nature coast – Page 22

Friday Meanderings

February 6, 2015 by KTgreen

Just want to apologize to all my northern friends before I start rambling about my garden problems. You’ve have had so much SNOW this year and you are still digging out. (But let me ask–why do you still live there?)

Here in central Florida, it’s time to start planning the spring vegetable garden.

Time to till up the soil, fertilize, decide what exactly will be planted.

But not for me. I’ve decided that my two raised vegetable beds in my back yard are done. Kaput. Set to be flattened. The damn squirrels have won. So many squash blossoms have been “squirreled away”. So many tomatoes have been bitten or chewed.

Besides the squirrels, there is the shade canopy. We have a lot of big trees that are just getting bigger and not much sun is hitting those beds anymore. (Not complaining, I love each and everyone of those trees.)

The few organic tomatoes that I actually got last year would have been a lot cheaper at the most expensive organic market.

And besides all of those reasons, it’s a lot of physical labor and my back has decided that it just wants to work on flowers. Gotta do what the back says!

I’ll continue growing herbs. Rosemary, oregano, and chives never die. I’ve probably had the original plants for over five years. I’m putting parsley and dill in pots and placing them in the few sunny places in the yard. I’m not much of a cook but parsley and dill are very rewarding to me because I love the butterflies.

Butterflies in the Garden, Eastern Black Swallowtail — Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillar, full grown larvae, on parsley.

Black Swallowtail Butterfly Eggs — Swallowtail Butterfly Eggs on dill.

In the Garden, Eastern Swallowtail — Swallowtail on parsley. So pretty. Looking forward to their return when it gets a little warmer.

And now that you have looked at these pretty pictures, I need to ask….

Have you been looking at my “project 365” photos? I’m taking a pic every day and posting them. It’s been a challenge. I’m always taking pictures–but taking a good picture that I feel is “post worthy”? Not so easy. And then there are the days that I take a lot of really GOOD photos. And can only use one.

Today is day 42! We are going out and about today so I should have a photo to post that isn’t from the back yard!

Besides taking lots of pictures, I’ve been busy in the community. Wednesday as a volunteer at the animal shelter, the first Monday night of the month at the Homosassa Civic Club plus a few monthly meetings for Old Homosassa Preservation Society.

Speaking of the Old Homosassa Preservation Society, our next meeting is Tuesday at 5:30 at the Homosassa Civic Center. This is a big one. We bought the tower. Now we have to get the money together to preserve the tower and other historical places in Homosassa. BE THERE! Or send us a bucket of money. I’m okay with that.

And then there’s the acoustic music group that I joined last year.

We meet at the Coastal Region Library in Crystal River and we finally have a regular schedule. The first and third Monday of every month from 2 to 4:30. Acoustic musicians, singers, and listeners are all invited.

And after looking at that picture you might think you need to be a senior citizen to be in this group. NOT SO! Eleven-year-old Jimmy has stopped in during our last two sessions. He is a beginning guitar player. He doesn’t stay long but he seems to enjoy hanging out with us while he’s there! (oh no, do you think he might be looking for a foster-grandparent?)

If you want to join us and have questions, give Paula Bateman a call at 260-316-4099. Otherwise, just come on over!

And now what’s going on this weekend?

Well, first there’s the Best Friend Expo at the Citrus County Auditorium on Saturday. This is your chance to meet all of those pooches and kitties that need a home.

I’m still pondering the water issues in Florida so Terry and I are attending the “Florida’s Springs and the Sustainability of the Floridan Aquifer” at 10 am on Saturday at the Ellie Schiller Education Center in Yankeetown.

There’s a car show on 44 between Inverness and Floral City.

But what we are REALLY looking forward to is the Open House at La Casa of Mason Creek. I’ve posted dozens of photos of this place over the years. We watched it being built and even took a little “self-guided” tour. It’s been on the market forever and someone finally bought it! The new owner has turned it into an event venue and vacation rental. The open house will include many local vendors that want to turn your wedding or event into something extraordinary. The open house is from 3 – 7. Oh yes, I’m taking my CAMERA!

Just another morning in Perfect — La Casa of Mason Creek from the canal side

The weather is supposed to be beautiful here in sunny Florida so we will out on the road getting lots of pictures.

Have a great weekend!

Kathy

Friends of Crystal River NWR Annual Meeting

January 27, 2015January 27, 2015 by KTgreen

Friends of Chaz meeting

I had planned on having this post up yesterday. After all, the meeting was Sunday. I like to be current.

That Tarpon Springs post that I did put up on Monday could have been put up anytime.

But I’ve been pondering.

The meeting is open to the public. There were about 80 attendees–yes I counted them. And I’m going to just guess that I was the youngest person there other than the speakers and a few other guests. And I’m not exactly young. (Which is kind of fun because in most other places we’ve lived I’ve been the oldest person.)

But that’s just the way it is in Citrus County. We have an older population with many retirees and most of them volunteer. Which is a really great thing about living in Citrus County.

But I digress,

The annual meeting ran like meetings are supposed to run with motions and seconds and inductions.

Kimberly Sykes spoke on the status of the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Andrew Gude, refuge manager, was scheduled to do all that but he was detained in Key West, or Miami, or some other airport with a airplane problem. So he called his assistant at 12:45 and filled her in on what she should talk about at 2:00. And she did a great job.

She told us a lot of statistics but I thought the most interesting was that over 19 days there were 19,000 passages into Three Sisters Springs. A passage is a person, manatee, or boat going in or out. The highest day was 2,300 on December 27. I’m guessing that was holiday traffic and there were probably more people going in and out than manatees. But that seems like way too many “passages” into that small area.

