Lots of Fruit

Now that the mangoes are winding up (at least what we can reach) the other stuff is kicking in. I think the tiny fruits are just waiting for a little rain and then they will ripen overnight! When we first moved here it was a great aguacate year but we didn't realize the how's and when's of harvesting them. We now know they can be stored on the tree and ripened when we want them. It was a bad mango year the first year so we didn't figure them out until this year. I have to harvest them and keep them in the fruit bowl for a week or two and then they are perfect! Last year we waited til they dropped (which meant they were overripe) and then cut out the smashed part. This year is the year to figure out the guayabas. Last year they turned pink and dropped and had worms. Do you pick them green? When is the perfect time? If I wait for the birds they are overripe and wormy. Ah, learning when to pick stuff is, well, a learning process. So I have a little time before the Guavas are ripe. I'll probably try to make some flakey pastries or something since they are really too sweet for me to enjoy as juice or fresh. Still, to see these little fruits is exciting whether or not I like them.

This is a kumquat tree that is only a foot tall or so and has about 8 fruit on it amazingly! I don't know how big the fruit should be. Since the tree is tiny should I try to eat one now? I think I'll wait awhile. I'll have to research whether or not they turn color or stay green.

Finally we've got some pomegranites. This tree started out only about 6 or 8 inches tall and is now a good 7 feet or so. The first fruits fell off (which isn't unusual for small trees) so it is nice that we will hopefully get some good ones!

The pomegranite (grenada) tree is really more like a bush. It has little thorns all over.

The coffee is still very green - I know I have to wait for it to turn red before harvesting but when will that be? We need some rain.

When I first planted lechosa (papaya) we ended up with probably 30 bearing trees and had a papaya a day just about. I got sick of them and cut them down after they fruited. I have since planted more but have a higher percentage of males this time. Still, we are starting to get fruit again already! The blossoms are really pretty.

Nice little fruits that will take several months to mature.

I few big ones that should be sweet. Last year there was a lot of rain shortly after I planted the seeds and we ended up with some watery fruit. Later the fruit got better. This year we haven't had rain so I think the fruit will be very sweet.

The fruit schedule seems off a lot from last year. Last year the quenepas (my favorite fruit I think) were finished by mid-July. This year they are kind of sweet but not very fleshy. If we get some rain they may plump up. The avocados aren't near ready but we've got scads of anones of some kind (little hand grenade looking things) that we didn't have last year. It is interesting that there is so much variation from year to year. Which year is the odd one?

Big Stuff

BIG DESIGN for an insect to make...

BIG BEE flying...

BIG BEE with pollen head...

BIG BEE butt (I'm always talking about big bees and there they are. They wake me up in the morning and that is how I know something nearby is blooming!)

BIG LEAF on the Moralon tree...

BIG SLOPE where the arboretum is taking shape...

BIG PARCHA MOUND on a couple dead stumps...

BIG POT for a small cat...

BIG PUPIL (aka Big Eye or Sci-Fi Eye).

That's it for big stuff today!

Big Fish at Crashboat

I speared this African Pompano last Wednesday. It put up a good fight. When I shot it I let go of my speargun and watched it zoom away. At the surface I watched the float line whip past me and I wondered when it would stop. The line was taken all the way out and I grabbed the float. I was being pulled out to sea by this fish. It stopped and I started swimming back in. I made a little progress then it started pulling me back out. It stopped and I was able to swim back to the pilings. I pulled in the float line and grabbed the fish with all my might. I put the stringer in and cleaned the fish then took a good rest before continuing my spearfishing. If I didn't have float line and float I would have lost the fish and gun for sure. I never would have been able to pull the fish to the surface on one breath of air. The fish tasted great!

Convento Cueva in Florida and a Nearby Cavern

The plan was to meet Ivan and a few other new cavers in Florida PR and visit Balcones (first cave we ever went into) and then explore a couple nearby ones. We were a little late (unlike us - sorry) and arrived at the meeting place only to find that it was Ivan and us! We drove to the location, got the key from the gate keeper, drove in, got the gear on and walked for 30 minutes or so on sort-of trails. Ivan had survey tape to mark trees to make the return less confusing. The walk was up and down and up and down with HUGE palm trees, bromeliads, flowers, ferns and all the beautiful wild plants that in the states you see as house plants or will never see at all. We arrived at Convento - which is not the Convento Cueva we went to before (that one was in Penueles). At first I didn't think it would be interesting because it was dry, didn't have a river, no ropes were needed, and the entrance was HUGE and I like the tiny tunnels and holes (maybe I was a rat in a former life). Boy was I surprised!

This cave was the most decorated we have been in ever. The formations were massive, sparkly with calcite, drippy, ornate, and just plain beautiful. I love being underground (or underwater) anyway, but with formations like these the mind just goes to another place! Jeff is examining a column here. Look at the scale of things. Look at the decorated ceiling.

Here he is taking a closer look.

Ivan is walking under some pretty neat stalactites here. The whole cave was kind of steamy in spots and the whole cave had ceiling decorations like these.

Ivan is traveling through some guano to another room.

Near the entrance he found a bat on the ground that had fallen. I think he put out a finger and the little feet attached to him. Aren't they kind of cute?

Look at that little face! What looks like a horn on his nose is a soft tissue protrusion. We could see all the veins in the wings and could look close up at the little feet. Ivan placed it on a stalactite since bats cannot fly from the ground (something I did not know). At the entrance we also rescued a couple baby swallows that had fallen and couldn't climb the slope. We gave them a ride up the slope to a place they could walk/run/fly from.

These formations look like ice to me. Why doesn't Disneyland have a simulated cave system ride? I swear caving is like an amusement park.

Jeff is looking up at the "tooth" formation -not a real name, but I think they look like gnarly twisted teeth. The next spot we went was really a cavern and neat in its own way but really open without any real rooms or decorations. The day turned out to be wonderful and a huge thank you to Ivan for bringing us out there!