this week's ramblings...

 

here i am. up before dawn.

actually i've been up since 4:45 (am)!

it's the weekend. i always wake up extra early on the weekend.

sleep in? what's that?!

it's not for me.

i like the darkness. the quiet.

no tv blaring in the background. no phones ringing.

just me...my coffee...my laptop...

and the occasional snore coming from the bedroom.  :))

 

 i'm still fighting this chest congestion.

and i think i know why i got sick last week. 

we were having a cold snap. one day was the coldest on record.

now, remember...i'm a massage therapist...i make in-home visits.

 

Winter is the season in which people try 

to keep the house as warm as it was in the summer, 

when they complained about the heat.  

~Author Unknown

 

and THAT'S the answer! i bundle up...layer up...go from the COLD...

into someone's house where they have the temp set to 80!!

do THAT...all day long...and you're bound to come down with something!

anyway...i feel fine. it's just this congestion...coughing...that's lingering.

 

last week...the morning of the coldest night yet...the water in the bird bath was frozen!

 

 yet...even though the plants and flowers have given in to the cold...

even though we're surrounded by shades of winter brown...

one of the bromeliads scattered throughout the yard...

brings COLOR and LIFE  to an otherwise dying  landscape!

 

 most of the little critters and creatures seem to be hibernating...

conserving their energy 

for those sunny days...when the temp rises a bit.

sam spotted this red-shouldered hawk in the backyard.

surprisingly, by the time sam ran to get me and the camera...

the hawk was still there...perched on a fence post.

the barred owl. its familiar hooting can be heard in late afternoon and evening. 

sometimes we can catch a fleeting glimpse of the wide wingspan...

as the owl flies between the tall pines.

"Use what talents you possess; 

the woods would be very silent 

if no birds sang except those that sang best."   

~Henry Van Dyke

more LIFE in the yard...

lichen and air fern on dead tree branch...reminds me of coral...

...more lichen...

 

"Shall I not have intelligence with the earth? 

Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mould myself."
~Henry David Thoreau

 

venturing outside our little part of the world...

we happened to drive past a farm with horses and miniature horses

the other morning. sam did a u-turn so i could get a few pictures.

  and...another day this past week...

on my way to a massage appointment...

i passed a couple of cow fields...

run by the agricultural dep't of the Univ of FL.

i pulled over...onto the shoulder.  it must have been near feeding time...

because as the cows spotted me...they came sauntering over to the fence!

 

~o~o~o~o~o~o~

 it's hard for me to believe it's sunday already!

"Weekends are a bit like rainbows; 

they look good from a distance but disappear when you get up close to them." 

~John Shirley

 

it's even harder to believe it's almost the end of another year! YIKES!!

~~today we plan to go exploring out back. the vines and underbrush are dried

and dying...so it'll be easier for us to forge our way...

follow one of the deer paths...or make our own path. 

all bundled up and with our knee high rubber boots on...

we'll make our way through the back woods. pictures to follow next time.~~

thanks for stopping by...and wandering around!

stay cool...

laura  :]