dad mum and jeannette

dad mum and jeannette
Originally uploaded by nikkiknoll

Here's my dad, mum and jeanette kotopoulis sitting in the den on Walnut Street

me and memere

nikki and memere
Originally uploaded by nikkiknoll

iconic clothes - we both were photographed over and over again in that sweater and her coat...I have a mask on my lap...could it be halloween?

nikki and cheezits

nikki and cheezits
Originally uploaded by nikkiknoll

Another slide...the genetic power of cheez-its is about as strong as the wallpaper in my grandparents' house on Chestnut St.

nikki in swing

nikki in swing
Originally uploaded by nikkiknoll

Found some slides at my grandparents and had them converted. Here I am in the backyard of my first house on Chestnut Street

front yard

We love the pavers that were put in on the side of the house!!!

the latest addition to the front garden

a pinder palm

close up of the traveler's palm - love the way the sunset hits this every night!

Garden update

Our pineapples are LOVING the rainy seaon

the ground orchids are shooting out their last blooms of the season

our second batch of strawberries are even sweeter than the first

and the banana plant that was left for dead during the relandscaping is THRIVING like never before - our fence is 7 feet high!

One of us has on make up...

Karis was busy getting ready for her play at church and decided to break out some make up

On the other hand I was battling a cluster headache and trying to figure out how I was going to make it...this photo makes it all better!

The Chef give autographs

This morning was filled with bacon, pancakes and cooking with Dad. The chef took out a couple moments to give her adoring fan (aka Mom) an autograph. Thank you very much!

And then the Chef twirled around and fell down, slippers are slippery! What a great way to start the weekend!

eggs

So excited to make the magic happen!
K loved dipping back and forth
I love the chubby fingers with the chipping nail polish. She's a big girl but she still has little girl fingers...

She made this one green for Earth Day - it said "I ♥ the world."
My green baby!
The masterpieces!

Movie Night at Fairchild Garden

Here's Tim and I dancing by the pond...
I made him do it
The garden has some of Botero's pieces on display - I have a crush on this one! Wonder why?
The moon came up over the movie screen and was GORGEOUS!!! We saw Hoot and a great time was had by all!!!

Ladybugs in the new garden

The Castano's came by and we broke out the ladybugs that have been in our fridge for a couple of weeks

We had about 1500 bugs in a bag - loving beneficial insects on the hibiscus, we released them to eat the aphids and white flies.
Joy was enthusiatically doing her part - love that girl!

Zac, a golden boy inside and out, was good naturedly letting the ladybugs crawl all over him - notice the one by his ear, next to his glasses?
Elijah wasn't sure about all this - but flashed me a cute grin anyway...you never know what'll happen when you stop by our house!

fruits in our yard

Couldn't resist the hanging basket of strawberries to match my hanging basket of cherry tomatoes.

The strawberries bring back memories of picking at Brookdale's in Hollis, NH
I've got my eye on this one!
Here are our twins...
pineapples, here we come!

my favorite palm

This is the new and improved view off of the kitchen...introducing the old man palm!
He got all dressed up for his introduction!

This guy needs a name - any suggestions? Leave it in the comments!












(to distract you from the gutter repairs going on behind him)
This is evidence that I have too much time on my hands or that I'm avoiding decluttering my bench or that I miss making snowmen...











his nose is a cycad seed - that's a plant that has survived since the dinosaurs - makes a great nose a la Jimmy Durante

Palm Special

When we moved to Miami 4 years ago and bought a house, I couldn't believe there wasn't a palm on the property. After all, how can you live in paradise without a palm??? I love the sound of the wind whishing through the fronds, it's my happy place.

So, a couple of years ago, I asked for a palm as a little Mother's Day present. I got something else which was wonderful, but no palms. Time has gone by and no palms, but in the last week we've become the lucky owners of 7 palms - totally worth the wait!!!


For the most part palms are not native to Florida - surprised? They are from Africa and Asia mostly. Here's another factoid - palms are not trees - they are more like grasses. Interesting? I'm just a fount of information on any given topic and loads of fun at cocktail parties, really! So here's a tour of some of new palms, as promised, Mom.


This is a bottle palm - commonly from Cuba - it reminds me of the milk bottle at the Children's Museum in Boston - only smaller and without ice cream.



Native palm - cocothrinax radiata aka Florida Thatch Palm
Pimento palm = the middle sticks up like red pepper sticking out of an olive, makes me think of Tim's granny
Bismarkia - this will be huge someday and very silvery green - luv it!

bottle brush blues

I have the bottle brush blues...
These are the trees over our back fence
commonly known as bottle brush trees - get it?
They make me sneeze!