I have started playing tennis again and no the tennis elbow is not perfect but at least I am not in pain.

The weather has been so beautiful that I am beginning to wonder if there will be any more real cold weather but I bet there will be. My bananas took a beating and I have all ready trimmed the dead fronds off. If this weather continues I will start with the Turf Pro soon.

The family has been watching American Idol and yes still loving it as we all look forward to it.

I heard from an old friend this week that I have not heard from or seen in 30 years! What a great reunion, even if it is by e mail. In the good ol days he was president of the fern society and we had quite the fun group way back then. I was just a teenager so many of the folks that were retired when I knew them in the society are gone now but still others are still at it , collecting rare and unusual plants. Some of the finest people I have ever met were in the plant societies, we all had a common interest and always helped each other. I am not able to collect the rare and unusual aroids that I once did as I do not have a heated greenhouse, but I have a plan that someday I will be able to do it again, even if it's in the future when I retire someday! Once you get into the rare and unusual plants it really never leaves you. I like the idea of having a conservatory in the backyard that is tall so you could grow tall palms and others then it should have rock walls dripping with water to simulate the rain forest, then add lots of aroids, bromeliads and ferns and I would be a happy camper. Just take a look at www.exoticrainforest.com and you will see what I mean.

Well this is my second week of playing tennis and what fun! It has been a year off due to tennis elbow so naturally it is difficult as I have to get the form back so it doesn't come back. But from what I hear it always comes back so I am just taking it easy to preserve it just a bit longer.

Last Sunday a group of 11 of us met at Pisces Rising restaurant in Mt Dora and as usual it was an amazing dinner. I had the Cuban red snapper with black beans and it was great. Everyone loved what they ordered which was mostly snapper or steak. I did not have dessert but a few days earlier I was there and ordered the hummingbird cake which is made with spices and a creme cheese frosting. I sure wish I had a piece right now as I feel I deserve it after such a vigorous tennis game!

I had a really good workday as I did an estimate for a gentleman who knew my father when he was alive and living in Ft Lauderdale. What a great guy he was and I hope to talk to him more in the future as he has lived in Costa Rica and I have always loved that country since I was a kid .The dogs are doing great and I spent some time with the Jack and the standard poodle today, such big babies. I have to go now as the whole family is calling me to watch American Idol so I will see you next time.

The freeze really took it's toll on some of the plants in the yard. Everyday it looks a bit worse as the foliage browns and yes it's a bit depressing, but that's nature. I am optimistic that all will come back. Clearly, the plants that I doubled and tripled wrapped came out the best, so I can say for sure that I will have more fabric next year. Just because a plant goes entirely brow does not mean that it won't come back beautiful in the spring. I will trim the banana's most likely this weekend but on all others no trimming until the end of February. I am a little worried about my variegated Banana as I have had them for 30 years and even now they are so rare. I will let you know in the future if they do alright. I cut the grass today, well at least the backyard, and no sadly, it is not very green this time of year. I am ready for spring as I want to plant a lot of California Daisy,{the lighter colored one} as I have figured out that they are inexpensive and bloom all spring and summer. I have been concerned for some of the folks in the Villages as many people have sadly been sold many tropicals and their plants are devastated. I was in the Villages this morning and was shocked at how much damage, so I think I really need to talk more about the importance of choosing the right plant for your county. Over the holiday's I cleaned the Koi pond and it looks so good. In addition, I pressure cleaned all of the boulders and it looked awesome until the bananas froze! But I digress. All plants have their time to shine so the sunken garden I figure needs about 2 months to reach full optimum beauty, but it will probably be before that. Yes, I remain optimistic!