Posted on June 14, 2021
When I last left off we were in the area that showcased the plants native to Florida with their beautiful waterfalls.
Today we are walking through the Enabling Gardens and heading through the water lily Gardens. Lastly we visited the Asian Gardens. The Enabling Gardens was a garden that showcased various gardening techniques from growing tomatoes, to various plants. The enabling gardens depicts gardening in raised beds so that the elderly, who love to garden, don’t have to get down on the floor level to weed the flower or vegetable bed. I am all for that at my age. It also showcases the option of sitting and wheelchair gardening. I loved the various choices that this garden had to give.




Moving beyond the enabling garden we moved towards the lily ponds with their vibrant and beautiful colors. Once again we saw beautiful depictions of roots in the metal artwork form.





Lastly we headed towards the Asian Gardens with their vibrant colors and beautiful and peaceful resting places. Richard found a bench where he waited for me while I was sidetracked.







I love to meander around the gardens. It takes time. We are out in the sun enjoying the beauty and to be honest forgetting about the heat that is bearing down on us. The sun in Florida is super strong. Make sure to put on your sunscreen. Wear sunglasses and use a hat to protect your face. If you have any form of skin cancer or like Richard, melanoma, then make sure you are wearing UV protective clothing when you are out in the sun. Australia, Florida, California are listed as the top 3 places for melanoma. I am going to add South Africa to that listed because where we grew up the climate is exactly the same. Make sure that you are checking your body for moles that look different., or a mole that may worry you. Melanoma, we are told can spill over and travel from a mole site to another organ and go dormant for years. In Richard’s case it was 34 years before the melanoma made itself evident again. Take Care of yourselves. Prevention is better than trying to cure Stage 4 cancer.
Thank you for joining me. You can also find me on Facebook, and Instagram.
Posted on June 11, 2021

Leaving the Caribbean Gardens we moved along through the River of Grass area towards the Karen and Robert Scott Florida Garden that features plants that are native to Florida and also plants from around the world that grow and thrive in the Florida Climate. The paths meander through this beautiful vegetation past man made water falls, and thatched roof huts. I don’t know the names of the plants but so many caught my attention.


Again the image of roots in amongst the garden were evident.




Gorgeous colors and beautiful Phalaenopsis could be seen growing from the trees.



The wildflowers made me think of happy faces blowing in the wind.


There were man made waterfalls in the gardens which lent to a very restful stop.



There is so much to capture your interest along your pathway. Vibrant colors and beautiful flowers. Scenic pathways and softly falling water. This was definitely a treat.
Just a reminder, the sun in Florida is super strong. Make sure to put on your sunscreen. Wear sunglasses and use a hat to protect your face. If you have any form of skin cancer or like Richard, melanoma, then make sure you are wearing UV protective clothing when you are out in the sun. Australia, Florida, California are listed as the top 3 places for melanoma. I am going to add South Africa to that listed because where we grew up the climate is exactly the same. Make sure that you are checking your body for moles that look different., or a mole that may worry you. Melanoma, we are told can spill over and travel from a mole site to another organ and go dormant for years. In Richard’s case it was 34 years before the melanoma made itself evident again. Take Care of yourselves. Prevention is better than trying to cure Stage 4 cancer.
Thank you for joining me. You can also find me on Facebook, and Instagram.
Posted on June 8, 2021
I left off at the Brazilian section of the gardens in my last post. Today we venture into the Caribbean Gardens.
The garden shows off the plant life of the Caribbean plantations rich with fruits such as banana plants, papaya plants. There is also succulents and cacti. Richard found a bench to hang out on while he was waiting for me.
Walk with me through this gorgeous garden and enjoy the beautiful creation of nature.



This Anhinga was set perfectly out on the lake sun tanning his wings. Anhinga are interesting. The are often known as a snake bird because that is all you see when they come up for air while fishing for their food. Once the bird is finished fishing it needs to find a place to dry it’s wings before it can fly any distance.


I spotted this pair of Osprey high up on the pole.

While I was busy taking photos, Richard walked ahead to find a shady spot to sit and wait.


Cacti that we found along the way.

As I mentioned before, Roots appear to be the artistic theme in the gardens right now and this is just another beautiful example of what we got to see.

The Caribbean gardens has this beautiful oolite pergola which held me up for a while.






