Happy Halloween!

 

I saw these pumpkins at the pumpkin festival a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was a cute alternative to carving, but you can't put a candle in them at night and make them look spooky. I'm going trick or treating with my grandchildren tonight. My grandson is dressing up as Batman and my granddaughter is going as Tinkerbell. I just hope it doesn't rain!

Floral Friday

 

Please visit Floral Friday to enjoy more beautiful flowers!

SkyWatch Friday

 

Doesn't that blue sky look absolutely gorgeous behind those stars and stripes? To see more beautiful skies from around the world, please visit SkyWatch Friday.

Spreading Oak

 

This old oak is known as the Lichgate Oak and is located on 3 acres of woods right in the middle of Tallahassee. It is registered with the Live Oak Society and you can find out more about the history of this tree by going here. It is so big that I could not get the whole tree in my picture. Several of its branches are so long and heavy that they have touched the ground and started growing back up again. The second picture shows a shot from the other side of the tree and a little closer. To get a better look, it is well worth enlarging these pictures.

Ant Hill

 

If you've ever been unfortunate enough to step on a fire ant hill like this one, you know how painful it can be! This one popped up in my yard recently. I thought it looked quite interesting in the late afternoon sunlight. This is about as close as I want to get to it though.

Clean Hands

 

These hand sanitizing stations are placed around the FSU campus in an attempt to minimize the spread of flu germs or any other germs for that matter! I'm not sure how many students actually use them though.

Weekend Reflections

 

Although there is only a small amount of reflection in this picture, I thought it was interesting enough to post. What caught my eye was the way the sunlight was hitting the glass in this window of my office and how it highlighted the fact that this window is really dirty! The sunlight is shining through a stairwell railing on the floor above causing the striped effect.

To see more beautiful reflections from around the world, please visit Weekend Reflections.

Pecan Time

 

This is the time of year that the pecans start falling from their trees--in my neighborhood anyway! The area where I live used to be an old pecan plantation and many of the pecan trees are still growing and producing pecans. I took this picture of one that fell from a tree located in front of my church. It still has the outer shell on it. It's not a good idea to park under these trees during this time of year, unless you want little dings on the roof of your car!

Floral Friday

Most of the azaleas around here only bloom in the spring, but these azaleas near where I work bloom several different times of year.

Please visit Floral Friday to enjoy more beautiful flowers!

SkyWatch Friday

 

The blue October sky over Tallahassee. To see more beautiful skies from around the world, please visit SkyWatch Friday.

Planter's Exchange

 

The warehouse of the old Planter's Exchange in Havana, Florida just north of Tallahassee. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. The small building in the second picture sits right in front of it. Beginning in 1928, this company was the premier manufacturer of fertilizer and supplier of pesticides, agricultural and general farm supplies needed by the shade tobacco growers in all of Gadsden and Madison Counties in Florida, as well as south Grady and Decatur Counties in Georgia.

Watery Wednesday

 

The water in this fountain in downtown Havana, Florida was colored orange for the annual Pumpkin Festival this past weekend. Havana is located just north of Tallahassee. This picture would have been a lot better had it not been so cloudy, but I still like the way it turned out. Please visit Watery Wednesday for more beautiful watery pictures!

Pony Ride

 

My granddaughter watching my grandson taking a pony ride at the Pumpkin Festival in downtown Havana, Florida. Havana is located just 14 miles north of Tallahassee and is known for its unique assortment of restaurants and shops, especially antique shops. And yes, it was named after Havana, Cuba because they used to produce cigar tobacco there. To find out more information about this beautiful little town and its history, go here. By the way, doesn't my little granddaughter have the beginnings of the cutest little strawberry blonde curls? I can't wait for her hair to get longer so I can play with it.

