I'm looking over.......................

I'm looking over a four-leaf clover

That I overlooked before

One leaf is sunshine, the second is rain

Third is the roses that grow in the lane

No need explaining, the one remaining

Is somebody I adore

I'm looking over a four-leaf clover

That I overlooked before

I loved to sing that song as a young child. It is such a cheerful fun song. I came across this in the backyard and the petals looked as if it might be clover but the plant seems too big and the flower is wrong.

Does anyone have any ideas on this? Don’t the leaves have three petals shaped like those of a clover? No matter what, the flowers are pretty. Have a good day and go on a backyard safari exploring for pretty wildflowers and four-leaf clovers.

Mary and I joined the Denny’s restaurant email club and today we each got a coupon for a free hamburger and french fries for each of us. Knowing what the hamburgers cost at Denny’s, this is a pretty good deal and Mary and I are going to take our coupons to Denny’s on Tuesday and relish the taste of their hamburgers. No movies on Tuesday because the really isn’t anything that we care to see so the trip to Denny’s will take the place of the movie theater free popcorn. Make it a special day and have a cheery word for someone to brighten their day. Lew

red

I don’t know what kind of tree this is but its leaves have turned a bright red. But the leaves don’t seem to be falling off any more. I have seen other trees just like this one with the red leaves in the neighborhood. There is such a variety of vegetation and trees in Orlando. The picture above does not adequately show the redness of the tree. It is really a sight to see.

We went to the flea market at the Florida fairgrounds this morning. But no flea market. The County fair is going on instead. We didn’t go to the fair because the admission is $ 10 per person. I didn’t want to pay that much for a bunch of “carny” rides. I guess that Disney has spoiled me. So instead of being at the flea market, here I am typing my sometimes daily blog. It is suppose to warm up some and so after lunch I will probably be working outside. Have a nice day. Lew

apple dumpling

Today Mary made apple dumplings for dessert after supper. She used fresh apples, cinnamon, sugar, pie crust dough and probably some other ingredients. They were a golden color and were very good. There was a nice sweet sauce in the bottom of the dishes. The apples were baked to perfection, not too soft and not too hard but just right. We also had spaghetti and garlic bread for supper. Tomorrow morning we are having waffles for breakfast. Have a good evening and don't forget to turn the electric blanket on before going to bed to give the bed a chance to warm up. Lew

rising moon

This the moon rising in the early evening. I keep trying to get a good picture of it. Although this is a color picture, I think that close-ups of the moon look better in black and white and so I converted a close-up to the black and white format.

I guess that this is about the best that I can do. Today is a cold drizzly day. We had originally planned to go to the flea market in Sanford called Flea World. It is one of those indoor flea markets. After the flea market we were planning to go to see the Senator which is a huge cypress tree. I mean really huge. The walk to the Senator is along an elevated boardwalk through the swamp. The swamp seems so primordial that you would expect to see a Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaur come through the jungle at any moment. It makes for a very pleasant walk with pretty scenery. Unfortunately a combination of the rain and cold weather caused us to scrap our plans. So it will be a trip to Winn Dixie instead to take advantage of their “buy one, get one free” sale. Plus we have a coupon for $ 10 if we buy $ 50 worth of groceries. I don’t think that we will be spending that much but it doesn’t take very much meat to get the cost up pretty quick. Have a nice day, stay dry, and be grateful that we are having rain instead of snow. Time for a cup of hot chocolate. Lew

Benny's buddy

The neighbors next door got a rabbit that is black in color. They keep it in a cage and moved the cage next to the fence. We saw this and did the same with our bunny Benny.

The rabbits were interested in each other. They told me that their rabbit was also a male. But they seemed to get along never-the-less. It was good to see Benny interacting with another rabbit.

Today we saw the movie Shutter Island starring Leonardo DiCaprio and it was much better than I was expecting it to be. Ben Kingsley’s performance was really good as most all of his performances are. I remained a fan of his after seeing him in the movie Gandhi. After the movie we went to Cici’s for a late lunch. They have a pizza buffet with a myriad of pizzas. After a nice salad with Ranch dressing I sampled a wide variety of pizzas. They had a special on the buffet and it was only $ 3.99 per person. It is hard to beat a deal like that since you can get salad, soup garlic sticks, a wide range of pizzas and a host of tasty desserts. We left stuffed to the gills and couldn’t eat another bite. Supper will be canceled for tonight and we will eat extremely light like soup or salad if anything at all. Tonight will be a relaxing night of watching television. What would we do without television? Lew

tricky cat

The cat has learned a new trick. We had a problem with the chihuahua dog eating the cat's food so we cover the cat's bowl with a plastic lid. But then the cat can't eat from the bowl either and so when she shows an interest in the food we uncover the bowl. We came out to the kitchen one time and there was the lid lying about a foot from the bowl and the cat happily eating away. She lifts the lid off by herself. So now she has sort of a self-serve eatery and can eat the canned food anytime she wants. Of course the dry food is available as well.

Mary rescued the cat when it was just a kitten and the cat behaves as though we are her parents. I don't think that she remembers her real mother at all. And just like children who like to imitate their parents, the cat tries to imitate our behaviour and what we do. She sees us using our hands to eat with and we have noticed the cat doing the same. She will use her paw to scoop up cat food on the bottom of the bowl near the edge where it is hard for her to get to it. She will then lick the cat food from the foot pads of her paw and then go back for more. One smart kitty.

The weather is nice with respect to temperature even though rain is predicted for today. And so I am getting to do some yard work outside. Usually, it is too hot (summertime) or too cold (winter time) but right now it is just right. Sounds like Goldilocks and the three bears with the porridge. Now is the time for me to start thinking about what I am going to plant this spring. Maybe I can try growing some vegetable in containers instead of putting them in the ground. The vegetable just don't seem to do well in the ground. But the topsy turvy planter is doing great. Maybe some scallions. Have a nice day and enjoy the great outdoors. Lew

PICU

The cold weather has taken its toll on the tomato plants. They have been moved to Mary’s PICU (Plant Intensive Care Unit) for lots of extra TLC (Tender Loving Care). When we got the topsy turvy planter I knew that the cold weather was coming and that it wasn’t a good time to plant tomatoes. I just wanted to see if the topsy turvy would work, which it did.

We brought the tomato plants into the garage during the cold snaps. And when I moved it to the PICU we would wrap both of the tomato plants with blankets when the weather got cold. But the leaves look like they have been pretty badly beaten by the chill. Before the cold snap, the plant in the topsy turvy was doing so much better and much bigger than the tomato plant in the black plastic container. This surprised me. Why would hanging upside down cause the plant to grow bigger and bear much bigger tomatoes and a lot more of them. I am baffled. Once these plants have finished producing their tomatoes I plan on trying again with new baby tomato plants from WalMart or Lowe’s.
It’s Saturday but it is also early. The cat got me up at 5:10 to go outside. A crazy cat. She goes outside early in the morning while it is still dark and stays outside all through the cold morning hours. She will come back into the house to eat and then immediately goes back outside. Then when it is warmer in the afternoon and pleasant she stays inside the house and sleeps. I am baffled once again. Carpe Diem. Lew