A short stay in Tampa

Tampa, FL

We have made it to our home in Tampa. I love our little house and the back yard gardens.

When we first arrived 4 winters ago we gutted the house and re-modled each room. The most exciting and important rooms were the bathroom and kitchen. While making decisions of cabinets etc I was interested in IKEA, Stewart was not at all. So I took off to IKEA one evening about 2 miles from our house. The kitchen possibilities are endless there. While there I started talking to this gentleman (from Hungry) Zoltan Bognor, and come to find out he installs IKEA kitchens. We exchanged phone numbers. To make a long story short, Zoltan, ended up installing everything, built our stockade fence, veranda and floors, etc. A wonderful man and now a friend.

Last year, when planning the landscape my focus was on butterflies. I started studying about host plants, larva plants for the different varieties. Different varieties are attracted to different plants. I went out to USF botanical gardens and talked with the people there and then started visiting nurseries in the area. I really wanted to plant non invasive plants that are indigenous to this area. This goal took me to an hours drive out to a nursery that focuses on native plant material. There I was guided by experts in the field.

After planting, a few days later I noticed more butterflies mating and then caterpillars started to appear and eating their way through the food I had planted. It was working, I was so excited. I carefully watched the caterpillars when one day I got to watch one in the making of its chrysalis. I surprised to see how quickly it happens and was amazed by the beautiful color of green with gold stripes it was becoming. For a few weeks I would walk around the garden looking for chrysalises and caterpillars. At one point I had 12 caterpillars and 8 chrysalises. I was thrilled. One day I walked outside and noticed the green had changed to black and I could see a little orange. I took off to grab my camera and recorded the chrysalis opening up and a beautiful butterfly slowly balanced itself on the empty, paper thin chrysalises. It took a few hours before the wings dried enough to fully open up to be able to fly. Now I’m hooked. There have been times when I’m walking in the garden and I’m dodging the butterflies… We sit in the shade watching them for hours noticing the different approaches to the flowers depending on the species. Last fall we had
7 different varieties. Now a word of advice if you choose to grow plants for butterfly reproduction.

The caterpillar eats the flower, leaves and stems of the larvae plant. So if you don’t want to look at a chewed up, dead looking plant, this is not for you.

We really like where we live in Seminole Heights. It’s a old area centered in the middle of the city. Lots of bungalows and ranch style homes. All affordable. The community is around 7,000 people. We were fortunate to meet our neighbors a few days after arriving and have become dear friends along with many more. We were welcomed into the community with ease. There is an organization here that started 30 plus years ago having pot luck dinners on Wednesday nights. They call it Friends Dinner, so any time I go, I’ll be sure to meet more people. Once a month there is a bigger theme party, they call Porch Party. This month is a chili competition, I had no idea there could be so many different kinds. There are meetings about safety (community crime watch) and cleanup the street gatherings. A very active community which has made it easy to live there.

Another place I like to spend my time is at Bush Gardens. It is 5 miles from us. I am not an amusement park kinda gal but I love the landscaping that changes seasonally and the animals.They do a spectacular job on holiday lights. I’m particularly attached to Orangutans and Chimpanzees. There are special events and good music from time to time. On hot days I might ride on one of the water rides.

Stewart and I love to go to St Pete beach and have found an old shack like building on the bay that serves local shrimp. We go there all the time and love to watch football while peeling shrimp.

Stewart rides his bike with a friend Roger they take off and explore different areas that are more bike friendly than the streets in the city. One place they like to ride is a trail that goes through different towns close to the water and they also ride on a trail that takes them across the causeway from Tampa to St Petersburg.

The few weeks we were here we visited with friends and got ready for our trip to Spain.