Alicenoneland

When I went outside to water my "sacred" tomatoes the other day I noticed all these different Wild flowers. I do not know their names but they sure are doing good growing all by themselves, no help from me that is.  It always surprises me how well wild flowers grow with no special care or placement. Just the opposite is true with the "cultivated" flower types. If I don't water and protect my tomatoes they start to show signs of stress. Seems the same in people often times. The ones that grow in the harsher less tender situations have more strength and natural ability to thrive. Ha Ha, guess I'm a cultevar, no surprise there. I am always in awe of different styles of life.  Isn't this little red cutie just the BEST! So much red color, and its just squeaking by in that little crack of space. 😁 When I see a yellow flower, I always think, "buttercup yellow." Its not a buttercup as far as I know but it is a nice pleasant sha...

Oh My Gosh! this is the reason fire was created, some'ors! No matter how you spell it,(or are supposed to spell it) they are the best snack ever .  There's Patti again, and this is her new fire pit. It is a propane type outfit, no smudgy fire or messing around with kindling or matches, this is high tec Girl Scout stuff.  Don't ask me what's happening in this photo, it looks like Patti is pouring fire on the pit LOL!  I think it is a blurry pic of her roasting her marshmallow and it is on fire. Doesn't she look happy?  Here she is REALLY happy, enjoying her daughter, son in law, granddaughter and friends, (that's charlie and I, ha ha). We had a great time chatting, eating and being entertained by her 5yr old granddaughter telling us scary stories....hysterical, she has  the low scary voice and hand gestures to rival the best storyteller going, kids are a hoot.   Here we are before it got dark, had to get started on that roasti...

I should have gotten a photo of the outside of this lovely place, but you can imagine what it looks like. It was a mobile home shaped, shiny silver diner. The coolest part is that it is right in downtown Daytona beach! It has all the old bells and whistles, stainless steel pressed ceilings, black and white floor tiles, the red vinyl chairs and of course a counter for sitting if you want the "Woolworth's" effect. No dinner for us just lunch please, it was so retro and cozy. Patti and I are quickly becoming restaurant critics, not that we are critical, no way! We just love exploring different Cheap places to eat.  Its amazing all the places you can eat for under $6.00 around here, and the food is varied and good to! Check these out below both under $6.00 can't beat those Yummy platefuls, of course the trick to it is to not order a drink. See my coffee, that killed my bill, but it was a medicinal add on, (I get really tired after noon without...

Here's a strange sight. I was at church enjoying a beautiful day and delightful service, when I happen to hear sirens in back of me out by the main road. So I turned my head around to look, (don't know what I thought I would see, you can't see the main road from were I park) so this IS what I saw.  A bank of fog. For some reason (we discovered this on a foggy mountain ride) when you look through an Iphone it cuts back on the amount of fog you see, letting you see more, so your not getting the full density of this wall of fog. But, in this picture you should be able to see many tall condos that line the edge of the ocean, you can't see even ONE in these pics!  I've never seen fog like this. A beautiful sunny CLEAR day on one side and a thick bank of fog on the ocean side, It was kinda creepy, sorta scary in a weird way. I was simply amazed by this weather occurrence.  Its just a rare freaky event of nature. I was impressed how even the b...

I had a very enjoyable evening one night last week. Charlie and I went out to dinner with some NY friends that are down here enjoying the Florida weather for a few months, in a town just over from us.  We went out to dinner and after enjoyed ice cream at a fun little spot not far from their place, an outdoor fire pit and all. Here's the highlight, they taught us how to play Mexican Train dominoes. I've always wanted to learn how to play. New games are so interesting to me especially if they have game pieces you can handle and move around. It was a fun, fun game. It sounded like Mahjong while playing and moving the tiles around, but played somewhat like regular dominoes. It was so fun to play a game while chatting with friends about back home and silly other things. What a lovely laughing time I had.  Just goes to show there is always something new to learn. Now I'm looking forward to our next game.  www.alicenoneland.com

Just so you don't get the wrong first impression, I just love this guy. He's completely harmless unless you count the sudden surprise shock you get when you first see him,( he is quite large) and at first your heart beats fast. But actually he is not poisonous or aggressive and we seldom see him. We've only seen him three times in five years. Two of the times were this year probably due to the prolonged cold weather we had. I took this picture on a chilly day, he was sun bathing on the south side of the house where I go to get water from the hose.  He's about four foot long and is a common black snake.  I really hesitated posting this article about him because I didn't want to frighten any potential guests if they come visit us, "no we don't live in a jungle." Here is the reason below that I decided to post his photo. I was outside tonight with my friend Patti and we found his awesome "skin".  Anyone that knows me know...