Moving through the garden, Richard was diligent to keep his hat on and look for shady spots to stay out of the sun as much as possible. Before we headed out to the gardens, he lathered himself with Factor 50 sunscreen. We wanted to be able to enjoy this time together in the gardens.
If you are a sunseeker like we have been, please consider using sunscreen that provides a significant cover, watch out for odd looking moles, and educate yourself. Australia, Florida, California are listed as the top 3 places for melanoma. I am going to add South Africa to that listed because where we grew up the climate is exactly the same. See a dermatologist and get yourself checked out. Melanoma is one of the deadliest forms of cancer and we are dealing with this right now. This was the first thing I did since Richard came home. I am good, but the peace of mind is so worth it. At this point we have no idea if the medication Richard is on is working, so each day has become a memory making day.
Thank you for joining us. Look back for postings of the previous days.
You can also find me on Facebook, and Instagram.
Category: Travel Tagged: #anhinga, #flora, #nature, #naturelover, #naturephotographer, #naturephotography, #osprey, #outdoors, #sharleenstuartphotography, #travelphotography, Canon
Posted on June 6, 2021
It was my turn to choose this month and I decided to choose {Negative Space}. I am not sure if I related to the topic because our year so far has just been so negative or just because I really like the style of photography. If you read the previous two blogs you will know that we have decided to work on our bucket list of things we want to do. So we headed to Naples, Florida for a short 2 night away vacation.
I was not consciously thinking about negative space while we were in Naples, but I did manage to shoot a few of what I thought would fit the theme. The gardens were so peaceful and I thoroughly enjoyed walking around them.
According to Wikipedia Negative Space is “Negative space, in art, is the space around and between the subject of an image.” So here is my take on the {Negative Space} theme.






The next image was taken during a walk in the wetlands. I love to get down low with the boardwalk railings and shoot whatever is lying on them. This was an interesting combination of possible leaves, flower and some mucky looking stuff.

The image below is taken out in the garden after the rain. We have these rather annoying multcolored leaves all over the back garden which drop their leaves when they die. Ever since I had to be invested in the garden I have been trying to catch these leaves before they hit the floor and make a mess. However, when it rains the leaves hold perfect waterdrops, and often the colors are just so soothing.

And last but not least, this image was taken in my “home studio” which is made up of backing board and a few lights. Every so often I will buy fresh flowers and wait for them to die. I love the different shapes that they take.

This is my take on {Negative Space}. I know that we would love to see yours. It has been nice to get out and get away and think about something else rather than, health, life and what tomorrow brings. Nature is a soothing balm and a weekend away was just what we needed.
We have always been outdoorsy people. We have lived to be in nature. Life and death, has suddenly become very relevant in our lives right now as we focus on Richard’s health. If you are a sunseeker like we have been, please consider using sunscreen that provides a significant cover, watch out for odd looking moles, and educate yourself. Australia, Florida, California are listed as the top 3 places for melanoma. I am going to add South Africa to that listed because where we grew up the climate is exactly the same. See a dermatologist and get yourself checked out. Melanoma is one of the deadliest forms of cancer and we are dealing with this right now. Each day has become a memory making day.
This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented ladies in the group. The sneak peaks are stunning and I cannot wait to see the rest. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly artistic friend Ceri Herd Photography is up next is up next. I can wait to see what she has to share as I have seen some of her work recently and love it. I would encourage to have a look at what she has to offer. You can see more of her work by clicking on her Facebook page or Instagram page.
Come and share your images Facebook and Instagram tagging #sharesix_light inspired
Posted on May 6, 2021
Well this month crept up on my by surprise. I had my images but when a blog falls in the middle of the week, I get sidetracked. And seriously where the heck did May come from? April was probably the first month since Richard’s hospital stay that I have felt more comfortable heading out and leaving him home alone. Now I am sure he could have been home alone, but after the first crazy reaction to the infusion, I was honestly nervous and have stayed close to home. So far so good, and I am relaxing a little bit day by day. That aside, he is a little tired of me hovering and so it was good to get out.
So this months theme is {Light Inspired} and it was chosen by Janet Douglas of @wiredtothemoon_ and I am excited to see what everyone comes up with.
For me it was finding light in my walks.











