photos and descriptions of what makes our world a pleasure
emphasis on Florida and the Tampa Bay area but also far beyond

SHOPPING

Dried Mushrooms

July 7, 2010
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One of the challenges of being single is getting all the produce cooked while it’s still fresh. I’ve finally come to accept that simply isn’t going to happen until a fresh produce market opens within comfortable walking distance of my home so I can shop every day. Meanwhile, I keep working at ways to reduce [...]

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Organic produce and fresh fish shopping in St. Pete.

March 8, 2010
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Comments are often where the most interesting content is in a blog. I especially enjoy comments which are questions such as a recent one that asked how to find good produce locally. It prompted me to create an answer, which I posted as an answering comment, that summed up my favorite places for local produce. [...]

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Adam’s Nursery & Water Gardens

December 12, 2009
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all pictures in this post taken at Adam’s Nursery & Water Gardens multiple waterfalls greet newcomers Who do you call if suddenly you find yourself the owner of a professionally constructed koi pond? That’s the question a friend of mine recently faced after she bought a home in Gulfport, Florida. interconnecting ponds In her new [...]

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Spreading around the love

February 11, 2009

click here for larger image PASTRIES AT MAZZARO’S If you have a significant other, you probably already have thought through what you’ll get as a Valentine’s Day gift. Sometimes, though, it’s fun to spread the love around on Valentine’s Day to folks you care about beyond that special someone. Remember getting all those little paper [...]

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Arts and Crafts

February 4, 2009

click here for larger image FRAN SIMS BEADED HANGING (SHOWN HORIZONTALLY) Arts & Crafts Whenever I’ve felt like “running away from home” (from responsibilities, from humdrum, grinding routine) I’ve fantasized about quitting all jobs and surviving by selling homemade art (water colors, photos, prints, whatever) along the side of the road. So far, I’ve not [...]

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Schakolad Chocolate Factory

September 24, 2008

Schakolad It doesn’t take much, but sometimes you just need a treat, something as a reward for a job well done, or as consolation for something that goes awry. We have a solution at hand in downtown St. Pete: the Schakolad Chocolate Factory (401 Central Ave, St. Petersburg, FL 33701; Tel: 727-892-2400, Fax: 727-898-1960), open [...]

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John’s Pass Village & Boardwalk (the Friendly Fisherman & Hubbard’s Marina)

May 14, 2008
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Old on top of new Once, when visiting the Roman Catholic cathedral in Mainz, Germany, I learned—and could easily see—that it was a place of worship in continuous use from the 800s right up to the present. Renovation upon renovation over the centuries juxtaposed vastly different styles of architecture: Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque, and 19th and [...]

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Wat Mongkolratanaram — Palm River Thai Temple

April 6, 2008
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temple front If you take the 50th Street exit off the crosstown expressway, go south across the Palm River, turn left at the first light, and then, soon after the railroad tracks, turn left into the big parking lot, you will be transported to a different mindset, a completely different approach to life and being: [...]

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SPIFFS — St. Petersburg International Folk Fair Society

April 5, 2008
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(Image credits for above posters: SPIFFS; left — right) SPIFFS, or the St. Petersburg International Folk Fair Society, just concluded its highly successful International Folk Fair (poster above on left). Earlier this year, I attended the Asia Pacific rim Festival (poster above on right), which is under the aegis of SPIFFS. That was such a [...]

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Thai-rific

March 31, 2008
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Thai-rific has grown from a tiny shop offering only tropical plants and a few Thai gifts to a full-service florist and gift shop covering several buildings and greenhouses. They now offer non-tropical as well as tropical floral selections in arrangements created by their highly experienced designers. They still fill individual requests such as my lei [...]

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Saturday Morning Market

March 4, 2008

For primo loitering, go to the Saturday Morning Market. And, go hungry. There’s lots to eat from established restaurants, but also independent market-only cooks. Farmer/fisher vendors bring their produce and products, too. Everyone’s favorite–you have to get there early to get some because they always sell out quickly–is a fish paste made from freshly caught [...]

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