Deep Fried Oreos

 

This past weekend I went to the Pumpkin Festival in downtown Havana, Florida. Havana is a beautiful little town located just north of Tallahassee. This festival is billed as their signature event. While strolling around the festival with my kids and grandkids, I noticed this food vendor and immediately focused on that little sign up there in the middle of the picture. Deep fried oreos? I've lived in the South all my life and am used to eating anything battered and deep fried because it usually is just better that way. Not better for you, but better tasting. But Oreos? How can you improve Oreos, other than dunking them in milk? Despite the hefty pricetag for these little delicacies ($5 for 6), I decided I had to try them. Besides the guy who was selling them told me that they were "slap your mama good"! With a recommendation like that, it was a done deal. After he battered them up and dropped them in the hot grease, he let me take a picture of my Oreos getting deep fried. After they came out of the frier, he dusted them with powdered sugar and the third picture shows the finished product. While they were cooling, I took their portrait. The final verdict--yes they were good! They were delicious, and in fact they were definitely "slap your mama" good and more. By the way, this also works for dill pickle slices, although you don't dust them with the powdered sugar.

Weekend Reflections

 

To see more beautiful reflections from around the world, visit Weekend Reflections.

Florida World War II Monument

 

The Florida World War II monument, located on the grounds of the R. A. Gray Building in Tallahassee.

SkyWatch Friday

 

The stained glass window viewed from the outside of the west wing of Dodd Hall on the Florida State University campus under the beautiful Tallahassee sky. To see what this lovely stained glass window looks like from the inside go here. To see more beautiful skies from around the world, please visit SkyWatch Friday.

Florida Remembers World War II

Here are pictures I took of some of the artifacts displayed in the "Florida Remembers World War II" exhibit at the Museum of Florida History located in the R.A. Gray Building in downtown Tallahassee.


Monday, December 8, 1941 edition of the Tampa Morning Tribune front page reporting the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese.


Citrus Bomber Fleet poster encouraging citizens involved in the citrus industry to buy war bonds with their extra money.

 

The dreaded telegram informing a Tallahassee mother that her son was killed in action at Iwo Jima. Notice the statement in the telegram: "To prevent possible aid to our enemies do not divulge the name of his ship or station". Click on the picture to enlarge and read it. As a mother, I can't even imagine how it must have felt to receive a telegram like this.

Florida in the Civil War

 

On January 10, 1861, barely fifteen years after becoming a state, a special convention of delegates from around Florida met in Tallahassee and voted to withdraw Florida from the Union. It had the smallest population, at 140,000, of any of the Confederate states and almost 63,000 of them were African Americans, most of whom were slaves. Florida saw minimal large-scale fighting during the Civil War, with the exception of the Battle of Olustee near Lake City and the Battle of Natural Bridge near Tallahassee. You can read more extensively about Florida’s Civil War history here. I took these pictures of items displayed in the Civil War exhibit at the Museum of Florida History in downtown Tallahassee.

Tin Can Camper

 

In the early 20th century, roads were bad and road travel was difficult. There were no motels and people stayed in places called Tin Can Tourist Camps. Many of these camps were nothing more than spaces for tents and were quite primitive. Some travelers became creative and converted vehicles into what I guess you could call an early version of today's RV. This is a picture of a replica of a 1923 Model "T" Ford truck Tin Can Camper and it is on display at the Museum of Florida History in downtown Tallahassee. This particular tin can camper is equipped with a space saving bed. When the owner drives the vehicle, the bed is stored in the overhanging roof. The bed is created by opening the windshield in the middle and creating two side windows. A false ceiling is then released and pulled down to form the front wall. The bed is lowered using ropes which were tied off in the ceiling supports. It is then fastened to the side windows with the hinge pins that previously secured the windshield. Once down, the bed rests on the hood of the vehicle in front of the steering wheel. Pretty nice, but they still had to endure the heat and mosquitoes!

Historic Florida Citrus Labels

Early advertising for the Florida citrus industry came in the form of paper labels glued to packing crates for fresh fruit. Many popular subjects were illustrated with these labels and individual growers were easily recognized by their distinctive labels. The first shot shows a stack of citrus crates displaying labels from the 1800's through the 1960's. After that, cardboard boxes replaced wooden crates and the labels were no longer used. The other two pictures show closeups of two of the labels. These are all on display at the Museum of Florida History in the R.A. Gray Building located in downtown Tallahassee. Click on any of the pictures to enlarge and get a better look.