FL Living – Page 4

One Year Later

Just over a year ago, we arrived in Florida to a home that my hubby picked out for us (I had only seen pictures). We had no income, just some savings that seemed to be disappearing way too quickly! We knew that a job would be hard to find. We knew finding a new church might be hard too.

A year later, hubby has two jobs (and crazy hours, but hopefully that will be changing in the fall) and our kids are involved in a homeschool group. We tried a few different churches before we found one that we really liked (and quickly became active members!).

We started out spending a lot of time at the beach, the community pool, checking out playgrounds, more time at the beach. Slowly though, life crept in – hubby’s hours increased (he started out with just a part time job), I started getting some orders on my Etsy shop, we started another year of homeschooling. The beach and playgrounds slowly took a back seat. We didn’t notice it at first, but then the kids commented that we hadn’t been going to the pool as much. So, I made it a point to get to the pool each morning as soon as we were done with school. It was a great motivator! We started planning when we would go to the beach instead of just figuring it would happen. When we knew we would be near a playground, I tried to make sure there would be time to stop and check it out (I’m amazed at how many playgrounds there are near us!).

Even living a simpler life takes planning. We can’t just assume that we’ll do something as a family – we have to plan it. If we don’t, chances are we’ll just sit at home.

What about you? Do you have to plan or are you better at being spontaneous?

Grand Hotel-El Jobean Fishing Lodge

Old abandoned (off-limits) places fascinate me. Even as a kid, I was curious about the old buildings near a friend’s house. Hearing stories of what they used to be made me wish I could go back in time and see them before they became dilapidated and mostly abandoned. We went in some of them (shh, don’t tell my parents) and explored. I could never understand why someone would let their property go until the building was worthless.

My husband was looking up waymarking and came across this old hotel that’s near us. From what I can find on the internet, the current owners bought it with the intent to fix it up. However, it currently looks like this.

It wasn’t a small place either. This is the roof line that you can see over the trees. I looked around online, but wasn’t able to find any pictures of what it looked like in it’s heyday. I did find some where someone was able to get inside and take pictures as it is now (or as it was several years ago).

Personally, I think it would still make a great fishing lodge. There’s a fishing pier nearb y. You could rent basic rooms out to fishermen (or fisherwomen) and have a place for people to clean their fish and maybe even cook them up for dinner.

What about you – do you imagine what old buildings were or what they could be? Have you snuck into an abandoned building?

To Grow a Pineapple

In August, we decided to try growing a pineapple tree from a store bought pineapple.

First, grasp the leaves (carefully!) and twist them off.

Carefully pull the leaves off up about one inch.

As you pull them off, you’ll notice some roots that have been growing.

Fill a pot with your favorite potting soil and make a small hole and set the pineapple top in there.

Gently put the soil around it, but don’t pack it down too hard. The plant will not be very stable so don’t move the pot around too much.

Water it (like the little watering can? That’s what happens when you have kids). Put it in a sunny spot and keep it watered. In a couple weeks it will be rooted and a little stabler in the pot.

For three months it did nothing, except loose most of it’s leaves. We were beginning to think that it was dead. We moved it outside where it would get lots of sun and some rain. Then, just last week we noticed it had sprouted!

You can see the dead leaves (and a rock) on the original plant and then the new plant sprouting up beside it.
Of course it will take 3-4 years before it’s mature enough to bear fruit and then it will only bear one fruit at a time! Have you ever tried to grow a pineapple tree? Did it bear fruit?

Honeydews and Gardening

So, I haven’t mentioned my honeydews in a while…it seems that they need water to grow. Who knew?

I put plastic lids under the melons to keep the from rotting and to keep slugs away.

This one might recover. *fingers crossed*

This one is looking pretty dead.

This one looks great and of course it didn’t flower so there are no melons.

Honeydews need the summer heat and humidity so I’ll try them again in a few months. Never fear, I’ve moved on to my winter gardening idea. We recently got a new recycling can so I’m turning my old ones into raised beds. The one with the marigold has peppers planted and the other one has parsley on one side. I’m planning to put lettuce in the other half. I also plan to water them a little more regularly.

To Grow A Honeydew – Melons??

I went out to check on my honeydew plants yesterday and was excited to find what I think are three itty-bitty melons! Some critter has been happily munching on the leaves though so hopefully it leaves the little melons alone!