It has been nice to get out again and walk and just breathe deeply for a while. However, the walks are going to have to happen earlier for me because the weather down south has quickly become oppressive and it gives the feel of a lot hot, potential hurricane filled summer. If it stays hot like this that ocean is going to be warming up significantly. Let’s hope not. In the meantime, I am going to try to do my best to get out and about a bit more.
This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented ladies in the group. The sneak peaks are stunning and I cannot wait to see the rest. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly artistic friend Ceri Herd Photography is up next is up next. I can wait to see what she has to share as I have seen some of her work recently and love it. I would encourage to have a look at what she has to offer. You can see more of her work by clicking on her Facebook page or Instagram page.
Come and share your images Facebook and Instagram tagging #sharesix_light inspired
Posted on April 30, 2021

Whoops this month crept up on me, and I am so late getting this done. I finally feel like we have some order in our house. Richard had his second infusion with no dramatic results, and I felt more comfortable leaving home and not have to worry about anything happening with him. He is having to deal with a rash on his body as a result of the immunotherapy.
This day I decided to go out and walk in the wetlands again. It’s been a while and it felt so good to get out there again. I took a long walk and 3 hours later when I got to the end I felt so less stressed.
I hope you enjoy the walk around the wetlands.












Thank you for joining me this month. This is a circle blog so take some time to view what the other artist has for you this month. My friend Lupji of LUPJi Photography is up next. I look forward to reading what he has to share.
Posted on April 26, 2021
It’s April, and we have been living under a cloud since mid February, and practicing day to day living. I have not vocalized what the the cloud is, just mentioned that Richard was in hospital. The black cloud we are living under is Stage 4 Metastasized Melanoma. For us this came out of the blue. Richard had been diagnosed with a melanoma in 1987 and had had it removed, a skin graft done, radiation etc. One year later he was back at the doc and they had to remove his lymph nodes. For the next 5 years he was observed and after 5 years, he was NED – no evidence diagnosed. For the last 34 years we have lived as we always had, on the coast, in the sun, paddleboarding, kayaking, camping, suntanning and changing color. We both love the outdoors, and spend a lot of time in the sun. The sun makes me feel good, a color change makes me feel like a new person.

The news we got on February 15th took a lot of processing. We are told that sometimes melanoma can spill to the organs and go dormant for years. On finding out this news you go through stages of disbelief, anger, fear, acceptance, and what’s next. What’s next is 2-3 years of immunotherapy every 3 weeks. He had a bad reaction to the first round and he ended up back in the emergency room after I called 911. Round 2 has gone well. The only side effect is a rash. Tomorrow he will have round 3.
I will confess to be hovering, checking in, wanting to have him leave me notes if he goes out. I think it is driving him nuts. But the reality is that I am worried about the “what if”.

Melanoma is one of the deadly cancers. Metastasized melanoma, means that it has gone from your skin, to your lymph nodes and organs. Richard has melanoma in his small intestine and in the lung. Stat rates are not great, but I believe we have a mighty God, and there is power in prayer. Richard has a multitude of people praying for him, for which I am very grateful.

Day to day living means you continue to work, but time off becomes time together. We are starting to say we need to begin checking off our bucket list. Despite Covid, we are going to start doing things together that takes us away, and out of town.

The other night I suggested that he join me to watch the sun set. He decided he would go walk along the edge of the canal and get his exercise in while I photographed the setting sun.

It was nice to arrive and see old familiar faces and to be able to chat to them. I have been concerned about going out for indefinite periods of time. So this was good for me. One of my good friends just recently lost her husband to cancer, so for me it was reassuring to see her smiling face and to see that she is looking so well.

It was also a good opportunity to meet new folks and to learn a little bit more about them. Richard returned just as the sun was setting and joined us as the sun went down. Chatted a little bit before we left. I know that these are the kind of evenings I want to share with him.

We have a bucket list that we want to get to ticking off. So in the immanent future we are lookin at a trip to Naples in Florida and not in Italy (unfortuantely). Richard would like to go for another sunset cruise, and I am always up for catching the setting sun. As soon as Australia opens up for visitors, Richard has said we need to go. He wants to see his mother and siblings. I have family over there that I would like to see as well.

