me riding

Riding at Alafia  :)

boyette may 2011

Dragonfly @ Boyette

Went to Boyette today. The dragonflies were everywhere. The weather was beautiful. Not too hot yet. Rained last night, so the sand coming and going was not so bad. So, of course, my rear shock broke. This is the second one since I bought the bike in Jan. The first one never worked, so they replaced it. This one worked for awhile, then today, it started making weird noises, and then collapsed. Five miles from the car. Bike is in the shop.

Boyette

Here are a few shots from my ride today and some lovey faces.

East Meadow

Pretty  :)

Fun

west meadow

My sweet boy

my lovey face

Alligator at Alifia

I was riding this morning, and he or she was completely blocking the narrow trail. It would have been very hard to go back because the trail is narrow and the bike traffic is one way. It took me a long to work up the nerve to go around.

I may be smiling on the outside....

but I'm whining on the inside.

There was too much mud to ride my favorite trail. So I rode to Sarasota on the Legacy Trail instead. Booriiiiing!!!!

So, I was wondering, why does the turtle cross the road?

I did stop for a break here...

Some people were actually swimming in that pond. I'm pretty sure they are crazy cause I've been around here long enough to know that
South Florida + body of water = alligator.

But I did go swimming here after my ride:

Still beautiful. BP hasn't got here yet.

mirkwood

critters

In the past few weeks I have had lots of run ins with various critters, starting with the first deer on the trail. Since then, while on my bike, I have seen four more deer. Two were really close. One was a cute little fawn with spots, and the larger one actually brushed my elbow as I rode by.

Next, on my bike I saw a really BIG gopher turtle. And a little baby turtle that fit in the palm of my hand. (I moved him off the trail.) Also, some snakes, and many dragonflies, spiders, and birds.



Then, at home, I was sitting out front with Derek, when a squirrel casually walked right up to us. He just kind of hung out with us for a few minutes, then walked away. Also at home, it seems that lately, whatever room I'm in, whatever I'm doing, at least 2 out of 4 pets are with me. As I type this, Lucky is sitting in the chair with me purring and nudging me to pet her. April has already made herself home on top of the computer desk. In the driveway today, a dragonfly flew up and landed on my arm. He stayed with me for a few minutes. I called Angelo over to see my new tattoo.

Next, is the beach. In the water, I had the smallest fish follow me around.He was so cute. A dragonfly shared my towel for quite a while. And we got the biggest kick watching the crabs come out of their holes to eat love- bugs. They are so funny when they run sideways, and make scary legs at each other. Finally, we were laying on the blanket for awhile, when we turned over to see a giant bird, standing not four feet away.

He was closer than the picture looks.

today

This is harder than it looks. Coming from a hill and my bike wants to fly.....

randomness

Just keepin' the old blog alive...Next Sunday I am going to the Caloosahatchee River to ride. I hope it is sunny and a little warmer then it was today. Man that wind is really cold.

I did this too...and it was funny

trek demo

G and I went to the trek demo in Inverness today. The weather was beautiful, and the trail was so much fun. It led to the state park and we got to take the mountain bikes off-road. It was a good ride with lots of trees and hills.  All in all we rode about 12 miles.And I found my perfect bike. My dream bike. :)
Lots of $.   :(

beautiful birds

yippee
-the weather was beautiful, so we made a day of it-

• we went to sarasota jungle gardens and had a nice time. the parrots were beautiful

• one of the flamingos was very angry at me and tried to eat my sweater

• we went to the muscle car museum, here is a picture of ang with one of his favorites

• we had a picnic lunch by the water and watched dolphins and pelicans (of course the batteries in the camera died)
  

- we took a LONG bike ride around town and got some errands done at the same time. (Petco, blockbuster, the bike store, walgreens) Dummy me didn't bring the camera, but on the ride we saw a medium sized alligator, a medium size snake, and some type of hawk. The hawk was sitting on a stop sign just watching and waiting for someone with a camera.

- we rode our bikes to the park to play basketball. This time I brought my camera. Used the timer on it for the first time to take our picture on the basketball court. It is crooked because the camera was sitting on my bike seat:




I had to take a picture of this weed just because it is one of the biggest weeds I have ever seen. Bigger than my bike. covered in thorns, too.


We also went to the farmer's market, and bought some fantastic tomatoes and some other goodies. I made the best version of the butternut squash soup yet. Here it is so I don't forget:
1 or 2 florida sweet onions
a few cloves of fresh garlic
2 cans cut up tomatoes (no salt)
4 or 5 small butternut squash (or 1 or 2 med or large) -peeled and cut up
1 can white beans (no salt) -cannelini or white kidney or any mild bean -undrained
about one cup chopped carrots
3 bay leaves
2 TBS no salt seasoning
water
1 cup plain soymilk
1/2 cup cashews
cayenne pepper
1 bunch fresh kale - washed and chopped into bite sized pieces

roast the whole onions and garlic cloves (still in skin) in the toaster oven @ 400 degrees (garlic- about 30 min, onions- about an hour)
meanwhile- clean and chop the other veggies, and let the cashews soak in the soymilk

when the garlic is done, remove it and peel the skins
add the garlic to a big soup pot along with the undrained tomatoes , undrained beans, no-salt seasoning, bay leaves, squash, and carrots
when the onion is done, peel it and add it to the soup pot
add enough water to cover
bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 30 min, until the squash and carrots are done -if it isn't already, turn the heat to low
remove the bay leaves, and add some cayenne pepper or white pepper (I usually cover the top of the soup)
*stick the cashews and soymilk in the blendtec and blend until smooth
add them to the soup pot, and blend the whole thing with an immersion blender
add the kale, cover, and turn off the heat
let stand for about 10 min before eating to allow the kale to cook

happy new year

New Years Day: making two soups and a bike ride...
First the soup. Here are most of the ingredients.


Split Pea Soup (based on a recipe by fat free vegan) This soup is so easy. Chop the veggies in the food processor, and toss everything in the pot to simmer for an hour or so.


At the end, I added some spinach and blended the whole thing up.


I also made Butternut Squash Soup. It has to be some of the best soup I have ever eaten. My only regret is that I did not note which website I got the recipe from, so I can't give proper credit. Anyway, here goes: Peel and chop an onion and 2 or 3 garlic cloves. Cut up and peel 2 small butternut squash.

Saute the onions and garlic for a few minutes in the soup pot. Add 2 cans of diced no-salt added tomatoes, a tablespoon of thyme, and a bay leaf. Let that start to simmer, then add the squash and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until done. meanwhile, blend 1 cup of plain soymilk and 1 cup of cashews (sorry, mom) in the blendtec. When the squash is soft, begin to blend with an immersion blender. Add the soymilk mixture and blend until smooth. Not too sweet like most butternut squash soups. Could use a little cayenne pepper or maybe white pepper, but really it is just fine the way it is.





Now for the fun part, the bike ride :) The weather was really nice again, cool and breezy, but warm in the sunshine.We decided to ride the Port Charlotte 'Beach'. Pretty pathetic as far as Fl beaches go, but it is peaceful, and nice to sit by the river. More importantly, it is within biking distance.
This is part of the route, just a random shot.

This is a bridge we cross:



We call it the bat-bridge cause there is a large (flock? gaggle? pride? herd?) bunch of bats that live underneath it.



When we got to the beach we found a some trees and parked ourselves for awhile.



We got there just in time to see some dude launch this:






And then he was gone....