Since I was open for something "new" and always enjoyed walking, I decided to combine the two and let my sneakers point the way. And, I'm glad I did...meet Tiki (left) and Nimba (right) with the lovely Danielle in the middle.
During my walk exploring the neighborhood, I saw Danielle "walking" her Cockatoos. Our paths crossed, I introduced myself and had to ask if I could take pictures for my travel blog. Danielle was so wonderful and so friendly and agreed, with plenty of patience.
As Danielle and I chatted, along came another little fellow...BJ, the Blue Jay. He flew out of no where and onto Danielle's shoulder. It took me by surprise and all I could think of was "Snow White", the Disney princess who sang (Danielle didn't sing...but I bet she could) and had birds land on her shoulders and arms. So this was my nickname for her - she laughed. But, she came up with a better one..."The Bird Whisperer".
BJ was friends with Tiki and Nimba and Danielle had raised BJ from infancy. It was so much fun watching BJ walk along a wall with Tiki. Nimba, the older (and wiser), wandered off into the trees letting the two younger chaps annoy each other with gentle pecks and swoops.
I was just in time for breakfast...live crickets! No, not for me (although I have eaten fried cricket before). Danielle walked me to her house and showed me her lovely front yard. It was such a beautiful, tropical oasis - perfect place to paint (I'll come to that in a moment).
Then she went inside and brought out a container full of hopping crickets.
To keep mealtime fresh and alive, Danielle showed me the cricket food and the water-gel-substance (blue stuff) crickets "drink" for moisture. This keeps them hopping for days and she buys them at a pet store. Who knew? Tiki, Nimba and BJ also like to eat mealworms...I didn't ask.
Did someone say crickets?
Breakfast was over and mosquitoes were biting so we said our goodbyes. Danielle opened her front door and Tiki just walked right into the house. But before I left, Danielle gave me her business card and told me about her paintings. She was an artist and I promised to check out her website once I got home.
What a wonderful day...and it wasn't even lunch time yet! On my way home, I passed some very nice cottage homes who proudly displayed the flag.
Then I saw this minty green wall and raspberry colored gate with such an unusual driveway "centerpiece" that it begged for a picture.
Now, later on I did as I had promised. I found out that Danielle had quite a wonderful background as an accomplished artist and you can check out her artwork and website by clicking on this link: Danielle Perry Fine Art. She was modest in my presence but I found out, through her website, that Danielle had traveled extensively as a chef aboard private yachts, loved traveling (like me), has had her artistry displayed on the cover of various magazines and has designed dinnerware. She could not have been nicer to me, a total stranger.
Thanks, Danielle. You made my 4th different and exciting...just what I had been looking for.
If you enjoyed reading this post about one of the many hidden gems of Florida, I encourage you to read more by clicking this link: Florida
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