My "haul" from the trade show. I have no idea of the specific names of these orchids, I just know that they are beautiful. The tall, spiky one with the burgandy flowers has a light, almost rose like scent. Most roses have no scent at all, so that was a nice surprise.

It's going to be cold tonight, so into the house they come!

SOARING!

Jacki took a glider ride today, and I got to go along and watch. Here she is getting strapped in, and ready to go. There are controls in the front for her to operate, although she elected to let the pilot do that job!

Being towed into the sky. You can see that the glider wings are very long and skinny. The gliders weigh almost nothing and are easy to push around on the ground.

Returning to the gliderport.

Jacki gets air and motion sickness very easily, but she said this didn't bother her until they came in for landing. She took pictures from her vantage point, and I image she will have them on her blog soon.

http://jackiwolfe.blogspot.com/

It's cold out there! This is the scene that greeted Steve as he entered the processing facility for our peat mine/composting business. There is a wastewater treatment plant next door, and this is their sprayfield. (Keeping all the smelly businesses together seems to be the theory) It got down to 24 degrees on Wednesday night, so there was ice everywhere. Very unusual for Florida!

Plant overload! That's the best way to describe this show. Growers and nurserymen from all over the world bring their best plants to exhibit, and hope a plant buyer shows some interest. Then people like us, who supply the growers, exhibit also and hope the growers have an interest in us. There is so much to see, that walking through the show is almost overwhelming, especially if you are there for the first time.

Bromeliads (left), and the infamous neon palm tree. This tree shows up at just about every show, and is a landmark for the booth owner.

Orchids are very popular, and there was every type imaginable on display. At the end of the show, many of the growers sell their plants, rather than pay to ship them back home. I always end up with several new items.

This is a HUGE carniverious plant.(right) I tried to buy one, but this particular grower wasn't interested in selling unless I bought a case of 24. Um, no thanks!

We just got back from Ft Lauderdale, FL, where we participated in TPIE, a trade show for our business. We have been exhibiting at this show for many years, and although it's a lot of work, it is fun also. The Convention center is part of Port Everglades, so we watch the cruise ships come in and out, and all the other activity on the intercoastal waterway. This is a picture taken from the bridge over the Intercoastal, looking north.

This is the sculpture in front of the convention center. You can see the very top of a cruise ship in the background.

Below is our booth. We have various types of potting mixes presented, so people can see and touch them. We also have a dvd playing, detailing our operation, and normally Steve, Mike and Ray are in the booth or out on the floor talking to customers.

Hovercraft

Our nephew, Nick has been working on this Hovercraft for over a year, and he finally got it to the stage of putting it in the water and giving rides. He is very proud of his hard work, as he should be! It is powered with a small airplane engine in the back, and the engine in the front, blows air down, and allows the hovercraft to "hover' just above the water. It is very loud so ear protection is a must!

Here we are, getting ready to take off. Since there is no prop, you can start on dry land, and go from there. That is our beach, and some cypress trees in the background. Normally there would be water up to the trees, but it has been extremely dry and the lake is way down. The ride was a lot of fun, but you do get wet. It was a beautiful warm Florida winter day.

This is our nephew Jesse. He is 7 and afraid of nothing!

Happy New Year!

For everyone who is weary of winter already. Christmas cacti, and an orchid of some type. The Cacti is about 3 foot across and I have several this size. I don't do anything special to them. They are just very happy on my porch, and they actually bloomed at Christmas this year, instead of Dec 10 like they usually do!