Category Archives: Outside the Garden

Suncoast Primate Sanctuary

Posted by Lesley on December 20, 2011 None comments

After two days of delays and one flat tire, we laughed Saturday afternoon away with spitting apes and peeing alligators at the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary.  It was well worth the wait and the $20 Groupon price…love those Groupons!  Just like letterboxing, they’re always taking us to new places.Now some pictures of the other monkeys…

If you’re in the Palm Harbor area, stop by the sanctuary…they’ve been around for 60 years and need the funding.  The sanctuary was different from what I imagined…although my expectations could have been a bit out of whack.  When the Groupon read “admission for four and one bag of monkey feed,” I actually thought we’d be hand-feeding monkeys as if 275-pound apes were suitable for a petting zoo atmosphere.  Instead you put the feed into chutes made from PVC or in cups attached to pulley systems.Another expectation was that the monkey feed would come in some sort of pellet form, but it was Chex mix…literally.  It was a Ziplock snack bag full of Chex mix, Cheez-its, popcorn, and animal crackers.  It took us a few feedings to realize this guy would only eat popcorn.  It’s weird to see animals eating processed food, especially when showing a preference toward one type versus another.  Humans make the choice to eat or not eat unhealthy food.  At the same time, funding is always an issue with non-profits.  If the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary didn’t take these animals in, many would be put down.  The primates come from zoos, research labs, TV sets, and even private residences.  There are a few other animals the sanctuary takes in as well.  We saw snakes, alligators, birds, and lemurs. When John held the alligator, a crowd quickly formed.  It wrested a bit, but John got it flipped over on its back.John was rubbing its belly saying, “Watch, I’ll get it to go to sleep.”  One guy laughed at him and said, “Yeah, I don’t think that works with alligators.”  And then a little kid ran up and yelled, “You’re killing it!”  When John replied, “It’s not dying; it’s just going to sleep,”  the kid shouted again, “You’re making it go to sleep!”

The next thing you know, the alligator’s head and tail are pointed to the ground and that baby was peeing a river.  The skeptic from earlier says, “Well, you definitely relaxed him.”  It was hilarious to the point of a stomach ache.  This is the best picture from the moment; the others are blurred from shaking laughter.      

Hitchhikers

Posted by Lesley on November 22, 2011 2 comments

Having worked at a domestic violence and rape crisis center for seven years, I would never recommend picking up hitchhikers.  It is highly dangerous as a woman and not much less dangerous as a man.  Watch Monster starring Charlize Theron for proof of this; it was based on the true story of a murdering, hitchhiking prostitute.  Still, I’ve had a couple of hitchhikers lately convince me there is such a thing as safe hitchhikers; although they don’t follow the conventional thumb rules.  They just hop on – rude but cute.

My Two Best Tips for Visiting Busch Gardens

Posted by Lesley on November 12, 2011 1 comments
  1. Keep your head erect when riding the Gwazi.
  2. Splurge on the nectar.

“Keep your head erect,”  something I read while strapped into the front seat of a wooden roller coaster that boasts 100 mph speed.  I was unaware of that fact at the time and had even gone so far as to comment to my brother how bored the people returning looked compared to the Montu riders from earlier, so I was completely puzzled by the seemingly pedestrian instruction.  How else would I keep my head? 

Well, let me tell you that as my head flipped back like an unhinged Pez dispenser, those four words became all too clear.  I spent the rest of the ride with my shoulders and neck stacked like a linebacker ready for impact.  I was sure my souvenir from the day would be whiplash, but so far so good.  I can turn left, right, up, and down.  Life is good.

And it can be made even better with a shot of nectar in the Bird Garden…although it should be noted that it probably costs less to get drunk.  But for five dollars a pop, you can have birds lining up to your arm like drunks to a bar which is pretty cool…  …and sometimes a little scary!And here’s a money-saving tip.  The birds won’t drink half that nectar, so look around for people leaving the garden.  The kids were given nectar while I was outside buying it, and we also gave ours away when we left.

Sarasota Chalk Festival

Posted by Lesley on November 5, 2011 None comments

Artists from around the world have been crawling around Pineapple Avenue on their hands and knees for a week transforming the downtown street into an outdoor art gallery for the Sarasota Chalk Festival.       John and I enjoyed dinner on Main Street and walked over to Pineapple after.  Many of the artists were still at work.  And as if the street art wasn’t enough, there was street opera too.  The cafe on the corner of Pineapple and Orange had the most delightful opera singer out front.  I’ve never been a fan of the overly dramatic and seemingly depressing art form, so I would have never imagined describing an opera singer as delightful, but she really was.  She was joking and pulling people from the crowd.  It was fun.  After 17 years of living in Sarasota, I may finally check out the opera house.The power-washers don’t start blasting away the chalk until Monday; it’s worth the trip if you get a chance…and one more picture just because I’m jealous of the view; this woman was enjoying the music from the comfort of her apartment above the cafe.  The building was built in 1925 and was originally the home of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. 

{this moment} John Sweeping

Posted by Lesley on November 4, 2011 1 comments

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Sorry, Soulemama, this moment simply must accompany words.  Especially since these particular words that were uttered during a recent cleaning-related spat can now never be truthfully said again, “I’ve never even seen you hold a broom.”  Ta-da! 

Thrill St. Pete

Posted by Lesley on October 30, 2011 1 comments

It may not be Halloween yet, but the zombies were out last night.  Over 350 lined the St. Pete pier to dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller.  In full make-up, Halloween costumes, and ragged clothes, the zombies came to life at exactly 10 p.m.  Thrill St. Pete was part of a global effort to achieve the world’s largest simultaneous Thriller dance.  Thrill the World is an annual fundraiser/tribute to Jackson that started in 2006 with only 62 zombies.  In 2009 when Jackson died, 22,923 zombies danced across 32 countries.