So much has to change in what and how we do things. Eating habit have had to go almost to the side of vegetarian, lots and lots of my favorite (ugh) green veggies. One of the biggest things to go is sugar. Cancer apparently loves sugar.
Day to day, that is what we now know. Day to day becomes your visual image. While we will plan ahead, we are also limited to the medication regime and the side effects.
So today is my 30 minutes with my husband watching the sun set, and praying that the medication does what it needs to do. If you are a sunseeker like we have been, please consider using sunscreen that provides a significant cover, watch out for odd looking moles, and educate yourself. Australia, Florida, California are listed as the top 3 places for melanoma. I am going to add South Africa to that listed because where we grew up the climate is exactly the same. See a dermatologist and get yourself checked out. This was the first thing I did since Richard came home. I am good, but the peace of mind is so worth it.
Thank you for joining me for another 30 Minutes in the Life. This is a circle blog. It’s a small circle this month. Please follow the link to see what my very talented friend, Janet Crouch Photography, has to share this month.
Posted on April 6, 2021

This month’s theme was chosen by Liz of It’s Still Life Photography by Elizabeth Willson. The theme is “Growth”
In the last 8 weeks I have grown in ways that are hard to describe. When you receive news that is heart stopping you have two choices, to fall down or grow up. I had to grow up. But it is hard to put that kind of growth into images. It is the heartbreaking, soul destroying news that leaves you wondering what is next. Next becomes day to day. How do I do day to day, I am not sure.
I have taken up gardening. Not by choice but because it has become a necessity for me to take over responsibilities that Richard cannot do right now. I really don’t enjoy it, but it has to be done so I have done it. Last week I picked up all the leaves, and weeded the garden. This week I cut both front and back grasses. While I was outside I spotted these flowers shooting up from the ground. Emerging out of my gardening experience, is my theme {Growth}. The best part about it is that my Sims came out and joined me while I was lying in the garden taking the pic.
Some years ago we must have planted Amaryllis bulbs. I recall getting some in a vase and when the flowers died we planted the bulbs in the garden and forgotten about them. Just like the St Joseph Lilly’s, the Amaryllis blooms around Easter time. This year they are a little early and the St Joseph Lilly’s are a little late but they open up into such beautiful plants that I was so happy to capture them while they were in their growth stage.







Growth happens and we have no choice but to go along with it or falter. We as a family have chosen to grow with our current situation and to embrace each day as it comes along. Tomorrow is a new day and we want to make the most of each day so that life is made up of memories that we can enjoy and embrace.
This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented ladies in the group. The sneak peaks are stunning and I cannot wait to see the rest. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly artistic friend Kathy of KG Ledbetter is up next is up next. I would encourage to have a look at what she has to offer. You can see more of her work by clicking on her Facebook page or Instagram page.
Come and share your images Facebook and Instagram tagging #sharesix_frozen
Posted on March 31, 2021

I have pretty much been homebound since mid February. Richard came out of hospital after spending 10 days there. Recovery is a 6 week stretch if he can actually sit still and not damage any of the work that has been done. We all have a bit of cabin fever, however, I am trying not go out and catch anything as it could impact his immunity. So I have stayed home for the most part.
My best friend was flying into town from 3 days with her daughter and two grandsons. I really wanted to see her. She listens to me on the phone each day, and encourages me, laughs with me and picks me up when things are tough.
I decided I would go an spend some time with her. I took my camera along so that I could shoot the 3 images I would need for this week not thinking I would get my blog as well.

They were fishing at the pier. I have to confess that I was worried about too many people, and there were quite a few. However, I kept my mask on and did not touch or make contact with anyone. Brody, my friends 5 year old grandson, was attempting to fish, or perhaps his mother was encouraging him to attempt to fish. He never did catch anything but she really wanted him to have the experience of fishing off the pier.

The highlight of standing waiting for him to finish was the Pelican. They kept diving for the bait and the fishermen kept chasing them away.




I love the “Watch your step” sign. It is almost as if the Pelican was following the directions.

Look at the wingspan of the pelican. It is stunning. I love how the feathers are displayed both in the image above and the one below. Nature is so incredible, and these feathers give the bird the ability to fly. Wow.


This Pelican managed to find a tasty treat.

I was trying to inconspicuously get a photo of the fishermen in the image. Clearly I got caught out, but they did not seem to mind.


Something that really bugs me about fishing in general, is often the carelessness of leaving fishing gut wire around, and the birds get caught up in it. This bird, which looks like a Wilson’s Plover, appears to have it wrapped around both feet. Its feet look badly deformed and unfortunately we were not able to catch the bird to cut the fishing gut wire away. Nature is precious. I want people to take care of it and pick up anything they should not leave lying around.



In the picture above, the Pelican decided that there was a piece of fish under the bottom of the wooden railing and it tried to pull it out, but only succeeded in pushing it off and into the water.

This bird, which looks similar to a female Grackle, decided sushi was on the agenda for the day. It wasn’t content with just one piece, it stuffed a whole lot of bait into its mouth before flying off.

