More Turtles

I know I just posted pictures of turtles over the weekend, but I saw these cuties all lined up on that old log yesterday and I just couldn't pass them by. They were sunning themselves next to Lake Esther at San Luis Mission Park. We had absolutely gorgeous weather over the weekend and I did quite a bit of walking at several of our local parks.

Linking to Through My Lens.

Old Hay Barn

I have been seeing this old hay barn for many years from the road and always wanted to stop a get a picture of it, but it was on private property and way too far away. Since the property is no longer private, but part of the new park near my house, I finally was able to get up close. I'm so glad it wasn't torn down. As you can see, there is even some leftover hay in there.

This is probably one of the few times I will be able to link to The Barn Collective, since I don't see too many of them around here.

Who are you looking at?

There are a lot of turtles in Waverly Pond. I took the first picture while I was standing on a bridge over the water. I was sitting on a bench near the edge of the pond and zoomed in on that turtle "barge" to get the second shot.

Linking to Camera Critters.

Linking to Saturday's Critters.

SkyWatch Reflections

One of the ponds along a trail at the new park near my home.

Linking to SkyWatch Friday.

Linking to Weekend Reflections.

Good fence in a swamp

When a road has no shoulders to build a sidewalk on and sits next to a swamp, this is what happens. You get a nice elevated boardwalk to walk on with some interesting views. The new park I was walking to is at the end of this boardwalk. I'm sure there are some critters down there in that water that it would be better to keep a distance from, but I didn't see any on this particular day. Look hard at the last picture and you will see a wire fence running from that post in the bottom right corner of the picture into the swamp. I think it is just there to mark a property line.

Linking to Good Fences.

Happy Trails

I am continuing today (and probably the rest of the week) with more pictures of my weekend walk around the new park that recently opened near where I live. The first picture shows that the land for this park was acquired using funds provided by the Florida Communities Trust using Florida Forever Funds, a state conservation and lands acquisition program. You can read more about Florida Forever here. Those two guys in the last three pictures passed me as I was starting up the first trail and I got to enjoy a little music while walking behind them. They eventually got way ahead of me though because I tend to walk slow and also stop a lot to take pictures. I had to zoom in to get that last shot as they disappeared over the hill.

Linking to signs, signs.

Abandoned

The weather was beautiful this past weekend and I took a long walk on several of the trails at a new park that just opened near my house. I almost missed seeing this abandoned house in the woods, but fortunately looked over in time to get a few pictures.

Linking to Our World Tuesday and Tuesday's Treasures.

Monday Mural

Last May I posted a picture of the side wall of the Phaze One Skate Shop here. When I was in the same area of town a few weeks ago, I noticed they had changed it up a bit.

Linking to Monday Mural.

Robin

I was looking out my kitchen window the other day and saw what I thought was my first robin of the year. It was hopping around at the far edge of my rather large back yard, so I had to get my binoculars out to make sure. I got my camera and zoomed in on it, thinking I would only get those shots on the ground. Then about 15 minutes later, when I was eating lunch, I looked up and there it was standing on my birdbath. Luckily my camera was still handy and I was able to get the last two shots before it flew away. These pictures were all taken through a double paned glass window, so I was surprised when I saw that they turned out this clear.

Linking to Saturday's Critters.

Linking to The Bird D'pot.

Blue skies and a bloom by the pond

The late afternoon sun looked so pretty shining on this Japanese Magnolia bloom that I had to take a picture. Waverly Pond is in the background.

Linking to SkyWatch Friday.

Linking to Floral Friday Fotos.

Linking to Today's Flowers.

Good fence, hay bales, and those cows

Three weeks ago on my Good Fences post here about the Okeeheepkee Prairie Park, I mentioned hearing, but not being able to see some cows mooing behind the trees as I was walking along the park trail. Last weekend I found those loud cows. There they are way back there in their pasture behind those hay bales. This area is only about a mile from my house, yet I had never been down this road before. It is amazing how many interesting places I have found while out taking photos for my blog.

Linking to Good Fences.

Some reflections and a sign

I don't like to post anything political on my blog, but how could I pass this sign and not take a picture? Read more info about this sign here.


Linking to signs, signs.

Vintage Shop

Avant-Garb Vintage is a shop I've always wanted to visit, but haven't had a chance to go inside yet. It is a little hard to photograph because of the busy street in front of it, but here is a side view and a view from across the street. I couldn't find a website, but you can see more pictures on their Facebook page here.

Linking to Our World Tuesday and Tuesday's Treasures.

Pub Mural

Nothing fancy, seen on the side wall of St. Michael's Pub.
Linking to Monday Mural.

State Bird

These Mockingbirds were playing hide and seek with me and my camera while I was sitting some distance away. They were darting in and out of the bushes, but I still managed to zoom in and get a couple of good shots of them. The Mockingbird is Florida's state bird.

Linking to Saturday's Critters.

Linking to The Bird D'pot.