oh my! what big teeth you have...

(OR, one of the reasons, why i don't swim in florida's lakes!)

due to cable/modem/router problems (which are fixed!!), work, chores...and, well...due to LIFE...
and the fact that i've been addicted to the books i'm reading lately...

this is the first chance i've had to sit and get online.

the days are slipping by...these pictures are from LAST weekend, when we rode across town to

La Chua Trail, part of Paynes Prairie State Park. this part of the park is known as Alachua Sink, 

which includes the deepest & largest sinkholes in the park.

the air was still a little cool...and many gators were out soaking up the sun!

ENJOY the alligators and assorted birds!!

just remember...stay on the trail!!

and watch where you step because this park also has wild spanish horses

(which i posted pictures of in the past), bison,  and  feral hogs.

SO there is a scattering of humongous piles of POOP!

Great Blue Heron

(if i have mis-labeled any birds, PLEASE let me know!)

Heron:   "I'll just pretend i don't see him."

Gator:  "Have no fear. i'm not in  the mood for bird today!"

egret  &  ibis

great egret

Little Blue Heron:  "hmmm, i think i'll enter the water farther down the shoreline."

little blue heron

ibis

TURTLES!!!!

“Don't taunt the alligator until after you've crossed the creek. “

~Dan Rather

see ya later...yeah, Alligator!

be safe.

laura

thursday internet woes & a few pictures

i'm sitting outside the local library right now

because they have free wi-fi.

something's wrong with our internet at home,

we keep plugging, unplugging, replugging...

the modem...the router...

and, as they say, still no joy!

it all started with our cable connection.

we had to buy a booster because the signal coming into our home

wasn't strong enough.

tv channels coming in pixelated...and the audio not in sync with people's mouths.

so since we hooked up the booster a couple of days ago...no internet!

i don't have much time during the week, to wander around cyberspace...

whether aimlessly or with some destination in mind.

but since i had a cancellation yesterday...i was going to do a little blog reading.

oh well. nix that.

so, while i'm here...

let me share a few pictures from the past few days.

and then i have to run.

one of the Sulphur butterflies on a still blooming lantana

a squirrel posing on one of the old cow skulls out back

remember...wherever you go...take only pictures, leave only footprints!

Opossum footprints in our driveway

and for the grand finale,  last night's moon!

i love the way the crescent shape is open at the top...

like it's getting ready to tilt and pour it's magic out...on us all!

16th  of  january  2013

take care. be safe.

and by the way...thanks for all the kind words many of you left on my last post...

your comments on my watercolor attempts!!  i appreciate the encouragement & support!

laura

found somewhere on the web...
years ago...

hawk.bones.fungi.lizard.spider. and emo.

since i'm trying to

balance

my time better...in 2013...i'm not online as much.

(perhaps driving travis to the day labor place by 5:45 each morning...waiting, and then taking him to the job site...

that may have a little to do with it also, since that was my usual computer time...EARLY!)

anyway,

i want to wander more.

be more creative with my hands.

take more pictures.

spend more time reading books.

so

here's a week crammed in to one post.

and that's a lot of cramming, i even cut it back!!

while we had the 'little climber' outside

i could hear the crows causing a ruckus.

i knew right away what they were up to.

they were trying to chase something away.

i found them...in the same tree with a Red-shouldered hawk.

doing their best to scare the hawk away.

but he held firm.

the crows didn't win that day!  yay!

~~O~~

i found some more bones...already pretty clean...thanks to mother nature.

and dug up some deer bones. still need to be cleaned & sanitized before i can decorate them.

~~O~~

the weather's been very strange.  freezing one day,  up to 80 the next.

the azaleas have buds, some of the lantana & blanket flower haven't stopped blooming...

and the mini daffodils are in full bloom!

i hope winter isn't gone for good.  that would be depressing.

assorted fungi is still popping up too.

fuzzy-wuzzy

mushroom colony

and a HEART 'shroom...

or a BUTT 'shroom...

however you happen to see it!

~~O~~

FENCE lizard spotted in the side yard, soaking up some sun.

now let me zoom in...crop...and take a look at the iridescent blue underside!

ooooooooh...aaaaaaah!!

~~O~~

here's a cool little spider...out back...between a couple of trees.

i've never seen one like this before!

it's a Triangle Orbweaver!!

~~O~~

bare with me.

no, no...you don't have to take your clothes off...

i mean, BEAR with me!

just a couple of more things.  i know, this is all a lot to absorb.

i guess if i had the time to sit and do this looong post, i could have divided it up into many

and just scheduled them to post every few days, eh?

but then i wouldn't have to time to visit your blogs in return, during the week.

just put up with me...for a another coupla minutes!  thnx!

besides working with bones...and doing a little sandblasting now and then...

and making window hangers with butterfly wings...and occasionally clay mushrooms...

i want to be a better watercolorer!!

is that a word?

i want to learn to use watercolors.  i love how they look.  how the colors blend.

i mentioned how i want to spend more time being creative with my hands.

so

this past week i've been fooling around a little.

playing...with pen & watercolors.

i have A LOT to learn, i know.

this weird tree, and uh...ground spiders?? bushes??  was blowing air through straw at blob of india ink. ha.

~~O~~

AND NOW,

last but not least...

it was emo's birthday on the 6th!!

he was FOUR MONTHS OLD!!!

~happy birthday emo!~

here's a good shot to show how high he climbs!!

look at that loooong neck...

i remember when mine was that long...

(te-he)

ok.

that's it.

i'm outa here.

back on tomorrow...before dawn...for more catch up and cyber-space travels!

take care & be safe.

laura

snakes & bones & more cool stuff

snakes.

they're not everybody's favorite.

but you have to admit...even though you may not want to hold or touch one...

they sure are beautiful to look at.

this little guy, a juvenile Rat Snake has hunkered down in our shed for the past couple of weeks...

trying to stay warm enough to make it through those nights when the temp drops to freezing.

in the woods out back...camouflaged in the bare wintery-thorny-vines...

is another young Rat Snake (but older than the one in the shed).

take a look at this snake. a Black Racer.  i spotted it out back...in a clearing in the woods.

wanna guess how i got so close...to get this picture without the snake racing away?

mm-hmm.  dead. no blood.  no bite marks.

the detective in me thinks it froze to death.

i flipped it over...here's the underside.

you probably know by now what i do when i find dead critters.

i take them home.  bury them.  wait for them to decompose. dig them up.

collect the bones...clean the bones...and then decorate them, or use them in my art.

besides this dead one, i've found two snake skeletons along the side of the road.

so

what to do with all these snake bones?

a couple of months ago i started to make SNAKE VERTEBRAE earrings.

ok. enough about snakes.

i was surprised to see mushrooms & lichen 

still pushing their way up through the ground or clinging to trees...

 in this colder weather we've been having.

when i think 'fungi', i tend to think warm, humid. 

two more pictures...

a dragonfly trying to soak up a little warmth...

and a Red-bellied Woodpecker. 

not an easy task to get a picture. 

i can hear 'em, but by the time i usually spot them...they fly to another tree.

depending on where we live on planet earth,

chances are we're dealing with the winter cold or the summer heat.

but when i got an email from a friend the other day,

who lives in Siberia...and she told me the temperature there right now is 40 below 0...

i felt a little woozy!

FORTY BELOW ZERO!!

that takes all the FUN out of winter...don't you think?

anyway...whatever YOU'RE dealing with right now...

be safe.

take it easy.

laura