3rin's View…

I met my friends, Mike and Becky, at Anada Farm yesterday afternoon. It’s a relatively new venture down in Terra Ceia and I was excited to explore the property.

I really didn’t know what to expect, so I was pleasantly surprised by the expansive setup. There’s a vegetable garden, u-pick flower field, sunflower patch, an area for a corn maze, fruit trees, a pond, a water sluice for panning for treasures, a treehouse that spans massive oak trees, lots of different slides, a little kid playground, huge bounce pillows (with no age limit, which Becky and I took full advantage of, see video below), a pedal-powered cart track, stage for live music, a covered play area with a massive corn bin, lots of artsy photo ops, a snack bar, a pizza barn, and 2 bars.

That’s just the stuff I remember, I’m sure I forgetting some things. I could also see that there were other sections in the works. Whoever is behind this project has done a great job of turning formerly fallow agricultural land into a large, outdoor family attraction.

As you can tell, we had a good time. There’s no such thing as too much fun!

I was greeted by this damage yesterday morning. Naturally, I wondered who the culprit was. So, I checked my handy motion-activated camera and found this incriminating evidence:

It’s worth noting that I have 4 water dishes of various sizes and heights for differing species. The tallest one, the one my bandit broke, was intended for the bees. This little stinker clearly knows where all the dishes are, as it even checked the last one before loping off into the night.

I especially love how the raccoon washed its hands after the accident! 🦝

Seems like we could all use some more of this in our lives…

Spotted these while wandering around downtown St. Pete the past couple weekends.

I’m especially fond of the blue one, best kind of graffiti, if you ask me.

Sunday evening I finally reinstalled the motion-activated camera that I had taken down last September because of hurricane damage.

I wasn’t sure it would still work but thankfully, it powered right back up. I had purchased it primarily so I could watch wildlife activity in my yard and I have not been disappointed.

On early Tuesday morning it recorded a new visitor to my yard, an opossum (Didelphis virginiana).

I know they live in the neighborhood but this is my first yard sighting. Based on the way it moved through the terrain, the opossum is pretty familiar with my yard. Welcome, my marsupial friend!

Decided to showcase the botanical bash occurring in my yard right now. There are a few other species participating but they are camera shy (looking at you red and white salvias). I’m impressed by how many of these survived the saltwater inundation by Hurricane Helene last September.

As for the ones that didn’t, I’ve slowly been replacing them, mostly with natives (though I snuck an elderberry into my backyard mini-orchard). I’m pleased that it is already blooming! From the looks of things, my guava crop should be bountiful this season. And I’ll have at least one pineapple to savor. Tasty treats to look forward to!

Today, six long months after Hurricane Helene inundated this area, my house passed its final inspection. Such a relief to put this ordeal behind me!

While I tackled the majority of the work myself, I would not have successfully navigated this without help and support from my friends, family, and neighbors. I’m very grateful, thank you all!

My celebratory beach walk this evening rewarded me with two brittlestars and three sand dollars, all rare treats. It was definitely a 5-star kind of day! 🌟

Someone is demanding my attention. Westley is such a sweet boy!