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From last week - Judy's very first pine needle basket.
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From last week - Judy's stained glass butterfly
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Chilly day on Venice Beach. Veterans bundle up
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Very few people, but lots of shore birds
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Water temp was around 68. Must be a Canadian :-)
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On the deck at Sharkey's, at the Venice Fishing Pier - great food here
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Windy, cloudy, cool - but still fisherfolk ply their trades
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We are particularly fond of the Royal Tern - love the hair
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Pelicans awaiting whatever pelicans await
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A couple of egrets also patronize the pier
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A rare treat - a blue heron, right there . . .
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It's a spectacular bird. Moments later, he relieved himself. Spectacularly, too.
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Proof that Florida isn't always all sunshine.
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Check the bill on that Black Skimmer - the Jay Leno of the bird world
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As we said, we like those terns
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Sandpipers skitter about the beach - it's rare to catch one stationary
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At the entrance to the Ringling Estate in Sarasota
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The main building of the Ringling Circus Museum
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The main exhibit is this 3800 sq ft miniature circus
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The detail is phenomenal - see the copper phone lines!
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Note there are even pigeons on the station roof.
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Inside the big top - three full rings and more
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Even several hundred spectators. The builder is obviously obsessed
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The larger tents are cutaways so you can see inside
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Even the sideshow banners depict real acts from the 1929 show
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You can almost smell the popcorn
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There are cars, wagons, horses, trains and everything else
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The model even includes parts of Knoxville itself
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There are other circus miniatures on display, including models of actual circus acts
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It's a one-of-a-kind exhibit, and it's still being enhanced
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Model of the bandwagon - a mirror shows the back side
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An animal car
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These are real circus costumes
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On his day off, he pokes holes in bowling balls.
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Artifacts from some of the great clowns of the past
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In this shop, they carve circus animals
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When a human cannonball retires, is he defused?
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Another miniature big top
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That's a real calliope . . .
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And a bandwagon
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Some of those wonderful banner paintings
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A montage of everybody on the circus crew one year
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Through the rain, a marvelous banyan tree and accessories
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Inside the Roaring 20's Pizza and Pipes
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Swiped this picture from their website. Shows most - but not all - of the organ
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The Wurlitzer Theatre Organ was spectacular, as was the guy who played it
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It's a neat place to end our show. Hope we can come back