Low Country Boil

In a dutch oven, bring water to boil with 2 gallops of butter, curry , garlic powder, Emeril's Essence, 4 small potatoes, two peeled whole onions. After water is boiling for 5 minutes add 1 Kobasa Sausage for 10 minutes. Add 1 pound of peeled shrimp for 2-3 minutes. This is a southern favorite that everyone will enjoy. The best part of this dish is you only use one pot!

More pictures of my Butterfly Garden

I took more pictures of our garden this AM. I am still learning the different modes of my new camera. I am quickly learning that I need need a tripod, as in zoom shots, the smallest shake ruins the picture. Below I have shots of a Monarch butterfly drying his wings, Cuban Buttercup flowers, Jatrophia flowers, Monarch butterfly eggs on a Milkweed seed pod, a Monarch caterpillar on a Milkweed, and a bee on a flower.

Just Hatched!

I noticed a Monarch Butterfly that had just hatched from its cocoon this AM. What a Beautiful sight to observe this creature drying its wings! The specimen is is resting on a Foxtail palm, next to a small Giant Air Plant. Before cocooning, the caterpillar had been feeding on the Milkweed plants in my Butterfly Garden.

Philippine Eagle: The Lord of the Jungle

The Philippine Eagle, also known as the king of birds, is an awesome species. I remember watching a show a few years ago that exhibited a specimen snatching a monkey out of tree and flying away with it. That is incredible strength for a bird to fly off with a meal that can equal its on weight! This is the largest eagle in the world.

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Amazing: Pythons Could Slither North as Climate Warms

This is alarming and scary! Unfortunately, this is not the only non-indigenous creature in Florida that is multiplying at an alarming rate!

Fooling around with my new toy

These shots were taken from 15' with the camera on macro mode. The room only had the TV on for lighting. I feel that these came out great in this condition of low lighting and using only the standard flash and the 80-300 MM lens.

Ox Tails!

I took a 1 1/2 lbs of Ox Tails with one cubed sweet potato, one diced jalapeño, 2 diced onions, diced celery, 2 ears of corn, snow peas, and 12 cloves of garlic. I placed these ingredients in a crock for 3 hours on high. The broth from this concoction is awesome and intense! The combo of roasted garlic and the other ingredient's drippings in incredible! I will freeze this broth and use it for a soup in a few weeks.

New Camera

I have been wanting to purchase a DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera for some time. I was at Costco this AM and saw a deal on a Canon Rebel XTI kit that I could not refuse. The kit included 2 batteries, a 1 and a 4 gig card, a 18-55 mm lens, a 75-300 mm lens, 55 mm UV lens reflector, a big case, and the standard Costco 2 year extended warranty for almost the price of the camera itself at an electronics store. I jumped on this! I have seen similar deals on e-bay; however, I am too leary to purchase something at this price from an unknown entity! I have two cameras now plus a camera phone. My other device is a Canon PowerShot SD800 IS Elph. This is an awesome little camera with a quick processor and a decent standard battery. I also take a lot of photos with my Apple iPhone. This is not bad for a camera with no zoom, flash, or other settings.

After charging a battery, we visited a local park to play with my new toy. This device is simple to use! I took 200+ pictures within an hour. Most of them were of great quality. I posted a few below...enjoy! :)

Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge 02/16/2008

We visited the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge today. As usual, it was beautiful. We saw several alligators, turtles, and birds galore. The insects in the picture below are baby grasshoppers.