Michael Jackson fan or not, it’s amazing and just plain cool that one person can inspire people around the globe to stop everything and dance.  It was so much fun to watch.  The zombies were all really into it – men, women and children just letting loose – and the crowd absolutely loved it.

Snow White was by far the fairest zombie…The other zombies were much more scary…And of course, Michael…

Sunset is for the Birds

Posted by Lesley on October 23, 2011 None comments

Last Sunday, I started my day on Siesta Key Beach.  Today, I ended my day there.  Every once in a while John and I like to feel like tourists, and Sundays at sunset always offer a great opportunity for that.  A drum circle forms on the public section of the beach, so unlike my last trip, there were people everywhere.  But regardless of the sunrise, sunset, drums, dancers, it always seems to be the birds that get my attention lately.

That last picture just doesn’t do the experience justice.  A flock of hundreds was right over our heads, and the birds were vocal.  The chaos of all those chirps together translated into extremely loud screeching.  As I was snapping a picture, my neck and eyes faced up in amazement, John the germaphobe was hunched over shielding his head and face.  It’s supposedly lucky to have a bird s@$# on you, but he deemed us the luckiest people on earth to have that many birds fly over our heads and not s@$# on us.  Finally, the universe gave us one.  :)

2011 Buddy Walk

Posted by Lesley on October 22, 2011 None comments

The Buddy Walk was the best yet!  The weather couldn’t have been nicer, and there were so many walkers that they ran out of t-shirts.  With 1,200 ordered and 100 leftover from last year, that is good news.  And this year’s Grand Marshal?

Queen Ella

The girl who started it all, Queen Ella Quaid, and oh how she embraced her role!  It’s unlike her to enjoy such attention, but she cruised the crowd like a true royal.  A crown suits her.

Team Ella Bella Buddies

But even a queen can’t escape a bored little brother…Great girl, great cause, great day.

What the Buddy Walk Gave to My Garden

Posted by Lesley on October 21, 2011 None comments

Tomorrow marks the Manasota BUDS 10th Annual Buddy Walk, a charity and event I’ve supported since their inception.  Like anyone else, I have my reasons to support this particular cause; their names are Ella and Stacy.  Ella was born with Down syndrome, and Stacy is her amazing mom and one of the founders of Manasota BUDS.  They are also my niece and sister.

Family is the root of why I never miss a Buddy Walk, but an ancillary and quite selfish reason has emerged over the past two years – Mariposa, my favorite nursery, donates to the silent auction.  It’s definitely true when people say there’s no selfless deed.  I’ll be circling that silent auction table like a shark tomorrow.

Prior to last year’s Buddy Walk, I had several butterfly plants scattered throughout the garden and even had plenty of butterfly visitors.  But then I won the butterfly garden package from Mariposa.  Now, I have a real butterfly garden; I just didn’t know the difference.  You think you see a lot of butterflies until you start seeing three, four different types daily.

The package included a cassia tree, milkweed, porter weed, button sage, pentas, and passionvine.  The combination is pure magic.  Sulphur butterflies should have been listed along with the plants as an auction item.  There were caterpillars on the tree and butterflies circling within days.

We get pop-ins, like the White Peacock and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, and more than just Sulphurs are regulars.  The Gulf Fritillary is the Norm of our garden right now, constantly sipping at either the porter weed or button sage.

Sleepy Orange on the Cassia Tree

White Peacock Butterfly

Gulf Fritillary on White Button Sage

It’s a small one, but it’s a dream fulfilled.  When I started to really get into gardening, the goal quickly became butterflies.  I got lucky with a few plants; my Mexican sunflowers attracted tons of Swallowtails, and anyone can plant a milkweed to get Monarchs, but it really just depended on the day if I’d see a butterfly or not…not anymore.  Thanks BUDS!

For more information on Manasota BUDS, visit www.manasotabuds.org.  To register for the Buddy Walk or to make a donation, click here.

I normally sleep through this stuff.

Posted by Lesley on October 16, 2011 2 comments

As a former waitress, I’m a night person that rarely goes to bed before midnight.  Accordingly, I’m not the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed type.  I may get to work at nine but don’t really function until ten.  Still my reputation has been somewhat exaggerated over the years.  When my mother missed my call at 8:30 in the morning about six-months ago and she didn’t reach me when she tried back, that alone warranted a call to my sister to see if I was okay.  Seeing as I’m now an adult who holds a day-job, I found this a tad much.  But when I complained to my sister about our mother’s clear overreaction, all she said was, “Well, it was weird that you called so early.”  Geesh, you just can’t shake a reputation with your family, so here’s the proof that the police should not be called if I’m awake before noon.  Due to guests, stress, life, whatnot, I was asleep by 10:30 last night which had me up at 6:30 this morning.  It’s quite the mixed bag when you wake up before dawn… A wolf spider in the bathroom wasn’t exactly encouraging.  Through one squinted eye, had I not heard rumors about it from John’s sister already, I would’ve sleepily assumed this massive spider was a leftover dream fragment.  It was almost the size of my hand, had spikes and was missing a leg.  I’ve never been scared of spiders, but there was no way I was messing with this one…so it was tap, tap, tap with my finger and the sweetest little whisper, john, john... Thirty seconds and a little mumbling later, the bathroom was sans spider and it was off to the beach……much better and most definitely worth getting up in the dark for…at least every once in a while.  That early, the canopy of umbrellas and labyrinth of towels haven’t been established yet, and human foot prints haven’t obliterated the triangle trails of webbed feet in the sand.  The birds outnumber the people fifty to one…  …and it was really nice.