Otherwise, things are going great at Three Sisters Springs. A few setbacks but mostly going forward with improvements.

My pondering is about what the featured speaker had to say about nitrates.

Chris Anastasiou, Ph. D.

I’ve cut back on fertilizing–hey I live really close to all that water. I have a responsibility! I’m not running my sprinkler system unless it’s an absolute dire need. We have a relatively new drainage field for our septic tank. I have rain barrels! There’s more but I can’t think of all of it right now.

And our waterside communities–both Homosassa and Crystal River–have been pulling septic tanks and replacing them with a central sewage system.

Crystal River is in a project to send reclaimed water to Duke Power plant so they can use the water for their energy needs.

Swiftmud is creating an area at Lake Linda for parking lot run off to divert the water from running into the bay.

Hey, we are all working really hard to save our springs!

Last year the speaker was John Moran, a Florida photographer, and he showed slides of many of our state’s springs from when he first started taking pictures in the 70s and compared them with the same springs now. It was a very emotional presentation.

The featured speaker this year, Chris Anastasiou, Ph. D. a chief scientist and the leader of the Springs Team of the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFMD) had a lot of information and I can’t possibly relate it all to you. His presentation was entirely scientific.

What struck me was a slide that showed that nitrates are highest at the spring vent. As it flows out to the Gulf of Mexico, the nitrates are diluted. It takes seven days for a drop of water from the vent to make it to the Gulf.

And there are all kinds of bad things blamed on nitrates. Nitrates grow plants and cause greening which accounts for the prevalence of lyngbya and other invasive plant species.

And that’s what I’m pondering.

The spring vents come from the aquifer. And does that mean that the aquifer is already full of nitrates?

So this is my conclusion from Dr. Anastasiou’s presentation. And I could be getting this all wrong. Please let me know if I am…..

The steps that our waterside communities are taking are great. But all of our inland communities need to step it up. Cut back on the fertilizer and other chemicals. Cut back on the water usage.

Because it’s not up to the waterside communities. The entire state needs to take part in saving our springs.

Oh there’s more. But I’m still pondering.

And I’m wondering, what do you think?

Out and About: Tarpon Springs

January 26, 2015 by KTgreen

I haven’t reported on the Great Chicken Wing Quest in over nine months! I don’t really like wings but Terry LOVES them. We hit a lot of restaurants, bars, and pubs in the area. And it came down to a tie between Neon Leons and Crackers–per Terry. I voted for Crackers since I like the Tiki Bar, there’s a great view of King’s Bay, and sometimes they have entertainment.

And now we are moving on. To food I like! Which would be everything but chicken wings!

Just to serve my readers (because I’m always thinking about my readers) I’ve decided to hit all the restaurants on “Top 50 restaurants of Tampa Bay” according to the Tampa Bay Times. Lots more fun for me! Hitting all those places could take awhile, though. It just may be way more expensive then our local wing places and we might have to actually make plans.

But it will give us more opportunities for us to get “out and about”!

Our trip to Tarpon Springs started out with Terry’s mom saying that there are a few antique stores in Tarpon Springs. Terry had an appointment in New Port Richey anyhow so we just thought we’d head a few miles south. And I decided to check the list for any restaurants in the area.

There were a lot of antique places. Some a little too precious for me. Lots of crystal and tiny things. I tried to be very small while walking through those. (Very difficult, I’m not a small person.) There was a really nice artsy shop and the general store, “Mad Hatter” was fun.

But my main goal was to have lunch. It’s always about the food. Or the beer. And Dimitri’s on the Water at the sponge docks had made it on the Tampa Bay Times’ top 50 restaurants. YIppee!

The sponge docks are full of touristy things to do. Shops, boat tours, restaurants, bakeries, you name it. Not something we would typically spend any time at unless we had company. Yes, it is a good place to take out-of-town guests. “Come see the Sponge Capital of the World!”

Out and About: Tarpon Springs — The entrance to Dimitri’s

Dimitri’s is right on the water and since it was a lovely day, we sat outside in the covered patio area. The view was beautiful.

I had an Alfred Hitchcock moment when I went over to the rail to take some pictures. A gazillion gulls swooped down immediately. I thought we were going to have a repeat of the Birds. How much do I hate these rats on wings? Kind of like pigeons in New York City. Before they ate my face off, I ran back to our table and they couldn’t figure out how to get in to attack me. They obviously weren’t as smart as those gulls on The Birds. Whew. Lesson learned. Step away from the rail.

We had a very friendly server and when I asked about the beer, he suggested I try the Greek beer. Of course! I always order the beer recommended by the server. Tasty!

Anytime there is grouper on the menu Terry and I usually order it. I did ask about other fish and the server suggested the “whole fish”. Sorry, I don’t eat things that will be looking back at me. If we have a zombie apocalypse I might change my mind because I would probably be really happy to have something to eat. But for now, someone needs to cut the head and fins off before it’s served to me. We both ordered the grouper. And we both ordered it blackened. Are we boring or what?

I started with the soup. I can’t tell you the name of it because they don’t have a website. Should have wrote it down–what kind of reviewer am I? It had a nice creamy base with chicken and orzo and had a slight lemon taste–not overpowering. Very good. We also had a loaf of Greek bread with dipping sauce. Yum.

And onto the main course. The grouper and the blackening were excellent.

But the sides we both ordered were very bland.

If I was in Tarpon Springs with some of our out-of-town guests, I would definitely choose this restaurant over the other places. The grouper, the service, and the view were all extraordinary. But I probably won’t make a special trip to go back.

Happy to report that the gull must have forgot about me and we were able to get home in the convertible without any bird attack (poo or otherwise.)

And onto our next outing!