Surprise blooms, Strawberries, Dr. Seuss, and Sponges

All of the above happened this week.  I will start with the surprise blooms.

My orchid, which I bought a year ago here in Florida, finally bloomed!  It has had buds on it since December, and I was starting to fear that they would never open. I thought that orchids were difficult to grow, much less try to accomplish that while being on the road.  Someone told me once that different water and light does not matter to orchids, but that what is important is that they feel safe.  That I could give my orchid!   Course I worried that since we have been boarding our daughter's cat Zelda the plant may not feel very safe.  So far she has killed one plant and chewed off half the leaves on my shamrock. My Christmas cactus has been happy, despite the presence of the cat.  It usually blooms once a year, before Thanksgiving.  As you can see in the picture above, it is currently full of blooms.

We picked strawberries last Monday at Hunsader Farms in Bradenton, Florida.  Our grandson Nathan joined us in the fields, however he ate more than he picked.  Since that day he is still looking for strawberries whenever we walked near any brush or grass.

Next to the Sunken Gardens is a children's museum, Great Explorations Inc.  We had been wanting to visit that museum for some time.  The birthday celebration of Dr. Seuss was happening there this past week, so it seemed a good time to visit the place with Nathan.  He was not enamored with Cat in the Hat, but there were many other activities which caught his attention while visiting the museum.  It is a great place mainly for preschoolers, and has a preschool on the premises.

Saturday John and I revisited Tarpon Springs.  You may remember from another posting that the town is known for its harvesting of sponges.  The bike pictured above is decorated with them.  We explored the town a bit more because in the past we have only walked along its docks.  We found the Tarpon Springs, in another section of town.  And near that area is the historic section of town where we discovered St.Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral.  Built in 1943 it is the replica of St. Sophia's in Constantinople (now Istanbul).

Fortunately a wedding was going to occur about 15 minutes after we arrived, so we were able to take a brief look at the inside of the church.  It is quite an awesome cathedral with its icons, numerous stained glass windows and 3 large chandeliers from Czechoslovakia.