This post will appear to be written differently because I’m using my iPad instead of my laptop which I forgot to charge, silly me.  So it will be startlingly short, but pithy.  Remember all that freezing cold we got in January? Here’s a pic of our bamboo, didn’t hurt it a bit. And my cheerful marigolds, they were safely indoors on the porch.  These were also inside, thank heavens.  But my dear sweet bougainvillea was zapped to the ground, looks. Like it was sprayed with roundup!  I miss it a lot, the little birds would come really close while I was sitting on my back deck, not anymore☹️ Net year it will be back, these are tough little bushes.  Until next year I’ll just have to turn my chair the other way and think positive, patient thoughts.  www.alicenoneland.com

You don't even have to be a Daytona 500 fan to appreciate the patriotic feeling of the fly over by USA jets. My friend Patti and I were waiting for the star spangled banner song to know it was time to rush outside to see the jets do the speedway fly over, what a thrill. Patti only lives three homes down the street from me so its the same view from my house but way more fun to see with a friend.  These are progressive shots on my camera, they fly really fast! This is a good perspective of the layout.  Gotta love it USA flag and all. Made my day, I love all things patriotic, and loud jets are the best.  Seriously, how lucky can I be not only living next to Major Nelson and Genie, but also the Daytona 500 speedway! It doesn't get much better.  www.alicenoneland.com

Nesting season for the Osprey.  I am always in awe when I see these incredible birds in such public spots. The only other time I've ever seen them is when I was on vacation in Maine by Freeport, there is a state park called Wolf's Head outside of town on the ocean where the Osprey nest.  It was always a high point of my Maine vacation to see them.  And now, I can just drive to Walmart step out of the car and crank my head back! WOW! what a treat.  They are in all the parking lots that have overhead lighting. The one below is in the Big Lots parking lot.   The one below has her nest at the corner of a four way intersection with five lanes each, certainly not a quite little place in the woods.   Here we are at another Walmart. These birds definitely don't care who sees them.  At least they are not aggressive. At our local library we have nesting hawks. The library has signage up that warns you to use a...

Finally!!! I've been seeing this doughnut shop on social media for a couple years, constantly tortured by their mouthwatering delicacies. Yes, I'm a doughnut adict, I have to check them all out. This one eluded me because it is way across town. Almost anything we could every want or do is very close to our home, within five miles at the most.  So, you can see where a shop ten miles away would be a Looong way to go for a little doughnut. I know "Ten miles" your rolling your eyes thinking, "what a baby I drive that for a gallon of milk."  I know, but seriously I get spoiled down here, why drive so far If it's not life or death.  Luckily, my friend Patti drove me WAAAY across town to watch me indulge in my weakness, she's a gem.   Check out these picks are those doughnuts to die for? YUM!!! The secrete to these doughnuts I believe is that they fill the hole with whatever the top frosting is and boy does that give it a yummy ki...

Recently we went to the Orlando International Airport and picked up some friends that flew down from NY.  It was 8:00 PM and this is the line that greeted us at the top of the escalator.  My My, these are the sights that make me NOT want to fly, anywhere.  I'm notoriously petrified of being late and left behind, be it by a bus, train or even a car. I can imagine if I were in that line I'd have an ulcer by the time I checked in, it was a two hour wait time!! I'd be worring the whole time that I would miss my flight and be left behind.  I had to question about six people that were in the line about where they were headed that would draw such a line and it was some where in South America None of the boarders  spoke English 😐 very frustrating, I had lots more questions I would have liked to have asked.  This may look like the same line but its NOT, it was another out of country line. Geeze! I don't know how everyone knows what to do, I'd be overw...

I love tacos. When I get in the mood for them I like to make them by hand. I really only like the corn kind.  I learned how to do it from a sweet friend of mine, not that mine taste anywhere near as good as hers.  All you need is Masa flour (corn flour not corn meal) and water. Seriously, it can't get simpler than that.  I think the trick is to kneed and kneed a lot and then to let it rest.  As you can see I'm no perfectionist, round is a goal I do try for, but evenly flat is step 1.  Round or not they still taste great! I just love them.  This was the first meal I fed my husband when we met, only it was just beans and cheese on the corn tortilla, and I must add I was still at the beginner mixing stage and they were not as flexible as they are now. Five years later they are way more flexible and I lavish many more toppings on for him, YUM!  So if you want to eat on the cheep, get some Masa flour and water, some b...