgotten on a bench.

Were we ever that careless about our possessions as kids? Don't think so. I did not have much...but what I had, I cared about. Maybe that's the secret.

Naples own

"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time."
Abraham Lincoln (attributed)16th president of US (1809 - 1865)

Most of you guessed my April Fool's joke in yesterday's post : it was one of the famous fountains from the Gardens of Versailles, France. Bravo Olivier, you were the first to identify it!

It's not like Naples lacks in that department - this fountain from the Third Street South even has some horses - but it does not pack the same punch, does it?

Theme day - water

Combining the love of horses and fountains, this is my take on today's theme: water.

Now all you have to do is figure out the April Fool's Day element to this post ;-)

***
Please visit the other 170 bloggers participating this month:


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