Florida - Gardens - Part 2

The second garden we toured was MORIKAMI MUSEUM & GARDENS in Delray Beach. Barbara’s dad mentioned this garden a while ago and we finally had a chance to see it.

This is not a botanical garden with vast collections of labeled plants. Rather it’s a Japanese garden where landscapes are cultivated for the art form and restorative experience.

There are various gardens within the garden including: a bamboo grove, koi pond, waterfalls, a wisdom ring, bridges, bonsai, and other areas.

Gardens often conger up the image of flowers, but there were several gardens with no plants at all.

a bed of raked gravel in a rock garden

 Each side of this post was written in a different language.

 These flowers reminded us of fireworks.

When this bamboo arm fills with water it tips striking the rock that makes a noise meant to startle deer.

Not sure if this shooed away deer, but we spotted other wildlife: turtles, 3 iguanas, an alligator and koi.

We topped the day off with Japanese food at the garden’s restaurant.

We really felt a sense of peace there. A delightful day!

Florida - Gardens - Part 1

We explored two gardens recently with Barbara’s dad. They each have a unique beauty and feel.

We toured BOK TOWER GARDENS while Carrie visited.

Bok Tower Gardens began in the 1920s when a successful Dutch immigrant, Edward Bok, commissioned the famous landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr (designer of Central Park, Golden Gate Park, and other places), to design a garden on one of the tallest hills in mid-Florida. Bok’s garden reflected “an enduring token of his appreciation for the opportunities he had been given.”*

Quote by Edward Bok

Approaching the garden from miles away, one can see the looming centerpiece – the 205ft Singing Tower which houses a carillon.

 

We listened to the carillon, walked the grounds,  

Topiaries at Pinewood Estate

and enjoyed lunch at the café.

Al, Bill, and Carrie at the café.

Over 70 years ago Barbara’s great-grandparents enjoyed visiting here. We wonder if they saw the flamingos that were there then.

It was good also to remember our previous trip there, three years ago when Barbara’s mom was with us.

Bill, Miriam & Al at Bok Tower in 2013

 *boktowergardens.org

Florida – Butterflies, birds, and beaches

While it's winter in New England, we savor the sunshine in Vero Beach FL. This has been a restful month, mostly hanging out with Barbara’s dad, delving into a few projects, and planning some future travel itineraries. Stay tuned!

BUTTERFLIES

Right across from our trailer is a scruffy, blooming bush. It attracts butterflies. Butterflies often avoid posing for our pictures, but this particular bush allowed us to “capture” a few.

BEACHES

Since it is only a ten minute drive, we’ve tried to walk the beach as often as we can. Our routine is to walk together for 3/4 mile, then Barbara strolls back while Bill continues with a brisk, 3.4-mile walk.

Bill walking the beach

We love to see the various ways people enjoy the beach: sunbathers, swimmers, surfers, fishermen, volleyball players, shell collectors, joggers, walkers, metal detectors, and we even saw a powered paraglider. 

Forgot my telephoto lens camera.

BIRDS
While walking the beach we watch the shore birds run back and forth amidst the waves foraging for food. Bird watching reminds us of Barbara's mom, an avid bird watcher. We are total beginners at bird identification, but we just downloaded a bird identification app to help us along.

Royal Tern

Sanderling

Eastern Willet

2016 Year in Review

Without listing our Sudbury MA house, a couple offered to buy it and we sold it in May.

We didn’t find a new place – a tight market and hard to find what we wanted - so we are now unintentional full-time RVers currently in Florida. Between real estate searching we squeezed in little outings: hikes, letterboxes, and time with family and friends. 

In July while visiting family in Ohio and Florida we saw some of the premier aviation museums in the country. 

And we spent November as “Care-A-vanners” - RVers who volunteer for Habitat for Humanity (see previous post).

The girls share an apartment in Boston. Kate now works as a bartender in a German restaurant – Oktoberfest was busy! She loves the outdoors joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture Farm) where she worked in exchange for free produce. She mountain bikes with her boyfriend and did martial arts.

Carrie, a senior at Boston College majoring in Economics, traveled to El Salvador and Ghana in conjunction with Economic development classes and organized a youth leadership conference in the Philippines. She interned over the summer with Cornerstone Research, an economic consulting firm in Boston, and will work there after graduation.

We traveled back to MA around Thanksgiving. Here we are at the restaurant where Kate works.

Florida – “Care-A-Vanners”

Bill (in white) & others on the build site

We spent the month of November as RV Care-A-Vanners in Fellsmere FL. Care-A-Vanners are RVers who volunteer with Habitat for Humanity building houses for the community. The Care-A-Vanners get free or cheap RV hook-ups in exchange for working on the build site. 

Grace Meadows, a Habitat for Humanity community in Fellsmere FL

Habitat built this entire neighborhood of over 50 homes, adding 5 new houses per year. Here are some of the completed homes.

We worked from 7:30am to 3:30pm 5 days a week and it was hard work. Each day involved new tasks and so we contributed to various projects in the construction process, with Barbara doing easier jobs. We worked along side local volunteers, future homeowners, some Care-A-Vanners who arrived later in the month, and a bilingual supervisor who amazingly juggled people with wide ranging skills and all the aspects of running a building site.

Here are some of the trusses Bill made for the three sheds.

Among other tasks, Barbara taped the windows and drew chalk lines.

Bill built the major beam for the front porches on both houses and all the supports. Wish we had a picture of the beams being installed by a fork lift.

It was fun to watch the transformation of the houses and we were glad to have the opportunity to participate in this great organization.

Early November: Just the frames of two houses right after Bill & Ricardo installed the first porch beam.

End of November: Two houses with porches, trusses, plywood, safety rails, and some windows