moon~hawk~'shrooms~bugs~lizard~and my art.

"Dawn seemed to follow midnight with indecent haste."  

~J.K. Rowling, "Magic is Might," 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, 2007 

dec 6, 2011.  6:49am

it's been cold, cloudy, foggy & rainy.

(i wasn't able to get an eclipse or full moon pic due to the heavy cloud cover)

here are some pictures i've taken over the past week or so.

let's start with the Red-shouldered Hawk...who was sitting in a tree in the yard last weekend

when we pulled in after camping.

oOo

~these next two pictures...the strangest mushroom i've ever seen~

 CORAL mushroom

i've never seen it in the yard before...but now, there's a big patch of it!

oOo

i heard something out back. by the porch. at night. 

grabbed my camera, turned it on, lifted the flash...
aimed and hoped i captured whatever was sneaking around.

I DID.  ms. opossum.  probably hanging out hoping milo would come out to play.

oOo

remember the Orb Weaver on the front porch?

she still comes out at night (when it's not too cold)...weaves her web...

and waits for a meal...or a mate...or both.

one night i noticed a lizard (Green Anole) sitting on the same wind chime 

the Orb sleeps in during the day...and hangs her web from.

oOo

"Nature is the great nurse for tired minds. Let her have her way with you, and all will be well."  

~Herbert Pryke 

oOo

here's a grasshopper, out back in the woods. hiding in all the dried up vines.

oOo

here's an unusual looking mushroom.

kind of purplish...curled up & holding rain water.

we have such a variety of  mushrooms around here...as you well know!

they have inspired me to make little clay mushroom holders...

for the little glass vials i put tiny bones in.

i've never worked with clay before...but have wanted to give it a try for some time.

so i bought a small amount of self hardening clay.

and played. it's pretty messy. 

very messy. i like it!

after shaping the clay into a mushroom...i let it dry for a few days...

then coat with 'mod-podge'...then paint...then coat with acrylic sealer.

i added a small piece of felt to the bottom.

the mushroom on the left...i embedded small smooth river stones to the base while the clay was still soft.

the one on the right holds the frog skeleton.

it SOLD at my shop on etsy!  yay!

(CLICK here to visit - ForestOfBones)

sam has dubbed these..."MUSHROOM CRADLES". 

i like that!!

***

i also sold a decorated Deer Skull!!   another YAY!

well...that's all for now.

i'm trying to avoid all the hustle & bustle as best i can.

i wouldn't mind just leaving town. heading to parts unknown.

sitting on a mountain top. staring at the moon and stars.

this time of year gets me a little down. stressed. pressured.

i tend to think too much...dwelling on my past, my mistakes, deaths.

AND i hate shopping...it's all gotten way too commercial anyway.

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, 

stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?  

It came without ribbons.  

It came without tags.  

It came without packages, boxes or bags.  

And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore.  

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.  

What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.  

What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.  

~Dr Seuss 

have a safe journey!   

laura

 be merry. 

PS: if you liked my halloween...skeleton...macabre...graphics i'd collected over the years...

then check out my page...tab at the top, click here...
MORE creepy pictures have been added...BUT with a christmas-y feel!!   

:)