The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota are a beautiful way to spend a couple hours enjoying the abundant varieties of flora able to grow in Florida. There is a small greenhouse with a faux-Central America diorama. Orchids, bromelaids, and ferns grow along a winding path. One side of the greenhouse displays many tropical plants on and around a tall rock wall replete with Myan carvings and a waterfall.

This is a great example of the beautiful orchids on display in the greenhouse. Many of their different varietals are for sale in the Plant Shop. Some of the specimens will probably be on exhibit in the Premo lanai.



Ficus Religiosa, or better known as the "Bo Tree". During a strong breeze, the leaves flutter and sound like rain falling. No enlightenment for us, mostly a tickle in the throat from the red tide still in the area.


Nat was bored with his other chew toys, so he decided to go after his toes. A large stand of bamboo (nature's wind chime) was behind us and the stems, also known as clums, clapped together in a strong breeze.




We enjoyed our visit to the Ringling Museum of Art. It is a bit of a trick to occupy the attention of a 7-month-old in a museum, and Kathleen did a great job. The exhibit on Renaissance art was extensive. We were very pleased to see the many decorative art pieces of the time mixed in with the paintings and sculptures. Nathaniel was getting hungry, so our visit was brief. May have been all of the breast feeding Madonnas.


As many of you already know, we have been breathing new life into this tired house through many hours of renovation and maintainence. There are only a couple major projects left for us to undertake and one of them is new doors that lead to the lanai. We chose French doors for the master bedroom and dining room. An energy efficient sliding glass door leads from the Family room to the lanai. The installation was going great until the carpenters noticed a slight glitch of 2 inches. The French doors leading from the dining room to the lanai were 2 inches wide of the opening. They were hoping to find the frame of the existing sliders attached to buck boards (a 2" x 4" of pressure treated wood) on each side. But, the frames were attached to the masonry, taking away their ability to manipulate the entry. There are two options: order new doors or cut into the masonry and drywall behind it to fit the doors that were delivered. You can guess my suggestion for them. They should be beautiful once completed.

Maise and Gromit played for a few minutes in the backyard. This week, we saw a manatee and a dolphin. There has also been an alligator sighted by several neighbors. It is rumored to be six-feet long. Typically, alligators use saltwater estuaries for traveling, not homesteading... we hope.

My ability to move quickly and get errands done has decreased exponentially. Not because of "The Boss" (an appropriate nickname for Nat), but because of the many gawkers that stand in our way to make faces at or admire "The Boss". Grandmas are the worst offenders. They really don't care if you have to be somewhere or that your child is about to throw a raging fit because he's been sitting in a wet diaper and is 15 minutes past his afternoon meal and was in one place for more than 30 seconds. I'm thinking about mounting a white board to his stroller that clearly states his age, weight and "Yes, his mother does have beautiful blue eyes."

See ya next week!

We have arrived safe and with very little wear from our Montana trip. Here are a couple pictures of our excursion into the Rocky Mountains.


No trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming would be complete without a picture in front of the antler arch. We stayed at the Snow King lodge in a great condo. Off season rates are great and so was the breakfast at Bubba's.



Yep, that's Nathaniel riding on Dad's back for a 4 mile hike up to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point overlooking Jenny Lake in Teton National Park. He cried for about a half hour, then acclimated to his situation and enjoyed the journey.




Here is Hidden Falls. About 6,900 feet above sea level and is always impressive to see.








This is the view from Inspiration Point, elevation 7,200 feet. We were over 400 feet above Jenny Lake. And, of course, Nat was hungry, so he had quite the view for lunch.




We spent the night at Old Faithful Inn and strolled around the geysers and hot springs in the morning. This is a picture of Castle Geyser (background) during a major eruption and Sawmill geyser to the left that is a much smaller, but fun geyser to watch.


Here is Scallop Pool. Makes you want to just jump right in. They really are inviting, but the constant smell of sulphur lets you know that this isn't water from the Caribbean Sea. That's not a smudge on the lens or my shakey hands while taking the shot. The heat radiates off that water and makes it difficult for a clear picture.


Mrs. Penrod, Mrs. Premo and "The Boss" take a break to enjoy the Gallatin River while fly fishing. We had great success.














Travis and Nathaniel. They laughed together for a couple hours.





As you can see, Nat had a great time hangin' out on Deb and Trav's deck in Bozeman, Montana, while we enjoyed the Bridger Mountain range and drank some Fat Tire. Later on that day, Mom had a soak in the hot tub with a full view of the Milky Way and a great Chardonnay.

Kathleen is enjoying her time until she returns to the paycheck world. We spent some time on the beach today and went to the Selby Gardens yesterday. I am enjoying our time together with Nathaniel and learning many tips that will carry me through the coming weeks. Looks like I'll have to pick up a couple books to read on early childhood development.

More to come next week.
Michael, Kathleen and Nathaniel