1.21.2013

A Winter Walk + Star Fruit Stamps

Temperatures have been all over the board here in southwest Florida, ranging from near 80 one day and then dropping down to the 40s the next night! Today, we had a near perfect weather day. It was sunny and cool with a light breeze, and warm in the sun. The ideal day for a slow, winter walk.
So late this afternoon, the girls loaded up their babies in strollers, and I strapped on my camera, and we set out around the neighborhood to see what we could see. Mostly, I was snapping pictures of trees, trying to really notice the details of my landscape in winter... as here in Florida, the seasons are marked much more subtly than in most places. Pictured above is an ear tree (it has funny ear shaped seed pods), one of the few trees that loses its leaves in winter.
 This is a mango tree, in bloom. They flower in winter, and by June or July bear delicious, edible fruits.
And this is a fishtail palm. Those braid-like chords hanging down are the tree's fruit (not edible but so pretty).
This canopy of oaks is still holding on to a lot of its leaves, though many have fallen. I love the variety of trees right in my neighborhood!
A neighbor has a starfruit tree in full fruit production, so we helped ourselves to a few fallen fruits. The girls brought their camera to shoot our walk too (bloggers-in-training!).
When we returned home, I sliced up the fruit for the girls to use, with paint, as stamps.
A painting of a starfruit tree, made entirely of starfruit stamps. Sweet!