Do The Local Lotion With Me

Apologies to Little Eva and even Kylie Minogue for the above twist on their song lyrics, but all will be revealed, as the actress said etc etc.

Thanks to wi-fi internet, I'm sitting here in the lanai room (Florida Room to you and me) as it just became too hot and uncomfortable in the main living room. We try not to have the a/c going in there during the day as we go out and come in a lot and it's a bit of an expensive waste.

The lanai room, however, is very cool as glass runs the entire length of it, either in the form of windows or doors. These can be opened to let the air in and then the twin ceiling fans circulate it around and it feels lovely and cool. The fans are needed as the outside temp is 93F right now so just letting in that hot air would not exactly help the situation.

I've already had my walk and swim today and even lay for a while by the pool side - but only for 10 mins each side and even then I kept sliding off the sun lounger as I'd basted myself liberally with factor 127 sun block and I was like the well oiled Christmas turkey that you just can't get a grip on when trying to shove it into the oven.

Around the pool, there had been a sudden rush of sunglasses to eyes as the morning sun bounced of my pasty white Brit body and dazzled the nearby basking residents. I hate being the only "whitey" in the place but hopefully it won't be for long.

But being here for 6 months I can work up to a full tan in easy stages. No red scorched body parts here. Been there, done that. Didn't like it much. No, I can take it easy and get a little when walking, a little more on the bike and a final touch up lying by the pool.

Yesterday when we were all out by the shed doing a bit of tidying, I noticed a funky plant at the bottom of what shall be known as our squirrel tree. As well as providing a home and play area for the cute little critters, it gives some welcome shade when we sit outside or use the grill for bbqs.

It seems it's an Aloe plant and this fascinated me as due to my love of suntanning, I use bucketfuls of aloe lotion to both moisturise my delicate skin and help my tan remain longer. I mean when I return to the UK at the end of March, I'd like my tan to draw gasps of admiration for a bit longer than a week or two.

I'm not sure if the species outside is the one mentioned in that link above but it does seem like it. So far I've seen no flowering bits, but it may be the wrong time of year. What do I know ?

I should've waited till the sun was shining on the area but you'll get the general idea from these 2 photos I took just minutes ago.

The lanai room is to the left with the little shed twixt it and the tree. Squirrel tree.

Our bikes are resting in the shade as getting on a hot seat is no way to start a ride. The bbq grill is beyond the white plastic chair.

Ok now that we're all on the same hymn sheet page, so to speak, hopefully you can just make out the aloe plant at the base of the tree, slightly towards the chair. Remember my photos on here can always be enlarged by clicking on them. It's a free service so please make use of it !!

If you STILL can't make it out, here it is up close.

Anyway, I carefully broke off one of the green stalks as, although the spikey sides aren't particularly sharp, I'd not recommend running your fingers up and down them.

A colourless sticky resin oused out and stuck to my fingers like Spiderman's web goop. I tried scaling the wall of the lanai but sadly the goop had no spidey features. Glad I found this out before leaping off the roof.

So there we have it. No photos of birds this time.
Just an aloe plant.

I'm still on the lookout for a gator or a snake so don't give up on me just yet.

In the meantime I'm off to do some 'work' but it's all relative. This 'work' involves a big glass of ice cold water, putting my feet up and settling down to watch Mondays double episode of Coronation Street. Someone give that Platt kid a good slap.

As I keep telling everyone, it's a hard life.