Winter Freeze Damage to Fruit Trees

About 10 days ago we had a dramatic visit from "Old Man Winter" which was quite unlike anything I have experienced in recent winters. Many winters give us a few nights of just below freezing for brief periods of time but this time we got four consecutive nights of temperatures below 20 degrees. One night this temperature lasted for over 8 hours. I have several good fruit trees planted around the back of my house. One is a nice white grapefruit; one is a pink navel orange (Cara Cara), one is a qumquat; two natural colored navel oranges; one Meyer Lemon tree and two recently planted pomelo (Chinese grapefruit) and some muscadine grape vines. The grape vines love the cold and will flourish after spring but my citrus trees just did not handle the cold very well.

Yesterday I picked all the fruit which remained on the trees and threw it into the woods behind my house for the varmints such as raccoon, possum, and foxes. We had harvested most of the oranges and juiced them for some yummy fresh OJ.

Now we just have to water these trees and wait for spring to see if they come out of their severe damage. Upon examination of the wood in the limbs I found only a few which seems to be damaged by bark splitting. I will probably have to begin pruning back the bad wood soon and wait with hope for restored greening of the other limbs. I doubt I will see many blossoms on any trees. The qumquat tree seems to have been totally killed so will probably cut it down and dig up the roots. I might plant something that is more "cold weather hardy".

Here are some pictures so you can see what happened in warm and sunny Florida.

FGS/AGS Conference at Little Rock

The Little Rock Statehouse Convention Center was buzzing with activity from September 2nd through September 5th, 2009. The hundreds and hundreds of avid genealogists were scurrying in and out of excellent presentations in an effort to hone their skills in this growing field. It would be unfair to try naming all the speakers and presenters. All the way from the Professional Management Conference on Wednesday through the final presentation on Saturday afternoon everyone was trying to get in that last minute presentation.

I was doing my duty as vendor booth manager for the Association of Professional Genealogists. This gave me an opportunity to meet new friends and give them information about APG and how they could become affiliated with the more than 1800 members worldwide. During this FGS Conference the APG organization gained 8 new members and received 3 membership renewals. At the suggestion of our Executive Director, Kathleen W. Hinckley CG, she brought a few dozen of the back-issues of the APG Quarterly to display and sell. This first time venture turned out to be a positive part of the booth in that we sold 40 copies to attendees.
The conference was our first opportunity to display the new APG banner behind our booth. It was a donation from the APG Florida Chapter. The colors blended very well with the booth colors of gold and black.
This particular conference was a time to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Association of Professional Genealogists. This was done very fittingly by a gathering of members and visitors on Tuesday evening following the annual roundtable meeting. A cake was cut and cookies were served along with appropriate beverages. A good time was had by all.

It is with great appreciation I wish to say "Thank You" to the more than two dozen volunteer members of APG who supported staffing the booth. This successful stay in Little Rock could not have happened without their capable assistance.
Now we have to set our sights on the annual National Genealogical Conference (NGS) which will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah beginning April 28th and continuing through May 1st, 2010 at the Salt Palace Convention Center. We will be looking for bigger and better inovations to be introduced at Salt Lake City.
Come by the booth and give us a big handshake and introduce yourself.

Vacationing in California

It was so very nice to just get away from the routine and spend a few days relaxing and doing some enjoyable things like biking around the campus of California State University at Fullerton. The campus was empty of students. There was a lovely arboretum and two bike paths which allowed lots of cool biking early in the morning. This all ended with a stop off at Starbucks for a cup of java. My biking partner was wife's brother-in-law, Edward P. Faulk. He works as a computer geek for Beckman Coulter of Fullerton. This company serves the medical community with high tech testing equipment. Ed loves his California and not sure if he will remain there after retirement or move to a quieter area.

My wife and I spent eight nights with her sister. They have a very comfortable travel trailer parked on their driveway. It was like our own motel during the night. We did some nice dining places around Fullerton and the greater Orange County area. I am attaching one of them with this blog. Ed's family loves Mexican food and the locally based restaurants are their haunts regularly.

This stop was just one of several we made in our round the country Amtrak trip.

Vacation in the Rocky Mountains

Here is where everyone should spend some time to just unwind and relax. I love bluegrass music. After finding out about an annual festival in Westcliffe, CO I made reservations for my wife and I to attend the 2009 High Mountain Hay Fever festival, July 9-12. We had a difficult time getting housing but finally found a cabin about 9 miles into the mountains at a place called Alpine Lodge. Wonderful scenery in all directions. This lodge operates a small restaurant and their food is superb. They mostly serve dinner either indoors or on a patio overlooking the valley below.

Our travel from Florida to Denver, CO was by Amtrak. We had our own private sleeper compartment with all meals provided. After arrival in Denver we visited with a friend over breakfast and rose early the next morning for a 3 hr drive to Westcliffe. The picture above was taken just a few minutes outside of Westcliffe along a narrow two lane road.

