Simple Sunday ~ Wildwood

Bright shiny comfort

Reduced to rusty kinship

Oh! The stories here.

Here and There in Francieville

The fun of coming to see a friend in a place you've been before is going to places you like and avoiding places you don't like. Of course, it has to be of a size that you kind of know (and remember) the difference. The more my memory jiggles, the more new places I find. That's not always a bad thing.

One place I obviously like is Lake Panasoffkee. The part of it I can walk to and see and the parts glimpsed on other drives to other places. 

It wasn't glassy still but cloud reflections were strong

People taking an airboat ride across the lake.
"Look Mommy! An alligator is looking at me!"

Bird decorated pilings 

Ok, I'll stop now

The other day we went to Webster Flea Market. It's way too big to see all in one day unless you are a masochist, but we covered a fair bit of ground. My favorite part is the 'old stuff' area. All sorts of antique everything is there, from purple rhino heads to antique toy soldiers to vintage wood handled kitchen gadgets. 

It was hard to resist getting one of these but I managed

I don't really get chicken pets to this degree but he seemed like
a really happy guy and they seemed content as well

(Side note on the kitchen goods. I was talking to the guy about one piece that I wasn't sure what its use would be and just about cool old kitchen things in general. He asked me to pick out some I wanted and he'd give me a price. Which I did and he did and then I realized I didn't have enough cash on me and he didn't take cards. He said, don't worry about it, send me a check. I picked my jaw up off the ground and noted how trusting he was with a stranger. He looked at me and said, 'Why? Are you a thief?' to which I replied I was not but could I PayPal him? Nope, they didn't use PayPal, I could send him a money order. We agreed, he gave me his card, I took my goods and caught up with Francie and friend to continue our perusing. I hear in the background a man saying, Ma'am? MA'AM? and checking to make sure I had everything, I ignored it, until it was MA'AM!!! in my ear. He said his wife mentioned that their address was NOT on the card. Oops! We took care of that and were on our way again. Yes, I mailed it to him later that afternoon and hope he was happy to find his trust rewarded. Though I do wish I looked a little shiftier...)

Creole chicken, mixed grains and rice, along with roasted veggies.
That was a good dinner! And lunch. And breakfast. 

Besides great blue herons, cattle and great white egrets, there are a LOT of vultures. There are a lot of other birds too, big and small, but the vultures are ever present.

Or you can call them turkey buzzards. I like vultures better.
However, if you want to get really confused but somewhat more educated on the subject, you can check out this article on what is what and why. 

Some more sights along the way to and at the lake. 

Every year this gets a little worse

The oaks around here are so impressive, I can't really express it
verbally or by camera. 

Today we went to get some plants for the front yard area. On our way there, this little cabin was being trailed in next to a house badly in need of being loved. On the way back, we stopped to take a photo. I told Francie to just go ahead, I'd walk back. It seemed like no one was around and I wanted to do some up close and snoopy camera work. Until the front door opened and this woman is staring at me. I told her how much I liked it and blah blah blah and she invited me in. There was yet another person in there and while I live tiny, it felt REALLY tiny. But it was pretty cool, with a bed and tiny loft and small refrigerator and wood stove made out of an old propane tank. Even so, my claustrophobia was waving red flags so I wasn't there long. Here's a little glimpse.

Made of pretty much all salvaged materials.
The slabs of wood were very impressive. 

Just in case you need a quickie wood stove.  

Out in the country while looking for a plant nursery, we saw this. I don't know what it is except that I like old machine things and this is one. If you know what it is, I'd love to be informed!

Wheels and gears and rods and more wheels.
I can't figure it out. 

Soon it will be time to head home. It's that time of year here where the weather is pretty close to just right, spring type warm in the day and cool at night, making for good sleeping. But I think I'm ready for some hot sun. Uh huh!

Have a treat-like Thursday. Do something temporarily tantalizing. 

Simple Sunday ~ Lake Panasoffkee

Sunday fishin' time

Lines and hopes flying wild

Ephemeral days

Florida Travels with Francie (so far)

There is plenty to see and do here in central-ish Florida, usually in unexpected ways where you start yourself going in a direction and see where it takes you. Maybe even to your original destination. Ok, there really isn't a whole lot to do right here, but without going too far, it can get interesting. 

