Santa Really Likes His Farmall Tractor.

It has been a few weeks since I last posted. December can be like that. It has actually been a wonderful time with friends and family.

Happy New Year!

Mailbox Monday: Grinch Manatee

Piano No Go

We passed this truck, stalled on the side of the road. B wondered if it need tuning. I wondered if the key stuck.

It's the Life!

Heading out of town for Thanksgiving, we crossed paths twice with the Met Life blimp.

 Look carefully and you can see two figures in the gondola.

19/98 Grill and Country Store

On our way south for Thanksgiving, we stopped at the 19/98 Grill and Country Store for lunch in Fanning Springs. It is far from fancy, but the food was good and we will go back. We especially recommend the zucchini fries.

In the front yard is a phone booth. Once found on most streets corners, it is now a novelty.

Clark Kent was none too pleased to share it.

A Bunch of Fellas with a Feller Buncher

This is a pine farm near our garden. We have been saying for years that it sure needed some attention; that the trees had been left too close for too many years. Well, a couple of years ago, the land was sold and the new owner was of like mind with us. Recently, we came to the garden to find the tree farm busy with logging equipment. The piece below is called a feller buncher. Feller is the traditional name for a person who cuts down trees. Buncher refers to the action of cutting several trees at once.

This piece below is a grapple skidder,  used to drag the cut trees to the loading site.

This last piece is a knuckleboom loader. Gotta love the name!

We took our grandson out to see the equipment at rest. He loves all kinds of heavy equipment and has proclaimed that he wants a feller buncher for Christmas. (I know you are thinking that ALL two-year- olds say that!) They actually do exist as toys, but are not common and rather pricy.

Rural King Rules

Passing through Crystal River, we could not help but notice the imposing Rural King store near the mall. We were curious. We love Tractor Supply and Ace Hardware, so we thought we needed to take a break in our long Thanksgiving drive and check it out.

Oh. My. Goodness!!
The picture above shows only half of the front of the store.
It was so much fun. It had food, seed, barn goods, tools, sporting goods, clothes, furniture, plants, toys and more. It was the best selection of agricultural and construction toys we have come across. I bought two perennials for good prices and we bought a toy for a boy who loves tractors. We will stop again, I assure you.

I have to say that I had not seen a sofa in real-tree. In the right clothes, you could hide while you napped on the sofa.

Sea and Sky

Sometimes you need a little sea and sky to put things in perspective.

Mailbox Monday: Windblown Hair

Our son sent this mailbox picture that he took in Colorado.

Huey on the Courthouse Square

In Monticello, Florida on Veteran's Day.

Blackbird, Swinging in the Dead of Night

B noticed something moving in this utility tower in downtown Monticello, Florida. With binoculars, we could see that they were dead buzzards (or possibly crows ) strung and swinging. We had seen this once before in a pecan grove. Apparently, it is an old practice to use dead birds as scarecrows.

Where Cicadas Go to Molt

On Saturday, we had the joy of joining our toddler grandson and his parents on a hike through woods that are just beginning to look like fall. The fall colors are spotty, but nice when you can find them. 

We found a pine that had no fewer than thirteen cicada shells on its lower trunk and around the base of the tree.

See, Grandmama?

 What fun to go exploring together!

Santa Rosa Island

On our way back from Pensacola, we drove out to and along Santa Rosa Island. Because it was a cold morning, few others had thoughts of going to the beach. The water was perfectly gorgeous, as was the beach and sky. 

We only stayed a few minutes, as we needed to find lunch and continue our long trip home but the beauty of this place soothed my soul and refreshed my weary spirit.  

Thank you, Lord, for this gift!

I want to go back!

Pensacola's Plaza De Luna

Right down by the port in Pensacola, Palafox street ends in a circle. It was a cold Sunday morning when we took a look around. We were intrigued by the large pole near the center of this picture. Our guess is that it can be used to hold large fish for photographs and perhaps weighing.

Mailbox Monday: Mailbox For the Pensacola Lighthouse

In the shade of this large oak on the left, stands the mailbox for the lighthouse.

Antiquing and Uniquing in Pensacola

There are dozens of antique shops and malls in Pensacola. We wandered through about a dozen, some of which were quite large.

In one nice shop, we came upon this unique mirror.

Yes, those are BOTTLE CAPS!

Fort Barrancas in Pensacola

It had been many years since we had been to Fort Barrancas in Pensacola and we could not have asked for a prettier day to go back. It is an interesting  place and we recommend a visit to anyone who has not been.

Spain had a fort very nearby that they constructed in 1698. The British built on this site in 1763. The Spanish built new fortifications and Andrew Jackson seized the forts in 1814 and 1817. The fort saw its final action in the Civil War and was abandoned by Confederates in 1862. It remained part of the coastal defense until the end of W.W. II. Now it is part of the National Park system but admission is free.

We all but had the place to ourselves, so I took a lot of pictures. 

The mechanism that worked the drawbridge.

These are entrances to long passages from just inside the main entrance.

We opted to go up first.

The Pensacola Light as seen from atop the fort.

A nice view of the bay from atop the fort. At one time there were three forts---one on each point---that protected the bay.

Yup!!

The ceiling was quite low through this passage.

The plasterwork was ornate over these doors, causing us to wonder if it was the quarters of the highest ranking officer.

Back inside one of the passages:

These loopholes were for shooting through and the higher openings were to allow smoke out.

Cannons pivoted on these stone arches on the floor.

 I loved the ceiling in this room.

B noticed these little measuring devices attached at various places on one corridor.  It is our guess that data is being collected to document the separation of these two walls over time. The gap varied in different rooms.