I will be posting more pictures in later additions to my blog.

Now it is time to head for the bluegrass presentation to hear such groups as Dry Branch Fire Squad (my favorite), The Sullivan Family, The Country Gentlemen, and others. The weather is so conducive to good times...about 50 degrees at night and about 80 degrees in the daytime.

We are here to relax and enjoy the time away from the rush-rush of our everyday life in Lakeland. Will be back in FL about July 25th.

Thanksgiving with Kinfolks in Alabama

It is not very often that I get a chance to spend a holiday with family in my homestate of Alabama. This year I was determined that I would do just that and enjoy every minute of it.My oldest paternal first cousin passed away about two months ago in Cullman. I have become very close to her many children and especially the oldest first cousin-once removed named Martha (named after her grandmother). Martha and her husband live on a family owned farm between Cullman and Arab, Alabama. William, a third generation farmer, plants and harvests a wide variety of vegetables such as corn, turnip & collard greens, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, tomatoes, okra, and blackeyed peas. They also have a variety of fruit trees and grape vines for jellies & preserves.This year their farm yielded a host of good things due to good rain and good weather. So, we have so much to be thankful for while visiting. Today Cousin Martha and I went to her garden and pulled some greens and some turnips for dinner. From her freezer she brought out some frozen okra and butterbeans. Our dinner today will be so yummy.Early today Cousin Martha's two grandchildren launched into a baking frenzy. She has shown her grandchildren (a girl age 5 and a boy age 8) how to bake so today they gathered in Cousin Martha's kitchen and baked two pecan pies. Of course, I did not dare take a slice but the aroma was so wonderful. I am going to show pictures of the baking and the end results. Tomorrow another first cousin-once removed (who lives next door and is married to the brother of William, the farmer) is going to join us to go out for a family dinner at a local family style restaurant in the town of Holly Pond. It is indescribable how pleasant it is to sit around this gigantic table hosting about 12 members of my extended family and hearing all the laughing and comments about what we have to be thankful for.Now for the sad part...we have to leave on Sunday to drive back to Florida. We will be taking with us about 3 bushels of yummy Alabama sweet potatoes just harvested, cleaned, and boxed. Life is good!!!!

2008 Mini-Vacation YIPPEE

"Way down upon the Suwannee River" was our theme song over this mini-vacation. I took my family on a trip up the old historic Suwannee River on board a houseboat. We had planned this for several months. We planned out all the details to the finest point including food, sleeping on board, etc. We rented a 44 ft. houseboat from Miller's Marina in the town of Suwannee, FL. It weighed 8 tons and had a draft of about 3.5 feet, powered by an inboard gasoline engine. This boat came with all the nice things of home, including beds enough to sleep eight comfortably, a gas grill for cooking, and air-conditioning for a comfortable nights rest.Most of the time I was the pilot and my son, Alan, was the first mate and chief cook. He did us proud with some superbly grilled steaks one evening and chicken another evening. As a side dish with the steaks he cooked some potatoes and yellow squash wrapped in foil over the grill.Between my daughter, Kim, and daughter in law, Tywonn, we were able to keep the place clean.We traveled about 5 hrs north up the river (about 20 miles) to our first stop near a place called Manatee Springs State Park. While docked at the springs we walked the long board walk into the park and met some other visitors. As the day grew late we undocked and moved upstream a bit further to get away from the noise of the boat traffic and anchored in the middle of the river. We had to keep our "at anchor" lights on all night to make certain no one hit our boat. About 10 pm all our interior lights went out and we all got a good night's rest. The morning sun woke us about 7 am and we spent the morning back at the Manatee Springs.Our plans took us back toward the river mouth about 3 hrs and anchor for the second night. Near the mouth of a tributary/branch called Munden Creek we anchored for the second night. It is so peaceful along the river. The only thing which made us know other civilization was around was an occasional boater passing our houseboat and the boat would rock gentle in their wake.The last morning we awoke at 7 am and after weighing anchor we moved back to the town of Suwannee and radioed for the river pilot to come to our boat and guide us to the dock/slip.What a weekend..I will be getting some pictures of the journey as soon as my son tosses them to me. The only one that I am attaching to this blog is my mug at the pilot wheel.

Years End

Dear Readers,
This has been a very normal and very well blessed year for me and my family. Our daughter, Kim, well she wanted to learn my work and help me but it just was not her cup of tea. She found a job in Louisville, KY working as executive secretary for one of the deans in Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. She seems to love it and is now settled into her apartment.
Our son, Alan, has passed his state board examination for state licensure in the field of counseling. His wife, Tywonn, is in the midst of getting her BS degree in nursing.
At this time they are spending a good respite in the Dominican Republic assisting a local missionary who has traveled to the US.
My wife and I are just hanging out and enjoying friends. The grace of God has sustained us for another year.