A walk to Lake Panasofffkee is always the first thing to do

Culebra folks who know Woody know he's heading to Homosassa for the next part of his life adventure. I've meant to go check it out over the years but this time was the time. Francie and Renee were up for the trip; they've both been there before, and there was incentive to go again, mainly to visit the restaurant called The Freezer for shrimp. And whatever else looked good. Plenty looked good.

Down a side road with no sign is The Freezer. Serious funk.

The place opens at 11:30. We got there at 10:45.
By opening time, this was the line. 

This is the little retail store, basic basic

Tables are on the other side of this walkway, little chickie huts on this side. 

It was smart to sit in the sun, I had on my jacket and was still cold

Shrimp and huge stone crab claws.
Obviously this was a few shrimp and a couple claws in. 

 There weren't any blue crabs on the menu so stone crab claws worked. 

The other menu spot at the entrance.
If I'd actually stopped here long enough to read it,
I'm pretty sure I'd have been run over.

So...I'm guessing this was once a huge freezer for seafood.

Right before the restaurant is this big hollowed out log on display. I had to walk back and check it out. 

This is in someone's front yard.
Homosassa has a good funk factor going on. 

Burl eyed

Down the road just a short way is another bar called The Shed. It looks like a shed. It's pretty popular though, being on the water and bikers seem to favor it. 

An Indian - a bike I really like,
but this one is a little too
slick for me.

A great blue cruising the river

The tiki hut theme is big around here (oh, those clever Indians!)
Apparently this place was built in the last year. 

Ok.

None of us knew what flowering shrub this is,
but the blossoms were beautiful. 

Now that I know there are seahorses here I want to go
handle them and then remove them from the water.

This whole area is like an interesting tourist attraction with bars and restaurants and shops with a big parking lot in the middle. There is a big house that looks like Southern plantation leftover and Renee knew the story. Then we read the story. You can too. I wanted to go meet the little old lady who lives all alone in this big place but that didn't happen. 

At the end of most of the finger docks, gulls and other water birds were soaking up the sun. I could have joined them. 

The next stop, which we really could have walked to, is called The Monkey Bar. There is a story to go with it which you can read in the link. The gist is it was a cozy, funky cool place that got pretty well trashed in Irma, so they tore it down and rebuilt. The funk and cozy is gone now but who knows? Maybe in 50 years it will be back. This guy was out front, so they get some points. 

Across the water, though not far at all, is Monkey Island. At first I thought it was just another one of those sad Florida tourist anachronisms, left over from another time. It sort of is and sort of isn't - the story is more interesting than the place but the monkeys were pretty entertaining for a few minutes. You can read about it and decide for yourselves.

Air boat rides are a big thing around here, if you are into
going swamping. Swamps are pretty amazing eco-systems and air boats are a good way to check it out unless you don't mind paddling a canoe, which is the very best way to experience a swamp
(if you have plenty of anti bug goo and a hat and long sleeves and and and).

A wonderful home for a new one but privacy is not happening here.

This was the most active monkey.
He'd get up and play around and then come back here,
throwing himself down to sit and have a snack.

Yes, I am looking at you.

Monkeying around
(what? You thought I'd not use that pun? Really?)

We passed by an air boat with a mannequin on it that I'd wanted to get a photo of, so Renee turned around and found a place to park. There was so much else going on that I forgot to take the photo I'd stopped for in the first place. Oops.

This is so typically Florida.

Looking down the river

All of this was just sort of there, around a couple of shops
and a sandwich shop. 

This great blue was walking around nearby

Sort of looks like the hair style of some of the bikers we saw

There was even one of these.
Francie grumbled but obliged. 

Renee was the instigator.
No, I couldn't resist that one either. 

There was a shop with lots of beautiful glass work we had to check out. 

This inside of each of these was a little wonderland.

It was a good day and knowing Woody is going to be in a place with lots of see and enjoy makes me happy. Happy is good.

Have a far-flung Friday. Do something freely.