Friday Foto Friends

We took a little ride one morning this week to the Kenwood Recreation Area, which is just a few miles south of where we live:

If you can read the information on this sign, you will see that this area is where the infamous Cross Florida Barge Canal project ended.

For more information on the "Cross Florida Barge Canal" original project, click on this link below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjorie_Harris_Carr_Cross_Florida_Greenway

Where we were standing was in the "completed portion of canal" and the west end of the Rodman Dam area:

And this is how it looks:

These pictures are taken from the boat ramp, looking out into the canal.

Wish we had a boat, so we could explore a little further out there.  There was a nice man there getting ready to put his boat into the water and go do some fishing, but of course we didn't ask him to take us along for a ride. I'm sure we would've scared the fish away. LOL.  Although I must say, while we were standing there on the dock, we saw at least three fish jump right out of the water...too fast for a photo, of course, but they made a big splash, so I am assuming they were big ones!  I hope the fisherman had a good day!

WATER HYACINTH: FLORIDA'S WORST FLOATING WEED:   Click on that link for more info.

It may be pretty to look at, but it is a serious problem in our canals and waterways.  "The transportation, importation, collection, possession, cultivation, or sale of water hyacinth (a Noxious Weed) is illegal in Florida".   

This was trying to crowd around the canal, and if left to its own, it will totally take over the waterway. 

This is a Yellow Pond Lily, and according to what I was reading in this link, it is an edible plant!

"As a perennial food source[edit]

Nuphar lutea has a long history of usage as a valued food source. The field of archaeobotany documents this species’ tubers and charred seeds present in Vologda River digs in northern Russia since Early Neolithic times (ca 10,000 years BCE).^[24] The author of Edible and Medicinal Plants offered the following summary of this species’ wide usage in the Native American diet, where harvesting was done by canoe in late summer and early autumn:

Native people gathered the thick rootstocks in winter and spring, boiled or roasted them for several hours, then peeled them to expose their sweet, gluey contents. Rootstocks were also sliced, dried and ground into meal or flour. The starchy seeds can be difficult to remove, so the tribes rotted the fruits until the pods became soft. The heated seeds swell like poor-quality popcorn, making a crunchy snack.”^[25]

I saw this lovely "White Peacock" butterfly flitting about.  Sadly it looks as if she's seen better days, but she was still lovely to me.

This is a popular fishing area, so better be aware of the regulations for how many largemouth bass you are permitted to catch and keep!

After we spent a few minutes walking around the boat ramp park area, we decided to head back home. On the way into the park was this little farm with some cattle grazing in the field:

Hubby stopped the car to let me get out and take a few photos.  The cows didn't seem to mind at all. They just kept doing what cows do...eating and chewing their cud. LOL.

This fellow was having a lazy day.  I thought for sure he'd get up and say howdy...

But no, he just sat there 

and said "take as many pictures as you want, but don't ask me to leave my comfy spot in this dirt. I'm relaxed and happy and ain't nothing going to make me mooooove!"

And so with that we bid farewell to the other cows and left them to their "work". 

Bye Bye Cows!

The End! LOL.

Well, almost the end.  I got in the moooood  (still talking cow talk) to bake some bread! Once in a blue mooooon I get the hankering for some good homemade bread.  However, lest you think I'm vying for the homemaker of the week award....

You should know that I cheat a little bit...I use this wonderful old "West Bend" bread machine that my parents gave me probably well over 20 years ago.  It still works just fine, probably because I don't use it that much, and it makes the best bread.  I know, it's not the same as kneading it yourself and doing all that work, but for me it is very satisfying just smelling it bake and tasting that first warm piece of bread fresh out of the oven.  Maybe even toasted lightly with butter and cinnamon and a little sugar on it. Now that's a treat!!!!

Okay, time to get a "moooooove" on.  

I hope you have a lovely day.  Go find a cow to talk to. It can be very "moooooving".

Today's little devotional poem from that little teapot daily calendar says this:

Good Thoughts for today!! 

Let us tend and guard and be thankful for the "place" where God has set us!!

Amen.