The Pelican below decided it was back for more fish. It grabbed the fish and turned to gobble it up and in the process dropped it, then looked down and spotted two of its Pelican buddies fighting for this tiny piece of fish.





The birds were fun and entertaining and to be honest their antics and the time with my friend was just what I needed to revive me. So much so that when we went to lunch I suddenly felt exhausted, and wanted to just take a nap.
Friends are a balm to your weary soul. They lift you up when you are down. They encourage you to hang in there and to stay strong. Good friends are what you need when your world is suddenly turned upside down. I am so grateful for my friend.
Thank you for joining me this month. This is a small group of bloggers so when one or two are out it seems like it is a quiet month for blogs however, this is a circle blog. Take some time to view what the other artist has for you this month. My friend Lupji of LUPJi Photography is up next. I look forward to reading what he has to share.
Posted on February 6, 2021
There are so many {Silver Linings} when I look back over the past year. Sure Covid is the pits. Wearing a mask is not fun. Not being able to hang out with your friends is super disappointing. However, slowing down has been good. Working from home even better. Not having to wake up early and drive an hour to get to work, is probably the best for me. But how do I put those into photographs?
Another {Silver Lining} is being available for the kids. Amy finally sold her condo (that is another whole story of delays and ridiculous events) but in preparation for the sale, they moved in with us, along with Snow and Rory, their two rescue cats. We are now a house of 4 adults, 4 rescue cats who don’t always see eye to eye. and one rescue bird that screeches all day. That said, it is good having them here. Richard has not been well the past 2 months and so it is another two people to talk to him, and help me to remember to not get stressed out and ask to many questions. Cameron was a silver lining when it came to moving Amy’s contents of her apartment to storage. He traveled 2 hours to come and help move furniture and was a tremendous support to us. Richard was just not up to moving heavy furniture
There are so many little things, but I was challenged a little bit on how to capture them all. In Florida, during covid, you are still able to go to the beach. While I am not actively going to the beach in the day time, I have been when there are limited people there. Amy told me that she was going to the beach one evening to do yoga and watch the Wolf Moon come up. I managed to convince Richard to go to a different beach to do the same. Here was my {Silver Lining}. The beach is open for us. In the evening there is not too many people. While the whole of the USA above Florida feels like the artic tundra, we could still go to the beach. The second part of the {Silver Lining} is that my theme for 52 Frames was Horizon, and the credit was for breaking the rule. I was really looking forward to the moon rising over the ocean.
So I talked Richard into going. He tried to talk me into going to watch the sunset. But no, the moon had it’s appeal. So I packed some cheese and crackers and a small container of wine, and headed off to meet him at work. From there we drove down to the beach.
Let’s talk about love. It is freezing cold, the wind is blowing, Richard hates, hates, hates the cold, and here he is sitting on the beach so that I am not there alone at night. Got to love the commitment here. We got there a little early and found a V in the sand dunes and huddled back in there to try and stay out of the wind. Below is my take on {Silver Lining}, a blustery day at the beach.




There were not too many people on the beach. I could probably count them on one hand. I am sure most of them had the same idea as I did. We all wanted to watch the giant moon come up over the ocean. While I was hanging out I took my 52 Frames image below.

Unfortunately, this was our view. The clouds formation just got bigger and bigger, and so we could not see the moon coming up to start with, and just when I got a glimpse of it emerging another cloud came over. I finally sent Richard back to the car, and waited another 10 minutes to no avail before I called it quits.

The plus side in all of this was I did manage to get one image of the sunset, which I will add looked beautiful driving home.

When I finally got home, I hung out in the driveway until the moon cleared and I was able to get an image of the full moon, before the clouds moved back across to cover it up. Just an aside, the moon reminds me of an orange. I have noticed this before when I have taken photos that there is this circle towards the right hand side, and then what appears to be lines of some sort spanning out from that circle. I have to wonder what that really is, besides my imagination.

I will confess that it was good to be home and inside out of the wind. That started a week of cold weather. The last couple of days have been windy and cold. Cold for this African born South Floridian. Today my fingers were like icicles. Not cold relative to what is happening up north though I am sure, and my heart goes out to all that are experiencing the snow and freezing cold weather.
I hope that you enjoy the {Silver Lining} theme. This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented ladies in the group. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly artistic friend Lynne of Lynne Grant Photography is up next. I would encourage to have a look at what she has to offer. You can see more of her work by clicking on her Facebook page or Instagram page.
Come and share your images Facebook and Instagram tagging #sharesix_silverlining
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