-
Florida Trail Tales 10: Apalachicola National Forest to Blountstown
Apalachicola National Forest is a wonderful little place in the panhandle of Florida that has a very unique ecosystem. Carnivorous plants can be found and vast ti-ti sloughs stretch across the area. The day had started off drizzly and cloudy at St. Marks NWR but by the time we’d entered ANF it was clear and beautiful. We knew that there was potential for being wet in this entire section, particularly in Bradwell Bay, a well known swamp that the trail goes through. Chris and I had been arguing about doing it or not and during the afternoon we played phone tag with the ANF office trying to find out the…
-
Sunday ’round here…
Lots of good things I’ve read in the past week or so on the ‘net. Thought I’d share: +Dr. Who Regenerations: A compilation of all of the Dr. Who’s through the years. I’m personally fond of David Tennant and Christopher Eccleston. That’s when I first started watching, however sporadically I watch. +Sour Cream and Onion Kale Chips. I tried making kale chips about a month ago or so and while some tasted well they didn’t come out how I imagined. Chris turned his nose up at them and while they didn’t taste bad, they weren’t as crunchy as I thought they’d be. Not sure what I need to do next…
-
Texas Wildflowers: Sesuvium portulacastrum, shoreline purslane
In my Coastal Plant Ecology course in college this was one of my first plants to learn, Sesuvium portulacastrum. This is a dune and edge of marsh type of plant but it is one of my favorites for its small pink flower and the ability to spread itself across the ground. A succulent, it is an excellent stabilizer of dirt, hence its being found on dunes. It seems to have a worldwide distribution, not limited to the United States, particularly in tropical climes. Native plant nurseries might have the plant for use in the garden, particularly those along coastal regions. Gardeners would find the succulents in the Portulaca genus to…
-
Going Veg
About a year and a half ago, before we went on the AT I tried a week of going vegetarian while Chris was on a business trip. It was really easy for me then, I was able to cook what I wanted and try new recipes. I haven’t tried this again until the last two weeks. We’re back in Beaumont for our job for about two months and I got the idea to try going vegetarian again. I thought it would be easy but we eat out most of the time and it is really hard! Vegetarian options are either making something meatless or eating lots of salads and pasta.…
-
Inching Along
Working on the Moss Fern Wrap using Di.ve’ Stampato Glitter yarn. This yarn was a trick to start with and I skipped the foundation single crochet for a general chain instead. This yarn is very slippery. I also must’ve left most of my hooks in storage when we moved from Florida so I am using an F instead of a G which is resulting in a slightly tighter pattern than the one shown in the link above. Liking the pattern so far! Not sure what I will even use the shawl for but, hey, why not make it anyway? I bought the yarn on sale, 5 for $10 at a…
-
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.
A few weeks ago we went to Scarborough Fair, a renaissance festival south of Dallas. The last time I had gone was in highschool; I think it was a reward trip for all of the kids who passed the standardized test that we had to take. It has definitely grown in the last 12-15 years and since it was the weekend it was especially busy. There were lots of things to lust over but I enjoyed looking at the costumes. Chris’ brother has been volunteering as part of the cast for the last several years and spends time learning how to speak as they did during Tudor era England as…
-
Silent Sunday | Pet Portraits with Guinness and Mitzi
-
Texas Wildflowers: Vicia villosa, vetch
I feel fairly certain that this is Vicia villosa, though I am up for someone informing me otherwise. It was growing with the pinkroot and clematis near the Big Thicket. While there are native vetches, this one is a non-native introduced from Europe and has now naturalized across a lot of the U.S. One website states it was introduced as a forage crop for livestock while another states that the seedpods are poisonous to cattle, so your guess is as good as mine! A few butterflies enjoy using vetch (this one and others) as a host plant such as the silvery blue and the orange sulphur. If you are interested…
-
How Oceanic Wilderness got its name.
My brother recently texted me a photo of a book Oceanic Wilderness, but published in 2007 long after I started blogging as Oceanic Wilderness. It made me think that perhaps I should do a post on how I even came up with this name since I rarely blog about anything ocean related. So. I have a degree in marine biology. I graduated in 2002 from Texas A&M University and was gung-ho on using that degree for what it was intended, not to teach or go into a field that was not marine related. *snort* look where I am now! It should be noted that most marine biology majors don’t really…
-
Wildlife Encounters: Speckled King Snake
I was a bit late in getting the perfect shot of this speckled king snake. We were driving down a narrow dirt road through private property, returning from the Preserve when I noticed a bit late that the stick laying across the edge of the road was in fact a speckled king snake. A quick check in the side mirror after we’d passed it showed it moving but I wasn’t sure if it was because we’d just ran over it. We hopped out and found that it was just fine and had coiled up as we passed by. I ran back to the truck to pull the camera out of…