Here and there and everywhere.

There is something thrilling about scaring people. I enjoyed this way too much when I was younger and probably drove my aunts bonkers. They were always the best ones to scare because they gave such a great reaction. And I could repeat the same thing (jumping out of a closet, etc) just five minutes afterward and get just as great of a reaction! The best reaction I ever got was putting an oven mitt that looked like a fish over the top of the shower rod while my Aunt Jan was taking a shower. I'm not sure what I did to get her to look up but her scream was probably heard by all of the surrounding neighbors. It was wonderful (and I'm not sure how she always smiles/laughed with me after the fact? I can't say I would have been too impressed had I been the one peacefully taking a shower).

My mother-in-law's reaction is just as good but I try to keep scaring her to a minimum. You know, keep the family peace, etc. You would think that I'm a bit old to find so much humor in something so cruel (and hilarious) but I have to admit I enjoy it just as much as I did 20 years ago (ok, that makes me feel waaaaaaaay too old..maybe I should just say I enjoy it as much as I did when I was 8?).

So yesterday I told Karis we were going to go get her dressed. She ran ahead of me (just like she always does) but I was surprised she wasn't in the room when I got there. I immediately went to her dresser to get her clothes out...

It doesn't take a genius to figure out where I'm going from here! This is what I found when I opened the door...

She honestly had no intention of scaring me. I think she just wanted to hide? But she was completely caught off guard by my reaction! I screamed, I jumped...and then I laughed. I laughed so hard for probably 3 minutes straight. Oh yes, what goes around comes around...I think she's hooked. I think once she realized that she was what got that reaction out of me she thoroughly enjoyed it. Thankfully she isn't smart enough to figure out she needs to find new hiding places because now every time we go to her room she runs ahead of me to jump inside the closet. I guess I can have some peace for a little bit longer...

Have I mentioned yet that we have a Jaboticaba tree in our back courtyard area? It is a small, purple fruit that grows directly on the branches and the trunk of the tree! Just a few days ago the tiny fruit started to immerge (I've never seen this fruit grow before so this is a first for me).

I took these pictures yesterday. There were a few of the fruit that had already blossomed into flowers like this...

But today when I looked outside the tree is almost completely white with the flowers! A few people here told me we may have a tree full of fruit in just a few weeks! I'm not sure exactly what we'll do with all of the fruit but it will be fun to have it. Some people make jelly out of it and you can just eat the fruit as well. I hear it is full of antioxidants.

Yesterday I was trying to put Karis down for a nap when all of a sudden I could hear all of the shutters shaking (I had all of the shutters closed because of the heat) and the doors rattling. Oh, it's rain! (it's easy to forget about that part of nature when you've lived without it for 6 months). I had laundry on the line and ran outside to retrieve it. First I had to catch the laundry basket since it was so windy! Now, I know many of you in FL have already been through several hurricanes so this video will probably be rather boring to you but I did take a short clip of the wind yesterday. I was standing inside the kitchen holding the camera in-between the sliding doors (afraid a mango might blow over and knock me out or something!).




The rain really cooled things down quite a bit so that was nice...




PS. I'm debating on changing my title from "Land of Sunny Days" to "Daughter Of A Polish Man". Partly because it is driving me nuts that my blog title doesn't match the web-address and partly because I would like to be able to change the background every once in a while (there are only so many backgrounds that go with "Land of Sunny Days"). Plus, now that we're entering rainy season it isn't always that sunny! Anywho, just a warning for those who don't do well to change...